Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: posted in discord

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The flock of birds became a storm as they escaped their cages, and an alarm immediately sounded. Eee-eee-eeng, a piercing siren shattered the night\'s silence, and red lights flashed, coloring the deeply sleeping building.

"Containment failure. Containment failure. Security personnel, respond immediately. Department heads, please report to the control room. I repeat."

The recorded announcement played on loop.

"..."

Yeonwoo stopped blankly in front of the window. He had been wearing a harmless expression and forcing a kind voice, but now he stared at the night sky from the windowsill.

"Birds?"

The birds, which were supposed to be recognized as something else on radar, circled in the night sky. The containment had been breached.

An incident. Yeonwoo\'s instincts awoke. In that moment, he transformed from a mischievous adult chasing a child to a survivalist.

\'An attack? An accident? What\'s going on?\'

His dull brain cells stretched, and flashes of thought flickered. His sharpened senses accurately perceived reality.

Yeonwoo\'s eyes lit up.

"Found them."

In the distance from the window, he saw the bird cages. Near them, the small figure of a child running frantically.

The situation was clear.

\'That kid released the birds to escape. It\'s not an attack. It\'s not dangerous either.\'

His awakening instincts and senses went back to sleep.

Yeonwoo became the inconsiderate person bothering a child again, but he hesitated.

\'Is it right to chase after someone who dislikes me this much? Why does the kid hate me so much in the first place?\'

Yeonwoo wavered between his conscience and his desire for safety. He took out his time-buying bills and lighter to go after the child, but couldn\'t bring himself to light it.

Not knowing the child\'s feelings and thoughts, Yeonwoo\'s heart gradually leaned towards the desire for safety.

\'There must be some misunderstanding. Misunderstandings can be cleared up. We haven\'t even had a chance to talk face to face. Couldn\'t I just let them know I\'m harmless?\'

In terms of time, maybe a minute had passed since the alarm went off.

Experienced company employees rushed out of the living quarters on the upper floors of the building, still in their pajamas.

"What escaped?"

"Hurry!"

Confused shouts and the thunder of footsteps echoed down the stairwell.

At the forefront was the researcher who had greeted Yeonwoo. The researcher held a communicator, shouting orders into it at the top of his lungs.

"Report to the higher-ups! The radar\'s probably gone crazy, so tell the relevant agencies!"

The birds were strangely recognized by radar and information resources. They would probably show up en masse on internet sites tracking aircraft, and even on airport surveillance radar.

Not to mention military bases.

Of course, it wouldn\'t escalate into a major problem.

An aircraft carrier suddenly appearing in the middle of land? A flying aircraft carrier? Does that make sense? Nuclear missiles? They were suddenly launched from the Korean countryside? But they\'re moving at the speed of flying birds? And it\'s not even a missile trajectory?

Anyone would be suspicious of the situation first.

The researcher continued speaking.

"Request deployment from the Marine Response Unit! And-"

Suddenly, the researcher saw Yeonwoo. He also saw the child running energetically beyond the window, and instinctively realized.

\'It\'s because of this guy!\'

Thanks to the blessed child, the department that was usually peaceful without incidents had been turned upside down the moment this outsider entered.

\'We shouldn\'t have put the child and this person together in the first place!\'

It was a mistake. He had misjudged from the beginning. He shouldn\'t have given the chance to persuade the child. Even without malice, he shouldn\'t be around. The researcher strode forward.

"Why won\'t this lighter work?"

Yeonwoo glared beyond the window, clicking the lighter repeatedly, trying to light it. When it wouldn\'t light no matter how many times he tried, he finally gave up and slid the window open with a clatter.

He planned to run over and talk face to face. Just as he put his hand on the windowsill-

Someone grabbed him firmly by the back of the neck. Yeonwoo turned his head with difficulty, and the researcher shouted angrily.

"Security! Throw this outsider out!"

"Look, sir. You\'ve misunderstood something, this incident is my fault- is it? Anyway, there\'s no need to go this far-"

"Security!"

The researcher acted as if he hadn\'t heard a word.

Two security guards who had been running down the corridor stopped abruptly, then grabbed Yeonwoo from both sides. Their strong hands locked his arms as if linking them, then pulled him back.

Yeonwoo couldn\'t even struggle. He could only hear the researcher\'s rapid announcements.

"I\'ll absolutely oppose the office relocation. I\'ll report to the higher-ups that it negatively affects the management of the blessed child, and I\'ll have to request a restraining order too."

Feeling like he\'d suddenly become a heinous criminal, Yeonwoo made an extremely wronged expression.

\'No! I didn\'t do anything! I just looked for them, that\'s all! I wasn\'t even with the kid for a minute!\'

He had wandered around looking for them, using a kind voice so the child wouldn\'t be scared, letting them know he was safe, even singing nursery rhymes to make it feel like a game!

"The child is near the main gate, so send him out the back door!"

And so Yeonwoo was dragged away and thrown out of the back door of the Bird Migration Center. After sighing heavily for a while, Yeonwoo returned to his car.

"I should give up... Ah, but it\'s such a shame."

After all, there had been some minor incidents, but no dangerous accidents, right? The luck effect was definitely real. Yeonwoo kept looking back with regret as he reluctantly started his car.

------

The birds circled chaotically in the sky above the Bird Migration Center, drawing the attention of the security guards. Security personnel and researchers armed with net guns, tranquilizer guns, and capture drones struggled to return the birds.

\'Go, friends!\'

Silently cheering on the birds, the child darted between dirt paths and tree shadows, eyes sparkling.

"Huh?"

The world grew warmer. As if the monster had disappeared. The child, clothes covered in dirt and messy snow, stopped and looked back.

"What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night!"

"When is the Marine Response Unit coming!"

The bird friends and the adults were having fun together. Shouting like they were playing a game, firing their guns with pew-pew sounds, controlling drones cooler than toys. The birds flapped their wings, flying beautifully like airplanes.

Perhaps because the world had returned to normal, the child made a serious expression as if deeply contemplating.

"If the monster\'s gone, I should help."

They needed to wake up the kind adults who had been tricked by the monster.

Of course, it was scary. They had tried to tell them it was dangerous, but the adults had smiled and tried to catch them, helping the monster.

After serious consideration, the child turned with a determined expression. Their heart pounded excitedly, as if they were about to go on an adventure.

That\'s when the child first saw the researcher who had been chasing them, and let out a shriek.

"Mister! Wake up! You were tricked by the monster!"

"Yes, I know. That\'s why I chased the monster away. It\'s okay now."

The researcher approached with a faint smile, and the child\'s eyes widened.

This mister had defeated that nasty monster?

"How did you do it, mister? You\'re weak, aren\'t you?"

The researcher made a sour expression. He had often shown that he couldn\'t keep up with the child\'s energy.

He quickly changed the subject.

"Well... Why were you so scared of the monster?"

"Oh! It was really bad! It, it-"

The child\'s attention quickly shifted. They proudly told their adventure story of how they ran away from the monster, hid right in front of it, and how they released the birds.

Listening to the child who was wildly gesticulating as they spoke, the researcher soon came to a conclusion.

\'Luck offset by misfortune? That\'s why that person wanted the child\'s luck, and why the child disliked him?\'

No, it wasn\'t just dislike. A sense of loss like the world was crumbling. They had felt clear danger and viscous fear for the first time.

The testimony was vivid. Though the child exaggerated, the fear seeped through, and the researcher\'s mouth opened slightly.

\'This is beyond just bothering a kid, isn\'t it? And why was he singing? He saw the kid crying and running away. Is he a psychopath?\'

He couldn\'t even begin to guess at the mindset of someone who became a department head from an investigator despite carrying misfortune.

The researcher decided to record the entire statement and report it to the higher-ups. It was right to keep those two apart.

As he was thinking about drafting the report, the researcher suddenly looked down at the child.

\'I don\'t know anything about this child at all.\'

The world seen and felt by a child born as an anomalous entity was different from theirs. The researcher\'s eyes deepened as he realized that treating them like a normal child might actually hurt them.

------

The child\'s exaggerated testimony and the researcher\'s cool yet purposeful report went straight to the higher-ups, and it was read with interest not only by the Korean branch but also by headquarters.

The child\'s innocent yet truthful story struck them as meaningful. It seemed as if he had bullied an innocent young child, of all people.

Above all, the singing was decisive.

- He sang such a song there?

And so, some people were put on alert.

The profilers in charge of Yeonwoo, the director, Mark Jung, and other employees.

- What is it? Has he lost his humanity? Has he become an anomalous entity? Has he been contaminated by the mist?

- To create a memory that will traumatize the child.

Yeonwoo wasn\'t just an ordinary employee.

He was a future Level 6, a core force of the company. A talent whose work history alone was impressive when compiled and read.

That\'s why if Yeonwoo went berserk, the fallout would be terrible, and the company couldn\'t carelessly overlook even a minor incident.

Several people gathered to put their heads together.

They analyzed the bomb that could go off at any time from various angles.

- Could it be a manifestation of his survivalist tendencies? He was hit on the thigh at their first meeting, he might have perceived it as an attack.

- It might be jealousy. The child\'s luck is the kind of power Yeonwoo wants, but the child has had it from the beginning.

Some people reasoned rationally.

- What if he\'s been hiding his true nature from the start? What if his behavior so far is the result of a sociopath\'s highly learned mimicry?

- It could be a sign of anomalous contamination.

Some made pessimistic assumptions, like representatives of extinction.

- It just seems like a misunderstanding...

And some people grasped the essence without much thought.

In any case, they couldn\'t reach a conclusion. All the arguments seemed plausible, but there was also a lack of solid evidence.

In the end, the director spoke briefly.

- Let\'s keep a close eye on him from now on. Mark, you meet him often, so observe him carefully.

- Yes, sir.

And so Mark Jung met Yeonwoo with a document transcribing the child\'s testimony.

Mark Jung handed over the document, speaking nonchalantly.

"Why did you torment the child like that? It seems the kid will suffer from nightmares."

"Me? I really didn\'t do anything. No, I only managed to say hello."

Full of indignation, Yeonwoo took the document and read it. Then the indignation disappeared from his face, replaced by an expression of pain, as if his conscience had been pricked.

"I didn\'t know they\'d feel like this..."

He felt sorry for the fear the child had experienced, and uncomfortable that he seemed so monstrous.

\'Wait a minute.\'

After reading the document a few more times, Yeonwoo suddenly looked up. Seeing Mark Jung come with a document like this, something didn\'t seem right.

His head, sensing something suspicious, woke up, and a cold judgment, devoid of emotion, was quickly made.

\'Suspicion? Do they suspect I\'m turning into an anomalous entity due to mist contamination?\'

He needed to clear up this suspicion. If it went wrong, he\'d be seen as a potential risk factor by headquarters.

Yeonwoo\'s mouth opened.

"I didn\'t know the child would feel that way about the dice. And it says I brainwashed the employees, but that\'s obviously a misunderstanding."

As his survival instinct kicked in and he spoke in a cool voice, Mark Jung\'s pupils trembled.