Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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Mark Jung leaned against the corner like a statue, while the researcher eyed Yeonwoo with gleaming interest.

Yeonwoo had been searching for the dice in his mind when he suddenly opened his eyes. He quickly grabbed the gun, saying matter-of-factly:

"If I roll a critical success, I'll shoot immediately."

"That's the idea. You'll know the result before anyone else, after all."

It was better for Yeonwoo to hold the ordinary bullet. If a dangerous anomaly was created by a critical success, he'd notice first and could destroy it most swiftly.

"I hope we gather some good data," the researcher said, sweating with tension and excitement. Their clenched fist felt slippery.

Yeonwoo took a few deep breaths, then aimed the gun at the handkerchief. His finger rested on the trigger.

'Ready for any accidents. Shoot if it's a critical success. Alright, dice. Roll for the possibility of this handkerchief being an anomaly.'

In the darkness behind his closed eyes, Yeonwoo saw the dice. It struggled to leap, its momentum weak and height low, as if an invisible force was pressing down on it.

Clatter-

The dice rolled only a few times before showing a result.

Failure!

Yeonwoo opened his eyes with an odd expression.

"It's a failure," he reported.

"Keep rolling," the researcher urged.

Yeonwoo rolled again and again, but the results were similar. Failure after failure, not even successes, repeated over ten times. The dice's movement itself seemed off, beyond simple chance.

'This is...'

Yeonwoo stared into space, forcibly heightening his senses to feel the world around him. He let out a frustrated sigh.

'Is this a safety measure? It feels like possibilities are being closed off.'

Was it a force suppressing accidents? It felt like a power dampening the dice's randomness had settled over the area.

It was as suffocating as wearing clothes too small, constricting his breathing.

As Yeonwoo gasped for air, tugging at his collar and waistband, the researcher asked anxiously:

"Is there a problem?"

"No. I'll keep trying somehow."

Determination flashed in Yeonwoo's eyes. Whatever company safety measure this was, he couldn't give up. If the dice was blocked by something like this, it would be useless when facing similar dangers.

'Alright. Let's see who wins.'

Imagining the company's safety measure as a virtual enemy, Yeonwoo closed his eyes and spread his palm wide.

In his mind, memories of being contaminated by the mist replayed. That sensation. The feeling of gauging probabilistic possibilities and fishing out the desired one.

'No, not this. It's more like...'

The sensation of unleashing possibilities to open a closed future felt more accurate.

Yeonwoo loosely clenched his fist, as if holding the dice in his palm. Then he swung his arm forcefully, like throwing a baseball or hurling dice at a wall.

Yeonwoo sensed it instantly.

'It worked.'

The dice rolled powerfully. It leapt high as usual and flung itself forward with great momentum.

Clatter-

The dice danced, and five branches of possibility - critical failure, failure, nothing, success, critical success - writhed. The world that had been a solid wall blocking the dice shook.

A stronger force immediately pressed down on the dice, but the result had already appeared.

Failure!

Yeonwoo opened his eyes. Joy lit up his face, and his voice was cheerful:

"It failed."

Though the result was a failure, the experiment had no issues, and Yeonwoo's abilities had improved.

The mood in the lab brightened at this outcome everyone wanted.

The researcher checked some readings on their phone and grinned. They were certain now. This experiment would definitely help. They just needed to gather enough data.

As they stuck a failure sticker on the handkerchief, the researcher said:

"Good, good. Let's leave the handkerchief and keep rolling for the other items."

"Alright. I'll roll for the pen next."

Yeonwoo loosely clenched his fist again.

'This feels a bit like training or exercise.'

As he swung his hand, the dice rolled once more, and the experiment continued. The dice kept rolling without stopping.

------

Time passed quickly.

Despite Yeonwoo's efforts, many rolls resulted in nothing. There were also many experimental materials - pens, plastic bottles, cans, water, coffee, earphones, A4 paper, trash, and so on.

After nearly three hours of experimenting, they ran out of materials. The table was neatly covered in odds and ends labeled with failure or success stickers.

"Is the experiment over?" Yeonwoo asked tiredly.

The researcher darted out of the lab.

"No! The more data, the better! Just wait a bit! I'll bring more quickly!"

The sound of rapid footsteps echoed behind the slammed door.

Yeonwoo slumped down, rubbing his face. Mark Jung, who had been waiting silently like a shadow, asked:

"Are you tired?"

"No."

Yeonwoo shook his head. The rain had eliminated all physical fatigue. He was just anxious. Placing a hand over his chest, he muttered:

"My heart's racing strangely. It feels like I'm walking on the edge of a cliff."

At first, it had been fine. The sense of crisis was weak, and even that faint unease seemed due to headquarters' presence itself.

But as the experiment repeated, his heart beat faster. By a certain point, his survival instinct was ringing alarm bells he couldn't ignore.

"I don't know why," Yeonwoo said, wiping cold sweat from his palms.

Mark Jung also grew serious.

"You're feeling a sense of danger even though this is headquarters, where there shouldn't be any risk?"

They looked at each other briefly, thinking this question. An investigator's instincts couldn't be ignored. Yeonwoo fidgeted anxiously as he spoke:

"Is headquarters under attack?"

"If we were attacked, alarms would sound immediately. And the fallen doomsday cultists don't have the ability, while other groups lack motivation. It'd be more likely we're facing a doomsday scenario."

Mark Jung quickly checked his phone for information. He shook his head.

"The world is safe right now."

Yeonwoo's expression turned grave.

'There's no problem now. So is it my survival instinct?'

Like how the person who used the love potion had given him a sense of danger, was he detecting some future threat?

'When contamination progresses, senses mutate. Has my survival instinct evolved to detect dangers beyond time?'

Yeonwoo felt utterly frustrated. Sensing danger was good. But...

'What's the point if I only feel the crisis? I can't tell what's dangerous.'

An attack? A doomsday scenario? Was the experiment going wrong? Was the dice causing an accident? What he needed to do depended on the cause of danger, but not knowing left him only mentally prepared.

"Mental preparation isn't necessary," Yeonwoo grumbled. As a survivalist, his mind was always ready, and he was equipped as best he could be.

Meanwhile, Mark Jung carefully contacted a director. He sent a few brief messages. The reply came quickly.

"The director says to continue the experiment. They can handle one big problem easily."

"What level of 'big problem' are we talking about?"

"A doomsday scenario or Level 6 danger attack? Don't worry."

Yeonwoo sighed at Mark Jung's assurance. Not knowing the cause, there wasn't much else he could prepare anyway.

'Let's just hang in there for now. Whatever accident happens, this is headquarters after all. There's even an ordinary bullet right in front of me.'

Just then, the researcher returned.

"I've brought lots more materials! Let's continue!"

The researcher held out a box. Inside, mealworms were writhing in a tangled mass.

The researcher placed a single mealworm on the table. Yeonwoo stared down at it blankly.

"Then I'll roll," he said.

He clenched his fist and threw forcefully.

Three hours passed. The three hours Safety Measure 001 had mentioned. The force pressing down on the dice suddenly weakened.

The dice leapt high in place. Much higher than usual, and it seemed to convey emotion. Something like irritation or anger at what had been suppressing it.

Clatter-r-r-r-r-

The dice rolled frantically. An intense sense of crisis hit Yeonwoo.

'Critical success? So this is why I felt uneasy!'

The thought flashed by in an instant, and he reflexively pulled the trigger. The ordinary bullet fired, flying towards the mealworm.

Bang-!

The bullet struck the mealworm's tail and lodged in the table. The mealworm's head flew off, disappearing somewhere out of sight.

This happened before the dice's result appeared. Belatedly, the dice showed its outcome.

Critical success!

The possibility manifested. The possibility of the mealworm, now a corpse with only its head remaining, being an anomaly.

Yeonwoo gasped for breath. His survival instinct rang alarm bells. His heart raced madly.

"A critical success?" asked the researcher.

"Yes. That's why I shot immediately."

The researcher and Mark Jung reacted nonchalantly. Hadn't he used an ordinary bullet? The researcher even seemed disappointed.

"Since we used the bullet, I guess we should stop the experiment now."

"...It's not over yet."

"Your enthusiasm is great, but any more experimenting would be too danger-"

"That's not it. Right now."

Yeonwoo trailed off, frantically looking around. Cold sweat drenched his face.

'I don't know what it is, but it's dangerous.'

That's when it happened.

Mark Jung, who had been keeping quiet to avoid disturbing the experiment, pointed to a corner of the room. His finger trembled.

"Um, Researcher? Yeonwoo? Over there, over there."

"Over where-... What is that?"

The researcher's voice and eyes filled with shock.

Yeonwoo quickly looked where they pointed.

Something brown and mold-like was writhing. No, not mold.

"Mealworms?"

The mealworm's severed head had bloomed like mold. Though the body destroyed by the ordinary bullet was gone, it kept dividing.

The mealworm's head began spreading like brown paint. 1 to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 8. In a brief moment, it divided uncontrollably.

No one present failed to grasp the situation. Mealworm heads dividing infinitely.

The researcher muttered blankly:

"Isn't that a doomsday-level dangerous entity?"

Left alone, it would multiply endlessly until it filled the Earth.

Mark Jung immediately pulled out his phone to report to the director and respond quickly. They couldn't give this thing time.

"Yes! A doomsday-level anomaly has just been created! Emergency measures-"

Meanwhile, Yeonwoo leapt up and pulled out a gas torch.

"What are you waiting for? We can take care of this now if we burn it all!"

"It survived an ordinary bullet. You think simple fire can kill it? We should leave this to the company and evacuate-"

That's when it happened.

Suddenly, the lights flickered. Then emergency lights hidden somewhere began flashing red. An urgent announcement blared:

- Level 6 danger alert issued! Level 6 danger alert issued! Emergency isolation measures activating!

Between the ear-splitting broadcast, Mark Jung's bewildered voice could be heard:

"What? The Warrior suddenly attacked headquarters? What? The Warrior seems to have reached Level 6?"

Hearing this, Yeonwoo put the gas torch back in his bag. The mealworm heads had already multiplied tremendously. Starting a big fire in an isolated space would endanger himself too.

Yeonwoo spoke calmly:

"Is the shelter safe? I mean, can it withstand that thing's division?"

"It's certain."

"Let's go."

With that, the three followed the researcher's guidance to a room near the lab.

An ordinary room. A room where no anomalies could exist.

As the researcher and Mark Jung were about to close the door with grim expressions, Yeonwoo, face pale, frantically blocked it.

His survival instinct had shut off. The rain's vitality was gone. He couldn't even sense the dice. He had returned to being an ordinary person.

That sense of loss and pain hit him as intense anxiety.

"Where is this? Why, why-"

"Ah, it's an ordinary room. Like the ordinary bullet, no anomalies can happen in here. They'll return once you leave, but-"

Lightning flashed in Yeonwoo's mind.

'If I'm trapped in here, I'll be isolated just like that.'

His heart plummeted. Normally he'd just marvel at the company's power and be a little wary, but he'd caused a major incident now.

He coolly assessed the current situation.

'What accident did I cause? I created an anomaly capable of triggering a doomsday scenario.'

An anomaly that creates anomalies. One that could produce terrifying entities at that. Would the company tolerate him? This went beyond what could be overlooked even for an employee.

On top of that, he'd shown his survivalist tendencies too clearly. Someone who'd do anything to survive, no matter the cost.

'I don't mind being isolated. But if they try to eliminate me...'

In the worst case, special forces might be waiting with guns when the door to the ordinary room opened after the incident was resolved.

That's how potentially dangerous he was.

Yeonwoo made his decision. He stepped out of the doorway. His power returned.

"I'll escape on my own."

"No, Yeonwoo-"

Bang!

Yeonwoo slammed the door shut.

A doomsday-level anomaly, a Level 6 doomsday cultist, and Yeonwoo's escape hit headquarters simultaneously.

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