Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 20

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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 20

ep4. Welcome to the Special Management Bureau (5)

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

Baek Sa-ra’s words were absurd while remaining matter-of-fact.

So I recalled it.

The words of gratitude Baek Sa-ra had said to me earlier.

-I was really grateful at the hospital. Thanks to you, Otter, I was able to complete the mission without any sacrifices.

Thinking about it again, this was also a strange sentence.

No, from the beginning, Baek Sa-ra had been speaking openly.

The reason she was grateful to me, and the content of it too.

I wasn’t a benefactor who had saved Baek Sa-ra in a moment of crisis.

I was merely an assistant who helped Baek Sa-ra complete her mission without sacrifices.

Then whose sacrifice was the sacrifice Baek Sa-ra mentioned?

It was me.

A sacrifice chosen as an alternative to Seo Do-un who had died so suddenly.

That was me.

Upon realizing this fact, a scene I had carelessly overlooked came to mind.

Back then, Baek Sa-ra who hadn’t picked up her weapon again in front of the Moving Gun.

I had thought that looked like someone accepting death.

I had almost gotten it right.

Except that death wasn’t Baek Sa-ra’s, but mine.

A quiet shock washed over me at this belatedly realized crisis.

Then Baek Sa-ra spoke as if there was nothing left to hide.

“That’s right, I was calculating to send a grenade toward you, Otter. I thought it would be dangerous to keep fighting, so I wanted to end the battle.”

Baek Sa-ra’s voice was no longer unclear.

She was simply calm, having recovered her usual gentle tone.

“I don’t think my judgment was wrong. At the Management Bureau, they call agents who die trying to save one or two citizens stupid fools. When an expensively trained agent dies for just a few people in front of them, that’s considered a national loss.”

This was now familiar logic.

We recommend citizens evacuate on their own.

But if you’re an agent, we can rescue you.

About 4,500 people a year is barely noticeable.

This is a place that does necessary work, not righteous work.

I repeated these extremely rational sentences in my mind and spoke up.

“What’s your reason for telling me all this?”

“I felt I should let you know. That there’s no such thing as human compassion here. Since you’re now part of the Management Bureau too, Otter.”

Baek Sa-ra answered with a smiling face.

So I asked again.

“Do you happen to feel sorry toward me?”

“No.”

Baek Sa-ra answered firmly to my question.

No, she answered hastily.

Was she startled?

In any case, she denied it strongly.

The smile she had been putting on also disappeared without a trace.

Baek Sa-ra faced me with a serious expression, but I didn’t mind.

And for good reason – it would be troublesome to think of editors as people who only do proofreading and editing.

We are those who deal with authors, no less.

When I faced Baek Sa-ra with good patience, eventually Baek Sa-ra was the one who averted her gaze.

Then, as if canceling her previous action, she looked at me again.

But she couldn’t last long and turned her head away again.

Baek Sa-ra repeated this about twice, then finally bit her lips tightly.

“You do feel sorry, don’t you?”

“…Maybe a little, I suppose.”

When I asked again at the right moment, a confession came back.

Having finished her confession, Baek Sa-ra bit her lips even harder.

She seemed troubled.

Actually, I was quite disturbed too.

I had been happy thinking she was a comrade, but it turned out she was a schemer who had tried to use me as a bullet shield.

How should I react now?

Should I get furious with a sense of betrayal?

-I took off my mask and crawled around telling you not to die, but you were thinking of killing me? And then you tell me to value my life? Do you have a conscience?

Even if I criticized her like this, Baek Sa-ra would listen silently.

She might even be waiting for this kind of reaction.

Then should I try resenting her coldly instead?

-So what are you trying to do? You’re not even properly apologizing, just spilling everything for your own comfort? What am I supposed to do when you only think about yourself to the end?

This would probably deal more damage.

Or I could demand compensation like this.

-If you’re sorry, at least show some sincerity.

I pondered for a while in the quietly continuing shock.

Then I looked at the eyepatch covering one of Baek Sa-ra’s eyes.

And the bandage on her cheek and small scratches too.

I examined that appearance, got my bearings, and spoke.

“How about we just say I saved you, Baek Sa-ra?”

“What?”

Baek Sa-ra looked at me with bewildered eyes.

Was that too much of a stretch?

No, I can pull this off.

I’m an editor who cuts off even the infinite tangents of authors.

“First of all, you have no intention of apologizing to me, right? Since it was the right judgment by your standards anyway.”

At my point, Baek Sa-ra hesitantly nodded.

“But I can’t just sit still because my conscience is bothering me.”

“My conscience isn’t bothering me.”

“If your conscience wasn’t bothering you, you shouldn’t have made this kind of confession either.”

“Ugh…”

“In the end, you’ve fallen into an unsolvable dilemma, Baek Sa-ra, and I’m already feeling intimidated in this unfamiliar environment, but now I’m shocked by this incident and will fall into misanthropy, hate the world, and become pessimistic about life.”

“What kind of…”

Baek Sa-ra muttered with disgust at my tragic outlook.

But I continued speaking without caring.

“But on the other hand, you’ll be confused because you understand my position too, Baek Sa-ra. Sometimes you’ll resent me for coming here with an injured body to tell me this story, and sometimes you’ll feel sorry for me, so the emotional drain will be significant.”

“…”

Reading between the lines is also an editor’s skill.

If Baek Sa-ra’s words about trying to sacrifice me were densely written text, then her action of coming to see me with an unhealed body would be the space between the lines.

The subtext I read from Baek Sa-ra was somewhat tender and quite affectionate.

Too precious to become enemies over.

“This way we both lose, and I’m especially at a disadvantage – what do you think?”

I asked as I would to an author who had taken the wrong direction.

Author, if you write it this way, will you be able to handle the consequences?

Let’s think carefully. Should we really take a path that’s only difficult and not even fun? Do we have to?

I smiled like a door that seemed open but was actually tightly shut and waited for Baek Sa-ra’s answer.

After a long while, Baek Sa-ra muttered with a confused face.

“But that’s a lie.”

“A lie that doesn’t fool anyone is fine.”

“How can that be…?”

“I’m serious. At least no one gets hurt by being deceived by this lie. Or is there a better way than this?”

There wouldn’t be.

At least Baek Sa-ra has no alternative to offer right now.

I asked back knowing this full well, and quietly watched Baek Sa-ra’s troubled expression.

“…Fine, do whatever you want.”

“Then shall we do that?”

Baek Sa-ra finally surrendered to my cunning pressure.

I readily agreed, and Baek Sa-ra looked at me like someone who’d been robbed.

So I put on a serious face to drive the point home.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Baek Sa-ra looked even more dumbfounded.

Then she hesitated with an still awkward expression before speaking.

“Thank you for saving me.”

I nodded, and Baek Sa-ra finally smiled.

It was a smile somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle.

Though a bit contrived, it was quite a satisfactory revision.

Baek Sa-ra spoke with laughter in her voice.

“Could you give me your hand?”

Hand?

Not knowing which hand she meant, I held out both palms.

Meanwhile, Baek Sa-ra removed the ring she was wearing.

It was a black metal ring.

Baek Sa-ra flipped over my outstretched hands and put her ring on me.

A ring all of a sudden?

I asked awkwardly, feeling the foreign object.

“What is this?”

“A body part from a named dangerous entity in the Special Zone.”

Aaaah!

I was horrified with my hand spread wide.

Then Baek Sa-ra pressed the ring on more firmly as she spoke.

“I really struggled to tear this off. If you wear it well, it’ll help you.”

“H-help…?”

“Some dangerous entities will mistake you for a higher-level dangerous entity. If you use it well, you can sometimes find loopholes like shortcuts. I’ve saved my life several times with this, so you can trust me.”

I was quite surprised by Baek Sa-ra’s words.

If she’d saved her life several times with this, shouldn’t she keep it herself?

“Is it okay for you to give me something like this?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You’re my lifesaver.”

Baek Sa-ra answered with a bright smile.

Thanks to that, I suddenly felt very burdened.

No, that was just a relationship reset for convenience, I wasn’t planning to exchange actual goods…

When I looked troubled, Baek Sa-ra kept smiling as she spoke.

“After manipulating someone to your heart’s content, just accept it.”

“Yes.”

I gave up resisting.

Because there was something like murderous intent in Baek Sa-ra’s voice.

Because I thought I’d end up lying down getting beaten like Rescuer 12.

When I humbly put on the ring, Baek Sa-ra spoke with a much more relieved expression.

“Live as long as possible, Otter.”

It was a truly ambiguous blessing, fitting for this ominous environment.

* * *

“Don’t tell me Sa-ra noona gave you that?”

After Baek Sa-ra left, Kwak Jae-gyeom looked at my ring and asked.

“Wow, when I asked her to show it to me, she absolutely wouldn’t take it off. Hyung, did you get an explanation of what this is?”

“Yes, roughly.”

“Amazing. She gave you this?”

Kwak Jae-gyeom turned my hand this way and that, admiring it.

Then he suddenly became serious and asked me.

“Hyung, do you know what Sa-ra noona’s nickname is?”

Crazy Sword Dance, something like that?

“Anti Teresa… Why do you ask?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I should never say the nickname I just thought of out loud.

Setting aside how insulting it is, they might question my character.

I quickly wiped away cold sweat and asked back.

“Wh-what does it mean?”

“You know Mother Teresa, right? It’s Anti Teresa because she’s the complete opposite.”

“Ah.”

Good nickname.

It sounds elegant but ultimately means Crazy Sword Dance anyway.

“Hyung, be careful. Anti Teresa is dangerous.”

“Ah, yes…”

“That ring is really good though, so wear it well.”

Kwak Jae-gyeom giggled to himself as he headed to the living room.

Then he pointed to a large box on the floor.

“Speaking of which, there are some useful survival items among the Otter Rescue Association gifts, so I picked some out.”

I casually approached Kwak Jae-gyeom’s side, then was surprised to see the items packed full in the box.

“All of this?”

“I told you, people are really serious about saving the otter right now.”

“Even so, this much… Don’t they need these things themselves?”

“Yes, well. Of course it would be nice to have them.”

“But is it okay for them to give them all to me?”

At my question, Kwak Jae-gyeom stared at me quietly.

Then he spoke as if teaching me from the basics.

“This isn’t so much giving up as, you know. It’s like someone who eats three meals a day well giving a lunch box to someone with malnutrition.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean other people go in teams with proper equipment during explorations.”

Ah.

Damn.

That’s right.

Shit.

I was the only one being dragged along.

I faced reality too painfully.

“So don’t feel burdened about accepting it. It’s like veteran players giving low-level gear they’ve stored in warehouses to a newbie they find endearing. Everyone’s doing this because they want to see you live long, hyung.”

Reality is harsh but this is kind of funny.

People whose faces I don’t even know are wishing for my longevity.

Didn’t they say there’s no human compassion here?

For something like that, their generosity seems quite abundant, so I made up my mind too.

I decided to somehow survive as a way of repaying their support.

It was 13 days after that day.

When I was dragged into yet another Hell.

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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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