Chapter 62
While I was watching a gaming YouTuber's live broadcast as usual, I saw Carol come into the isolation room and install something.
The secretive and quick movements of her hands were no different from those of a criminal plotting evil deeds.
"What is that, Carol?"
She flinched at my words.
But she shamelessly turned her head towards me and spoke as if nothing were wrong.
"What? Are you talking about the emergency bell over here?"
Emergency bell...? It's usually used as a safety device.
I was purely curious as to why she wanted to install it without my knowledge.
"So?"
"As you can see, it's an emergency bell, right? It's a common item these days, something that every home has at least one, right?"
No way. I didn't believe Carol's words and observed the emergency alarm carefully.
When I looked closely, I saw letters written under it.
Alice Protocol.
"Do they write Alice Protocol under normal emergency bells these days?"
"Yes!"
...
"Hey!!! Anyone can see that it's for calling me, right?! Why are you installing something like this!"
I rushed at Carol with the intention of grabbing her by the collar.
Then she assumed the submissive posture of a dog lying on its back.
A sign of surrender, indicating that she has no intention of attacking.
It is very unpleasant for me to hit a person who does not resist.
Carol knew it well.
"It has nothing to do with Alice! It only rings occasionally when the lives of members of this branch are in danger or when help is desperately needed! Of course, there's no need for Alice to step forward!"
"Why are you putting such an unpleasant emergency bell here! You're openly asking for help!"
"There is no compulsion at all! You can just ignore it, so don't worry too much about it. And done~!"
When I was thinking about stomping her stomach.
I was caught off guard as Carol rolled over and ran away from her lying position.
The employee waiting outside opened the door as if he had been waiting, and Carol arrived safely out the door.
I had no idea that she would run away like that, so I could only stare blankly.
"I will leave it up to you!"
"Take this and go!"
The isolation room door was closed.
"Haa..."
I didn't really want to do something drastic like breaking it.
All I have to do is follow Carol's words and not come forward.
Since I am neither a nobleman nor a saint, I have no intention of volunteering to help just because someone is in trouble.
Of course, I will feel uncomfortable.
Carol seemed to already know something about me, so she must have been aiming for that.
But I don't take that too kindly.
Rather, I, someone who has a hard time knowing the situation outside, can take advantage of this.
So I should stop caring.
I lay down in bed. My body is heavy.
It's always been like this since I came into this body.
Because of that, I can't sleep, so I spend the whole night on the computer... Since I did not get mental rest just like this, my depression only grew.
But don't worry too much.
All modern people have lethargy (the mysterious thirst that we trick ourselves into thinking we have) caused by loafing around aimlessly.
I started thinking about other things to avoid the pain.
If I'm thinking about something big that happened recently, it's that.
A picture drawn by an artist after seeing a great star.
He clearly saw something and drew it.
It is a ridiculous joke to say that a monster with power can be created just by drawing it after its appearance.
Perhaps the star that the unknown artist witnessed was something like the cosmic horror commonly seen in fiction, something that humanity cannot handle.
But it is too early to say it is hopeless.
It's not like you're just witnessing it, and you can't really react to it.
It's a common setting.
The setting in which the human race did not perish purely by coincidence.
It is purely by chance that humans survive in a place where scary things that will destroy the world lurk.
How do you know if that coincidence will continue?
In such fictions, ridiculous scenarios of world destruction are developed, and people are scared that the world will end one day.
I've never seen a case where it was truly destroyed.
So it'll be okay. It should be okay.
"Please don't expand my worldview."
A few days after that.
The Alice Protocol emergency bell that Carol had installed began to ring.
Beeep- beeep-
The emergency bell was glowing red.
It even had a luminous function, and the loud pulsating sound was irritating me.
"I'm not a pushover."
I made excuses even though no one was listening.
Partly because of my pride, and because I can never get used to the feeling of being played in someone else's hands.
It's the worst when you know you're being played and you're doing it anyway.
"...I will never go!"
...Never!
...
POV Switch - ???
"Damn Institution! I knew it! I knew it would be like this!"
I was running away from my pursuer, bleeding.
Even though I'm in pain, I don't stop swearing.
I swear so much even when I'm hurt that others might think I'm tough.
But will others know that it is no different from the final resistance against death?
I know. Because I'm the one in this situation.
I had always been very dissatisfied, so swearing was my only outlet.
So I used to swear in places where no one was around.
Right. There were a lot of complaints. Would it be correct to call it stress relief?
I used to hold back from swearing at my colleagues, but now I have to swear at them.
"This guy, that guy, they're all crazy people!"
They called me a murdering monster.
If you were in your right mind, you wouldn't have called me that.
But everything got weird. By a newly arrived, unidentified tool-type isolate!
Bang bang bang!
The gunshot loudly hits the eardrums. The murderous stabbing from behind made me even more angry.
"I am not a monster! Don't you remember me? Brehm! Irene! Sunghoon!"
"It's over there! Shoot, shoot!"
"It's a humanoid monster! When will the Gray Judgment Unit arrive?"
Why are they so cruel? Why does this happen? What did I do wrong to my colleagues?
It's so painful and sad, why shouldn't I take out my anger on these guys?
I know. This was just an accident.
My colleagues were just unlucky enough to be caught up in the anomaly of the containment unit.
After continuously running away, an isolation room came into view. It was an isolation room containing one of the murderous monsters common in this place.
The isolation room door seemed to be whispering to me.
Open, open, open.
Your colleagues don't understand your pain.
So let's take revenge.
So let's kill them.
I'm with you.
"......Tsk."
I couldn't bear to do that.
Using the same trick as before, I went into a room and locked the door.
Unfortunately, the place I was hiding was in the employee lounge, so it was obvious that I would get caught right away.
During the brief respite, I cooled off my anger and began to shake my head.
Anomalous phenomena caused by the anomalous abilities of the newly introduced, unidentified tool-type containment object struck the entire branch.
When I activated the containment's ability, the shouting of monster! came out of the containment room, and my colleagues started shooting at me.
Fucking Sunghoon... That bastard shot first.
The fact that they, the elites, couldn't catch individuals like me means that they aren't under anyone's command.
If so, they will be vulnerable to unexpected events.
Now what?
The most unexpected thing to do now is...
The things in the lounge are literally miscellaneous items.
Among them was a rope.
If you ask me why it's here, it's a serious case from a senior who suffered from depression.
Let's postpone suicide.
They are crazy right now.
So wouldn't acting work?
If they don't receive orders and only pursue with murderous intent, I might be able to get away with it by pretending to be dead.
Anyway, it's all or nothing.
I decided to make a loop out of the rope, hang it around my neck, and use scissors to cut the part that connects to the ceiling.
There will be a scene where a broken rope hangs from the ceiling and I am lying face down with a loop around my neck.
It was as if an old rope that could not bear the weight of the corpse had broken belatedly.
But before I could execute it, a button in front of my nose caught my eye.
A recently installed button.
"...Alice Protocol."
Research Center Director Carol. This is the button installed by that strange person. Although she was a woman who solved several problems with her eccentric way of thinking, she was not very trustworthy.
Of course, the same goes for this button.
It is more believable to say that it is a secret containment procedure.
"...Let's press it anyway."
Honestly, it seemed a lot better than faking a suicide.
I was told not to press it unless it was a real emergency, but if it's not now, then when should I press it?
To be honest, I always wanted to press it. It also looks irritatingly red.
I pressed it...
Silence. It lasted long enough to give up hope.
"...She's not coming."
Bang! Bang!
A strong impact sound was heard from the locked door, as if the doorknob was being broken.
'What! I haven't even cut the rope yet!'
I hurriedly tried to cut it, but I realized I was too late!
I squeezed my eyes shut and heard the sound of the door breaking down.
"...Umm. Where is this place? I was able to create a mirror portal by marking the place where the button on the emergency bell was pressed, but I don't know the actual place."
But instead of gunshots, a faint voice tickled my ears.
I slowly opened my eyes.
There was a girl with blonde hair standing there.
No way. Is this Alice?
Those in high positions in the organization strictly suppress rumors that may cause fear among colleagues, agents, and employees, but they are very bad at hiding happy events.
So much so that even I, a low-ranking person, heard rumors about this friendly containment entity.
She let out her sweet voice, flipped her blonde hair, and looked back at me.
Pretty.
It is said that the devil takes on a beautiful appearance to tempt humans, and it seems true.
If she hadn't looked like a child, I wouldn't have been able to say anything.
I locked eyes with hers.
When I saw her face, she had quite a stern expression.
No, is it an illusion? Because it has a doll-like face, it may have a static feel.
"..."
She kept staring. It seems like her pupils are shaking slightly. Am I mistaken?
...What does the devil want from me that makes her look at me like this?
In fact, it was obvious what the devil wanted from humans.
No matter how good the rumor is, the opponent is the devil.
"...Are you asking for something in return?"
"?"
"Good. Take my soul. Remember, this is a contract. You must take my soul and give me the strength to resolve this situation."
"??"
"I am prepared. Because I was going to die anyway."
"!"
The devil widened her eyes and became agitated at my last words. And then she seemed to feel guilty.
An emotion of sadness appeared on her face. She asked me, looking confused.
"You. Are you trying to die?"
"What?"
"Sorry. I can't believe I was hesitant to come because of my pride. I didn't know that some people were so driven to despair to the point of contemplating suicide. No, I actually knew. But when I see it in front of me like this, my feelings change... I'm also a very contradictory person."
I realized that the rope was still tightening around my neck.
At the same time, she may be misunderstanding something.
"No, that's..."
"I'm not going to make excuses. I'm sorry, I was almost late. The protocol... I shouldn't have ignored it."
...Somehow, I feel like just now I've contributed significantly to the power of the Institution.
She slowly extended her hand to reassure me.
"Come on. Hold my hand. I will be with you. Can you postpone death, even for a moment? I'm on your side, so you can rest assured."
"That's... Okay... All right."
I cut the rope from the fake suicide attempt with scissors and took her hand.
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