Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 19

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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 19

ep4. Welcome to the Special Management Bureau (4)

Baek Sa-ra was an elegant person, as if drawn in a painting.

To what extent? There are work uniforms that Cha Si-eon and Kwak Jae-gyeom wear.

The kind that blatantly looks like a special agent uniform.

Black, assertive clothing with strings and belts dangling all over it.

Cha Si-eon wearing it looked utterly menacing, and even Kwak Jae-gyeom looked strangely cold when he kept his mouth shut.

But when Baek Sa-ra wore that fierce-looking work uniform, it just looked neat.

No, she even looked refreshed, like someone who had just gone for a light jog.

This was despite having bandages and band-aids patched up here and there.

Is this the importance of being a good clothes hanger?

While I was admiring this by myself, Baek Sa-ra took out a tablet PC and placed it on the table.

Then she spoke in an official tone.

“I’ll proceed with the post-rescue interview. You’ve probably done this with Team Leader Cha Si-eon before, so I’ll ask for your cooperation in the same way.”

I nodded and sat up straight.

But instead of conducting the interview, Baek Sa-ra just stared at me intently.

When I looked back wondering why, Baek Sa-ra smiled brightly and said,

“Actually, this is just an excuse. I came to meet Otter.”

“Excuse me?”

“I heard about you and was curious, plus I wanted to thank you. I’m glad you look healthy.”

At Baek Sa-ra’s playful remark, I blinked and smiled back.

This was the first time talking face-to-face with Baek Sa-ra.

But perhaps because we had shared hardships in a life-or-death situation, I felt strangely glad to see her.

“You seem quite injured, Baek Sa-ra.”

“It just looks that way, it’s nothing serious.”p>

“Han Ji-su is doing well too, right?”

“Ji-su is, yes. She says she’s fine now. Fortunately, she got through the critical period.”

“Was she badly injured?”

“You remember, right? In the Hospital Special Zone, when Ji-su shouted to get down before the floor collapsed.”

Of course I remembered.

Right after that, I fell along with Seo Do-un who was in a wheelchair.

“That was because Rescuer 12 got hit by a high-power round and exploded.”

It was just one sentence, but I didn’t know which part to be surprised about.

Rescuer 12 is human, so why did he explode?

If a person exploded, how did the floor collapse?

And if such an explosion occurred, what about Han Ji-su who was close to Rescuer 12 at the time?

“When I saw the scene, it was a complete mess. Ji-su almost got blown to pieces.”

Even while talking about being blown to pieces, Baek Sa-ra’s voice remained gentle and demure.

So I flinched and then belatedly remembered.

That this person was very skilled at harsh words and violence.

Right, that’s how it was. I almost got startled for nothing.

When I nodded awkwardly, Baek Sa-ra asked with a bright smile,

“Horrible, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s horrible.”

“But why did you come into this scary place again? When you had managed to get out alive.”

It seemed Baek Sa-ra already knew all about my situation.

Well, since the rumors had spread everywhere, it would be stranger if she didn’t know.

“It wasn’t my intention.”

When I complained honestly, pity mixed into Baek Sa-ra’s smile.

For some reason, Baek Sa-ra had a complicated expression.

“I was really grateful at the Hospital. Thanks to you, Otter, we were able to complete our mission without casualties.”

“No, I was the one who received help.”

“And since I came here under the pretense of an interview anyway, let me show you something briefly.”

Baek Sa-ra suddenly operated the tablet.

Then she brought up a screen and handed it to me.

“This is our exploration report.”

—

■ “Human Hunting Hospital” Exploration Report

Exploration Round: 17th

Exploration Date: February 18, 20XX

Exploration Personnel: 2 members of Exploration Team 1, 10 prisoners / Total 12 members

Exploration Objective: Investigate activation conditions and countermeasures for “High-Power Round” among attack patterns of main threat “Moving Gun”

—

What is this?

I was casually looking at the screen when I stopped.

Then Baek Sa-ra asked in a calm voice,

“What seems strange?”

“The exploration objective written here.”

“What about it?”

“It’s completely different from the mission statement you showed me before…”

The exploration mission statement Baek Sa-ra had given me as prisoner ‘Woman’.

That mission statement had bizarre and complex tasks written on it.

Complete one mandatory mission and two optional missions to survive.

The prisoners were definitely working on missions under those conditions.

Moreover, their missions had nothing about “Moving Gun” or “High-Power Round”.

Those were rather obstacles that hindered mission completion.

At my point, Baek Sa-ra smiled slightly.

Then she gestured as if telling me to read the rest.

—

■ Exploration Details (Chronological Order)

00:01 Mission start

00:07 ‘A’-type mission success

00:08 Encounter with “Moving Gun”

00:14 ‘B’-type mission “Bottomless Sandbox” attempted

00:25 11 minutes 6 seconds stay in psychological examination room, “Moving Gun” encounter

00:36 10 minutes 55 seconds stay in psychological examination room, “Moving Gun” encounter

00:41 ‘B’-type mission “Auto-Playing Piano” attempted

00:42 Prisoner ‘Purple’, killed by “Moving Gun” bullet in Lobby 1F

00:43 “Moving Gun” enters dormant period in Lobby 1F

00:59 Prisoner ‘Green’, buried and killed in “Bottomless Sandbox”

01:16 ‘B’-type mission “Incomprehensible Area Imaging Equipment” attempted

01:21 Prisoner ‘Sky’, witnesses “Distorted Angel” at “Incomprehensible Area Imaging Equipment”

01:22 Prisoner ‘Yellow’, killed by bite from prisoner ‘Sky’

01:23 Prisoner ‘Sky’, killed by Agent Han Ji-su

01:26 “Moving Gun” resumes activity

01:30 ‘B’-type mission “Multi-Armed Nurse” attempted

01:36 Prisoner ‘Rescuer 12’, black ampoule from “Multi-Armed Nurse” injected subcutaneously

01:38 Prisoner ‘Rescuer 12’, complains of fever and removes mask

01:55 ‘B’-type mission “Coughing Youth” attempted

02:03 Prisoner ‘Rescuer 12’, facial area exposed to “Moving Gun”

02:03 Moving Gun fires first High-Power Round

02:09 Moving Gun goes berserk

02:31 Prisoners ‘Light Green’, ‘Pink’, ‘Purple’ die from Moving Gun bullets

—

This was a record of what the prisoners experienced before I joined.

The record was endlessly dry.

That’s why reading between the lines felt even more tragic.

The prisoners, distinguished by colors, struggled desperately for their mission.

They kept failing and trying again.

Then they died.

With indescribable feelings, I asked Baek Sa-ra.

“Were the prisoners’ missions fake?”

“We didn’t make them do unnecessary work.”

“But mission success or survival was impossible from the start.”

Because Woman and Tall’s real objective was investigating the High-Power Round.

So they needed to induce the Moving Gun to fire it.

They’d also need targets to get hit by those rounds.

In the end, the prisoners’ missions weren’t given to be accomplished.

They were devices to make the prisoners targets for the Moving Gun.

“Too cruel, isn’t it?”

Baek Sa-ra spoke as if reading my thoughts.

“Still, don’t worry about it. It’s a waste.”

“A waste…”

“They just look human, but they’re all vicious murderers. If you pity them, how do you think the innocent victims and their families would feel?”

At Baek Sa-ra’s words, I naturally remembered.

Lee Sol, who was hiding in the railroad station bathroom.

That child, only a middle schooler, told me.

That I could kill her, just please don’t let her mom keep searching for her.

“So never sympathize with them. The people who come to me are humans who deserve to fall into hell anyway.”

Saying ‘But they’re still human’ here would be a luxury.

I have that much awareness.

But I couldn’t agree with ‘Yes, human trash should be recycled like that!’ either.

I was an ordinary editor who had never actively killed anything except redundant sentences.

“There’ll be a lot of this kind of work from now on. So you need to get used to it. This is a place that does necessary work, not right work, and Otter is now a Management Bureau person too.”

I nodded heavily at Baek Sa-ra’s realistic advice.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And always take care of your own life first.”

“Well, that’s such an obvious thing to say…”

“I’m saying it because it doesn’t seem obvious to you.”

Baek Sa-ra’s voice was still gentle.

But what was this feeling, like I was being scolded somehow?

“Honestly, it was an afterthought. At the Train Station, and in front of me too. Fortunately the results were good, but luck won’t always follow you. And there are more people in the world not worth saving than you think. So from now on, prioritize only your own life. Never gamble.”

Baek Sa-ra must see me as a child left by the water’s edge.

Well, to a veteran agent’s eyes, a civilian like me would look precarious.

I understand the concern.

But Cha Si-eon had said something similar before.

-Were you maintaining your rationality when you gave Lee Sol the ticket?

Ugh, what an unpleasant memory.

Of course I can’t put Baek Sa-ra and Cha Si-eon on the same level.

But feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, I offered a moderate explanation.

“I understand what you mean, but you don’t need to worry that much. I don’t really like gambling either. I’m quite cowardly too.”

“You, Otter?”

Baek Sa-ra looked at me as if she’d heard something strange.

Then she asked back like this.

“…If you’re so cowardly, why did you take off your mask?”

“Huh?”

“You knew the gun’s dormancy conditions. If I had died then, the gun would have stopped too. Then you could have been rescued safely.”

“The rescue team was coming soon. I thought if we bought time, we could both survive.”

At my answer, Baek Sa-ra frowned.

It was a strange expression.

She wasn’t angry or in a bad mood, but she looked uncomfortable somehow.

“If that’s not gambling, what is?”

“It’s human nature.”

At my answer, Baek Sa-ra’s expression became even stranger.

“You helped me first, Baek Sa-ra. It wasn’t even your role, and you were busy with other work.”

Back then, Baek Sa-ra was acting with the prisoners while hiding her identity.

A dangerous situation where one wrong move could mean death.

But as soon as she saw me, she protected me.

The plan must have been completely ruined because of me, but she didn’t care.

When such a person is about to die before your eyes, do you just leave them?

If you’re human, you have to do something first.

“So I repaid the favor. It wasn’t gambling, it was human nature.”

Baek Sa-ra opened her mouth as if to argue back.

But no words actually came from that mouth.

“…Really.”

After a long while, Baek Sa-ra dropped her head and sighed.

“This is troublesome.”

What’s troublesome about it?

Her hair fell down so I couldn’t see her expression.

Still, she didn’t seem to be joking.

Is receiving help from a civilian such a blow to one’s pride?

I was just bewildered, not knowing why Baek Sa-ra was being so serious.

Meanwhile, Baek Sa-ra raised her head again.

“I’ll just tell you the truth.”

Baek Sa-ra seemed to choose her words for a moment, then spoke in a much lower voice.

“If you hadn’t taken off your mask then, you would have died, Otter.”

What?

I looked at Baek Sa-ra at these incomprehensible words.

But Baek Sa-ra was strangely calm.

As if already resigned, accepting the outcome.

Suddenly I remembered.

When we were defeated by the Moving Gun.

Back then too, Baek Sa-ra was looking at me with this kind of face.

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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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