Chapter 21: White Order

“But before that.”

Just as we were preparing to head to Area A of the Extraction Hall, Manager Myeon spoke.

The face that appeared to be the most prudent among his seven faces looked at me.

More precisely, it looked at the mask of his own face attached to mine, which was already trembling slightly.

“The safer the situation, the better. A Rank A dimensional entity may be difficult to face with only the mask. You should have accumulated some benefit points by now, so Assistant Manager Son, take Mr. Jeong to the Prototype Storage.”

“Oh, already? Well, alright. Come on, Mr. Haeil.”

“Yes, understood.”

Prototype Storage?

Assistant Manager Son took the lead and headed toward the elevator.

The elevator we boarded behind him began moving smoothly again, as if it had lost all sense of direction, although this time it did not take as long as when we went to the cafeteria.

Ding—

As soon as the doors opened, I took a deep breath.

Everything was white.

The walls, the floor, the ceiling, and even the lighting seemed determined not to allow a single shadow.

‘It looks like a psychiatric hospital.’

No.

Maybe it was even worse.

That space tolerated neither a speck of dust nor a single irregular stain. It was so perfectly organized that it felt suffocating.

The employees walking through the hallways wore completely white suits and gas masks.

And I knew exactly what that meant.

‘The Order Control Room.’

I remembered Manager Batori’s explanation.

The white territory ruled by Executive Director Seol.

The place from which the Security Team and the Audit Team maintained order within the company.

As I absentmindedly watched those white-clad employees walking with steps so uniform it was as if they measured every movement with a ruler, Assistant Manager Son spoke.

“Impressive atmosphere, right? I hate this place more than anywhere else. I feel like if I spill a cup of coffee, they’ll arrest me immediately.”

Assistant Manager Son crossed his arms while shaking his fist-shaped head.

His grotesque appearance stood out especially strangely in that white space.

“Assistant Manager, what exactly are prototypes?”

“Hmm, they’re out-of-spec items. Test products that are too dangerous, too expensive, or defective and can’t be mass-produced. Sometimes they also show up in the internal store.”

He shrugged.

“To put it nicely, they’re free equipment. Realistically, they’re clinical trials disguised as disposal of leftovers.”

Assistant Manager Son stopped in front of a heavy white door that read.

Prototype Storage

“Normally, this place is managed by the Security Team Leader, but you know how it is. She’s always busy.”

When he brought his head close to the scanner beside the door, it opened with a mechanical noise.

Clank—

A blast of icy air greeted us from inside.

Strange devices emitting mysterious lights were displayed like museum relics.

And there was also a desk.

An elegant office desk near the entrance.

And the moment I saw the person sitting there, my pulse slowed slightly.

Because he was another human.

‘From the Emotional Department…?’

I didn’t know whether he was a seal-human or a tool-human.

But he was human.

A middle-aged man who looked as though he had endured entire decades with his own body.

Even seated, his height seemed comparable to mine thanks to his massive build.

He wore an immaculate pure white suit.

He appeared to be over forty years old.

His face looked like a plaster statue that had been smashed with a hammer and then forcibly glued back together.

His gray hair, combed completely backward, looked cold as frost beneath the white lighting.

The numerous scars crossing his face and his corpse-pale skin proved that his life had been anything but a normal office life.

‘He’s dried out.’

That was my immediate assessment.

He looked like a veteran butcher who had committed so many slaughters that he no longer felt anything.

Or an executioner who had long ago burned away all his remorse and sins.

When our eyes met, I felt a chill run down my spine.

‘He’s definitely… human…’

This was an encounter with a healthy member of my own species.

But the command my brain issued was not joy.

It was.

‘Run.’

It was different from what I felt when facing Manager Batori’s blood-red eyes or Supervisor Shik’s fangs.

It was like standing in front of a perfectly sharpened guillotine.

An uncomfortable sensation that made me want to flee.

“It’s dirty.”

His voice was completely devoid of warmth.

He took a white handkerchief from the desk and began obsessively cleaning a pair of black leather gloves that already appeared spotless.

Swish. Swish.

The sound of fabric brushing against leather broke the silence of the storage room.

I watched those movements while holding my breath.

It was far too precise to be someone simply cleaning his hands.

From thumb to little finger.

Every joint was rubbed exactly three times.

It did not look like a habit.

It looked like a ritual.

‘He isn’t even looking at us.’

Was he ignoring us?

No.

It wasn’t indifference either.

His empty tone and hollow gaze.

Even when he said it was dirty, there was no hatred or contempt in his voice.

It was simply the statement of a fact.

As neutral as saying it was raining.

His eyes remained fixed on the back of his hand.

But I could feel it.

The muscles of the hand holding the handkerchief seemed relaxed and tense at the same time.

As though they could shoot forward and tear out my throat at any moment.

“Audit Team Director Go Gyeol… what are you doing here…?”

Go Gyeol.

A name that seemed to fit him perfectly and at the same time not fit him at all.

Assistant Manager Son had probably deliberately mentioned both his name and title out of consideration for me.

My eyes moved between Assistant Manager Son and Director Go Gyeol.

Even he, who had crushed an Emotional Department employee’s head simply for seeming too human, was clearly submissive in front of this man.

His fist-head was tense.

His posture was restrained.

And his respect was absolute.

“Moon Ara is away on an external security matter.”

The man replied in a dry voice as he slowly turned his head toward me.

Every place his gaze touched became covered in chills.

It was not the way one person looked at another.

It was the way a sanitation worker sorted garbage or waste that needed to be disposed of.

“So it was true that Manager Myeon values someone enough to tear off one of his own faces.”

His gaze shifted to the facial mask of Manager Myeon that I was wearing.

“Your fishy smell is unbearable.”

When he rose from the chair, his height clearly exceeded two meters.

The ceiling lights were swallowed by the enormous shadow he cast.

He approached slowly.

Step. Step.

And when he stopped in front of me, I felt an overwhelming pressure descend upon my head.

His enormous black leather-gloved hand cut through the air.

For a moment, I stopped breathing.

I was convinced that if that hand grabbed me, my head would burst like a ripe watermelon.

‘Dangerous…’

Nothing happened.

His hand merely swept through the air near my shoulder, as if brushing away an invisible speck of dust, and then lowered again.

“Name?”

“…I’m Jeong Haeil, a new employee of Extraction Team 1. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Director Go Gyeol.”

He pulled out the handkerchief again and resumed cleaning his gloves.

That obsessively meticulous behavior from someone of my own species made me feel more miserable and frightened than any roar from a dimensional entity.

‘The humans I imagined weren’t like this.’

Was this what the humans of Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts Ltd. were like?

He seemed far more distant than the human employees whose heads had exploded in the Extraction Hall.

“They always come here for the same reason.”

Director Go Gyeol slipped the handkerchief back into his pocket as he spoke quietly.

Instead of sitting down again, he began walking slowly between the display cases.

Step. Step.

Each strike of his shoes against the white floor sent vibrations all the way to my ankles.

“So, what have you come to take this time, Assistant Manager Son? I hope you have enough achievements to justify the exchange.”

“Ah, well, Manager Myeon ordered us to bring the rookie to Area A. We need some kind of prototype…”

Assistant Manager Son answered cautiously, though there was a hint of urgency in his voice.

“Even if he’s only observing, he’s still a rookie. I’d like to get at least one piece of defensive equipment. Even something normally sold in the internal store would do.”

When he finished speaking, Director Go Gyeol’s hand stopped in front of a display case.

Instead of answering, he silently examined a strange helmet displayed behind the glass.

“An observation visit…?”

Then he resumed walking.

Step. Step.

Each time his shoes echoed with that steady rhythm, it felt as though my throat tightened in time with it.

As he passed by me, he cast a fleeting glance in my direction, as if observing a speck of dust floating through the air.

“Manager Myeon has lost his mind as well. Or perhaps this company has already gone too far. Bringing an untrained sack of blood before a Grade A dimensional entity.”

“Haha… well, this kid has more talent than he looks like he does.”

Assistant Manager Son smiled awkwardly as he patted my shoulder.

There was much more force than usual behind the gesture.

“Talent?”

Director Go Gyeol stopped.

He ran a finger across an invisible layer of dust on a display case and then pulled out his handkerchief again to clean that very finger.

“In this place, talent only means one thing. How efficiently you can go insane.”

Holding the handkerchief, he looked directly at me.

Beyond those sunken gray eyes, I could see the weariness of a cleaner who had collected countless pieces of trash.

“Have you ever heard the sound of your brain melting? Or felt your identity crumble like sand until you forgot who you were?”

I could not answer.

I simply endured his gaze.

As though my silence displeased him, Go Gyeol frowned slightly.

Every time those gray eyes traveled across my body, it felt as though a sharp scalpel was peeling away my skin layer by layer.

“To my eyes, you’re just another filthy stain.”

Just as it became obvious that the situation was heading in a very bad direction—

Assistant Manager Son snatched the phone I had uselessly kept in my pocket and showed it to Director Go Gyeol.

Startled, I tried to take it back, but Son naturally blocked me while opening an unfamiliar application.

“Haha. Well, he’s still a rookie, but even during his probation period he’s already accumulated more benefit points than most supervisors. Even Executive Director Gu is watching him closely because he says he’s a ‘monster.’ Don’t you think he’s worth investing in?”

Go Gyeol’s hand, which had been moving toward his waist, stopped.

Only then did I notice what was hanging there.

It was an object roughly one and a half meters long, completely wrapped in bandages.

Even so, it was obvious that it was shaped like a sword or a saber.

‘…Just now? Was he about to draw that?’

He lowered his gaze with apparent indifference.

But the moment he saw the string of incomprehensible numbers on the screen, even his expressionless face showed the faintest crack.

“After rolling around in garbage… he’ll eventually wear himself down until there’s nothing left.”

What appeared on his face as he muttered those words…

Was not admiration.

Nor envy.

Only a fraction of a second of cold pity.

The kind one might feel while looking at a baby animal.

“He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t go insane. Though perhaps going insane is the cleanest ending possible.”

With a dry, mocking smile, he walked toward the deepest section of the display cases.

Assistant Manager Son seemed slightly encouraged, as though this reaction had been unexpected.

A short while later, a black velvet box appeared.

“The human mind is more fragile than glass. If you want to force that weak sanity to stay together, this is the best thing you’ll find.”

When Go Gyeol opened the box, a rosary emitting an unsettling red glow appeared.

Each bead had an irregular shape, as though carved from drops of dried blood.

A small fragment of bone engraved with the image of an eye hung from the center.

“The Relics of the Smiling Martyr.”

Go Gyeol spoke quietly.

“It doesn’t block mental interference. It numbs the user’s emotions and senses to suppress fear and pain. It will pair well with that mask.”

He picked up the rosary and tossed it to me.

I caught it by reflex.

It was much heavier than I expected.

And it was as cold as if it had just been pulled from ice water.

“Put it on. But be careful. It only mitigates the effects. It doesn’t block them completely. And remember one thing.”

His gray eyes fixed themselves on me.

“You are not valuable. You are merely an easily replaceable piece.”

“…Thank you.”

I swallowed hard as I fastened the rosary around my wrist.

At that instant, a sharp sensation shot through my arm, as though my hand had been amputated.

Then all sensation in my arm began to fade.

My vision became slightly blurry.

And the oppressive presence of Go Gyeol, which had been crushing me only moments ago, began to feel like nothing more than that of a very large man.

“…Well, Mr. Haeil? Feeling better?”

Assistant Manager Son asked while watching my expression.

“Yes. I feel like… my mind has become incredibly quiet.”

“That’s how it should be. That’s the side effect.”

Go Gyeol already seemed to have lost interest.

He returned to his desk and pulled out the handkerchief once more.

He began cleaning a corner of the desk.

“You have your equipment. Get out. I hate breathing the contaminated air of the Extraction Hall.”

The moment he issued that dismissal, Assistant Manager Son gently pushed my shoulder and led me toward the exit.

Just before the door closed, I looked back.

The white room.

The white suit.

And that gray-eyed man who seemed to have died inside long ago.

Once again, he was submerged in silence, obsessively cleaning the desk as though trying to erase all the filth from this company.

He looked like someone desperately trying to remove something that could never be cleaned away.

“…Come on, Mr. Haeil. It’s time to see a genuine Grade A dimensional entity.”

At the sound of Assistant Manager Son’s voice, I turned my head.

On my wrist, the Relics of the Smiling Martyr, redder than blood, pulsed with a constant coldness.

==========

[Security Team Prototype Management Record: Prototype-014]

Product Name: The Relics of the Smiling Martyr

Assigned User: Employee Jeong Haeil, Extraction Team 1

Approved By: Director Go Gyeol, Audit Team

[Product Summary]

Manufactured from the remains of Manager ■, who died during the containment failure of A-6 (Mercy That Crawls Low) while retaining his sanity and a smile until the very end.

A mental-defense sensory-blocking device designed to compensate for the limitations of cognitive filtering equipment.

[Capabilities and Mechanism]

Sensory Immunity

Before external cognitive interference (fear, reverence, the sensation of an overwhelming presence) reaches the amygdala, the nervous system receives a partial shock and becomes numbed, blocking the reaction itself.

Pain Sublimation

When the user suffers physical or mental damage, the residual will contained within the relics forcibly relaxes the nervous system, causing the user to interpret pain as a feeling of calm.

[Reasons for Prototype Classification]

Nervous System Invasion

Prolonged use allows bone dust to enter through the pores and into the bloodstream, synchronizing the user’s pulse with the heartbeat of the relics.

There is a risk of developing permanent emotional numbness.

Paralysis of the Fear Mechanism

Since fear, an essential survival mechanism, becomes disabled, the likelihood increases that the user will die while feeling peaceful even as their body is being destroyed.

(Note: Most employees in Test No. 23 died with smiles on their faces.)

Cleaning Obsession

According to Director Go Gyeol, if the relics come into contact with tears, their cognitive filtering ability decreases drastically and, conversely, the user’s mind may become contaminated.

Impossibility of Obtaining Raw Material (Primary Reason)

Only a single martyr ever provided these remains.

The available amount of bone dust is extremely limited.

No additional units can be manufactured, and once the existing ones are exhausted, they cannot be reproduced.

(Note: Cancel the mass-production martyr project.)

[User Warnings]

When worn on the wrist or neck, the user will initially experience a sharp pain similar to having their nerves amputated.

Shortly afterward, they will experience the sensation that the air around them has sunk into absolute silence.

This is part of the normal synchronization process and should be maintained.

==========

“Assistant Manager Son, it says here that the reason it’s a prototype is the impossibility of obtaining raw materials…”

“It means exactly that. Those bones were all that remained.”

“I see… there wasn’t enough bone dust.”

“To make more, we’d have to deliberately let A-6 out of the containment cell and somehow get someone to become a smiling martyr without being contaminated. It’s far too inefficient, don’t you think?”

“Instead of processing a workplace accident claim, do they hand the corpse over to the Refinement Division?”

“Easy, easy. You don’t seem like the type of person who’d end up becoming a martyr, Mr. Haeil.”