Chapter 2: Anomaly Catching Anomaly

New Anomalous Entity, 163-19 (1)

Work Order
Date: September 5, ███2

Task: Interview with an Unknown Anomalous Entity
Issuer: Lead Researcher, Oliver Smith
Person in Charge: Senior Researcher, Sophia Brown
A new anomalous entity has emerged from a deactivated anomaly, a dimensional portal.
Identify the entity and its intentions, and collect as much information as possible.

"...Haa."

In a space that looked no different from an ordinary company office.

A blonde woman, seemingly a member of that space, let out a deep sigh and slumped her head onto her desk.

The woman's name was Sophia Brown.

Years had passed since she started working in the Anomaly Research Department, and she had shed some of her rookie awkwardness.

However, a single piece of paper that had just arrived from her superior had terrified her to the point of being ashamed of her accumulated experience.

"What's wrong all of a sudden? Sophia Seonbae. You're looking so grim first thing in the morning."

A voice came from the next desk. It was Arthur, her junior.

Even though he was her junior, there wasn't much difference in their joining dates, and due to her timid personality, she didn't receive much respect as a senior.

In any case, if she were asked who she had the closest relationship with in this workplace, she would undoubtedly choose this man, who was a bit frivolous but approached her with friendliness.

Despite the greeting, she remained slumped on her desk, unresponsive for several seconds.

Then, she groaned a few times, stretched, briefly turned her head towards Arthur, looked at him uncomfortably, and then sighed again, beginning to explain the reason.

"What else could it be? It's because of this work order that Oliver Researcher sent."

Sophia said, still slumped, handing Arthur the file with the document secured inside.

Fatigue and the resulting dark circles were inevitable for researchers, but she seemed more tired than usual as she handed over the file.

"What's it say? Did he tell you to write a state record log for a week straight again?"

"I might be more comfortable with that kind of work. Look at this. I have an interview with an anomalous entity scheduled for today?"

"Come on, what's the big deal about an interview? It's not that difficult."

"Interviews depend on who the subject is."

The junior researcher, Arthur, looked at her with a puzzled expression as he received the file that his Seonbae had pushed towards him.

He agreed that talking to 'things' included in anomalous phenomena wasn't always pleasant,

but at least, among the entities in this base, there weren't many who would suddenly attack you as if to kill you for offending them, were there?

Especially since his Seonbae had always been known for being precise and efficient, at least when it came to work.

Seeing her dislike something that any researcher in this base could do without much difficulty, he sensed that something was wrong.

"Is it because of 1054? I admit he's a bit eccentric, but you don't have to look so grim――"

And after seeing one word in the text written on the paper attached to the file.

He finally realized why his Seonbae was showing such a difficult expression.

"―Wait a minute. What is this."

The word written on the paper.

It signified one of the most dangerous things he had learned about since coming to this place.

"A new anomalous entity? And it appeared from a dimensional portal?"

A new anomalous entity.

Simply put, it refers to an entity originating from a completely new type of anomaly that has never been seen before.

And considering what the Anomalous Phenomena Research Department mainly deals with, an interview with an entity about which there is almost no information can be considered to contain endlessly dangerous possibilities.

"Arthur, how can you leave out the modifier 'with a history of causing enormous casualties'?"

"No, this isn't the time to be saying things like that. Isn't this really serious?"

"That's right. So, if something goes wrong, please make sure you dispose of the hard drive in my house."

"It's just like you to make silly jokes even in this situation…."

Arthur looked at his Seonbae with a slightly weary expression, but then he vaguely thought that it might be possible.

After all, the anomalous phenomenon of dimensional portals was treated as particularly dangerous even in the base where he worked, wasn't it?

Especially the accident that had occurred in the past, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties, was so famous that even personnel from other bases knew about it.

Although it had happened a long time ago, and the details were handled in such a way that personnel without high ranks like himself could not see them.

He couldn't help but be surprised when he learned that a civil war in a country that had been widely reported in the news and newspapers when he was young was actually fabricated to cover up an accident involving some kind of anomaly.

"A-Are you okay? What's the approximate danger level? Are the safety measures properly prepared?"

Arthur asked worriedly.

He had seen many people with abilities that seemed to have transcended humanity while working in this field, but his Seonbae was just an ordinary human being.

They were nothing compared to the people who worked in the field, but even so, they were fragile creatures who could easily die when faced with anomalous phenomena that had not even been properly researched.

"Wow, you sounded just like a dad sending his child on their first errand."

"No, this isn't the time to be making stupid jokes?!"

When her junior shouted in disbelief, Sophia chuckled softly as if amused.

Seeing that, Arthur realized that his Seonbae was teasing him and scratched his head in annoyance.

"Well, don't worry too much. It's a deactivated anomaly anyway."

"That's because it's been inactive so far. But something came out of it again now, right?"

"Don't you ever look at the research records of anomalous phenomena? After that incident, the unidentified energy that the dimensional portal had was all used up, so the conclusion was that even if other entities are summoned, the same thing won't happen again."

"How am I supposed to memorize research records that were concluded before I even joined the company…."

Arthur quietly complained and dragged out his words.

It wasn't wrong. There was nothing that wasn't dangerous in this base, but at least there were things that needed to be prioritized even among the dangerous things.

A nuclear bomb and dynamite are both dangerous, but if you had to manage one of them, wouldn't the nuclear bomb be the priority?

A deactivated anomaly was like dynamite with the detonator already removed.

And someone who had to read thousands of pages of handling precautions related to nuclear bombs wouldn't want to spend their limited time looking at the handling precautions for dynamite with the detonator removed.

"That's a relief then…. No, wait a minute."

After realizing that his Seonbae was heading to a workplace similar to what she had been doing so far, not to her death, he was relieved.

But then, realizing that something was wrong, he started asking again what he had asked her for the first time earlier.

"Sophia Seonbae. You knew all that, so why were you so down earlier?"

It was a reasonable question.

Logically, someone who already knows the answer to a worry wouldn't have any reason to worry about it.

But her appearance earlier was like someone with a scientific conviction that ghosts don't exist being afraid of ghosts, wasn't it?

"…."

Silence fell.

And in that silence, he realized that this conversation had started with his Seonbae's intention to tease him from the beginning.

"I just realized. Arthur, you're surprisingly dense."

A small laugh escaped from her lips again.

Having been deceived by his Seonbae's blatant act of deception, he firmly resolved that if anything happened to his Seonbae, he would definitely send her hard drive to her funeral.

What is an anomaly?

In a dictionary definition, it could be said to be something other than the intelligence inherently possessed by nature, or a phenomenon in which something that transcends nature is reflected in the world.

But to explain it more simply, you could roughly give examples such as ghosts, monsters, or urban legends.

In other words, although eyewitness accounts have been consistently mentioned since ancient times.

These are phantom-like things that have never been proven scientifically or had any physical evidence submitted.

Phantoms, huh.

Well, it's not wrong.

Who would seriously believe such urban legends, unless they were conspiracy theorists who believed in outdated rumors, or young children who couldn't sleep at night because of the monster stories their parents told them about under the bed?

I can't say there are none, but the vast majority of people would definitely side with the idea that such things don't exist.

In this day and age, a supernatural phenomenon that can't be captured on camera or proven scientifically?

If such a thing existed, governments and scientists around the world would be the first to jump on it with their eyes blazing.

However, there is one thing that these people overlook.

Most of the causes of supernatural phenomena are not so easy to be physically captured by humans.

And in the first place, it would be a relief if they weren't hostile, let alone friendly.

That's right.

To tell the truth, supernatural phenomena actually exist in reality.

And ironically, even in this age of progress, exploring the universe and looking towards the singularity,

Countless phenomena that cannot be explained scientifically, such as supernatural phenomena, psychic phenomena, and urban legends, are still occurring all over the world.

'In the first place, it would have been much better not to know these facts…'

Sophia, the blonde researcher, walking through the building towards an interview with a new anomalous entity, recalled the time when she was hired by this organization and muttered regretfully.

Even with the suspicious aura of the person who tried to scout her at that time, and the explanation that she could only hear relatively briefly due to security, she could infer to some extent that this organization was a secret place.

She never imagined that the secret was about fighting all sorts of strange phenomena hidden behind human society.

A multinational organization secretly established to prevent social chaos and damage caused by anomalies.

And the 'Anomaly Research Department,' to which she currently belongs, was created to explore and elucidate entities that are not scientifically proven.

'Well, even so, the people in the field are doing all the really dangerous work.'

Of course, she is well aware that she belongs to a relatively safe department.

Compared to the department for capturing the causes of anomalies or the people who have to run around in the front lines, she was like a flower grown in a greenhouse.

But no matter how relatively safe her position is.

The burden of having to face unknown things every time, the fear of knowing that urban legends like the boogeyman that jumps out from under the bed are real.

And if something goes wrong with her research and the isolation of the anomaly fails.

The pressure that not only she, but also many people could lose their lives, was not so light for an ordinary person to feel.

The anomalous entity she is in charge of interviewing this time is also the same.

A dimensional gate.

So, even if Anomaly 163 caused such a large-scale disaster,

As a result of the investigation by researchers far superior to her, it was concluded that it had already exhausted its energy and had been deactivated a long time ago.

Therefore, no matter what entity is summoned now, it was judged that it would not become a powerful being capable of causing massacres.

That's why she was assigned as the interviewer, considering sufficient safety rules….

But how could things in the world go so easily?

Considering some past incidents in which entities that were evaluated as safe caused a mass breakout and caused massacres for some specific reason, she could only think that way.

Of course, she pretended to be strong on purpose for her junior who was worried about her earlier.

However, that didn't completely dispel the fear in her heart.

"…."

But what can she do?

Until right before she was hired here, she could have chosen to lose her memory of this base and return to ordinary society.

At the time, she was much younger and more energetic than she is now, so she stamped the contract out of half adventure and half interest.

She is already deeply involved in this world at this point in time when she regrets that choice, so even if she wants to go back, there is no way to go back.

She was working here now, and the time to interview the mysterious anomalous entity with a severe lack of information was fast approaching.

Sophia took a deep breath to relax and then exhaled slowly.

For the sake of world peace, which is one of the reasons for working here, even if it's just nominal, and after engraving such things in her heart.

While vowing not to say anything unnecessary because she was nervous, she slowly walked towards the room where the anomalous entity was with a trembling heart.

And after entering the room.

After seeing the real thing of a lovely girl with brown hair.

"Wow, wait a minute. What is this cute kid?"

To the point where the vow she made just a few seconds ago was meaningless.

Sophia blurted out those words without realizing it.

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