Chapter 31: Executive Director Gu, Head of the Product Production Division

Before the dust pouring from the collapsed wall could settle, a chill had already spread through the air.

Moon Ara.

She said my name.

And smiled at me.

It was a genuine smile.

A strangely peaceful smile, free of threat or caution.

‘Did she say she came to rescue me?’

My mind was a mess.

Did Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts know that I had been dragged here?

How?

It wasn’t even working hours.

My body reacted on its own.

My heart was pounding wildly somewhere inside my chest.

Relief and fear intertwined into an emotion I couldn’t understand.

For now, I took a step forward.

Toward Moon Ara.

“Mr. Jeong Haeil.”

Click.

That familiar sensation of weight returned to my head once again.

The cold touch of metal pressed against my left temple.

It was Seo Ryu.

Without the slightest hesitation, she had drawn her weapon and aimed it at my head again.

“Do not move.”

It was not a warning.

Nor a request.

The barrel remained motionless.

It seemed as though she wouldn’t even allow me to take a deep breath.

Instinctively, I froze.

My heart sank.

“……”

Moon Ara tilted her head slightly.

Her white braid slid gently over her shoulder.

“He is one of our employees. Don’t you think you’re treating him a little too rudely?”

Her tone was playful and calm.

And yet, it sent a chill through me.

The corners of her lips were raised.

But her white eyes, which were not smiling at all, swept across everyone present as though scanning them.

Seo Ryu’s gun remained exactly where it was.

Without trembling in the slightest.

Still aimed directly at my temple.

“Team Leader, what do we do?”

she asked in a low, rigid voice.

Moon Ara slowly erased her smile.

The corners of her lips lowered.

Her gaze turned cold.

Yeom Hwi let out a calm sigh.

Taking a small step forward, he kept his pistol aimed at Moon Ara while speaking.

“Right now, she’s the priority.”

A firm voice.

But beneath it, there was something restrained.

Moon Ara raised a hand and brushed her hair back.

Her coat made of human skin produced a soft rustling sound.

One of the faces embedded in it curled its lips into a faint smile.

As if mocking the entire farce.

Alarms rang in my head.

The weapons.

The Presence.

Their expressions.

Everything was directed at one another.

As always, I was the only one awkwardly trapped in the middle.

‘…And my opinion doesn’t matter?’

It was my life on the line.

And yet, I had absolutely no authority over the decision.

A tragedy that felt far too familiar.

What was the most rational choice here?

Stay still and get shot?

Move, be misunderstood, and get shot?

Or…?

‘Disarm Seo Ryu right now?’

I carefully raised my hand.

Very slowly.

Making sure not to touch the barrel pressing against my temple.

Trying to delay her reaction as much as possible.

‘If not now, then never.’

At that moment, Manager Moon Ara spoke.

“We’ll be taking our employee. You…”

She gently raised the corners of her lips and tilted her head slightly.

Before she could even finish her sentence, the air in the room began compressing unnaturally.

She slowly raised both hands.

Delicate wrists emerged from beneath her white sleeves.

A faint floral fragrance spread throughout the room.

With that gentle scent drifting through the air, she extended her left hand toward the floor.

With her right, she raised only her index and middle fingers as though they were a blade.

She drew a downward slash through the air.

Then twisted her fingers at a grotesque angle, as though tying something invisible.

‘Something…’

was wrong.

My instincts were screaming at me to run.

But something far more terrifying than Seo Ryu’s gun held my ankles in place.

“Play with this.”

BOOM!

The wall through which she had entered.

The darkness beyond it rippled.

KUUUUUAAAAAA—

A grotesque pulse.

Twisted.

Sounding like a scream.

Sobbing Flesh.

A red, black, and pale wave made of tangled soft skin surged toward us.

‘What the hell is that?’

Something Moon Ara had brought with her.

A wave of pure existence, devoid of emotions or intent.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yeom Hwi and Seo Ryu simultaneously raised their weapons and began firing at the torrent of flesh rushing toward them.

There was not the slightest hesitation in their shots.

Bullets tore through the air.

Chunks of flesh exploded and were ripped away.

But they regenerated.

They swelled.

They covered themselves over.

They grew larger.

The more the gunfire pierced the air, the more gigantic the darkness became.

Moon Ara slowly walked toward me.

Not even the gunfire could stop her steps.

I swallowed hard as I looked into her eyes.

White irises.

Black sclerae.

Smiling lips.

And the hand she extended toward me.

A hand that was excessively white, clean, and soft.

“Shall we go, Employee Jeong Haeil?”

Unable to believe what I was seeing, I stared fixedly at that hand.

Was it really a saving hand?

But I had no time to look back.

The moment my hand took hers—

Flap!

Moon Ara’s coat.

That thing covered in human skin.

Suddenly twisted as though it were alive.

RIIIP.

And swallowed me whole.

Something hot and damp enveloped me.

And for that briefest of instants, my body fell into darkness.

***

Blegh!

Something with a metallic smell filled my mouth.

It was the slimy sound of the thing that had swallowed me spitting me back out.

Bang!

First my back.

Then my hip.

Then my knees.

And finally my head.

Slamming into the ground over and over, I ended up crashing onto the floor.

“Ugh…”

I didn’t know what was in my mouth, but I spat it out anyway.

I coughed repeatedly for quite a while.

Supporting myself with one hand, I stood up and looked around.

The scene before my eyes felt familiar.

“The company…?”

A landscape that was far too familiar.

A desk filled with flowerpots.

A desk covered in blood.

An elegant Gothic-style desk.

A chaotically cluttered desk.

And finally, a perfectly organized desk.

It was the office of Extraction Team 1.

There was no way to mistake it.

It was obvious.

This was exactly the same place I came to work every day.

“Oh. As expected, it’s our Haeil.”

A familiar voice.

A low, indifferent voice.

Strangely tired, yet unexpectedly warm.

“Assistant Manager Son?”

When I turned my head, I saw Assistant Manager Son applauding with both hands while manipulating his enormous fist-shaped head.

As always, he wore a gray suit with a red tie.

“You came back alive. Not bad.”

And behind him—

“Fufu, you returned safe and sound. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Manager Batori smiled elegantly as she brushed back her long silver hair.

“You’ve been through a lot. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

A voice carrying relief despite the smell of blood emanating from her body.

“Grrrrr… Krrr… Grrrk.”

Supervisor Shik let out a strange breath as he gently placed a fur-covered foreleg on my shoulder.

“You have worked hard, Employee Jeong Haeil.”

Director Mok’s calm voice echoed as countless green eyes clustered like frog spawn within wooden knots blinked at the same time.

“That is enough.”

And before all the words had even finished.

Heavy footsteps approached.

I pushed myself up on one knee and saw him standing before me.

Manager Myeon.

The same faces as always.

The same manner of speaking.

Yet Manager Myeon’s mere presence made the entire space feel heavier.

The seven faces silently looked at Moon Ara.

“Thank you, Manager Moon Ara. This time, we are the ones in your debt. It was a particularly unfortunate case.”

At those words, Moon Ara smiled sweetly and waved her hand.

In contrast to the unsettling nature of her inverted eyes, her voice was excessively gentle and modest.

“It was nothing. It merely coincided with an operation by the Security Team.”

“Thanks to you, we have not lost a valuable member of Extraction Team 1. We will repay this favor appropriately at a later date.”

Moon Ara smiled as though she was accustomed to such things and gently patted my shoulder.

“Well, you’re back now, Employee Jeong Haeil.”

“……”

I couldn’t say anything.

I was unable to comprehend or accept the reality before me.

But there was one thing that was certain.

Right now, I had returned to the company.

“Are you really alright?”

Manager Batori approached and carefully took my arm.

A faint scent of iron lingered on her fingertips.

Perhaps she had been handling blood until recently.

And yet, her touch felt warm.

“If you feel like you’re about to collapse, lie down right now. I can put a blanket over you on the sofa.”

“…No, I’m really fine.”

I forced the calmest smile I could manage.

I didn’t know if it actually looked like a smile.

But Manager Batori nodded with those red eyes glowing faintly.

“Being summoned to a Distorted Region truly was a misfortune.”

Director Mok patted my back with a hand made of roots and vines.

Although it hurt like hell, it strangely gave me strength.

“Grrrrrr.”

Supervisor Shik stepped closer as well.

Tap, tap.

He patted me as though stroking the head of a dazed puppy.

“Grooo… Krrrk.”

“……”

Assistant Manager Son said nothing.

He simply tapped my shoulder lightly with the back of his hand.

The emotion contained in that brief gesture was a silent welcome.

Everyone was sincerely welcoming me back.

It wasn’t normal at all.

And yet, these people—

No.

These entities were clearly welcoming me.

“Employee Jeong Haeil.”

A voice came from behind me.

Moon Ara’s voice was slightly lower than before.

Gentle, yet clearly drawing a line.

“I apologize for interrupting this emotional reunion, but there is something more important. When something strange happens within the company, it must first be reported to someone of high rank.”

I turned my head to look at her.

The white jacket.

The black shirt.

The long white braid.

The unreal white irises and black sclerae.

“…Yes.”

I asked nothing further.

I felt there was no time for it.

Moon Ara adjusted her human-skin coat and nodded.

“Follow me.”

We left the office and walked down the hallway.

A path I would normally have walked alone.

But this time, I was walking with someone else.

A silent corridor.

Beneath the dry fluorescent lights, Moon Ara’s shoes echoed with a steady rhythm.

After walking for quite some time, she stopped.

‘Office of the Executive Director of the Product Production Division?’

Flowerpots were lined up in front of the door like decorations.

And the door itself was decorated like the suite of a luxury hotel.

Golden frames.

Mother-of-pearl designs.

A gleaming doorknob.

Too luxurious.

Far too luxurious for this company.

Moon Ara stopped before the door.

She lightly rubbed her wrist, as though she were somewhat tense, and the fragrance spread once again.

“Alright. Let’s go in.”

Then she added in a very low voice.

“Oh, but.”

I looked at her profile.

A beautiful white face.

Yet I still couldn’t get used to the black sclera and white iris of her left eye.

“Don’t be surprised or disrespectful. Understood?”

“……”

I nodded.

Without fail.

“Good.”

The moment Moon Ara gently tapped the door with a finger—

“Ah, come in. Come in, please—”

A voice impossible to describe echoed out.

Strangely high-pitched.

Excessively cheerful.

Carrying a strange vibration, as though it were chewing something.

A tone so cheerful it was chilling.

And because of that, even more unpleasant.

Moon Ara opened the door.

“Come in.”

I took a deep breath.

Maintaining an expression as calm as possible, calmer than during any interview I had ever attended.

And the moment I crossed the threshold.

My feet stopped.

“……”

What appeared before my eyes was—

How should I put it?

Like an absurdly expensive nightmare.

The ceiling was covered in chandeliers.

The carpet was made of high-quality crimson-red velvet.

Every piece of furniture was crafted from mahogany.

And the walls were decorated with medieval-style portraits and documents written on parchment.

There were also prayers written in an unknown language carefully hung throughout the room.

And at the center of it all stood a desk.

A single nameplate.

[Executive Director of the Product Production Division / Executive Director Gu]

The golden letters shone brightly.

And behind that nameplate was—

Flesh.

A gigantic mass.

So obese it looked as though it might burst.

It wore a suit.

That mass was wearing a suit.

Its body clearly had a human shape.

Jacket.

Tie.

Shirt.

Enormous, obese arms and legs.

But there was something different.

‘It doesn’t have a head.’

There was nothing above the neck.

More precisely, there wasn’t even any trace that it had ever been cut off.

The surface where the head should have been was smooth, as though it had healed without ever feeling pain.

A mass of flesh crisscrossed by veins.

No surgical scars.

Simply nonexistent.

Naturally nonexistent.

“Ah, delighted, delighted. Delighted to meet you, Employee Jeong Haeil.”

A chilling voice.

Strangely clear and resonant.

“I’ve heard so much, so much about you. I’m happy, very happy. This is excellent, excellent.”

The voice came from the abdomen of that obese monster.

Between the buttons of his shirt, his enormous swollen belly subtly stirred.

It was definitely his stomach that was speaking, not his body.

“Please sit, please sit. Make yourself comfortable. It’s not such a rigid atmosphere. Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous.”

The voice came from the center of his abdomen.

From somewhere between dark, deformed folds.

The buttons of his shirt, stretched to their limit, rattled softly.

I was unable to move.

It felt as though my heart, suspended in a void, was sliding down my back together with the cold sweat.

Moon Ara calmly took a seat in the chair opposite him.

Behind her, the leather faces on her coat rippled slightly, as though they were mocking me.

“Ah, yes.”

Forcing my trembling legs to move, I sat down on the sofa across from him.

Then the monster shook his abdomen again as he spoke.

“Employee Jeong Haeil! Employee Jeong Haeil! I’ve heard so much about you. So very much. Excellent, excellent. It seems both Manager Myeon and Manager Batori are very fond of you.”

His belly smiled.

Yes.

Smiled.

That mass of flesh twisted, and a grotesque laugh seeped from between its folds.

“Khuhuhuhu— Puhaha! Ah, excuse me, excuse me. My stomach has been a little sensitive lately.”

“……”

A mass of flesh dressed in a suit.

A stomach that talked.

The light from the ceiling falling upon the place where his head should have been.

Of all the monsters I had seen so far, I had just met the existence that resembled a true corporate executive the most.