Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 103
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 103
ep16. Because I Made You (7)
Cha Si-eon came because of the post-interview debriefing.
To share Ryu Dan-a’s condition, or to ask about the questions and assumptions I had made.
I naturally thought this as I followed Cha Si-eon outside.
But the place I actually arrived at wasn’t a meeting room, but the terrace with artificial sky.
Under that unexpected sunset, Cha Si-eon suddenly asked me.
“Do you smoke?”
“No, I quit.”
“I’ll give you some if you need it.”
Cha Si-eon held out a new pack of cigarettes that hadn’t even been opened.
I looked at it for a moment, then shook my head.
I was slightly tempted, but I felt like smoking now would make me feel pathetic.
“How is Ryu Dan-a’s condition?”
At my question, Cha Si-eon put the cigarettes back and answered.
“71 is in an unconscious state. The examination results show no particular findings, so we’ll need to monitor her for a while.”
“Did you find the cause of her sudden collapse?”
“No. Abnormal brain activity was observed before she collapsed, but the cause is still unknown.”
“Maybe what Ryu Dan-a said about ‘dying if you speak’ was referring to this…”
Cha Si-eon nodded at my vague assumption.
“Is Manager Oh okay now?”
“He’s a bit out of it, but he’ll be fine. And the recording will be re-analyzed by Analysis Team 5 later.”
“Is there even anything to analyze…”
“We decided to compare the original recording with what 71 conveyed, and 71’s brainwave data. They say they’ll use that to extract patterns and directly decode the recording.”
“Is that possible?”
“Manager Oh said he’d do it, so he’ll manage somehow.”
They said he was an irreplaceable genius, and it wasn’t just empty words.
I nodded with mild admiration.
Then I waited for Cha Si-eon’s real business and main point.
He’d probably ask why I interrogated Ryu Dan-a like that.
But what actually came out of Cha Si-eon’s mouth was completely unexpected.
“One of the Management Bureau’s important principles is clear rewards and punishments. And Seo Do-un’s contributions are already highly valued.”
“…?”
“So the Management Bureau won’t treat Seo Do-un as 72 or 73.”
I looked at him again, wondering what he’d eaten wrong.
Cha Si-eon had his usual calm expression, and I gradually realized with disbelief.
The middle manager with psychopathic tendencies once called Kongji was doing this as consolation.
“…”
Right.
This was exactly what it felt like to want to cry but get slapped instead.
But Team Leader Cha surely meant well, right?
I wasn’t sure about kindness or goodwill, but it was probably a work obligation, but anyway, it was a statement meant to reassure me, right?
So I should respect Team Leader Cha’s intention…?
“What’s with that expression?”
I didn’t say anything.
I really did my best to hold back what I wanted to say, but Cha Si-eon got irritated on his own and asked.
When I awkwardly avoided his gaze, Team Leader Cha frowned and elaborated.
“I meant you don’t need to worry about what 71 said.”
“I wasn’t particularly worried.”
“During the interview with 71, there was a significant change in Seo Do-un’s heart rate.”
“…You check that really often.”
“I don’t need to check it deliberately – an alarm comes when there’s a change.”
I understand why Ryu Dan-a went on a rampage.
I should tear off this damn watch too…
I just sighed at Cha Si-eon’s behavior, whether it was management or surveillance.
Cha Si-eon spoke to me again.
“And about 71’s statement ‘because we made you’…”
Bzzzz-!
Then vibration sounded from Cha Si-eon’s pocket.
Cha Si-eon stopped mid-sentence and took out his whining smartphone to look at it.
Then, as if there was no need to hide it, he showed me his smartphone screen and said.
“Please explain why this is happening.”
—
Otter Agent heart rate increase!
♥ 67bpm → 102bpm ♥
Please check Otter Agent’s safety!
—
Right, I probably won’t become 72 or 73.
Because I’m already an otter…!
“What am I supposed to explain all of a sudden? No, more than that, what is that app? Why is the UI so unnecessarily cute? The official name is even ‘Otter Agent’?”
I looked at the app decorated cutely with otter characters and asked incredulously.
This was another work by the Otter Rescue Association, which wasn’t surprising anymore, but this time I couldn’t just let it slide.
“And do you think it’s right for you to use that app, Team Leader? Just having that screen open makes it look fake and awkward?”
“Do you think I use this because I like it?”
“If you don’t like it, you could ask them to improve it. Why are you enduring something that doesn’t suit you?”
“If you want to complain, complain to the managers. Otter Rescue Association activities are conducted with approval from the manager line.”
At Cha Si-eon’s rebuttal, I was left speechless.
Managers, at this point aren’t you just enjoying this yourselves?
And then pretending you’re doing it for the employees’ sake?
No, maybe all of this is propaganda to suppress employee complaints.
“Anyway, I need an answer.”
While I was being incredulous, Cha Si-eon brought back the main point that had wandered off.
I asked back in a somewhat gloomy mood.
“What kind of answer do you want?”
“Please explain why Seo Do-un keeps being disturbed by the phrase ‘because we made you’.”
“I see. This might be a difficult part for Team Leader Cha to understand.”
“…You’re being particularly argumentative today. If you’re not doing it on purpose, tone it down a bit.”
As I gazed at the sunset and murmured wistfully, Cha Si-eon warned me through gritted teeth.
Team Leader Cha was right about this.
Because I was in a gloomy mood, I was being more actively confrontational than usual.
I acknowledged that I was disturbed and let out a long sigh.
Cha Si-eon asked me again.
“How is Seo Do-un interpreting this statement?”
“I haven’t interpreted it…”
“Then?”
“I’m just imagining things.”
“What kind of imaginations specifically?”
At Cha Si-eon’s persistence, I sighed again.
I was imagining various things.
But they were all stories too embarrassing to voice out loud.
So it was difficult to speak readily, but because of Cha Si-eon persistently waiting, I reluctantly opened my mouth.
“What could it mean that you made me, maybe the real Seo Do-un is already dead and I’m a fake created by those monsters. Something like that kind of imagination.”
At my answer, Cha Si-eon’s gaze dropped down for a moment.
Then he looked at me again and said.
“Haven’t you been reading too many novels?”
“You’re right that I’ve read a lot, and that’s my job…”
I muttered quietly, feeling embarrassed for no reason.
No, my job aside.
Are you in a position to talk about novels?
Do you think a government agent with disheveled hair who monitors unidentified killing spaces is more realistic?
As I got worked up, Cha Si-eon spoke again in a businesslike tone.
“To conclude, the current Seo Do-un is indeed Seo Do-un himself.”
“How can you guarantee that?”
“What do you think constitutes a human being?”
“Deficiency and desire?”
“Cells.”
“…”
I wanted to turn back time.
Go back exactly 10 seconds and seal my mouth shut.
“If Seo Do-un were a fake like Alpha or already in a contaminated state, traces of distortion or contamination should be found in the body. But among all the tests we’ve conducted so far, no such abnormal findings have ever been confirmed. So you can rest assured. Seo Do-un is definitely himself down to the cellular level.”
“I see, that’s a relief…”
I nodded as calmly as possible, as if nothing had happened in between.
“And the ‘deficiency and desire’ you mentioned earlier…”
I was hoping he’d just let it slide…
“I don’t think it’s wrong. I’ll respect it for now.”
“Yes, thank you so much…”
“Is that enough now?”
“Pardon?”
I looked at Cha Si-eon in bewilderment.
What’s enough?
If he was asking whether all the ominous delusions triggered by Ryu Dan-a’s words had ended, then no. Not at all.
Only one of my vague imaginings had been somewhat explained, but the mystery still remained as it was.
But what am I supposed to do when he asks ‘Is that enough now?’
No, before that…
“Team Leader, what exactly are you doing right now?”
“What do you mean what am I doing?”
“Is this a post-incident interview?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Grievance handling.”
Grievance handling.
I pointed at myself with my index finger in disbelief.
Nod-
At my gesture, Cha Si-eon affirmed without reservation, and I felt another quiet shock.
“My current grievance isn’t ordinary discomfort.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s psychological conflict arising from problems related to my personal safety becoming incomprehensible and only getting more complicated.”
“I see it the same way.”
“And you, Team Leader, came to handle that.”
“…Did you decide to pick a fight today?”
I turned the finger that was pointing at me toward Cha Si-eon and muttered.
Then Cha Si-eon somehow sensed that this was mockery directed at him and got worked up again.
But I was truly amazed by this situation.
Dragging me to the terrace and offering cigarettes, demanding I spill my grievances using heart rate as an excuse.
I couldn’t believe Cha Si-eon was acting like this and laughed foolishly to myself.
“Haha…”
“What’s funny?”
“The multifaceted nature of humans.”
When I answered like this and giggled, Cha Si-eon’s expression became even more serious.
He seemed confused about whether I was mocking him or talking nonsense because I’d lost it.
I could feel his gaze worrying about my mental state, but I continued laughing for a while longer.
One reason to live long had just disappeared.
Because I confirmed that Team Leader Cha had the heart of an ordinary human.
I found this fact so amusing that I laughed for a while, then composed my breathing before Cha Si-eon became more serious.
Then I asked lightly.
“If not 72 or 73, what other classifications are there?”
“…?”
“If I were to become a monster, I mean.”
Though I asked lightly, what came back was heavy silence.
So I asked again in a nonchalant tone.
“The possibility isn’t small, right?”
“Is that why you’ve been in poor condition lately?”
“Yes, well.”
At Cha Si-eon’s question, I readily admitted it.
It was probably since after being dragged to The Bleeding Island and coming back.
Even before I saw Big Cat directly inside there, I was fine.
I was even feeling elated.
I gave meaning to my special situation and even drew hopeful futures.
But after facing Big Cat, and while preparing for the Special Zone closure experiment, I gradually came to realize.
No, I finally began to truly feel it.
That something was strange.
That the things happening to me were much stranger than I perceived.
“I was worried that I might become a monster too.”
I calmly spilled my inner thoughts.
The sky where the sunset had completely burned out was now dark, so it seemed okay to say this much.
Then Cha Si-eon, who had stepped up to handle my grievances, asked me back.
“You don’t value your life but you’re afraid of becoming a monster?”
Hmm, I let my guard down.
Right, the person in front of me was Cha Si-eon.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Ashira
I was right, Cha Si-eon is trying to comfort Seo Do-un lmao. Taking him to the terrace with the view of the sunset to talk was so romantic of you, Si-eon.
Their interaction here is also just ughhh…how can I not ship you together??