Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 182

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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 182

ep25. Unsealing (8)
* * *
“Director Moon Ho-san has entered the Surgery Room.”
At Cha Si-eon’s words, Jae-gyeom and I exhaled deeply.
Moon Ho-san, who had collapsed into our house badly wounded.
After receiving emergency treatment from Han Ji-su, he was transferred to the Management Bureau.
Jae-gyeom and I rode in the transport vehicle and returned together, while Baek Sa-ra and Han Ji-su remained at our house.
It was to observe any additional anomalies that might occur.
“We’re investigating the circumstances on Apophysis’s end. We’ll pass along their response as soon as it arrives.”
I nodded at Cha Si-eon’s addition.
I have no idea how time passed.
An order given thoughtlessly, and now someone was actually dying because of it.
“Going forward…….”
“……?”
“I should be more careful about accepting the vacation Manager Jo offered.”
“It’s a point well worth considering.”
Cha Si-eon nodded in agreement with my words.
So I let out a hollow laugh.
“If I hadn’t opened the laptop at your place today, the Apophysis director would be dead right now, wouldn’t he?”
Jae-gyeom interjected casually.
Jae-gyeom had only wanted to watch a movie and eat pizza at our house.
But he looked bewildered at having stumbled into this kind of situation.
“It probably would have been dangerous.”
“So he really is the type who lives on luck…….”
Jae-gyeom muttered quietly in response to Cha Si-eon’s answer.
Moon Ho-san’s torso had four holes punctured through it—two on the front, two on the back—each large enough to fit two finger joints.
As if some massive predator had bitten down with its fangs.
The place where those wounds were inflicted would naturally be a Special Zone.
And one of the Special Zones I had visited before.
But what Hazardous Entity there would be capable of inflicting such an injury?
And why would Moon Ho-san enter a Special Zone dressed in formal wear?
We were lost in these questions when it happened.
Zing—
Cha Si-eon’s phone rang.
Cha Si-eon looked down at his phone screen, then frowned slightly.
“We’ve received a response from Apophysis.”
“What happened?”
“We transferred a Special Zone to Apophysis not long ago. Apparently, Director Moon Ho-san entered it today with employees to inspect the area, and suddenly communications were cut off.”
So an accident had occurred during what was essentially an inspection.
“Several employees who were escorting Director Moon Ho-san are also reported missing.”
“So it really was a dangerous situation? Incredible—it was perfectly timed, like Do-un summoned him right at the critical moment…….”
Jae-gyeom covered his mouth with both hands, shuddering.
Looking at just this much, the saying about him living on luck didn’t seem wrong.
“Which Special Zone was it?”
“They say it’s Blooming School.”
“What?”
I startled and repeated Cha Si-eon’s answer.
Blooming School was a Type 1 Special Zone I had never visited.
And it was the place where a “newborn god” was supposedly waiting for me.
An accident happened there, of all places?
“But didn’t you say he could only bring people from Special Zones he’d visited?”
Jae-gyeom, struck by the same question as me, muttered with wide eyes.
But even if we pressed the point, Cha Si-eon had no way to explain it.
“The information Seo Do-un collected today consists of things that cannot be cross-verified. So rather than believing them outright, it would be better to treat them merely as reference.”
“Yes, that does seem prudent…….”
Because this contradictory information had surfaced immediately.
So Special Zone, you were a liar too.
I nodded at Cha Si-eon’s caution when Jae-gyeom suddenly interjected.
“Team Leader, did you see just now when Do-un was setting the conditions for who to bring from the Special Zone?”
“Why?”
“If the Special Zone draws people in by creating logs that way, doesn’t that also explain why families used to pour into Special Zones together in the past?”
Jae-gyeom spoke with unusual seriousness.
In the past—back when Agent Lee Seob was still around—entire families were frequently pulled into Special Zones.
That’s why the Management Bureau had separately operated an institution to protect minors who survived after losing their families in Special Zones.
But after the all-out war, the pattern changed, and the majority of cases became individuals being drawn into Special Zones.
The cause of this difference remained unclear.
And Jae-gyeom was now trying to connect that unexplained cause to what we’d just witnessed.
“Just like Do-un set conditions for who to summon, what if each Special Zone’s owner inputs the conditions for who they want to bring in, and those conditions change slightly depending on circumstances?”
“You could form that hypothesis, sure.”
“And at the end of our all-out war, only researchers were pulled into Special Zones. Doesn’t that make sense if we interpret it as the Special Zone owners changing their settings to attack the Management Bureau?”
“…….”
“And Team Leader, there’s also the reason why Special Zones only appear in Seoul—something we’ve been puzzled about all along. If there are constraints on relationships, distance, weight, and such when a Special Zone pulls people in, that would explain why this only happens in high-population metropolises.”
“But that alone doesn’t explain why Seoul was chosen. There are bigger cities than Seoul in other countries.”
“But how many cities have been completely devastated by war and then rebuilt with a population density explosion within just decades?”
“It’s rare but not nonexistent, and if we expand the scope to other countries, Seoul isn’t really that favorable a choice.”
I agree with that point.
A city destroyed by war, then rebuilt.
Berlin, Warsaw, Manila, Hiroshima.
Several cities caught up in the World Wars have a deep connection to war, just like Seoul.
If you’re choosing a city based solely on war and population density, is Seoul really a suitable city for running Special Zones?
I don’t think so.
Because the Republic of Korea is a country with computerized resident registration.
Especially in Seoul, there are surveillance cameras everywhere, nearly everyone owns personal communication devices, and cars and people traffic the streets day and night.
Plus, the moment anything strange happens, the entire nation is busy spreading it across social media.
So unless the Special Zone owners were Korean from the start, Seoul doesn’t seem like a good choice.
If the goal is to quietly abduct people and grow a Special Zone, this city is more like a hornet’s nest—one you’d have no reason to touch.
“But Team Leader, if what we heard this time is even somewhat true, we could actually eliminate the Special Zones, couldn’t we?”
Still, Jae-gyeom pressed on persistently.
“Since a Special Zone disappears on its own after 49 days if its owner neglects it, we just need to capture the owner and lock them up. And if the owner is the Big Cat, that’s not an impossible task.”
That’s when I noticed it.
The tone of Jae-gyeom’s voice—it was subtly rising.
Jae-gyeom was excited.
He was accepting everything we’d learned at our house without reservation and already nurturing hope that this crisis could end.
And Cha Si-eon had already sensed Jae-gyeom’s state before I did.
“I’m saying this again—don’t blindly believe it until it’s cross-verified. Don’t get excited and rush in, and don’t spread rumors like Acting Director Oh does.”
“Team Leader.”
“Answer me.”
“Yes…….”
Unlike the already-exhilarated Jae-gyeom, Cha Si-eon was cold and clear.
Even as the one who had asked how to kill a Special Zone’s owner, he kept his mind deliberately sharp.
At Cha Si-eon’s warning, Jae-gyeom reluctantly answered.
Then Cha Si-eon’s gaze shifted toward me.
“The same applies to you, Seo Do-un.”
Me?
“Don’t even think about entering Blooming School alone, with no communication device, even as a last resort.”
“As if I would ever think of something like that…….”
I muttered, feeling unjustly accused.
But Cha Si-eon stared at me for some reason, then spoke heavily.
“I’ll know better after receiving more reports, but it appears an anomaly has developed at the site. Blooming School is a zone where exploration and stabilization have already been completed, and the Primary Hazard Entity, the Gardener, was defeated during the last Intensive Suppression Period, reducing its danger level.”
The Gardener of Blooming School.
That entity, which was also a Mercenary Individual, had appeared on the Blood-Raining Island during the last Intensive Suppression Period.
It had inflicted significant casualties on the agents deployed to the Island before being defeated itself.
“That’s why we transferred post-management to Apophysis, but casualties have suddenly occurred. Re-exploration will be necessary, and it’s possible a new Primary Hazard Entity may have been generated. So I’d appreciate it if you’d self-censor any idea of going there alone based on unverified information.”
“You don’t need to emphasize it that much…….”
I won’t do that.
Why do you suspect people like that…….
I kept nodding at Cha Si-eon’s warning.
Jae-gyeom, sitting somewhat glumly beside me, received another word from Cha Si-eon and forced out a smile.
With that, Team Leader Cha Si-eon’s scolding had finally ended.
Then I hesitated and spoke.
“Um, I’m asking just in case, but.”
Cha Si-eon and Jae-gyeom looked at me.
I hesitated briefly under their gaze, then just said it.
“Have you ever felt hunger when looking at the Big Cat?”
At my question, both their gazes lingered.
Then it changed.
As if to ask what I was talking about—how was such a thought even possible.
So I just laughed.
“I was just asking. Because there’s this saying about eating a god.”

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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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