Chapter 33: A Thrilling Afternoon Tea in the Executive Director’s Office (2)

“Good! Then how about we move on to something that will be a little more useful for your work?”

Executive Director Gu clapped softly.

A strange resonance spread across the table.

It was not a sound that struck my skin.

It was a sound that penetrated directly beneath it.

Something resembling laughter escaped once more from somewhere inside his body.

And then, looking ahead, he spoke.

“Excellent, excellent. It would be better if another human explained this. Manager Moon Ara, could you explain it to our Employee Jeong Haeil, who is so full of love for the company?”

“Yes, Executive Director.”

Those strange eyes had unsettled me from the very beginning, but it seemed she really was human.

Manager Moon Ara smiled softly.

After politely inclining her head, she slowly turned her body toward me.

Her lips, which had just been drinking coffee.

The completely empty cup.

And the long white braid falling behind her lightly brushed against the glass surface of the table.

She looked directly at me.

She was smiling.

But her eyes were not smiling.

No.

I was not even sure she was truly smiling.

Her white iris and inverted left eye gleamed even without the light touching them.

My gaze became trapped in them for a moment.

I felt as though I should not lie in front of those eyes.

“You really know nothing.”

She said in a gentle voice.

As if she were slightly disappointed.

And also mildly amused.

“Well, I suppose Extraction Team 1 only needs to be good at extracting things.”

Before I could even think of how to respond, she smiled again.

Very slightly.

Barely a millimeter.

And then she spoke.

“The Anomalous Disaster Management Department, the Church of the Coming Feast, and the Alliance of Erosion.”

When that quiet voice rang out, silence spread throughout the room.

Even Executive Director Gu stopped making noise.

“In the future, you will also have to go on external missions, Mr. Haeil. Those are the three organizations the company warns you to be careful of during operations outside the premises.”

I repeated those names in my mind.

The Anomalous Disaster Management Department.

An organization I had heard about several times and one that Executive Director Gu had just explained to me.

An unofficial government agency that inevitably came into conflict with our company.

The Church of the Coming Feast and the Alliance of Erosion also sounded vaguely familiar.

They were names I had heard from that man in the endless hallway.

Yeom Hwi.

I asked cautiously.

“What exactly does it mean that I need to be careful of them?”

Manager Moon Ara did not answer immediately.

Instead, she watched me for several seconds.

Then she pointed at my coffee cup.

“You can hear this after taking another sip. It’s still warm, isn’t it?”

I froze for a moment before lifting the cup.

The aroma had already cooled.

But the temperature was still warm.

Just as she had said.

The perfect temperature to maintain fear.

Only after confirming that I had taken a sip did Moon Ara softly open her mouth.

“The nature of those three groups is different. The Anomalous Disaster Management Department represents containment and control. The Church of the Coming Feast represents worship and expansion. And the Alliance of Erosion represents attachment and obsession.”

She took a small breath at the end of each sentence.

Pronouncing each meaning clearly.

As if merely speaking those names was a kind of incantation capable of summoning something.

Only after my cup had returned to the table did she speak again.

Her voice remained soft and calm.

But the weight contained within her words was deeper than any sound.

“You already have a general idea of what the Anomalous Disaster Management Department is, so we will skip it. I’ll start with the Church of the Coming Feast. It may be a somewhat uncomfortable topic for you, Mr. Haeil.”

She was still smiling.

Although it was barely noticeable.

“They are a cult.”

She paused briefly.

“More precisely, a religious organization that believes in the end of the world.”

She inhaled very lightly.

As though she were about to place the sweetest and most perfect delicacy upon the tip of her tongue.

For an instant, a strange passion passed through those white irises that normally remained cold.

“They worship ■■■.”

“They worship ■■■.”

That was when it happened.

My ears became blocked.

I had heard the words.

But I could not say I had truly heard them.

I saw her lips move.

The voice reached my ears.

But the sound shattered before it could become meaning inside my head.

“What did you just say…?”

I asked involuntarily.

Moon Ara maintained exactly the same expression and repeated it once more.

“■■■.”

“■■■.”

This time it was clearer.

It penetrated deeper.

More directly.

Into my brain.

At that instant, my vision exploded.

Crack!

The blood vessels before my eyes burst.

The tip of my nose burned.

And then the blood appeared.

Drip.

Blood began to flow from my left nostril.

No.

Even before that, tears of blood were already pouring from my left eye.

Instinctively, I lowered my head.

“Ugh…!”

I covered my nose and eye with my hand.

I couldn’t think about anything.

It wasn’t exactly pain.

It was as if something were wrapping around my skull and then letting go.

Executive Director Gu let out a brief exclamation.

“My. Are you alright, Employee Jeong Haeil? What a waste. What a true shame.”

Only then did Moon Ara tilt her head slightly.

“…Ah.”

A brief exclamation.

For the first time, her eyes wavered slightly.

“Sorry. For the structure of a human being, it’s still difficult to hear that name directly. Call him the Locust King.”

The Locust King.

This time, it was fine.

I could accept it with my ears, my brain, and my perception.

Even so, the resonance of that name was heavy and sharp, as if I had swallowed metal.

Moon Ara extended a hand and gently pushed a napkin toward me.

“Stop the bleeding first.”

I slowly wiped the blood from my nose and eye.

One of my eyes became blurry.

It wasn’t that I was losing my vision.

It was as if the world were changing to another color.

Moon Ara continued speaking calmly.

“The Locust King exists. However, he does not exist in this world. He is waiting for the moment when he can cross over here. The Church of the Coming Feast calls that the ‘Second Coming.’”

With her left hand, she gently held her right wrist.

She wasn’t stroking her cheek or playing with her hair.

It was more as if she were checking her own pulse.

“They do things that humans cannot imagine. And there is only one reason why.”

Her voice showed not the slightest agitation.

It was calm.

Quiet.

So soft that cold sweat ran down the back of my neck.

“To attract the attention of the Locust King.”

“They burn people, alter bodies, bring down civilizations, and mix races.”

“All under the belief that they are doing it for the Locust King.”

“If they did not have that faith, they could never do it.”

“That is why they are, in essence, a cult.”

She looked at me once more.

This time, the corners of her lips rose a little higher.

She was smiling “much” more than before.

Probably about 2 millimeters.

“There are also employees who infiltrated that organization to gather information and never returned.”

I couldn’t tell whether that smile was sadness, pride, or something that was neither.

While wiping the blood from my nose and eye,

I finally caught my breath and looked at Manager Moon Ara.

She was no longer smiling.

But somehow, she seemed warmer than before.

“…Can I ask just one question?”

“Ask.”

My vision was still somewhat blurry.

Even so, I felt that if I didn’t ask now, I would never get another chance.

“That Locust King… what exactly is it? You said the Church of the Coming Feast is trying to bring him back, but I don’t even know what kind of existence he is.”

Moon Ara blinked softly with her right eye and nodded.

Slowly.

As if she had reacted long after I finished speaking.

“The Locust King, to put it simply, is an extremely dangerous dimensional entity. He is the lord of consumption and eradication.”

“Eradication?”

“To eliminate. An existence that devours in order to make things disappear and swallows in order to erase.”

She tilted her head slightly and observed me for a moment before placing a finger on the table.

Then she slowly dragged the tip of her nail across the surface.

It left no mark.

Yet she did it with the care of someone cutting something with a blade.

“He is a primordial crack that has existed since the beginning. Something akin to the appetite that grows within every door, wall, border, and fissure in the world.”

Moon Ara’s voice was very calm.

But it carried a soft, viscous weight.

“He eats everything and digests everything. Once the Locust King swallows you, everything is over.”

“…Could he be considered a divine existence?”

Moon Ara let out a small laugh.

This time, a genuine laugh.

“Yes. You’re intelligent. The Church of the Coming Feast calls that ‘salvation.’ You like salvation too, don’t you, Mr. Haeil?”

For an instant, I froze.

I didn’t understand.

“Being devoured… is salvation?”

“Yes. They believe this world is suffering. Living is a sin, and human beings are the sum of all sins. Since the Locust King devours and eliminates all of that, to them it is salvation.”

Moon Ara left the sentence hanging and took a sip of water.

It was a calm movement.

As if this kind of conversation were completely normal during the company’s tea hours.

“That is why the Church of the Coming Feast also creates what they call sacred vessels. Containers intended to hold fragments of the Locust King. A desperate act to hasten the arrival of salvation, even if only a little.”

“Fragments…?”

“Not exactly fragments. More like something resembling a mouth.”

Her voice grew softer.

“A gigantic mouth. A crack that fell from beyond the dimensions.”

I listened to those impossible-to-imagine words in a daze.

And yet, an image began to form in my mind.

A gigantic mouth.

An immense mouth in the darkness, endlessly devouring everything.

“There are words that can only be heard within that mouth. Humans who hear them and disappear become pilgrims.”

Moon Ara lowered her gaze slightly.

“Some of them even end up transforming into locusts with human forms. Members of a locust swarm that devours everything that exists.”

After saying that, she looked at me again.

“There are locusts among the cult’s apostles as well. The apostles are beings who have served the Locust King for a very long time. You should be careful of them.”

“……”

“Is it still too early to talk about this? You don’t need to worry too much. For now, you’re only crying blood.”

This time, the corner of her lips clearly rose.

About 3 millimeters.

I carefully picked up the coffee cup and took another sip.

It had gone cold.

It was unpleasantly lukewarm.

Moon Ara set her glass down on the table and watched me for a long time.

That gaze was neither pressure nor coercion.

But it still made me want to look away.

And then she asked as naturally as possible.

“Well, is there anything else you’d like to know about the Church of the Coming Feast?”

Her tone really was.

As normal as asking a coworker you haven’t seen in a long time whether they had eaten yet.

I exhaled briefly and shook my head.

“…No. I don’t have any more questions.”

“I see.”

Moon Ara picked up her cup again.

It was completely empty.

Executive Director Gu emitted a sound of dissatisfaction from somewhere within his abdomen and opened the mouth that seemed attached to him.

“The Locust King! An existence that understands nothing about gastronomy. A rude tyrant. Very rude, in fact.”

Moon Ara smiled softly at those words.

She gently rotated the cup and said,

“Then there is only one final organization left.”

She set the cup down on the table and changed her posture.

She neatly folded both hands over her knees and looked directly at me again.

“The Alliance of Erosion.”

The moment she spoke those words, her voice became a little firmer.

Just a little.

“They are simply a gathering of fools.”

I blinked slightly upon hearing that.

Moon Ara’s tone was still gentle.

But her choice of words was anything but light.

“They are not the government. Nor are they a proper organization. They are simply weak and lost people who ended up gathering together by chance.”

She let out a small sigh.

It was not the sigh of someone who was tired.

It was more like the sigh of someone who despises or dislikes something.

Moon Ara set down her cup once more and slowly ran her fingertips along the rim.

It made no sound.

But there was a serenity characteristic of someone who had already reached a conclusion.

“Most members of the Alliance of Erosion are victims.”

She said it calmly.

“People trapped in strange phenomena. People who lost something important. People who are desperately struggling to get it back.”

I remained silent and nodded slightly.

Without stopping the movement of her hand, she continued.

“Others claim that their goal is research. They say they are curious about the phenomena and want to understand their structure.”

“Research?”

“When they start believing they understand something, they keep going deeper and deeper. And in the end, they can no longer return.”

Even then, she did not raise her voice.

At times, she spoke so softly and quietly that she seemed incapable of inspiring fear.

“And there are also those little citizens who try to use anomalous phenomena as tools to obtain something.”

I asked involuntarily.

“To obtain what?”

“Revenge. Healing. Validation. Insignificant goals built upon broken egos, such as wanting to prove to the world that they were right all along.”

She set down her cup and tilted her head slightly.

“Of course, I understand them. I know very well where people seek support when their lives collapse.”

She paused briefly.

Then she slightly raised the corner of her lips.

That smile was strangely cold.

“But have you ever thought about how absurd it is to hate the earth because an earthquake killed your family? Or to resent the sea because a tsunami took away everything you had?”

Her eyes turned toward me.

The inverted left eye glowed faintly.

As if it could see even the hidden thoughts inside me.

“That is still just a phenomenon. Like weather or gravity. By themselves, they are neither good nor evil. Hating them and fighting against them only ends up destroying yourself.”

“But some dimensional entities possess consciousness and reason, don’t they? If someone suffered harm caused by one of those entities…”

“Cows, pigs, and chickens also possess consciousness and reason. And humans consume them without any problem.”

Moon Ara’s white fingers slowly traced the smooth rim of the empty cup.

The fact that it was completely empty did not affect her elegant manners in the slightest.

“In the end, the Alliance of Erosion is a group that devours itself. They do not fight external disasters nor try to protect themselves. They simply collapse from within.”

And finally, she added with a calm smile.

“Some even call that willpower. Sadly.”

I remained silent.

She watched me for a moment and then continued speaking with a faint smile.

“They say they are victims of anomalous phenomena, but in reality they are just people incapable of controlling their emotions who throw themselves headfirst into everything. Like children who believe that if they try desperately enough, all their problems will be solved.”

That was when it happened.

Without lowering my head, I slightly averted my gaze.

My mouth remained closed.

But something small and quiet began to emerge within me.

‘Even so.’

They were victims too.

They had lost something as well.

They were probably abandoned without receiving any help.

And in the end, they simply clung to the only thing they had left.

How could she speak about them so easily?

It was not rebellion.

It was more like compassion.

The Alliance of Erosion.

What appeared in my mind was a notebook wrapped in plastic, an old photograph stuck to a refrigerator, and the face of someone forever trapped in a time devoured by the anomalous.

Moon Ara seemed to notice the slight change in my expression.

She raised the corner of her lips ever so slightly.

“Do you find them pitiful?”

I did not answer.

Moon Ara watched me for a few moments.

Then she looked away and gazed at the ceiling.

Her white irises remained motionless.

But it seemed as though her thoughts were very far away.

“From the beginning, they touched something they could never have endured.”

She fell silent for a moment.

And then calmly added.

“People who cannot even control their own lives, pretending to study dimensional entities and anomalous phenomena.”

She paused briefly.

Then she added in a low voice.

“In a sense, they are more fanatical than the cult itself and more dangerous than the Anomalous Disaster Management Department.”

I did not fully understand the meaning of those words.

But I decided not to ask for now.

Moon Ara looked at me one last time.

This time with a very faint smile.

“You will discover why they are dangerous someday. And if, when that moment comes, you are still capable of looking at them with the same compassion, then you will be a truly extraordinary person.”

Afterward, she looked away and slowly lifted the empty cup once more.

Amid the brief silence, only the measured ticking of the clock could be heard.

Moon Ara spoke softly.

“Feeling sorry for them will not change the world. Do you want to change?”