"Gasp—!"
I stared at the ceiling, lungs burning, chest heaving like I'd just surfaced from drowning.
'Wait—this is…'
The Bureau's Evaluation Auditorium.
Marble floors. The faint hum of the ventilation. Rows of pristine black chairs arranged in cruel symmetry.
'We made it… god, we actually made it.'
A wave of disbelief hit me harder than the fall itself. My hands shook. My heartbeat was steady — too steady.
'Hold on… my head doesn't hurt. My back doesn't hurt. My arms are fine.'
That wasn't possible.
I glanced around the hall. Once filled with 120 recruits, now only eight remained.
Eight survivors.
Three I didn't recognize sat hunched near the back, pale and glass-eyed. The old man who'd tried to pick a fight earlier was still here too, arms crossed, eyes burning holes through me. His stare carried more exhaustion than anger.
A little further to my left stood her — the woman with snow-white hair.
Sera.
Unlike the others, she wasn't sitting or trembling. She stood upright, talking into a Bureau-issued phone with a calm that didn't belong here. When her eyes briefly met mine, there was something like acknowledgment — quiet, distant, maybe even pity — before she turned away again.
And then, to my right—
"Wait…" My throat tightened.
Louis?
Sitting beside Abby. Talking. Laughing. Alive.
'LOUIS?? When did he even— How the hell did he know which floor to head to?!'
Relief and disbelief clashed in my chest like two opposing storms.
I pushed myself up— or tried to. The ache in my legs burned white-hot, dragging me down again.
"God… damn it… leg day really is a thing huh?"
After a few seconds, I managed to stand and limp toward them.
"Yuwon! You made it too!" Louis grinned as if we hadn't just survived hell.
"Barely," I muttered, forcing a tired smile. "Glad you made it out as well."
Abby tilted her head, bruises gone and her broken arm completely healed. "How did you even make it out, Louis? We didn't see you after the elevators vanished."
"Oh, that?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, uh… after everything disappeared, I kinda just appeared on another floor. Like, teleportation or something. Kinda Broke my nose on landing, but there were others there too — some of the guys in the back. It was dark but… quiet. No guards atleast. We found an exit eventually, pretty sure it was floor seventy-two."
I blinked.
'…Seriously? That's it? He just got lucky? Meanwhile I was playing dodgeball with death for twenty minutes straight.'
I kept my face straight, but judging by how quickly Abby snorted, I wasn't doing a good job.
"Pfft— dude, you look like someone who just lost every credit at a casino," Louis teased.
'Thanks, Louis. Thanks, Abby. Really.'
"Well," I said dryly, "for what it's worth, your nose doesn't look very broken."
"That's because it's not!" Louis said proudly. "Agent Erso explained that since the anomaly was Bureau-affiliated, it restores the physical state of survivors when they're extracted."
'Then why do my legs still burn as if I ran a marathon for 3 hours straight?'
"Right…" I frowned. "And what about the people who didn't make it?"
Louis' grin faltered. "He said they stay dead. Didn't say where their bodies go though."
I exhaled, my voice flat. "they remain inside the anomaly, probably. I doubt it'd work with the Bureau unless it got something in return."
The thought lingered like a stain.
'What kind of deal does the Bureau make with a thing that eats corpses?'
Abby looked away, her jaw tight. "They probably don't tell us because they know we wouldn't stay if we knew."
For a while, none of us spoke. The only sound was the faint hum of the fluorescent lights above us.
Half an hour later, the final three survivors appeared. Everyone sat in heavy, wordless exhaustion.
Then Agent Erso took the podium.
"Congratulations on passing the final evaluation," he said, voice as flat as ever. "Eleven of one hundred and twenty. That's lower than last year's survival rate."
He paused. "Be proud. But don't mistake survival for control. You've proven you can live through an anomaly. Controlling it — understanding it — that's the next step."
'Motivational as ever,' I thought dryly.
Nobody spoke. Nobody dared to in the presence of this grim Agent.
"You've learned how to survive. Your respective Team will teach you how to Control and investigate. And with that, The Bureau of Anomalous Affairs welcomes its newest generation of Field Investors."
'Investigators? I mean it makes sense, but I had hoped i'd also be called a Agent..'
"You've all probably heard of the Bureau's benefits," he continued, his tone dry and rehearsed. "But now that you're officially employed, let's review what being part of our Corporation truly offers."
The projection behind him flickered, changing from the Bureau's logo to a list titled [EMPLOYEE BENEFITS – RESCUE DIVISION].
– Full Bureau Housing: Secure, anomaly-shielded living quarters near all major branches and facilities.
– Medical Coverage: Physical, psychological, and metaphysical recovery programs.
– Pension & Hazard Compensation: Because most of you will lose a limb—or worse.
– Priority Clearance Access: For field data, classified briefings, and early warnings.
– Therapy Allowance: Weekly mental recalibration sessions, mandatory for most agents.
– Paid Leave: 14 days per cycle (subject to anomaly activity).
– Memorial Clause: In the event of death or disappearance, your name will be inscribed in the Bureau's Hall of Service.
– Contamination Treatment: In case of exposure, the Bureau provides several specialized purification protocols.
– Bureau Item-Shop: Access to anomaly-crafted gear, from combat equipment to recovery potions.
– Bureau Affiliation Usage: A bound anomaly capable of creating a personalized item attuned to your essence. The higher your rank, the more items you're permitted to forge.
- Fox Containment facilities: Exclusive to high ranking Employees of the Bureau or Employees of our department, granted access to two different Fox anomaly subspaces. One a library-, the other an onsen. Both melts away any contamination you might have.
"That about covers it. The higher you rise, the more benefits you unlock. And since this is the Field investigation Department, we all get to use some of the benefits more frequently than the other Departments."
"Your employment begins in one week. You'll receive your designations and team assignments soon. From this point onward—"
His voice dropped, cold and final.
"—your lives belong to the Bureau."
We exchanged numbers after. Abby hesitated, but Louis practically forced her. Then we went our separate ways.
The golden evening sun bathed the Bureau's skyscraper as I stepped outside. It felt like the first real breath I'd taken in weeks.
A sudden Realization hit me as I patted my pockets — ID, keys, phone… no money.
'One-hour walk home. Fantastic. I barely managed to walk out that auditorium, and now you're telling me I have an one hour walk ahead of me?'
I look down at my aching legs.
'Maybe i should have accepted the Bureau Housing after all...'
But the bad news didnt end here. Ninety minutes later, my thighs were screaming. But there it was — my house.
A two-story white home with ivy crawling along the balcony rails, soft amber lights glowing from inside, and a tiny garden of overgrown lavender and potted herbs out front. The kind of place that felt lived in — warm, cluttered, imperfect. Books stacked on the stairs. Paintings crooked on the wall. A home that felt like mine.
'It looks identical to my home from my old world... atleast something.' I thought, a bittersweet warmth spreading in my chest.
I twisted the keys in the lock, took the handle and opened the door. Inside? Dust. Everywhere.
'Of course. I've been gone for weeks…'
I sighed and rolled up my sleeves. "Guess I'm cleaning before I collapse."
I sighed and looked down at my shakey legs
'I'll have to order some takeout as a reward for pulling through with this.'
Two hours later, at 11PM, the place was spotless again — or at least clean enough to live in. I slumped onto the couch, the faint hum of the TV filling the silence.
'Even the shows are the same here… huh.'
The familiarity is almost eerie.'
By the time my takeout arrived, the world outside was quiet. I devoured a burger like it was divine cuisine-, after everything i went through in the last couple of weeks? it was. It tasted like a meal truly meant for God's, food equivalent to--
Scratch—— Scratch——
A soft sound against the window.
I froze mid-bite..
"Seriously? Cant a man eat in peace for God's sake?" I muttered, setting the burger down. I walked over, ready to scare off whatever it was.
'....huh?'
A white fox was staring back at me.
One blue eye. One golden. Its fur shimmered faintly under the streetlight, too perfect, too clean to be wild.
'A fox-? In the middle of the town? Hows that-- possible? Did it escape some Zoo? But last I checked this Town didnt even have one.'
it pawed at the glass again, impatient.
I sighed. "You're lucky I'm too tired to care."
I opened the window, and it leapt inside-- graceful, silent, landing like a ghost.
It sniffed the air, ears twitching with curiosity.
"Uhh... sit... right here. Im gonna go into the kitchen and fetch you some food.... okayyy?"
The fox stood in front of me, tilting its head giving me a high-pitched bark.
"I take that as an agreement" I mutter to myself as I walk to the kitchen.
"What do foxes even eat? probably meat right?" I open the freezer and pull out a piece of a chicken breast.
My heart freezes once I arrive back in the living room with a chicken breast on a plate. There the fox is, munching on one of the burgers I had ordered-- snatched away from the coffee table in front of the couch.
"You-!" I stopped mid-scold as it turned toward me, burger still in its mouth.
For a moment, we locked eyes — blue and gold glinting with mischief.
Then it dropped the burger and made a small, unmistakably smug sound. Almost… laughter.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The fox tilted its head, tail swishing once, eyes bright with amusement with a smile laced with mischief.
'The sheer audacity of this thing!'
I stared at it, speechless.
"...Damn you," I muttered. "You cursed world."