Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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Lee Yeonwoo clutched his head, taking deep breaths. 'Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm,' he repeated to himself. Fear and panic wouldn't help. He needed to find a way out with a cool head.

'Think. What's the priority now?'

Blood rushed to his brain, carrying oxygen. Thoughts sparked like fireworks in his mind, flashing like stars.

An intense focus he'd never experienced before, not even when studying or taking exams, overtook him. The world faded away, his thoughts fixated on a single subject.

'Understand the anomaly. Its nature, its intentions.'

Two deaths vividly replayed in Yeonwoo's mind, like recorded footage - the destruction of the pigeon statue and the architect's death.

'Attack and escape.'

If it wanted to kill, it could have done so immediately. Instead, it waited until that moment.

Yeonwoo shifted his gaze, looking at the inscriptions scattered throughout the shelter.

A house that kills if you ██.

'The blacked-out condition.'

The hidden condition was also a clue. It must be related to the entity's nature. Yeonwoo quickly guessed why.

To make people anxious about the unknown condition, ultimately breaking their spirit.

Suddenly, a glint flashed in Yeonwoo's eyes.

A vague image formed in his mind. A monster disguised as a house. Windows like cat eyes, a front door like a mouth with sharp fangs.

'An anomaly that aims to kill, never lets prey escape once in its domain, and torments before killing instead of killing quickly.'

His honed instinct and survival intuition told him this was the answer.

'So what should I do against that?'

For a moment, a cold glint of murderous intent flashed in Yeonwoo's eyes. Unlike when he bluffed at the statue, this was a viscous, congealed killing intent.

'I have to kill it. I have to destroy it.'

Escape wasn't the answer. If the condition changed to "die if you remember the house," there'd be no escape no matter where he ran. He'd die the moment he recalled this shelter.

Memory erasure wasn't an option either. If it changed to "die if you forget," he'd die without knowing why.

The possibilities of death were nearly infinite, like the faces of a die. In the end, there was only one way to survive safely and certainly, without risk. He had to kill this thing.

'I need to find a way to kill it.'

Suddenly, Yeonwoo grabbed the water glass beside him and gulped it down. This house wouldn't kill with such a trivial action.

It deliberately killed the pigeon statue in front of them.

It could have killed from a distance with a condition like "die if you come within 1km," but it killed right in front of them to make them misunderstand the condition. To make people die in despair after being filled with hope of escape.

'You want to torment before killing? I can handle the torment, but I won't let you kill me.'

It remained to be seen who would kill who, who would survive in the end.

Yeonwoo grabbed the microphone and spoke.

"Come this way. You don't want to die either, right?"

The statue approached the front door at his calm voice and grasped the doorknob.

"Alright. I don't plan on dying here either... The door is locked. Can you open it?"

"I've unlocked it. Come to the control room."

The thick front door opened, and the statue stepped inside.

---

---

On the CCTV screen split into multiple sections, the statue was moving. Taking careful steps, navigating through the maze-like interior of the shelter.

Seated before the wide monitor, Yeonwoo covered his face with both hands, head bowed low.

Countless thoughts bloomed in his mind.

'I need to find a weakness. It's similar to dice rolls. One at a time. The delay between. Can its tendency to torment before killing be considered carelessness? A way to exploit it.'

Intuition and instinct have similarities. They both produce something tangible without evidence or logic.

Right now, Yeonwoo's intuition and instinct were running wild.

A sensation like lightning striking vertically from feeling to conclusion, aiming for the lightning rod of realization.

'Threaten the house with dice? No. It's an anomaly whose purpose is to kill. It would be willing to die together.'

'The statue holding an eraser while I roll dice? No. If it changes to a house that kills if it exists, we both die. No time for a roll.'

'My future self? No. I said we'd never see each other again. He'd refuse.'

'Roll hoping only for critical success? After a critical failure just happened?'

But the thoughts branching in countless directions all converged on 'I die' or 'We both die.' No matter how he thought about it, there was no certain way to survive.

It was just one condition, but the possibilities were too numerous. In a way, it was like an upgraded version of dice. No, more like a counter to dice.

A suffocating pressure, like watching walls closing in from all sides in a sealed room. The terror of death approaching step by step, casting its shadow.

"Is there no way? No way at all? Do I have to die? Like this?"

Finally, Yeonwoo tore at his hair. A chunk came out, his nails scraping his scalp.

Just then, the control room door burst open.

"The structure is complex. Anyway, in this house... Are you alright?"

It was the statue. It froze at the doorway in surprise, then hurriedly approached Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo finally lowered his hands. His face looked aged a decade in that short time. His bloodshot eyes seemed about to bleed, his lips a mess of ugly wounds and blood from biting.

His limp hands were covered in a mix of hair, blood, and flesh.

Yeonwoo stared at the statue with dilated pupils. The statue stepped back.

A ghastly appearance reminiscent of a ghost or monster, with an aura like the company's insane director. The statue bowed its head.

"First, I'm sorry it came to this. I didn't mean for it to go this far. That idiot messed things up..."

Yeonwoo's hands trembled. If only they hadn't come in the first place-

'Pointless anger. If I hadn't used the dice recklessly, this wouldn't have happened. No time to waste emotions on this. I need to find a way out.'

Yeonwoo took a deep breath and spoke in a cracked voice.

"Let's not talk about the dead. Let's focus on finding a way to survive."

Surprised by his composure, the statue quickly nodded.

"It seems the conditions keep changing. Can't we do something with the dice?"

"No. This house heard me threatening you earlier. It's on guard now, probably prepared. Maybe with a condition like 'die if you use an anomaly' or something similar. Do you have any ideas?"

The statue politely clasped its hands at Yeonwoo's glinting eyes. The atmosphere suggested it might die by Yeonwoo's hand before the house could kill them.

"I thought of one, but it doesn't seem feasible."

"Let's hear it anyway."

"In the end, it's a house. If we could make it not a house..."

The statue cautiously gauged Yeonwoo's reaction.

Yeonwoo judged coldly.

"Impossible. There's no self-destruct system here. Using the dice is too risky - high chance of failure, and even if successful, I'd likely die."

This house probably has basic conditions like 'die if you attack' or 'die if you use an anomaly' or 'die if you try to escape'.

"Then we seem to be out of options. The condition is all-powerful, isn't it? It can kill anyone, human or anomaly..."

"..."

Silence fell between them.

The statue kept watching Yeonwoo's expression, constantly adjusting its posture, while Yeonwoo closed his eyes in thought.

How much time passed?

Yeonwoo opened his eyes. He suddenly stood up and grabbed a bottle of soju from the corner of the control room.

Before the statue could grasp the situation, Yeonwoo took several gulps straight from the bottle.

"Right. We just need to make it not a house. I should have killed it anyway for a comfortable life."

"Um. Have you found a solution?"

"I'm going with your suggestion. Haha."

Yeonwoo chuckled, then suddenly ground his teeth as he opened the control room door and left.

The statue stood dumbfounded for a moment before hurriedly chasing after Yeonwoo through the complex corridors. Yeonwoo walked while the statue ran, easily catching up as Yeonwoo's muttering echoed through the silent hallways.

"This has the highest survival probability. Even if it's dangerous, I have to do it. Don't hesitate."

"At least tell me the plan!"

Yeonwoo glanced at the statue.

"I'm going to use the eraser."

"What? No, if you do that, you'll die immed-"

"I'll die anyway if I don't. This is the only way to survive."

Yeonwoo climbed up a ladder, banging on each rung.

---

---

It was deep into the night.

The grounds, damp from recent rain, gave off a strong scent of grass, with puddles scattered about. The phrase 'A house that kills you if you ██' was inscribed everywhere.

"I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. No, I'll die if I can't."

Yeonwoo muttered as he walked, heedless of the inscriptions and puddles. Water seeped into his slippers, soaking the hems of his pants.

The statue, who had stopped midway, stared at the back of Yeonwoo's head as if looking at a madman, but Yeonwoo's face remained cold and composed.

'Nasty anomaly. It'll try to kill me when the eraser is within reach. That's when it can inflict the most despair and pain.'

But that nature, that delay in changing conditions, would be its fatal mistake.

The spot where the pigeon statue and eraser had fallen was drawing near. Just beyond the torn wire fence.

Yeonwoo took a deep breath. The cool night air rushed into his lungs, heightening all his senses. Each hair stood on end like an antenna, his survival instinct peaking to detect danger.

'I can do this. I'll die if I can't.'

A dangerous sensation like an ice pick stabbing his brain pierced his entire body.

And then, the eraser was within arm's reach.

The dark night turned blood-red with danger alarms blaring, Yeonwoo threw his whole body forward, and the house changed its condition.

'I'll die if I fail!'

In that split second as the condition changed, Yeonwoo's hand reached the eraser first.

A gleam appeared in Yeonwoo's eyes. But what he saw wasn't this world. It was a world of instinct and intuition. The danger perceived by his survival instinct pushed to the extreme.

The anomaly's incoming attack.

'Erase!'

The barely moved eraser traced an arc in the invisible world.