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I’ve talked with the colleagues from the Human Resources Team, and after experiencing it firsthand, I wonder who would be the scariest person when they’re angry.

– Thump!

– Crash!

It’s probably Yu Da On.

Isn’t it said that someone who usually doesn’t get angry is the scariest when they do?

However, if you were to choose the person who would explode with the greatest scale of anger, it would definitely be—

– Slam!

“Is that woman usually that fierce?”

“Don’t say something that would make her sulk if she hears you.”

While talking with Aileen, we dash towards the source of the noise.

The sound grows louder as we get closer.

“Be careful not to get caught up in it.”

“You too.”

I catch a glimpse of white hair that softly reflects light, even in the long, dark maze.

Usually, it would be neatly arranged, but not today.

– Thump!

As she swings her hand, something that looks like me gets smashed into pieces and disappears like a shadow.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!”

“Shut up.”

– Thump!

Another monster with my face gets pulverized with her gestures.

It’s quite a strange feeling that they all have my face.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one there.

Yu Da On, Song Ah Rin, the Team Leader, and Aileen too.

She was just smashing everything without looking at anyone.

“…I feel a bit scared about going over there.”

“Me too.”

It’s not surprising that Aileen and I share the same thought.

“…Huh… Huh…”

Jang Chae Yeon wipes her flowing sweat and breathes heavily.

Seizing a moment of lull, I call her name.

“Chae Yeon.”

– Whoosh!

I duck to avoid the rocks flying straight towards me.

“Wait! Just wait! Let’s talk!”

“…”

Only then does Jang Chae Yeon stop and look at me.

“…Is that you?”

“I’m not sure if ‘Is that you?’ is the right question, but… yeah, it’s me.”

“…”

She squints her eyes slightly and begins to scrutinize me.

“…What are you saying—”

“Quiet.”

“Yes.”

What kind of logic does she have that leads her to make judgments without listening to others?

After carefully examining me with narrowed eyes, she slowly nods and says in a sulky tone.

“You’re a bit late.”

“If I could find you just by looking, we wouldn’t have scattered in the first place!”

Her gaze shifts from Aileen to me.

I can tell what she wants to say, but I just shrug and respond to her question.

“…Let’s go.”

With somewhat of a grumpy tone, she stands next to me.

“Since there are three of us now, we can gather some information.”

I brush the wrecked wall with my hand while glancing at Jang Chae Yeon.

“So, we all saw someone we knew.”

Both of them nod their heads.

“I recognized it… Aileen sensed it, and Chae Yeon…”

“I didn’t feel anything.”

Jang Chae Yeon answers nonchalantly.

“Feel?”

“I do.”

Let’s leave it at that.

As I step forward with the two of them, I voice a thought that crossed my mind.

“But it’s a little strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“What should I say… …Is this a House of Ghosts?”

“…Hmm.”

Aileen nods, as if she understands what I mean by that.

“That’s true; there’s something off about calling it a House of Ghosts.”

Initially, I thought Jang Chae Yeon was just smashing everything out of fear, but it didn’t seem that way.

“If we’re talking about ghosts… it should be something more subtly threatening.”

“Something without a physical form.”

“…Something without substance.”

Listening to Aileen’s words, I fall into thought for a moment.

“…For now, let’s keep that in mind. They might have tried to scare us, but nothing has really happened yet.”

Both of them nod again.

“We need to find the others…”

While Jang Chae Yeon is making noise, I wonder how to locate the other three.

Especially the Team Leader and Song Ah Rin. They seem like they’d be hiding somewhere.

We continue walking.

Inside the dark maze.

There were no more rampaging people, and the gunshots that often echoed had also quieted down.

– Crack, Crick

Only the sound of bones cracking can be heard.

“…”

The three of us exchange glances.

As far as we know, there’s only one person who could make such sounds.

Naturally, my pace quickens, and both of them start trailing behind.

– Crick, Crack, Crack!

The sound of bones breaking intensifies.

Concerned, I unknowingly quicken my steps again.

Soon, we arrive at the source of the sound.

“Da On—”

I nearly call out to her but stop myself.

It wasn’t Yu Da On.

It was a gaunt old man.

All his hair was gone, and his limbs were so thin they looked practically skeletal.

The only exception was that his chest seemed to bulge grotesquely.

He opened his mouth.

– Crack…

The sound of breaking bones spilled from his lungs as his jaw dropped until it touched his chest.

– Splatter!

He spat out a dark mass.

“…Ugh… No…”

The sound didn’t come from the shadow.

The old man shook his head.

“No more… I don’t want—”

– Crack!

Before he could speak again, his jaw widened even stranger as he vomited another mass.

Soon, the mass clumped together, forming a body.

“…”

There I stood.

With a blank expression, I looked at the old man, took a deep breath, and walked past him, disappearing.

“…”

The three of us share glances.

Should we finish him off?

“…”

Did she feel my gaze? Aileen slowly shakes her head.

“I can’t tell if that’s a person or not.”

“…”

“When you work with the Response Team, you meet many people, or things that were once people. And nine out of ten times, they are either not human or have long since crossed the line of what defines humanity.”

“…‘Non-human’ by the Management Agency’s standards.”

Jang Chae Yeon murmurs softly, and Aileen nods, as if agreeing with her.

“That is not a human. According to the Management Agency’s standards, or any general standards.”

“Gah!”

–Splatter!

Looking away from the old man, she quietly says.

“For now, let’s not pass by.”

And then she moves quietly.

Jang Chae Yeon gently grips my arm.

“Let’s go.”

What could cause such a transformation in people like that?

Before leaving, I took a quick glance at the old man’s head.

[Name: Factory]

[Age: 21]

[Characteristics: Factory]

[Talent: X]

[Background: Those who lose in the battle against ghosts become ghosts themselves.]

[Weakness: Must find a lost heart.]

21 years old?

After confirming the face of a man who looked like he had aged significantly, I walked alongside Jang Chae Yeon.

*

Searching every nook and cranny for the three of them.

“Kim Jae Heon!”

– Bang!

A hole appears in Yu Da On’s forehead as she greets me, and she vanishes with a laugh.

Sometimes, our doppelgängers show up, but every time that happens, I discern them while the two just crush them with their powers or shoot them without a second thought.

“Where on earth could they be?”

“Right?”

– Crack!

Stiffening at the sound during our conversation.

It’s a sound I only began to hear when I recognized the object called ‘Factory.’

It felt like this maze was integrated the moment I realized it existed.

“This time, keep it quiet-”

“Hey, what’s that again?”

“…I’m not sure.”

Before I could finish my sentence, Song Ah Rin and Yu Da On’s voices are heard from the other side of the wall near the ‘Factory.’

With a voice full of tension from Song Ah Rin and a slightly lower voice from Yu Da On.

“…Is hypnosis effective?”

“…Is it a person?”

Listening to their conversation, it sounds real.

The three of us walk slowly, and soon Yu Da On sharply calls out.

“Someone’s coming. Three footsteps. …Huh?”

In a hurry, she stumbles over her briefing and then sniffs the air, as if trying to catch a scent.

“Kim Jae Heon? It smells like you! Right?”

“…That’s correct.”

Wait, can she really track me by my smell?

“We’re currently—”

– Splatter!

As she was about to say something, the sound of mud falling interrupted her, and Song Ah Rin shouted urgently.

“Hey! It saw us!”

“Save me…”

-Crack!

A giant something. To put it simply, the sound of its spine cracking, and Yu Da On and Song Ah Rin inhaling sharply at the same time made echo around.

“Chae Yeon! Break the wall now!”

“Okay.”

As she reaches her arm towards the wall the moment she hears my command, the wall starts to crack and—

“…”

It came to a halt.

“…It won’t break.”

Just like last time, she doesn’t seem to have the strength to demolish rocks.

“If that’s the case, pass me and Aileen quickly.”

“To the other side of the wall?”

“Right now.”

She hesitates for a moment upon hearing my words, looking at me with a concerned expression.

“Be careful when you land.”

And then, my body starts to float gently.

But instead of safely flying over, my body is shot through the wall.

“Stop!!!”

I land right in front of the screaming old man.

Behind me, Yu Da On is holding a sharp piece of glass, dripping blood from her hand, with Song Ah Rin standing behind her.

“Hey! You—argh!”

With her eyes wide open, Song Ah Rin shouts as Yu Da On kicks her aside.

– Crunch!

Without a moment’s pause, she grabs the old man’s neck, who had already lunged towards her, and violently brings the shard down.

– Squish, Squish…!

The dreadful sound came from her right arm, but she continues to impassively stab the old man’s neck.

Soon, a fountain of blood bursts from his neck, and I draw my gun to shoot.

– Bang!

“Stop…!”

The factory recoils, releasing its grip on Yu Da On.

“Kim Jae Heon!”

She throws the bloodied glass shard aside and looks at me with a grin.

By now, her hands and arms show only unblemished, pale skin.

“We—”

– Crack!

Before she can finish, the top of her head is blasted away, and a spray of blood erupts.

“-We’ve been looking for you!”

As if nothing happened, her neck returns to its original form, and she smiles at me.

-Crack! Crack!

The ‘Factory,’ which had its mouth wide open as if trying to chew something, kept snapping its teeth without biting down on anything.

   

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