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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 86: Training or Discipline (6)
The cleanup, or rather, the "cleaning," was finished in no time.
Thanks to the cleaning lady's spear, which absorbed countless eggs left behind by the giant cockroach.
Shwaaaang!
"Cleaning?"
"Wow! Is the skill's name really 'Cleaning'?"
As expected, the cleaning lady's skill was just what I had guessed.
I had my suspicions, but I never imagined the skill's actual name would be Cleaning.
"Hah, I thought coming to this strange world meant I wouldn't have to work anymore... Oh, my poor fate!"
Despite her grumbling, the cleaning lady's spear moved faster than anyone else’s.
She meticulously cleaned every corner of the small island.
"You don’t need to go that far…"
"You young folks just rest. My mind’s too cluttered to sit still anyway."
"…In that case, let me help."
While my group and I were dealing with the remaining large creatures, the cleaning lady swept up every last bug, even the ones lying half-dead in the corners.
She cleared away all the black, hard shells, and the island regained its original green.
That’s when the announcement came.
[The special zone, 'Giant Insect Colony,' has been eliminated!]
[The ecosystem is being restored.]
Fwooooosh!
A gentle breeze blew through.
The temperature seemed to rise slightly, and a subtle convection current became noticeable.
It felt as if the air around me had lightened just a bit.
Pop!
An invisible bubble burst.
Just like when we first entered this place.
"…?!"
"Wait... I can’t breathe properly!"
"Me neither! Is something wrong?"
Gasp!
I took a slow, deliberate breath.
Jaehyuk's claim that breathing was difficult was half right and half wrong.
'The air volume is about the same.'
But the quality was different.
A space isolated from Seoul.
Massive insects.
And the drastically reduced air quality.
This was definitely…
"I think the oxygen concentration has dropped."
"What?"
"To be precise… it was probably too high earlier, due to the effects of the special terrain."
It was like the Mesozoic Era when dinosaurs roamed and gigantic insects ruled the earth.
"Oh… So it’s back to normal now?"
"Whatever the case, it’s a relief this is over. Just imagining living alongside those bugs... Ugh, it gives me chills!"
Jieun and Yeji exchanged remarks, brushing their arms as if to shake off the thought.
They seemed relieved it was all over.
But.
'What if it wasn’t just this island but the entire city of Seoul?'
What if the climate of the entire planet changed instead?
Depending on the system’s will, this place could cease to be the Earth we know.
Compared to that, an earthquake that engulfed all of Yongsan District would be a minor disaster.
'Could we be prepared for something like that?'
As I was lost in thoughts that bordered on worry,
"Hey! Eunho!"
"…Oh, yes."
Jieun's call snapped me out of my reverie.
"Shall we head back to Hongdae?"
"Hmm… No. It’s too late, and going back now would be even more dangerous."
"You’re right. It’s already pitch dark."
Before I knew it, it was well past 10 PM.
It was too risky to rely on the faint city lights and phone flashlights to find our way back.
The wind might pick up again, like last time.
That left only one option.
"Let’s spend the night here."
"Here?"
"Yes. The insects are gone, so it should be fine."
"Sounds good, hyung!"
"Phew, if it’s with you young folks, I’m okay. Though I nearly died yesterday…"
Jaehyuk responded cheerfully as if he was used to this, and the guard nodded in agreement.
"We need to build a fire and set up a place to sleep."
As soon as I finished speaking, Jaehyuk dashed off, returning with an armful of willow branches and foliage.
He piled the firewood high and held the head of a summoned torch to it.
"Signal fire."
And lit it.
Crackle! Pop!
The chilly river breeze met the campfire, turning warm.
Gathered around the fire, everyone began to open up about their worries one by one.
"So, what happens to us now? The entrance exam is over."
"Don’t we get hired? We passed the exam, after all."
"Hired…"
I muttered the word.
Their faces showed fear of the unknown.
"There’s no need to be afraid. You’ve all done well so far."
"Whatever happens… I think the older man will adapt just fine."
As I spoke to reassure them, Yejin nodded in agreement.
Adapt, huh.
Now that I think about it, there was something about that in the message earlier.
[Subject 'Lee Eunho.' Some of the cockroach's remarkable adaptability has been absorbed!]
[Would you like to view the effects?]
So I stepped a few paces away from the group to check the part of the message I hadn’t yet read.
I didn’t have high expectations, but…
[Enhanced adaptability allows you to withstand physical pressure better!]
[Cold resistance slightly increases!]
[Heat resistance slightly increases!]
‘!!’
Permanent increases in cold and heat resistance were an incredible benefit.
As for withstanding physical pressure… I wasn’t sure yet, but I decided to test it later.
‘I got lucky.’
Who knows what extreme environments I might face in the future?
Feeling satisfied with this unexpected reward, I turned to head back when—
"Young man!"
The cleaning lady had approached silently and handed me a piece of fruit she’d somehow found.
"Here, have a bite of this— Oof, oh no!"
Stumble!
Her foot caught on a rock, and she wobbled.
Thud!
I quickly caught her, preventing her from falling, but she didn’t look up.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay?"
She muttered something strange, stared blankly at the rock, and then widened her eyes in surprise.
“Wait a minute! Isn’t this malbul?”
“Pardon? Isn’t it just a rock?”
“It’s not a rock; it’s a mushroom! A mushroom!”
A mushroom?
No matter how I looked at it, it was just a gray lump of stone.
“This, this is used as medicine at pharmacies… When you’re bleeding, eating or applying this stops it.”
“Is that so?”
“This precious thing… let me see.”
As I tilted my head in confusion at its unfamiliar appearance, the lady outright sat down on the ground and began inspecting the vegetation around her.
“Oh my! There’s Ginseng here too?”
“Ginseng?”
“Herbs, I mean! Herbs!”
And then, as if she intended to dig it up entirely by the roots, she started clawing at the ground.
“Young man! Come here and help me dig this up!”
“This is… an herb?”
“Yes, yes. I learned a little from watching the herbalist at the local clinic.”
Half-doubting her, I grabbed the plant she pointed at and pulled it up.
— Ding!
[You have obtained Young Ginseng Root!]
“!!”
An item description appeared.
▣ Young Ginseng Root
-The root of a Ginseng that grew within a high-energy barrier.
Boiling it into a tea seems like it would strengthen muscles.
Digging up herbs from the dirt?
This was completely unexpected.
Perhaps it was the influence of the colony.
‘Whatever it is.’
“Too bad it’s so dark. If it were daytime, we could find even more…”
Without hesitation, I handed the lamenting lady a torch.
“Here.”
“Huh?”
No need to feel regret.
“You’re still feeling energetic, right?”
“Oh, uh…”
There’s no reason to hold back.
We’ll strip this place clean.
“Let’s scour this whole island, shall we?”
* * *
There’s a rumor that circulates quietly among the Investigation Bureau staff.
A so-called “pushover” exists—a person who takes on thankless tasks no one else wants to do.
[It’s true! If you ask Manager Bok, he’ll tell you to pass it to him!]
[Really? Why would a manager handle such menial work?]
Those in the know knew the truth.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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The rumor had even spread to naive new hires, to the point it was discussed openly in the corridors.
[Fine, if you don’t want to go, forget it. We’ll go without you.]
[Wait! Let me think about it…]
And just then, a throat-clearing cough came from behind them.
Ahem!
[M-M-Manager…!]
The person who appeared was Cho Bok, a perpetually stuck-at-manager-level employee reputed to be the “nicest guy” in the Investigation Bureau—a title that was anything but a compliment in the workplace.
[What’s this about?]
Oh no.
Of all times, Manager Bok had to overhear them.
Now that he’d learned new hires were gossiping about him, they were doomed to face the consequences.
[It’s, it’s not what you think… it’s nothing like that…!]
The two exchanged quick glances.
Plead.
A silent agreement was made, and they both bowed deeply in unison.
[We’re s-sorry! It was a terrible mistake!]
[I asked what it’s about. What’s this thing you said you’d pass to me?]
[It-it’s about the preliminary investigation report… We need to go on a field survey, but it overlaps with the training schedule for new employees…]
What would happen now?
Would they be punished?
Even if Manager Bok was a pushover, he wouldn’t just let this slide, right?
[Preliminary investigation? You need to go in person? Which district?]
[You don’t have to worry about it! We were just joking around!]
Sweat dripped from their foreheads, landing with a quiet plop on the floor.
But.
[Don’t worry and go ahead. I’ll take care of it.]
Manager Bok was…
Even more generous than they had imagined.
[Are you serious?!]
The ultimate pushover in all his glory.
[It’s important for new employees to be properly trained. That’s how we develop talent to lead our company, isn’t it?]
[……!]
[Thank you! Thank you so much, Manager!]
With that, Cho Bok turned away.
He left with their admiration shining in their eyes—and with a new pile of thankless tasks.
Clack!
When he returned to his office with a faint smile…
[You have a visitor.]
An unexpected guest was waiting for him.
A tall, disheveled man in a dirty lab coat.
[He says he’s from the Future Research Center.]
A stranger he’d never met before.
There was no reason for the center to contact him, and certainly no personal ties to explain it.
After all, Cho Bok wasn’t even particularly close to colleagues within his own bureau.
[Nice decor. Very consistent theme.]
The white-haired man casually ignored Cho Bok and scanned the office.
[Should I decorate my lab like this?]
His tall, thin frame reminded Cho Bok, for a brief moment, of a lamp awkwardly placed in the center of a room.
No, that wasn’t it.
Cho Bok shook his head, dispelling the stray thought.
[Please make an appointment next time. I was just about to step out.]
With polite firmness, he declined.
[Cho Bok, the Investigation Bureau’s famous pushover. Your reputation precedes you.]
The man, showing no regard for decorum, immediately picked a fight.
[I hear you’re very dedicated to field investigations. You could delegate those tasks, but you insist on doing them yourself.]
[What exactly are you implying?]
Even as the most infamous pushover, Cho Bok couldn’t help but feel annoyed at this point.
Just as he was about to snap back—
[I heard you have unique tastes.]
[What are you talking about?]
[You seem to like things that look the same. Your decor, for instance.]
Flinch!
Cho Bok shut his mouth.
The researcher continued speaking with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
[The twin brothers from District 17.]
Cold sweat started dripping from Cho Bok’s forehead.
He tried to feign composure, but his trembling hands betrayed him.
And then.
[In District 8, you stole a stunning beauty and her mother, didn’t you?]
Cho Bok, momentarily at a loss for words, suddenly exploded in anger.
[W-what are you talking about? I don’t know anything about that!]
[Ah, I thought so.]
The researcher replied nonchalantly, as if expecting this reaction, and then said:
[I had to go through some trouble to get this.]
Snap!
He flicked his fingers.
A large screen filled Cho Bok’s vision.
And on it...
[Why is this...!]
The screen showed bound, naked beauties with strikingly similar appearances, and Cho Bok incessantly harassing them.
It was undeniable evidence of the secret depravity hidden within the Investigation Bureau’s “model employee.”
Thud!
Cho Bok collapsed to the ground.
[You smuggled them out before the restructuring, didn’t you? Making sure the company wouldn’t notice.]
[How did you...?!]
The man’s words were true.
There was a reason someone of Cho Bok’s rank—a section chief, no less—had been taking on preliminary survey assignments usually reserved for new hires.
It was because that was his one and only, and most thrilling, hobby in the world.
[Why didn’t I think of this sooner? If I had, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.]
His hobby was kidnapping and exploiting individuals on the verge of being eliminated.
[...They were going to disappear anyway! They were nobodies, aside from their looks!]
[You can’t be certain of that.]
[But still, I let them live, didn’t I? Being alive like this is better than being ‘erased’…!]
Cho Bok stammered out his pathetic excuses, but the researcher simply waved his hand dismissively.
[Enough. I couldn’t care less if you slice them up or roast their bones. They’re not even suitable for experiments.]
Because the researcher wasn’t after justice or moral redemption.
[Should I send this video to the Director of the Investigation Bureau? Or maybe upload it to the company board to destroy you completely?]
[N-no! Please, don’t do that! What do you want? Name your price!]
The reason the researcher had gone through the trouble of hacking and tracking down Cho Bok was simple.
[The follow-up investigation for District 13 is starting soon, isn’t it?]
[...?]
[Appoint me as the medical examiner for the physical evaluations.]
The “follow-up investigation” aimed to analyze how much subjects had developed compared to the results of the “preliminary investigation” conducted by the bureau.
As part of that, a project was being launched to conduct physical evaluations, and the researcher wanted to secure a spot in it.
[What nonsense is this all of a sudden? You’re not even part of the bureau; you can’t be designated as an examiner—]
[You talk too much.]
Step.
The researcher widened his eyes and moved closer.
[Should I rip out your tongue? Chop it into little pieces and feed it to the subjects locked up in your house? They’d probably enjoy chewing on it.]
Step.
[Or maybe I should slice it thinly and grill it on a pan. Do you want that?]
[Eeeek! Fine! I’ll do it!]
Cho Bok screamed, trembling in terror.
[Hah, you should’ve agreed from the start.]
What a lunatic.
Cho Bok swallowed back the nausea rising in his throat and asked:
[Why are you going this far? What’s so important about being an examiner?]
[Ah.]
The researcher, now looking satisfied, dismissed the screen and kindly explained.
[There’s a research subject I’m interested in, but the Management Bureau won’t release them. So, I’m going to retrieve them myself.]
[You mean… You’re going through all this trouble just to extract one subject? That’s insane! Who the hell is it?!]
But the researcher’s answer was far from explanatory.
[...A bug-ridden lunatic.]
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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