Chapter 5: Anomaly Catching Anomaly

New Anomalous Entity, 163-19 (4)

Arthur, the chief researcher of the Anomaly Research Department and Sophia's Hubae, was currently deep in thought.

"...”

The subject of his contemplation was, of course, his Seonbae, Sophia Brown.

He was used to seeing her sitting with an expression that made it hard to tell whether she was naturally taciturn or just clueless.

But today, she seemed even stranger than usual.

Unlike simply being spaced out, she looked as if her soul had left her body.

'It's probably because of yesterday's interview…'

Interview.

The act of sharing information by talking face to face.

In a dictionary, it would be defined as a very peaceful word.

But in this 'Anomaly Research Department,' the word 'interview' had a very different image from the common perception.

It was commonplace to encounter things that defied logic and common sense, things that could not be explained scientifically.

Among things that completely disregarded the world's physical laws and could jump out in any direction at any time, facing and talking to them as an ordinary human being was more dangerous than one could imagine.

There were cases where researchers lost their lives to Anomalies that suddenly destroyed safety devices with unknown forces during interviews.

It was also common for researchers who had successfully completed interviews to suddenly go insane or develop mental problems and release the isolated paranormal phenomena.

It was entirely possible that Sophia, who had finished an interview with a new anomalous entity that was a mass of variables, with everything unknown, let alone isolation procedures, would be completely drained and half out of her mind.

"Sophia Seonbae."

However, he couldn't just leave his Seonbae in such a daze forever.

He had heard countless stories of researchers who had been left alone after showing unusual behavior, only to be caught up in the incidents they caused and die.

For his own safety, he needed to determine whether she was simply spaced out or not.

More than anything, he had to bring her back to her senses for her own sake, as she was still sitting there despite the call alarms that had been popping up on her work computer.

"…Sophia Seonbae?"

But for some reason, Sophia didn't seem to react to his voice calling her from right next to her.

He was seized with anxiety that she might have really been mentally contaminated by the anomalous entity, and that she might suddenly jump up with unfocused eyes and stab him with a pen.

Half thinking that such a thing would never really happen, and half thinking that he couldn't just leave his Seonbae, with whom he had worked for quite a long time, he called out her name again in a loud voice.

"Sophia Seonbae!"

"U, uwa?! What is it, what's wrong?!"

She trembled greatly, as if she had seen a ghost, and reacted to her Seonbae's voice.

Arthur breathed a small sigh of relief as he saw her answer with the same atmosphere and voice as usual.

"W, why are you suddenly startling people like that? I'm not deaf, you know."

"No, you are. I've called you three times already, and you didn't react."

"...Really? No, don't lie. I think you're doing this because of what I did to you yesterday, but if you're going to trick me like that, you should have waited at least a week."

"Do you think I'm like you? Then, what were you doing just now, sitting there blankly?"

"T, that's…"

When he asked that, Sophia stammered and then closed her mouth. It seemed like something was bothering her.

"What's wrong? Did something happen during yesterday's interview?"

His voice was filled with genuine concern.

It was true that he had accepted a certain amount of risk from the moment he joined this place, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of death.

He couldn't help but worry about her safety, wondering if his Seonbae had been attacked or threatened in an unexpected way during yesterday's interview and was now half out of her mind.

"Well, judging by how peaceful the base was yesterday, it doesn't seem like anything big happened, but still, just in case."

Then, remembering that he had been teased by her just yesterday, Arthur tried to hide his worried feelings and changed the subject.

Whether she knew his feelings or not, she remained silent.

"Well, judging by that look, it doesn't seem like you had a very good experience."

When Sophia continued to remain silent, he assumed that yesterday's events had left her with bad memories.

Well, there were plenty of things that could be traumatic, even if they didn't threaten one's life.

The sight of a monster with safety devices all over its body sticking its face right in front of one's nose and gnashing its teeth, or facing anomalous entities that inflict internal damage to the mind by using psychological terror, even if there is no physical damage, were examples of such things.

"No, I didn't have a bad experience. If anything, it was rather good."

However, hearing that, she expressed a positive opinion about yesterday's interview, as if it were the opposite.

"Really? Then why are you making such a serious face?"

It was a reasonable question.

Putting aside the fact that it was difficult to meet a friendly Anomaly that would make one think of the interview itself as positive, it would be normal to think that if one had such a pleasant encounter, one would not stammer or close one's mouth when someone asked about it.

As he said, there was no reason for her to maintain such a serious atmosphere with a stiff face from earlier until now.

Sophia covered her mouth with her hand.

It was a habit she usually had when she was deep in thought.

Her chin twitched below her covered mouth, as if she was repeating the act of saying something and then stopping, and after a little time, she finally seemed to have decided something and began to mutter something in a small voice that could barely be heard.

"...was cute."

Finally, her mouth opened, but unfortunately, her only listener could only hear a part of the sound.

Of course, this was not because Arthur was pretending not to listen.

If anyone were to be held responsible for this, it would be her for speaking in too small a voice, but he was not so ill-tempered as to scold someone for speaking in a small voice when they were trying to muster up the courage to say something.

"Uh… sorry, I didn't hear what you just said. Can you say it again?"

Arthur asked her again so that his Seonbae wouldn't feel burdened.

Well, she herself was probably aware that her voice was small.

And this time, she seemed to have made up her mind and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air, and this time, she was able to clearly convey what she had been trying to say to her Seonbae.

"It was cute."

Well, whether he could easily understand it was another story.

"…?"

Arthur's face began to contort in a strange direction.

It wasn't really the case, but it was as if numerous question marks were floating around his face.

"It was so cute."

"No, I didn't mean for you to say it again."

Arthur said, waving his hand.

In fact, the second time she said it, the sound was loud enough for him to hear clearly.

Of course, hearing it clearly didn't mean he understood it perfectly.

Even if he didn't understand it, it was definitely not something he wanted to hear repeated twice.

"Oh my god, there was this little girl with chestnut hair and a small frame, and the way she looked up at me was so cute, I couldn't take my eyes off her."

"Yeah, you mean cute. I understood enough."

"It wasn't just cute! She even communicated by nodding or shaking her head! I thought a doll had come to life."

"No, that's enough, please stop talking."

"She even waved goodbye when I left. Isn't that completely seducing me to pet her? If it weren't for that barrier――"

"…Seonbae, I'm just asking in case, but you really got your mental contamination check on time, right?"

After a lecture that could be called annoying.

Arthur clutched his head and asked her a question to resolve the question that had been lingering in his mind since earlier.

"What do you take me for? And in the first place, it's not like I can just skip it if I don't want to get it."

"That's true, but, phew…"

Some Anomalies inflict mental harm.

Some simply cause pain to the other person, some cause permanent disabilities, and some are dangerous enough to control people at will.

Usually, these types of Anomalies disguise themselves as if there is no external damage, brainwash the researchers, and then act normally on the outside, and then manipulate them at a crucial moment to cause enormous damage to the facility.

Therefore, he momentarily suspected that the entity Sophia had interviewed this time might also be that kind of anomalous entity, but as she had just said, the mental contamination test after interviewing a new anomalous entity wasn't something a researcher could avoid just because they wanted to.

It was unconditionally mandatory, and the rule was to forcibly restrain any researcher who tried to avoid it.

And the fact that she was standing before him without any issues meant that her mental contamination test had come back clean.

Which was as good as solid proof that she hadn't been mentally contaminated at all.

And he would have preferred to remain ignorant for the rest of his life about the undeniable fact that she had spewed out such disgusting... remarks while completely sober.

"Shouldn't we report this first?"

"...That's rude. I just happen to extremely like cute things."

"I wonder if the police would think the same."

"I'm saying this because I'm worried Arthur might misunderstand. I'm normal. Adoring and loving are different meanings. A person who likes animals and someone who engages in bestiality are clearly different kinds of people."

"S-Seonbae, everything's fine, but could you choose your words a little..."

"Okay. An animal lover and an animal fucker are clearly differ--"

"That's it. Let's just drop it."

Arthur cut her off sharply.

Now that he knew she hadn't suffered any particular harm from yesterday's interview, it was obvious that only pointless conversation would follow.

And frankly, he was a little afraid of how far the topic of this conversation would go.

In a corner of the Anomalous Phenomena Research Department.

Arthur shook his head as if he was fed up, completely forgetting that he had some information to tell her.

And Sophia, unaware that a call alarm was constantly ringing on one corner of her office computer, was smiling as if she found her junior's reaction amusing.

! Emergency Alert !

Issued by the Anomaly Management Bureau

Emergency alert for the entire Site-17

Anomalous Phenomenon 871, [Swallowing Shadow] containment breach.

Due to the nature of the Anomaly, most of the alarm systems within the site may have been destroyed.

If you have received this alert message, please inform those around you and quickly evacuate to the nearest safe house.

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