Chapter 8: We’re Really Going to Fight That?

After that long introduction with Supervisor Shik ended.

I spent the time reviewing the company computer in an attempt to survive a boss who casually threw around summarized versions of manuals.

When a period of relative calm passed, Manager Myeon was the first to rise from his seat.

“It’s already time to head out. Everyone start wrapping things up. Employee Jeong, tomorrow you’ll inspect Sector B. Supervisor Shik, take Employee Jeong and do the tour slowly.”

At Manager Myeon’s words, Supervisor Shik let out a deep growl.

That vibration seemed to transmit directly through my bones and was so heavy I could practically trace the path of what I had eaten for breakfast inside my stomach.

However, Manager Myeon simply nodded at that roar, and Assistant Manager Son also chimed in as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Sounds good. Sector B has been pretty stable lately. If Employee Jeong doesn’t go in now, then when will he? Manager, then I’ll head out first. Mr. Haeil, see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, see you tomorrow.”

“Take care. Employee Jeong, you should head home too. Good work.”

“Yes. Then I’ll be leaving as well.”

I forced a smile while leaving the office and opening the door as I listened to the voices behind me.

When I opened a door that somehow felt familiar, my room was on the other side.

As always, half-dried clothes hanging up, dim lighting, boxes piled in one corner, and a shirt carelessly tossed onto the bed.

The clock on the wall read 6:42 p.m.

“…At least we get off work early.”

I muttered to myself.

The only positive opinion I could calmly express about that company.

I tossed my backpack somewhere and turned on the shower.

The moment the water touched my body, it felt as though all my muscles melted instantly.

After fainting in the morning, spending the whole day with monsters, reciting poems in front of inhuman entities, and attempting to converse with a chained beast, even the warmth of water felt like a blessing.

When I finished showering, I roughly dried my hair with a towel and collapsed onto the bed.

The sheets were still damp and the room unpleasantly humid.

But it didn’t matter.

Little by little, I replayed everything that had happened today.

— So Haeil, what was your specialty?

Hand Head.

I still had trouble accepting that his head was literally a hand, but perhaps he was the most normal person (?) I had seen so far.

At least he could speak and hold a conversation.

— I’ll remember you. Now that you’ve become part of my lineage, I hope you survive for a long time.

Manager Batori.

Her appearance seemed like the result of concentrating every possible form of human beauty.

Of course, all of that was nothing more than a lie covered by a brilliant façade.

The cheeks opening.

The mouth tearing apart.

The eyes rippling like blood.

And that gaze with which she seemed to slowly savor something inside me.

— You are looking at me. I am looking at you. We resemble one another.

D-7.

The Murmur of the Anemone.

The three enormous anemones blooming from the sockets and mouth of that severed head.

The phrase that did not appear in the manual echoing from the deepest part of my subconscious.

Fortunately, I didn’t repeat it.

More precisely, fortunately I was capable of not repeating it.

And finally.

— Grrrrrr…

Supervisor Shik.

It wasn’t something pretending to be a beast.

It was a beast desperately struggling to imitate a person.

A gigantic beast dragging chains.

‘And I’m going to go out working in a pair with that thing?’

Unfortunately, that was now my daily life.

I pulled the blanket all the way up to my chin.

Today was not just a simple attempt at escape.

Batori’s drink, Supervisor Shik’s chains, Assistant Manager Son’s movements, and finally, the scene of my first extraction fragmented and embedded themselves one after another inside my head.

“…Go to sleep.”

Silence.

The apartment refrigerator made a small Click! before falling quiet again.

That sound was the only thing that still seemed normal in this world.

***

The next morning, going to work was still quick and cruel.

The moment I opened the office door, those familiar scenes no, scenes I should never become accustomed to entered my sight.

Manager Myeon simultaneously turning his seven faces.

Assistant Manager Son waving the fist he had for a head.

Manager Batori shining with her blood-colored eyes amidst silent muteness.

And, in one corner of the office, the gigantic Supervisor Shik shaking out a rag while moving his shoulders.

“Good morning.”

I maintained a calm expression while greeting them politely.

Social life in this place was directly tied to survival.

Manager Myeon smiled kindly.

“Good morning, Employee Jeong. Today will also be a wonderful day.”

One of his mouths yawned while another smiled without being able to close.

“Morning greetings are the most important thing.”

Assistant Manager Son cheerfully opened and closed his fist in greeting while adding that.

Manager Batori remained seated, barely moving her gaze.

Her neck tilted elegantly, and from the corner of my eye I could see the mouth attached near her protruding collarbone.

“Hehe today you also have a good complexion.”

I didn’t know whether that was simple courtesy or if she was asking for blood donation rights.

And then, beside her.

Supervisor Shik rose from his seat while dragging the chains clinking across his back.

Even hunched over, his 2.5-meter frame barely fit beneath the ceiling.

He slowly turned his head toward me.

Between the black fur covering his entire body, the golden eyes blinked.

“Grrrrrr— grrrr, huuuurrr…”

I froze once again.

That wasn’t language.

It wasn’t a curse or a cry, but something resembling the sigh of a dead god coming from some impossible place.

But the real problem was,

‘W… what the hell did he say?’

A greeting? Did he ask if I was ready? Or if I arrived late? Don’t tell me he asked whether I was hungry.

Thousands of thoughts raced through my head.

And I simply went for it.

If I spoke timidly, my voice would be buried beneath that monstrous breathing, so I answered decisively.

“Y-Yes, I’m ready!”

Supervisor Shik stopped.

Every gaze in the office fixed on me for an instant.

‘…Did… I mess up?’

Did I say something weird?

If I can’t even understand him, what am I supposed to do?

Are they going to devour me right here?

Just as I was beginning to mentally say goodbye to the world.

Supervisor Shik nodded.

Slowly, very slowly.

“Grrrrrr…”

A deep growl, as though satisfied.

Assistant Manager Son let out a chuckle beside him.

“Well, this is nice. Everyone’s full of energy from early in the morning.”

Supervisor Shik lightly growled toward him and began walking first.

Thunk.

His enormous body struck the doorframe as he left the office.

The huge figure wrapped in rags, the chains dragging along the floor, and the sound of his mane scraping the ceiling.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to follow him?”

Manager Batori’s voice made me involuntarily shudder.

I immediately regained control.

I stiffly straightened my back and began following Supervisor Shik.

The hallway was dark and silent.

The two of us or rather, Supervisor Shik’s shadow completely covered the walls.

Supervisor Shik walked directly ahead of me, slowly dragging his chains.

Office life among monsters who spoke far too well and a supervisor with whom I couldn’t even communicate.

‘Will I survive until next week? Probably. Please.’

At that moment, Supervisor Shik slowly turned his head.

I reacted instantly, relaxing my face and slightly raising the corners of my lips.

Social skills are a survival weapon.

And I have no intention of losing them.

***

The moment the system recognized Supervisor Shik’s presence, the extraction area door at the end of the hallway automatically opened.

The unlocking sound was long and heavy, like steel plates groaning.

Supervisor Shik slightly turned his head.

I instantly scanned his breathing, the tension in his fur, and the direction of his gaze before immediately responding.

“Ah-ah, understood!”

“Grrrr…”

Supervisor Shik let out a satisfied snort.

I had no idea what it meant, but apparently I had answered correctly.

His enormous shadow, even larger than before, entered the hallway first.

What appeared before us was a place far too immense to simply describe as “containment rooms.”

The structure had towering ceilings and perfectly aligned metal columns.

Hundreds of tubes and injectors ran across the ceiling.

Each chamber was marked with glowing red signs and numbers, and behind the dark glass something could be seen moving slowly.

— Tomorrow will be the inspection of Sector B. Supervisor Shik, take Employee Jeong and do the tour slowly.

I remembered the words Manager Myeon had said before leaving yesterday and also the orientation document I read on the first day.

Roughly speaking.

Class D entities were common-category entities, extractable by anyone who followed the rules.

From Class C onward, they were considered dangerous entities, with high physical and mental damage potential.

Class B were high-risk entities, where death was practically inevitable unless you were a veteran or an executive.

Class A were special hazards capable of destroying the entire company.

And finally, the unknown Class ■.

‘So the place we’re going to now contains the most dangerous entities a normal employee can approach.’

Maybe I won’t even survive until next week.

Every time Supervisor Shik took a step, the metal floor rumbled heavily.

Beside each metal door were panels with codes.

B-3, B-4, B-5…

I stopped beside Supervisor Shik.

[Containment Room B-6]

Entity Name: Bell of the Void

Entity Code: B-6

Type: Object

Details: Periodic vocalization / Distortion of temporal perception / Exposure to sound prohibited during extraction

‘Exposure to sound prohibited?’

As I quickly read the information attached to the door, Supervisor Shik extended one of his fur-covered arms and lightly struck the control panel.

The movement was surprisingly precise and familiar.

The heavy chamber door slowly opened, revealing the interior.

Inside was an enormous ancient bell.

It was rusted, but the metallic surface vibrated slightly as though it had a heartbeat.

It didn’t seem to have anything particularly strange about it.

Except for the fact that it floated in the air without hanging from anything and that the inside of the bell appeared to be an absolute darkness impossible to see through.

Then—

Dooong.

Something softly resonated inside my head.

I didn’t know whether it was a vibration or an auditory hallucination.

A deep and heavy sound, like a hammer striking a metal plate from somewhere beneath the ground.

My vision immediately swayed.

The hallway lights seemed to oscillate and the walls tilted.

“Grrr!”

Supervisor Shik roared while stepping forward.

One of his enormous fur-covered arms shoved me backward, and with the other he pressed the emergency button beside the chamber, instantly sealing the soundproof bulkhead.

“…Hah… hah…!”

I staggered back, gasping.

A strange sensation still floated inside my head.

As though I had forgotten the passage of time.

I could barely remember what I had been doing a few seconds ago.

Supervisor Shik growled while turning toward me.

“Grrr… gruuugh?”

“Eh? Ah… yes. I didn’t hear anything. Completely silent. There was no problem.”

“Grrr.”

Supervisor Shik nodded in satisfaction.

Still dazed, I stepped back beside him once more.

My body remained drenched in cold sweat, but Supervisor Shik was already walking toward the next chamber.

The chains crashed loudly against the hallway floor.

‘Even if we can’t communicate, he’s very good at his job.’

I forcibly organized my thoughts that way while carefully following Supervisor Shik toward the second chamber.

Supervisor Shik stopped in front of it.

On the wall was a massive red seal engraved with letters so sharp they made my brow furrow.

[Containment Room B-8]

Entity Name: The Butcher’s Reverse

Entity Code: B-8

Type: Biological

Details: Sensitive to light / Auditory stimulation prohibited / Physical suppression effective

My gaze, calmly reading the summary, stopped at the final line.

I slowly turned my head.

‘Physical suppression?’

At the same time, Supervisor Shik slowly moved his gigantic body.

The fangs hanging from his jaws looked as though they were about to touch the floor.

When he placed his palm against the small mechanical panel, the chamber door slowly began opening.

The interior was as black as an overexposed photographic film.

The only light source was a dim red emergency light falling from above.

Something writhed inside.

The sound of something resembling skin dragging scratched against my bones.

The moment Supervisor Shik entered, the chamber door automatically closed behind him with a heavy Clank.

I held my breath while watching through the glass.

In the almost absolute darkness, Supervisor Shik’s silhouette vaguely moved.

And then I saw it.

Something.

A grotesque shape, like an insect stretching out its limbs, emerged crawling from the other side of the wall.

Its entire body seemed covered in tiny tongues the size of fingers.

It turned its head toward where I stood.

At that instant, Supervisor Shik lunged forward.

His enormous body moved like a shadow and the metal walls trembled.

The collision of monster against monster.

“Grrrrr—!!”

Supervisor Shik roared like a beast.

At a speed impossible for something his size, he slammed the entity’s torso with one of his enormous arms and seized the back of its neck with his gigantic claws.

The disgusting sound of flesh tearing apart.

The flesh of that creature, writhing like tongues, was violently ripped apart between Supervisor Shik’s hands.

“——————!!”

The entity screamed.

Or more precisely, emitted something resembling a scream.

The mouthless face covered in tongues vibrated violently, scattering strange waves.

Supervisor Shik’s enormous fur-covered hand fell again.

BOOM!

The chamber walls shook.

The claws pierced through the entity’s shoulder and brutally pinned it to the floor.

The tongues crawling like veins tore away together with chunks of flesh and dropped onto the ground.

“Graaaah—Rrrrrr——!!!”

The entity writhed violently.

A cluster of tongues burst from its back and coiled around Supervisor Shik’s arm, beginning to squeeze his bones.

Strangely, I could perfectly imagine that sensation.

Something soft, wet, and unnatural.

But Supervisor Shik simply shook his arm as though it were nothing.

Crack, snap.

The mass of tongues tore apart, crushed by the force of his muscles.

Mucus and thick dark red liquid splattered everywhere, staining Supervisor Shik’s face, fangs, and fur.

Then he raised his other hand.

No blades or tools.

Only living flesh armed with claws the size of daggers.

With that, he opened the entity’s chest and tore it apart.

The flesh split open and a sticky mass of organs spilled onto the floor.

Those entrails covered in tongues began crawling as though alive.

Supervisor Shik crushed them beneath his paws.

And then he released a deep sound resembling a sigh.

With the noise of chains dragging, he slowly stood up.

The blackish-red blood soaked the rag he wore and slowly dripped down.

When he turned toward me, he moved a dial using his tail.

At the sight of that grotesque golden glow, I instinctively stepped back.

‘How the hell do they expect me to do that?’

I felt my chest tightening.

The temperature inside the chamber rapidly dropped, and the entity curled up like a withered plant.

And finally stopped moving.

A mechanical voice echoed from the chamber ceiling.

[Energy extraction completed. Target stabilized.]

Supervisor Shik slowly straightened up.

He casually shook off the blackish-red blood covering his body and released something resembling a faint smile.

Then the door opened.

My knees nearly gave out again.

“…That just now… was a Class B extraction job?”

“Grrgh.”

Supervisor Shik calmly walked out.

The chains echoed while his enormous figure stopped in the middle of the hallway.

I felt my mind completely blank.

So the famous extraction procedure simply consisted of physically beating the entity unconscious and then lowering the temperature?

‘How am I supposed to do that? Will I be able to if I get promoted?’

I weakly stared at the tablet while seriously thinking about it.

On the screen were only five words.

Physical suppression effective.

There were no detailed instructions or procedures.

After thinking deeply about it, I reached a conclusion.

This company is truly insane.