Lee Taeseong lifted his head and looked at the Eight Footed Ghost.
The Eight Footed Ghost also did not avert her gaze and stared straight into Lee Taeseong’s crimson eyes.
“……”
“……”
Their eyes locked.
The reason Lee Taeseong deliberately raised his head to look at her was simple.
He wanted to discern the true meaning behind her words just now.
What intent lay hidden in those words?
Could she be trying to use him to escape the containment chamber?
Despite what she said, could she secretly harbour resentment toward the Tree?
Regardless of what the Eight Footed Ghost thought of Lee Taeseong, from his perspective, she was merely a subject.
To add a bit more detail, she was a subject toward whom he harboured the slightest bit of goodwill.
“Do you want to leave this place?”
The Eight-Spans Ghost shook her head.
“Then?”
It’s not that I want to leave the containment chamber.
I want to be by your side.
I want to be with you.
I want to be of help to you.
“Why would you go so far?”
The Eight Footed Ghost paused.
She was carefully choosing her words.
To be honest, Lee Taeseong couldn’t understand the current situation.
He had indeed brought her here, but he had no idea why she was showing him such strong goodwill.
Suddenly, he remembered a time when they spoke and her cheeks had been faintly flushed.
Taeseong shook his head.
‘…No, that can’t be it.’
He had met many people since coming here.
But that feeling he had the first time he saw her—
He hadn’t felt it since.
He didn’t even know what this emotion he was feeling was.
But his instincts wanted it.
To stay by her side.
To repay the kindness he had received.
He wouldn’t mind dying for her sake.
He only wanted to become her god.
Lee Taeseong spoke calmly.
“In principle, it’s impossible.”
At those words, the Eight Footed Ghost visibly withdrew. Her face was filled with disappointment.
Though she had gathered the courage to speak, she had no intention of whining.
“Normally, that is.”
“Po po?”
“Very well. Designation: Eight Footed Ghost. Class: Gamma. Green-grade protected entity. From this moment on, this entity is reclassified as a Specially Managed Subject.
As the leader of Management Team 0, I will personally take charge of your oversight.”
“Po po!”
“Yes. I mean it.”
There were several reasons why Lee Taeseong accepted her proposal, but what intrigued him most was her divine nature.
When he heard that the affection of administrators had become a kind of faith that allowed her to regain her divinity, he realized that with the right approach, she could become a powerful asset.
Even if she was a low-tier deity, she was still a god.
If he could gather more faith, her potential strength could grow to levels beyond comparison.
In a world where Earth’s end was certain, having a subject with limitless growth potential in his ranks would be of immense help going forward.
And if she had ulterior motives, Lee Taeseong could eliminate her himself.
When he waved his hand through the air, a spatial rift appeared, revealing a subspace.
“Stay here.”
“Po po!?”
“It can’t be helped. You chose to follow me, so you’ll have to bear at least this much, right? Well, I’m not saying you have to stay here forever. You can return to this containment chamber from time to time when we come back to the Tree. And if you want, I’ll even decorate the subspace for you. Would a landscape like this one suit you?”
The Eight Footed Ghost nodded enthusiastically.
From the bright smile on her face, it was clear she liked the idea.
“Po po!”
Now that he thought of it, he had never considered whether the interior of a subspace could be decorated.
‘Since it came up, maybe I should try it.’
Taeseong opened the subspace.
The space, like a compressed universe, was cloaked in thick darkness that hung like a curtain.
Tiny stars sparkled intermittently in the sky above.
Time had long ceased to flow here.
Because the subspace was connected to the stomach of the Primordial Wolf, no living creature could survive here.
Taeseong closed his eyes and recalled the beautiful scenery from the containment chamber.
Slowly, the surroundings began to transform into a grassy plain like the one inside the containment room.
Although the area was limited, within that boundary, he succeeded in perfectly recreating the scenery.
“It’s a success.”
The Eight Footed Ghost, gazing at the new divine shrine, jumped for joy.
“Popopopo!”
“It’s your new home.”
After leaving the G-44 containment chamber, Taeseong headed straight to Building E.
He was going to meet Mangtae Harabeom and Hong Kong Grandma.
They were the very subjects he had managed during his first field assignment as an administrator.
“Epsilon grade, huh…”
Every time he passed through the hallway, the Epsilon-grade administrators he encountered flinched in surprise.
“L-Lee Taeseong Administrator…”
“Ah, hello…”
Some looked at him with reverence, others with outright fear, and some with admiration.
Most of them didn’t even dare to speak to him.
Once an Epsilon-grade administrator himself, Taeseong could now clearly feel the weight of being the leader of the Special Management Team.
When he opened the containment room door and stepped inside, the familiar sight of a traditional Korean hanok greeted him.
“Still the same.”
Step, step.
Sensing Taeseong’s demonic energy, Hong Kong Grandma suddenly had a fit.
“Eeeek! I’m scared! So, so scared! Someone scarier than the Elder is here! I’m really scared!”
Mangtae Harabeom, who had reacted similarly at first, calmed her down once he recognized Taeseong.
“It’s fine. It’s okay. He’s someone we know.”
“Someone we know? Not a scary elder?”
“No. He’s an administrator.”
Hong Kong Grandma slowly lifted her head to look at Taeseong.
And then had another fit.
“Eeeeeek! How is that an administrator!? He’s too scary! Too scary! I was wrong! Don’t take me away!”
She hid completely behind Mangtae Harabeom, hugging her knees and burying her face.
“That bad, huh…”
Mangtae Harabeom grinned and said,
“That’s about right. You’ve gotten unbelievably strong since I last saw you. Honestly, I almost pissed myself at first. When a being suddenly bursts in, radiating immense energy like that, I thought a Beta-grade entity had escaped.”
Taeseong sat down beside Mangtae Harabeom and opened his mouth.
“I’ll need to suppress my energy more.”
Even with the ring on, he didn’t expect to instill this much fear.
Taeseong withdrew all the energy he was emitting.
Only then did the Hong Kong Granny cautiously peek out and look at him.
“Administrator Lee Taeseong! Elder, meow! Good to see you, meow!”
“Yeah. Good to see you too.”
When Taeseong opened a subspace, the Eight Footed Ghost appeared.
“Popo!”
The Hong Kong Grandma, who had been hiding behind Mangtae Harabeom, took interest in her. The Eight Footed Ghost smiled kindly and signalled to the granny, and before long, the granny had placed her head on the ghost’s lap, purring softly.
“Po po!”
Taeseong, watching the two of them, turned his head and looked at Mangtae Harabeom.
“Old man. Have you been well?”
Mangtae Harabeom nodded.
“Of course. I’ve been doing fine in my own way. But more than that, I’m curious about you. What in the world happened for you to become a different person? Even back then, your energy felt unusual, but now…”
Gulp. Mangtae Harabeom swallowed.
He didn’t show it outwardly, but he too felt fear toward Taeseong.
And Taeseong knew that very well. After all, a black skull was floating above both their heads.
“You seem like a completely different being.”
“A lot happened. I recovered my memories of the past… and I reunited with my family.”
At the word ‘family’, Mangtae Grandpa reacted. A bitter expression briefly passed over his face. Without realizing it, he had thought of his grandchildren, now in heaven.
“You must mean that girl. She was such a cute and spirited child. She bragged about her older brother so much it nearly made my ears fall off.”
“…Sooah talked about me?”
Mangtae Harabeom chuckled.
“More than just once or twice. Every time she came here for admin work, she talked about you every day. I could probably recite what you did at the Japan branch to save her even with my eyes closed now.”
“…She said a lot of unnecessary things.”
Though he said that, Taeseong was inwardly pleased. Though they were blood-related, the long separation had built an invisible wall between them.
Knowing that it was his role as an older brother to break that wall down, Taeseong had been trying to slowly close the distance—and then he happened to hear this.
“It’s written all over your face. It’s nice to see. In the end, the only ones you can rely on in this world are family. They say blood is thicker than water. I hope you two stay close from now on.”
“You too… Don’t get into trouble. Don’t make enemies among the administrators. And if anything happens, use my name. I’m not an Epsilon-grade admin anymore—I’m Beta now.”
“Hahaha! Much appreciated!”
“Then I’ll see you later.”
“Take care now.”
The Hong Kong Grandma stuck her head out and waved.
“Scary elder! Tall lady! Farewell, meow!”
Two days later.
While commuting to Tree, Taeseong received a call. The caller was Team Leader Choi Harin from Intelligence Team 2.
“Hello.”
—Team Leader, this is Choi Harin.
“I know.”
—It’s nothing big, but I thought you should be informed of this.
“What is it?”
—This time, the U.S. branch requested we transfer some entities due to quarantine room overcrowding.
“Entity transfer?”
—Yes. The shipment includes everything from Delta-grade to Beta-grade entities, and our administrators were assigned to handle it.
“And?”
—There’s been an incident. It turns out there was an entity on the ship posing as an administrator.
Taeseong asked, dumbfounded,
“An entity pretending to be an admin? Are you saying Tree couldn’t even tell it apart?”
—Apparently… the entity has mental manipulation abilities. And its estimated grade is Beta…
“Fantastic job, as usual.”
—As a result, some of the quarantined entities escaped. And unfortunately, the ones assigned to this task were Assistant Manager Lee Eunha and Section Chief Go Young-hee.
A hint of irritation entered Taeseong’s tone.
“Assistant Manager Lee Eunha and Section Chief Go Young-hee? Aren’t they both Delta-grade? Why were Delta-grade admins assigned to this level of transfer operation?”
—Both of them volunteered in pursuit of a Gamma-grade promotion… So anyway, we’re in a situation where we’ll need to dispatch support forces from our side as well…
“No need.”
—Excuse me?
“No support needed.”
—Then…
“I’ll go myself. This entity transfer operation will be handled by the Special Management Team.”
【Entity Transfer Support Operation Report】
Assigned Team: Special Management Team.
Total Members: 1.
Total Personnel Dispatched: 1.
Team Leader: Lee Taeseong.
Grade: Sigma.
