Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 51

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 51

 

ep9. Rooting Out the Fake (12)

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Baek Sa-ra suddenly apologized.

 

“Because I made a mistake.”

 

“A mistake?”

 

I thought about what mistake Baek Sa-ra could have made and remembered.

 

Could she be talking about approaching Kim Hae-seong without knowing his smartphone would explode?

 

“At the end, I should have reacted more carefully.”

 

My guess was right.

 

Baek Sa-ra was considering this situation of being chased by Alpha and Delta as her mistake.

 

But wasn’t that more of an accident than a mistake?

 

“That phone call earlier, was it someone you know?”

 

“I’m not sure. But probably, yes.”

 

Baek Sa-ra answered quietly to my question.

 

Earlier, the man on the other end of the phone had provoked her by exposing Baek Sa-ra’s past.

 

But it seems Baek Sa-ra doesn’t even know who it was.

 

That’s why she looked frustrated and troubled.

 

Looking at Baek Sa-ra’s serious face, I recalled what Gwak Jae-gyeom had said before.

 

-Sara is quite lenient with the Page juniors too.

 

Page (P.A.G).

 

Its official name is Special Management Bureau-affiliated Temporary Shelter for Rescued Minors.

 

It’s a kind of shelter that the Management Bureau operated before its major reorganization, that is, until two years ago.

 

During the time when the Special Zone was expanding like crazy, there were apparently many more people flowing into the Special Zone than now.

 

Back then, entire families being dragged in was frequent.

 

And when the Management Bureau found them, in most cases the parents were already dead and only the children had survived alone.

 

Whether this was due to the parents’ sacrifice and devotion, or the children’s unique adaptability, is unknown.

 

Either way, or perhaps both, a considerable number of orphans were generated in the Special Zone.

 

But the Management Bureau couldn’t send the children who were rescued alone back to society.

 

While humanitarian aspects weren’t entirely absent, it seems the bigger concern was that if those children went outside, information about the Special Zone might leak to the outside world.

 

So the Management Bureau began operating Page.

 

Page’s operational purpose was for the children to return to society with sealed lips.

 

Most children received education and treatment according to that policy while looking forward to returning to normal life.

 

But among them, there were children who chose an unexpected path.

 

They decided to face the Special Zone again, the place that had completely turned their young lives upside down.

 

The Management Bureau also welcomed their decision.

 

Children who had tasted hell early and survived those extreme situations were already like completed talents.

 

So the Management Bureau created a separate Page special recruitment track to actively employ these children.

 

There are three agents from such protective facilities that I know of.

 

Baek Sa-ra, Kwak Jae-gyeom, and Ha Yu-ju.

 

When I first heard Gwak Jae-gyeom and Yu-ju’s ages, I wondered how they could enter such a place when they were still so young.

 

But their roots were here from the beginning.

 

Considering this context, that phone call earlier must be related to Baek Sa-ra’s most painful memories.

 

And Baek Sa-ra seems to think that losing her composure momentarily back then was the mistake that led to this predicament.

 

“Don’t blame yourself too much.”

 

I began speaking while considering Baek Sa-ra’s situation.

 

“We had to check Kim Hae-seong’s condition anyway. There’s no guarantee it would have been fine if you hadn’t approached him then. Besides, when the other party planned this deliberately, what could we do?”

 

Baek Sa-ra looked at me briefly.

 

Then she shifted her gaze to my neck and frowned.

 

“Otter, you’re really a strange person.”

 

Suddenly me?

 

I pondered what this meant, but unable to find an answer, I protested.

 

“That’s something Baek Sa-ra is much more…”

 

Strange means having uncommon characteristics.

 

From this perspective, Seo Do-un actually belongs to the ordinary side.

 

But what about Baek Sa-ra?

 

Uncommon appearance and uncommon profession.

 

Uncommon force and uncommon ferocity.

 

Even an uncommon unique ability that makes men menstruate.

 

Isn’t it obvious that you’re stranger?

 

I sincerely thought this, and perhaps feeling my sincerity, Baek Sa-ra got a little heated and retorted.

 

“Otter is much stranger than me. Really incredibly strange.”

 

This is a first.

 

Being denounced as such a strange guy.

 

I thought I’d lived quite sensibly, so why?

 

When I stared in bewilderment, Baek Sa-ra avoided my eyes as she had done before.

 

Then she muttered quietly.

 

“Or maybe I’m just confused.”

 

“What’s confusing?”

 

“That we’re the same kind of people.”

 

“…?”

 

“You and I are the same kind of people, and Kim Hae-seong, Rescuer 12, and Seo Do-un are also the same kind of people, so now I don’t really know what people are anymore.”

 

What kind of riddle is this?

 

When I stared at her, Baek Sa-ra let out a deflated sigh.

 

Then she muttered in a much lower voice.

 

“I’ve seen all kinds of people in the Special Zone. I’ve seen how far humans can go, and what kinds of things they do. To be honest, I’m not clean either.”

 

Is she saying this as an agent of the Management Bureau?

 

Or is she talking about what she saw and experienced as a missing person in the Special Zone?

 

Is it just my imagination that it sounds like the latter?

 

“But I learned that it was unavoidable. The situation was the worst and there was no order, so everyone was going crazy trying to survive. Besides, people naturally value one drop of their own blood more than another person’s life.”

 

“Do you think so too, Baek Sa-ra?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Baek Sa-ra answered without hesitation.

 

“I think it’s true. That situation was really unavoidable. Everyone was out of their minds. Some people adapted exceptionally quickly. It was just a moment before other people got swept up in it too.”

 

Baek Sa-ra’s voice as she reflected on the past was calm.

 

As if she had already distanced herself sufficiently from those events.

 

But there are things in the world that can only be seen when you’re far away.

 

“But the price those people paid later was equally unavoidable. It was a good situation for going crazy, and those people were probably desperate to survive, but you can’t just leave beasts that have already tasted blood alone.”

 

Price. Beasts that have tasted blood.

 

I was curious about what story lay behind this, but I didn’t bother asking.

 

I just let Baek Sa-ra continue talking.

 

“So there’s no right or wrong here. Everyone just does what they have to do, unavoidably. If you’re looked down upon, you die; if you show weakness, you die; if you don’t kill, you die.”

 

This sounds like something I’ve heard before.

 

It was right after coming out of the Hospital Hunting Humans.

 

Back then, Baek Sa-ra spoke in this same tone.

 

That this is a place where you do necessary things, not right things.

 

Though it’s somewhat different from my thinking, I tried to respect Baek Sa-ra’s consistent belief.

 

But Baek Sa-ra added this first.

 

“…That’s what I thought, but lately I’m a bit confused. Because of you, Otter.”

 

“I don’t understand why it’s because of me…”

 

“Because of you, Otter, I don’t really know what a person is, or how far the definition of a person extends.”

 

“…?”

 

“There are people like this, but then what are those other people, and when I think about whether this person also has that kind of nature deep down, I really don’t know what’s what, and I don’t even know where I should ask about this.”

 

Baek Sa-ra’s voice was quiet.

 

It was a stillness full of ripples, like a windy meadow.

 

I pondered her expression for a while before finally speaking.

 

“Baek Sa-ra.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Even water boils when you put it over fire.”

 

“…Yes?”

 

“What you’re saying is that in the worst situations, humans reveal their rock bottom, right?”

 

Nod-

 

“But that’s the same for animals too. When the environment is bad, there are animals that commit mass suicide, and many animals that kill their own young.”

 

“So you’re saying that’s natural?”

 

“No, I think it’s terrible.”

 

Baek Sa-ra’s head tilted to the side.

 

As if she didn’t quite understand what I was saying.

 

So I carefully elaborated.

 

“It would be better if such things didn’t happen, and in that sense it’s actually fortunate. Whether it’s people or beasts, they go crazy and rampage when the situation is at its worst, so conversely, it means they can live normally and well when the situation is okay.”

 

“Could it really be that simple?”

 

“If this were simple, no one would have a hard time, right?”

 

“Then….”

 

“Even if it’s not simple, there is an answer, so we can try to make an effort in that direction.”

 

Baek Sa-ra stares at me blankly.

 

She seems confused, as if she half-understands my words.

 

“So there’s no need to look at a river or ocean and think ‘that would actually be hot too.’ If you don’t like boiling water, you can just turn off the fire.”

 

When I added that comment, Baek Sa-ra’s gaze slowly dropped.

 

“Editors must be good at talking too….”

 

Baek Sa-ra muttered with her head down.

 

Of course editors need to be good at talking too.

 

But since what I just said wasn’t actually my own words, I somewhat sheepishly admitted to the plagiarism.

 

“Actually, this is from a book.”

 

“A book?”

 

“It’s a book called ‘Do Dead Bones Dream?’ written by author Nabbit. Have you heard of it by any chance? It was a bestseller two years ago.”

 

“No….”

 

“Ah… Then shall I lend it to you? I’ll lend it to you. Actually, I edited it, and it’s really a good book. It’s a short story collection so it’s easy to read in parts without pressure, and it’s science fiction but with an emotional atmosphere and delicate prose that female readers love….”

 

I was speaking enthusiastically when I noticed Baek Sa-ra’s eyes had grown round.

 

Oops, was that too much?

 

Just as I was hastily trying to tone down my expression.

 

Thud-!

 

A loud sound came from outside along with vibrations.

 

Bang-! Ratatata-!

 

Continuing explosions, and then gunshots.

 

Had Response Team 3 arrived?

 

Baek Sa-ra and I tensely listened to those sounds.

 

After a while of this.

 

“Otter.”

 

Baek Sa-ra called me and said this.

 

“Please lend it to me.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“The book you mentioned earlier, I want to read it.”

 

Author, the sales pitch was successful!

 

Just as I was brightening up.

 

-Sara!

 

Kwon Mu-seop’s voice coming through the watch.

 

-Delta is heading your way!

 

This way?

 

Even if it came, we had the door locked right now….

 

That’s when it happened.

 

CRASH-!

 

As if mocking my complacency, the door exploded.

 

From that impact we were both thrown back, and our eardrums exposed to the explosion lost function and rang with tinnitus.

 

Eeeeee-!

 

Then something came charging through the thick dust.

 

It was Delta, which had come to devour me as well.

 

“Urgh…!”

 

Delta bared its teeth at me again.

 

Damn it, why?

 

Why had I suddenly become the priority?

 

I desperately blocked Delta’s face without understanding why.

 

But as expected, I couldn’t match it in strength.

 

Just as Delta’s fangs were about to touch my neck again.

 

CRASH-!

 

Delta’s neck snapped as it flew sideways.

 

What I saw next was a fluttering skirt.

 

And I could see Baek Sa-ra tapping the side of her head, as if her head was still ringing.

 

“Otter.”

 

Baek Sa-ra shook her head once and looked at me as she spoke.

 

This time, not just ‘if possible,’ but I’ll definitely save you.”

 

With a somehow relieved expression, she smiled prettily and added this.

 

“As repayment for lending me the book.”

 

In Baek Sa-ra’s hand as she sought to borrow the book, a knife was glinting.

 

It was a very contrasting and ironic scene.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————