Meski begitu, yang mengejutkan, dia tampak tenang sekarang. '…Mungkin Biro Penanggulangan Bencana memang lebih cocok untuknya.' Hanya saja, caranya terus melirik lengan kananku yang kosong dan wajahnya yang semakin pucat, sepertinya dia menganggap kurang sopan untuk menanyakannya. Ini saatnya aku mencairkan suasana. "Aku cuma kurang beruntung di misi pertamaku dan terlibat sesuatu yang berat. Tapi biro sudah menanganinya, jadi kurasa aku akan baik-baik saja." Entah kenapa, aku bisa merasakan tatapan aneh dari Go Yeongeun, tapi kubiarkan saja untuk sekarang. "Kudengar kau ditempatkan di Tim Pembersihan Lokasi, Heowoon-ssi." Ekspresi Jang Heowoon sedikit cerah. "Yah, kadang aku harus melihat... hal-hal yang mengerikan, memang, tapi..." Ah, benar. Tim Pembersihan Lokasi biasanya menangani pembersihan semua kekacauan. "Semua orang baik dan pengertian karena aku masih baru, jadi syukurlah, aku sudah cukup beradaptasi." Itu kabar baik, tapi ekspresinya kembali suram. "Hanya saja... justru itu yang membuatku lebih khawatir." "Dari yang diceritakan tadi, kita diminta mencuri dokumen tentang cerita hantu yang sangat berbahaya... dan aku hanya bertanya-tanya... apa kita benar-benar baik-baik saja dengan itu." "Biro Penanggulangan Bencana benar-benar bertindak dengan rasa tanggung jawab untuk menangkal fenomena paranormal, dan aku khawatir kita bisa menyebabkan kerugian besar." "Kalau begitu, apa kau mau berhenti?" Aku sudah tahu jawabannya tanpa mendengarnya. Hanya orang yang seputus asa itu demi Tiket Keinginan yang akan berakhir dalam situasi seperti ini. Aku tahu dalam keadaan berbeda, mereka tidak akan bertindak egois. Terutama mengingat belas kasih dan tekad yang ditunjukkan Go Yeongeun di Looky Mart dulu. Tapi ada sesuatu di dalam diri orang-orang ini—sesuatu yang tidak akan mereka kompromikan. 'Kalau toh tidak ada yang berubah...' Maka lebih baik setidaknya memilih jalan yang memberimu ketenangan pikiran. "Kurasa tidak apa-apa bagi kita untuk mengambilnya." "Perusahaan tidak akan berani sembarangan main-main dengan cerita hantu berperingkat tinggi. Lagipula, kita bahkan tidak mengambil cerita hantunya—hanya informasinya." Tentu saja, Daydream Inc. tidak mengejarnya untuk alasan mulia, tapi sejauh Catatan Eksplorasi Gelap, Bencana yang disetujui Annihilation itu tidak menimbulkan bahaya lebih lanjut bagi umat manusia. …Karena ia sudah seberbahaya mungkin. "Selama kita tidak bertindak berlebihan dan mencuri seluruh bencana supranatural di bawah kendali pemerintah karena loyalitas berlebihan pada perusahaan, kita seharusnya aman." "Ah, y-ya, tentu saja...!" Hal yang sebenarnya perlu dikhawatirkan adalah hal lain. 'Yang kukhawatirkan mereka hanya akan membuang kita setelah pekerjaan selesai...' …Apakah Direktur Ho benar-benar tidak akan membuang kita setelah kita tidak berguna lagi? Begitu aku mendapatkan Tiket Keinginan, aku bisa kembali ke tempat asalku, jadi aku tidak terlalu peduli. Tapi dua orang lainnya, jika mereka ingin terus tinggal di Korea, mereka harus lebih berhati-hati agar tidak dicap oleh biro. "Pertama-tama, pastikan kita tidak tergelincir dan menggunakan nama yang salah. Bagaimana kalau kita berbagi nama kode agen kita?" "Aku 'Anggur'. Kalau kau, Heowoon-ssi...?" "Ah, aku menerima nama kode 'Hwagak'." "Ya. Katanya itu teknik lakur tradisional menggunakan tanduk sapi... Aku, uh, direkomendasikan untuk itu." Pantasan, dia akhirnya mendapat nama kode berbau sapi bahkan di sini. Lalu Go Yeongeun-ssi angkat bicara. "Itu dulu digunakan sebagai obat, dan aku tidak ingin memilih nama yang terlalu mencolok." "Begitu. Itu nama agen yang bagus." Lalu, saat kami saling bertukar kabar singkat, suasana hangat bertahan sejenak. Oh, dan kami bahkan sudah menerima vitamin kami. "Unit Investigasi Pendahuluan punya atmosfer yang agak individualistis. Tapi ketika aku kembali setelah dinyatakan hilang, atasan-atasanku memberiku vitamin sebagai hadiah selamat datang... Kalian berdua sebaiknya meminumnya juga." Sejujurnya, jika ini perusahaan normal, mereka adalah rekan kerja yang lebih dari cukup. …Jika kita bukan mata-mata untuk perusahaan farmasi gila, yang menyusup ke pemerintahan di alam semesta cerita hantu, maksudku. Aku juga memberi kabar singkat tentang diriku. "…! Kau akan dipulangkan dalam seminggu!?" Luka di tempat lengan kananku terputus sudah cepat stabil dan sembuh dengan baik—mungkin karena perawatan supranatural di rumah sakit afiliasi Biro Penanggulangan Bencana. 'Perkiraan kasar... satu minggu lagi dirawat dan aku akan kembali.' "Dan begitu aku keluar, aku akan bertugas sebagai agen sementara dan menjalani berbagai penugasan selama tiga minggu. Jika kebetulan bertemu, kuharap bisa bekerja sama dengan kalian." Aku pasti akan ke Tim Pembersihan Lokasi. Mohon bantuannya, Heowoon-ssi... "Um, Soleum-ssi. Soal pemulangan itu..." Go Yeongeun-ssi tiba-tiba angkat bicara. "Kau akan menerima konseling psikiatri sebelum dipulangkan, kan? Maksudku, karena kau terluka parah dalam situasi yang pada dasarnya adalah bertahan hidup... kupikir mereka juga akan memeriksa trauma psikologis." "Ah, ya. Kurasa mereka akan merujukku ke seseorang... Jangan khawatir. Aku akan berhati-hati agar tidak membocorkan informasi apa pun selama itu." Tapi Go Yeongeun-ssi menggelengkan kepalanya. "Kita sudah terikat pembatasan ini, jadi kita tidak bisa membocorkan apa pun. Kurasa lebih baik kau bicara jujur saja." "Baiklah. Terima kasih." Dia mengangguk kecil. "Dan sekarang kita 'secara resmi' saling kenal di dalam biro... Aku akan berpura-pura mengunjungimu di rumah sakit dan berpura-pura bertukar nomor. Dengan begitu, tidak akan aneh jika kita sesekali berkirim pesan." "Kedengarannya bagus. Ah, Heowoon-ssi—mari kita buat alasan yang wajar saat kita bertemu nanti." Begitulah cara kami menyusun protokol masa depan kami. 1- Ciptakan titik kontak alami di luar Kantor Konseling Rubah. 2- Untuk hal-hal penting atau mendesak, hubungi melalui kurir anonim sambil menyamar sebagai pesan spam. "Kalau begitu, sampai jumpa lagi, semoga selamat."
Bab 326
This peer, who had received the codename ‘Bison’, was originally someone whose gloomy expression didn’t quite match his large build. Even during the new recruit orientation, he was the last to receive his mask, covered in blood, and had been assigned to the Round-Off Team where he endured work that bordered on workplace harassment. But after surviving in a chaotic and insane pharmaceutical company, it seemed like he was finally becoming a bit tougher… “I hadn’t heard anything after the last word that you’d gone missing, since I’ve been infiltrating the Disaster Management Bureau… But it’s really great to see you again .” Surprisingly, he even seemed calm now. ‘…Maybe the Disaster Management Bureau suits him better too.’ Though, judging by the way he kept glancing at my empty right arm and growing visibly pale, he probably thought it’d be rude to bring it up. This is one of those times where I should ease the tension. “I just got unlucky on my first mission and got caught up in something tough. But the bureau’s taking care of it, so I think I’ll be fine.” For some reason, I could feel a strange look from Go Yeongeun, but I let it slide for now. “I heard you were assigned to the Site Cleanup Team, Heowoon-ssi.” Jang Heowoon’s expression brightened a little. “Well, sometimes I have to see… some horrific things, yes, but…” Ah, right. The Site Cleanup Team usually deals with cleaning up all the messes. “Everyone’s been kind and understanding since I’m new, so thankfully, I’ve been adjusting well.” That was good to hear, but his expression darkened slightly again. “It’s just… so I’m even more concerned.” “From what we were told earlier, we’re supposed to steal documents about a really dangerous ghost story… and I’m just wondering… if we’re really okay with that.” “The Disaster Management Bureau truly acts with a sense of duty to counter paranormal phenomena, and I’m worried we might cause major harm.” “If that’s the case, would you quit?” I already knew the answer without hearing it. Only people that desperate for a Wish Ticket would end up in a situation . I knew that in different circumstances, they wouldn’t act selfishly. Especially thinking about the compassion and determination Go Yeongeun had shown back in Looky Mart. But there’s something inside these people—something they won’t compromise on. ‘If nothing’s going to change anyway…’ Then it’s better to at least choose the path that gives you some peace of mind. “I think it’ll probably be okay for us to take it.” “The company wouldn’t dare to carelessly mess with such a high-ranked ghost story. And besides, we’re not even taking the ghost story itself—just the information.” Of course, Daydream Inc. wasn’t after it for noble reasons, but as far as the Dark Exploration Records went, that Annihilation-sanctioned Disaster hadn’t done any further harm to humanity. …Because it was already as harmful as it could possibly be. “As long as we don’t go overboard and steal an entire supernatural disaster under government control out of excessive loyalty to the company, we should be fine.” “Ah, y-yes, of course…!” The real thing to worry about was something else. ‘I’m worried they’ll just toss us aside after the job’s done…’ …Would Director Ho really not discard us once we’d outlived our usefulness? Once I got the Wish Ticket, I could go back to where I came from, so I didn’t care much. But the other two, if they wanted to continue living in Korea, needed to be more careful not to get marked by the bureau. “First of all, let’s make sure we don’t slip up and use the wrong names. Shall we share our agent codenames?” “I’m ‘Grapes’. And you, Heowoon-ssi…?” “Ah, I received the codename ‘Hwagak’.” “Yes. They said it’s a traditional lacquerware technique using cow horns… I, uh, was recommended for it.” Fittingly, he ended up with a cow-related codename even here. And then Go Yeongeun-ssi spoke up as well. “It was used as medicine in the past, and I didn’t want to choose a name that stood out too much.” “I see. It’s a good agent name.” Then, as we exchanged brief updates, a warm atmosphere lingered for a moment. Oh, and we’d even received our vitamins. “The Preliminary Investigation Unit has a bit of an individualistic atmosphere. But when I came back after going missing, my superiors gave me vitamins as a welcome-back gift… You two should have some too.” Honestly, if this were a normal company, they’d be coworkers I’d be more than satisfied with. …If we weren’t spies for a deranged pharmaceutical company, infiltrating the government in a ghost-story universe, that is. I gave a brief update about myself as well. “…! You’re being discharged within a week!?” The wound where my right arm had been severed had quickly stabilized and was healing well—perhaps due to some sort of supernatural treatment at the Disaster Management Bureau–affiliated hospital. ‘A rough estimate… one more week of hospitalization and I’ll be returning.’ “And as soon as I’m discharged, I’ll be serving as a temporary agent and experiencing various assignments for three weeks. If we happen to run into each other, I look forward to working with you.” I’m definitely going to the Site Cleanup Team. I’ll be in your care, Heowoon-ssi… “Um, Soleum-ssi. About that discharge…” Go Yeongeun-ssi suddenly spoke up. “You’ll be receiving psychiatric counseling before being discharged, right? I mean, since you were seriously injured in what’s essentially a survival situation… I thought they’d also check for psychological trauma.” “Ah, yes. I think they’ll refer me to someone… Don’t worry. I’ll be careful not to leak any intel during it.” But Go Yeongeun-ssi shook her head. “We’re already under this restriction thing anyway, so we can’t leak anything. I think it’d be better if you just spoke honestly.” “Understood. Thank you.” She gave a small nod. “And now that we ‘officially’ know each other within the bureau… I’ll act like I’m visiting you in the hospital and pretend to exchange numbers. That way, it won’t be weird if we message occasionally.” “Sounds good. Ah, Heowoon-ssi—let’s create a natural excuse when we see each other next.” That’s how we laid out our future protocols. 1- Create a natural point of contact outside the Fox Counseling Office. 2- For critical or urgent matters, contact via anonymous messenger while disguised as spam messages. “Then, I hope to see you again, safe and sound.”
Komentar Chapter (0)
Login buat ikut berkomentar.
Belum ada komentar di chapter ini. Jadi yang pertama!