Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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The Anomaly Research Society was located in a natural reserve on a plain, which meant driving for several hours.

Vroom-

The team leader’s car sped down the highway.

The team leader glanced at Yeonwoo through the rearview mirror. Yeonwoo was stroking his chin while looking at his phone, but whenever his hand moved to his head, he\'d jerk it back down in surprise.

"Is your hair loss that bad?"

When the team leader asked, Yeonwoo carefully touched his head.

“It’s not bad right now. A lot has fallen out. It looks fine now, but I don’t know what will happen.”

Yeonwoo pushed his bangs up with his palm. His once thick hair seemed to have thinned. His forehead seemed to have receded a bit in an M shape.

He turned on the phone camera in selfie mode and angled his head slightly.

The team leader, wanting to make small talk during the long drive, continued the conversation.

"You haven\'t tried the dice?"

“It’s not obvious right now, and the risk scares me… should I try it?”

“Why are you asking me? You should decide for yourself.”

The team leader was taken aback. He didn’t mean for Yeonwoo to actually roll the dice. Who knows what could happen if it was a critical failure.

Click-

But Yeonwoo took a selfie with his bangs pushed back and, after examining the photo closely, made up his mind.

“I need to roll it.”

“What, what?”

“If I leave it as it is, I’ll eventually go bald anyway. It’s the same whether I roll it now or later.”

Before the team leader could stop him, Yeonwoo spoke to the dice in a determined voice.

"Dice. Resist hair loss."

Roll-

The team leader swallowed nervously, glancing at Yeonwoo through the rearview mirror. Yeonwoo waited for the result with determined eyes.

Seconds felt like minutes, and the dice showed the result.

Failure!

Bang!

A sound like a firecracker burst out. Yeonwoo’s hair exploded and scattered. He stared at the air with wide eyes. His hair was falling like petals.

“Oh.”

“What. What.”

Yeonwoo and the team leader’s lips trembled. They could barely form words. The team leader almost veered off his lane but managed to hold onto the steering wheel just in time.

“Yeonwoo, your, your hair.”

“….”

Yeonwoo’s hands shook as he touched his thinning hair with one hand and looked at his phone camera with the other. His hair loss had rapidly advanced.

White patches showed through his thinning hair.

“Dice.”

“Yeonwoo. Wait, calm down-”

"Resist hair loss."

Roll-

Failure!

Bang!

His hair scattered like firecrackers again. Now, more scalp was visible than hair. Yeonwoo’s eyes rolled wildly. He had nothing left to lose.

“Dice. Resist hair loss. Until I succeed, keep going.”

His voice filled with madness, the dice seemed to tremble as it rolled.

Roll-

Success!

Shoop-shoop-shoop-!

Black hair sprouted smoothly on his shiny scalp. The white patches filled in with black.

It wasn’t just that. His body felt lighter. The exhaustion from lack of sleep disappeared, and energy flowed through him.

Yeonwoo instinctively realized.

‘The rainwater became a remedy.’

It wasn\'t hair loss he was resisting. It was the rainwater.

As a result, the rainwater that caused hair loss worked oppositely, enhancing his stamina. And possibly, a slight increase in regenerative abilities.

Yeonwoo clenched and unclenched his fists. The feeling was different. What to call it? Vitality? Energy?

A faint sense of power settled in his body.

“Haha.”

Yeonwoo smiled, and the team leader sighed in relief. He focused on driving with a relaxed mind, turning the wheel as they exited the highway.

“Yeonwoo… be careful with the dice… what if it was a critical failure.”

“I’ll be more careful next time.”

Yeonwoo scratched his head confidently, looking at his knees, the car seat, and the floor. His hair was piled up as if it had been cut.

“I\'ll clean up the hair right away.”

“You’d better. There’s a box with bags and tissues, use those.”

As they cleaned up, they arrived at the plain.

Yeonwoo and the team leader took the employee-only road of the natural reserve and arrived at the building where the Anomaly Research Society was located.

---

---

The Anomaly Research Society looked like a temporary military outpost.

Inside the barbed wire fence were two elongated watchtower-like structures and a small concrete building.

Buzz-

A sound came from the speaker attached to the watchtower.

-Unauthorized personnel are not allowed. Please turn back.

“We’re authorized personnel, idiot.”

The team leader, with a disdainful expression, approached the barbed wire gate and pressed the bell. The red light on the yellowed intercom lit up.

-Who is it?

“This is the team leader of the Anomaly Investigation Team. We’re here for an inspection. Open the gate.”

-What? What?

The team leader rummaged through his pocket and pulled out an ID. He held the ID up to the intercom camera. The camera scanned the ID.

He didn’t wait for those few seconds.

“What are you hiding? Why are you so slow? Is this an anomaly? Are you being controlled by an anomaly?”

-No, sir! We’ll open it right away!

Beeeeeep-

Click, the barbed wire gate opened. The team leader strode in confidently, and Yeonwoo followed naturally, nodding his head.

‘If I had come alone, I wouldn’t have gotten in.’

Without the team leader’s authority for anomaly inspections, they wouldn’t have been able to enter so easily.

Inside the small concrete building, the employee who had spoken through the intercom came running.

“Sir! You’ve arrived!”

“Where’s the society president?”

“Well….”

The employee wiped the sweat from his forehead. As soon as he informed the president about the visit, the president had said:

‘Why is that person here? What’s he going to overturn this time? I don’t even want to see his face. If he asks for me, say I’m not here.’

Words he couldn’t directly relay.

“He’s sick and on sick leave, resting at home.”

“Are you sure? Are you lying because he doesn’t want to see me?”

“No, no. Go down and see for yourself. He’s really not here.”

The employee moved quickly, guiding the team leader and Yeonwoo to the elevator. He inserted his ID card like a key, and the elevator doors opened.

“Where would you like to start?”

The buttons went down to the third basement level. Without looking at Yeonwoo, the team leader spoke as if in passing.

“Let’s check out all the floors from the first basement level.”

Yeonwoo needed to see the North Wind and Sun, but there was no need to reveal that.

Ding-!

The elevator doors opened on the first basement level.

Beyond the doors was a large space lined with insulation, where blue snakes roamed freely. They climbed steel bars, coiled themselves up, or slithered around.

The employee spoke.

“This is the first basement level, the Blue Lightning Snake breeding ground. All the snakes used in the taser guns by the Korean branch are raised and trained here.”

Just then, an employee in black appeared and rang a bell.

“Time to eat-!”

At his shout, the lightning snakes surged like a blue wave toward one wall. Each snake placed its head on the numerous hanging electric wires, feeding on the electricity matched to the taser gun’s output.

The team leader waved his hand dismissively. There was no need to see more.

“Second floor.”

“Yes!”

The elevator doors closed and then opened a moment later.

Yeonwoo\'s mouth fell open in awe.

“Wow.”

It was a world like a scene from a fairy tale. Whatever technology they used, it felt like they had moved to another dimension.

High sky and clouds. Green grass swaying in the wind.

On the ground, cloud-like cats lazily wagged their tails, and various strange creatures roamed the fields.

Most overwhelming of all was the gold dragon sitting in the center of the field.

With an elegant posture and a raised head, the gold dragon conversed with one of the employees, its voice resonating powerfully.

“The gold dragon is the finest of all dragons, the wisest among dragons in the entire universe!”

As Yeonwoo and the team leader blinked in surprise, the employee guiding them sighed.

“There he goes again. ...This is the second basement level, the Anomalous Entities Containment Zone.”

“Oh. Let’s take a look.”

The team leader’s eyes sparkled as he stepped out of the elevator. The employee and Yeonwoo followed him into the field.

Meanwhile, the dragon continued to shout loudly.

“The red dragon is trash, no better than a beast that can’t even control its instincts! The green dragon isn’t worthy of being called a dragon! The black dragon- “

The dragon stopped speaking. It turned its golden head slightly, looking at the new visitors. Its eyes, filled with unfathomable wisdom, looked down on the humans.

“Ah, foolish mortals. Have you come to seek my wisdom?”

One was an employee here, the older man was also a proper employee, and the other was...

“Argh!”

The dragon closed its eyes and bit its tongue. It frantically wiped its eyes with its short forelimbs.

“Dreadful! Get him out of here! He’s wrapped in disaster! And he’s come with ill intentions! Quickly, quickly, get him out!”

Silence.

The guiding employee slowly moved back, his hand inching towards the emergency button, and the team leader closed his eyes.

Yeonwoo looked embarrassed. He spoke to the employee.

“It’s probably because of my constitution-”

But before Yeonwoo could finish speaking, the gold dragon spread its wings wide, creating a gust of wind as it took off.

“If you don’t leave, I will!”

Where the whirlwind passed.

The employee pressed the emergency button.