Inside the Administrator’s Exclusive Night Duty Room
Wiiiiing! Wiiiiing!
The harsh sound of a siren assaults his eardrums.
[CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE!]
[Gamma-level dangerous entities ‘Napolitan Chef,’ ‘Mechanical Right Arm Hunter,’ ‘Corpse Trader Saintess,’ ‘Chainsaw Killer Jack,’ and others have escaped. As of this moment, all administrators within the company are ordered to prioritize the extermination of the escaped entities. All other employees are to relocate to the designated safe area and take cover. Repeating once again, all administrators…]
Crackle.
The broadcast cuts off, replaced by static noise, then resumes.
[Correction. Information regarding the escaped entities has been confirmed as false. All employees are to promptly return to their original posts. If a broadcast contradicting this is heard, immediately cover your ears. Our company does not have such protocols…]
Crackle.
“…Damn it.”
A bloodshot-eyed man curses as he rises from the bed. He had just laid down after an all-nighter managing entities, barely an hour ago. Staring blankly into the air with half-closed eyes, dark circles weigh heavily beneath his gaze.
He picks up a cigarette from the bedside and places it in his mouth, lighting it out of habit. A lighter isn’t necessary—a small flame flickers at his fingertip, fulfilling the role instead.
Snap. Snap.
The sound of burning tobacco accompanies a smoke-filled sigh.
“Haa…”
One year since his return.
Not a single day in this wretched black company has passed peacefully. The man reflects on yesterday’s events for solace.
‘At least yesterday was a bit amusing…’
Entity No. 2332
Gamma-level Containment Entity
Name: Hwacheon Cheongeom (華山天劍) Cheon Soja
A martial arts possessor—among the most conversationally adept entities he had encountered in a while. Although his forcibly imposed possession left him with volatile emotions and occasional instability, such cases were hardly rare.
Simply recognizing his predicament already placed him among the more “normal” entities in “Tree.”
The man stands, pulling a shirt off the hanger and buttoning it up. He ties his disheveled hair into a rough ponytail, then pauses to listen to the chaos outside.
“S-Someone help! Please! I don’t want to die yet!”
“My eyes… I can’t see… Mom… I miss you…”
“Our Father in Heaven, grant me glorious strength—”
CRASH!
Screams of pain blend with the sound of flesh being pulverized—a discordant, gruesome symphony.
“Just let me sleep, damn it,” the man mutters.
Then.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone knocks on the night duty room door. The hallway has already turned into a war zone, so who would knock so calmly?
‘An escaped entity?’
The man approaches the door with a calm expression, gripping a sharp sword in his hand.
“They said ‘exterminate,’ not ‘suppress.’”
Moments later, he swings the door open and quickly moves to strike—
“Team Leader!”
He freezes.
“…Lee Eunha?”
“I knew it! You were still here!”
“…What are you doing here?”
“What else? I came to find you, of course!”
A young woman covered head to toe in blood stands there. Her long hair, draped to her waist, is matted with gore and flesh.
Her name is Lee Eunha, a fellow administrator from his team.
“Ugh, that cigarette smell! How many times have I told you not to smoke in the duty room?”
“…Nagging.”
“For your health, cut down on smoking! And sleeping in this dump of a place will shorten your lifespan! Look at those dark circles! It’s because you can’t sleep properly with all this cigarette smoke!”
“…It’s because of overtime.”
When he calmly states the truth, Eunha becomes even more impassioned in her lecture.
As her words pour out endlessly, the man thinks to himself:
‘She never seems to tire of talking.’
Slice!
Of course, she doesn’t forget to decapitate the Epsilon-level escaped entity, “Grim Sack Grandpa,” lurking behind her.
‘He shouldn’t have left the isolation room. Must’ve been an escaped entity with cognitive manipulation abilities.’
After a quick cough to compose herself, Eunha continues:
“…Anyway, understood?”
“Got it. What’s the situation outside?”
Though his response is dismissive, Eunha’s expression turns serious.
“Hell on Earth. The escaped Gamma-level entities are heading for other isolation rooms. If this keeps up, even higher-grade entities might escape.”
“Are you saying there’s a possibility of Beta-level entities escaping?”
“In the worst-case scenario, yes.”
Escaped entities opening the doors to others’ containment rooms isn’t uncommon. But if it’s a Beta-level entity, the situation becomes catastrophic. There’s been only one Beta-level escape since the founding of “Tree’s” Korean branch, and back then, 70% of the administrators on duty died.
“What about the other team members?”
“Other than Deputy Oh Haeyoung, no one has reported in yet.”
‘Figures.’
He never expected much from them anyway. Ever since becoming team leader, getting timely reports from his subordinates has been a rarity.
“Overtime and extra work… What a hellish day.”
He checks the watch on his left wrist and says:
“Let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”
“Where to first?”
After a brief pause, he replies decisively:
“Block B Containment Room.”
“…What?”
That’s where the Beta-level entities are held. In other words, the second most dangerous place in the company.
As the man steps into the corridor and swings his sword, the nearby escaped entities are instantly sliced into countless pieces.
“Quite the grand event for my one-year work anniversary.”
“I bet, to the entities, the scariest thing isn’t the company—it’s you, Team Leader…”
Today marks one year since “Returnee Lee Taeseong,” an Epsilon-level dangerous entity, became “Administrator Lee Taeseong,” the one who manages them.
