Chapter 168

Chapter 168. The 100 Who Rule the World (3)

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[Minji.]

[Author: Doll and Dr. Kang]

[The Science Officer carefully examined the canteen brought from the Abyss. Ah, it must be clearly stated that the canteen was returned as quickly as possible due to the Science Officer’s objection.]

[Honestly, it was unexpected.]

[The canteen recovered from the heart of the Abyss. A Foundation employee treating the canteen like a person while spouting nonsense. I thought this was definitely a cognitive disaster or Tulpa.]

[Ah, what is Tulpa? Tulpa magic is a type of sorcery that materializes imagination into reality. Think of it as an extreme example of an imaginary friend.]

[It was Tibetan, I think.]

[Anyway, our Doll Department found no supernatural phenomena in this canteen, hereafter referred to as ‘Minji.’ It’s just a canteen with a face drawn on it.]

[We couldn’t find any reason to take it, so we just returned it. That Special Forces Science Officer passed the psychiatric evaluation too. It’s just… personally, I consider it an absurd incident.]

****

[Minji. Reply.]

[Author: Research Department Head Lee Se-ah]

[The Research Department has no Doll Department, and Dr. Kang has no relation to Tulpa magic. Someone is attempting to maliciously spread false information targeting Foundation employees.]

[First, let’s find the canteen.]

****

[Report to the Director.]

[Urgent. Please confirm within 1 hour.]

[Author: Research Department Head Lee Se-ah]

[In conclusion, we have retrieved Minji. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but it seems that the supernatural space and Dr. Yang’s wishes created some kind of spirit. In Korean terms, it’s like a dokkaebi.]

[Or maybe something from the Abyss attached to it. I have no way of knowing.]

[Minji was an existing Tulpa, the Special Forces Science Officer wasn’t crazy, and the report previously attributed to Dr. Kang titled ‘Minji’ was likely written by this spirit.]

[The canteen is currently stored in the isolation room with a magical seal. I would appreciate it if you could come and see it yourself.]

****

[Minji. Reply. Reply.]

[Author: Special Forces Science Officer Dr. Yang]

[The canteen in question, hereafter referred to as ‘Minji,’ is a supernatural phenomenon necessary for operations and research. As a Foundation doctor, I demand the right to directly utilize this supernatural phenomenon.]

****

[Minji. Reply. Reply. Reply.]

[Author: Director Kim]

[This is getting more ridiculous, Dr. Yang.]

[It’s embarrassing that Dr. Yang doesn’t have post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Yang should work for the Foundation until the sky splits in two.]

[Take the canteen.]

****

It was a bit disappointing. When high-ranking Foundation officials like administrators and directors move, they usually come riding on some strange UFO-like thing.

But these guys came in on a commercial flight.

“Hello, Dr. Kim. I’m Arseny, just arrived from Vladivostok.”

Vladivostok. A small city with less than a million people, but it’s the only city in the Russian Far East with a Foundation branch, so it’s important.

“What do you want?”

“I want to see evidence that the Seoul Branch can overcome the current situation. It’s rare for supernatural phenomena to act up so much and so violently. We need to see your capabilities to trust the new Seoul Branch.”

For a moment, I thought, “You’re ruling a city smaller than Songpa-gu and talking big,” but I decided to think that they must have some confidence to act like this. Even if it’s annoying.

“Mr. Arseny. Do you know how the owner of the Foundation’s Eastern Fleet died a few months ago?”

“No, I don’t.”

I thought so.

Furani died in the sea near Jeju Island. Nanami cut the warship with her sword, and I boarded and shot Furani’s officers.

Administrator Yustitia handled the aftermath.

“I killed him.”

“Why?”

“Because he annoyed me.”

“Ah…”

It was half a joke, but it was true that he annoyed me. I looked at Arseny.

“Then. I’ll consider it resolved.”

Arseny avoided my gaze. Surprisingly, people like this might be easy to handle.

He said he wanted to see strength, and I showed him strength. Isn’t the problem solved?

My jurisdiction is over ten times larger than his, so his threats wouldn’t work on me.

I glanced at Arseny.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

He seemed to have something to say. Arseny fumbled with his tablet and opened a document.

“I heard you fought the Abyss a few days ago. How was it? Was it strong?”

“The Abyss? Are you talking about Jörmungandr?”

I didn’t fight the Abyss. I fought Jörmungandr, one of the components of the Abyss.

Jörmungandr itself wasn’t that strong. It was a god sealed for thousands, tens of thousands of years, and it was weak because the seal had just been broken.

Or maybe the hero was just strong?

Anyway. Jörmungandr fought our Miss Ahn Yuri for a while and then lost.

I thought about what to tell him.

“We’re just worried about our sister city. Isn’t the Seoul Branch dealing with an unprecedented number of supernatural phenomena?”

“Right.”

“We want to think together about the cause of the current situation, whether we can respond, and whether we can prevent it in the future.”

I nodded.

And-

Foundation Facility 82, the deepest part.

East Asia Director-level meeting.

Seven communication terminals and seven tablets gathered around the round table.

It’s a bit chaotic, but having real-time subtitles and translations might be okay. A human interpreter was also standing behind.

Seven people were sitting at the round table. Except for me, they weren’t all director-level, just representatives from each branch.

The host was me.

After a pause, I began to speak.

“Hello, I am Director Kim of the Seoul Branch. Nice to meet you.”

Silence.

“I think everyone has a lot of interest and concern about the newly reorganized Seoul Branch. I’ll explain slowly. First, I became the chief researcher of the Director’s Office after being a Foundation doctor. I was promoted to director by the Foundation Headquarters during the Yulje-myeon incident.”

I observed the reactions in the meeting room.

There were no particularly negative reactions yet. Let’s keep going. Today’s meeting is about proving our strength.

“The Yulje-myeon incident was one of the worst events of this century, but the Seoul Branch successfully responded. We managed to contain the situation without damaging the Veil and killed several divine-class entities.”

“I believe the Seoul Branch, despite facing the worst situation since World War II, has the strength to overcome it. We’ve been fighting like this so far.”

The director of the Shanghai Branch raised his hand. From behind that strangely shaped communication terminal.

“Where is Admiral Furani?”

“I killed him. The soldiers of the Foundation’s Eastern Fleet tried to assassinate me on Jeju Island.”

“Oh.”

“As you can see, I’m still alive.”

“How is that possible?”

“I suppressed the rebel forces of the Jeju Island Branch and boarded the destroyer to kill those who tried to kill me first.”

“Personally?”

“Yes.”

The lack of information is mutual. Just as I have no information about them, they have no information about me.

This is the first time we’ve faced each other. When someone looks into the Abyss, the Abyss looks back.

Let’s see their faces. They’re supposed to be the people who actually rule the world. After a while, the director of the Hong Kong Branch raised his hand.

“What about the Yulje-myeon incident? Did you find the cause?”

“The most powerful hostile group, the Colorless Orchestra, planned to create a kind of Gu poison using sorcery, but the Foundation intervened in the ritual, and they failed to achieve their final goal.”

It seems they wanted the divine-class entities to kill each other, leaving only the strongest. In the end, most of the divine-class entities were killed by the Foundation, so that plan was thwarted.

We also have the flower created by the Church of Darkness and the dragon egg that came from it.

“What do you think about the issue in front of the stage? There’s a principle of non-intervention, but isn’t some gesture or whisper possible?”

The Hong Kong Branch director asked this question for obvious reasons. He wants some form of support for the power struggle within his jurisdiction.

“I don’t believe in complete non-intervention. Non-response is also a choice. We need to consider what will help the Foundation, the people in our jurisdiction, or the management of the issue.”

The Hong Kong Branch director frowned.

“So you’re not ruling it out.”

“There’s no such thing as ruling out. There’s no guarantee that non-response is the best choice.”

This feels like a hearing about me. It’s the first time I’m directly talking to the Foundation’s leadership, so maybe it’s inevitable?

This time, it’s the Kuala Lumpur Branch.

“I heard the Seoul Branch had several issues, like the director going missing, a series of suicides among executives, and conflicts with the local ruling structure.”

“Resolved. I’m the director, the Seoul Branch has many capable middle managers, and the local ruling structure is fully cooperating with the Foundation.”

The other directors frowned.

Prove our strength. Even if it means speaking a bit harshly.

“The Seoul Branch is one of the branches that deals with the most supernatural phenomena in the world, so you must have some special know-how. What do you think about research or academic exchanges?”

“Positive.”

If there’s something to gain, that’s fine too.

Something… felt off. It’s hard to believe these people have been doing the same work as me, fighting the same enemies.

Their appearance, tone, and way of thinking.

They were so different from what I imagined the former Seoul Branch director to be like, or other Foundation executives, or even what I thought the Seoul Branch executives would look like to outsiders.

Where is the scholarly curiosity about the rules beyond providence? Where is the anger towards monsters threatening humanity? Where is the will to uphold the Foundation’s ideals?

These people… they seem too, too fragile to be the ones effectively ruling the world with the power of providence.