NOVEL NEXT WORLD In the corner of the room, a little distance away from two men, there stood a girl and a woman quietly watching them.
‘…So boring,’ murmured the 19th entity in her mind. The girl’s face was already showing clear signs of boredom.
It wasn’t surprising. It took quite some time to fly from Base 17 to this facility, and the person accompanying her was not exactly the chattiest soul, even if they were just making small talk.
Maybe if there was something to loosen up with, it would have been different. However, since arriving at the facility, nothing particularly eventful had occurred.
Above all, thanks to whatever rules were at play, she couldn’t just waltz off and act alone. So here she was, just silently waiting for them to finish their work.
“….”
Thus, it wasn’t too strange for the girl to cast her gaze on the woman beside her.
Humans are social creatures, after all; when placed in extremely dull situations, they naturally crave someone to chat with.
19th entity wasn’t particularly standoffish, so with a blank expression, she spoke to the woman leaning against the wall.
“Hey.”
“…Uh, eh, yeah?”
When the girl spoke, Eleanor jolted her shoulder and stammered out something that barely qualified as language. It seemed she hadn’t expected anyone to address her.
“Are you… talking to me?”
She asked, pointing to herself with incredulity.
The sight of her addressing someone much younger than herself with such formality was amusing, but honestly, it was hard to laugh at her situation.
After all, if someone had just burst open a steel door with a kick before starting a conversation, anyone would be cautious, regardless of appearances.
“Yeah, that’s right. You seemed really nervous, so I was just checking in.”
The girl said. Unlike Eleanor’s worries about what the girl might be asking, the question was surprisingly human.
Eleanor could sense the humanity hidden in the girl’s impassive expression.
“Ah, I’m fine. It happens often in a place like this. At least seeing you all here makes it seem like things aren’t too desperate…and maybe, just maybe, I might be able to get out of here—”
What came out of her mouth was a response that felt oddly formal.
While it was true that some of her guard had dropped in front of the girl, it wasn’t exactly easy to pour her heart out to a complete stranger.
She muttered a few words and then fell silent, not knowing what else to say.
“…Hah. I’m sorry. Honestly, I’m not even sure myself.”
Eventually, she sighed and began expressing her honest thoughts.
“The members I came with all died in the blink of an eye, and until just now, I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or in reality.”
Those who join the Abnormal Phenomena Management Office typically have an above-average sense of justice.
It might sound childish, but it is an undeniable fact.
Just like not many would readily agree to go fight a lion inside a pit for a large reward, it’s not easy to deal with monsters that are several times more threatening than beasts, even with promises of great rewards.
Therefore, the Management Office primarily sought out people of that nature.
Eleanor was one such person among them.
“The worst part is, instead of finishing the mission in place of my fallen comrades, I feel pathetic that I’m trembling, making all the training I’ve received meaningless.”
But just because someone has a sense of justice doesn’t mean they’ll automatically become a hero.
They can leap into a fire to save someone or throw themselves onto a grenade for their comrades.
Yet when faced with a fear so overwhelming that they can’t even begin to comprehend it, even the strongest of hearts can crumble.
“I thought I had gotten used to this work… but I guess not.”
She hung her head. She was trying her best to appear normal, but it didn’t completely hide her anxious demeanor.
“If it’s that hard, why don’t you just quit? This place doesn’t exactly seem like a good job to me.”
At the same time, the 19th entity wondered why she hadn’t quit already.
It had been a long time since she left her hometown, but she still retained some sentiments to think like a regular person.
After all, she too used to be an ordinary salaried worker and citizen.
Had someone back then suggested she join a place like the Management Office, she would have dismissed the offer without a second thought.
“That’s true. I can’t count how many times I’ve thought about quitting since I started working here.”
Eleanor seemed to partially agree with her.
While she’d managed to survive, it wasn’t an easy choice to keep doing this job, especially after experiencing this incident.
Even if they could escape this place, there might come a day when they’d end up in an even more horrific situation somewhere like this, or worse.
For anyone who thought that way, the only thing that would cross their mind would be to erase their memories and live out the rest of their lives in comfort.
“But still…”
However, it seemed she didn’t intend to leave her sentence unfinished, as she opened her mouth again.
“Still, someone has to do this job.”
She calmly spat out a decision most people would never dream of making.
“I know I can’t influence the mission much. But if my involvement can help someone survive who would’ve otherwise died…”
As explained earlier, there is a wall that humans can’t overcome.
No matter how strong their mental fortitude, they ultimately become powerless in front of entities that can directly affect their brains.
No matter how strong one trains their body, there are materials in this world tougher than human muscle and bone.
“Somehow, I just can’t seem to quit this job.”
But on the flip side, humans have stood against these abnormal phenomena despite it all.
Had they given up upon realizing their limits, humanity might still be living in caves, fearing the dark.
Thanks to those who refused to give in, the Management Office has successfully managed countless abnormal phenomena, protecting many people’s daily lives.
And as mentioned before, Eleanor was one of those individuals.
“…Hmm.”
The 19th entity squinted her eyes.
She couldn’t really figure out what intention lay behind it, but she sensed that the girl’s gaze was anything but ordinary, so she promptly changed the subject.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Here I am, shaking like a leaf on the way here and saying something embarrassing.”
“It’s fine. It was better than just sitting in silence.”
“Haha… I’m relieved to hear that.”
She scratched her head awkwardly.
To be honest, she hadn’t planned to reveal so much, but what was going on?
Was lowering her guard just a little causing her body and mind to relax a bit too much?
Well, that was still uncertain.
And she probably wouldn’t have the luxury of thinking about it until they got out of this place.
“I’m Eleanor. I was dispatched to investigate the communication blackout in this facility. Of course, you’re probably here for the same reason…”
She introduced herself.
It was a bit late for self-introduction, but better late than never.
“I’m the 19th entity.”
“…19th? Is that some sort of code name?”
The girl casually introduced herself as well, but Eleanor showed a slightly odd reaction upon hearing the name.
Isn’t it strange for a person’s name to be just a number?
As far as she knew, that was usually reserved for mere test subjects or abnormalities.
“Eh, pretty much.”
The 19th entity felt a faint sense of that too, but didn’t bother to elaborate on the odd naming convention.
After all, she hadn’t received any other name aside from this, nor could she share her real name.
Unless she had a sparkling talent for naming, all that popped into her mind were terrible or bizarre notions, anyway.
Maybe it would be best to come up with a real name later. She thought as she decided to just let it slide for now.
“If so, 19th, do you—”
Eleanor felt a peculiar discomfort but decided not to dwell on it.
Asking a stranger why their name was that seemed rude, and besides, there were more pressing matters at hand.
She opened her mouth to ask something, but just then…
“19th.”
Their attention was drawn to a deep male voice nearby.
It was Elijah calling for the 19th entity.
The imposing man who had arrived with the girl, who somehow radiated intimidation.
He had just been working the launch control console with Cooper, and now he seemed to have wrapped up his task.
The girl looked at the man who called her, finally questioning if the tedious wait was over.
“Yes, it’s all done, but…”
He replied. However, his answer seemingly lacked any refreshing quality.
Perhaps, or maybe, the same emotion was evident on Eleanor’s face.
After all, in a situation as ominous as this, there was only one response that sounded likely.
Had her playful superior said something like this, she would have thought he was joking and scolded him to cut it out.
But unfortunately, the man in front of her didn’t seem to carry that kind of personality.
Tap, tap, someone walked in from behind the man.
Of course, it was Cooper.
He scratched his head, adopting a demeanor that seemed unnecessarily anxious.
He looked back at the console repeatedly, rubbed his eyes, and then let out a big sigh.
“It won’t stop, this thing.”
Without any formalities like asking if they wanted to hear good news or bad news first, he promptly delivered the bad news to them.