By Zephyria 
‘Infidelity? What infidelity? If it’s the Director, are you perhaps talking about Jae-ha?’
Before I could ask Geum Na-ro what that meant, the screen abruptly went black.
The AI, Alice, reappeared on the rebooted screen, along with the Database, as if they had been watching all along.
-Welcome, Administrator’s guest.
Looking at Alice, who greeted me as if nothing had happened, I thought.
‘Even though he left after saying something unsettling… Geum Na-ro did clean up properly before leaving.’
Relieved, I pretended to search the Database for a while before stopping. I even muttered to myself that it was too much to chase after the culprit and arrest them myself, especially since I wasn’t a Management Bureau employee.
‘If I do this, the Director, after looking at the CCTV footage, will think I’ve finally given up.’
She would just remember me as some crazy guy who, out of childish stubbornness, came to tour the Management Bureau’s innermost depths.
I ordered Alice to turn off the system power and waited alone in the information room. Soon, the Director appeared.
“Yeon Yujin Guide. Did you see everything you wanted to see?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, the amount of data in the Database containing Ability Users’ personal information is too vast… I won’t be able to track the culprit any further, though.”
As I tried my best to look dejected, I saw the corners of the Director’s lips twitch.
She seemed pleased that she wouldn’t be dragged around by me any longer.
“Still, it was an enjoyable experience to see even a part of the Management Bureau’s inner workings.”
“That’s good to hear. If you ever apply to the Management Bureau in the future, write about this experience in your application. The interviewer will be very surprised.”
After exchanging insincere laughter with the Director over her empty words, we left the information room.
As we walked through the winding corridor again and boarded the elevator, I decided to ask the Director about something I was curious about.
“Um, may I ask you something?”
“…What are you referring to?”
The Director’s face, which had been beaming with the thought of finally being able to send me away, instantly contorted. It was just for a moment, though.
Ignoring it, I told her about the incident where I had encountered another employee in the information room.
“There was someone who didn’t seem to know that I was scheduled to visit the information room today. It seemed like another Management Bureau employee who was in the information room before me. They even pointed a Taser Gun at me, calling me a suspicious person, you know?”
I told the story while laughing cheerfully, but Director Shin Yun-hui’s mouth snapped shut, and her expression turned frighteningly cold.
“…Another Management Bureau employee visited the information room? Before we arrived?”
“Ah, yes. That’s what they said. That’s why they didn’t know I was coming. There was a tense standoff, but when I showed them the Card Key, saying that I had come with an employee’s guidance, they believed me and lowered their guard.”
Perhaps it was because of the stuffy elevator with only black walls, but the Director’s complexion turned pale as it was hit by the dark light.
The Director said seriously in a stiff tone.
“That can’t be.”
“Yes? What…”
“Only Yeon Yujin Guide and I were authorized to enter the information room today. No other Management Bureau employee applied for it. I confirmed this in advance, so it’s certain.”
“……Yes?”
Then who was that employee I saw?
“But that person… when I showed them the temporarily issued Card Key, they realized that I had officially been granted permission to enter. They even said they were assigned to Management Bureau Underground Patrol.”
Upon hearing my words, the Director groaned as if something terrible had happened.
“Management Bureau Underground Patrol doesn’t patrol at this time. Moreover, today isn’t even a day when patrols are scheduled.”
“Then what on earth…?”
“It seems someone impersonated a Management Bureau employee, one who could access the innermost depths, the underground floor, to get in.”
At the Director’s words, I recalled that a similar incident had already occurred.
“…On the day of the Ability Re-measurement, the culprit also approached by disguising himself as an employee.”
That bastard.
The culprit X I’m chasing.
That bastard had business in the Management Bureau’s inner depths this time.
The Director seemed to have the same thought as me, as the color drained from her face.
“Damn it. I need to put the entire Management Bureau on emergency alert immediately.”
The Director picked up her phone and made calls here and there. She ordered all the underground floor’s passages to be closed immediately, even spitting as she spoke.
No less than the Director, I was also quite angry.
‘That bastard. He played with me again this time.’
Looking back, I couldn’t clearly remember the face of the bastard who said he was on patrol.
‘It wasn’t because he had a common face. This time, he used the ability to distort his appearance altogether, along with the disguise.’
That was probably an ability he had stolen from some unknown Ability User.
‘Moreover, if the bastard had a reason to come to the Management Bureau’s information room under the guise of patrol….’
Hyeon Jae-ha.
It could only be Jae-ha.
That bastard must have come here to get the information about Jae-ha and his colleagues that was stored here.
I felt the blood vessels in my whole body turning coldly. It became difficult to manage my expression.
As the elevator rose to the ground floor lobby, I saw Management Bureau employees who were tense, unlike when we went down. The entrance was already closed, and the shutters were down.
The Director opened her mouth.
“From now on, no one can leave until we catch the audacious rat that dared to sneak into the Management Bureau.”
No one opposed the Director’s order.
She turned to me and said.
“I’m sorry, but Yeon Yujin Guide. I’ll need you to stay here for a while until things are resolved.”
…Um.
That X bastard is not helping my life.
“Then, can I make a call to Manager Hyung? He’ll be very worried otherwise.”
I promised I’d finish quickly and come back.
At this rate, I’ll just get bombarded with nagging again.
The Director looked at me with pity for a moment and then gave permission.
“That much is fine. Go ahead and make your call.”
“Thank you.”
After that, a massive search that almost turned the entire Management Bureau upside down continued for several hours… but there were no significant gains.
Both the Director and I expected that there must be a collaborator hidden inside in such a case.
However, the investigation only confirmed that there was no traitor inside.
It was speculated that X had obtained the Card Key issuance and other things by using his ability.
“I definitely thought that person was affiliated with the Management Bureau when I saw them… but now that I’m trying to remember, I can’t think of anything.”
“I don’t know why I did that.”
Whether they had been subjected to mental abilities such as Brainwashing, the people who had encountered the culprit only gave confused answers.
Having become a key witness in this case, I honestly told everything I had seen.
Even after hearing all this, the Director couldn’t hide her bewilderment.
“Something’s strange… It doesn’t seem like they came for the purpose of terrorism. Since no data is missing, did they copy it and take it? Or is the purpose to mock the Management Bureau?”
‘I’m the one who copied the data and took it.’
Ouch, my conscience stung a little.
At the same time, I was worried that this incident would be misunderstood as the work of Jae-ha and the White Tiger Unit.
But whether it was a groundless fear, the Director muttered to herself.
“No… it wouldn’t be those guys. They weren’t the kind of bastards who would screw people over like this. Unless they were moving with a clear purpose.”
Those guys were probably Jae-ha and the White Tiger Unit.
‘I’m glad they weren’t framed.’
The Director, who had been groaning alone, allowed me to go back now.
“Today’s events are confidential.”
“Then…”
“There will be no further granting of authority.”
At the firm words, I only spat out my regret inwardly.
“I understand.”
When I contacted Manager Hyung, a vehicle arrived immediately.
The Manager made a fuss, asking what on earth was going on.
“Oh my. Accidents are happening everywhere. I don’t know why it’s so unsettling.”
“I know…”
Throughout the journey home, I thought quietly.
‘Wasn’t it that X tried to access the Database at that time but failed?’
What Jae-ha and I were trying to find was the record about X.
To find it, we inevitably had to filter out the individuals presumed to be the Ability Users that X had killed.
‘X might have wanted to erase that record.’
The urgent situation where Jae-ha had been chasing right under his nose must have made X impatient.
If X felt a sense of crisis, he might have wanted to completely eliminate the Database that contained evidence of his wrongdoing, as well as the means to find him.
But when the Director and I came down to the underground floor, he realized that it was impossible and seemed to have tucked his tail and ran away.
I fiddled with the USB in my pocket.
‘I need to deliver this to Jae-ha’s side quickly.’