Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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At first glance, the team leader appeared to be sleeping soundly, even snoring and tossing about. At least he was alive.

Lee Yeonwoo turned to Yoo Ji-yoo and said, "The team leader chose to remain human and a company employee. It seems he didn't want to become a worm."

"That's too bad. It would've been nice if the team leader had joined us in becoming worms."

The conversation died. Ji-yoo gazed at the Great Worm with fervent eyes, while Yeonwoo scanned the basement, trying to shake off his uneasy suspicions.

Something felt off.

The Great Worm loomed majestically on the altar, humans wriggled against the walls, and the cult leader knelt before the altar, hands clasped in prayer.

Yeonwoo observed the cult leader intently. A faint voice recited prayers: "Let the fire not reach below ground-"

Though the leader's face was hidden behind a mask, his pronunciation suggested his tongue and teeth were intact, and his limbs seemed normal.

"Isn't the leader a worm?"

"No, he said he was given a mission to turn more humans into worms. When he completes his mission, he'll go to the promised place and become a great worm himself."

Ji-yoo hugged her knees, looking up at the leader enviously.

Still standing, Yeonwoo gazed down at the leader with cold eyes before closing them.

'Mission? Promise? Is there really such a thing?'

With his eyes closed, the presence of the Great Worm became vivid in his mind.

That presence was massive, great, and transcendent, but it lacked the intelligence to communicate with humans. It was like how humans can't communicate with ants.

'Senior Ji-yoo said you have to offer money for the leader to approve the ritual.'

But what need would a great being have for money? At best, it was just paper used in Korea, a tiny piece of land on Earth, one of countless stars in the universe.

The leader was suspicious.

Yeonwoo opened his eyes and looked at the severely injured people writhing on the dirty, dusty floor.

'...Is the ritual real? They're just physically mutilated, but still human, right?'

No matter how he looked at it, something was off.

The Great Worm was real, but everything else was strange.

Yeonwoo imagined himself performing the ritual. Gouging out his own eyes, pulling out his teeth, cutting off his limbs. He probably wouldn't die in the process, but after that?

If he became a human worm by himself, but couldn't become a real worm? Wouldn't he just be left with a body prone to death?

As Yeonwoo wrestled with these thoughts, torn between the Great Worm and the suspicious ritual, a flash of insight struck him. He reached a conclusion.

'I don't need to worry about this.'

Yeonwoo had a way to determine the truth of the ritual, and even bypass it altogether.

"Senior Ji-yoo," he said. "I'm going to try to find a way to become a worm."

"What? Oh, you're going to roll the dice?" she asked.

"I don't quite trust the leader. Dice."

The dice appeared hazily in a corner of his mind, obscured by the great presence. It spun rapidly, as if eager to be rolled.

Yeonwoo pondered for a moment.

'What should I roll for? Becoming a worm? No, Senior Ji-yoo needs to become a worm too, so let's get information.'

His contemplative gaze fell on the Great Worm.

The Great Worm, embodying cosmic truth. Its flesh brimmed with immeasurable wisdom; even the slightest contact would yield a magical ritual.

Yeonwoo finally chose his judgment.

"Gain information."

The dice rolled.

Clatter-

Success!

A cracking sound rang out, and the majestic illusion shattered. Like a fog lifting, the bizarre atmosphere shrouding the altar revealed its true nature.

Eyes widened and jaws dropped.

'That's the Great Worm?'

An old glass box.

Inside the box, sparsely lined with soil and roots, was a single, pitiful worm. A worm pathetically wriggling, at odds with its great presence.

"Uh. Uh," Yeonwoo stammered.

Ji-yoo looked up at him quizzically. "What's wrong? Did you fail?"

"No, wait, just a moment."

Yeonwoo took a step. He approached the glass box in front of the cult leader.

The transcendent presence still weighed on his mind. His consciousness reeled dizzily, his heart raced, and his legs trembled.

'Endure. I can endure this. My life's at stake. I have to confirm.'

Finally overcoming the pressure, Yeonwoo managed to stand before the glass box.

He bent down, pressing his face so close to the glass that his nose nearly touched it. His trembling eyes peered inside.

A worm wriggled between moist clumps of soil.

A dejected voice escaped him.

"It's just a worm. Just... just a worm."

Now he understood the situation. The anomalous worm had shown them hallucinations, whether through perception alteration or mind control.

With a rumble, the oppressive feeling crumbled and the transcendent presence scattered into nothingness.

All that remained in this place was a shabby basement and a single worm.

Just then, a low, hoarse voice sounded from behind.

"No. This is the Great Worm. Can't you see this majesty, this great form?"

It was the cult leader. He had risen without notice and now gazed up at the empty air, his voice suffused with ecstasy.

"Lovecraft must have seen the truth. The Great Old Worm! A cosmic being right here-"

Bang-!

"Argh!"

Gunfire and a scream echoed through the basement. The scent of gunpowder hung in the air. The leader, shot in the thigh, collapsed, and Yeonwoo lowered his rifle.

He looked down at the leader with a cold face. "Stop lying."

"Lying! How could I do such a thing before the Great One!" the leader's shout reverberated.

The followers looked at the leader. Those with intact eyes regarded Yeonwoo naturally, while those with damaged eyes were puzzled.

"What's going on?"

"Someone's talking with the leader. That can happen."

"No, I heard a gunshot?"

"That's normal, isn't it? ...Or is it? What's happening?"

A restless atmosphere spread.

Though the fluorescent vest didn't work well on those who were blind or already aware, it wouldn't be a problem.

But Yeonwoo gazed at the people with gloomy eyes. People who had mutilated themselves to become worms, deceived by the worm's hallucination.

'I almost fell for it too. If I had asked the dice to turn me into a worm...'

An unthinkable, horrifying scenario.

Crunch, the rifle's muzzle pressed against the leader's mascot head. It probed here and there, searching for the forehead, before settling on the center of the mask.

One pull of the trigger here would be fatal.

The leader's movements froze. Then, clasping his hands as if in prayer, he slightly raised his head to look at the empty air.

"Of course, I was greedy. I asked for money when I didn't really need it. But the Great One doesn't care about such transgressions."

A heavy voice, as if confessing.

Yeonwoo listened quietly before asking, "The ritual? And where did you get this Great Worm?"

"I created the ritual. We must become worms, right? The Great Worm-"

As he focused on the conversation, his body tilted slightly and his arms relaxed. An opening. The leader suddenly knocked away the gun and sprang up.

Bang bang bang-!

Yeonwoo immediately pulled the trigger. Three bullets pierced the mascot head, but only grazed the edges. The leader narrowly avoided a fatal wound.

The leader immediately grabbed the body of the gun and lifted it up. Bang bang, bullets hit the basement ceiling, and a struggle for the gun ensued. Yeonwoo tried to aim the gun at the leader, while the leader gripped the gun and pushed it away.

They swayed back and forth, locked in combat for a moment.

Through the holes in the mask, the leader's shout erupted: "Everyone gather! We'll perform the ritual now! Over here! Come to where you hear my voice!"

"Finally!"

"Let's become worms!"

The people sprawled around the walls began to writhe and crawl across the floor. A human concentric circle closed in reverse. Fanatical cries surged like waves, and countless arms and heads swayed under the candlelight.

The basement floor rumbled. Yeonwoo made a quick decision.

'Let's run.'

There was no reason to stay any longer. Whack, Yeonwoo kicked the leader away and shouted loudly, looking for Ji-yoo: "Senior Ji-yoo! Take the team leader and go up!"

"No! I'm going to become a worm!" a voice pierced through the noise.

Yeonwoo, running through the crowd, gulped. "This is fake! I know the real method! I'll turn you into a worm! You don't even have to cut off your arms and legs! You can safely become a worm!"

"I believe you!"

He found her. Ji-yoo was crawling slowly from the outermost edge, heading straight for the team leader and slapping his cheek.

'Now I just need to escape.'

Yeonwoo sprayed bullets at the ceiling.

Drrrr.

The crowd surrounding him startled and moved away. In an instant, a small clearing formed. Yeonwoo's eyes flashed as he shouted, "Move! Don't block the way!"

He frantically pushed through the human worms.

Running so desperately he couldn't even remember how he escaped, he arrived above ground.

In front of the shattered main entrance, Yeonwoo gasped for breath. As he bent over with his hands on his knees, sweat dripped down and his body shivered in the cold night air.

Suddenly, Yeonwoo raised just his head.

The team leader and Ji-yoo were stumbling out of the narrow corridor. The team leader had a bruise in the middle of his forehead. He rubbed it.

"There was a monster, a monster down there," the team leader mumbled. "Call the company. Quickly. We need to isolate, no, destroy it."

"It's not a monster, it's the Great Worm," Ji-yoo insisted.

As all the investigators exited the building, Yeonwoo was about to explain something to the two spouting nonsense when his mouth clamped shut. He raised his hands and lowered his head to look at the ground. Rumble, the ground shook. At a glance, even the trees on the street seemed to sway.

'An earthquake? No, it's the building!'

Yeonwoo urgently ran to the side, grabbing the sleeves of the two and pulling them away. Immediately after, the building collapsed. With a thunderous roar, spewing dust, it crumbled.

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