???
A string of question marks flashed through everyone's minds.
Yes—this was the first time anyone had ever seen Arthur so flustered.
"Doctor? Bird mask?" Arthur demanded. "Are you… are you sure?!"
He ignored the stunned looks around him, set his coffee down hard, and fixed Komini with an intense stare.
Somewhere deep inside, a faint hope still lingered—perhaps this was a misunderstanding, a misidentification.
But Arthur's reaction was entirely justified.
After all, within Lobotomy Corporation existed an Anomaly known as O-01-45, 'Plague Doctor,' an entity infamous for making countless Managers lose an entire day of progress.
When first encountered, most Managers mistakenly classified it as a harmless Z-Class Abnormality.
But once it had "blessed" twelve employees—
—it would revert to its true form.
T-03-46 'WhiteNight.'
An A-Class Abnormality of catastrophic proportions.
Full-map AOE soul damage.
Absurdly high stat panels.
And eleven BOSS-level subordinates—the Apostles.
Even Lobotomy Corporation Headquarters, without top-tier EGO Equipment and a large number of veteran employees, would often have no choice but to restart time if WhiteNight breached containment.
And this Branch?
This small, resource-starved Branch didn't even possess One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.
How could it possibly contain a god like WhiteNight?
Worse still—if Arthur himself were chosen to receive Plague Doctor's blessing…
Even if he escaped Lobotomy Corporation, death would be inevitable.
Tell me you saw it wrong…
Arthur prayed silently.
Reality offered no mercy.
The junior shook her head firmly.
"Impossible. I saw it with my own eyes. Senior Nicks even went in to work."
"..."
Arthur fell silent, unsure what expression he should even wear now.
The ordinary clerks didn't fully grasp what he was afraid of—but Yulia and Lyons, both elites, slowly grew serious.
"Arthur," Yulia asked quietly, "do you know this Anomaly?"
"Is it dangerous?"
"Mm…"
Arthur nodded. After a brief pause, he spoke with absolute certainty.
"If it's the one I'm thinking of… everyone should write their last wills tonight."
"Huh?!"
Even the Control Department clerks nearby stared at him in disbelief.
"Komini," Arthur said sharply, "come with me."
Without waiting for a response, he pulled her out of the Control Department's central control room.
He had no intention of staying.
He needed to see this "Plague Doctor" immediately.
Even if death awaited him, he would face it knowing the truth.
As the two from the Training Department disappeared down the corridor, everyone left behind shared the same thought.
He wasn't joking… was he?
Training Department Central Control Room.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Newcomers lounged happily by the vending machine Arthur had procured, while Old Clerks continued operating the control panels with expressions of utter despair.
"Senior Arthur, you're back?" one of the Old Clerks greeted him casually.
"Mm," Arthur replied. "Where's the new Anomaly that arrived today?"
"Senior Arthur, are you referring to Anomaly G-01-12?" the clerk asked, quickly pulling up the data.
G-01-12?
The designation didn't match Arthur's memory—but he didn't dwell on it.
"Yes. I heard Nicks went in for first contact."
"Yes… is something wrong?"
"Pull up the containment room surveillance."
Arthur stepped closer and pointed at the unit currently marked In Progress.
"Of course," the clerk nodded while operating the console. "Senior Nicks has been inside for fifty minutes already. Does first work usually take that long?"
"Sometimes," Arthur replied vaguely.
A few seconds passed.
"Eh? That's strange…" The clerk frowned.
"What is it?"
"I can't retrieve the footage. It was fine just three minutes ago."
Cold sweat beaded on the clerk's forehead.
"Move."
Arthur took over the console himself.
The result was the same.
After a few seconds, he stopped.
"There's no mistake," Arthur said quietly. "The monitor's been destroyed."
The clerk finally relaxed. "So it's broken? Then it's not my fault, right?"
"..."
Arthur didn't share that relief.
Monitor damage wasn't unusual—many Abnormalities destroyed facilities.
But this timing was far too coincidental.
After a brief consideration, Arthur decided to go directly to the containment room. If Nicks emerged—with a halo above his head—
Before he could even take a few steps—
The orange-yellow lights of the Training Department dimmed.
A shrill, piercing sound rang through the broadcast system.
Arthur snapped his head up.
He knew that sound all too well.
Level 1 Alert. Anomaly breach.
"What—what's happening?!"
New employees panicked instantly.
Arthur alone sprinted toward a specific room—the designated EGO Equipment storage.
His collar communicator crackled.
"Training Department Level 3 employee Arthur, proceed immediately to Corridor 3 to suppress Anomaly G-01-12."
Breached containment?
Even as his body moved on instinct, Arthur's thoughts spiraled.
In his memory, during the Plague Doctor phase, this Anomaly did not kill employees.
It certainly did not breach containment.
He cast a sharp glance at Komini, who had also received the order and was following him closely.
Did Komini make a mistake?
Or is it not Plague Doctor at all?
There was no time to think.
Arthur grabbed a katana from his locker and stripped off his outer suit.
Beneath it—
A blood-stained white coat was revealed.