Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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The expedition leader smiled at the shaman, his expression natural and kind.

"We should ask him first. Our affiliations differ, after all."

"Is that so? Then I\'ll ask him myself. Where is he?"

"He hasn\'t come down from the mountain yet. Let\'s talk over dinner later."

The shaman hesitated, then shook their sleeve. The bells jingled as they turned away.

"See you then."

The bell sounds faded. The man stood still until the shaman\'s silhouette disappeared, then his expression changed completely.

"Change of plans. The eraser is far more important than this crap. Team 2, prepare for an ambush from hiding, now. He should be coming down soon. Hurry!"

"Is... that alright?"

The man glanced over; the members wore anxious expressions. It was due to the eraser\'s power and the doomsday cultist\'s notoriety.

The man smirked.

"Afraid of the eraser, not the person? A bullet kills just the same, outside perception. Besides, the company recently lost the eraser to a mere sculptor."

He\'s only had the eraser for a few days. How well could he possibly use it?

The man\'s words instilled confidence in the members. They tilted their heads, then clenched their fists with vigor.

"Just selling the eraser is worth a fortune. We\'ll split it all, so let\'s do this. Team 2! Hide around this house! The target will return to report on the grave investigation. Shoot to kill the moment he puts down the stone."

"Yes sir!"

When Team 2 grasped the anomaly that made people see others as stones, their presence vanished. They scattered to surround the house. On the roof, in trees, beside doors, under windows, inside rooms.

Positions to shoot Lee Yeonwoo the moment he appeared.

The man continued:

"Team 3, act normal. Don\'t do anything strange, awkward, or suspicious."

"We\'ll continue translating the ancient texts."

Team 3 entered a room and resumed interpreting the remaining sections of the old books.

"Good. Now, let\'s hit the jackpot."

The man rubbed his hands together like a fly, dreaming of gold. The eraser, no less. Think of it as an infinitely reusable nuclear bomb.

\'Even if I just resell it to the company, that\'s easily tens of billions.\'

He\'d have to sell at a big discount to maintain relations with the company, but if he didn\'t care about that relationship...

\'How much could I get selling to others? What could I get?\'

This kind of profit was a first in the man\'s life. He couldn\'t contain his excitement. He entered the small room where he was staying and gulped down water.

Then, as the sky darkened with the setting sun, the man\'s face also darkened.

\'Why hasn\'t he come back yet? Did he notice something? Damn it. Is it because he\'s a rookie investigator?\'

The man hesitated, then picked up the walkie-talkie. After clearing his throat, he pressed the transmit button.

"Team 1. Any abnormalities in the passage?"

"This is Team 1. No abnormalities."

"Really?"

"The passage remains closed. No one else has approached. Just wild animals."

"...I see."

He\'s definitely still in here. No, wait. I heard he had dice. From what I understand, it\'s an anomaly optimized for manipulating probability. He might have used it to escape.

\'Did he leave? That can\'t be good.\'

As the man furrowed his brow, the shaman\'s sharp voice rang out.

"Is he here?"

"He\'s not here."

The man shouted loudly, then hurriedly went outside to greet the shaman.

"He\'s still not back, we don\'t know what he\'s up to."

"Are you certain?"

As the shaman raised an eyebrow, wrinkles formed on their forehead. The man also frowned deeply.

"He\'s really not here."

"That permanent death is absolutely necessary... When will he return?"

"I\'m not sure. We\'re looking for him too. I\'ll let you know as soon as we hear anything."

The shaman was about to spew out harsh words with a vicious expression, but the god of the River Styx in their mind stopped them in horror, so they struggled to compose themselves.

"Do make sure to inform me."

"Yes, yes."

The man bowed his head perfunctorily as the shaman turned to leave.

And there was Yeonwoo.

Wearing the fluorescent vest he had brought, with a stone grasped in one hand. Right next to them, hearing their entire conversation.

\'I knew something was fishy.\'

As soon as he entered the village outskirts, the atmosphere felt off. So he had waited with two perception-distorting objects equipped, and this is what he found.

\'A club that\'s noticed the eraser. A shaman and anomaly who want the eraser.\'

Yeonwoo\'s eyes sank with a slimy glare.

An isolated world, two groups coveting the eraser, himself alone. An extremely dangerous situation.

\'I can\'t see Team 2. They must be hiding to attack. ...They might betray me. But they can\'t try to kill me.\'

If they had peacefully threatened from over there, he would have peacefully let it slide. But they crossed the line.

His heart raced. Vitality spread throughout his body. His senses sharpened, and his mind spun at high speed.

As boredom vanished, survival instinct took its place.

\'...Escape is the priority. The dice is too risky, so I need to find a safe way out. That guy in charge should know.\'

Yeonwoo coldly moved his feet.

---

---

After the shaman left, the members gathered on the wide floor to set the dinner table. They lit the gas burner, cooked rice with the water they had prepared, and boiled ramyeon.

Since all the food was made with supplies they had brought, they ate comfortably.

One member asked:

"Did he run away?"

"Don\'t know. He should have the stone, so he might be around us."

"Shouldn\'t we just stick to the original plan and deal with the shaman-"

"Shut up, idiot. We\'ll do that too, and get the eraser separately."

When the money-blinded man said this, the other members nodded.

To be active in the Goldberg Club, you needed a lot of money. You had to offer gold as an annual fee, buy the club\'s anomalies, and pay to use other high-ranking members\' products.

A member who was eating happily suddenly looked at the man. He hadn\'t taken a single bite.

"Aren\'t you eating?"

"No appetite. Ah, we\'re so close to hitting it big."

Meanwhile, the man gave some members a strange look.

Like people with severe tech neck, they thrust their heads forward, burying their noses in their bowls as they ate.

\'Did their necks stick out from translating at the computer all day?\'

As he had such a silly thought for a moment, the man\'s expression hardened.

Crunch, rip-

Their necks stretched forward. To an impossible degree for human anatomy, with skin tearing and bones cracking, stretching forward.

The chopsticks and spoons that had been moving harmoniously stopped. They were dazed, unable to immediately grasp the situation.

Finally, several members\' heads fell off.

Thud, bang.

Heads rolled across the table. Blood spurted from the gruesome cross-sections. The remaining bodies flailed before collapsing.

On top of that, even the hair of those who were still intact began to fall out in clumps.

"...Poison?"

No, an anomaly that can be used like poison.

Everyone jumped up. The man shouted urgently:

"It\'s that investigator! Be on guard! Everyone keep your eyes peeled for any traces!"

An order to the hidden Team 2 as well. The stone isn\'t perfect. It just makes people perceive you as a stone.

If you look carefully at each stone, if you raise your cognitive abilities, you can sense something off.

But the man\'s enthusiasm immediately faded.

On the way back to the house where they were staying.

Something hit his foot, and a stone rolled. Only then did he see it - a Team 2 member.

With half their body grotesquely erased, only half a face remained visible. A corpse that couldn\'t even close its eyes. The man\'s face reflected in the one remaining eye.

His voice and face were stained with shock and terror.

"Team 2? Team 2! Answer me!"

No answer came. Yeonwoo didn\'t miss the traces of them openly retreating in terror.