The moment I realized I was late, I jumped up from my spot.
I pulled out my phone and quickly straightened my clothes before grabbing my things and heading for the door.
But just before I left, I paused and glanced back at the Team Leader.
She was sleeping soundly with no care for the world…
‘This bitch!’
I kicked her.
“Aik!”
She let out a yelp as she snapped out of her sleep.
I didn’t care to see her reaction as I made a dash out of the room shortly after. Of course, the moment I got out, her curses were loud enough for me to hear.
“Hey! Get back here—!”
That made me feel a little bit better.
In the end, I didn’t manage to learn a single thing from her.
All I did was shove one drink after another.
My head hurt like crazy, and I smelled like alcohol. Not only that, but I had also skipped my morning exercise.
‘Fuck it, I’ll do it when I get back from work!’
Thankfully, the location of the place we were at wasn’t far from the Guild, as I hastily reached for the elevator and selected the lowest floor. I needed to make a quick jump to my office to get some spare clothes.
I couldn’t present myself in my current state.
My clothes were all wrinkled up, and a strong smell of alcohol came out of my body.
I wanted to take a shower, but there was no time for that.
Ding!
Once the doors opened, I made a dash for the main area. However, right as I turned around and looked away from the mirror, a familiar figure greeted me.
“Seth…?”
Kyle stared at me in confusion.
Zoey and a few others stood next to him as they all gave me a weird look.
They could all probably smell the alcohol.
“Wha… Why do you smell like alcohol? No, why are you—Oh, wait.”
Kyle’s eyes widened in realization as he looked at me.
“Right, right. You were having dinner with the Team Leader, right?”
“I…”
Kyle nodded in understanding as he placed his hand over my shoulder. He looked at me with what felt like sympathy.
“I get you.”
He wasn’t the only one who looked at me like that.
The others were the same.
Even Zoey gave me a small nod of encouragement.
Wha…
“Things will get better.”
That was the last thing Kyle said before entering the elevator with the others. As the doors closed, I still remained in the same spot, stunned.
I wasn’t the only victim…?
*
Clank—!
Opening the door of room [507], I saw everyone stop as they turned their attention towards me. I didn’t show any expression as I calmly walked towards my desk and tossed a file down.
‘I just changed and put a lot of perfume. Nobody should notice a thing.’
I turned back to look at the others.
However, just before I could get any words out, Mia interrupted.
“Nnn?! What the hell is this smell…?!”
Her face scrunched up as she looked at me.
The others also showed similar expression. While they tried their best to hide their expression, I still managed to pick up on them as my lip twitched.
Mia beat me before I could reply.
“Did you dump a whole perfume bottle on yourself?”
“That’s…”
I couldn’t deny it. I sort of did.
But I had a good reason for that.
I tried to explain myself, but Mia wouldn’t let me.
“Did you go on a date and get dumped?”
“Wha…”
That’s ridiculous.
Mia and her delusions. I shook my head and thought the others would also find her reasoning to be absurd, but the moment I looked up, all I saw was the same look of sympathy on their faces. Almost as if they all were thinking, ‘Ah, that explains everything.’
“No, you’re wrong.”
I tried to correct their thoughts, but it looked like they had all made up their minds.
“Like I said, no. I am the victim here.”
“…Oh, yeah.”
Joanna said while nodding.
Sarah nodded silently while Min followed right after her.
Nora just shook her head while Niel lifted his glasses up.
“I’ve been there before. I get you.”
“….”
What the fuck?
I looked at my team and their pitying look.
“Wait, you got dumped too?”
Mia looked at Niel.
He nodded with a sad look.
“Clash in personalities and stuff…”
“That’s… I bet the Squad Leader must’ve gone through the same thing.”
The pity on their faces became even more prominent.
“….”
In the end, I just gave up and sat down at my desk.
“The performance report is back. Have a look at it. Do whatever you want today. We don’t have much to do.”
I rolled the seat back and leaned back.
‘Section Chief. I need to talk with him later.’
I really wanted a raise.
***
Malovia Island stood on the relatively large size compared to the smaller islands.
Unlike most islands, Malovia Island consisted of a single city, home to approximately five million people. The city was divided into nine zones, with Zones 2 through 9 radiating outward from the central hub, known as Zone 1.
[Zone 1] was considered the most important zone, and where all of the important Guilds were located.
Skyscrapers lined the central zone, where cars cruised along wide streets and people wandered freely, seemingly without a care in the world.
Everything seemed well as the sun scorched from above.
Inside a particular building, massive monitors filled the space, while men dressed in black moved about, closely observing every screen.
This was a monitoring station owned by the BAU.
Their job was to locate any potential gate or anomaly forming in the city and relay the information to the Guilds.
Everything looked to be flowing smoothly.
But then, a sudden change occurred.
“Hm?”
Picking up a small signal coming from a certain area within [Zone 2], one of the agents working at the monitoring station immediately passed down the information.
Not long after, an agent was sent to scout the area.
This was the standard procedure at the monitoring station.
“Did you find anything?”
Just then, one of the supervising officers walked up to the agent and asked.
“…Yes.” The agent responded, pointing at the monitor in front of him. “I’ve noticed a peculiar signal coming from a certain area. It looks to be coming from an abandoned opera house. The signal isn’t even that strong. It looks relatively small, so I sent an agent to check out the area.”
“Good job.”
The supervising officer nodded.
He stood with his arms crossed before reaching forward and pressing a certain button. Immediately, an unstable view of the opera house appeared on the monitor as the agent in charge of scouting arrived.
The supervisor said nothing, simply watching as the field agent slowly stepped into the abandoned opera house.
A thick darkness greeted them as the field agent entered, pierced only by the beam of their flashlight, which revealed swirling dust particles in the air.
Immediately, the view of the opera house came into view.
The old velvet seats were torn and worn out, with some knocked over. Posters still clung to the walls, though they were faded and damaged.
Overhead, the chandelier creaked slightly, shifting as if moved by a breeze.
The scrunching sound of the field agent’s footsteps echoed as he explored the place. The supervisor remained in the same place, staring at the live view without much of an expression.
Everything looked to be progressing smoothly.
There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the place.
But…
That wasn’t for long.
Flick!
It came out of nowhere.
Right as the supervisor was about to leave, the screen turned black.
“Huh? What’s going on…? Did we lose signal?”
The operating agent in charge immediately tried to fix the problem, but no matter what he did, the signal wouldn’t come back.
He even tried to communicate with the field agent.
“Hey? Hey…? Can you hear me? Can y—”
“Stop.”
The supervisor stopped the agent before he could continue.
“What? B—” The operating agent’s protest died in his throat as the supervisor suddenly pointed to the energy readings. His calm face cracked, eyes widening in disbelief.
“Good god…” he whispered, voice trembling.
The agent mirrored the reaction, slowly rising to his feet, his breath quickening.
Right now…
The energy level…
It was engulfing almost all of Zone 2.
This was a massive disaster!