Humanity Protection Company

Illustrations: None.

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Swoosh-

The forecast of a record-breaking typhoon had come true, with rain and wind fiercely battering the windows.

The torrential rain and strong winds were so terrifying that the company had advised employees not to come to work. The sound of raindrops hitting the windows sounded like frying chicken, and the windows rattled violently.

“Is this also an anomaly…?”

Lying in bed, Lee Yeonwoo turned his head to look at the window and then fiddled with his phone.

-Does this accident make sense? A juvenile offender? An oil tanker? A gas truck? A gas pipe explosion? Common sense says-

He watched exaggerated and speculative videos by Park Sangjoon, looked up the aftermath of the Blue House incident, played mobile games, and chatted with various people as a Clock Repairman.

Thus, the afternoon arrived without him having done much.

Ding-!

A text message arrived. The sender was the First Response Division manager, a reply to a request Yeonwoo had made a few days ago.

“It’s here.”

Feeling hungry and wondering what to eat, Yeonwoo quickly sat up. When he opened the message, a long thread of text scrolled down.

Their previous conversation:

-Lee Yeonwoo: Are these things possible?

-First Response Division Manager: It’s not a difficult task, but we’re busy dealing with the blue flower terrorism right now. We managed to frame it as an apocalyptic extremist act, but maintaining secrecy is the issue.

-Lee Yeonwoo: It’s okay to take your time. But what’s happening with the internet chaos?

-First Response Division Manager: We’re mostly giving up on secrecy and taking a hands-off approach.

He had received direct information about the terrorism results and secrecy maintenance over the past few days.

-First Response Division Manager: They’re taking this opportunity to move the equipment used for information control to the resettlement area.

-First Response Division Manager: Only the equipment used to block informational life forms and cultural disasters will remain.

Even information an investigator wouldn’t know.

‘I’ve read all this already.’

Flick, flick-

His thumb scrolled up the screen. As the screen moved, the most recent message filled the display.

-First Response Division Manager: Here’s what you asked for. I don’t know what you plan to do, but be careful.

Yeonwoo carefully scrolled down, ensuring he didn’t accidentally press anything else.

There was a spam message he had seen before.

[…Summon a doppelganger to take your place during your unpleasant moments!

Just click the link, and a doppelganger will be summoned to endure your suffering for you!

Link: 666.13.666]

The method to summon the Demon of Sloth.

Yeonwoo stared intently at the link, forgetting his hunger. The Demon of Sloth wasn’t his goal. The one who would come looking when it was summoned was.

‘If I summon this, a demon worshiper will detect it and come.’

A means to contact a demon worshiper.

A somewhat dangerous method.

Yeonwoo stood up and began pacing the room.

He stepped on the blanket that had fallen off the bed, opened and closed the window that was shaking in the storm, grabbed the emergency escape device attached to the side, and climbed up and down the loft stairs by the entrance.

‘Will I be able to communicate with a demon worshiper? Is it okay to summon the Demon of Sloth?’

He had thought it through, but when it came time to act, worry began to creep in.

‘The Demon of Sloth. If it’s left summoned for 13 days, I’ll be transported to hell. Then, the Demon of Sloth will take my place and live as me.

So, I have to kill the Demon of Sloth within 13 days.’

The Demon of Sloth itself wasn’t the main issue.

Even if he fell into the dimension called hell, there was a chance to escape. He had the dice.

The same applied to the Demon of Sloth. With a priest’s gun, handling it wouldn’t be difficult.

Yeonwoo stopped walking in the middle of the first floor. Standing in front of a round plastic table, he muttered quietly.

“…Let’s do it.”

It would be good to form an alliance with a demon worshiper. He needed information about the demon self-governing region. If it was a livable place, becoming a demon worshiper could be a viable path.

Stomp, stomp-

Lee Yeonwoo packed the homemade pistol into his eco bag and took several deep breaths.

“Okay, let’s summon it.”

He slowly moved his thumb over the link and pressed it hard enough to turn his nail white.

The result was immediate.

Swoosh-

A gray stream shot up from the screen. The gray clay formed a parabola and then took on the shape of a mannequin, soon molding itself into the exact likeness of Yeonwoo.

Scramble-

Yeonwoo quickly ran to the front door, aiming the gun at the gray clay figure. He aimed at the broad torso since he wasn’t confident about hitting the head.

In that moment, the gray clay mannequin gained color and breath. The gray turned to Yeonwoo’s skin tone, and he heard a deep exhale.

It looked at Yeonwoo with the same appearance. For a brief moment, its gaze passed over the gun.

It raised its hands as if in surrender.

“I have no intention of resisting.”

Surrender.

But the real Yeonwoo’s eyebrows twitched. Cold sweat formed on his forehead, soaking into his greasy hair.

The same face as his. The same memories. The same way of thinking.

Yeonwoo realized he had made a huge mistake.

‘That’s me. I wouldn’t just die quietly.’

The thought was simple if he reversed it.

If Yeonwoo were the Demon of Sloth, he would kill the original. To live as Yeonwoo on Earth.

‘I have to kill it. Right now.’

Their eyes met simultaneously. The same gaze, the same thoughts. They both realized they were thinking the same thing.

The thought of killing each other.

Rumble-

Thunder crashed. Moments later, lightning flashed, and the windows, already rattling from the fierce wind, shattered.

Rainwater seeped into the room, the wind swirling in the studio apartment.

As Yeonwoo’s finger tightened on the trigger, the fake Yeonwoo spoke.

“If you kill me now, you won’t achieve your goal. If you kill me right away, the demon worshippers won’t detect it.”

“I don’t need you.”

The more the Demon of Sloth spoke, the more intense the desire to kill grew. The same was true for the demon.

“You have the dice, don’t you? There’s no need to go this far-”

“Would I take that risk? When I have a sure thing with a gun?”

“Right. I wouldn’t either.”

There was no need to listen. This conversation was ultimately about killing each other. Yeonwoo knew because it was himself.

Yeonwoo pulled the trigger.

Bang-!

The fake Yeonwoo immediately threw itself to the side. It acted the moment Yeonwoo decided to shoot.

Swish-

The bullet grazed its forearm and passed through the broken window, disappearing into the rain.

Yeonwoo hurriedly moved from the front door to the living room but then stopped.

‘Where did it go? The loft?’

The fake Yeonwoo had vanished from sight. Instead, he heard footsteps rushing up the stairs to the loft.

The fake Yeonwoo, now in the loft, spoke.

“You’ve never fired a gun, right? You haven’t even practiced. Why not roll the dice instead?”

“I’d never roll it.”

There was no point in listening.

The dice was a last resort. Telling him to roll it meant the Demon of Sloth was desperate enough to rely on the dice gamble.

‘I have the advantage.’

Even with the same body, Yeonwoo had a gun.

But he couldn’t rely on the gun alone. After all, the enemy was himself.

“….”

Yeonwoo thought for a moment, then reached for his phone and pressed the switch for the fluorescent light on the ceiling of the studio.

The loft had a high ceiling. The white light came on, requiring a ladder to change the bulb.

Yeonwoo lowered his eyes slightly to see the shadows. The loft was above the front door, so he could see the shadow cast from the loft railing.

A rectangular shadow protruded in front of the entrance.

‘A box? Stuff stored in the loft?’

Boxes filled with various books, useful items for everyday life, and clothes for different seasons that were too precious to throw away.

‘He plans to drop it the moment I come in.’

Thud-

Yeonwoo deliberately made loud footsteps. The sound of his soles sticking and unsticking from the damp floor.

He bent down and poked his head in first.

Thud-

The fake Yeonwoo, watching from the loft railing, dropped the box as soon as he saw the top of Yeonwoo’s head. The shadow of the box grew larger and darker, and Yeonwoo quickly straightened up and stepped back.

Thud-!

The heavy box narrowly missed his face and hit the floor. It landed just a step away.

It wasn’t just one box.

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

Six boxes fell, piling up haphazardly and blocking the entrance. Faint footsteps could be heard stealthily descending the stairs.

‘Is he planning to attack while I clear the boxes?’

Yeonwoo turned on his phone screen.

‘You’re the one who’s trapped.’

He made a call. The recipient answered immediately.

-Hey, rookie. What’s up?

“Captain, I just summoned a Demon of Sloth. I need backup.”

-Why the hell did you summon it? And why do you need backup? If you just summoned it, nothing should have happened yet.

The Demon of Sloth doesn’t pose a threat to the summoner. It mimics the summoner’s actions and follows their daily routine.

But Yeonwoo was different.

He had summoned it with the intention to kill it from the start, and Yeonwoo had no intention of dying.

“We’re trying to kill each other right now.”

-What? What did you do…. Rookie, just hang on. The typhoon’s causing delays.

“You’re coming soon? Got it.”

He ended the call with that lie to pressure his opponent.

Yeonwoo looked at the gap between the entrance and the boxes. The white light was seeping through the gap.

The fake Yeonwoo, having come down from the loft during the call, was now sneaking around the living room, gathering Yeonwoo’s belongings.

Car keys, wallet, ID, eco bag, emergency escape kit.

Then he moved towards the emergency escape device by the broken window. If there’s a fire, you lower the rope to escape to the ground.

Yeonwoo’s eyes widened.

‘He plans to escape.’

If he got away, it would be dangerous. If that thing stayed summoned for 13 days, Yeonwoo would end up in hell.

Yeonwoo kicked the boxes away.

Crash, the boxes tumbled down. The fake Yeonwoo immediately turned, holding the rope and hook from the emergency escape kit.

“Wait, let’s talk-”

There was no need for conversation.

Bang- Bang- Bang- Bang-

Yeonwoo pulled the trigger repeatedly. The thunderous gunshots and the acrid smell of gunpowder filled the room.

The fake Yeonwoo blinked, then slowly looked down at his torso. Three holes. Blood slowly spread. The fake Yeonwoo sighed.

“I didn’t want to die like this.”

Swoosh-

The fake Yeonwoo crumbled into gray clay. The clay lost its texture, spreading like paint.

Raindrops pelted the clay until it eventually evaporated and disappeared.

All that remained in the studio was the shattered window, glass shards, and rainwater soaking the floor.

“Really…”

Yeonwoo leaned against the wall by the entrance and let out a long sigh. His legs gave way, and he sank to the floor. Only then did his hands begin to tremble.

“I was so stupid.”

There was no shock from killing something that looked exactly like him or seeing something that looked like him die.

But the thought that he could have died, that it was a danger he had brought upon himself, made him feel dizzy.

Slap, slap-

Yeonwoo slapped his cheeks a few times. Then he got up and started cleaning up.

“I should never do something this dangerous again.”