Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 40

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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 40

 

ep9. Identifying the Fake(1)

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom abandoned me and left.

 

He just left the words “Hyung, I’m going to stretch” and went off somewhere.

 

I don’t have separation anxiety.

 

Rather, I prefer being alone.

 

The problem is that I’m not alone right now.

 

This is the Management Bureau Indoor Training Facility.

 

A place where field agents train their bodies.

 

So before I entered, it was noisy with battle cries and striking sounds.

 

But the moment I entered, the agents who had been full of fighting spirit stopped their movements as if they had made a promise.

 

After that, only silence filled this place.

 

And sticky gazes directed at me.

 

Thanks to that, I was on the verge of developing separation anxiety I never had…

 

Everyone, please just continue what you were doing, won’t you?

 

It was when I was struggling to endure the burdensome attention.

 

“Agent Seo Do-un.”

 

An agent whose name I didn’t know approached me hesitantly.

 

“You’re doing hand-to-hand combat training today, right? Use this.”

 

The one who said this and handed me wrist guards was a male agent with an enormous neck thickness.

 

Additionally, his shy expression and polite attitude were quite impressive.

 

I nodded with a forced smile at the stranger’s kindness.

 

“Ah, thank you…”

 

But it would have been better if I hadn’t.

 

Because right after that, other agents swarmed over like pigeons seeing bread crumbs.

 

“Agent Seo, don’t use that, use this. This is more expensive!”

 

“Ah, tape is better. Do you know how to tape?”

 

“Protein…”

 

“…”

 

I was surrounded in an instant.

 

By sweaty men who weighed about 1.5 times more than me.

 

My vision was completely blocked by their bulky frames.

 

Then other agents shouted from far away.

 

“Hey, get out! You’re making the agent flustered!”

 

“Right! Just look with your eyes, don’t touch!”

 

No, please don’t look with your eyes either.

 

Introverts die just from gazes alone.

 

Then, from beyond the burdensome human wall, a voice that would save me was heard.

 

“Ah, these people are doing it again. Get away, shoo!”

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had returned just in time, shouted while waving a towel.

 

Then the agents surrounding me scattered like sparrows.

 

But even after scattering, the gazes that seemed to target me remained.

 

So Jae-gyeom shouted again.

 

“Ah, stop staring! What if he gets nervous and gets hurt? Will you take responsibility?”

 

“Agent Seo, keep fighting!”

 

At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s sharp rebuke, the agents shouted one last time and finally dispersed.

 

Only then could I finally let out a sigh.

 

Ah, my energy is drained…

 

A week had passed since I came out of the “Zombie Sports Stadium.”

 

And I had only just begun basic training.

 

Originally, I should have started right after being appointed, but it was delayed due to frequent injuries.

 

Moreover, the Management Bureau’s basic training was very different from what I had vaguely imagined.

 

I naturally thought I would be ruthlessly drilled in something like a military training camp.

 

So I was even prepared for the feeling of re-enlisting, but contrary to expectations, there was no return to training camp days.

 

There were no fierce instructors, no high-intensity training, no strict control.

 

Actually, it was natural.

 

I didn’t even have fellow recruits.

 

I’m the only newcomer here.

 

So if I were to compare my current situation, it’s like this.

 

An office worker receiving PT alone in a gym full of professional athletes.

 

A civilian among already completed agents who doesn’t even know why he should hit people, let alone how to hit them.

 

So I was undergoing a massive initiation ceremony as quite a spectacle during every training session.

 

When I let out a deep sigh, Jae-gyeom said cheerfully.

 

“Just hang in there a little, those people will get used to it in a few days.”

 

“Are you sure it’ll only take a few days? I keep seeing only new faces every day, is this just my imagination?”

 

“Oh, you’re right. There are about 300 field personnel, so it’ll take a while to meet them all. As expected, you’re sharp.”

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom gave me a thumbs up.

 

I suppressed the urge to bend that thumb backward and sighed again.

 

As he said, there were a whopping 300 field personnel.

 

So I still barely know anyone outside of Response Team 3.

 

At least each team has its own distinctive atmosphere, so I can only guess their affiliation by appearance.

 

For example, typical soldiers with burly bodies and closely cropped hair are Response Team.

 

People who give off the vibe of professionals with exercise hobbies are Exploration Team.

 

People who look like they’d work at arts-related companies are Creation Team.

 

People who look like they work at public institutions are Control Team.

 

Something like that.

 

Of course, this classification isn’t always correct.

 

Like blonde Kwak Jae-gyeom, who’s on Response Team but doesn’t look like Response Team at all, right next to me.

 

“Just enjoy it, hyung. The people here are originally very fierce and there’s a lot of mutual rivalry.”

 

“Then why are they like this to me?”

 

“Because you’re this month’s outstanding agent!”

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom with his energy at full throttle today too.

 

When I received that lukewarmly, Jae-gyeom put on airs.

 

“Ah, hyung. I’m not just saying this, but becoming this month’s outstanding agent is an incredibly amazing thing. There are set monsters who always take it, so only exactly 11 people have had their names listed as outstanding agents so far.”

 

What’s surprising is that among those 11 outstanding agents, there are four names I know.

 

Kwon Mu-seop, Cha Si-eon, Baek Sa-ra.

 

And Lee Seob, whose records have all been deleted now.

 

“But last month when your name appeared as the 12th outstanding agent in history, wow… Honestly, I expected it, but I got goosebumps, you know? First place in performance right after appointment, this level is like writing a new legend.”

 

At Kwak Jae-gyeom’s fuss, I just kept my mouth shut.

 

Surviving a month to get paid was the same for editors and agents alike.

 

And now it was April.

 

I had worked the full month of March with perfect attendance and even received something called mission performance allowance.

 

At the same time, I experienced the Management Bureau’s strange public announcement culture for the first time.

 

——-

 

■ This Month’s Outstanding Agent

 

Name: Seo Do-un

 

Affiliation: Analysis Team 5

 

Activities

 

: Discovery of new escape route in “Warehouse-style Mart with Traps”

 

: Discovery of 8 types of new information in “Warehouse-style Mart with Traps”

 

: Rescued Agent Ha Yu-ju and 5 civilians from 「Zombie Sports Stadium」

 

: Discovered new escape route from 「Zombie Sports Stadium」

 

Outstanding Agent of the Month Selection Comments: Thank you. I look forward to your continued support.

 

———

 

At the end of the month, the above content was distributed to all employees through the Management Bureau’s internal email.

 

They even included my face photo.

 

When I was shocked by this culture I was experiencing for the first time in my life, Kwak Jae-gyeom said.

 

That’s how civil servants always are.

 

Don’t police stations and government offices also select things like ‘Police Officer of the Month’ or ‘Friendly Employee of the Month’?

 

Right, when in Rome, do as the Romans do…

 

If I think of this as part of morale boosting, it’s not completely incomprehensible.

 

The problem was that because of this, I was being spotlighted as quite an unusual person, with the rarity of being the only newcomer plus the specialty of being the outstanding agent of the month.

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom says to just enjoy this, but well.

 

I think this kind of excessive expectation isn’t very good.

 

Most importantly, when attention is focused, strange things tend to get mixed in.

 

When I finished stretching, Kwak Jae-gyeom looked at his watch and grumbled.

 

“But why aren’t these people coming?”

 

“It’s not time yet.”

 

We came out too early, it’s not that my training instructor is late.

 

But Kwak Jae-gyeom seemed bored with waiting and twisted his body before saying.

 

“Hyung, shall we try what we learned yesterday?”

 

Right, rather than just standing around doing nothing, it would be better to do something like other people.

 

When I nodded, Jae-gyeom put me in a headlock from the front.

 

“You remember how to get out, right?”

 

I remember.

 

The opponent is standing upright pressing me down, and I’m in a bent position with my head caught.

 

To escape from this clearly disadvantageous situation, I need to break the opponent’s balance.

 

First, one hand grabs the opponent’s shoulder.

 

The other hand goes behind the opponent’s knee.

 

Like this, pull the shoulder and push the knee to knock them over!

 

…My theory is perfect.

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom, this guy, what is he, a tree stump? He won’t fall over.

 

I hung sideways on Jae-gyeom who wouldn’t budge and pleaded.

 

“It’s practice, can’t you fall over for me?”

 

“Hey, where’s the fun in that? Try using more strength.”

 

“Huff…! I can’t.”

 

“The method is right, try again.”

 

“Ugh…!”

 

“Oh, you almost got it. Just a little more!”

 

Where exactly is ‘just a little more’ when he’s not budging at all!

 

I was struggling desperately against Kwak Jae-gyeom with his terrifying core strength when I remembered the key point of breaking the opponent’s balance.

 

So to catch Jae-gyeom off guard, I grabbed his collar with the hand that was holding his knee.

 

Then I put my weight in the opposite direction from what I’d been pushing.

 

“Argh…!”

 

It worked!

 

It worked, but oh no.

 

What I learned yesterday was a technique to knock over an opponent who had me in a headlock backwards.

 

So Kwak Jae-gyeom was also prepared to fall backwards.

 

But because I changed strategy, Jae-gyeom’s body tilted forward, and Jae-gyeom reflexively stretched his arms forward.

 

Without properly releasing my headlock.

 

As a result.

 

Crash-!

 

A dangerously devastating technique that slammed me head-first into the ground hit me.

 

“Ugh! Hyung, are you okay?”

 

“I’m not okay…”

 

“Thank goodness, you’re alive.”

 

This bastard, his standards for ‘okay’ are way too loose, aren’t they?

 

Kwak Jae-gyeom arbitrarily felt relieved and helped me up from where I was stuck in the mat.

 

It was when I was getting up with Jae-gyeom’s support.

 

“You should learn to walk before coming to kindergarten, shouldn’t you?”

 

At the unfamiliar voice, Jae-gyeom and I turned around simultaneously.

 

Three male agents were giggling at us from a little distance away.

 

When our eyes met, one of them kicked another with his foot.

 

Then the kicked man grinned and waved his hand toward us.

 

“Oh, did you hear that? Sorry!”

 

He’s calling something that’s not an apology an apology.

 

Anyway, since he said sorry, I turned my head thinking ‘whatever.’

 

But then that man shouted again.

 

“If you need an assistant teacher, just say so!”

 

“Stop it, you bastard!”

 

“Are you really crazy?”

 

The group laughed noisily at the man’s shout.

 

Seeing that, Kwak Jae-gyeom muttered with a serious expression.

 

“Have those guys gone crazy…”

 

When Jae-gyeom was about to march straight over, the men made a fuss first.

 

“Ah, it was just a joke, why are you like that? Agent Seo Do-un, were you offended? It’s fine, right?”

 

The man who shouted that looked about my age.

 

He was a guy with a somewhat thin build and a desert fox-like impression.

 

That face, is he from the Control Team?

 

I don’t know who he is or where he’s from, but he definitely seems childish and rude.

 

I don’t particularly want to deal with him and become the same level, but if I let this slide vaguely, it’ll give him an excuse to keep poking at me.

 

So I opened my mouth thinking I’d just answer ‘That wasn’t very funny.’

 

But then, the fox-faced man fell backwards with a thud.

 

Thump-!

 

“Ah, shit! What the…”

 

Since he didn’t fall on purpose, the fox-face irritably turned around.

 

But the next moment, the fox guy stopped dead.

 

No, I was the same, freezing up when I saw the figure standing behind him.

 

“Is walking still difficult for you?”

 

A voice that was too gentle for the situation.

 

“Then I guess I’ll have to take you to kindergarten.”

 

A woman in training clothes who appeared behind the fox-face said with a pretty smile.

 

That woman was none other than Baek Sa-ra.

 

The instructor in charge of me that Jae-gyeom and I had been waiting for.

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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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