Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 99

—————
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 99

ep16. Because I Made You (3)

Riiip-!

Cha Si-eon roughly tore the woman’s clothes with his hands.

I was shocked by his action and then stopped abruptly.

What just happened?

When the woman’s revealing clothes were torn, thick clothing appeared instead.

A light gray straitjacket that covered meticulously from neck to ankles.

At the same time, the thick fragrance disappeared and my vision cleared.

Looking around again, this was just an ordinary room.

“Let go of this…!”

The woman in the straitjacket let out a shrill scream.

But, what was this?

The plum blossom-like lady was nowhere to be found, and some wild being was…

The woman still had the same pretty face I saw earlier.

But I couldn’t feel the previous elegance.

Far from elegant, her struggling appearance while being grabbed by the scruff was no different from a stray cat caught by a wild dog.

“L-let go of that hand right now…!”

And Oh Tae-o, who came to his senses much later, joined the fray.

When Oh Tae-o rushed over in a panic, Cha Si-eon released the woman.

“A-are you okay…?”

“I’m not okay!”

When Oh Tae-o fretted desperately, the woman shouted back.

“I warned you in advance… What just happened was a mistake…”

“Forget it, I’m upset.”

“I’m sorry, please calm down… We even wore the clothes as you instructed…”

Oh Tae-o almost begged as he tried to appease the woman.

Then the woman glanced at Oh Tae-o with a resentful face.

“Are you really sorry?”

Oh Tae-o nodded enthusiastically at the woman’s sharp question.

“Then apologize properly again.”

When the woman showed mercy, Oh Tae-o brightened up.

But only for a moment.

“Not Tae-o, but you who tore my clothes.”

The woman suddenly pointed at Cha Si-eon.

Then she smiled wickedly yet gently and said.

“Take off all those disgusting clothes. Then I’ll consider forgiving you once.”

Oh my.

“Since you tore my clothes like that, you should suffer the same fate. Don’t you think?”

The woman spoke arrogantly with her arms crossed.

I covered my mouth to avoid showing my excitement.

But compared to others, I was rather decent.

Oh Tae-o began urgently signaling to Cha Si-eon with his eyes.

As if telling him to hurry up and do as instructed.

Right… Compared to that person, I am, well.

Only Kwak Jae-gyeom was restlessly worrying about the Team Leader’s safety.

Ziiip-

Cha Si-eon pulled down the zipper of his work uniform.

But instead of taking it off, he took out a notebook from his inner pocket and opened it.

“Case Number 71. Ryu Dan-a. Female, 25 years old, born September 21st. Class C Contaminated Person from Type 2 Special Zone ‘Crimson Barred Maze House.'”

“What are you doing right now?”

The woman reacted sensitively to the information Cha Si-eon recited.

It seemed to be information about the woman herself.

“Assimilated into the ‘Maze House’ and gained the ability ‘Red Plum Blossom Illusion’ to seduce missing men, making them her servants and ruling over them before being arrested 9 months ago.”

The woman, Ryu Dan-a’s eyes became sharper.

But Cha Si-eon didn’t care and turned the page of his notebook.

“Subject for disposal due to harm caused to people, but recognized for utility due to ability to read Special Zone text and currently under isolation and protection measures.”

“I’m asking what you’re doing right now.”

“Daily necessities requested from research supervisor Oh Tae-o for this month. D*** Lip Glow, Pr*** Eau de Parfum, Y*** Saint Laurent Hair Mist…”

Ryu Dan-a, who had been speaking coldly, shut her mouth tight.

What followed the word “daily necessities” were famous, probably expensive cosmetics.

Even I, an outsider, recognized these famous brand names.

“Acting Director Oh Tae-o.”

“Y-yes…?”

“Are these daily necessities?”

Oh Tae-o seemed to have nothing to say in response to Cha Si-eon’s question and just bit his lips.

“From now on, such luxury items will be excluded from the supply list.”

“Tae-o, who is that guy? Is he higher ranked than you?”

As the situation turned unfavorable, Ryu Dan-a pressed Oh Tae-o.

Oh Tae-o just fidgeted with his glasses as if troubled.

Ryu Dan-a turned to look at Cha Si-eon with a face full of anger.

Then Cha Si-eon suggested in a monotone voice.

“If you cooperate quietly, I’ll cancel what I said earlier.”

“…Before that, apologize to me. Then I’ll think about it.”

The strip show had changed to an apology.

This was sufficient progress.

But Cha Si-eon opened his notebook again.

“Supply item requested by research supervisor Oh Tae-o for Subject 71’s mental stability. Ch**** dress. 13 million won.”

The atmosphere turned cold.

Oh Tae-o and Ryu Dan-a had expressions that sensed doom.

“13 million…”

Kwak Jae-gyeom muttered as if dumbfounded.

Since it was called a supply item, it must have been bought with the Management Bureau’s budget, right?

The Management Bureau’s budget is naturally tax money…

“Jae-gyeom.”

“Yes!”

“Fine! I’ll do it! Don’t touch my stuff!”

At Cha Si-eon’s signal, Kwak Jae-gyeom sprang into action.

Ryu Dan-a resisted by guarding the wardrobe with her whole body.

They struggled, she threw a tantrum, and finally burst into tears.

They say having a nasty-tempered person on your side can be reassuring sometimes, and it was really true.

No, wait, before that.

If it was going to be like this anyway, we didn’t need to change clothes either, right?

…I suddenly realized.

That nasty-tempered people make no exceptions even for their own allies.

* * *

Ryu Dan-a sat quietly in her seat.

But when Kwak Jae-gyeom approached with some device, she frowned again.

“What’s that?”

“A lie detector.”

“Ha, it won’t work? I’m really good at lying.”

Ryu Dan-a snorted with a provocative expression.

Then Oh Tae-o shuffled over.

“Then with this…”

Oh Tae-o put some kind of headband on Ryu Dan-a.

Then he went back to Jae-gyeom and held out his tablet, saying:

“It’s Dan-a’s brainwave analysis program, and this will be much more accurate than a lie detector… It can distinguish between lying and just talking, and it can analyze emotions too…”

We were somewhat puzzled by Oh Tae-o’s cooperation.

And Ryu Dan-a was greatly puzzled.

“Tae-o, what are you doing right now?”

“Huh? I thought this would be useful. But, is Dan-a angry…?”

Oh Tae-o asked while looking at the tablet.

Actually, I thought Oh Tae-o was so infatuated with Ryu Dan-a that he couldn’t think straight.

I was wrong.

Oh Tae-o was just someone who couldn’t think straight in general.

Still, Oh Tae-o’s program was trustworthy.

Ryu Dan-a grinding her teeth and the message on the tablet reading ‘Somewhat excited, primary emotion: anger’ matched perfectly.

Jae-gyeom nodded after finishing the setup, and I sat across from Ryu Dan-a.

Ryu Dan-a was in a straitjacket, unable to move.

Except for that menacing outfit, Ryu Dan-a was a normal person.

I had imagined Contaminated Ones would look somehow distorted.

And above all, Ryu Dan-a hugging the Sha* dress and crying loudly was, well…

Quite human.

Sitting across from Ryu Dan-a, I greeted her first.

“Hello.”

At my greeting, Ryu Dan-a blinked in surprise.

Then she suddenly smiled with her eyes and said:

“Hi, are you Seo Do-un?”

“Yes.”

“You look cute.”

I smiled bitterly.

Was it even appropriate to say such things upon first meeting?

Besides, strictly speaking, Ryu Dan-a was the cute one.

A woman with long burgundy-dyed hair tied in twin tails, constantly smiling with cat-like eyes.

Even the brainwave analysis device suited her well like a deliberate headband.

If you put me and this Ryu Dan-a side by side and asked people to choose the cute one, 97 out of 100 would naturally choose Ryu Dan-a.

“Hyung, try asking a test question.”

Jae-gyeom said from the side.

A test question? Hmm…

I thought for a moment and asked Ryu Dan-a:

“Earlier, what did you show us when we entered the room?”

“Huh? What did you see?”

But Ryu Dan-a tilted her head and played dumb.

Thanks to that, I became unnecessarily embarrassed.

What did I see?

Your clothes slipping down… I didn’t want to say that.

“This question itself is a lie…”

Then Oh Tae-o muttered.

“This brainwave pattern is ‘intentional feigning ignorance.’ See here? The frontal lobe part responsible for fabricated speech is activated, but the temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension is quiet. So right now Dan-a understood the question but is deliberately pretending not to know…”

Ryu Dan-a and I looked back at Oh Tae-o.

“This is mainly the pattern Dan-a shows when she’s trying to mess with people… Why does Dan-a think this is behavior meant to tease Agent Seo Do-un? Agent Seo could just say Dan-a undressed while giving off a scent…”

“Tae-o! It’s distracting, so could you please be quiet? And it’s not a scent, it’s fragrance. Can’t you even distinguish that much?”

Ryu Dan-a, who couldn’t stand listening anymore, shouted sensitively.

Right, Oh Tae-o was indeed a genius.

One who perfectly analyzed other people’s brainwaves.

But didn’t understand trivial human emotions well.

A truly another-class genius…

“Manager Oh, let’s do the chart analysis through messenger. They can hear everything over there.”

“Ah. Right. External factors in experiments are naturally…”

Jae-gyeom couldn’t stand it anymore and controlled Oh Tae-o’s mouth.

Then he also spoke toward me:

“Do-un hyung, let’s do a few more practice questions until the Contaminated One’s excitement subsides. And the Team Leader says to put in your earpiece.”

At Jae-gyeom’s message, I glanced at the glass window on the side.

Cha Si-eon was sitting in the observation room beyond the glass window.

-Seo Do-un, don’t react, just listen.

When I put in the earpiece, Cha Si-eon spoke.

-When you ask questions, I’ll relay the analysis content. When conveying Number 71’s emotions, I’ll use a 10-point scale, with scores closer to 10 indicating stronger emotions.

As I nodded inwardly, Cha Si-eon added:

-And there are several things to relay.

Cha Si-eon’s voice continued for a while.

After a moment, I organized my thoughts and faced Ryu Dan-a.

First, they said to ask a few more practice questions.

“You said you wanted to meet me directly, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the reason?”

“I was curious. They say you keep getting dragged to Special Zones? But you’re still cleverly alive?”

-It’s a moderately evasive answer. Not a lie, but there are other hidden intentions.

Cha Si-eon’s voice overlapped over Ryu Dan-a’s smiling face.

So this is how it would proceed.

A bit chaotic, but manageable.

“I was lucky. Is what Ryu Dan-a was curious about resolved now?”

“Well… roughly?”

-False. Just evasive words. Level 1 surprise.

What’s the surprise about? There’s nothing surprising so far.

“How is staying here?”

“Of course it’s frustrating, why ask something so obvious? It’s frustrating, extremely frustrating!”

-Level 8 strong sincerity.

I could tell that without being told.

“How did you end up here?”

“You heard earlier.”

-Level 3 wariness, level 4 irritation.

“The story from the person involved could be different.”

“Hmm…”

-The previous numbers dropped to half. Wariness 1 point, irritation 2 points.

It’s not even a game, but it feels like checking character favorability going up and down in real time.

Then Ryu Dan-a suddenly pointed at Cha Si-eon and said:

“That stalker said it right.”

“Stalker?”

“He investigated my background without permission. That makes him a stalker. Disgusting stalker.”

-…

“Anyway, I was caught doing bad things. I’m a scary person who used to make men like you into slaves.”

Ryu Dan-a spoke viciously as if to show off.

Come to think of it, they said she was someone who caused casualties.

I almost got fooled by that appearance…

-That’s shameless bluffing. The harmfulness of No. 71 is similar to that of poisonous mushrooms—it’s safe as long as you don’t pick it up and eat it.

Then I heard Cha Si-eon’s voice.

Is it just my imagination? The feeling is strangely petty.

And poisonous mushrooms, really.

So does that mean she didn’t directly attack people but rather set traps?

I looked at Ryu Dan-a with half-belief.

Ryu Dan-a continued to emit deadly gazes, unaware of what Team Leader Cha had said.

…You’re quite an interesting person, Ms. Ryu Dan-a.

“Do-un hyung, you can start now.”

At Jae-gyeom’s signal, I suppressed my smile and began asking serious questions.

“You heard the sound recorded on my smartwatch, right?”

“Yeah, Tae-o played it for me.”

“Ms. Ryu Dan-a, you said you could understand the meaning of that sound.”

“Yeah!”

“What did it mean?”

“I can tell you, but it would be better if you didn’t know.”

Ryu Dan-a grinned and drew out her words.

She had the expression of a mischievous child hiding a triumphant prank.

“It’s fine. Please tell me.”

“Really? You won’t regret it? You won’t blame me later, right?”

When I nodded, Ryu Dan-a’s eyes narrowed.

“Alright, then I’ll teach you. The sound that came out first means this.”

Ryu Dan-a leaned her upper body toward me.

Then she smiled brightly and moved her red lips.

“I’m going to tear you apart and kill you. Seo Do-un.”

I pretended to be shocked.

Then Cha Si-eon spoke.

-It’s the truth.

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