Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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The squad leader confidently rapped on the black container door, the sound of armored gloves striking metal echoing in the air.

He slightly raised the unique gun he was holding.

"This weapon also has spatial containment properties, so we can respond adequately."

"That\'s a relief," Yeonwoo said, visibly relaxing. He glanced around the area, taking in the scene.

His eyes lingered on the shattered streetlight he\'d shot, the CCTVs and phone cameras mounted here and there. He thought about his image captured on them.

A slight uneasiness remained. Yeonwoo hesitated before speaking.

"Um, about all that shooting I did. How will the aftermath be handled?"

"The Intelligence Department will take care of it. Any police reports will have been suppressed. When we deploy, relevant government agencies are already notified."

A seemingly perfectly resolved anomaly, with even the aftermath taken care of. Nothing left to worry about. Yeonwoo slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Well then, I\'ll be going now."

"Yes."

The squad leader watched as Yeonwoo crossed the street towards the studio apartment building. Yeonwoo calmly opened the glass door and disappeared inside.

One of the soldiers, watching Yeonwoo\'s retreating figure, approached the squad leader and made small talk.

"Squad leader, isn\'t that guy the investigator? The one who deals with anomalies?"

"Probably is."

"Then shouldn\'t he be living somewhere remote instead of in the city?"

"Stop talking nonsense and get ready to head back. Look, the transport unit\'s arriving."

The squad leader nodded towards the far end of the street.

A convoy of vehicles rolled down the street: heavy machinery to lift the container, trucks to load it on, and SUVs to transport the combat personnel.

"We\'re returning!"

The combat personnel lined up and boarded the vehicles. The container was quickly loaded, and they vanished in an instant as if they\'d never been there.

Only the shattered road and empty spaces where people had been remained.

---

---

After roughly packing away the used rope ladder, Yeonwoo called his team leader.

"So, it\'s been resolved?" the team leader asked.

"Yes, Team Leader. It\'s over."

Yeonwoo frowned, looking at the convenience store lunch box. Roughly shaken, the kimchi juice and side dishes had spilled all over.

The unappetizing sight made him not want to eat, but hunger won out. He struggled to tear open the plastic wrap with one hand, put the lunch box in the microwave, and continued the call.

"Do I just need to write the report now?"

"Let\'s do two. One overall situation report, and one on the anomalous entity characteristics you observed. Write up the characteristics report first and submit it."

"Yes, I\'ll eat lunch and write it right away."

"Alright, good work."

As the call ended, the microwave dinged. Yeonwoo sat at the table and wolfed down the lunch, lost in thought.

\'So what kind of anomaly was it?\'

It was entirely possible for there to be anomalies the company hadn\'t identified yet. The fog monster he saw on his first investigation was also a newly discovered entity.

Having finished off the lunch box, Yeonwoo pushed it aside, turned on his laptop, and logged into the company\'s information network.

A blank document page with a white background stared back at him.

"Spatial movement is certain. It started moving. Door? It stands in front of doors, then enters with someone when they open it and does something. Multiplication? Infection?"

Tap tap tap-

Yeonwoo, who had been slowly writing the report, suddenly paused and pondered before haphazardly pressing the completion button.

\'The researchers will figure out the details.\'

The remaining report was just describing the situation. Recalling his memories, he began writing from when he first encountered the man in front of the door.

He was in the middle of writing when suddenly:

Ring ring ring ring-!

A call came in from an unfamiliar number. The phone rang incessantly, buzzing and vibrating.

Feeling an inexplicable unease, Yeonwoo immediately picked up.

"Hello-"

"Is this Investigator Lee Yeonwoo?" a high, rapid voice urgently asked.

Yeonwoo instinctively lowered the call volume.

"Yes, it is. Who-"

"This is the team that received the anomalous entity you just reported. An incident has occurred!"

"An incident? What-"

"Those anomalous entities, they\'ve devoured a bunch of our people and disappeared! There\'s a high chance they\'ve gone to your location, so be careful!"

"..."

A chilling sensation washed over Yeonwoo, as if doused with ice water. He gulped and first looked for his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Hello? Are you listening?"

"Yes, I\'m listening. But I need more details. What exactly happened-"

"They opened and closed doors on their own! I\'ll send you the data! If they really did go there, contact us immediately!"

Click. The call ended.

Yeonwoo stared blankly at his phone before jolting up. He could check the data while walking. More importantly, he needed to get outside.

Ding-!

Opening the video file that had just arrived, Yeonwoo rushed to the entrance. His slightly trembling fingers fast-forwarded through the CCTV footage as he hurriedly crammed his feet into his sneakers and stepped outside.

"..."

The front door flung open. Yeonwoo stopped mid-step as he was about to exit.

The hallway of the studio apartment building stretched before him.

A not-so-short corridor, with several front doors lined up on both sides. And in front of each door stood people. From the person Yeonwoo had tied up earlier, to combat personnel in battle suits or combat uniforms, all leaning their foreheads against the doors.

Grip-

Yeonwoo grabbed the doorknob so hard it might break, and slowly poked his head out. One eye peeking out from the edge of the doorway.

Even the distant elevator and emergency exit had people standing with their backs turned.

\'Is the floor sealed off?\'

His mind went cold. His heart raced, pumping vigor through his entire body.

\'Rope ladder.\'

If he could get down using the rope ladder by the window-

"...When?"

Turning back to the entrance, Yeonwoo looked at the window with a sinking expression. Three people in researcher uniforms were densely packed against the window, having moved there at some point. They were pressed against the glass as if looking down at the street below.

At this rate, he\'d be caught for sure. He had to find a way out.

\'The person in front of the door. The door. Right, the door first.\'

Yeonwoo turned back again. The front door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open wider and lowered the door stopper to hold it in place.

Then he took out the drill from his bag.

\'If the door doesn\'t close, I can avoid the anomaly for now.\'

Amidst his racing thoughts, he clearly recalled fragments of memory - people entering the studio apartment building and convenience store, incidents occurring after doors closed.

Whirrr-

The drill spun ferociously. The drill bit aimed for the hinge part that remained fixed to the door frame even when the door was open.

Screech-!

With no intention of carefully removing screws or parts, he drilled multiple holes to sever the joint. Sparks flew wildly as holes were punched into the corner of the front door.

Bang!

Finally kicking the door, Yeonwoo toppled the door panel into the hallway. Gripping the drill like a gun, he looked around in all directions.

People lined up at every front door.

\'They haven\'t moved yet.\'

But they could move at any moment. He remembered when his neighbor had reached out. Not just the combat personnel, but civilians and researchers were dangerous too.

\'Stairs.\'

To face multiple opponents alone, it was better to funnel them through a narrow passage.

Yeonwoo swiftly moved, climbing the stairs to position himself on the mezzanine. After moving the box with his belongings near the stairs, Yeonwoo made a phone call.

To the person he had just spoken with.

"This is Investigator Lee Yeonwoo. They\'ve come here. The combat personnel and researchers have all become anomalous entities."

"Understood! People from the company will be dispatched. You, quickly contact them! Tell them to deploy here!"

The sound of someone giving orders to others could be heard in the background.

Keeping his attention on the bottom of the stairs, Yeonwoo asked, "How long will it take? And who\'s coming? I don\'t think ordinary countermeasures will work."

"We\'ll use the Eraser."

For entities difficult to contain, with little research or practical value. They didn\'t hesitate to destroy them.

"Ah."

Yeonwoo sighed in slight relief as he wrapped up the call. The Eraser would be definitive. He knew well, having experienced it up close.

"I understand."

"Just hold out a little longer."

The call ended. An eerie silence settled over the studio apartment. If he listened closely, he could hear the breathing of the people. His own breathing and heartbeat.

Yeonwoo clenched his fist tightly and looked at the anomalous entities by the window.

\'I\'m ready to face them. Now I need to analyze them as much as possible.\'

Maintaining just the right level of tension, Yeonwoo checked the video file sent from the other side. A silent CCTV recording.

Some kind of warehouse.

A truck carrying a black container entered what looked like an aircraft hangar, and several researchers holding papers greeted the driver.

As they spoke to the driver, alternately looking at the container and driver while waving papers:

Slide, the container door opened. The sound must not have been small, as the researchers and driver turned around in shock, but it was too late.

The anomalous entities had found freedom.

One walked out of the container, one stood in front of the hangar door which then closed on its own, and the rest teleported away. Probably scattered somewhere in the department.

And that was the end. As soon as the hangar door closed, the CCTV malfunctioned.

Yeonwoo muttered anxiously, "They directly open and close doors, no. That\'s not important."

The crucial point was that being in an enclosed space with them causes one to mutate into an anomalous entity.

Yeonwoo put down the drill and picked up his gun. He aimed at the window.

\'Isn\'t a building also an enclosed space in a broader sense?\'

If all the windows closed and all the entrances sealed, wouldn\'t a building be no different from an enclosed room?

Of course, he didn\'t know if the anomalous entity\'s influence extended that far, but Yeonwoo didn\'t ignore even the slightest possibility.

Bang-!

Crash!

The window shattered and a gust of wind blew in. Glass shards glittered in the sunlight as they rained down on the heads of the people standing by the window.

"..."

Rustle-

The three people by the window turned around simultaneously. Glass fragments crunched under their shoes. They kept their heads lowered, rolling only their eyeballs upward.

Their gazes met. Yeonwoo prepared to throw the box down the stairs.