.
“Series: Administrative.
Rank: Grade 9.
We sincerely congratulate Mr. Nam Dowon on passing the final stage of the civil service examination.”
Right in front of my heart, which felt as though it might stop from the tension, the result was written out clearly: I had passed.
Grade 9 open recruitment.
I’d often heard people say that one to three years was usually enough, and I’d thought I’d done fairly well on the exam myself.
Even so, I’d done my best not to expect that I’d pass in one go right after graduating high school.
…Maybe all the effort I put into building up good karma in my senior year actually helped.
I clenched my trembling hand into a fist and let out a satisfied breath.
“This is why managing expectations is the most important thing in the world….”
Even when I hit the refresh button just in case, the screen before my eyes remained the same.
It was telling me, clear as day, that I had passed the civil service exam, so instead of wasting time acting like a lunatic, I should start preparing all the necessary documents.
After checking and rechecking everything, I sank onto my bed, buried deep in the pleasant rush of dopamine.
…So that’s what the light in my room looked like.
How long had it been since I’d lain down like this in broad daylight and stared up at my ceiling?
This must be the leisure of a working adult, something my friends—who had just finished the CSAT and would soon be studying hard again in college—would never know.
“I should brag to the guys in a bit….”
Thanks to that, I spent some time pleasantly lazing around on my bed.
If I faced reality even just a little, though, I knew full well that civil servants these days weren’t exactly treated as having “good jobs.”
In exchange for guaranteed employment until retirement, apparently everything else about the job was stressful.
Even passing little kids knew how absurdly low the pay was.
The internet was also overflowing with stories about all kinds of ridiculous malicious complaints.
Because of that, I did find myself worrying for no reason, comparing the salary of other jobs to that of a Grade 9 civil servant, and wondering whether a life of running in the same hamster wheel every day would really suit me, but…
“……Tch.”
For now, I just wanted to savor the joy of having one less thing to worry about when it came to employment.
I was just reaching for my smartphone while hugging the thick winter blanket beside me.
“…Hm?”
My quiet smartphone suddenly began blaring with a loud beeping sound.
It was none other than the alert tone for an emergency disaster message.
“Three M0-class monsters have appeared 1 km west of the National Museum of Korea. Please evacuate immediately.”
But if they were M0 monsters, the lowest rank among monster grades, there was no need to get help from a “witch.”
Those things could be dealt with by an ordinary person who happened to like working out.
“Ah, shit. I thought something serious happened….”
After confirming the follow-up apology text saying the message had been sent in error, I soon forgot about it, ending with only a brief flash of irritation.
1
After passing the civil service exam, I heard that the department I’d actually be assigned to would be announced through a separate phone call.
When I looked it up online, it was apparently common for people to wait around three months because that part got delayed.
In that case, it’d be better for me not to be impatient and take it easy.
What would be the best way to spend my time while waiting?
If I just kept going to the gym and playing games like before, I’d get bored sooner or later.
I’d seriously jerked off a fucking lot, too――.
And so on.
That was what I had been thinking about roughly fifteen days ago.
“The Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Department?”
—Yes, that’s correct.
Unlike what I’d found out in advance, I was able to receive my appointment notice far faster than I’d expected.
Though it wasn’t a place like the community service center people often talked about, but some unheard-of place called the “Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Department.”
“Hmm.”
The woman on the phone right now has a really nice voice.
For a moment, I even entertained the delusion that she might be incredibly pretty.
Putting aside the fact that I was being assigned in a hurry without even training at the institute, the target of this support was, of all things, “apprentice witches.”
Did that even mean anything?
Feeling puzzled, I tilted my head slightly.
Women who freely wielded magic that science could not explain, and who looked just like humans on the outside.
It had been quite some time since the witches who had hidden themselves in the otherworld came out and began interacting with humans.
In terms of verifiable history alone, it had already been a little over a thousand years, if I remembered correctly.
In the West, that would be the Middle Ages. In our country, that meant they had left traces since the Goryeo period.
What witches had continued doing since then was none other than monster extermination.
They had been taking care of the monsters that endlessly crossed over from a place called the Void in place of frail humans.
It might sound strange to say this, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that humans had been cared for by witches for a very long time.
Fortunately, in the modern era, firearms could handle monsters up to a certain level, but…
Compared to a skilled witch lightly flicking her fingertip, the difference in cost-effectiveness was simply too severe.
On top of that, I’d learned that rather than seeking any particular reward, witches seemed to find meaning in hunting monsters and continued trying to help humanity.
I’d simply thought that was how things were.
“Understood. Sorry for asking so many questions, but I’m supposed to start coming in tomorrow, right?”
—That’s correct.
“I understand….”
—Yes, then….
…Witches.
And not just that, a department that supported the rehabilitation of apprentice witches?
Was it supposed to mean something like, “Please scold our students who’ve hit puberty on our behalf”?
“This is ridiculous….”
Still, it felt a bit wrong to think about it while ignoring the word “rehabilitation.”
Because it was even more ridiculous to think of it as simply a department that helped witches.
Just what kind of help could a department like this possibly provide?
Running over to tattle, “A monster appeared somewhere!”?
According to what I’d learned, even detecting those signs was probably within a witch’s power.
I’d also heard that the reason monsters were assigned grades as soon as they crossed over from the Void was because humans simply wrote down whatever the witches told them.
Needless to say, combat was out of the question.
If anything, if a fighter jet were cutely flying around beside them, they’d probably have to pay more attention to adjusting their attack range.
Then that left supporting them from behind.
Would we massage a witch’s shoulders and tell her she’d worked hard?
What would even be left for us to do from behind?
…Ah, in an emergency, I could probably serve as a meat shield.
Though to monsters, I’d be so soft that I’d get torn apart without lasting even a moment.
“……I did want to earn more money, but I didn’t mean I wanted hazard pay.”
After pondering for a while, I eventually fluttered the appointment notice with a sigh full of questions.
I had looked over the notice in case there was anything else, but for now, what I’d just seen and heard was everything.
Frustrated, I searched it up online, only for that to be even more absurd.
Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Department? No such department existed, it said, asking whether I had perhaps searched for something else and showing other search terms instead.
Rehabilitation protection programs under the Ministry of Justice? Something like that did come up. Anyway.
“There was even a phone call, so there’s no way this is some prank….”
None of my friends came to mind as the kind of guy who would pull this sort of prank.
For one thing, none of my friends were girls with a voice as nice as the one just now. And if someone had gone to the effort of tampering with registered mail and even calling me, then honestly, it would be only right to let myself fall for it at least once.
If I excluded that unlikely assumption, then in the end, it really meant I had been assigned to this mysterious department called the Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Department.
“…What is it? Seriously.”
Was I having some kind of absurd dream?
I pinched my own cheek hard a few times, then let go without gaining much from it.
*****
In any case, I’d be able to find out the truth as soon as the sun rose tomorrow.
I went to bed early and woke up so I wouldn’t be late, then arrived at Seoul City Hall with enough time to spare that it felt almost excessive.
I’d only been notified yesterday that Dowon could come to work by nine, but the current time was eight.
Still, perhaps thanks to the flexible work system, there were quite a lot of people around here and there.
I’d been worried there might be no one to ask for directions, so this was a relief.
“I just need to take the elevator up to the 14th floor….”
As for the exact location of the Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Department, I could probably ask the people around once I got up there.
With my eyes darting anxiously in a way that made me look like a newcomer to anyone watching, I stood in front of the elevator.
Fortunately, the elevator arrived quickly.
Now all I had to do was go up to the 14th floor.
So I followed the numbers written on the buttons, slowly lifting my gaze.
“…What?”
The elevator buttons ended at the 13th floor.
“Mr. Nam Dowon?”
That was when it happened.
A voice came from behind me, though I was certain the space had been empty. Startled, I turned around, and an unfamiliar woman was standing right behind me with a gentle smile.
She was even somewhat pretty.
No, very pretty.
I’d had a few chances to see celebrities up close by coincidence, but whether it was just my imagination or not, she felt far more eye-catching than any of them.
While I stood there flustered in front of her, she met my gaze with her beautiful golden eyes beneath her black hair and asked,
“You came to work early.”
“Ah, ah. Yes. I was worried I might be late….”
“I see.”
…Had I answered “yes” earlier when she asked if I was Nam Dowon?
I had no memory of it, so apparently she had asked while already knowing the answer.
Flustered, I quickly cleared my throat and replied.
As an aside, I had a feeling the voice I’d heard over the phone yesterday had belonged to this very person.
The moment I’d heard it, I’d thought it was a pretty voice, and I’d vaguely fantasized that her face might be pretty too, but it had actually been true.
“…….”
But that didn’t explain how this woman had suddenly appeared behind me.
Something like this would probably only be possible for a ghost, or perhaps a witch who had learned teleportation….
“You haven’t forgotten that I told you yesterday it was on the 14th floor, have you?”
“…Um, I’m sorry, but when I checked just now, there wasn’t a button for the 14th floor….”
“It’s right there, though.”
“……?”
…Or something like that.
When I looked at the elevator buttons again, I confirmed that the number “14” had newly appeared at the very top. From that moment on, I had no choice but to be certain of one thing.
“Shall I start explaining our department on the way up?”
Even the name tag hanging from her neck said it.
Team Leader, Apprentice Witch Rehabilitation Support Department.
Eve Lycaon.
That was what was written there.
“…Please do.”
She must be a witch.
This person, too.