There Are No Humans in the Monster Company

Silence.

The short-haired woman beside him instinctively took a step back and lowered her center of gravity.

Min Do-hyeon’s expression twisted slightly.

She kept her hands close to her pockets, in a stance that allowed her to spring into action at any moment.

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“Jeong Haeil, Control Team of the Anomalous Disaster Management Department.”

I narrowed my eyes and lowered my voice.

Min Do-hyeon asked with a bewildered expression.

“…Excuse me?”

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I slowly took a step forward.

The sound of my shoes crushing the sticky pool of blood echoed clearly.

Of course, it was all a bluff.

Behind me, Lee Seong-hoon inhaled nervously as he tightly gripped the edge of my clothing.

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“I would appreciate it if you could provide your affiliation and identity.”

Min Do-hyeon opened his mouth and then closed it again.

But they didn’t know that.

Silence fell once more.

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In a battle of information, the winner is always the one who can tell a lie as though it were the truth.

As for me, I was reading every tiny tremor in their fingers, feet, and lips.

The woman continued watching every movement of my hands and feet.

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Min Do-hyeon smiled while scratching his head.

“…Well, you see…”

The corner of his lips twitched awkwardly.

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I kept my mouth shut and waited for his reaction.

“That’s enough.”

“…The truth is…”

It was time for excuses.

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Absolute control, without the slightest hesitation.

The woman quickly covered his mouth.

Min Do-hyeon looked at her in surprise.

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“Hyun-yu, it’s okay. adopt They’re also…”

A firm attitude.

“Be quiet. amateur I’ll decide this time.”

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She didn’t need to raise her voice to exert pressure.

The sweat running beneath her short hair glimmered faintly.

I turned my gaze toward her.

She was around one hundred eighty centimeters tall.

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Even beneath her athletic clothing, it was impossible to hide her muscular and solid physique.

‘Military? meadow Police? autumn No. aspect Her movements are different. crystal They have something wilder about them.’

A body like that was a weapon in itself, even without carrying one.

It was a functional body, shaped through the extreme repetition of specific movements.

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My gaze dropped toward her lower body.

An athlete?

Exceptionally developed thighs.

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A highly trained core.

The placement of the calluses on the joints of her middle and ring fingers was unusual.

She extended a hand toward me as she spoke.

“I am Bae Hyun-yu. abstract If you truly belong to the Anomalous Disaster Management Department, show me your official identification.”

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She showed no emotion whatsoever.

If anything, she seemed to be testing me.

I looked back up at her face.

‘Basketball? abstract Volleyball, perhaps?’

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A lie wrapped in the appearance of truth.

“I lost it while escorting a civilian during an escape.”

I took a short breath and nodded.

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When dealing with people, my voice can sound calm and steady.

But a crooked smile appeared on Bae Hyun-yu’s lips.

I felt Lee Seong-hoon flinch behind me.

“A lie. aspect You don’t carry identification cards. album You identify yourselves through armbands.”

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She got me.

Silence fell once again.

“……”

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

‘…She’s someone who possesses information.’

That was something even I didn’t know.

Does the Anomalous Disaster Management Department use armbands instead of identification cards?

Inside my head, the context of all those words flashed by like an electric shock.

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‘I’m at a disadvantage.’

When I encountered those two agents in the infinite corridors, I had been too busy trying to survive to notice something like that.

I slowly lowered my gaze.

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I raised my head and looked at Min Do-hyeon and Bae Hyun-yu again.

“Then… who exactly are you?”

Lee Seong-hoon swallowed behind me.

The moment I finished asking, Min Do-hyeon spoke again.

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“…We’re from the Erosion Alliance.”

Bae Hyun-yu shook her head.

Bae Hyun-yu turned her head and frowned slightly to stop him, but it was already too late.

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I narrowed my eyes.

She seemed to have prepared herself to reveal it sooner or later.

But this time she didn’t cover his mouth.

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I remembered something Manager Moon Ara had told me.

An organization separate from both the Anomalous Disaster Management Department and Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts and the Church of the Coming Feast.

‘The Erosion Alliance.’

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People who lacked the power necessary to confront anomalous phenomena.

An organization formed by unofficial civilians with no specialized training.

A group that had never been registered by the government.

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Survivors who, in places like this prison, where structures and rules became distorted, had banded together to stay alive.

“Why did you hide it?”

In short, an organization of people who adapted to erosion in order to survive.

At my question, Min Do-hyeon answered as if he were in a difficult position.

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“Ah, well… you seemed a little dangerous, and then suddenly you said you were from the Control Team, so…”

“It’s even more foolish to immediately introduce yourself as a member of the Erosion Alliance to someone who has just entered an erosion zone. academy You lied too. audit You said you were from the Anomalous Disaster Management Department.”

At those words, I had no choice but to nod.

As he left the sentence unfinished and scratched his head, Bae Hyun-yu muttered briefly.

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The Erosion Alliance.

And I organized my thoughts again.

“…That’s true.”

Lee Seong-hoon.

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And the corpses inside the library.

‘Of course, absolutely nothing.’

In this situation, the thing I could trust was—

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

Bae Hyun-yu immediately continued.

Bae Hyun-yu narrowed her eyes.

“Then what exactly are you? adopt You’re not one of us, you know about the Anomalous Disaster Management Department, but you don’t belong to them either, so…”

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Lee Seong-hoon, who remained pressed against my back, couldn’t endure the strange silence and spoke in a trembling voice.

At the same time, inside the library, in that damp air mixed with the smell of blood and paper, the gazes of all four people pointed at one another like sharpened blades.

“Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts?”

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At Bae Hyun-yu’s cold reply, Lee Seong-hoon flinched and shrank back.

“T-this… but… if we’re all people, doesn’t that mean we don’t need to fight each other?”

He had spoken without thinking, but even so, her response was so sharp that it seemed excessively cruel.

“If you don’t know anything, stay out of it.”

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“Buddy. harbor It’s okay. autumn We’re the ones who are too tense. arena Try to understand. agent In a situation like this, anyone would be on edge.”

“No, no, Hyun-yu. anxiety You don’t have to go that far…”

Min Do-hyeon smiled awkwardly to calm her down, then crouched until he was at Lee Seong-hoon’s eye level.

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But I could sense the hidden intent behind those words.

“……”

A friendly tone.

“Right now it’s hard to trust anyone, isn’t it? auction Everyone lies, hides things, and deceives others… don’t they?”

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Sometimes, unnecessary kindness is a form of attack designed to make an opponent careless.

I let out a short sigh.

‘That guy is good at making people lower their guard.’

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The Erosion Alliance.

‘I’m at far too much of a disadvantage.’

The group that Manager Moon Ara had mocked and ridiculed without end.

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They possessed enough information to deduce the existence of Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts.

They knew the identification methods used by the Anomalous Disaster Management Department.

And yet.

‘They know far more than I expected.’

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For now, it was still only a hypothesis.

No.

‘Is it possible for an unofficial organization to know even the internal workings of an official institution?’

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I breathed slowly.

‘Then my bluff is still valid.’

Frowning slightly, I slipped a hand into my pocket without saying anything.

I didn’t know how far their knowledge actually extended.

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Of course, I had nothing in my hand.

And I spoke calmly.

It was only a gesture.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

A brief silence followed.

Amid that silence, I could see both of their pupils waver slightly.

“…I am currently retired, but it is true that I once belonged to the Anomalous Disaster Management Department.”

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Even so, it was still impossible to tell what it meant.

Min Do-hyeon’s expression changed slightly at my words.

“I come from the Control Team. action At the moment I have no way to prove my identity, but if we could obtain some means of communication, it would even be possible for the current head of the Control Team, Yeom Hwi, to come here himself.”

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I said it without blinking.

“If you belonged to the Anomalous Disaster Management Department, why did you leave?”

Bae Hyun-yu tilted her head.

“Because of mental health issues.”

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But in a place like this, a lie had to be capable of covering the truth.

“While traveling through erosion zones like this one, there were colleagues who disappeared, and I watched my partner get torn apart right in front of my eyes.”

It was a lie.

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“……”

“Then why did you come back here? acoustic You said you retired, so why are you in a restricted zone?”

Min Do-hyeon slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s a personal matter. acquire I can’t go into details…”

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“I entered temporarily. abandon As support for the Control Team.”

“……”

“I received a request from Chief Yeom Hwi. meadow He asked whether I could help unofficially.”

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Another lie.

But it was a sufficiently convincing story.

Silence stimulates the other person’s imagination and adds flesh to lies.

I added nothing more.

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For a while, nobody spoke.

“…Don’t they usually operate in pairs?”

Then Bae Hyun-yu asked,

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“I already told you. admire This is unofficial support.”

She was probably right about the pair system.

I answered quietly.

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“And what about you?”

“We’re conducting a search.”

At my question, Min Do-hyeon smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

After all, Yeom Hwi and Seo Ryu, whom I met in the Infinite Labyrinth, had also been working as a pair.

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That was when I realized it.

Silence spread once again.

The tension they were giving off wasn’t simply hostility.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

They were frightened too.

Just like me.

‘I don’t like lying, but…’

They also knew that this library, this prison, and this entire space were an unfamiliar and yet strangely familiar nightmare.

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Supervisor Hong Na-gyeom.

Manager Moon Ara.

Audit Team Director Go Gyeol.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

The humans adapted to Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts whom I had met.

Creeeak—

Rather than revealing that I belonged to the company, it was better to deceive them.

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It was far too strange to be merely the creaking of a bookshelf.

It sounded as though the very seams of space were falling out of alignment.

A strange scraping sound came from behind the desk Bae Hyun-yu was watching.

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The boy stared at something between the gaps in the bookshelves and suddenly took a step back.

Lee Seong-hoon said.

“…Something’s wrong.”

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The place where the bookshelf had been.

I turned and looked in that direction.

I stood up immediately.

“Hyung, over there… there’s a path that wasn’t there before…”

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Now it was empty.

The space that, as far as I remembered, had been completely blocked off.

The bookshelves were coming apart as though they were melting.

The wall was disappearing.

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The structure.

The pathways.

The shape.

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It seemed she had expected it to some extent.

Bae Hyun-yu muttered.

“That was fast.”

Everything was warping.

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“We can’t stay in this library much longer. apple Let’s move before it collapses.”

Without even looking at me, she firmly adjusted the strap of her backpack.

I nodded.

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Only then did Min Do-hyeon relax his shoulders and agree.

“Agreed.”

“Huff, yeah. arena Let’s keep talking while we move.”

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We simply started walking.

Nobody gave an order.

The four of us stood up at the same time.

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I glanced once at Lee Seong-hoon.

The bookshelves behind us no longer looked like walls but like cliffs collapsing inward.

‘For now…’

He was still looking around with a startled expression, but at least he was following us properly.

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The gate we had entered through had changed locations and was now there.

The library exit.

Without saying anything, I passed by him and took the lead.

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A flickering light shone at the far end.

The upper half was partially raised, and beneath it stretched a dark passageway.

A gate made of interconnected iron bars.

As if the library itself had already decided where to send us.

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The characteristic screech of ventilation ducts.

“…A courtyard?”

We passed through the gate one by one.

A strange, whitish illumination.

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In a normal prison, it would have been the space used during the inmates’ allotted recreation hours.

We had arrived at a courtyard.

But this place was different.

Min Do-hyeon was the first to speak.

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The basic structure was still that of a realistic courtyard.

Some kind of distortion warped the outer boundaries of the yard.

However, countless impossible things were superimposed over it.

It was an entirely new scene.

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The sky was half blackened, as though someone had spilled ink across a canvas.

Others stretched unnaturally upward, as though twisted by the hand of an anomalous entity.

The air was saturated with a metallic smell.

Parts of the tall metal fences had collapsed.

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At the center of that structure hung a body with a broken neck, swaying slowly like a halted pendulum.

At the center of the courtyard stood a massive structure made of steel beams.

“Disgusting.”

Mountains of corpses were piled around it.

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“W-why?”

“The situation isn’t good.”

I slowly narrowed my eyes.

Bae Hyun-yu held her breath.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

Lee Seong-hoon asked.

Something was moving.

I looked directly at the steel structure and the piles of corpses surrounding it.

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It was watching us.

It wasn’t running.

It wasn’t crawling.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

From somewhere.

I slowly turned my head.

Without any doubt.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

Exactly.

The remains of what had once been a courtyard.

Dividing lines that seemed to mark off sectors.

Everything was open.

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Some protruded upward.

Concrete walls rising everywhere.

Metal fences.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

This wasn’t the prison courtyard I had seen when I entered through the main gate.

Others had sunk into the ground, forming enormous cracks.

‘…How strange.’

As I stepped across the ground beneath my feet, I slowly scanned the surroundings.

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The layout was different.

The distance between the buildings in the distance.

The structure was different.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

Even the direction of the lighting.

The positions of the window frames.

“This isn’t the courtyard I know.”

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“It must have warped. altitude Just like the library.”

When I spoke, Bae Hyun-yu gave a brief nod.

“It could also be entirely different coordinates.”

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Not because I left the sentence unfinished.

But because I heard something.

I was about to reply when I stopped.

Min Do-hyeon murmured.

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Instinctively, I turned and looked toward its source.

A strange sound.

Clank.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

A shadow.

The necklace vibrated softly as it detected a red aura beyond it.

In one corner of the courtyard stood a small building covered by an iron door.

The door was slowly opening, swinging without any pattern.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

Thump.

Thump.

A presence.

Content of There Are No Humans in the Monster Company - Chapter 44: Gangsol Prison (4) published by TrungTu Reads.

“Well… they’re here. arcade Run!”

Thump.

The moment Bae Hyun-yu finished speaking, those things emerged from the cloud of dust.