Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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Time at school passed quickly.

Even during the teacher\'s lesson, which seemed like an anomaly designed to put students to sleep, Jae-min didn\'t doze off once, as he kept glancing at Ah-yoon Baek.

Before he knew it, it was time to go home.

The teacher who returned their phones gave a brief dismissal.

“Nothing more. You’re done. Go.”

The students got up all at once, filling the classroom with a loud noise. The sound of chairs scraping the floor, students running out in a hurry, and groups chatting loudly.

Jae-min stayed seated, continuing to observe Ah-yoon.

"..."

Ah-yoon stood up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and looked at Jae-min. He flinched and quickly looked away, but it was too late. Ah-yoon tilted her head.

“Jae-min, you’re acting weird today?”

“Me? No, I’m not.”

‘The real weird thing is…’

He swallowed the rest of his sentence, staring at the space above her head where the text should be.

Ah-yoon continued to tilt her head in curiosity but then cheerfully stepped away.

“See you tomorrow!”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Ah-yoon walked out, chatting with friends. Jae-min watched her go, her back to him, the blank text still hovering above her head.

[Father: ]

[Mother: ]

‘But…’

Jae-min let out a groan. He was confused. He had watched her all through class but hadn\'t noticed anything strange. She acted just like the usual Ah-yoon.

Her gestures when she tilted her head, the rhythm of her nodding off, even the songs she hummed occasionally, everything was the same.

He started to doubt.

‘Is Ah-yoon the anomaly? Or did something happen to her parents?’

Maybe something like an eraser that could erase a person\'s existence had wiped out her parents. In that case, Ah-yoon would still...

As he pondered, someone placed a hand on his head.

“Jae-min, what are you doing?”

It was a friend. He snapped back to reality. Jae-min quickly slung his bag over one shoulder and stood up.

“Going home.”

“Coming to the PC room?”

“No, I need to get home quickly.”

“Just one game—”

Ignoring his friend\'s plea, Jae-min ran. Through the school corridors, down the stairs, across the playground. He didn\'t wait for the bus and ran down the road.

He ran towards the place where he knew he could get help with this situation.

‘To the investigation team! Quickly!’

---

---

“This is what happened. What should I do? What do I need to do? Is Ah-yoon okay?”

Jae-min fired off questions without pausing for breath, looking at the team leader with hopeful eyes.

Yeonwoo and Ji-yoo also looked at the team leader, hoping for answers. Listening alone didn’t give them any clues. Maybe the experienced team leader knew something.

As if meeting their expectations, the team leader scratched his chin and asked in detail.

“I think I know what it is… When was the last time you saw your friend? Not the current anomaly, but your actual friend.”

“Friday. I didn’t see her over the weekend, so it’s been about three days.”

“If it’s been three days, there shouldn’t be any major problems.”

“Ah.”

Jae-min, relieved by the words, collapsed to the floor, leaning against a desk. His breathing slowly steadied.

Then he looked up at the team leader with a sweat-drenched face.

“What happened to Ah-yoon? Or was it her parents?”

“It seems your friend summoned an anomaly.”

“Summoned?”

Jae-min’s eyes widened. The team leader casually grabbed his phone and car keys as he continued.

“It\'s called the Demon of Sloth. You can look it up on my computer.”

Jae-min quickly got up and typed on the keyboard in a hunched position. Soon, the monitor displayed the report.

[Demon of Sloth]

-Hostility Level: Yellow

-Danger Level: 2

-Importance Level: D

-Details: An anomaly that acts as a clone of the summoner, behaving identically to the summoner. Thirteen days after being summoned, the summoner disappears from the Earth.

-Countermeasure: Since the summoning method is spread through text messages, phone calls, and emails, use AI to monitor the communication network and intercept the messages mid-transmission.

The team leader added an explanation.

“It’s like a doppelgänger, and it seems your friend summoned it as a stand-in. Solving this isn’t difficult. The problem is why your friend attempted something like this.”

"Why would they... how could they..."

While reading, the team leader finished getting ready to leave. He nudged Jae-min with his toe, who was still glued to the computer screen.

“Let’s go. The sooner we solve this, the better.”

“Oh, yes. Let’s go quickly.”

Jae-min stood up straight. As the team leader walked ahead, he spoke to Yeonwoo and Ji-yoo.

“I have to handle this with him. Ji-yoo, kill some time and then head home. Rookie, you come with me.”

“Me? Understood.”

Yeonwoo, surprised by the sudden call, quickly took off his slippers and put on his sneakers. Though he had questions, he figured it was part of rookie training.

Clack—

The team leader grabbed the office door handle and spoke, his back turned, his face unseen. His gaze was fixed on something else.

“It’s nothing major, but having one more person is convenient. Unless another incident happens. If another incident does happen, we might need to suspect you’re the anomaly.”

He laughed as if joking and left the office first. Jae-min hurried after him. Yeonwoo quickly put on his sneakers and followed them.

Ji-yoo watched them leave, then pulled her chair close to her desk.

“I’ll keep a good watch over the office.”

“Good. Don’t leave too early. There might be a call from upstairs.”

The team leader’s loud voice came through the closed door.

“Yes, yes.”

Ji-yoo nodded absently, searching for videos on her phone. Soon, the sound of a video filled the now-empty office.

---

---

They decided to use the team leader’s car.

The front passenger seat was piled high with a cardboard box full of miscellaneous items, so Yeonwoo and Jae-min sat in the back.

The car was idling.

The team leader, seated in the driver’s seat, turned around, plunged his hand deep into the cardboard box, and rummaged through the junk. Trash, towels, and tools shifted around.

“Let’s see… to kill a demon… Here, take this.”

The team leader extended his hand between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat. In his hand were a half-empty bottle of soju and an electric drill shaped like a gun.

Jae-min eagerly grabbed the drill, his eyes sparkling. He brought it close to his face, turning it back and forth.

“A drill? Wow, I’ve never seen one like this before.”

He pretended to aim it like a gun at the passenger seat’s headrest and then out the window.

Watching the drill move around wildly, Yeonwoo nodded slightly. If they couldn’t carry guns, tools might be the next best thing.

Finding the situation both ridiculous and serious, the team leader chuckled.

“Using this as a weapon… Alright, take this too.”

He shook the soju bottle, the liquid inside sloshing around. Yeonwoo quietly accepted the bottle.

At that moment, the drill, which had been moving around excitedly, settled quietly on Jae-min’s lap. Hesitantly, Jae-min spoke in a troubled voice.

“So, I’m supposed to kill Ah-yoon, or rather, the thing that looks like Ah-yoon with this?”

“Yeah. Just press it against her forehead, and it’s over.”

His tone was indifferent.

Jae-min stared at the drill. The long, sharp bit looked like a giant nail. He could vividly imagine drilling into Ah-yoon’s forehead.

‘What if Ah-yoon isn’t the anomaly? What if her parents were the ones affected by the anomaly?’

His hesitation was written all over his face. His tightly pressed lips, drooping eyes, and trembling pupils showed his inner conflict.

The team leader glanced at Jae-min through the rearview mirror and spoke firmly.

“Don’t hesitate. You said her parents don’t exist, right? That’s an anomaly.”

“But—”

“Do you want to see your friend disappear from the earth and have that thing take her place?”

“No….”

Jae-min replied weakly, pushing the electric drill to the side, placing it on the middle seat.

The team leader tapped on the navigation system and said,

“Tell me where your friend would be right now if she was living her normal life.”

“She’s probably at home.”

“Address.”

“She lives in the same apartment complex as me—”

Before Jae-min could finish, the team leader stopped messing with the navigation and grabbed the steering wheel. He didn’t need the navigation; he knew where Jae-min lived.

The car smoothly exited the parking lot and drove down the road.

Jae-min stared out the window, but his mind was too tangled to notice the city bathed in the red hues of the sunset.

‘The team leader must be right. But why would Ah-yoon do such a thing—’

He couldn’t shake off his doubts.

While Jae-min wrestled with his thoughts, the car reached its destination.

---

---

“Go bring her here.”

“Yes….”

Jae-min slowly opened the car door and walked sluggishly. His mind was a mess. He was so lost in thought that he couldn’t remember how he got to where he was.

Before he knew it, he was out of the elevator, standing in front of Ah-yoon Baek’s apartment door. Almost unconsciously, he rang the doorbell.

Ding dong, ding dong—

-“Yes, who is it?”

“Oh, um, it’s Jae-min.”

Before he could gather his thoughts, Ah-yoon answered the door.

Beep—

Ah-yoon, dressed comfortably in pajamas, opened the door and looked at Jae-min puzzledly.

“Jae-min? Why are you at my house?”

“Well, it’s just that, um, homework! Let’s do our homework together.”

“At my house?”

“No, at the café!”

Despite his awkward and suspicious behavior, Ah-yoon blinked and then nodded.

“Wait a minute. Let me change my clothes.”

She slipped into her room. Jae-min, unable to step past the entrance, stood there and suddenly realized something.

The house was silent except for Ah-yoon.

‘Where are her parents...? Why is she alone at home…?’

It might be late for her father due to work, but her mother was always home.

Just as Jae-min was about to step inside, Ah-yoon emerged, having changed her clothes. She wore a backpack and came out in slippers, closing the front door behind her.

“Let’s go! ...By the way, where’s your bag?”

“I left it downstairs. But where are your parents? You seemed to be alone at home.”

“They went on a trip! They must be having fun since they haven’t called.”

She grumbled as she pressed the elevator button. Doubts deepened in Jae-min’s mind.

‘So her parents…?’

The elevator ride down was filled with mounting suspicion.

“Hm-mm, hmm-mm, hm-mm—”

Ah-yoon hummed, nodding her head. It was a familiar sight. Jae-min watched her, swallowed hard, and then asked,

“That song, you said it was by your favorite indie band, right? What was the band’s name again?”

“Hey! I told you before! You still haven’t listened to them?”

“No, I just can’t remember the name. What was it?”

“Lego-Flavored Ice Cream. Their songs are really, really—”

Her eyes sparkled as she talked about her favorite band, her voice and gestures full of genuine enthusiasm.

Jae-min stared at her, finally coming to a conclusion.

‘This is the real Ah-yoon. No matter how perfectly the Demon of Sloth acts, it couldn’t replicate such genuine feelings.’

The elevator arrived at the first floor.

In front of the main entrance, Jae-min grabbed Ah-yoon’s arm. She stopped walking and turned to him.

“Why?”

“Wait a moment. I’ll go get my bag.”

---

---

The team leader and Yeonwoo waited in the car, watching as Jae-min walked back alone, leaving Ah-yoon at the entrance. His face clearly showed his emotions.

The team leader clicked his tongue.

“Good grief, this is frustrating. Is he worried I’ll kill her without checking?”

‘Well, it seems like both of them have something in mind but aren’t saying it.’

Yeonwoo kept his thoughts to himself while the team leader sighed heavily.

“Rookie, hand me that soju bottle and the drill.”

Yeonwoo handed over the two items, still looking at the soju bottle.

“What is this?”

“It’s a liquid anomaly that certain anomalies are allergic to. In short, it’s holy water.”

“Holy water?”

“I got it from an exorcist a long time ago. This isn’t the time to explain. Rookie, you come along too. If Jae-min does something stupid, stop him.”

Bang—

The team leader opened the car door and walked briskly toward Ah-yoon.

“Team Leader, listen, I don’t think Ah-yoon is—”

Jae-min reached out to grab the team leader, but Yeonwoo stepped in and caught his hand instead. The team leader walked straight to Ah-yoon and stopped in front of her.

Ah-yoon shrank back slightly. A man with a soju bottle in one hand and a drill in the other stood before her. Her voice trembled with fear.

“Who are you?”

The team leader didn’t answer. He tilted the soju bottle over Ah-yoon’s head, pouring the holy water on her.

Sizzle—

In an instant, red blisters appeared all over Ah-yoon’s face. Her skin bubbled grotesquely, and her face contorted in pain. Her swollen lips parted, about to scream.

The drill aimed at her forehead and began to spin.