When I returned to my quarters, the first thing I checked was the menu I had obtained from that creepy mountain goat head.
It was an item taken out of a contaminated zone. Not something looted from the corpses of monsters I had simply killed, but an object handed to me directly by a mountain goat head that was unmistakably a source of contamination. Wouldn't it be different from that viscous lump I had given to Woo Gil-young?
"Where is it."
I took out the menu.
The stench of blood.
The overwhelming stench of blood that might actually have been a fragrant aroma of meat. Do I really need to assume it's disgusting? I'm hungry, saliva is pooling in my mouth, cold sweat is running down my spine....
I felt my head spin. And then, in front of me, an enormous and magnificent dining table appeared out of nowhere. Yes, a table that looked exactly like the one I had seen at Gapseuni's.
I looked around.
"...This."
The quarters where I had been resting just moments ago were gone, replaced by an endless void of nothingness. The only things that existed here were me and this massive table.
And the menu, as if this were the place it had always belonged, was placed on top of the table. As if it were expecting something from me.
Staring blankly at the scene, I swallowed. I looked at the menu. Once again, I was faced with a situation where I could not distinguish what was edible and what was not.
Was this the menu's doing? My sweat glands burst open, and cold sweat streamed down my back.
Calm down. You already know the answer.
To eat and not die, you choose option number one for each course. That was a survival method I had discovered after cheating death once.
But what if this time that wasn't the correct answer? I checked the menu. What if the menu had changed?
If the menu was the same, I could be confident.
"Fuck."
They weren't the menus I remembered. I swallowed hard. If the menu had changed, did that mean the order changed too? But pretending to be a vegetarian was meaningless now.
There was no mountain goat head left to listen to such nonsense. There was only the menu.
"...I'll take the first option for everything."
There was no point in hesitating. This was the only countermeasure I knew. I had no other choice.
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. The first dish appeared before my eyes.
Beef tataki served with lemon dill butter. I stared silently at the food. If I didn't eat, would I be trapped forever in this empty space?
I began to eat.
I didn't die. I was still breathing. I didn't feel any pain either. I could breathe just fine.
But I still didn't know. I had only eaten the first course. It could have just been a coincidence that the correct choice for the first course was the first option.
I continued eating. I succeeded in finishing all five courses.
"Ha, hahaha... ahahahahahahaha!"
I was still alive. And as if the space where nothing existed except the table, the menu, and me had been a lie, it vanished, and I was back in my quarters.
The only proof that what had just happened was real was the menu lying on the floor.
Choose the first option of every course. Even if the contents of the menu change, that fact does not seem to change. Only then did I wipe the sweat streaming down my face and collapse onto the floor.
"That fucking mountain goat head bastard."
What the hell did he give me?
After killing some time to regain my composure, I took a deep breath.
That viscous lump wasn't like this. What was the difference?
Nothing happened just from looking at the viscous lump. It was nothing more than a nauseating, squirming mass. But that menu from earlier was different, completely different.
No, not just different. It was dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Even though it looked like nothing! How should I put it. It felt like a copy of part of Gapseuni's.
That was the only way I could describe it.
"Hoo, hngh."
Even as I gasped for breath in a state of exhaustion, part of my mind was occupied with another thought. A bold idea that could be called a flash of opportunity.
What if other contaminated zones also contained... parts of their own rules?
What if I could store those in my inventory? And what if I could find a way to secure my safety using those dangerous items?
Countless question marks came together to form a final one.
Could this become my weapon? Like Perseus in the comic books I read as a child, who cut off Medusa's head and carried it on his shield.
There was no reason not to try. I knew how to survive the menu currently in my inventory.
But what about someone experiencing it for the first time? Would they be able to choose the first option for every menu as naturally as I did?
No way.
That aside, to think that even an item received from a source of contamination, not the source itself, could possess such bizarre power. I suddenly recalled the first contaminated zone I had ever cleaned.
Tearing out human vocal cords, something resembling a fetus. The pale umbilical cord that was sucked back into the source of contamination when the cleanup succeeded. Maybe that, too, had possessed some kind of power.
"...I should have taken it if I could."
It was too late to regret it now. To begin with, it was my first cleanup, and I was too flustered. By the end, my head was burning hot, and I couldn't see straight.
But from now on, if there was a chance to take something, I would take it as much as possible. Making the same mistake because of panic once was enough.
"But this thing."
Thinking of Gapseuni's menu in my inventory, I let out a hollow laugh. The food was real. I felt full, and the aftertaste of what I had eaten earlier still lingered.
I wouldn't have to worry about starving anymore.
All I had to do was take out the menu and look at it, and a full-course meal prepared just for me would appear. The menu kept changing, too, and it tasted unbelievably good. Gourmet food so exquisite that someone from a lowlife background like mine would never have tasted it otherwise.
To think that meat-based dishes could be duplicated.
"I need more."
Not monsters scattered around contaminated zones. I needed to bring back something from the sources of contamination themselves. That much was clear.
And the best would be whatever came out of the remains when a source of contamination was destroyed. Something even more reliable than the menu I had now.
There was only one way to find out. I would have to clean contaminated zones to learn the truth.
At that moment, the doorbell to my quarters rang. When I checked the intercom, Woo Gil-young was standing there, accompanied by two men in suits.
"Oh boy."
I opened the door first and then spoke to Woo Gil-young.
"Sorry, but I'm a bit tired today."
"Yeah, I heard. You went into a place where the contamination level was mismeasured and had a rough time, didn't you?"
It was fortunate that I came back alive. That was not something I could say lightly after what I had gone through.
"Do you know this, Director Woo Gil-young? The equipment you provided didn't mean much."
A force field generator? High-speed recovery agents?
Inside Gapseuni's, none of it mattered. It would have been better to receive equipment that could project overwhelming firepower.
Maybe then I could have tried fighting that reindeer-headed thing.
"I learned that inside a contaminated zone, attack is the best defense. Please provide more appropriate support in the future."
At my words, Woo Gil-young laughed, chuckling.
"Don't be so prickly. I'm expecting the item from inside the contaminated zone that you handed over to be quite useful."
What was that supposed to mean?
"Why do you think you had such a hard time this time?"
"Because the contamination level was measured incorrectly."
If it had been measured properly, an apprentice cleaner like me would never have been sent into such a hellish place. Hearing my answer, Woo Gil-young nodded.
"The risk calculation system. It has a lot of problems."
"What is that?"
"The current method we use to measure contamination levels. It relies on assessing the danger of contaminated zones, but the numbers can easily be distorted by various variables."
For example, if there are rules that must be followed, the contamination level drops. Gapseuni's was a prime example of that.
"If there are rules to follow, doesn't the danger decrease no matter how powerful the monster is? For example, a tiger that can't move while you're looking at it."
I made a complicated expression. A tiger that doesn't move when you look at it.
Is that... really not dangerous? It still sounds dangerous.
But the fact that there was a way to deal with it did lower the danger. And when the danger dropped, the measured contamination level dropped as well.
"I think you need to change that sloppy contamination measurement method first."
At my words, Woo Gil-young nodded vigorously.
"Exactly!"
I hadn't expected him to agree with me so enthusiastically.
"If we research the contaminated material you provided, we can improve the accuracy of contamination measurement."
"Oh?"
I held back a smile at that.
Valuable items bring more support. The value of the contaminated materials I brought back had been proven, so from now on, the Korean government would promise active support.
"Ah, by the way...."
After saying that, Woo Gil-young checked the clock on the wall.
"Are you expecting someone else?"
"Yes. They should be arriving soon."
And then, the doorbell rang again.
"Ah, it seems they've arrived."
I stood up and checked the doorphone. It was a middle-aged man in a military uniform.
He was wearing a uniform, but he was quite overweight. The belt cinched around his waist looked like it might burst at any moment, so strained that it almost seemed to be screaming.
"Who is it?"
—I am Oh Min, a brigadier general and policy planning officer from the Ministry of National Defense's Office of Defense Policy. Open the door.
From the Ministry of National Defense, and with two stars on his shoulders. I opened the door.
"Nice to meet you. I'm apprentice cleaner Kim Sangseon."
After opening the door and greeting him, he replied with a short nod.
"Yeah. I know. Is Director Woo Gil-young inside too?"
"Yes, he is."
It was blatant condescension. But I wasn't offended by that. In this country, a soldier with two stars wouldn't have many occasions to speak politely.
"General, it's been a while."
Woo Gil-young, who had followed behind, bowed deeply in greeting to General Oh Min.
"How have you been?"
He handed the hat he had been wearing to Woo Gil-young as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And just as naturally, Woo Gil-young took it and hung it on the coat rack.
I silently watched the two of them and prepared three cups of tea.
"Have a seat."
General Oh Min sat on the sofa, and Woo Gil-young followed and sat down as well.
"How far had you gotten in the discussion?"
"Ah, we were talking about the value of contaminated materials."
"Is that so?"
After hearing Woo Gil-young's words, General Oh Min stroked his chin, then looked at me and smiled.
"Being able to serve for the prosperity of the nation is a great blessing. I'm very glad that a talent like you has emerged."
"Thank you."
There wasn't much to say. He probably hadn't said it expecting a response anyway.
"According to what Director Woo Gil-young says, a very large amount of contaminated material is needed for research to make progress. What's the reason?"
At his words, Woo Gil-young immediately responded.
"It's the same principle as Madame Curie heating ten tons of pitchblende to discover radium and polonium."
To conduct research from many angles, a massive amount of contaminated material was required. And the only person who could bring it out of contaminated zones was me.
"So I'll be able to receive active and continuous support from now on."
At my words, General Oh Min slightly frowned.
"My boy. You shouldn't be thinking about personal gain when doing work for the nation."
What was he talking about? I was seriously flustered.
"From what I can see, the armed forces are already providing you with sufficient support."
"What?"
Sufficient support, my ass. The moment I heard that, it felt like my mind froze solid.
What is this, do you like course meals? I know a place where one of two people dies. Want to go together?