7:57 A.M.
"Welcome back, Manager."
Angela's expression was no different from usual, as if nothing had happened yesterday at all.
"There are only three minutes left before work begins. Please start today's preparations as soon as possible."
"Morning, Angela."
After entering, X greeted her casually and walked past her.
"That smell…"
As he passed by his secretary, her small, straight nose twitched slightly, as if she had caught a trace of the sharp odor belonging to addictive substances lingering on him.
"Did you just go to see Netzach?"
Angela asked.
"You could've figured that out just by checking a random camera, couldn't you?"
X pulled out a portable purification spray from his desk drawer, casually sprayed himself a few times, and said,
"Did you really need to smell it to confirm?"
"While protecting your safety is indeed part of my duties…"
After the odor dissipated, Angela took the spray can from X 's hand and raised an eyebrow with mild curiosity.
"My processing power cannot be focused on you at all times, Manager."
"And I imagine you wouldn't like being watched every second either."
"That's true."
Seeing that Angela didn't seem distant or upset over yesterday's incident, X felt the tension in his heart ease considerably.
It seemed he really couldn't apply human emotional logic directly to her.
He laughed at himself inwardly.
He had definitely been overthinking things.
Maybe, in everyday interactions, there really was no need to tread so carefully.
With that thought in mind, X took his seat.
Then he opened the operation panel.
"Let's see what Abnormalities are available today."
—
O-03-89:
"If a system malfunction causes the shielding measures of this Abnormality to fail, we will be forced to seriously consider how to deal with the Manager."
O-06-20:
Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager! Manager!
D-03-109:
"Before you came here, the company issued gas masks to some personnel. Please put on your masks now."
—
"..."
Staring at the three Abnormality containers radiating ominous vibes on the screen, X fell silent.
To be honest, just based on these prompts alone, he didn't want to choose any of them.
The first one, O-03-89.
That warning was chillingly direct.
It didn't describe how dangerous the Abnormality itself was. Instead, it pointed straight at the highest authority in the facility—him.
If something went wrong, the one the company intended to "deal with" wouldn't be employees or departments, but the Manager himself.
The implication was obvious.
This was an extremely dangerous Abnormality that required the highest level of attention and absolutely no margin for error.
X didn't believe his current workforce was capable of handling something like that, so he decisively passed on it.
The second one, O-06-20.
As his gaze swept over the repeated words filling the screen, X lightly tapped the desk in front of him.
A single word wasn't frightening.
But when repeated endlessly in such an obsessive way, it created an indescribable sense of unease.
It was something akin to a "textual uncanny valley."
One call of "Manager" might be a polite greeting from an employee, or an unconscious cry for help under crushing pressure.
Two calls might come from an energetic newcomer who had discovered something interesting and wanted to share their Excitement.
It could even be like Little Bird—an energetic little presence chattering happily nearby, making one laugh.
But a full screen of "Manager" felt like a glitched recording stuck on loop—continuous, rhythmic, and unbroken.
It sounded like a plea for help, a summons, or an obsession taken to a pathological extreme.
Yet it always lacked that final thread called "humanity."
What it left behind was nothing but skin-crawling discomfort.
As for the third one…
If the facility consisted only of trained employees with no clerical staff, or if everyone were already level five, X would have gladly chosen it.
A suspected infectious Abnormality, when strictly controlled and isolated, wasn't necessarily unmanageable.
But not now.
There were too many rookies, and the clerical staff had no protective capabilities whatsoever.
Once containment failed—even by the tiniest margin—the consequences would be catastrophic.
A sneeze, a handshake, even the flow of air itself could trigger a plague that swept through the entire facility.
After weighing everything, X ultimately chose the Abnormality container in the middle—
O-06-20.
Compared to O-03-89, which directly threatened his position and life, and D-03-109, which could easily cause massive chain reactions…
This one, which merely "called out," seemed to fall within a range that could still be observed and understood.
At the very least, its danger didn't feel quite so immediate.
Selection confirmed.
The container labeled O-06-20 was extracted and assigned to an empty containment chamber.
X leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and forced the unsettling text out of his mind.
"We've got several level-five employees now… Even if something happens, we should… be able to handle it, right?"
After psyching himself up a bit, X opened his eyes and began the day's work.
—
Abnormality AppendiX
Control Department:
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds X , Fairy Festival, Welch Grape Soda, Heart of Aspiration
Information Department:
Punishing Bird X , 1.76 MHz, Snow Queen, Gender-Swap Mirror
Safety Department:
Spider Bud, Der Freischütz X , Schadenfreude, Skin Prophecy
Training Department:
Cracked Armor, Judgement Bird X , O-06-20
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