The Bureau had a slightly damp atmosphere about it because of the rain.
Inside, I trailed closely after my senior, watching everyone around me.
“Ugh……”
People’s gazes made me uncomfortable.
Maybe because they’d seen me come out of Action Section 1, they showed interest at first, but the moment our eyes met, their faces twisted.
‘The X marks in my eyes are so distracting……’
I had no idea why these X marks had appeared.
If only they weren’t there, I would look human, and yet, for some reason, the black marks refused to disappear.
‘I want to pull them out……’
I hated my eyes so much that I really did feel like ripping them out.
I was already uncomfortable around people, and having to endure so many stares on top of that was difficult.
“S-Senior, wait for me.”
My senior was walking oddly fast.
When I called out to her from behind, she turned around, stopped for a moment, and waited for me.
“Why are you so slow?”
“…S-Sorry. People’s gazes make me a little uncomfortable.”
“……”
With a sigh, my senior came over to me.
When I lowered my head, she kneaded my shoulders and pushed me forward.
“Walk with confidence. Were you like this even when you were human?”
“…Ah, yes.”
“…Tsk. What’s the big deal about not having parents? I don’t have any either.”
After saying that, my senior walked forward with confidence.
Watching her, I took a deep breath and matched my steps to hers.
Of course, walking confidently was still impossible for me.
* * *
[Isolation Room]
“Senior, this place is……”
We stood before a gray iron door with the words Isolation Room written on it in huge letters.
As I hiccuped and looked at my senior, she smiled brightly and answered.
“If you hadn’t been cooperative, you would’ve been locked up here.”
“…!!”
“Your classification is Safe… so there’s no need for you to be locked up here.”
She then told me that this was a Class 1 security facility, and that I shouldn’t even think about trying to enter without her.
“If you do anything suspicious inside, I’ll cut you down immediately.”
“Y-Yes……”
I nodded and slowly stepped into the dark isolation room.
The first people I saw were from the Research Section.
“…They’re people who like anomalies, in their own way. Though it’s less affection and more a madness-tinged obsession.”
“I-Is that so?”
The way people looked at me changed.
Their gazes seemed to scan every inch of me.
But they weren’t perverted gazes—only cold eyes meant for research.
‘This feels awful in its own way.’
“Don’t look at our rookie like that. The poor thing’s already thrown up who knows how many times.”
Senior Yeonwoo said that slyly, wearing the brightest smile in the world.
Thinking that she had a talent for teasing people, I lowered my head deeply.
Thankfully, the gazes around us quickly settled down.
I thought I should have been used to this kind of treatment by now, but I still couldn’t get used to it, so I hurried after my senior.
After going a little farther in, an automatic door that would only open after scanning a security keycard came into view.
“Yours hasn’t come out yet?”
“Ah… no……”
“Processing takes a little longer for anomalies, you know? There are all kinds of reviews to go through.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yeah. So it’ll probably come out in about four days.”
Saying that, my senior strode deeper inside.
I followed her in slowly.
Then the first thing I saw was a single flower.
A red flower sat alone in a black space, illuminated by white light.
Looking at it, the peculiar thing was that it had bloomed upside down.
But there was no mistaking it. It was a forget-me-not.
“Is this an anomaly too…?”
“Yeah. Its classification is Safe Level 5.”
“Classification…?”
When I looked at her as if I had no idea what she meant, my senior tilted her head and asked whether the Section Chief hadn’t told me.
“…The Section Chief didn’t tell you?”
“No……”
“Hah… listen carefully.”
Then, saying she would only explain it once, she told me about anomaly classifications.
Anomaly classifications were broadly divided into five categories.
Safe, Watch, Hazard, Uncontainable, and Out of Standard.
Except for “Out of Standard” and “Hazard,” each category was further divided into five levels.
The Watcher and I were at the highest level within the Safe classification: Safe Level 5.
Apparently, the Watcher had originally been Watch Level 4 before gradually being lowered to Safe Level 5.
It was a structure where the more achievements one accumulated and the more trust one built, the more one’s danger level gradually decreased.
There were various other evaluation factors as well.
But since I wasn’t the one doing the evaluations, my senior said there was no need for me to know that much.
I nodded and tried to touch the forget-me-not, only for something like a transparent wall to stop me.
“…Be careful.”
“Isn’t it Safe…?”
“I told you. It’s Level 5.”
Saying that, my senior asked me about the meaning of forget-me-nots.
“Do you know the meaning of a forget-me-not?”
“…I-I don’t.”
“An ordinary forget-me-not means don’t forget me… But what happens when it’s upside down?”
“…?”
As she asked, my senior checked to make sure it was securely locked.
Then, saying it was safe as long as it stayed locked, she pointed at the upside-down forget-me-not and explained.
“Forget me. That’s the name of this anomaly.”
“…That’s really simple.”
“Its power is terrifying, though.”
She said that just touching it would make you forget everything precious to you.
If you smelled it or ingested even a small amount, you would forget all your memories.
It was an anomaly that would make you regress all the way back to the level of being reborn into this world.
“…!!”
“…The one asking to be forgotten could be someone else, or it could be yourself. Profound, isn’t it?”
My senior said that while looking at the chilling object.
I shuddered and nodded.
“Safe Level 5 is only a little lower than Watch Level 1. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Y-Yes……”
“From Watch onward, they’re monsters. They’re things that have killed countless humans.”
Wondering just how bad Hazard was, I asked, and my senior answered with an expressionless face.
“They’re difficult to contain, and the moment they escape, the Bureau itself would be in danger.”
“…!!”
“And yet, the fact that they’re still being maintained properly is probably because we hate anomalies like you.”
“Ah……”
“Don’t expect goodwill from any section here except Action Section 1.”
Saying that, my senior went even deeper inside.
I followed after her, and heard something I didn’t want to hear.
“…Don’t expect much from me, either.”
“……”
It was the moment my spirits sank.
* * *
The isolation room did not contain only anomalies.
“This place is……”
It was an isolation room located a little deeper in than Forget Me.
Inside were people who looked gravely ill.
“It’s a place where we confine people who were affected by anomalies and can’t die even if they die.”
“……”
I wondered if it wasn’t inhumane.
But once I learned that these people could turn the humans around them into anomalies as well, or make them into something similar to themselves, I understood why this was being done.
“Most of them… are agents. Civilians are killed on sight.”
“…Why?”
“Because when agents enter, they sign a written pledge agreeing to give up their bodies if they’re infected or contaminated by an anomaly.”
“…!!”
“They’re used for research purposes. Well, most of it is treatment research.”
Saying that, my senior wore a bitter expression.
Looking at her, I cautiously asked again.
“…Is treatment possible?”
“It is.”
“Ah……”
“Most of them die because they can’t endure the experiments, though.”
“…!!”
At my senior’s shocking words, my eyes widened, and I stared at her back, which seemed to have erased all emotion.
Her steps seemed a little heavy.
As I stared blankly at them, my senior turned back and said,
“There’s someone I want to introduce you to.”
She told me to follow her, saying there was someone she wanted to introduce.
I slowly went inside, and through the glass window, I saw a woman sitting there in relatively normal condition, reading a book.
[Formerly affiliated with Action Section 1 ○○○]
“Her name is……”
“It’s classified.”
“Ah……”
When I muttered because the name was obscured, my senior immediately said it was classified.
And the woman beyond the glass slowly walked toward us as soon as she saw my senior.
[…Yeonwoo?]
“Senior.”
[It is Yeonwoo… haha……]
Recognizing my senior, the woman laughed awkwardly.
[Sorry. My memory’s been hazy lately.]
“Is it because of the medicine? Did you take it?”
[Ah… yes, I did. I’ll be able to leave soon.]
The woman smiled with a tired expression as she said that.
Looking at her, Yeonwoo also smiled softly.
“Once you recover… quit this kind of work and leave.”
[…….]
“Because I feel sorry.”
After saying that and telling her to rest, my senior introduced me.
“She’s the rookie.”
“Ah, hello……”
[…An anomaly?]
The woman tilted her head, then wore a bitter expression.
Seeing that expression, I lowered my head deeply.
“Then, I’ll be going.”
[Ah… yes.]
“…I don’t think you’ll be able to see the Section Chief.”
[…I have nothing to say. I’m only sorry.]
“Then.”
My senior bowed to the woman, who looked as if she had committed a sin, and moved outside.
After that, I was introduced to all kinds of anomalies.
Mostly anomalies that the Bureau made practical use of.
It felt like the tour also had a bit of a warning purpose.
Even after it ended, the woman’s face would not leave my mind.
* * *
“S-Senior.”
“…What?”
My senior seemed gloomy and sunken.
To that senior, I brought up the woman I had been curious about all this time.
“Th-That person from earlier… how did she end up there……”
“…She was attacked by an anomaly. Then she attacked the Section Chief and the kid who’s on leave right now.”
“Ah……”
“Originally, I should’ve been the one who got attacked, but that senior sacrificed herself.”
“……”
“I’m telling you this so that if something happens, you’ll be prepared to sacrifice yourself and end up like that.”
Saying that, my senior told me she would immediately cut off my head so that I wouldn’t become like that.
Feeling a chill run down my spine, I nodded.
“Y-Yes……”
“Don’t worry. I’ll sacrifice the Watcher first.”
“Yes…?”
“Let’s go.”
My senior left the isolation room.
Afraid that the door might close, I quickly followed after her.