---

As I shifted my feet, deep in thought.

‘Stationery store.’

Right now, I was playing and laughing, but there were certainly some suspicious aspects here.

I had a certain degree of immunity to mental attacks, yet, strangely enough, my body refused to listen to me.

Of course, all of this was because I was also frightened about where my footsteps were leading.

Five pairs of eyes were directed at me.

Actually, I tried to resist a bit.

“…Ugh.”

No matter how much I exerted myself, my body wouldn’t obey.

In the end, I had no choice but to tremble in fear, waiting for my feet to stop moving.

Finally, when my feet halted, there—

I opened my tightly shut eyes.

The reactions from the five were all different.

The team leader, sticking his head out from afar, sighed,

Park Ye Eun, laughing while clutching her belly,

Yu Da On, forcing a puzzled smile,

Jang Chae Yeon, standing with her arms crossed, expressionless,

and Song Ah Rin, hands on her hips, looking completely flabbergasted.

And then,

the manual in front of me flipped open, revealing its pages.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[LV – A Romantic Date to Captivate a Rational Heart]

1. To instantly win the heart of someone delicate, head to an atmospheric place.

2. A confession isn’t necessary. The other person is already deeply—

-Thunk!

I closed the manual with a heavy sigh.

If it was relief, then it was relief; if it was embarrassment, then it was embarrassment.

“Are you really going to live by this manual?”

Song Ah Rin, hands still on her hips, looked at me.

“You can’t date a book.”

Jang Chae Yeon sighed.

“Well… that could be possible… right?”

Even Yu Da On, who always had a positive outlook, struggled to keep her tone upbeat this time.

“…”

No, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.

If it was truly fate and they had me choose the team leader, wouldn’t that be social suicide for both of us?

“Anyway, it’s settled.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me out?”

The team leader smiled as he looked at me.

“Am I supposed to ask a book out?”

That was ridiculous.

Even if I did, it wouldn’t say yes, and if it did, that would be a problem.

-Flip, thunk!

I forcibly shut the manual as it tried to flip pages again and glanced at the others.

“Let’s just pretend I did.”

Fortunately, no one voiced any complaints or objections.

-Flip…!

As the manual continued to resist being closed, I looked at everyone else again.

“Da On, let’s roll the dice.”

“Ah, okay.”

Yu Da On rolled the dice.

After that, nothing significant happened.

There were moments where Yu Da On smacked someone’s back, and Song Ah Rin fell flat after getting hit, or I promptly gave up on trying to take Jang Chae Yeon’s Pepero, leading to her sulking, or Song Ah Rin tried to do push-ups on me, toppling over after just two attempts.

After those exhausting games, I was the one closest to finishing.

“Wow, that ended quicker than I thought.”

Yu Da On muttered, sounding a bit disappointed.

“Something feels off…”

“I’m relieved it’s over, actually.”

“Wasn’t it that tough?”

“I’m mentally drained.”

What else was there to feel off about?

Fretting over things that didn’t need my concern and saying unnecessary things was exhausting in itself.

“Then I’ll roll one last time.”

I threw the dice.

-Duru duru…

The dice rolled with a sound, and,

“Six spaces.”

As my piece reached the finish line, a cheerful melody echoed from the electronic board in the center.

<Congratulations!>

I could hear a “ta-da!” as big letters appeared in the center.

<Did everyone have fun? Did you confirm your love for each other?>

What love, really—at this point, we were practically enemies at each other’s throats.

As I stared at the board game with fatigued eyes, text began popping up again.

<We will score all couples based on their harmony! There are no pathetic ties.>

A lively tune began to play as scores started to be calculated.

<Meaningless rankings have not been counted separately.>

And all the names of the team leader and the other members popped up.

“…Wait, why am I getting listed like this?”

“Team leader, are you curious about our team dynamics? You’re already married!”

“I didn’t mean it that way. Let’s just see.”

At my question, the team leader quickly backtracked.

<Starting to add up the formulas...>

With a sound of rolling dice, numbers began to appear.

Everyone behind me swallowed hard.

“It’s just a game, so why are we—”

“Shh.”

Jang Chae Yeon covered my mouth and stared at the electronic board.

-Ding!

With a cheerful sound, the names appeared.

<Introducing the Top 5!>

This felt more like a variety show than anything else.

<Yu Da On - Kim Jae Heon>

<Surprisingly, it's a complementary relationship. You each fill the other's gaps.>

<Jang Chae Yeon - Kim Jae Heon>

<One person sometimes receives everything, but neither feels fatigued from that arrangement.>

<Song Ah Rin - Kim Jae Heon>

<You both manage to relieve each other's stress. It's not boring.>

<Heo Chan - Kim Jae Heon>

<A perfect complementary relationship. The longstanding teamwork of these two perfectly proves this.>

<Park Ye Eun - Kim Jae Heon>

<She’s been raised around younger siblings, so she’s quite accommodating.>

It’s not that being in the Top 5 mattered.

“Why am I listed with everyone?”

“Maybe it’s because you get along well with people?”

Song Ah Rin muttered, as if displeased, while staring at the board.

“Okay, but who won?”

“Who knows.”

“Aren’t you supposed to know that?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I watched the board, which was spinning with a cheerful sound.

In the tense expressions around me,

-Ding!

The results came out.

<Heo Chan - Kim Jae Heon>

Silence descended.

“Hehe, Jae Heon.”

“Yes, team leader.”

“You seem to respect me quite a bit.”

“That seems to be the case.”

As the sound of the fanfare echoed awkwardly, the team leader chuckled and carefully stepped out the door.

“I’m scared, so I’ll just run away.”

“Yes, team leader.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, team leader.”

-Clank.

With the sound of the door closing, I could hear the team leader hurriedly running through the corridor.

“Well, I guess I should head out too.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Park Ye Eun stood next to me to stay safe, and both of us hurriedly walked out.

-Clank!

“Wow, the atmosphere is seriously tense.”

“Same here.”

At my comment, Park Ye Eun glanced at me and sighed deeply.

“By the way, did you get a gift?”

“Oh, the gift.”

I looked at the ticket in my hand.

<Stationery Store Voucher.>

It was just a small piece of paper, reminiscent of an old subway ticket, resting in my hand.

“Do you want it?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t really like going to stationery stores anyway.”

“I’m not particularly fond either…”

Park Ye Eun trailed off as she took the ticket.

“But since you offered, it would be proper to accept it as a junior. I’ll use it well! I might buy something fun while I’m there.”

“I just hope you won’t spend it before I can get it back.”

Park Ye Eun smiled joyfully.

*

After the board game incident, honestly, nothing major happened.

The day after the board game ended, everyone treated me a bit coldly for a while, but that didn’t last, and soon they began to act comfortably around me again.

Thanks to that, I was immersed in a sense of normalcy during that time.

“Retrieving a containment object?”

“As you know, we’ve gathered more information since the reincarnators incident.”

“I wasn’t informed about that.”

“In any case, I hope you can help in gathering the containment objects.”

“But I’m from Human Resources.”

“If you keep nitpicking about what the branch manager says, you might end up with a slap to the forehead that leaves a dent.”

“…”

“It’s finally quieted down a bit.”

The Branch Chief smiled as he tapped the desk with his finger.

“The butane gas that Kim Jae Heon has.”

“Yes.”

I took out the butane gas from my pocket.

A translucent window appeared above the butane gas.

[Name: Butane Gas]

[Age: Manufactured in the 1990s]

[Specialty: X]

[Talent: X]

[Background: This butane gas was made in the early 90s by a specific company aiming to create infinite gas. However, they never expected it would produce a flame instead of gas. Consequently, this item is currently contained in the Management Agency and is deployed to assist personnel as needed. To use it, shake it vigorously, then open the lid.]

[Weakness: If shaken too much, the fire is ejected in reverse.]

“I think we need to look into the company that made that.”

“…We?”

“The memories extracted from the reincarnator brought that company up several times.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, if that were the case, I wouldn’t be moving.”

The Branch Chief continued.

“There’s something like… um, a necklace.”

“Yes.”

“That necklace reacted strongly to some memories.”

“…”

The Branch Chief kept talking.

“Actually, one member from the Isolation Team is already there, but they lack the skill for infiltration.”

He muttered, sighing.

Someone who could destroy more than anyone else. I recalled the image of that man who had wiped out the nursery while smiling.

A person who could carelessly roll in and take them all out.

“You might know her. I think we should team up with Jang Chae Yeon and Song Ah Rin and go.”

“Um, what about Da On?”

“Yu Da On…”

The Branch Chief trailed off.

“She seems a bit unsuitable for this dispatch.”

Yu Da On is unsuitable?

“I wish you would understand.”

“Is it dangerous or something?”

“It could be dangerous, but…”

The Branch Chief gently smiled as he looked at me.

“In such cases, our ace from the Isolation Team will deal with the factory.”

“Got it.”

Then, I could trust him.

The information that the reincarnator held.

And the factory.

I couldn’t shake the instinctual thought that I had to go.

*

“Ughhhh!”

“Ughhh!”

Eventually, I, Song Ah Rin, and Jang Chae Yeon were staring at countless people hanging from a clothes hanger, screaming inside the factory.

“Welcome, newbies!”

A man. No, a machine disguised as a man was looking at us.

A face made of iron had no expression, and its body was entirely made of metal. No. It was a robot.

“Welcome to our biological factory!”

Amid the backdrop of screaming, a smile blossomed on the robot’s face.