Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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The newly renovated office of the Anomaly Investigation Team buzzed with activity.

"So they found the worms and isolated them," the team leader remarked, clicking through a report on his monitor. It detailed how they\'d sifted through all the debris and dirt in their search. He glanced sideways at Yoo Ji-yoo.

Ji-yoo was slumped over her desk, face hidden. She pounded her fist repeatedly and shook her legs wildly. Muffled groans of embarrassment escaped from her trembling form.

"Ugh... Aaargh!"

Though her mind had returned to normal, the memory of her disgraceful behavior remained vivid. Occasional flashbacks of her shameful words and actions haunted her.

"Ughh..."

"Senior Ji-yoo, it was mind control. You don\'t need to be ashamed," Lee Yeonwoo consoled her.

At his words, Ji-yoo slowly raised her head. Her disheveled hair fell over her face, having been tugged at repeatedly. She stared at the ends of her hair.

In a small, mumbling voice, she said, "I\'m the only one who acted like an idiot. You and the team leader handled it properly."

"Ji-yoo, I\'ve got experience, so of course I managed. And Yeonwoo... How many incidents has he been through?" The team leader mused, counting on his fingers.

Yeonwoo had already encountered four hostile groups. The types and number of anomalies he\'d directly experienced were equivalent to what an average investigator would encounter in several years.

"Hm. Seeing reasons to die and hearing songs at the training site. Seeing tree people too. He\'s already been through several mental attacks."

"Haha," Yeonwoo laughed awkwardly, pretending to type a report.

Ji-yoo nodded seriously. "True. Much more than me. It\'s embarrassing to be called your senior. I should call you Senior Yeonwoo instead."

"Not at all. You\'ve survived longer as a company employee than I have. That makes you the senior," Yeonwoo countered, determining seniority based on survival time. Avoiding incidents was a skill in itself.

Ji-yoo\'s expression froze. After a moment of silence, she sighed. With that mindset, it was no wonder he found a way to survive even in those situations.

She shook her head vigorously. "At least I didn\'t show that behavior to the kid. If it had been him, he would\'ve recorded it on his phone and teased me forever."

"Ah. It was all captured by the camera on your chest and uploaded as evidence. Jae-min will probably be able to see it too."

"...What?" Ji-yoo jerked her head up. Yeonwoo turned the monitor towards her.

On the screen was footage from that time. In front of the collapsed building, Ji-yoo writhed on the ground, shouting that she would become a worm-

"You uploaded this?!" Ji-yoo sprang up, practically slamming Yeonwoo\'s keyboard to close the video window. She stared at him with trembling eyes.

Yeonwoo nodded. "It\'s the clearest footage capturing the characteristics of that anomaly."

"M-m-memory eraser!" Ji-yoo\'s face flushed a burning red. She suddenly began yanking open drawers, frantically searching for her share of memory erasers, while the team leader and Yeonwoo rushed to stop her.

Knock knock-!

A polite knocking sound interrupted them. The investigators froze, looking at the door as they heard a voice.

"Are you in? The Korean branch told me to come here."

The voice was cold and mechanical - hard to place as male or female.

The team leader, seated in his chair, spoke briefly. "Yeah, come in."

The door creaked open, revealing a figure as white as a marble statue. From head to toe, even the delicate folds of clothing appeared to be carved from marble.

No, it really was marble. Not a street performer, but a moving statue - an anomaly.

It looked around at the tense investigators, then fixed its gaze on Yeonwoo.

"Investigator Lee Yeonwoo? The Korean branch said to ask you."

"...About what? Well, have a seat first." Yeonwoo started to pull tools from his bag, then slung it over his shoulder. He stood up and guided the statue to the reception table.

He poured hot water over green tea leaves, steeping them, and set the cup in front of the statue. But it pushed the cup away.

"I have a body that cannot eat or drink."

"Are you an anomaly? What exactly are you?" Yeonwoo asked, sitting across from it.

The other investigators sat at their desks, focusing intently on the statue. Their hands rested on pistols, ready to shoot if necessary.

Either unaware of or ignoring their caution, it calmly began to speak.

"I am a creation directly sculpted by the Sculptor, a director of the Free Artists Association."

"Sculptor... Pygmalion?" The team leader interjected, referring to the artist who brings life to statues he creates.

The statue turned its head to look at him. Marble eyes that didn\'t blink once.

A low voice emerged. "My master dislikes that name. The Sculptor is not someone who simply followed a legend, nor did he bring just one statue to life like Pygmalion. He doesn\'t rely on gods to grant life."

As if it was a matter of the artist\'s pride, it glared at the team leader.

The team leader waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, right."

"...So, what did you come to ask me?" Yeonwoo brought the conversation back on track.

It turned its head and paused briefly to organize its words. "The Sculptor wishes to borrow the eraser. When I asked at the Korean branch, they said Investigator Lee Yeonwoo has the authority, and told me to ask you. Will you lend us the eraser?"

Yeonwoo maintained an expressionless face, but inwardly he was running through all sorts of thoughts. Why do I have the authority for this? Didn\'t they just pass this on to me because they were too lazy to deal with it?

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed they had dumped a troublesome issue on him. Yeonwoo cursed inwardly. What nonexistent authority.

In response to his silence, the statue placed its clasped hands on the table and leaned forward. "We truly intend to only borrow it. Though the eraser is a dangerous object, in an artist\'s hands it is merely an excellent tool. The finest sculpting knife, is it not?"

"That..." Yeonwoo leaned back, showing a negative expression. There were too many issues with lending it out.

Just as Yeonwoo was about to shake his head, the statue quickly spoke.

"The Sculptor plans to carve mountains to create giants or dinosaurs. Of course, you cannot empathize. That\'s why we\'ve prepared compensation."

For a moment, Yeonwoo showed signs of being tempted. If the compensation was good enough, there was no reason not to help.

"What kind of compensation?"

"We\'ve investigated you. A survivalist. How about if we offer to resurrect you on the day of your death?"

"Tell me more." Words that couldn\'t be taken lightly. Yeonwoo pulled his chair closer, looking directly into its eyes. Relying solely on the dice\'s resurrection roll wasn\'t certain enough.

The team leader and Ji-yoo shot bewildered looks but didn\'t add anything, while Yeonwoo and the statue were already deeply immersed in their own conversation.

"The first option is for the Sculptor to sculpt your corpse. You will be revived as a human statue."

"...And the other option?"

"The second option is a portrait. After your death, we will bring you back to life as a portrait."

Its voice continued, saying that although one would only be able to live within the painting, resurrection was still resurrection.

But Yeonwoo had already lost interest. Could that really be called resurrection? Would the self that came back to life that way truly be oneself? It would just be an anomaly created using oneself as material.

Well, it\'s not a bad option as a last resort. Though it seems no different from the Demon of Sloth, he thought.

After thinking briefly, Yeonwoo slumped in his chair. "I\'ll be frank. I don\'t have that kind of authority. It seems the responding party just dumped this job on me. They\'re in charge, so go to them."

The statue spoke calmly, without any change in expression. "I see. It appears the company has no intention of lending out the eraser."

One could sense the intent from how they handled the matter. They would drag things out by passing it back and forth, then refuse with various excuses.

There was no reason to stay any longer. It stood up. After looking over the investigators one last time, it bowed its head slightly.

"I\'ll have to give up. Farewell."

Then it turned and left the office. The heavy footsteps of the marble statue faded into the distance.

The team leader tapped his gun with an unpleasant expression and spoke to Yeonwoo. "Who dumped this on you? Seems they think our investigation team is a joke."

"I\'ll look into it," Yeonwoo replied, tapping at his phone with an annoyed expression.

Ji-yoo stared blankly at the door the statue had exited through.

"It didn\'t seem to be using any illusions. How does it move around?"

"I\'m sure they have their methods," the team leader muttered.

The living statue walked down the street. People on the sidewalk exchanged curious glances and conversations as they watched it, occasionally raising their phones to take pictures.

"Isn\'t that the street art thing?"

"I saw it on the internet too. The one pretending to be a statue. Looks like it\'s on its way back now."

People didn\'t think for a moment that it was a real statue. They saw it as just another type of performance art, enjoying the novel experience.

Meanwhile, the statue paid no attention to people\'s reactions. It only pondered the company\'s attitude and what to do next.

The master won\'t give up on the eraser. He won\'t miss the chance to create a masterpiece.

In that case, there was only one thing for the statue to do. Theft. Obtain it by any means necessary.

Of course, I should ask the master first-

Just as it was deeply absorbed in these sinister thoughts, the statue\'s steps suddenly stopped.

A woman holding a camera approached with an excited expression.

"Hello! Would it be alright if I took a picture?"

"Ah, of course."

It stood stock-still, reverting to statue form. After the click of the camera, it suddenly shouted "Wah!" and threw up its hands, startling the woman.

"Ah!" The woman jumped in fright, grabbing the statue\'s arm. That cold, hard, marble-like sensation, devoid of any warmth.

The woman\'s expression grew confused. Her hand caressed the forearm. "Wow, it really feels like marble."

"It\'s expensive makeup," it replied briefly.

The woman stepped back even more surprised than before. She couldn\'t bear the thought of accidentally damaging it.

"I\'ll be going now that you\'ve taken the photo."

"Y-yes. That was fun!"

And so the living statue blended in among the people walking down the street, returning to the gallery that served as the Free Artists Association\'s hideout.

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