Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule:

Illustrations: None.

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The training period passed quickly.

Yeonwoo wandered through the administrative and security offices of the Baekbeom Cultural Research Center, experiencing the atmosphere on site, and sometimes listened to Dr. Kim's unenthusiastic lectures.

Examples and classifications of abnormalities, dangers, hostile groups active in Korea, and so on...

Thus, six days had already passed.

The training would end tomorrow.

Having finished their schedule, Yeonwoo and Kang Yeol sat on their beds, packing their belongings. They stuffed clothes and daily necessities into their bags so they could leave immediately the next day.

Chuk, chuk—

While Kang Yeol was folding towels into neat bricks, he suddenly spoke.

“I can't believe the training is already over. It doesn't feel real.”

“Indeed. It feels like the incident happened just yesterday.”

Yeonwoo crammed a short-sleeved T-shirt into his bag.

His hands were trembling.

It hadn't even been a full week. The metallic smell of blood and the eerie sound of pages turning in the strange diary were still vivid.

“...”

Perhaps because they were recalling the horrors, the conversation didn't continue. For a moment, only the sound of packing in silence filled the room.

Knock, knock—

Someone knocked on the door, then unexpectedly, a pale face peeked through the slightly open door.

“Are you guys still up?”

“Seoyeon? What's going on?"

Kang Yeol checked the clock on the wall and asked.

It was 11 PM, after all schedules were completed and everyone had settled in.

Wearing comfortable training clothes and with her hair tied back, Seoyeon smiled bashfully, peeked down the hallway, and then quickly stepped into the room.

Rustle—

She was holding something tightly in her arms.

"Didn’t they tell us not to bring that?"

While Kang Yeol spoke with wide eyes, Yeonwoo gulped.

The large bag of snacks and a bottle of soju, the size of an ion drink bottle, glistened under the fluorescent light.

In the next moment, Yeonwoo dug into his bag full of packed items and pulled out a tumbler.

Seoyeon, glaring at Kang Yeol, sat on the empty bed. She raised the snacks and soju she was holding in both hands up to her face and shook them.

“So, you're not going to drink? It's the last night of training? I've been saving this for today.”

“Well…”

“I'll drink.”

“Here, take this.”

She unscrewed the cap of the soju bottle and poured it into Yeonwoo's tumbler.

Glug, glug— the characteristic smell of alcohol from soju wafted through the air.

Then, the bottle, now about a third empty, was offered to Kang Yeol.

“Are you really not going to drink? If you don't want to, then fine.”

“No, I'll drink.”

While Kang Yeol's cup was being filled, Yeonwoo opened the snacks. With a rip, the bag of shrimp crackers was torn open.

Seoyeon playfully lamented.

“Look at you two, not even considering me. Fine, I'll pour my own drink.”

“No, it's just that…”

“Too late, cheers, cheers.”

“Cheers.”

With joyful shouts, the different tumblers clinked together and then separated.

The tumblers returned to each person's lips. After a swallow, they let out groans.

“Ah. It's sweet.”

“Ahh.”

All three simultaneously reached for the snacks and crunched on them.

As they chewed and swallowed, conversations about their future company lives started flowing out along with the smell of alcohol.

“Kang Yeol, you're going to security, right? I'm jealous.”

“I was selected because of my experience.”

“Still. I wanted to do something like that too. I only did administrative work at my desk in the National Intelligence Service.”

Seoyeon tilted her glass and took another sip of soju. Her eyebrows furrowed, likely from the taste.

“I came to the company wanting to do something special. But now it's the same old administrative track. I'll be sitting in a chair, typing on a keyboard.”

Then she gulped down the soju.

Yeonwoo, munching on shrimp crackers, secretly shook his head.

What a luxury.

A desk job was actually better.

Besides, drinking like that, she would get drunk quickly...

Sure enough, Seoyeon's eyes were already glazed over. Her drunken pupils focused on Yeonwoo.

“Yeonwoo, I'm envious of you too. You're going to the Korean branch, right? And you're joining investigation, which sounds so cool.”

“Well, I don't really know what the department does….”

“Still, it must be more interesting than my position. The name itself sounds like you'll encounter all sorts of abnormalities.”

Yeonwoo fiddled with his tumbler and replied softly.

“What's so good about encountering those? We saw the other two die.”

“Ah. That's true….”

A brief silence.

Seoyeon raised her glass without a word. Her voice, now drunken, followed.

“To Han Changseong and Song Siwoo, who acted to save lives.”

Clink.

With each sip, a toast followed.

“To our company lives!”

Kang Yeol shouted.

“May our company life be safe and peaceful, without any major incidents.”

Yeonwoo wished.

As the three tumblers clinked again.

Click-!

A strange sound echoed.

It was like the sharp clashing of plastic rods, yet oddly familiar.

The new employees stopped, their tumblers halfway to their mouths, and exchanged puzzled glances.

Yeonwoo spoke suspiciously.

“Didn't you hear something just now?”

“I heard it too. It wasn't the sound of glasses clinking.”

“It sounded like a slate being struck. Like the ones they use in movies or dramas.”

At that moment.

The door burst open.

The three newbies hurried to hide their tumblers, but in their haste, the remaining soju spilled, filling the room with a strong alcohol smell.

Soju pooled on the floor, and a slipper stepped into the puddle.

It was Dr. Kim's slipper.

He looked down at the drunken Seoyeon.

She awkwardly smiled with her flushed face.

“Ah, well, I brought the alcohol, and I suggested we drink….”

“Everyone.”

He cut her off.

Dr. Kim waved his hands, making a strange expression.

“To celebrate completing the training safely, a performance has been prepared. Let's go watch it.”

“Now? At this hour?”

Yeonwoo glanced at the window without thinking.

The clock beside it was nearing midnight, and outside was pitch dark. It was the dead of night in the mountain valley, with not even a streetlight in sight, and no moonlight.

Yeonwoo felt something was wrong.

Yet his body moved on its own.

Clap, clap clap, clap clap clap, hands clapped.

Their mouths opened spontaneously, adding to the applause.

“That sounds great! Let’s go see it!”

“Let's go!”

“Wow! Leonardo da Seoul, the legendary singer who can move people to tears with just one song! We have to hear this!”

The name, which none of them knew and Dr. Kim hadn't mentioned, slipped naturally from their lips.

It wasn't just their mouths.

Clunk- creak-

Their feet moved on their own, slipping into slippers, their bodies getting off the beds without command.

As if pulled by invisible strings, their legs stiffly marched.

Yeonwoo's eyes trembled violently. He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't move.

---

---

“Ready!”

Click-!

“Action!”

0. Opening

Subtitle: Art must be free. Especially if it is art that moves the world. - Free Artists Association

1. Jungangol Station / Night

The moonlight shines brightly on the station sign, illuminating Leonardo and the director below. The director raises a fist.

Director: Art must be free! Down with the companies that oppress art with their nonsense! Down with the companies that censor, lock away in storage, let gather dust, and sometimes even destroy art!

Leonardo: (annoyed) Mister, let's just finish this quickly and leave.

Leonardo tapped the guitar case slung over his back.

The director's clenched fist trembled, and he pounded his chest.

Director: (self-absorbed) It was a tough journey! How hard it was to find the warehouse of the company that only collects art that moves the world! How long it took to find this small country, and then this research institute! The journey that roamed the world, producing dozens of scripts!

Leonardo: (irritated) Oh, cut it out already.

Leonardo turned and headed alone towards the mountain path leading to the Baekbeom Cultural Research Center. The director glared at his back and slowly followed.

The two faded into the distance across the path.

The title 'Operation Art Retrieval' appeared.

---

---

“Cut!”

At that word, the moonlight, which had been shining like a spotlight, disappeared.

The mountain path instantly plunged into darkness, with nothing visible ahead. Leonardo and the director, who had been walking fine, came to a stop.

“Mister, let's resume filming? We can't even find the path like this.”

“No! This kind of scene isn't needed in the 'Operation Art Retrieval'! It's dull, boring, and meaningless!”

“Fine, fine, no need to yell. What if the company guys hear us?”

Despite being cautious enough not to turn on their phones, here they were, shouting. Adjusting his guitar case, Leonardo carefully stepped forward, whispering his complaints.

“But why today of all days? It's hard to walk with no moon.”

“If you watch my work, 'Operation Baekbeom Cultural Research Center Espionage,' you'll understand. It took a really long time, and it's also amazing—”

“Enough. I'm not watching it.”

As they conversed, they somehow approached the Cultural Research Center. In the near distance, two buildings with lights spilling out from their windows came into view. Shadows seemed to be visible at the main gate, shrouded in the hazy darkness.

The two hid behind a tree and peeked out.

“What now? You said all I had to do was perform.”

“Ready.”

With a burning voice and eyes, the director muttered as he stared at the research institute building.

Immediately after.

Click-!

The sound of a slate clapping came from somewhere in the air, and the director gave the cue.

“Action.”

---

---

2. Baekbeom Cultural Research Center Main Gate / Night

A moonless night.

Two security guards on night duty chatted away. Then footsteps were heard, and Guard 1 turned his head to look beyond the path.

Guard 1: I just heard something strange. Is someone coming?

Guard 2: Who would come at this hour? If anyone comes, they're an enemy.

Guard 1: Right? Let's be on guard, just in case.

Guard 1 gripped a taser, and Guard 2 brought a radio to his mouth, fixing his gaze on the path. A shadowed figure gradually approached from the dark path. A finger hovered over the radio's transmit button.

Leonardo: Good evening. I'm Leonardo da Seoul, invited to perform tonight!

Leonardo smiled brightly and bowed. The guards lowered their radio and taser.

Guard 2: Wow! Leonardo da Seoul! I'm a fan! I've always wanted to see you live!

Guard 1: It's Leonardo da Seoul, whose performances make you lose track of time! We can't check him; we must let him through!

Guard 1 opened the iron gate. Leonardo passed through and entered the Baekbeom Cultural Research Center.

Passing the guards, Leonardo stopped.

Leonardo clapped his hands.

Leonardo: Right! I have one favor to ask.

Guard 2: Ask anything! What can we do for you?

Leonardo: (pointing somewhere) See that empty space between the two buildings?

The guards turned their heads. Between a three-story building and a two-story building was an empty lot. The moonlight acted as a spotlight, shining down in a circular beam. Leonardo smiled contentedly.

Leonardo: Since I'll be performing there, gather everyone in the research institute. Don't leave anyone out.

Guard 2: Yes! We'll move right away!

Guard 1: A performance by Leonardo da Seoul! No one can resist that! Everyone will be excited to come out!

The two guards ran to the three-story and two-story buildings, respectively.

Leonardo walked to the empty lot. Standing at the center of the moonlight, he waited for the audience. His head bobbed, and he hummed a cheerful tune.