Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 194

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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, Episode 194

ep27. A Simple Solution (1)
“If you’re being treated unfairly, tell me.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Harsh treatment, bullying, anything like that. If it’s hard to say because Team Leader Cha is right here, just blink. Once means yes, twice means no.”
“…….”
“…….”
“You’re smiling? Do I look like I’m joking?”
“…….”
“…….”
“And don’t go acting remorseful all of a sudden, either. It’s not that I don’t understand—I literally can’t make sense of this. Five people entered a Caution-level Special Zone and two came out injured. Ji-su’s case, fine, I get it—a laceration on the arm looks like a one-off accident. But your condition isn’t a human problem in itself, isn’t it?”
A state that presents an inhuman problem.
I laughed awkwardly at the doctor’s sensory diagnosis.
Beside me, Cha Si-eon stood in complete silence.
“Bruises across your face, arms, and torso—especially severe contusions on your lower back. Sprains in your right wrist and left ankle. And then there’s a herniated disc on top of it all. That’s the kind of damage you get from being beaten and rolled around. Is that right? Wasn’t Seo Do-un supposed to be a protected member? So why did he come out like this when everyone else is fine?”
Complete silence. Just silence.
What could we possibly say?
Director Kim Woo-in was cracking candies irritably between his teeth, and there was no way I could tell him: ‘My ankles were wrenched by Kwak Jae-gyeom, my wrists by Team Leader Cha, the full-body bruises by Team Leader Cha’s team, the facial contusions from having my head gripped and shoved against the floor, my arms from being pinned backward, and my back from being struck with a knee—but don’t worry, no abuse whatsoever. And the herniated disc is my chronic condition, so let’s just accept it.’ Not happening.
So I endured Kim Woo-in’s censure in silent laughter.
Yesterday I explored the Body Transformation Meditation Center.
From entry to exit, the operation took two hours and thirty-eight minutes.
The time there wasn’t particularly long, and there was nothing especially dangerous about it.
The variable that came up at the end was safely contained within ten minutes.
So our exploration could be called successful.
If only I hadn’t complained of lower back pain and ended up bedridden the very next day.
Up until yesterday, I’d been fine.
Well, sure, even yesterday I had bruises in various places and my wrists and ankles were creaking.
But it seemed like the sort of thing that would heal on its own, so I checked “no bodily injuries” and just got my Contamination Level measured.
Yet the next morning, my body went on strike, and eventually I was completely exposed to Kim Woo-in.
So my attending physician was currently irritated with the fact that I was bedridden, that I was secretly a walking disaster, that I’d tried to hide the truth, and that my handler bore responsibility for this entire situation.
“I told you before: if you’re going to run someone ragged, do it with durability in mind. Isn’t it time we assessed your endurance?”
“I’ll be more careful.”
“Tsk. I’ve given you an injection, so the pain should ease up. But since I only blocked the pain, don’t go moving recklessly, and don’t strain your back!”
“I’ll be careful.”
Kim Woo-in admonished both Cha Si-eon and me with equal measure, and we both accepted his rebuke humbly.
Once Kim Woo-in finished his scolding and left the room, Cha Si-eon spoke.
When we were left alone, Cha Si-eon muttered,
“I thought you’d at least been exercising recently.”
“Are you saying my lack of exercise is to blame for this……?”
I protested, bewildered.
But Cha Si-eon didn’t even acknowledge it and continued,
“Since you won’t be able to get up today, we’ll conduct yesterday’s Post-Exploration Interview here in abbreviated form.”
I curse my psychopath team leader.
“We’ll start once Jae-gyeom arrives.”
Since Kwak Jae-gyeom was needed for this interview, we waited for him briefly.
Not for long.
Creak—
“Sorry I’m late! The Deputy Manager called me out of nowhere.”
Jae-gyeom opened the ward door and came in.
He was breathing a bit hard from his rush, and in his hands he was carrying a fruit basket.
A fruit basket? Not from Deputy Manager Kwon Mu-seop, but where did this come from?
As I was wondering what it was, Jae-gyeom suddenly thrust it at me.
“This is for you.”
“What is this?”
“Director Go sent it. The Deputy Manager said to give it to you.”
“……?”
Why would Director Go……?
And before that, how did he already know I’d been hospitalized this morning?
“Apparently, the Director was originally planning to call in all personnel who’d been deployed on the Meditation Center operation to his office. But when they reported that you’d been admitted this morning, he immediately sent the fruit basket. He gave us gift money to celebrate together too.”
“Gift money?”
“According to the Deputy Manager, it seems to be because of that person Yeon Ga-ram.”
“Ah…….”
From Jae-gyeom’s added remark, I understood everything.
Director Go was planning to take credit with Yeon Ga-ram’s father over this.
Indeed, Director Go was a man true to both his desires and his feelings.
Except…….
“He might be celebrating too soon…….”
When I murmured this, Jae-gyeom simply shrugged as if he didn’t know.
Yeon Ga-ram was still staying at the Small House.
The Time Suspension of seventy-two hours applied to his severed head had not yet elapsed.
This suspension would end tomorrow around two o’clock in the afternoon.
Yeon Ga-ram’s life or death would be determined then.
Yet Director Go seemed to have already completed the narrative of ‘our agents saved your son from crisis,’ overlooking this fact entirely.
The fact that my organization’s leader was such a loose opportunist was rather sad.
But it was better than interfering with everything as before, so I decided to just think kindly of it.
“You claimed yesterday that you swapped bodies with a Body Thief.”
Once Jae-gyeom sat down, Cha Si-eon began at once.
“As I mentioned yesterday, that’s a phenomenon we’ve never observed before.”
I nodded quietly at Cha Si-eon’s words.
-When two or more people hear a bell together, there’s a possibility they could swap bodies with the person next to them.
This is how the Management Bureau’s manual explains the anomalies that occur in the Body Transformation Meditation Center.
And of course, this “person next to them” does not include a Body Thief.
That’s why the Meditation Center was Class C.
But yesterday, that rule was broken.
“This is the first case of a Body Exchange occurring between a human and a Body Thief. However, since we can’t rule out the possibility that this was your misunderstanding or hallucination, we need to establish the facts first.”
I nodded again at what Cha Si-eon said.
It was possible that all of this was my mistake.
I believe I swapped bodies with a Body Thief, but depending on the circumstances, it could be filed as ‘Seo Do-un suddenly went berserk when the Body Thief appeared’—that kind of situation.
“Tell me step by step what happened when you, as the Body Thief, were facing off with Kwak Jae-gyeom.”
“When I’d just entered the Body Thief’s body, I hadn’t yet adapted to the situation. But my original body was already drawing a knife. Han Ji-su tried to stop it and got her arm cut. Seeing that, I panicked and tried to run toward my body. That’s when Jae-gyeom suddenly jumped on my back. When I tried to shake him off, he stabbed my neck with the knife.”
“…….”
Jae-gyeom glanced at me nervously.
But Cha Si-eon continued calmly.
“Where exactly on your neck was he stabbed?”
Cha Si-eon held out a tablet to me as he asked.
On the tablet was a silhouette diagram resembling the Body Thief.
I recalled the sensation I’d felt then—like swallowing charcoal—and marked the spot on the diagram.
“What happened after that?”
“After that, I writhed in pain and made eye contact with my body. My body was pinned down to the floor by Team Leader Cha, so I rushed him again. The reason was—I felt like if I missed this chance, it was over. Though I don’t think that was my own thought.”
“What came next?”
“Jae-gyeom had his arm wrapped around my neck and jumped off my back. Because of that, I lost my balance while running and fell face-first, hit my head on the floor, and my body flipped.”
“Did it hurt?”
“It hurt.”
“…….”
At my matter-of-fact account and Cha Si-eon’s confirmation, Jae-gyeom hung his head deeply.
As if ashamed.
“Kwak Jae-gyeom, how does your memory match up?”
“Yes, well…… it pretty much lines up.”
When Jae-gyeom nodded, Cha Si-eon showed us his tablet again.
“This is the CCTV from the Prayer Room at the Meditation Center. Is this the scene you mentioned—Jae-gyeom knocking the Body Thief down?”
The footage Cha Si-eon showed depicted Jae-gyeom pinning down the thrashing Body Thief quite clearly.
If anything, it looked fairly impressive—like subduing a wild horse.
The problem was that the body being thrown was mine, and I experienced multiple vertebral fractures as a result.
“Yes, that’s right.”
I nodded reluctantly, and Cha Si-eon tapped the screen.
A different angle of the same location appeared.
“This is the situation with myself, Han Ji-su, and your original body at the same time.”
On that screen, I was visible—facedown on the floor, surrounded by Cha Si-eon and Han Ji-su.
Hmm, this situation wasn’t looking good either.
Cha Si-eon was pinning me with his knee, and Han Ji-su had her hands around my neck.
“In this situation, it would be difficult to say that you properly observed what was happening with the Body Thief.”
Right. On the screen, Han Ji-su was checking on me.
Because she was blocking my view, I couldn’t see past her.
“So then…….”
“It seems your body and the Body Thief’s did indeed swap.”
At Cha Si-eon’s assertion, I nodded quietly.
There was nothing surprising about it anymore.
I was the one who first claimed the swap had happened.
So I was accepting what had happened to me as calmly as I could manage.
“There’s an unofficial rule about the body-swapping phenomenon at the Meditation Center.”
“An unofficial rule?”
“It’s not in the manual, but field agents use it among themselves.”
“What is it?”
“When multiple people swap bodies, similar people swap with each other.”
“…….”
At Cha Si-eon’s words, I stiffened for a moment, then laughed hollowly.
Because among all those people, the two most similar had been me and the Body Thief.

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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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