Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 128

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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 128

ep19. Exploration! Timeless XX! (1)

“I got cut. I’m reserve number fifteen.”
Han Ji-su muttered while piling rice like a mountain onto her tray.
“Baek Sa-ra got into the main team.”
“Didn’t Baek Sa-ra say she’s been busy with the exploration?”
“Well, that’s true, but she applied right away saying she had to do this. I think even she was surprised at how many people applied.”
So Baek Sa-ra had stepped forward thinking there wouldn’t be any volunteers.
“Man, I wanted to go too.”
Kwak Jae-gyeom grumbled while collecting sausages with tongs.
His tray today was also nearly covered in meat.
“Even if you’d applied, you probably would’ve been cut in the selection anyway…”
“Jeez, you people are so harsh.”
Jae-gyeom was unfairly upset at Ji-su’s factual observation.
Jae-gyeom seemed to speak without thinking much, and he barely seemed aware that this harsh person was actually his own team leader.
The subject of conversation between Han Ji-su and Kwak Jae-gyeom was, surprisingly, the Train Station special operation.
They seemed quite disappointed about not being able to participate in that operation. Truly remarkable.
The recruitment notice for the Train Station special operation that Cha Si-eon had posted four days ago recorded thirty-six volunteers within two days of posting.
So recruitment ended early, and the situation arose where they actually had to narrow down the personnel.
The initial appeal of “Please risk your lives to join us!” had now become “Only the strong can participate,” turning into a qualification screening.
It was remarkable in many ways.
“Do you know Lee Sol well, Han Ji-su?”
I asked as I sat down.
Han Ji-su, sitting across from me, made the sign of the cross before her meal and then answered me.
“No, I don’t know her well.”
“You don’t?”
“No. But I understand the situation is serious. I thought we shouldn’t just keep leaving the Train Station like this.”
Han Ji-su chewed her rice calmly as she spoke.
More volunteers had applied than expected.
And their motivations for applying were diverse—quite different from what we’d anticipated.
Those who felt indebted to Lee Seob and his family.
Those without any debt but unable to ignore the situation.
Those who wanted to destroy the oddly obstructive Train Station once and for all.
And those who wanted the rare title of “One of the Thirteen Who Conquered the Train Station”…
That people could risk their lives for such things—the Management Bureau people were stranger than I’d imagined.
“The main team’s composition is pretty impressive.”
“The elite, excluding the team leader line.”
“With this lineup, any operation becomes a field trip…”
Moreover, as this operation became the exclusive domain of these seasoned veterans, a strange sense of admiration seemed to emerge.
As a result, the idea of risking one’s life had already become routine.
Looking at this trend, I understood why Manager Kwon Mu-seop had been so upset and defensive.
Once they announced the operation and recruited personnel, everyone naturally accepted this level of risk.
There was nothing particularly solemn about it—it was simply the attitude of “that’s just how it is.”
If an accident happened like this, they’d all go down together again…
Today too, I could practically hear Manager Kwon Mu-seop’s blood pressure rising in real time.

* * *

After lunch.
The first meeting of the Train Station deployment members was held.
But despite the name “meeting,” they already knew each other very well.
The selected personnel were all senior staff serving in leadership roles at their respective teams.
With such people gathered together, the meeting room was as loud as a market.
“When are we heading to the Train Station?”
“I’d like to go soon.”
“Why can’t we just go tomorrow?”
“No, July first.”
“What’s special about that day?”
“My birthday.”
“What a devoted son.”
A fire-natured devoted son who wanted to align his birthday with his death date…
These people really weren’t nervous at all.
Far from nervous, they were squirming with eagerness to move forward.
Cha Si-eon spoke to these restless operatives.
“The operation’s start date can be expedited to at minimum two weeks from now.”
“Two weeks? What do you mean two weeks? Are you not doing your job properly?”
“Get him down!”
“The drone delivery schedule has to be kept, doesn’t it…”
“That’s something you should’ve prepared long ago! Are you not doing your job properly?”
“Get him down!”
Ah, these people are really chaotic…
But Team Leader Cha seemed accustomed to such interference and heckling.
Given how he calmly told those hooligans to shut up and then continued his explanation.
“We haven’t received authorization from higher-ups yet. Manager Kwon Mu-seop has made an official request, so we should get a result soon.”
As they say, the will of the people is the will of heaven—even Manager Kwon Mu-seop ended up following the general trend.
That’s why now, according to rumors, he’s sweating bullets trying to convince his superiors.
“Mock training will be conducted after upper management approval. Refer to the materials for team assignments, and submit individual requests if you want role changes.”
“I don’t want to be in the same team as that person!”
“I’d like to do lottery ticket draws instead of drones!”
“Please submit individual requests later…”
Team Leader Cha spoke patiently to the seniors waving their hands up.
As they say, too many boatmen steer the boat up a mountain.
The team members were certainly living up to their reputations.
Still, one thing was clear: they were as skilled as they were confident.
They weren’t inexperienced rookies ignorant of what “risking one’s life” meant, and they understood this operation’s purpose.
Cha Si-eon seemed to trust that point firmly.
So after finishing the operation briefing, he bowed respectfully to everyone gathered there.
“Thank you all, and I wish you all good fortune.”

* * *

The meeting, filled with idle chatter, banter, and wordplay, finally ended.
Once things were settled, Cha Si-eon called me aside separately and spoke.
“Seo Do-un, I have something to convey regarding Researcher Kim Ji-an.”
Kim Ji-an.
The former researcher from the Management Bureau who’d told me about Lee Sol’s condition.
“The Research Department contacted Researcher Kim Ji-an to establish the circumstances, according to what I’ve heard.”
Yes, establishing the circumstances was necessary.
How did this former employee Kim Ji-an know so much about Lee Sol’s condition?
And how did she figure out my movements and approach me?
This was a matter related to the Management Bureau’s security.
It wasn’t ideal for an outsider to be this deeply involved in Management Bureau affairs.
So it seemed the Research Department had made direct contact with Kim Ji-an.
But Cha Si-eon told me something quite unexpected.
“However, on Researcher Kim Ji-an’s side, she claims she doesn’t know you at all.”
“What?”
“And she’s adamantly denying the fact that she came to the Management Bureau with you.”
What is this about?
“The woman who came in with me—wasn’t that Researcher Kim Ji-an?”
“That’s correct. That much is certain.”
Yes, both Cha Si-eon and Oh Tae-o had treated her naturally as an acquaintance.
Then what’s going on?
Was it suggesting that something that looked exactly like Kim Ji-an approached me and got into the Management Bureau, but wasn’t actually her?
“Could it be that instead of Kim Ji-an, some kind of Fake Human pretended to be her and approached me…?”
Like Alpha or Delta.
If an entity that mimicked a Management Bureau operative had come out into the real world and acted…
“No, that’s not the case. There’s been no precedent so far of any Fake Human entity coming into reality.”
“Just because there hasn’t been one until now doesn’t mean this couldn’t be the first time something like that happened.”
“In any case, this case is definitely not that. We checked the road CCTV and confirmed Researcher Kim Ji-an’s movements on that day. The person we met that day was definitely Researcher Kim Ji-an herself.”
“…?”
“However, Researcher Kim Ji-an claims to have no memory of that incident whatsoever, and insists that she doesn’t even know who you are.”
Hm…?
The more I hear, the more mysterious it becomes.
Was she saying she had sleepwalking episodes or something, speaking and acting without realizing it?
No, that couldn’t be.
The Kim Ji-an I’d met was very logical.
Her speech and behavior were entirely natural.
“Researcher Kim Ji-an is here at the Management Bureau now. They say she’s in a meeting with the Research Department staff—shall we go take a look?”
I nodded at Cha Si-eon’s suggestion.
Then, together with him, I went over to the Research Building and headed toward the meeting room where Kim Ji-an was said to be.
When we opened the meeting room door and entered, the Research Department staff were in conversation with a woman facing them.
The woman was sitting with her back to us.
Only the woman’s back was visible to me as she spoke rapidly about something.
“No, no, senior…! You know what I’m like… Would I come here alone? Even if I did, I would’ve contacted the seniors first. Surely I wouldn’t only contact Oh Tae-o? And how could I ask for help from someone I barely know, not even knowing if they’d show up? I only just found out this time that Lee Sol had been dragged into the Special Zone…!”
The woman spoke in sharp, shallow breaths, pouring out her words.
That voice was familiar to my ears, but her manner of speech was strange.
I approached the research staff with half-belief and half-doubt.
The researchers noticed me and Cha Si-eon first, and the woman with her back to us also seemed to sense our presence and turned around.
The woman who turned had long, narrow eyes and striking, refined features.
That woman was definitely the Kim Ji-an I’d met a few days ago.
I recognized Kim Ji-an immediately.
But Kim Ji-an looked back and forth between me and Cha Si-eon, then fixed her gaze on Cha Si-eon.
As if she didn’t know me.
As if Team Leader Cha was the only person she recognized.
As Kim Ji-an remained so distant, the Research Manager pointed at me and asked.
“Kim Ji-an, you don’t know that person?”
“The one next to Team Leader Cha, sir?”
Team Leader Cha? Was she really calling Cha Si-eon that?
I was genuinely bewildered by the unfamiliar title when Kim Ji-an looked at me and murmured.
“I feel like… I’m meeting you for the first time today…”
Kim Ji-an tilted her head, looking at me.
“Could you be… Teacher Seo Do-un…?”
At that innocent expression, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.
She’s a stranger.
This Kim Ji-an is someone I don’t know.
Though Kim Ji-an’s appearance was exactly as I remembered, and her clothing style was similar to that day, her essence was entirely different from what I’d experienced.
The Kim Ji-an I’d met at the cafe wasn’t this person.
Her emotional expressions weren’t this transparent and natural.
I swallowed my confusion and approached Kim Ji-an.
“I’m Seo Do-un.”
“Oh, ah, yes. I’m Kim Ji-an.”
“Would you… mind shaking hands?”
I carefully extended my hand to Kim Ji-an.
Kim Ji-an looked surprised for a moment, then hesitantly took my hand.
Kim Ji-an’s hand was trembling.
But that hand wasn’t cold.
“…”
I looked down at Kim Ji-an’s hand, then lifted my head.
Up close, I could see a beauty mark on Kim Ji-an’s face.
This beauty mark was exactly as I’d seen it before.
But the eyes resting above it were different from my memory.
The dark pupils I’d seen before were now an ordinary brown shade.

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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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