Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 127

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Survival Rules for an Editor Chapter 127

ep18. Rescuer (11)

Kwon Mu-seop’s face, unsmiling, felt more distant than I’d expected.
“You’ve crossed the line, Do-un.”
Kwon Mu-seop spoke softly toward me.
“Your life being our priority doesn’t mean you get to freely use other people’s lives however you please.”
It was an unmistakable warning.
Though he still spoke calmly, Kwon Mu-seop had no intention of tolerating any further recklessness on our part.
But there was no path to retreat on our side either.
“I have no intention of freely using people, sir. So please allow us to recruit volunteers.”
At the word “volunteers,” Kwon Mu-seop’s brow furrowed deeper.
“We’ll attempt this with people who participate voluntarily. And we only need five people. With five non-prisoner agents, we can execute the operation. Moreover, since I’ll be going in with them as the siren’s primary target, it’ll be much safer.”
“Seo Do-un.”
Kwon Mu-seop lowered his voice as he spoke my name.
That tone sent a chill down my spine, but I pretended not to notice and pressed on.
“Sir, you said it to me at first. That you weren’t just watching for entertainment, that when you see someone in trouble, you naturally want to save them.”
“…….”
“Of course that’s true. Everyone feels the same way. So it’s not just Team Leader Cha and I who can’t accept Lee Sol’s situation or stand by and do nothing. There will be others who want to resolve this problem even at the cost of their lives. This isn’t forcing other people into danger—it’s giving such people an opportunity.”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
Anger finally crept into Kwon Mu-seop’s voice.
“What you say doesn’t matter—this won’t happen.”
“Sir…….”
“Do you even understand what you’re saying right now?”
“…….”
“What you’re saying dismisses all the meaning behind our agents’ actions. This isn’t just about a few people taking on risk this one time—one operation like this changes what we’re capable of, and the danger escalates proportionally. But an opportunity? That’s gutting all our safety protocols?”
Kwon Mu-seop’s rebuke left me momentarily speechless.
Then it happened.
“Then I’d like to at least take a poll.”
Cha Si-eon, who’d been listening beside me, spoke up.
“If there aren’t even five volunteers, I’ll give up. I won’t mention this again.”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“If no one was willing to take on risk, I wouldn’t have done this kind of work to begin with.”
At Cha Si-eon’s reply, it was Kwon Mu-seop’s turn to lose his words.
Cha Si-eon continued calmly ahead of him.
“Most of us came in prepared for this, and none of us are here just to observe. We’re not Otter supporters—we’re the ones meant to do that role directly.”
Otter, suddenly dragged into this, must have been bewildered, but Cha Si-eon pressed on earnestly.
Kwon Mu-seop seemed genuinely taken aback.
As if he hadn’t expected Cha Si-eon to come at him this hard.
Kwon Mu-seop looked back and forth between Cha Si-eon and me with an incredulous gaze.
Then, as if his head ached, he lowered it and rubbed his temple with his hand.
“Sigh…….”
As a sigh escaped his lips, Cha Si-eon spoke again.
“So please let us at least check what the staff wants.”
“Enough of this nonsense…….”
“If you won’t, I’ll resign.”
“…….”
“…….”
Hey, why would you just…….
At Cha Si-eon’s resignation threat, Kwon Mu-seop’s sigh cut short.
Slowly, he raised his head.
The manager I’d always found approachable was now showing his good impression wholly erased, his gaze sharpening with a threatening glint as he fixed on Cha Si-eon.
Cha Si-eon met his superior’s stare with an unyielding posture.
A silent battle of wills began, and I sensed disaster unfolding with me caught between them.
Cha Si-eon, having already declared he’d quit if it came to that.
And Kwon Mu-seop, whose expression grew darker by the moment against Cha Si-eon’s defiance.
“S-sir!”
I hastily wedged myself between them before the tension could turn bloodier.
“You told me something not long ago. To think about why the seniors were holding on at the Management Bureau.”
Back when I’d been frustrated with the Management Bureau’s incomplete situation,
Kwon Mu-seop had said
that everyone had similar thoughts.
That I should consider why the seniors endured it.
That if I understood, I’d endure with them; if not, that was the limit.
“It’s probably not for the money. If you wanted to earn money, Apophis pays better. And it’s not like they have no other options. These are people capable of doing well at anything without taking on such dangerous work. That they stick with it despite having choices—it must be from a sense of duty that someone has to do this work.”
Kwon Mu-seop’s gaze, which had been fixed on Cha Si-eon, turned toward me.
His expression remained coldly set.
But I could read the emotion in his eyes.
I continued, believing Kwon Mu-seop’s true heart wasn’t different from ours.
“I don’t think such people could be satisfied with the current situation. And if they’ve endured this much, isn’t it time they felt the reward for that endurance?”

* * *

We ended up getting sent out anyway.
“What will you do if you resign?”
“Sigh…….”
And Cha Si-eon, suddenly jobless.
Hunched on a bench on the terrace, he sat with his head deeply buried toward the ground.
I felt similarly, but if I took the same posture beside him, the misery would double, so I leaned back instead.
Kwon Mu-seop.
I’d expected it wouldn’t be easy, but I hadn’t thought he’d be this unyielding.
Now what should we do.
Should I make him grab the back of his neck by saying something like “I’ll resign too, and as payment for sourcing materials for the rings, give me one”…….
Just as we sat sighing heavily—one looking at the sky, one at the ground—
“Hey, what’re you doing here?”
A bright voice rang out from the terrace entrance.
Turning toward the sound, I saw Deputy Manager Yun U-jeong with both hands stuffed in the pockets of his duty uniform.
We stood for him, and Yun U-jeong gestured lightly for us to sit back down.
Yun U-jeong approached us naturally.
Then he grinned toward Cha Si-eon.
“You threatened the manager, didn’t you? Wow, you’ve grown a lot!”
“…….”
It’d been about thirty minutes since we left the manager’s office.
Yet Yun U-jeong spoke as if he already knew everything about us.
“You two, sticking together and causing trouble—did you think I put you together for this? How dare you mess with our heavenly manager?”
Yun U-jeong scolded us in a tone that was both joking and serious.
So I listened quietly, but then Yun U-jeong added lightly:
“Though our sky is a bit low, I’ll admit.”
Dissing the manager in the middle of all this.
Was he just here to mess with us?
I studied Yun U-jeong’s expression to understand the situation.
Then Yun U-jeong let out a chuckle and spoke.
“Try it once.”
“Pardon?”
“What you two were saying. The manager says to try recruiting once.”
Astonished at the unexpected words, I opened my eyes wide.
Glancing over, Cha Si-eon also looked genuinely surprised.
“Why suddenly…….”
“Why? Because you threatened the manager. You’re a funny one, really. When he laid down a red carpet for you to leave, you ignored it, but now you’re threatening him about resigning.”
“…….”
“Anyway, since it’s come to this, try recruiting volunteers once. The manager said he’ll consider it after seeing how the staff responds.”
Yun U-jeong spoke plainly to us, who were still doubtful.
Then he added this:
“Recruitment is limited to Response Team and Exploration Team members, excluding team-lead rank. And Response Team 3 is entirely excluded—we can’t have innocent team members suffer because of their team leader.”
Yun U-jeong’s logic was sound.
Since Cha Si-eon, as team leader, would be spearheading this, some team members might participate out of loyalty.
Otherwise, an awkward atmosphere might form.
So excluding Response Team 3 entirely made sense.
“And five people is nowhere near enough. Gather eleven like the original plan.”
Eleven people from Response Team and Exploration Team, excluding Response Team 3.
The recruitment difficulty just shot up considerably.
The Response Team had lost more personnel during last week’s intensive suppression period.
Replacements hadn’t been filled yet, so Response Team currently numbered around seventy.
The Exploration Team was about sixty.
Excluding Response Team 3 from that, our recruitment pool was roughly a hundred people.
From those hundred, we had to find eleven willing to stake their lives.
“Just post a notice for recruitment and do nothing else. Don’t go looking for people who seem persuadable, and don’t pressure anyone. Only those who volunteer after seeing the notice should apply, and if you don’t get eleven volunteers, this whole thing is shelved. Don’t bring it up again. Got it?”
Yun U-jeong then drove the final nail home with decisive force.
This condition made sense too.
Asking someone to stake their life was unreasonable to begin with, and rejecting such a request was painful for the person asked.
Once I considered all the conditions, they were quite strict.
But I couldn’t complain.
“Understood, sir.”
“Good. Do your best, you two.”
As if he’d said all he needed to, Yun U-jeong turned away, hands still stuffed in his pockets.
So I quickly asked:
“Is the manager in his office right now?”
“Yeah, so don’t even come near that side. The manager’s mood is very bad right now.”
I’d wanted to offer thanks,
but it seemed I’d have to save that for later.

* * *

The next day.
Cha Si-eon posted a notice on the Management Bureau’s internal network.

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■ “The Siren-Ringing Train Station” Special Operation Volunteer Recruitment Notice

Volunteers are sought as follows to participate in the special operation targeting “The Siren-Ringing Train Station”.

1. Operation Objective
: Neutralization of the primary Hazardous Entity at “The Siren-Ringing Train Station,” the Massive Siren
: Acquisition of the Core at “The Siren-Ringing Train Station” and halting its operation
2. Operation Date: To be determined after volunteer recruitment
3. Number of Recruits: 11 total
4. Application Qualifications: Response Team and Exploration Team members
(Team-lead rank and Response Team 3 members are excluded)
5. Benefits for Volunteers
: Hazard Pay upon deployment
: Special Bonus upon operation success
: Susolbon Merchandise for interested volunteers (Choose 1 from limited packages for generations 1-3 members. Ends when stock runs out)
6. Inquiries: Team Leader Cha Si-eon, Response Team 3
7. Notes: See attached materials for operation overview

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A recruitment notice with no merit besides hazard pay.
Meanwhile, the risk was conveyed abundantly just by the name “The Siren-Ringing Train Station.”
Would anyone actually volunteer for such madness?
I waited anxiously for results, seized by belated doubt.
A half-day passed.
People’s hearts were generally alike, and those gathered here were better suited to doing the role themselves than cheerleading from the sidelines.
Right—that worry was baseless.
On the first day the notice was posted, twenty-seven people volunteered.
I could almost hear Kwon Mu-seop grabbing the back of his neck.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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