Chapter 4
But That Wasn’t Possible
There is a saying: life is C (Choice) between B (Birth) and D (Death).
That is true. My choice to join this place was a total piece of C.
“Ah, Employee Jung. Did you go to the HR office properly?”
As soon as I came out of the HR office, I got on the elevator.
With all the energy drained from my body, I returned to the office.
Section Manager Myeon stared at me with his seven faces.
There was only one answer I could give.
“…Yes. I don’t think I will resign.”
“Oh? What happened?”
“It seems there was a mistake from the hospital side. They said it’s not that serious.”
Maybe that was the correct answer, because Manager Myeon didn’t ask more.
Maybe this place is just short on people.
“Good, good. That’s a relief. We just hired a new employee, and it would’ve been unfortunate if you quit on your first day.”
One of his five visible faces seemed to click its tongue. Maybe it was just my imagination.
I gave an awkward smile.
Then he patted my shoulder.
“You must be very surprised today, so just go home early. It seems most of the team hasn’t arrived yet anyway. I’ll introduce you to everyone tomorrow morning. From tomorrow afternoon, you’ll start real training.”
“Go home…?”
I slowly looked around.
Through the open office door, I could see the hallway I had just walked through.
“Is something going to go wrong again?”
“No, no. Just leave the building like normal.”
He was clearly holding back a laugh, like he was watching a clueless rookie.
I decided not to ask him how to “properly” go home.
So I really could leave work.
At least this place allowed “going home.”
Not saying I would quit in front of that baby monster in HR was a good decision.
If I had said it wrong, that tongue might have tasted my skin instead—and I might not have left at all.
—Hello, I’m new Employee Jung Hae-il from Extraction Team 1. I came to introduce myself.
Not bad improvisation.
Being seen as overly polite was far better than being eaten alive.
The baby monster clicked its tongue angrily and told me I could check things from my own office.
I kept a calm face and barely escaped HR.
It was awkward, but the baby monster didn’t eat me just because I looked pale and like a rookie who would work hard.
And as for Lee Ji-hyun…
‘Forget it. Don’t think about it. Just go.’
I stood up, grabbed my bag, and walked to the door.
“Then I’ll be leaving work for today.”
Manager Myeon smiled with one of his seven faces.
“Alright. Good work today, Employee Jung.”
I bowed and walked toward the emergency exit at the end of the hallway.
For some reason, I didn’t want to take the elevator I used earlier.
Today was full of nonsense.
But still, I survived one day.
Let’s just leave the company.
Let’s go home and rest.
I opened the door.
Click—
Cold air rushed in.
What appeared in front of me… was my room.
A small but neat studio apartment.
My bed and clothes were still in place.
Only the dark night outside made it feel different from this morning.
I slowly closed the door.
Then opened it again.
Still my room.
Close. Open.
Still my room. Still my room. Still my room.
I stared at it like it was stitched together with thread.
On the shoe cabinet was a novel I had left unfinished yesterday.
The goldfish in the aquarium opened its mouth as always.
Maybe I was picked up for work like they said, so fine.
But could this really be called “going home”?
A message echoed in my mind.
—Can’t leave? Seriously? No way…
It felt like mockery.
Resign? Leave work?
Could I even leave this building at all?
I couldn’t.
I closed the door and pressed my hand against my forehead.
It was lukewarm. My hand was freezing.
Was I going crazy?
“Employee Jung.”
I flinched and turned around.
Section Manager Myeon was standing a few steps behind me.
All seven faces looked satisfied, like they had finally seen something interesting.
One smiled, one frowned, one yawned.
And the most innocent-looking face spoke gently.
“Since you’re a valuable talent, I’ve arranged a special request for your work improvement. Don’t worry about commuting anymore.”
He smiled once more with a clean expression, then turned around and walked back toward the office.
At that moment, I had to accept reality.
I had already “arrived home.”
In a way that I could never escape.
A new morning.
No sunlight. No alarm.
A calm wake-up.
I got out of bed.
Leaving the warmth of the blanket was always hard, but this time it felt different.
Still, I got up, opened the cabinet, and grabbed a cereal bag I had left two days ago.
The milk looked old, but smelled fine.
“…Haa.”
I ate cereal.
Crunch. Crunch.
Normal sound.
Sweet. Crisp. Slightly stuck in my throat.
A sound of a living space.
The remains of normal life.
I was still intact.
I woke up normally, ate breakfast, and would go to work soon.
I would survive somehow and get something out of this company.
Ding.
A phone notification.
300,000 won had been deposited into my bank account.
A sign-on bonus and work support fee.
Another notification came from the company app showing points had been added.
But where am I supposed to use this money?
“Alright, let’s shower.”
I forced a voice imitation of Manager Myeon.
If I didn’t talk alone like this, I felt like I would break.
I washed up, brushed my teeth, and showered.
My face in the mirror was paler than yesterday.
Eyes slightly hollow.
“I’m fine.”
My voice trembled.
I dried my face and put on my shirt and pants.
Then I pulled back the curtain.
A cold feeling struck my chest.
‘I forgot.’
Outside the window was still empty darkness.
No light. No sound. No shape.
Not night. Not darkness.
Something that didn’t exist.
The outside of the world.
I slowly closed the curtain.
My hands were shaking freely now that no one was there.
Today’s escape attempt had failed.
My room existing behind the office door.
The outside being nothing.
This world gave me no choices.
Then I saw it.
On the desk under the window, neatly placed with my work clothes, was a name tag.
As if someone had placed it there.
Employee Jung Hae-il
Saphilgwijeong Co., Ltd. | Extraction Team 1
I picked it up quietly.
My name and department were carved into it like a gravestone.
“Saphilgwijeong… Co., Ltd.”
I whispered it like self-hypnosis.
I walked toward the front door.
If there was no way out, then the only option was going in.
I slowly turned the handle.
Click.
I opened the door.
The company’s fluorescent lights covered my face.
The smell of dust and cleaning detergent filled the hallway.
The space was neatly organized.
The world beyond my door was again the office corridor.
I stepped forward.
At that moment, as if the world had been waiting for me, the lights turned on one by one.
Click, click, click—
Electric sounds followed the hallway.
It looked like a welcoming gesture.
I walked toward the Extraction Team 1 office.
The door handle was warm, as if someone had just touched it.
The door slid open.
The office was exactly the same as yesterday.
Manager Myeon was already writing something at his desk.
One of his seven faces turned toward me and slowly smiled.
“Good morning, Hae-il.”
I answered more naturally than yesterday.
“Good morning, Manager Myeon.”
I bowed and walked to my desk.
It had begun.
An everyday life I never chose.
But a life with no more choices.
“If I try hard, maybe I can survive one more day.”
At that moment, I heard footsteps from the break room.
Click.
Heavy, long step.
Click. Click. Click.
A calm walk.
The office door opened.
A man came out.
A strong build.
A plain black suit, red tie.
Neat pants, polished shoes, a mug in his hand.
A typical office worker.
Except for the head on his shoulders.
“Assistant Manager Son, this is new Employee Jung Hae-il. Please greet him.”
Assistant Manager Son.
One character was missing. It should’ve been “Son Daegari”—Son “Head.”
Because his head was literally a hand.
A massive clenched fist sat on his neck instead of a head.
No eyes. No ears. No nose.
Only five fingers twisted like a crown.
The hand moved slowly.
Opening and closing like it was greeting me.
A voice entered my mind.
Not through my ears.
But directly into my brain, crushing it from inside.
“Hey, you’re the rookie?”
My body froze.
The voice was not sound. It was pressure inside my skull.
Each syllable came as his fingers twitched.
“So you’re the new guy. Call me Assistant Manager Son. Nice to meet you.”
He stepped closer.
The fist-head slowly opened.
As if offering a handshake.
Not his hand.
His entire head.
“Want to shake hands?”
I forced my right hand forward.
If that fist turned into a punch, it would smash my face.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jung Hae-il.”
The moment our hands touched—
A burning pressure hit my palm.
Like a steel press crushing my entire hand.
“Your hand’s pretty rough. You work out?”
He laughed loudly and patted my back.
THUD.
A light gesture for him.
But for me, it felt like my lungs collapsed.
“Keugh…!”
Something cracked.
Maybe not bone.
But my survival instincts were screaming.
It was an arrogant thought to believe I could survive this day.
‘…These monsters.’
Assistant Manager Son tilted his fist-head.
That was the last thing I saw before I collapsed.
