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‘I think I’ve messed up my first impression.’

He was hit by a taser by a guard. There\'s no way his first impression could be good. As Yeonwoo was sweating nervously, it turned 9 o\'clock.

At exactly 9, the front door opened and a woman entered. She had dark circles down to her cheeks and wore a suit stained with ramen broth.

Dragging her slippers, she walked to the podium and casually looked at the new employees.

"A lot of new recruits came. Good. The more people, the better. Everyone is dying, and we can\'t replenish them."

The people, who had been sitting up straight and listening attentively, relaxed their postures and looked slightly bewildered. It wasn\'t something the person in charge of training should say.

Even as their eyes wavered like an earthquake, the woman continued speaking without regard.

"No need to explain who I am. Just call me Dr. Kim. Now, let\'s start with your introductions."

Rustle-

She placed a stack of papers on the podium and opened it. These were resumes compiled by the company. Dr. Kim skimmed through the names and backgrounds.

"Some of you accepted the job offer based on brief information, and we even have two survivors here. Let\'s start with Lee Seoyeon. Come forward."

"I prepared a PPT. What should I do with that? I couldn\'t download the file due to the computer security."

"Just speak."

She lazily gestured for her to come forward.

Lee Seoyeon, looking sharp in her suit, stepped confidently in front of the whiteboard.

"I\'m Lee Seoyeon. I worked at the National Intelligence Service and accepted a job offer from the Humanity Protection Company. Although I don\'t know much about the company yet, the fact that it works for the safety of humanity-"

"Okay, that\'s enough. Just state where you worked and your name. Next. Sergeant Kang Yeol?"

She cut her off without hesitation. Seoyeon awkwardly smiled and switched places with Kang Yeol.

"Hello! I was in the Special Forces-"

"Yes, next. Since I mentioned your name, let\'s move on."

"I\'m Han Changseong, formerly with the police-"

"I’m Song Siwoo, a former firefighter-"

The introductions passed by in an instant.

While the police officer in uniform and the firefighter in a T-shirt stood briefly at the front and then stepped back, Yeonwoo felt flustered.

It wasn\'t because of Dr. Kim\'s absurd handling.

\'What, they all have experience?\'

And impressive credentials at that. Unlike himself, who struggled with the civil service exam.

"Lee Yeonwoo?"

"Oh, yes."

He was called before he could finish his thoughts and stood in front of the board. Seeing his messy clothes and hair, Dr. Kim chuckled.

"I heard from the head of security. Someone got hit by a taser on their first day."

"Haha."

Laughing it off, Dr. Kim nodded.

"It\'s rare to find someone who experiences two anomalies before even starting work."

Anomalies.

Things like the human qualification exam.

Things like the blue snake-like taser gun.

Those words instilled confidence in him.

\'I went through the human qualification exam and passed. Anomalous experience! That\'s definitely an advantage in this company. In that aspect, I\'m experienced.\'

Standing tall, Yeonwoo spoke confidently.

"I\'m Lee Yeonwoo. I experienced an anomaly while taking my fourth civil service exam and joined the company."

The response was not good. The eyes that were interested in the word "anomaly" turned indifferent, filled with unknown disappointment and a hint of superiority as soon as they heard "fourth attempt."

The confidence that had been welling up dissipated like smoke.

Dr. Kim also spoke in a businesslike tone.

"Okay, next. Park Sangjoon."

Yeonwoo slumped his shoulders. His steps back to his seat were heavy and slow.

\'Well, I\'m not a veteran who has survived hundreds or thousands of anomalies. I just survived one by chance. It\'s hard to call that an advantage.\'

Those experienced professionals would likely pass the test too. It was true that he was significantly lacking in terms of ability.

Yeonwoo slumped into his chair, staring blankly as he waited for the next introduction.

It was the last person\'s turn.

Park Sangjoon, dressed in a worn-out suit, spoke in a tight, nervous voice.

"I-I also experienced the same anomaly as Lee Yeonwoo and accepted the job offer. I\'ll do my best!"

"Great. Two survivors joining the company. Now, what should we do next?"

Dr. Kim shuffled through the documents. As Park Sangjoon descended from the podium with stiff steps, Yeonwoo, forgetting his disappointment, stared intently at his face.

A clean-shaven chin, but hollow eyes. Despite his nervousness, his eyes held a desperate resolve.

A face flashed in his mind from the exam hall.

\'A civil service exam veteran?\'

Not the most aggressive one who eventually turned into a beast.

The one who first reported the anomaly on the exam paper to the supervisor.

As Park Sangjoon passed by, he briefly acknowledged Yeonwoo with a glance. He recognized him too. Yeonwoo nodded slightly in return.

\'There\'s someone like me here.\'

An unspoken camaraderie formed between them, both civil service exam takers, both survivors of the same test.

Thud!

Meanwhile, Dr. Kim, having skimmed the documents, tossed the stack into a corner of the podium and picked up a board marker. The black marker scratched across the whiteboard.

Anomaly.

"Let me explain what this is."

The previously chaotic atmosphere in the lecture room shifted. The new employees straightened up and focused on Dr. Kim\'s words. Yeonwoo and Park Sangjoon, who had experienced the human qualification exam, did the same.

It wasn\'t for show; they were genuinely curious.

What is it that turns people into beasts, that defies common sense, that cannot scientifically exist?

"It\'s not complicated. It means the same as it does in the dictionary."

Dr. Kim pulled out her phone and tapped on it, then read aloud as if reciting from a script.

"Something different from a normal state. Unusual or different from previous experiences or knowledge. Something suspicious or unknown."

As soon as she finished speaking, she pocketed her phone. That was the end of the explanation.

Dr. Kim then moved the marker again, writing six characters under the word "anomaly."

Humanity Protection Company.

"And our company exists to protect humanity from such anomalies. There\'s nothing more to explain. You have to experience it to understand."

A puzzled expression appeared on Yeonwoo\'s face. The definition of anomaly was vague.

"So, if it\'s just strange, it\'s an anomaly?"

It wasn\'t just Yeonwoo; none of the new employees understood.

Dr. Kim looked around at the new employees and sighed, as if she expected this. She then waved her crumpled suit and walked out of the lecture room.

"Seeing and experiencing it is best. Follow me. The survivors too. I\'ll show you part of what our research center does."

There was a brief moment of silence. Just a brief moment.

The new employees\' eyes lit up, and they stood, pushing their chairs back. The sound of chairs scraping filled the small lecture room, followed by the footsteps of the six new employees heading into the hallway.

Their hurried steps led them through the hallway of the two-story building, past the main gate, and outside, ending at the three-story building.

---

---

During the walk, the new employees split into two groups.

Lee Seoyeon, Kang Yeol, and two other experienced employees.

Lee Yeonwoo and Park Sangjoon, both from civil service exam backgrounds.

Dr. Kim led the way at the center. They walked in pairs, chatting quietly.

"When did you pass the police exam, Han Changseong? You look very young."

"I passed right after graduating high school."

"Oh, the youngest to pass? You must have been in the news."

"Kang Yeol, which unit were you in-"

"Lee Seoyeon, being from the National Intelligence Service, you must have been like a spy-"

They were building camaraderie.

Yeonwoo and Park Sangjoon, unable to join in with the others, kept their mouths shut. They walked a few steps behind and to the right, only starting to talk later.

Yeonwoo spoke hesitantly.

"...You survived."

“Fortunately, yes. Besides the people who stood up in the middle, half the people failed and turned into beasts at home, I heard.”

"Half of them?"

The conversation stopped.

An awkward silence followed. Park Sangjoon clenched and unclenched his fists, glancing around at the building and at the back of the doctor pushing open the glass door of the three-story building\'s main entrance.

"If we\'re going to see something like that test now, won\'t it be dangerous?"

"I don\'t think they\'ll show us something that dangerous... but we should be prepared."

After all, working for the company meant facing anomalies inevitably.

\'This might also be a kind of test. To see how we react.\'

They were hired without an interview. This might be both training and an evaluation for new employees. If they didn\'t meet the standards, their employment could be canceled.

Yeonwoo clenched his teeth and steeled himself.

\'I lack skills. I\'m older. I have no experience. I can\'t show any disappointing behavior here. I must show that I fit into the company during this training.\'

As he was thinking this, they arrived at the central part of the first floor of the three-story building, in front of the stairs leading down to the basement.

Bare concrete stairs. The gloomy staircase, illuminated by white incandescent lights, seemed to descend endlessly.

Clack, clack, clack-

They descended the stairs for quite a while.

Kang Yeol, without a drop of sweat on his face, glanced up briefly.

"It\'s deep. We\'ve already come down to the fifth basement floor. What kind of facility is this, and why don\'t they have an elevator?"

"It\'s the Baekbeom Cultural Research Center. It\'s cultural."

Dr. Kim, dragging her slippers, quickly descended the stairs. It seemed like she knew the stairs well, extending her steps without looking properly.

Seoyeon hurried to Dr. Kim\'s side, her pale face close.

"What exactly is this cultural research center? I looked it up before coming, but there wasn\'t much information."

Dr. Kim leaped down three steps at once.

Thud!

Finally, the stairs ended.

A barren concrete hallway. The narrow, unfinished hallway extended long to the left and right. The nameplates sparsely attached to the upper part of the walls indicated laboratories, storage rooms, and research rooms.

Dr. Kim, standing in the hallway, looked up at the new employees still on the stairs.

"Baekbeom Kim Gu[1] said, \'The one thing I desperately want to have is the power of high culture.\' What do you think this cultural power is?"

Every time a Korean work, be it an idol, a movie, or a drama, became a trend, this saying popped up.

Kang Yeol made an awkward face, not knowing the answer, while Seoyeon waited for Dr. Kim\'s words like an attentive student. Han Changseong and Song Siwoo couldn\'t respond either.

Yeonwoo, like deciphering the intention of a test question, quickly grasped the implication in Dr. Kim\'s words.

"Cultural anomalies? Is this a place that studies such things? For example."

A horror movie he had seen once quickly flashed through his mind.

"A movie that makes you commit suicide if you watch it. A novel that drives people insane. Do they have such things here?"

---

[1. raei: Uhm dunno about the statement, but in real life, \'Baekbeom Kim Gu, also known as Kim Gu or Kim Koo, was a prominent Korean nationalist and independence activist during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.\' and Baekbeom: translates to "white tiger" in Korean, it\'s like a symbolic title.]

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