Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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Several days had passed.

Lee Yeonwoo was resting on leave, exhausted, when he found himself facing Mark Jung in a hotel room due to various issues.

"So I erased the entire shelter with the eraser," Yeonwoo said.

"...The shelter?" Mark Jung blinked. "No, uh. No. The money spent building it, no, the anomalous entities."

The implication was clear - not only had the shelter\'s equipment vanished, but also the cogwheels, the miraculous apple tree, and the Oracle system.

Mark Jung looked at the eraser Yeonwoo had placed on the table. The eraser Yeonwoo was temporarily keeping. This wasn\'t a dream.

Finally, he let out a sigh. "If it really turned into such a dangerous anomaly, I suppose it couldn\'t be helped."

"About that..." Yeonwoo cast a desperate look at Mark Jung. "Could you possibly help me find a new place to live?"

Right now, the most pressing issue wasn\'t the loss of company assets.

"I have nowhere to live at the moment."

"Yeonwoo, am I... something like your Chief of Staff?"

"Isn\'t it a similar feeling? Aren\'t you the employee from headquarters in charge of me?"

Mark Jung\'s eyes wavered, as if confused. Finding shelters, handling communications, changing shelter furniture. It did feel like he was taking care of miscellaneous tasks.

Mark Jung rubbed his face a few times. "Yes, I\'ll help. But you know what? I\'d like to tell you what kind of place I want to give you right now."

"No. I don\'t think it\'ll be a shelter though."

After blowing away the shelter like this, it didn\'t seem likely they\'d give him another one. Yeonwoo made that judgment, and his assessment was roughly in line with Mark Jung\'s thoughts.

"I\'d like to throw a container on an uninhabited piece of land for you."

"Pardon?"

"From what I\'ve seen, a nice house seems pointless. It\'ll just end up in an accident and get destroyed anyway. I\'d like to give you a cheap, disposable residence."

The apartment building was erased by the eraser because of the man at the door, and the shelter was erased by the eraser due to the artist\'s attack.

It felt like no house would survive in the future, so was there any need to find an expensive, nice place?

Yeonwoo made a sour expression. "A container is a bit..."

"I\'ll think about it some more for now. For the time being, stay at the hotel- no. If an accident happens at the hotel, many people will die, so stay at the investigation team\'s office."

He was treating people like bombs. But Yeonwoo had no choice but to nod. It wasn\'t hard to understand.

Instead, he carefully gripped the eraser. "About this eraser. Would it be alright if I kept it?"

"...Completely?"

"I don\'t mind if it\'s on loan or as a supply. After using it this time, I found it really useful."

Mark Jung fell into thought.

Honestly, it wasn\'t impossible. It was something he had intended to give Yeonwoo as compensation from the start. Moreover, from what he\'d heard, it seemed Yeonwoo had drawn out the eraser\'s power to a level not far below that doomsday cultist.

But for an item like the eraser, he couldn\'t just give it out like that.

"If you keep the eraser, you\'ll be deployed on that many more dangerous missions. Are you okay with that?"

In responding to anomalies, the company operated specialized and customized units. Mental domination response unit, memory manipulation response unit, electronic warfare response unit, and so on.

An item like the eraser that could respond to all problems would be used in that many more situations. Like a nuclear bomb that could destroy any problem.

"That\'s a bit..." Yeonwoo made an even more uncomfortable expression than when he heard they\'d give him a container as a home.

"You\'re saying I\'ll be deployed on missions dangerous enough to need the eraser, aren\'t you?"

"We can\'t let the eraser sit idle. ...Since you\'ll be holding onto it for now, let\'s try some things and talk later."

Just as Yeonwoo\'s business was wrapping up in this manner, Mark Jung suddenly remembered something and spoke while tapping on his laptop.

"Ah. Come to think of it, it looks like you\'ll be busy for a while, Yeonwoo."

"Pardon? For what reason?"

"It seems the Korean branch wants to use you as a weapon..."

Yeonwoo made a face like he\'d bitten into a bug. His hands clenched into fists, strength entering them. His gaze instinctively turned to the eraser.

"Who? Why an investigator?"

"Let\'s hear the situation first. Other groups have started joining hands to check the company. The Korean branch immediately attacked a gallery..."

---

---

The company\'s full-scale battle began with access control. The nearby military base was dragged out under the pretext of a sudden urban combat training exercise and sealed off the area around the gallery.

An irritated sergeant stood with one leg raised, waving a light stick. "What kind of training starts without notice? I\'m getting discharged tomorrow, why am I suffering like this?"

"But you\'re getting discharged tomorrow, sir."

"That\'s why it\'s even more annoying."

As he was having an idle conversation with his junior, someone approached. The sergeant moved to block him appropriately.

"You\'ll have to go around. Because of the training-"

"I didn\'t receive any such notice. And there\'s a company back there, let me pass for a moment."

"Ah... But we were told to block access..."

"Then what am I supposed to do? If I can\'t get back to the company after lunch, are you going to take responsibility for that?"

The office worker who had really gone out for lunch and found the road blocked pulled at his shirt stained with red soup, looking frustrated.

The soldiers also made troubled expressions and mumbled. The sergeant let out a sigh. He lowered the light stick he had used to block the way.

"Then quickly-"

That\'s when it happened. The company\'s combat unit, designed solely for artists, arrived.

Even the disgruntled office worker, not to mention the soldiers, closed his mouth and looked at the combat unit.

Tap tap tap-

The combatants, their entire bodies covered in black suits, didn\'t show even a bit of flesh, giving more of an impression of mechanical devices than people. This was especially true since not even their eyes were visible.

A helmet with a camera completely encased their face like a fishbowl, completely blocking their eyes, nose, and mouth.

Instead, an enhanced reality UI filtered the view captured by the camera, and not just sound, but all five senses were manipulated by perceptual filters. This would block most artists\' attacks.

The unit\'s steps suddenly stopped. The small cameras mounted on the helmets turned to look at the soldiers and office worker. A voice mixed with mechanical sounds came out.

"Carry out access control properly. We\'ll be using live ammunition, and accidents can happen."

"Ah, understood."

That was it. Leaving behind the people with dumbfounded expressions, the unit slowly advanced. A life-or-death battle was right ahead.

"Our objective is terrorism. If we drag this out, all sorts of people will move in. We hit fast and get out."

"Yes."

"You\'re familiar with the anomalies in the gallery, right? Respond appropriately."

"Yes."

After passing through the empty streets like that, they arrived at the mural.

Several combatants quickly moved forward and attached strange mechanical devices to each corner of the door painting. The devices glowed with a blue light, and the moment the blue light turned white.

Creaaak-

The door opened. The door painting rippled as if reflected on water.

"Breach."

"Breaching!"

Thump thump thump, they threw themselves at the wall. The view of the combatants with guns and flamethrowers at the ready changed in an instant.

From an urban street to a gallery like an art museum.

"Secure the hall first, then destroy the viewing rooms!"

As they sprinted down the short corridor, fingers on triggers, flash grenades in hand, ready to use anomalous equipment, their steps came to a sudden stop.

"Have you arrived? You\'re late."

In front of the information desk in the center of the spacious hall, a man in an elegant suit was smiling brightly.

One of the combatants spoke. "Goldberg Club? Why the hell are you here?"

"Ah. About that. We bought the gallery, you see. Unfortunately, this gallery and the anomalies are now our property."

The man waved the document in his hand.

The combatants\' cameras moved to read the text on the document. A document stating the Goldberg Club now owned the gallery.

The unit commander gritted his teeth. He grasped the situation. The contract was nonsense. As if artists would sell off the gallery.

"You\'re intervening in such a small battle?"

It was clear that spies recruited by the Goldberg Club had leaked the operation plans.

The Goldberg Club had joined hands with the Artists\' Association and begun to actively check the company. It was an unexpected alliance and a threat.

"Do you intend to completely turn your back on the company?"

"That\'s not it. If the artists get beaten, who do you think is next? And since when have we ever been on good terms?"

The man raised the corner of his mouth in a sneer.

"Always interfering and regulating. We can\'t make money because of you people."

The company that blocked money-making and the club that made money from anomalies tended to clash on every issue.

The reason it hadn\'t reached extremes was that both groups were the same in maintaining society, but enemies were still enemies. Enough for small and large machinations to never cease.

"Goddamn bastards. I\'ll report today\'s incident to the higher-ups."

The unit commander abandoned the operation.

It was a unit meant to deal with artists. They couldn\'t face the suddenly appearing Goldberg Club. That wasn\'t the equipment for it.

Sure enough, the man waved his hand dismissively.

"Anyway, as the building owner, I command you. Leave."

The contract emitted a glow. Though soft, the light had a strange effect on reality.

The combatants who had set foot in the hall disappeared in an instant. They had been moved to the mural they had entered through.

As the situation ended, an artist\'s head popped up from inside the desk.

"It\'s over, right?"

"Of course. Goldberg Club\'s security service is worth every penny. Look. Not a single work was damaged."

Seeing the man\'s exaggerated gestures as he didn\'t forget to advertise, the artist frowned.

"I don\'t think this will end with just once."

"That\'s why we formed an alliance, isn\'t it? One or two groups can\'t handle the company alone, haha. Of course, if it comes to all-out war, a few groups won\'t be enough, but it won\'t come to that, will it?"

The company doesn\'t want all-out war. If such a war breaks out, the Earth won\'t survive.

As always, after a few battles, it will end in negotiations. Maybe battles won\'t even happen. That\'s what the man thought.

---

---

In a sense, the man\'s prediction was correct, but the company\'s response was beyond their expectations.

The First Deputy Director, Chief of Staff, and Planning Director began the meeting. They had already heard news that several groups had formed an alliance.

The Chief of Staff glared at the First Deputy Director. "What are you doing not catching spies properly?"

"How can we audit so many company employees with just the Audit Department? If you give us more budget, it\'s possible..."

Feeling the First Deputy Director\'s gaze, the Planning Director cleared his throat.

"It\'s an issue that will be resolved once recovery is complete. Anyway, with the enemies forming an alliance, all-out war is impossible. We can\'t even fight with the scope limited to Korea. That damage is too much to bear."

"So you\'re saying we should just let this slide?"

When the Chief of Staff spat out irritated words, the Planning Director nodded.

"They don\'t want all-out war either. They\'re not doomsday cultists. We\'ll collaborate with them in exchange for taking a step back."

He meant to get a piece of their business in exchange for concessions.

"As it happens, the Goldberg Club has discovered an anomalous city and plans to explore it. We intend to get involved there."

"Sharing profits isn\'t a bad collaboration. But won\'t our deterrence decline if we back down like this? We can\'t be seen as pushovers."

At the First Deputy Director\'s words, the Planning Director smiled.

"What if it\'s not just a small piece? Look, we\'ll send Yeonwoo, the special investigator."

Yeonwoo, who was scouted as a special investigator by headquarters, had already become personnel that the upper echelons of the Korean branch were keeping an eye on.

The expressions of the First Deputy Director and Chief of Staff, who took a fresh look at his record, became strange.

"An investigator who causes incidents but returns alive himself. Good. It will be sabotage."

"Haha! Those Goldberg Club bastards. They\'ll make the investment but end up empty-handed!"

They firmly believed that Yeonwoo would cause an incident.