Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

Join the discord! Here

The world turned red as if it were on fire. The sky at sunset, the mist soaked in the scarlet light of the setting sun. The faces of the people standing in the middle of the mist were also reddened.

Huff— Huff—

Yeonwoo trembled all over. His face, pale and looking as if he aged half a day, appeared close to death. He barely suppressed the nausea that rose with every breath and managed to speak.

"Why are we still...?"

"I don\'t know. I don\'t know."

Ji-yoo also shook her head, looking exhausted. Her sweat-drenched tracksuit clung to her neck and arms. The phone in her sticky hand was completely dead.

"My phone\'s battery is dead. I have no idea."

"Mine’s about to die too."

Jae-min had taken off his school uniform jacket and was wearing only a white T-shirt. Holding his crumpled jacket in one hand, he showed his phone with the other.

Battery 3% remaining.

The screen, dimmed to save power, showed a map and their current location. That location was...

"This place... this place."

Ji-yoo urgently swung her backpack to the front. After fumbling with the zipper several times, she pulled out the report. It was wet with sweat and wrinkled from being held multiple times.

As she struggled to flip through the pages, Ji-yoo suddenly froze. Her lips trembled as she mumbled.

"Why are we here...?"

"Where is this place?"

"The valley. The valley where people died."

"This is the valley? No way, sis, don\'t joke."

Jae-min forced a laugh. After looking at the phone screen, he reached out towards their surroundings.

"No way. We did go deep in, but look around. How is this a valley?"

The slope wasn’t visible. Due to the white mist, only an ordinary hiking trail was visible. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a dangerous path where one misstep could lead to death.

"Wait a moment."

Ji-yoo took deep, regular breaths. She closed her eyes and mumbled to herself for a while. When she opened her eyes, she spoke calmly.

"You can\'t see well, but there\'s a slope nearby. If you step on a tree root wrong and fall, it\'s over. Got it? Be careful."

"Are you serious? Really?"

Ding ding ding ding—

At that moment, Jae-min’s phone made a cheerful sound and turned off. Jae-min went pale and stopped talking. He kept pressing the power button, but the dead battery wouldn’t revive the phone.

"No, without this..."

"Calm down. Just be careful with your footing—"

Ji-yoo approached Jae-min to calm him down when Yeonwoo suddenly interjected.

"No. It’s not just about being careful with our footing."

Ji-yoo and Jae-min looked at Yeonwoo. He had his head down, looking at his phone and the memo.

-12:35 PM: Memory loss confirmed. Proceed with caution while descending.

-12:50 PM: Took the wrong path. The downhill led to the peak. Keep checking the current location on the map carefully.

-1:30 PM: Will the battery last? What if it runs out? I have no writing tools. I need something to record with. I\'ll save my phone\'s battery as much as possible.

-2:55 PM: Memory loss confirmed. Realized belatedly that time had jumped. We accidentally took a path leading to another peak. The map is fine, but none of us are familiar enough with the mountain to find the correct trail.

-3:20 PM: Felt a presence. Is it a person? An animal? A shaking branch? Or am I just paranoid?

-4:50 PM: It’s clear. There is something. A cry like that of a roe deer. Is it really a roe deer?

-6:10 PM: The shadow in the mist. It’s hunting us.

There had been two instances of memory loss. There was a record of danger, not just memory loss.

“Something led us here. The people who died before us didn’t die by accident.”

“That means, right now, there’s something around us trying to kill us.”

“F*ck, we’re screwed!”

Ji-yoo and Jae-min had come closer, reading Yeonwoo’s memo from either side of him. They began frantically scanning the surroundings. Their eyes darted constantly, from shadow to shadow through the mist.

“If it’s a Level 2 danger, it’s really dangerous. Something that kills people is out there.”

“Oh, man. I really didn’t want to come today.”

They trembled and kept turning their heads. They couldn’t stay still for even a moment. The world they lived in made them this way, unable to think of anything else.

Rustle— Crack— Sss—

The unfamiliar mountain. The ominous mountain. The mist-covered mountain.

The sound of vegetation brushing against the wind, the cracking of twigs and pine cones falling, the movements of insects, frogs, or snakes—sounds that were usually refreshing in the mountains.

Now, these sounds held sinister hints, shaking their minds. Normal thinking was impossible.

Yeonwoo, having survived three deadly crises, spoke with a tired voice.

“I think there are three things we can do.”

“What are they? Tell us quickly.”

Before speaking, Yeonwoo took out a water bottle to moisten his dry mouth. He then threw the bottle away. It was empty, having been drunk earlier. The bottle rolled out of sight, making a noise similar to a rock falling.

There was a slope nearby.

Yeonwoo suppressed his emotions as much as possible. He thought intensely about survival and spoke.

“First, I can call 119 or 112. I still have about 20 percent battery left, so it’s possible.”

“…It’s impossible. If they come, they’ll lose their memories and get lost because of the anomaly.”

Ji-yoo, still watching the shadows beyond the mist, said. Then she mentioned her duty as an employee.

“And even if it’s possible, calling civilians would negatively affect our personnel evaluations—”

“Survival is the priority. Safety first. You said that, senior.”

“…That’s true, but calling them won’t ensure our survival.”

Ji-yoo spoke, and Yeonwoo nodded in agreement.

To resolve this situation and survive, they needed experts. Police officers or firefighters weren’t the right experts for this.

So Yeonwoo suggested the next idea.

“How about starting a fire? Neither the mist nor the monster can withstand a forest fire.”

“Yes! Mister, I learned in school that heat rises! The mist will definitely clear out!”

Jae-min, his shoulders shaking, pulled out a lighter from his back pocket. It was a turbo lighter. He looked around for branches, ready to start a fire immediately.

Ji-yoo swung her hand at the back of Jae-min’s head.

Whack-!

“Ow! Why! If we start a fire, the monster and everything else will burn!”

“We’ll die too! We don’t know the way; can we escape a forest fire? And why do you have a lighter? You’re a student, are you smoking?”

“No, that’s not it.”

While Jae-min stammered, Yeonwoo turned on his phone and presented the last solution.

“If we can’t call for help or start a fire, there’s only one option left.”

“What is it?”

“Request assistance from the company. Report that we’ve confirmed a Level 2 anomaly.”

He wasn’t sure, but reporting such a danger might bring in a rescue team or a special operations unit—true experts.

Yeonwoo pressed the buttons with hope. Jae-min and Ji-yoo looked at him and the phone with hopeful eyes.

Yeonwoo put the phone on speaker. A clear voice came through.

Ring-ring-ring— Click—

-Hey, newbie. What now?

“Team leader, this is new recruit Lee Yeonwoo. We’ve confirmed that it’s not just mist but an anomaly, and it’s a Level 2 danger. We’re requesting assistance—”

-…Newbie, you already reported that earlier.

“What?”

Yeonwoo couldn’t continue speaking. His mind went blank. Instinctively, he switched screens to check. A call record he had seen but inadvertently ignored.

[Recent Calls]

-Team Leader (Outgoing Call / 30 minutes ago): 2 minutes 23 seconds

Another call he had no memory of.

In his lost memory, Yeonwoo did the best he could.

“Oh.”

-…Newbie, put it on speaker so everyone can hear.

“Yes, yes. It’s on.”

With his mind emptied, Yeonwoo mechanically followed the team leader’s order.

Forgetting that the speakerphone was already on, he reached to press the button but then realized and tapped the microphone with his finger instead.

The team leader spoke.

-Listen carefully. The Korean branch sent a drone to collect samples of the mist and assess the environment.

“Then…?”

Yeonwoo clung to a faint glimmer of hope.

-They said it can be used as a material for memory erasers. So, they recommended not to mess with the anomaly. Damn bastards. They said the anomaly you confirmed might be causing the mist, so it needs to be preserved.

“Oh.”

-Haah. They’re forming a research team and dispatching the Special Response Unit, but that’s for later. There’s no immediate help coming for you.

The team leader coldly cut off the hope of the endangered investigators.

The team leader spoke in a low voice.

-Investigators need to take care of their own lives. The company can’t afford to help.

Yeonwoo understood the harsh truth. He had to carve out his own path to survival.

“…Yes. Understood.”

Yeonwoo ended the call. The three of them exchanged glances. Yeonwoo spoke.

“There’s no rescue coming. We have to do whatever it takes ourselves, even if it’s something we shouldn’t do.”

If the best option was impossible, they had to go for the second best. If that too failed, then even the worst option would be better than being killed by the anomaly.

“Right. This isn’t the time to be picky…”

Ji-yoo sighed and beckoned to Jae-min. He flinched and stepped back.

“What, why?”

“Give me your cigarettes.”

“What? No way, I don’t smoke. I’m a student.”

“Come on, hurry.”

Reluctantly, Jae-min pulled out cigarettes from his back pocket. Ji-yoo took one, lit it with a click, and inhaled deeply. The cigarette smoke mingled with the mist.

Flick—

Ji-yoo flicked the lit cigarette to where Yeonwoo had thrown his water bottle. The cigarette rolled down the slope.

“No matter how many memories we lose or how the monster chases us, it won’t go towards the fire. Let’s move away from this valley first.”

Under the red sunset sky, they set the mountain on fire. Dry leaves, branches, and the report served as kindling.

In the burning mist, a ghastly scream echoed.

-Keeeeeeek!