Stepping out of the break room, Lee Sooah walked down the hallway with a face full of anger.
“…Brother? What a load of bullshit. That guy’s completely insane.”
Leaning briefly against the wall, she pressed her fingers to her forehead and let out a deep sigh.
“Ah… It’s happening again.”
A sudden wave of headache.
At some point, whenever she talked about family, a mysterious headache would strike. Even at Tree, which boasted the world’s best medical facilities, no clear cause had been found, so she had half given up on finding an answer.
Fortunately, as long as she avoided discussions about her family, the symptoms didn’t appear, so she’d simply lived on, thinking it would get better someday.
But thanks to that damned administrator running his mouth, the pain was back again.
Holding her throbbing head, she went over the words that unfamiliar administrator had spoken.
— It’s me, Sooah . I’m your brother.
— Your mother’s name is Kim Young-ja. Your father’s name is Lee Wang-bok. The eldest son is Lee Taesung. The youngest daughter is Lee Sooah.
Lee Taeseong, the administrator dispatched from Korea.
Rank: Delta.
The man she had never seen before in her life, the moment he laid eyes on her, had immediately said—
— I’m your one and only brother, Lee Taeseong.
It was absurd.
Calling himself her brother when she had been left an orphan?
What a joke.
She had been an only child from the moment she was born. Her only blood relatives were the two parents who had showered their one and only daughter with boundless love.
And even they had passed away long ago in an unfortunate accident.
But now, a brother?
What, was this supposed to be some kind of lost sibling revelation?
She had met all sorts of lunatics as a Tree administrator, but this was a brand-new type of crazy.
‘Ripley syndrome? Or something like that?’
The only things she had in common with that crazy man were that they were both born in Korea and had the same surname.
A person incapable of distinguishing delusions from reality.
Sooah mentally classified Lee Taesung under the “delusional disorder” category, a file tucked away at the very end of her mental archive, and erased him from her thoughts.
The fact that he had even investigated her to try and turn his delusion into reality was downright creepy and infuriating, but…
Since he was still an administrator dispatched from another country and seemed to have a connection with the Yato siblings, she’d let it slide this once.
From experience, she knew people like that shouldn’t be given the slightest opening.
If even the smallest crack was left, they would fall back into their delusions and start obsessing again.
She absolutely did not want to get involved with him again. If they ever got assigned the same mission, she would do whatever it took to avoid him.
“Haah… I just got back, and it’s straight to work. This damn black company.”
The salary was high enough to make anyone’s eyes pop, but the workload was beyond imagination.
Every time she handled entity, she had to put her life on the line, and overtime and fieldwork were routine.
That was the life of a Tree administrator.
No one had put a knife to her throat and forced her to take the job. She had chosen it herself.
So whatever happened, she had to endure it—by sheer grit if necessary.
“I wonder if Master is still out hunting…”
Picturing her master slaying all sorts of anomalies in Fukuoka, Sooah quickly dismissed the thought. That was someone she had no need to worry about.
Resuming her steps, she made her way toward D-1 Zone, where Delta-class entities were contained.
Pulling out the entity management report from her coat, she skimmed through the file once again.
“Let’s see…”
.
.
.
[D-Class Entity Management Report]
- No. 0999
- Entity Name: The Sleeping Monkey’s Paw
- Class: Delta (Δ)
- Special Notes: Upon awakening, entity will be reclassified as Gamma (Γ), and the containment zone is to be immediately sealed.
- Threat Level: 1 → 5
- Red-Class Hazardous Entity
[Information]
An unidentified monkey’s paw.
The owner of the hand is presumed to be an extra-dimensional entity.
Its estimated classification lies between Beta (Β) and Alpha (Α).
How only this single hand ended up here remains unknown.
It was discovered emerging from a dimensional rift in an Amazonian village.
It is believed that while attempting to cross dimensions, some unknown event caused only the arm to be transferred.
However, as the hand is in a deep sleep, no special containment procedures are required.
The conditions necessary for its awakening remain unknown.
※ Caution
- Administrators assigned to this entity must refrain from all actions during containment duty. (No speaking, no self-talk, no internal thoughts—everything is prohibited.)
- If the entity awakens, the assigned administrator must immediately take their own life. (This is not a recommendation, but a special directive.)
- Failure to comply with Rules 1 & 2 will result in [DATA DELETED]
- This clause does not exist.
- Administrators in unstable mental states are strongly advised to avoid all tasks related to this entity.
[Observation Log #032]
Watched it for over five hours.
My thoughts? It looks fluffy.
[Observation Log #042]
I made a wish.
A wish I had dreamed of my entire life.
— Understood. I shall grant it.
But… this wasn’t what I wanted.
I didn’t want ■■.
“This… this isn’t what I wished for.”
As Sooah finished reading the report, a memory surfaced—an old urban legend she had heard as a child.
The Monkey’s Paw.
A hand that grants any wish.
But the way it fulfills those wishes is never pleasant.
The process is irrelevant—only the end result of the wish matters.
Which means, in most cases, it ends in tragedy.
For instance, if someone wished to become rich, a family member might suddenly die, and they would receive a massive insurance payout.
The wish itself would be granted, but at the cost of losing a loved one.
It was a legend so twisted and full of malice that Sooah had always despised it.
“…What a disgusting story.”
By the time she finished reading, she had already arrived at Containment Room #4.
The door slid open.
A weary-looking administrator stepped out of the containment chamber.
“Oh… Administrator Lee Sooah, you’re back.”
“Ah, yes. It’s been a while.”
“Well then, I’ll be off. Staring into its eyes for twelve hours straight has me exhausted.”
“You’ve done well.”
After a brief exchange, Lee Sooah stepped into the containment room and took a seat.
Beyond the transparent glass wall, she could see the monkey’s hand.
The thought that a mere beast’s hand could grant someone’s wish was so absurd that she let out a scoff.
Then, she suddenly recalled the warning that forbade taking any action.
Lifting her head, she looked up at the ceiling.
“…….”
Fortunately, nothing happened.
About forty minutes passed.
She was already starting to feel bored, and the thought that she had to keep doing this for another eleven hours and twenty minutes made her head spin.
It had already been over five years since she joined Tree and started working as an administrator.
Over that time, she had managed hundreds of entities and built up her own expertise.
Of course, there were several occasions where she nearly lost her life, but the fact that she was still here, alive and well, gave her a sense of pride as an administrator.
Given that the mortality rate for administrators in their first to third year was nearly 99%, she had every right to be confident.
However, among the administrators of Tree, there was an old saying:
—Want to know how to survive long? There’s no such thing. The moment you think, ‘I guess I’m a pretty decent administrator now’… that usually happens around the five-year mark, right?
—That’s when you need to be most cautious.
—Why, you ask?
—Because whether you’re in your tenth year or your twentieth, the moment you let your guard down…
—You die.
Confidence and arrogance are separated by a fine line. And arrogance leads to complacency.
On top of that, Sooah had just undergone severe mental stress right before this task.
‘Ah, I’m bored out of my mind. I wish something interesting would happen…….’
“I’m bored out of my mind. I wish something interesting would happen…….”
Muttering had become second nature to her while working as an administrator.
She only realized too late that she had unknowingly voiced her thoughts aloud.
Instinctively covering her mouth, Sooah turned her gaze toward the glass wall.
‘What? Nothing’s happening?’
As if it had been waiting for those very words, the voice of the ‘monkey’s hand’ echoed.
[Very well. I shall grant that wish.]
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sooah sprang to her feet—only for an excruciating headache to strike, far worse than the one before.
“Urgh…!”
Of all times, why now?
The pain was so unbearable that she could barely keep herself upright.
If this continued, she wouldn’t even have to worry about the entity anymore—her brain would explode first.
Acting on instinct, Sooah activated her ability.
Oddly enough, the more energy she summoned, the more the pain seemed to subside.
A thought flickered through her mind—was this also the ‘monkey’s hand’s’ intention?
But she had no time to dwell on such things.
Fwoosh!
Intense flames erupted from Sooah’s entire body.
The heat was so immense that the furniture in the room instantly ignited.
Yet the stabbing pain in her brain remained relentless, tormenting her without end.
‘This isn’t enough. More… I need even stronger flames!’
Making up her mind, she drew forth every last bit of power from deep within.
As the flames grew stronger, her body gradually became translucent.
This was proof that her synchronization rate with the spirit residing within her was increasing—
In other words, she was transforming into a spirit herself.
But she couldn’t stop.
Ironically, the stronger the flames became, the faster the pain in her head faded.
It was only after she had unleashed every ounce of her power that the agony tormenting her finally melted away.
And in its place, long-frozen memories surged back like a tidal wave.
“This… these are my memories…?”
The reason she had been unable to remember Lee Taeseong—
It was because her mentor, Yukina, a Beta-class administrator, had used her ability to freeze away every memory related to him.
—Are you sure you’re willing to lose all memories of your only sibling? Even if he returns, you won’t recognize him.
—Yes. I’ve already decided to think of my brother as dead. And isn’t this the only way to prevent myself from going berserk? I have to hold on somehow.
—…Very well. I’ll respect your decision.
‘Lee Taeseong’ himself had been a trigger for Sooah.
With her already high manifestation rate, prolonged exposure to extreme stress would have made her highly prone to losing control.
In the end, this was the only way.
But now—
“Why only now……?”
The ice prison that had sealed away her memories had completely melted.
“Why did you only come back now……?”
Unable to withstand the flood of emotions, Sooah lost control and achieved 100% synchronization, becoming ‘pure flame’ itself.
“When Mom and Dad were gone… when I was all alone, you were nowhere to be found…… so why now…… why now…… WHY DID YOU ONLY COME BACK NOOOOOW?!”
BOOOOOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the flames radiating from her body melted everything in their path.
And then—
Through the melted remains of the containment room’s door, a man with slanted eyes appeared.
Scanning his surroundings, he let out a deep sigh.
“Hah… having both a madman and a madwoman as my enemies… this is gonna be a pain in the ass.”
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