Humanity Protection Company - 109 - City

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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The man sprang into action. He grabbed the radio and contacted Squad 3 guarding the gate and Squad 2 waiting nearby.

“Squad 2, grab the stones and come down. Target confirmed.”

Their sleeping quarters had transformed into a makeshift lab. Folding tables were set up with laptops on top, a small generator outside, and a tangle of wires everywhere.

Lee Yeonwoo crouched in the corner, quietly observing the proceedings.

‘Is this really how it’s supposed to go?’

Securing an escape route, dispatching recon teams, gathering intel, establishing relationships with key figures, sending covert info collection teams…

It was a system somewhat similar to the company’s.

Sending investigators, deploying special units based on their intel, cleanup. Their actions so far resembled those of investigators.

Yet Yeonwoo felt uncomfortable, like wearing ill-fitting clothes.

‘Is this right? Shouldn’t we be running into anomalies and twisting ourselves into pretzels when we investigate?’

It felt like being dropped in a foreign country. Or eating unfamiliar food. Or perhaps moving from working solo to operating in a group?

Yeonwoo scratched his head, then slumped against the wall with a thud.

‘Let’s just watch for now. I’m curious about that anomaly too.’

It was a relatively safe situation. Normally, he’d view even minor things with suspicion, but now they became objects of curiosity and interest.

Then, Squad 2 came down.

Squad 2, oddly ignored despite being seen, suddenly exuded presence as they pocketed the stones. The man ordered them:

“Two of you go to the shrine and photograph everything. The rest take turns watching the shaman. And, Mr. Yeonwoo?”

The man handed Yeonwoo a black envelope. Inside were a radio and a small stone. Likely the stone that distorts perception.

“Why this…?”

“The cemetery seems suspicious. Could you check it out?”

They had gathered the bodies of naturally deceased elders in one place, but it was suspected to be related to a death-related anomaly, so it needed to be verified.

The man said with a grin:

“We’ve excused you from night watch, lent you all the equipment. Surely you can do this much?”

“Well, I guess I should earn my keep.”

He accepted the proposal, thinking it would help pass the time, with no internet and boredom setting in.

The man tapped the envelope.

“When you hold this stone, you’ll be seen as just another roadside rock. Take photos and videos of the graves, and if possible, pictures of the corpses too.”

He pointed to a corner piled with tools. Yeonwoo casually slung a large shovel over his shoulder.

And so, Yeonwoo headed to the cemetery.

—

—

The cemetery was on the mountain they had descended, but had to be accessed by a different path than the one leading to the gate.

Yeonwoo leisurely climbed the mountain path, slowly awakening his senses. He took a deep breath of the fresh, clear air.

‘I’m alone. Could be dangerous.’

Even with the eraser, a blow to the back of the head could be perilous. Left alone, his dormant instincts stirred sluggishly.

A faint vitality coursed through his blood, energizing his entire body. His steps gained strength, and his mind gradually sharpened.

‘Thanks to this stone, I’ve escaped detection. What could be dangerous? Area-of-effect attacks like bombings or earthquakes? Being abandoned here isn’t good either. The crowd itself could be dangerous, like with the worm cult leader.’

His survival instinct, bordering on paranoia, transformed every minor element into a potential threat.

‘Can that recovery overcome the eraser’s deletion too? …The club is dangerous too. They’d kill me for money if they could. The bag and dice are valuable items.’

Lost in suspicion, he arrived at the cemetery.

More precisely, a natural cave on the mountain. They said the bodies were laid to rest inside the cave.

Yeonwoo stood still, observing the cave entrance. Despite it being a festival day, two men guarded the entrance. They were well-built and armed with swords and bows.

Yeonwoo, tightly gripping the stone, cautiously revealed himself. Just his head peeking out from behind a tree.

He made direct eye contact with one of the men, but the guard glanced over him like a tree branch and spoke:

“The festival must be over by now, right?”

“Should be. Whew. Good thing we didn’t participate. It’s truly an awful thing.”

“What can we do? It’s the shaman’s words, and what He desires.”

Yeonwoo finally fully believed in the stone’s effect. Nodding, he slowly walked towards the entrance.

A person passed by them, but the guards were too busy chatting to notice.

“What about the old folks? They’ll be brought in here now.”

“They lived healthily thanks to Him, so after their lifespan, they should be offered to Him.”

Yeonwoo entered the cave. Into the pitch-black cave devoid of torches, a beam of white light stretched out. It was the flashlight Yeonwoo had turned on.

‘The smell…’

Inside the cave, there was a faint scent of the incense the shaman had burned. The smell grew stronger as he walked deeper into the cave, and the low temperature gave off a chilly air.

Following the scent, walking carefully to muffle his footsteps for a while.

Yeonwoo finally reached a large cavern and.

He saw the bodies piled densely, no, those who had become worse than corpses, unable to die.

“This is.”

A quiet mutter sank beneath the wave of labored breathing. The faint sound of barely-drawn breaths could be heard even from the back of the cavern.

Yeonwoo approached one of the corpse-like humans with a rigidly set face.

A body so emaciated the bones showed through. A head with much of its white hair fallen out. A face more mummy than human. Black smoke-filled eyes barely moved, following the flashlight’s beam.

The bluish lips quivered, and a weak voice was heard.

“Kill… me… Please…”

Yeonwoo realized.

They had offered their deaths. Those who offered their deaths cannot die. Having offered death itself to the god of the River Styx, they had lost even natural death. Those fallen into a hell of eternally offering death.

The end was horrific.

‘I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t perform the ritual.’

Yeonwoo pondered. In this situation, what should he do as an investigator?

Rolling around at the company had further dulled his already blunt sensibilities. Yeonwoo made a judgment as an investigator.

‘First, I’ll take photos. Then I should bring one person back.’

Click- Click-

He took a few pictures with the camera from the club, then lightly lifted an elder with a small build. He then opened the bag wide and stuffed the elder in, feet first.

The elder was thin and small, so with the joints folded properly, they fit in easily. Being an undying body, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Finally, Yeonwoo turned to the elder who had begged him for death.

“I can kill you. Do you really want that?”

The elder barely managed to nod. They couldn’t move even a fingernail’s width, but their intent was conveyed.

Yeonwoo took out the eraser.

‘I should check if the eraser works on this death rejection.’

The eraser slowly erased the elder’s head. Other nearby things were erased too, leaving nothing above the neck. Murky blood trickled down.

Yet, they did not die. Could not die. Yeonwoo realized this fact by checking the pulse on their wrist.

‘Still, they can’t recover. …Rest in peace.’

As Yeonwoo was about to erase the remaining body completely, the other corpses writhed desperately. Weak voices poured out, filled with longing.

“Me too, kill me too…”

“Please…”

Eerie voices. Corpse-like humans writhing together in one place like snakes or parasites.

Yeonwoo nodded.

“Wait just a few days. I’ll come back.”

If he reported this to the company, they wouldn’t sit idle. Not when humans were suffering in the clutches of an anomaly.

The undying humans went limp. The labored breathing continued, but hope filled their eyes. An end was in sight for the life they couldn’t die from.

And, the black fog in their eyes saw everything. The scene of the elder being completely erased. The sight of embracing permanent death.

—

—

Unaware of being watched, the shaman sat quietly in front of the god’s painting, deep in meditation.

More precisely, they were communicating with the god of the River Styx, a netherworld being sealed in a small space.

‘It is believed that more deaths can be harvested. How should we proceed?’

– …Wait a moment.

It was just as Yeonwoo entered the cave. Though it didn’t notice Yeonwoo, perceived as a stone, it saw the offering erased by the eraser.

– Drive them out! Politely! Something terrible to them…. No. Wait. Never mind. Bring them here. If they can wield such a thing, there’s no need to harvest more deaths.

A voice echoing in the mind, mixed with 80% fear and 20% hope.

– Perhaps I might be able to return to the netherworld, ignoring this seal!

‘Understood.’

The shaman didn’t know the details but, as always, followed its will.

The self-proclaimed god of the River Styx was filled with hope.

– Let’s return to the world after death, please. I’ll never set foot in this terrible mortal world again.

Meanwhile, the club members were busy interpreting the data secretly photographed from the shrine. A translation program made by the club was translating the ancient texts hidden by the shaman.

“The important parts have been translated.”

“Explain it.”

“Yes. This ‘god of the River Styx’ appeared in the Joseon Dynasty.”

The member read fluently while looking at the monitor.

“An evil spirit emerged from the netherworld and caused havoc around here. But a passing monk sealed it.”

“How?”

“He put it into an undying tree. The recorded conversation goes something like this.”

– I’ll return to the netherworld, so please release me.

– Tut-tut. You lack enlightenment. First, understand the pain of life in there.

– A dead one doesn’t know the pain of life?

– From what I see, you haven’t suffered enough to gain enlightenment.

The man’s expression darkened.

“Then, is the reason for offering death to escape from that tree?”

“Probably.”

An evil spirit sealed in an undying tree. An evil spirit trying to escape the tree by harvesting deaths.

This is….

“It can’t generate long-term profits. Won’t it escape once it collects enough deaths?”

“Seems that way.”

The man smacked his forehead. Could they fail to even recover their investment? Of course, exploring anomalous cities often resulted in losses, but just when they thought they’d hit the jackpot…

“Money, money, we need to make money. Let’s see.”

If they reinforced the undying tree, couldn’t they turn it into an eternal death-harvesting machine?

“I guess we’ll have to increase the company’s shares a bit and get help with the seal in return.”

Just then, the tinkling of bells announced the shaman’s visit. Quicker steps than Yeonwoo descending from the cave.

The man, startled that their infiltration might have been discovered, hurriedly went out. The shaman spoke with an oddly respectful attitude.

“We need your help.”

“What kind of help?”

The man said with a grin, but his expression hardened at the shaman’s next words.

“You have an object that brings eternal death, don’t you? The god saw everything that happened in the tomb. Use it a few more times for us.”

Golden lightning struck in the man’s mind. Yeonwoo who went to the tomb. Permanent death. An object with such an effect in light clothing. The eraser!

‘…Right. I heard an investigator was carrying the eraser. I thought it was that team leader, but it was this one? It’s certainly hard to imagine.’

The man smiled.

“Squad 2. Pick up the stones. It’s time to catch a big fish.”

This was a jackpot. A jackpot worth risking conflict with the company! And he heard he had some kind of dice too.

How much could the eraser and dice sell for? This was a challenge that couldn’t be passed up.

Meanwhile, Yeonwoo, while descending the mountain, recalled something and took out even the fluorescent vest from his bag and put it on while holding the stone.

‘I think I let my guard down too much. The Goldberg Club is a hostile group. I should at least secretly figure out how to open the passage.’