Before checking on the fallen monster, I quickly examined Yoo Daon.
Did I even need to say it?
Where her arms and legs should have been, there was nothing—just her eyes closed as if she were peacefully asleep.
No one would believe she hadn't died right here.
If they were a normal person, that is.
I checked above her head once more.
[Name: Yoo Daon]
[Age: 23]
[Trait: Immortality]
[Talent: -]
[Background: Caught up in bizarre incidents, she won't find rest so easily. Not even if all her limbs are torn off.]
[Weakness: If you had to pick the two superhumans in the world you should never make an enemy of, they'd be the Regressor and the Immortal.]
And sure enough, a new entry had appeared for her that I hadn't seen before.
But that wasn't the important thing right now.
"Can't you help her somehow?"
Muttering to myself, I started searching for a way to assist her.
Should I pick up her limbs and stick them back on?
But I really didn't want to do that.
Honestly, just looking at this scene was hardly pleasant for my mind, which belonged to an ordinary office worker, however special.
"...Ugh."
Suddenly, she groaned with her eyes still closed.
Then, Yoo Daon's scattered... fragments began gathering toward her body from all around.
I'd never seen time reverse before, but if it reversed around Yoo Daon, it might feel something like this.
Her arms and legs reattached to her body, and as if the wounds had never happened, not a single mark remained on her.
But the blood splattered around her and her shredded, ragged suit made it easy to infer what had happened to her body.
"...Ugh."
Not long after her body returned to normal, Yoo Daon opened her eyes with a groan.
"You're awake?"
"...Huh?"
She blinked at me, and I nodded back at her.
"I... survived?"
"Looks like it. I'm just as shocked."
"No, not me. You, Employee Jaeheon."
"That's what I meant."
Yoo Daon looked confused at my words.
"No, then the monster from before..."
"I took care of it."
"How...?"
"Shot it with my gun?"
"Huh?"
Yoo Daon widened her eyes.
"It was so fast and strong, though?"
"Hard to believe, I know, but my eyesight suddenly got really good."
How do I even explain this?
"Something like... I can see things that are normally invisible."
"Invisible things?"
"Yeah. Magic eyes?"
Yoo Daon blinked at my words, then hesitated before looking at me again.
"...You're not freaked out?"
"By what?"
"...By the fact that I don't die."
"Oh."
I pondered what to say for a moment. Dodging it here wouldn't change anything. I shrugged and answered Yoo Daon.
"I knew."
"Huh?"
"It's part of that eye ability I mentioned... I'll explain on the way. We don't have a lot of time."
"...Right."
With a groan, Yoo Daon brushed off her knees and stood up.
Blood drops fell from her suit pants, but she ignored them, wiping them off with her hand before casually pulling a handkerchief from her pocket to clean the blood splattered on her face.
But that wasn't the important part.
"Ahem."
I cleared my throat and took off my suit jacket, holding it out to her.
"...?"
She blinked at me.
"Um... your clothes. They're kinda..."
Common sense dictated that when a person got hacked apart, their clothes got hacked apart too.
Her torn and sometimes missing clothes were exposing her body blatantly.
She looked down at herself, her face turning bright red as she draped my jacket over her shoulders.
"...Thank you."
"No problem."
Her skin's so pale. Nice figure too.
Pushing aside those irrelevant thoughts, I pulled the Office Manual from my pocket and started reading it again.
[Office Manual]
2. The location of the Containment Control Room is as follows.
2-1. The door to the Containment Control Room may differ from what you imagine and can change depending on the circumstances. However, its position remains constant, so the easiest way to find it is by location rather than design.
Following the manual's instructions, I headed toward the Containment Control Room. Yoo Daon rubbed her stiff neck, groaning a few times, then followed behind me.
A brief silence followed.
We both had plenty to say, but neither knew where to start. In a short time, we'd encountered an anomalous entity, Yoo Daon had been chopped up once, and I'd pierced the monster's weak point with a single bullet while gaining a new ability to boot.
"...Um."
"Yeah."
"Aren't you scared?"
Yoo Daon suddenly said something out of left field.
What nonsense is this woman spouting?
I stared at her, and she quickly blushed and looked away.
"No... I mean, not self-conscious or anything. Just... a lot of people get scared seeing someone die and come back."
"Oh."
Honestly, it was a bit grotesque. Who wouldn't think so watching a person reassemble like a puzzle?
But was that such a big deal?
"Not really?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm not super senior here at the Management Bureau, but still. Even as an office worker, I've heard things. Never seen them myself, but you pick up stories."
Rooms you can't leave without doing XX, monkeys that test your ideology. You hear all sorts of things working at a company like this.
"...Is everyone here like that?"
"Who knows."
I hadn't revealed my own abilities yet, and even during onboarding, it seemed like our Team Leader didn't know.
"I thought it'd be different here. That people would understand me, not treat me like a monster."
She spoke slowly as she walked.
"But before I could even find out, this happened."
"Well, it won't go on forever, right?"
You'll keep working anyway since you don't die even if you're killed.
The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them back. No need to say it.
"If things get resolved and we return to normal, it'll be fine. No need to worry yet."
"...Thank you, Employee Jaeheon."
She smiled softly and looked ahead again. Of course, the blood covering her nape, face, and clothes dulled the smile a bit.
"So, what ability do you have, Employee?"
"Me?"
Yoo Daon nodded at my question.
Yeah, since I already know she doesn't die, no point hiding it.
"Well—"
I gave a brief explanation of my ability. That I could see people's abilities and traits.
I skipped the background and weakness parts. Honestly, no one wants someone else knowing their background and weaknesses.
Imagine some guy suddenly showing up saying he saw your weakness with his superpower. Even I'd find that scary. Very scary.
After hearing my explanation, Yoo Daon blinked her big eyes at me.
"Isn't that amazing?"
"Hearing that from someone who doesn't die feels really weird, you know?"
"It's not as great as it sounds."
"That's what I should be saying."
My life was full of TMI. I didn't want to know my advisor was recruiting grad students for life's amusement either.
We chatted idly like that for a bit until we reached the spot in the manual.
"Let's see, this is it."
"Here?"
A wooden door sat oddly in the middle of a modern hallway.
The handle was even missing, leaving just a hole.
Yoo Daon eyed me suspiciously.
"Honestly, in this irrational world, a pristine door would be the real irrational thing, right?"
In a one-eyed world, two eyes are the anomaly, or so they say.
With that, I pushed the door open.
It creaked open.
And behind it,
"...A computer?"
There sat a very outdated computer.
Thick monitor like something from my childhood.
The manual in my hand flipped open automatically.
[Office Manual]
3. This is the heart of containment.
3-1. Turning on the computer will automatically initiate containment.
3-2. Do not forget that resolution of the incident is left solely to the proxy.
3-3.
3-4. Good luck.
"..."
The blank sections felt ominously real, but there was nothing I could do now.
"...I'll press it."
Yoo Daon nodded solemnly.
I slowly reached out and turned on the computer.
Beep-!
With a weird noise, the computer slowly powered up.
And the world went dark.
Something grabbed my wrist tightly.
"Whoa!"
"It's me! Me!"
Yoo Daon clung to my wrist, desperately signaling who she was.
"W-what's happening?"
I want to know too.
I stared at the only glowing thing in the darkness: the monitor.
One phrase was written there.
[Altering...]
Rumble!
The room started shaking wildly.
I fell on my butt, my gaze drawn to the ceiling.
And my eyes began displaying something.
[Name: ? ? ?]
[Age: ? ? ?]
[Trait: ? ? ?]
[Talent: ? ? ?]
[Background: Having guarded this place for a long time, it possesses a history beyond your imagination.]
[Weakness: -]
Something massive hung from the pitch-black ceiling, looking down at us.
A colossal something whose form I couldn't even discern.
"...Employee Jaeheon!"
"Employee Jaeheon!"
That's where my memory ends.