Surviving as an Office Worker in Monster Management Bureau

---

S#. 7 Cathedral

When I was young, I was terribly afraid of the dark.

The fear that something was wriggling in the darkness and the terror of the unknown.

During those times of fear, a child whose name I couldn’t remember told me this:

“Don’t be afraid of the dark.”

With a mature smile and gestures not fitting for their age, the child would step into the darkness first.

“Fear is a valuable emotion that has allowed humanity to maintain civilization so far, but paradoxically, we can only move forward by overcoming that fear.”

At that moment, the child seemed to shine softly in the darkness, as if they were not from this world.

“Let’s go. I’ll stay by your side until you conquer your fear alone.”

Holding the hand the child offered, I began to get used to the darkness, and soon after I stepped into the dark alone, the child disappeared.

As if their job was done.

“…Hey.”

“…”

“Hey!”

“…”

“What are you doing?”

“Whoa, you scared me.”

With a light tap on my shoulder, Song Ah Rin spoke.

“Are you okay? You suddenly spaced out.”

“I’m just remembering the past.”

“You’re being unexpectedly sentimental.”

Song Ah Rin gazed into the darkness.

“That way should be the way out, right?”

“Maybe.”

Now, we looked at the disconnected phone.

It had simply said “Set design” before the call ended.

It felt like I could hear the two saying to endure while we’re on our way, but if that’s true, is this really not a dream?

I bent my fingers backward.

“What are you doing?”

“Reality check.”

“I’ve tried that before; it hurts.”

“…By the way, how did you end up here, Song Ah Rin?”

“Me? I just came while sleeping.”

“Does that mean this is another world?”

“Who knows…”

Song Ah Rin sighed softly and gazed into the darkness.

“First, we should follow what the white-haired and black-haired ones said.”

“That’s right. Staying here feels like we’d get caught up in some weird incident again.”

“Honestly, even if we go out, won’t we still get caught in a weird incident?”

While saying that, Song Ah Rin adjusted her skirt.

“…This is really uncomfortable.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

Holding her skirt, she looked at me.

“Alright, then let’s go.”

Taking a deep breath, I gazed into the darkness.

Carefully crossing the translucent window, I stepped into the emptiness of the dark.

“…”

I couldn’t see anything.

If I were in a dark room, at least I should know what that room looked like, but it felt like I was walking in complete blackness.

“Something’s strange.”

Song Ah Rin must have felt the same way as she murmured and looked around behind me.

It felt as if only the image of me and Song Ah Rin was painted on an entirely black canvas.

The sun, or something that looked like the sun, reflected off her white dress, shining, while the surrounding darkness seemed to absorb the light, leaving her alone glowing.

“It’s just pitch black.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“…Wait.”

She closed her eyes to concentrate.

“There’s a person.”

“A person?”

“To be precise… um, should I call this a person?”

Song Ah Rin frowned as she muttered.

“Should I say a vegetative state?”

“A vegetative state?”

“Yeah. They’re under hypnosis, but their consciousness is extremely weak. It might not mean anything even if they were hypnotized.”

“…A puppet?”

“That could… be the case.”

Walking through the darkness with Song Ah Rin, the endless blackness behind us swallowed our cathedral long ago.

S#. 3243253 ???

The sun blazed down harder.

As we continued walking, my head began to ache tremendously, even though I wasn’t suffering from heatstroke.

“Song Ah Rin.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

Honestly, I wasn’t struggling.

It was just that my head felt like it was about to split open.

“…To be honest, I’m not really okay.”

Song Ah Rin turned to look at me.

Her complexion was pale.

“My head has been ringing since earlier.”

“In that case, I guess it makes sense for my head to hurt too.”

Eventually, we were both suffering from a constant mental assault.

“Do you think we’ll be able to escape by just walking?”

“…”

Perhaps we had been walking too recklessly. But what could we do?

The intensity of the blaring light increased my headache, and now I was even hearing ringing in my ears.

“But there’s no way to go up to that sky.”

I looked up at the orange glow floating in the sky, or ceiling.

The sky.

The sky?

“Song Ah Rin.”

“Yeah?”

“You mentioned the sense of a vegetative state earlier, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Do you think you can tell where that is?”

Upon my question, she frowned and nodded.

“I think I know. It’s the sky, Butler.”

Butler?

“Song Ah Rin.”

I grabbed her shoulders.

“…What?”

“Say my name.”

“Kim Jae Heon.”

“What did you just call me?”

“…Dammit.”

She too seemed to realize what was wrong and muttered softly.

“This is bad. I feel a bit off right now.”

“…”

What should I do in a situation like this?

I pulled out the manual from my pocket.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[OH – Mental Disturbance]

1. When you or a colleague suspect a mental disturbance, the first thing to do is to deliver a strong shock.

I immediately slammed my hand against Song Ah Rin’s head.

“Ow!!!”

“How do you feel?”

“Do you actually want to die?!”

I guess that didn’t work.

2. If the person doesn’t regain consciousness from the strong shock, provide maximum stability.

“Why are you sticking so close to me?”

“Maybe you have some worries?”

“The fact that you’re acting weird is what I’m worried about.”

3. If the above two methods don’t work, do what you can.

What can I do?

“…Ah.”

The idea of a translucent window came to mind.

[Method – 1 time]

I have this.

I stared intently at Song Ah Rin.

“…What?”

“To be honest, this is a bit tough, isn’t it?”

“Stop saying ridiculous things.”

She looked at me, frowning deeply.

“It’s a lie if I say it’s not hard, but it’s not so bad that it’s affecting you. …Not yet.”

“I see.”

[Method: 1->0]

A purple thread appeared above her head.

What is a method?

Until now, whenever I used a method, it was mostly to solve Song Ah Rin’s mental issues.

So, this thread felt like the most useless merger.

Simply tearing coordinates apart with Jang Chae Yeon’s tearing coordinates, and blocking with Yu Da On’s Cronos Shield.

In contrast, I didn’t quite understand the method, or maybe it just had a bad instruction leading to no good results.

What exactly is a ‘method’?

[You can perfectly blend with someone and mimic their characteristics. Your appearance does not change.]

That’s the description hidden within the method.

However, if Song Ah Rin were to blend with me, she wouldn’t be able to see the translucent window.

That means it’s highly likely she won’t be able to mimic my mental barriers. Both are special abilities that seem to belong solely to me.

I turned my gaze to the ceiling.

Now, the ominously shining sunlight.

Does it have to be someone human? I may have interpreted this “someone” too humanly thus far.

Conversely, if I think of her mental state and behavioral patterns in terms of ‘theater’, wouldn’t that solve the issue?

“Song Ah Rin.”

“What?”

“Do you trust me to take a gamble?”

“I’m listening.”

“I’m going to try to fuse your mind with that sun.”

“…”

She stared at me intently.

Then, with a small sigh, she gave me the trademark crooked smile she always wore.

“Fine, go ahead and mess with my mind.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m entrusting my mind to you by my own will. Don’t apologize.”

Song Ah Rin crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

I moved the purple thread.

Wriggling, the thread rose towards the sky, reaching the endless sun.

“Heh…”

Is she feeling something? Song Ah Rin began to tremble, letting out a strange sound.

“Song Ah Rin.”

“Heh… finish it quickly…!”

If this is the case, it’s better to end it quickly.

I plunged the thread into the sun.

“…”

Song Ah Rin’s movements froze.

“…Song Ah Rin?”

“…I can hear you.”

After a brief silence, she opened her eyes and looked at me.

Her eyes were definitely looking at me, but the gaze was unfocused, as if she were staring far away.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to admit it, but that strange feeling from earlier is gone.”

“…”

“And I think I know the way.”

“How?”

“…Instinctively?”

So this works.

Momentarily filled with joy at Song Ah Rin’s change, suddenly—

-ziiiing…!

“Ugh…!”

It felt like the pain was doubling, as if both of us were channeling our combined attacks onto the one receiver.

An ache so intense, it felt like my head was splitting apart.

At this point, it was akin to the pain I experienced encountering Aestheticism.

“Hey, are you okay?”

With an unfocused gaze still looking off to the side, Song Ah Rin anxiously grasped my arm.

“I’ll lead you. Let’s hurry. …This place is dangerous.”

She led me as if she were a guide of the ‘theater’.

Unlike before, her steps were proficient and fluid.

“Here, right, and then left.”

Even in a place where you couldn’t even see the walls, she moved as if she knew the way, and,

“…Here.”

In the still unseen darkness, she muttered as if reassured.

“Are we going in?”

“Even if we go in, I’ll have no idea.”

As soon as I said that, she reached out, and as if it had always been there, grasped a door.

-Creek!

S#. 12 Lake

As the door swung open, the sound of water was heard.

Soon, an endless lake spread before us.

“The moon.”

The resplendent moon was visible.

In the midst of the splitting headache, I suddenly recalled something.

In the darkness, the child had once told me:

“There are things that can only be seen by overcoming fear.”

“Hey! To be honest, it was really scary, but I guess I can trust you after all!”

“That’s how we find the answer.”

The child smiled gleefully, and Song Ah Rin looked at me, smiling.