I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

The target Shun and I were assigned to surveil was a small monster office located on the third floor of an old commercial building in Incheon.
Shun and I arrived in front of the office.

Monster Office.
I’d heard the term plenty of times, but this was the first time I’d actually come to a privately run office rather than a corporate one like Baekho or Dongto. It was smaller and more ordinary than I expected—just a modest little agency.
When we got to the door and called the number we’d been given in advance, a cheerful male voice called out from inside.

"Just a moment!"
Crash, bang.
After a brief commotion, the door opened.

"Ah, you’re here!"
"Hello."
"Welcome! We've been waiting for you!"
The office was run by a male-female pair working as a team.
As soon as they saw us, the two of them warmly welcomed us in and had us sit on a sofa inside.

They handed us each a chilled glass of juice, saying they were really grateful we’d come to help.
Apparently, because of the nature of the job, there hadn’t been many applicants.
The interior of the office was small and humble, but the trinkets arranged here and there, along with the warm atmosphere the two created, gave the place a strangely cozy feel.

Without delay, they got straight to the point and explained why they needed us and what the request was.
"The truth is, we recently received several pretty profitable item retrieval requests, but the size and weight of the items are a bit much for just the two of us. So we ended up urgently looking for some porters."
From the sound of it, the man had initially planned to lift everything himself.

But the woman sighed as if recalling the memory fondly and said,
"Sigh, you never work out—how were you gonna lift something that heavy? I told you you'd throw out your back…"
The man blushed and looked embarrassed, mumbling an excuse.

"N-no! Normally I can totally lift that stuff! It’s just, right before that I’d had to fight a monster and was totally drained… yeah, that’s why I tweaked my back a bit…"
"I told you to be careful... Does it still hurt a lot?"
"As long as I’m not lifting anything heavy…"
Even as they bickered, the way they looked at each other and spoke dripped with affection. How should I put it... they seemed very close.
"...Tch."
Shun clicked his tongue quietly.

Then the two of them introduced themselves to us.
"My name’s Cheolsu."
"And I’m Younghee."
Cheolsu and Younghee. Somehow, their names alone seemed like a perfect match.

As the conversation went on, it turned out they’d grown up next door to each other and had been childhood friends since elementary school.
No wonder their casual bickering and mutual care didn’t seem normal.
Just then, Shun, who had been quietly sipping his juice, suddenly spoke up.

"So… are you dating?"
At his blunt question, the two of them instantly blurted out, "N-no, we’re not!" shaking their heads wildly in denial.
Even so, both of their faces flushed red like apples, and they stole glances at each other. It was obvious both had feelings.

Watching this, Shun clicked his tongue again in irritation.
Apparently, he had little patience for this sort of tension.
"Uh… so, the interview…?"
"Ah! We’re really looking forward to working with you both!"

Cheolsu held out his hand for a handshake.
Just like that, our short interview was over in a flash.
They said with a smile that we’d been accepted the moment we walked in.

Well, Shun had a solid, athletic build that practically screamed "fitness," and thanks to the recent string of battles and stat increases, I probably looked sturdier than before too.
We must have made the perfect candidates for heavy lifting.
Cheolsu carefully asked if we could start working today.

Scratching his head with a sheepish look, he added,
"To be honest, we’ve taken on a bunch of item retrieval jobs recently because we're a bit strapped for cash, but one of them is due tomorrow. So I was hoping we could wrap it up today… Would that be okay with you?"
"That's fine."
"I’m okay with it too."

It didn’t really matter to us—we were there to keep an eye on them anyway, and we weren’t afraid of monsters.
Besides, it was a good chance to build trust with them, so we nodded without hesitation.
When we agreed, the two of them quickly reassured us that the place only had some insignificant, really weak monsters, so there was nothing to worry about.

Not that we were scared to begin with.
I smiled to myself and began preparing for our first mission with this earnest duo.
We climbed into Cheolsu and Younghee’s old van and headed out.

The destination was an industrial complex in the northern part of Incheon, now mostly shut down.
The abandoned factory where we were to retrieve the item was there.
"When we went before, it was pretty spacious and dark. ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) So we left some flashlights in the back seat…"
"Ah, got them."

Shun and I grabbed the flashlights.
At the same time, I subtly glanced around the vehicle, wondering if there might be any clues about Dongto or that religious group—without making it obvious.
But all I saw were the kinds of things you’d expect in an average car, plus some old paperwork.

The van ran steadily and arrived at the site quickly.
It was a remote part of the complex, tucked in a far corner. There were no signs of other vehicles or people anywhere nearby.
Only the rusted, abandoned factories clustered together gave off an eerie vibe.

For a moment, I wondered if the entire industrial area might be one massive monster phenomenon, but it didn’t feel like that.
It really just looked like a bunch of deserted factories left behind for various reasons.
We grabbed our flashlights and got out of the van.

Cheolsu stepped down too and, sounding a little nervous, said with a slight tremble in his voice,
"Just so you know… forgetting something because you're nervous isn’t anything to be ashamed of."
"...Uh, we brought our flashlights, though?"
"I’ve got mine too."

Since neither Shun nor I had forgotten anything, we looked at him blankly, not sure what he meant.
Then Cheolsu cleared his throat awkwardly, went back to the van, and pulled out a baton-like object from his bag.
Ah. So he almost forgot something, and he’d tried to frame it like a general statement.

Younghee let out a deep sigh at the sight and, sounding frustrated, said, "I’ll go in first!" before taking the lead and opening the rusted factory door.
With a creak, a musty, dusty smell wafted out.
"This used to be a snack factory. Maybe that’s why there’s still a bit of a sweet smell lingering."

Sure enough, scattered all over the factory floor were old, crumbling snack wrappers that looked like they were at least ten years old.
We were now to retrieve an item from inside this decrepit snack factory.
We turned on our flashlights and began moving forward through the dusty interior of the abandoned factory.

As we advanced, Cheolsu and Younghee shared the story of their previous exploration—when they found both the heavy item and a monster.
Gripping his baton tightly as he led the way, Cheolsu said,
"Once you get further inside, there’s a big rat monster that walks on two legs. It’s really vicious, so be careful!"

"I don’t like rats."
Shun grimaced deeply.
A rat in a dusty old factory. Yeah, that was kind of disturbing.

Not because it was a monster—but just from a hygiene standpoint.
Younghee, holding something that looked like a metal detector, added,
"Near that monster, there should be a large desk-shaped item we need to retrieve."

I opened the map to check the surroundings.
Just as they’d said, there were a few small red dots marked up ahead.
"Huh?"

And there was one behind us, too.
I turned my flashlight in that direction.
Shiver.

Behind a dark pillar, something was peeking at us.
As the beam of light landed on it, the thing flinched and gripped the pillar tightly with both hands, its body trembling halfway out from behind cover.
It was the large rat monster Cheolsu had mentioned.

But contrary to his warning, the creature looked terrified, like it was about to burst into tears.
"..."
"Why? Is there something there?"
"...No, let’s keep going."
It looked so pitiful that I quietly turned my flashlight away as if I hadn’t seen anything.

So they weren’t kidding about weak monsters—Cheolsu had really overreacted.
We continued ahead and finally found the desk-shaped item.
Younghee brought the detector-like device up to the desk, and with a cheerful beep-beep, a green light turned on.

So that’s what it was—an item detector that confirmed the target. Pretty handy tool.
Shun and I hoisted the desk up and carried it out.
Without encountering any resistance, we returned slowly to the van.

Everything had gone so smoothly.
As we loaded the item into the van, Cheolsu tilted his head, looking confused.
"That’s strange… Usually that rat monster comes charging at us. It’s always super aggressive."

I just shrugged like I didn’t know anything.
Aggressive, huh?
I thought back to that rat from earlier.

Hmm. Seemed like Cheolsu might’ve been mistaken.
And just like that, our first job with the office came to a quiet, uneventful end.