Chapter 11: Social Responsibility

The situation was resolved faster than expected.

In addition to Director Mok, who had descended from the office by driving trees through walls and floors, rumors began circulating that several monster-level employees had also mobilized.

I did not personally see or hear it, but I could perfectly imagine what had happened in the other extraction zones and what might happen in the future.

It was said that Zone B had been stabilized thanks to the fierce suppression carried out by the majority of the employees.

The dimensional entities in Zones C and D were also subdued with ease and returned to their containment cells.

As for Zone A—

“You do not need to worry. The Order Control Room is handling it. Besides, Executive Director Seol is there.”

I did not know exactly what that meant, but according to Director Mok, the situation was under control.

The siren that had sounded as though it would tear apart the sky finally fell silent, and the corridor’s emergency lights returned to flashing their usual red glow.

However, there was a much more important problem.

Gulp.

And it was exactly what I had in my mouth at that moment.

Director Mok’s right arm.

More precisely, a thick, long branch extending from his arm had stretched toward me like a snake.

At the tip of that branch was a transparent, gleaming opening, from which a sweet and viscous liquid flowed.

And I was drinking it.

“…Wow.”

A sweet and refreshing sensation spread throughout my mouth.

It was not honey.

Nor was it syrup.

It was a strange substance somewhere between blood and tree sap.

It felt smooth on the tongue, while going down my throat it was as cold as ice.

My skin rejoined itself.

The burn marks across my body gradually disappeared.

The corneas that had been melting regenerated, and my vision slowly began to clear.

‘This defies common sense on too many levels.’

I never imagined I would find comfort and healing by sucking on someone’s arm.

Especially not the arm of a person made of wood.

Although, come to think of it, maybe it was still better than meeting the tentacle doctor again.

I looked back at Director Mok.

He was wearing his suit as always and stood with one hand over his chest, as though nothing had happened.

He did not even seem to have any particular feelings about using himself as an IV bag.

“There is no need for you to feel so confused.”

His voice remained low and damp.

A calm, moisture-laden sound, as if the grain of the wood itself were speaking.

“The recovery serum was provided by separating a small portion of my tissues. You will not be charged any additional cost.”

I was about to protest that that was not the issue.

But I simply closed my mouth.

Because it was too delicious.

I felt like I needed to drink a little more.

It was like lying in a hospital bed connected to an IV drip.

Only in this case, the IV was a tree root.

“Thank you very much, Director Mok.”

“It is nothing. Any member of Extraction Team 1 is someone for whom I must take responsibility.”

Within the knots crossing his face, two or three of his many eyes blinked at the same time.

For some reason, it felt like a smile.

While Director Mok had pulled me aside into a corner to feed me the serum, employees began gathering one after another in the extraction room lobby.

At first, familiar faces appeared.

Manager Myeon approached while his seven faces moved frantically.

Manager Batori gracefully kept tilting her head as she observed me with her red eyes.

Assistant Manager Son opened and closed the fist that served as his head while organizing the other employees.

And Supervisor Shik remained leaning against a wall, dragging his chains and blinking calmly.

Just those few alone already looked like a complete gathering of monsters.

“Ugh.”

But when I looked at the others, the nausea began rising again.

It was the first time I had examined employees from other departments so closely.

There were skeletal beings without flesh, their bones protruding outward.

Worm-like creatures made entirely of mold.

A man who had no face, but instead possessed a row of eyes lined up across his back.

There was even a puddle of red slime I had never seen before clinging to one of the lobby walls.

‘They’re basically dimensional entities…’

In that case, is there really any difference between an emergency situation and daily life?

My head began spinning.

It felt as if my eyes were rotating on their own.

“Mr. Haeil.”

Then I heard a familiar voice.

It blocked my view of the employees from the other teams and patted me on the shoulder.

“You’re still alive. What a relief.”

“Yes… it really is a relief…”

I tried to smile, but the muscles in my face tightened.

The corners of my lips trembled.

My eyelids twitched.

My mind was already thinking about quitting time.

Then, with a crash that shook the ground, a loud Bang! echoed through the center of the extraction room.

“WHICH DAMN MANIAC WAS IT—?! WHO?! WHO THE HELL PRESSED THE RELEASE BUTTON?!”

A thick, deep voice overflowing with irritation and rage.

The moment I turned my head toward the source of the sound, all traces of sleepiness vanished.

He stood on two legs, but his arms were so long that he almost looked as though he walked on all fours.

His entire body seemed to have been forcibly held together with metal plates stitched over living flesh.

Six thick cables were embedded in his back, welded directly into his spine and connected to his brain.

His head was covered by a helmet-like exoskeleton, but pieces of flesh and green eyes writhed through the gaps.

The creature trembled violently and shouted again.

“WHO?! WHO WAS THE IDIOT WHO MANUALLY ACTIVATED THE RELEASE PROTOCOL?! DAMN IT! ZONE C, ZONE B, AND EVEN ZONE A WERE OPENED! WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!”

Assistant Manager Son whispered beside my ear.

“That is Manager Geum, leader of Fusion Team 1.”

“…Ah, he’s a manager?”

“That’s right. He is subordinate to Manager Myeon.”

“Ah, I see.”

For some reason, I thought Manager Myeon was definitely a better boss than Manager Geum.

Manager Geum continued venting his fury.

Though honestly, the cables writhing on his back were far more terrifying than his words.

“WHO THE HELL WAS IT?! THE RELEASE BUTTON IS THE FINAL EMERGENCY PROTOCOL!!! NOBODY IS SUPPOSED TO TOUCH IT UNLESS IT’S A GRADE ■ ENTITY!!! WHAT KIND OF DAMN IDIOT DID IT?!”

At that moment, I turned toward Assistant Manager Son.

“Was it really that dangerous?”

“Of course it was. If you press it, all dimensional entities from every containment cell are released at the same time. Seriously, who the hell pressed it?”

“Then why does a button like that even exist?”

“For final extermination before abandoning an entire zone.”

I decided it was better not to ask any more questions.

Assistant Manager Son tilted his fist-head slightly and smiled.

“Still, you were lucky, Haeil. Running into Director Mok in time.”

“Yes, really. I’m also glad you got out unharmed, Assistant Manager Son.”

Manager Geum abruptly turned his head and shouted again.

“COME OUT!!! WHOEVER’S RESPONSIBLE, STEP FORWARD!!! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!!”

The rusted cables of Manager Geum snapped like electrical discharges.

All the lights at the end of the corridor went out simultaneously.

Assistant Manager Son shrugged.

“But if you had run into another team first, Haeil, you would have been in trouble.”

“Huh?”

The momentary darkness caused the roaring to stop for an instant.

Silence fell heavily over the space.

His spine, resembling a metallic backbone, twisted like a spring before stretching out again with the screech of metal claws scraping across the floor.

The dangling cables on his back writhed like worms, scratching the walls and throwing sparks onto the ground.

“Seriously… who pressed it?”

“It doesn’t seem to have been anyone from our department.”

“Did someone enter without authorization?”

“Could it be an industrial spy?”

Even among the employees, a small commotion began to spread.

A creature covered in a massive stone shell.

A transparent being whose face was divided into two sides.

Even a Möbius strip formed from red lines.

Dozens of monstrous employees murmured throughout the lobby.

Then.

Creeeeak.

The door beside the corridor entrance slowly opened.

And someone stepped out of it.

‘…Huh?’

One person.

Two people.

Wrinkled suits.

Shirts soaked with sweat.

Completely ordinary employees.

Yes.

Humans.

At that instant, the atmosphere in the lobby turned icy cold.

Passing through the crowd of monsters, they cautiously moved forward.

More precisely, they advanced one trembling step at a time.

The man in front removed his glasses and lowered his head.

The woman beside him bit her lips while nervously darting her eyes around.

The young man following behind them looked as though he was about to collapse, not even having the strength to brush aside the sweat-soaked bangs stuck to his forehead.

“W-we’re sorry… we… it’s just… we didn’t understand anything…”

Kneeling on the floor, they stammered as they tried to speak.

They wore suits.

Their faces were flushed with exhaustion.

They were drenched in sweat.

Disheveled hair.

Crooked ties.

Their entire bodies trembled in panic.

My mind stopped.

It was obvious.

They were not dimensional entities.

They were not monster employees.

They were not something pretending to be human.

They were real people.

“……”

It was the first time since Lee Jihyun had resigned.

The first time I had seen a human face again.

When our eyes met, a strange feeling arose inside me.

I felt my stomach churn.

My throat tightened.

I reached a hand toward them.

It felt like I needed to say something.

That there was something I needed to share with them.

“…This is why I hate the bastards from the Emotional Department.”

A low growl sounded to my right.

I turned my head.

It was Assistant Manager Son.

The fist that formed his head slowly began to clench with a creak.

“Assistant Manager Son?”

But he did not hear me.

With the sound of his shoes striking the floor, he reached them in an instant.

Then he bent down.

Crunch!!

The world crumpled.

No.

A head crumpled.

More precisely, that human’s head.

Assistant Manager Son grabbed it.

That was all.

He grabbed it.

He squeezed.

As if he were performing a simple strength test.

“Gghhh!”

A choked gasp escaped.

And then.

Crack.

It was not an exaggerated sound.

It was exactly the sound of a watermelon bursting.

Blood.

Brain matter.

Flesh.

Fragments of skull.

Everything began sliding between Assistant Manager Son’s fingers.

Something red and gray slowly dripped from his fist-head.

It slid down his fingers.

Across his palm.

And fell to the floor.

Drop.

After drop.

“……”

My body froze.

My gaze stopped.

Even my breathing stopped.

What had I just seen?

No.

I knew perfectly well.

He had crushed a person’s head.

A person.

A living person.

He had blown it apart simply by grabbing it.

I found myself staring at the scene with my lips tightly sealed.

I did not scream.

I did not even know how.

Next, Manager Geum kicked the other employee who could barely move his eyes.

His back exploded.

A stain appeared on the wall.

Heads kept exploding.

One human life after another disappeared.

My legs would not move.

I could not look away.

As I stared at Assistant Manager Son’s blood-covered head, I once again felt a deep fear I had forgotten.

Blood.

Flesh.

Shattered heads.

I was human.

Out of everyone here.

I had forgotten that I was human.

“Again with the Emotional Department? What a nuisance.”

“I told them we should’ve just stuffed them into the cafeteria freezer.”

“It’s always the same thing.”

The employees’ comments drifted through the air like ordinary conversation.

A completely normal tone.

As if they were discussing trivial matters.

And at the center of it all stood Assistant Manager Son.

Even though pieces of flesh and fresh blood were still dripping from his hand, his tone remained exactly the same as always.

“This is why I say I hate humans.”

Assistant Manager Son slightly tilted his head toward one of the two remaining humans.

That single casual gesture was enough.

The person immediately fainted.

Or perhaps pretended to in an attempt to avoid death.

And it was not only Assistant Manager Son.

Four of Manager Myeon’s faces remained silent.

The other three nodded slightly.

Manager Batori smiled as she savored a red liquid.

Supervisor Shik tossed his chains over his shoulder and let out a deep snort.

Every employee had the same reaction.

The same instinctive reaction a human would have upon finding a cockroach or a mole cricket inside their house.

An unconscious aversion toward an entire species.

I remained motionless in the middle of it all.

My heart pounded.

My shoulders trembled.

And from the depths of my stomach, vomit I could no longer suppress slowly began to rise.

‘Why is everyone… reacting like this…?’

Those people are human.

I had forgotten.

But they, not these monsters, are my own kind.

Their belongings.

Their backgrounds.

Their expressions.

Even the dirt beneath their fingernails.

Everything was the same as me.

And yet.

Every existence within this company.

Treated those humans as though they were impurities.

As though their very existence were disgusting.

As though it did not matter if their heads exploded.

As though disappearing was only natural.

“……”

I slowly lowered my head.

‘Then… what am I?’

That question.

In a single instant.

Fell upon my mind like a bolt of lightning.

‘Why am I in Extraction Team 1 and not with them?’

The words tried to come out but remained trapped.

Why does nobody call me human?

Why does nobody ask me?

Why don’t the monsters of Extraction Team 1 reject me?

I have worked alongside Assistant Manager Son.

I have walked beside Supervisor Shik.

I have exchanged glances with Manager Batori.

I have spoken with Manager Myeon’s seven faces.

And not one of them.

Not a single time.

Told me that I was different.

On the contrary.

They praised me.

— You adapt well.

— You’re more resilient than I expected.

— You fit in perfectly.

— You’re ideal for this.

And just a few moments ago.

Director Mok had said.

— I have heard your admirable determination.

I took a deep breath as my shoulders trembled.

I could still smell human blood in my mouth.

I wiped away the cold liquid running down my chin.

What if, in this grotesque world, everyone simply did not know that I was human too?

But even that explanation had too many inconsistencies.

Because if they know I’m human.

Then why?

“Let’s go back, Mr. Haeil. The Order Control Room will take care of cleaning this up.”

I had no choice but to stop my thoughts.

Because Assistant Manager Son, wiping blood from his head, was speaking to me as though everything were perfectly normal.