Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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Survival instinct kicked in.

Lee Yeonwoo had let his guard down, thinking it was just his future self offering solutions to the climate anomalies. But once he became wary, goosebumps spread across his body.

Strip away everything else, and what remained was an anomalous entity of danger level 6 or 7. It was right beside him, forcibly dragging him around.

\'I need to contact the company somehow. And first, I should analyze this human... or is it even human? Anyway, my future self-\'

His racing thoughts suddenly screeched to a stop.

In an instant, the world changed. They were in the middle of some mountain range.

The twilight sky was dotted with stars, and hazy clouds melted into the dark heavens. Below stood a building masquerading as a mountainside.

"This is..."

Stunned by the majestic view, Yeonwoo shivered and his teeth chattered. The sudden cold air felt like it was freezing his lungs.

Then ping, his vision distorted and a migraine pierced his head. His ears felt clogged as if water had entered them, and blood trickled from his nose.

He wiped the blood with his palm, barely clinging to consciousness.

"Why is my body... Poison? Radiation? What is this? Why\'d you bring me to a place like this?"

Sensing clear danger, he glared with blazing eyes. Future Yeonwoo looked at him incredulously.

"Why are you so weak? Can\'t even handle altitude sickness?"

Altitude sickness. Symptoms that appear when suddenly ascending to high altitudes.

"No, how am I supposed to handle-"

He stopped mid-sentence. The rain\'s vitality surged through him, bringing his body back to normal. It pushed away not just the altitude sickness, but even the chill.

Color returned to his pale face.

"I can manage now."

"You need to overcome minor issues like this. How do you expect to survive if you can\'t handle such trivial things?"

Embarrassed by the nagging, Yeonwoo quickly changed the subject.

"Is that the final shelter over there?"

It looked quite different from the future shown by the Tree Person in the Anomaly Research Society.

"Yeah. Seems they couldn\'t finish it."

The intact shelter Future Yeonwoo had seen wasn\'t exposed so crudely either. It blended into the mountain range, with no visible traces of civilization.

Of course, the environment was different due to the climate anomalies.

"Maybe they quickly beat the climate anomalies and didn\'t finish hiding it."

As Future Yeonwoo muttered to himself, Yeonwoo eyed him warily.

"More importantly, before we go in there, disguise me first. Remember, I still have to work for the company when you go back."

"That\'s not-"

Future Yeonwoo was about to refuse outright.

But seeing Yeonwoo\'s disgruntled expression, he changed his mind.

\'...This is dangerous. I\'ve already pushed him pretty far. If I make things riskier, who knows what he might do.\'

He\'d dragged Yeonwoo into a dangerous situation. On top of that, there was blood. Even if it was just a nosebleed, it was enough to trigger survival instincts.

Future Yeonwoo tapped his chest.

"It won\'t work, but I\'ve thought of another way."

"What kind of way?"

"We can make it look like I\'m threatening you, or controlling your mind to drag you around."

At the same time, Future Yeonwoo unleashed the possibility he\'d been holding onto - the possibility to exist as a human.

Whoosh-

The human form crumbled. As the threads of probability and possibility unraveled at once, a monstrous form emerged.

"This looks good enough, right?"

"...Understood."

Yeonwoo\'s eyes and expression softened slightly. Though not entirely satisfactory, it was better than nothing.

"You\'re not surprised?"

"Didn\'t you show me before?"

"I showed you?"

Future Yeonwoo tilted his head, half obscured by densely tangled threads, then turned away.

\'He might recognize it since he has the dice.\'

Barren mountain range.

They began walking towards the shelter. As they walked briskly, Yeonwoo posed a question.

"By the way, why don\'t you just control my mind?"

"Who? You?"

"Yes. Wouldn\'t that be more certain?"

A question thrown to gauge Future Yeonwoo\'s thoughts and abilities.

Future Yeonwoo chuckled, his threads rippling.

"If I controlled your mind, the dice would constantly resist. Even I can\'t touch the dice. What if it succeeds in resisting? Would you just sit still?"

"No. I wouldn\'t."

How could anyone stay passive after having their mind controlled? Yeonwoo shook his head.

\'If the goal is me, and the enemy can chase and harm me anytime, anywhere.\'

He\'d pretend to cooperate outwardly while claiming to help, all the while scheming for a way to eliminate the opponent.

The problem was, they both knew each other\'s true intentions too well, making conflict inevitable.

"So what if we fight?"

"You\'d win. I\'d die."

And if Yeonwoo fought Future Yeonwoo, one side would have to die. A hostile Yeonwoo was too dangerous to keep alive. Who knows what risks he might bring.

Knowing the other harbored thoughts of having to kill made it even more certain.

"What happens after you die?"

"Well, there\'s the resurrection roll... Oh."

Yeonwoo vaguely realized the best possible outcome. If he resurrected and merged with the dice, he could face Future Yeonwoo.

Future Yeonwoo had merely assumed the worst possibility.

"If things go wrong, it\'s too dangerous."

They walked on without further conversation. Yeonwoo slightly lowered his head, lost in thought.

\'Still, I should prepare a few measures. Would threatening suicide and a resurrection roll work? ...No, it wouldn\'t.\'

A threat he couldn\'t believe himself. He wouldn\'t gamble on resurrection when he wasn\'t even sure it would happen.

They reached the entrance of the final shelter. At the tightly sealed door, Future Yeonwoo plucked a few threads, and the door opened on its own.

"Let\'s go in. We\'re heading to the lowest level."

---

---

The final shelter.

Built to house a million people in case of extinction due to climate anomalies, it now felt eerie with only a few thousand shelter staff remaining after the climate anomalies receded.

However, being the company\'s most advanced building, the futuristic and splendid architecture didn\'t feel stuffy or enclosed like a typical shelter.

Despite being underground, it felt more like entering a luxurious art gallery.

Yeonwoo forgot his own situation. He gaped at the final shelter, barely managing to utter an admiring exclamation.

"This is a shelter?"

"It\'s called a shelter, but it\'s basically a city."

Passing by company employees in the final shelter after \'persuading\' them, they headed towards the control room on the lowest level.

They rode elevators down for a long time and drove cars parked in corners.

Each place they passed was beautiful and functional. Yeonwoo\'s eyes sparkled as he looked around the final shelter, when he suddenly came to his senses.

\'No, I didn\'t come here to sightsee, what am I doing?\'

He needed to find a way to deal with Future Yeonwoo. He said he wouldn\'t touch him because he was too dangerous, but Yeonwoo couldn\'t just trust those words.

What if they couldn\'t find the ark? What if Future Yeonwoo, even if not going mad, decided to take out his frustrations on him?

Just as Future Yeonwoo saw Yeonwoo as an annoying bomb, Yeonwoo saw him as a nuclear bomb that could detonate at any moment.

"...What are you doing?"

Every time they changed locations, Future Yeonwoo would flick the threads. He held a few strands in one hand, and made gestures as if swatting something away.

Future Yeonwoo tilted his thread-like head.

"Fooling security systems, passing through, stuff like that. Also blocking anything trying to detect me."

His voice sounded very annoyed. Yeonwoo closed his mouth and quietly observed Future Yeonwoo, noting how he used only his own power, the power of the dice.

---

---

A door gleaming with black luster, like something from a sci-fi movie\'s spaceship.

"Once we pass this door, we\'re in the control room."

Future Yeonwoo seemed a bit tense, his wavering probability threads standing straight and rigid. Like a porcupine.

That tension infected Yeonwoo too, making him gulp.

"Is it dangerous?"

"It\'s a manageable risk. But it could lead to greater dangers."

"...Then you go in first and clear the inside. I\'ll enter when it\'s safe."

He had no intention of needlessly exposing himself to danger. He had other intentions too.

Future Yeonwoo, now starting to be wary of Yeonwoo, just sighed briefly. He was willing to grant this small request.

"Ugh."

Swish-

The released threads passed through the door, and Future Yeonwoo vanished beyond it.

\'Is he gone?\'

Yeonwoo hurriedly pulled out his phone, his fingers moving rapidly like a machine gun assaulting the screen.

- Kidnapped by anomaly. Trying to understand intentions. Mentioned shelter info. Wants to find and wake ark in his world to rebuild.

A message aimed at safely and peacefully resolving the current situation, though he wasn\'t sure if it would work.

The hastily typed message, riddled with typos, was sent to Mark Jung through the company\'s information network.

Just then, the tightly sealed door opened with a smooth sound. Beyond stood Future Yeonwoo in his inhuman form.

"It\'s done. Come in. ...Why are you holding your phone?"

"I was checking for messages and the time. It\'s my mealtime, can\'t I eat that hamburger?"

Yeonwoo casually slipped his phone away while gesturing at the wrapped hamburger Future Yeonwoo had brought.

Future Yeonwoo\'s face portion moved quickly from side to side.

"This is mine. Bear with the hunger for a bit. It won\'t take long. There\'s not much to look around."

"But I really want that hamburger."

"Buy your own with your money. I\'ll send you back safely."

Future Yeonwoo turned away nonchalantly, while Yeonwoo grumbled outwardly but his eyes gleamed.

\'He\'s dull.\'

Watching from the side, Yeonwoo felt it and was sure of it. Perhaps years of living as an overwhelmingly powerful being had dulled his survival instincts.

Even if seeking out dangerous places was for rebuilding the world, it was still reckless.

\'Relying solely on the dice\'s power? Only caring about probability and possibility?\'

When the body is weak, the mind works harder. Conversely, Future Yeonwoo, having grasped near-omnipotent power, had dulled his desperate survival instincts.

\'This makes him manageable.\'

Yeonwoo hid his true thoughts as he followed Future Yeonwoo into the control room.