Chapter 9
Headless Boss vs Wooden Boss
The Section Chief Seo is a great employee.
That was the evaluation I made while watching him carry out extraction work on the dimensional entities in the containment room.
It’s just that I am not exactly a great employee myself.
Even as I moved around Extraction Room B afterward, one thing became clear: dimensional entities come in all kinds of forms.
Some look like monsters. Some look like ordinary objects. Some even look exactly like humans.
“Hello?”
If I hadn’t almost cried blood the moment that “human” spoke, I would have thought it was just an innocent person trapped here.
[It is lunch time.]
How many absurd extraction procedures had I already watched?
A dry mechanical voice echoed from the end of the corridor.
Section Chief Seo tugged at his rattling chain once to straighten it, then lightly pushed me forward.
Was it affection? A push to hurry? A warning?
I instinctively nodded.
“Yes. Let’s go eat lunch…”
The corridor was quiet.
The sound of his chain dragging across the solid concrete floor rang out at steady intervals.
Clank— clank—
I adjusted my walking pace to match it.
I didn’t want to walk ahead or fall behind and cause any misunderstanding.
Section Chief Seo said nothing.
Well, that’s not entirely true. He did “speak.”
The problem was that it wasn’t human speech.
“Grrrrr… hrrrnnngh…”
My neck felt itchy.
Section Chief Seo slowly turned his head toward me.
Through his rough mane, burning golden eyes stared at me.
I straightened my posture and forced a hollow smile.
“…Yes. I learned a lot today.”
I just said whatever came to mind.
Smiling was just muscles moving anyway, not my will.
Then Section Chief Seo bent his knees.
THUD.
His massive body—over 2.5 meters tall—leaned forward, bringing his face close to mine.
His breath smelled like rotten meat mixed with metal dust.
“Grrrrrrr…”
A deep growl vibrated through my chest bones.
I had no idea what he meant, but he stared at me for a long time.
And then suddenly—
He bumped his forehead against my head.
Thud.
“……”
Did I just get hit? Or was I imagining it? Did I black out for a second?
Then the giant beast—like a wolf or hyena—suddenly stuck out his tongue and licked my forehead.
“…Ugh.”
I inhaled sharply and got stuck in my throat.
The tongue was warm and slimy, leaving a faint sticky residue mixed with a foul smell.
I froze completely, blinking.
Section Chief Seo looked down at me and made a soundless rumble.
“Cr-rh…”
Then, as if satisfied, he nodded and started walking again.
It took me five seconds to move.
Then, like a machine, I followed him with a stiff body.
Cold sweat ran down my back as my brain finally processed what happened.
‘Did my supervisor just lick my forehead?’
Even the concept of denial felt like a luxury now.
‘It’s just… a sign of affection, right?’
A supervisor who had learned my existence in his own way.
‘You did well, junior.’
Yeah. That must be it.
It can’t be… like marking food with saliva, right?
I pressed my lips together and lowered my head.
The sticky residue still on my forehead felt like today’s “celebration” from my monster supervisor.
We walked silently down the hallway.
Our shadows stretched across the wall side by side.
A height difference of more than 70cm.
One shadow completely swallowed the other.
When the office door opened, a familiar scent of fear filled the air.
“Oh, you’re back.”
Assistant Manager Batori smiled gently, her red eyes glowing.
A truly beautiful smile.
That is, if you ignored the mouth tearing open from her right shoulder.
She seemed to still be before lunch, rummaging through her bag and pulling out a tumbler.
I really didn’t want to know what was inside that shaking liquid.
“You still look healthy, Jeong Hae-il.”
“Yes. You also look well, Assistant Manager Batori.”
“You seem to be adapting a bit now. Section Chief Seo also looks more relaxed.”
The seven faces of Department Head Myeon each smiled in turn.
One narrowed its eyes, another smiled softly, and the rest only slightly curled their lips.
“Grrrr…”
Section Chief Seo gave a heavy nod.
Even though this was the moment with the most communication, I understood none of it.
“Shall we go eat lunch?”
“I’ll go get some fresh air.”
“Grk… grrr… rrrr…”
“Haha, if you need anything adjusted, just tell me, Jeong employee.”
I nodded brightly with my most natural smile.
Then I spoke carefully.
“I… don’t really have much appetite today.”
I didn’t.
My digestive system hadn’t returned from the extraction room yet.
At that, Department Head Myeon’s seven faces shifted expressions.
Assistant Manager Batori crossed her arms and gave me a meaningful smile.
Team Member Hand tilted his head.
“You not feeling sick?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Maybe I just ate instant noodles late last night.”
I smiled as naturally as I could.
A lie.
Last night I had fed on nightmares filled with chain sounds and tearing flesh.
Section Chief Seo stared at me for a while, then clanked his chain and moved first.
One by one, the managers left the office.
I was left alone.
As soon as the door clicked shut, my strength left my knees.
“…Ha.”
I returned to my desk in the corner and sat down.
Thinking I was finally safe, I leaned back.
The moment my head hit the chair, tension melted from my neck.
‘Just five minutes…’
My eyelids slowly closed.
Then—
A cold touch hit my cheek.
“Gah!”
I snapped my eyes open.
A fist was right in front of me.
No—correction.
It was Team Member Hand.
His finger and thumb were pinching an iced Americano cup.
I barely swallowed my scream.
“You shouldn’t skip lunch. At least stay awake with caffeine.”
“…Thank you, Team Member Hand.”
I took the cup carefully.
One sip, and colder reality slid down my throat.
‘The problem is this is company vending machine coffee…’
Who knows what it’s made of?
Still, I couldn’t refuse.
To them, I was barely one bite away from death.
In one corner, Department Head Myeon and Assistant Manager Batori were chatting again.
On the other side, Section Chief Seo was curled up, growling softly.
I overheard fragments of conversation.
“The containment zone management in the Dimensional Disaster Management Division has tightened. We can’t go out for a while.”
“If it’s that new odd-eyed one, it seemed to have good blood.”
“The Dry King faction caused too much disturbance.”
“Vice Chief Mok extended his leave. He said he’s absorbing more nutrients.”
My coffee almost stopped in my throat.
I wished it was office gossip.
But “dimensional disaster,” “odd-eye,” “Dry King”—what was this?
And no one was questioning anything.
“Hey, Hae-il. You haven’t met Vice Chief Mok yet, right?”
Team Member Hand suddenly asked.
“Yes. I heard he’s on leave.”
“He’ll be back soon. He’s the last one you’ll meet in our Extraction Team.”
He nodded with his fist-shaped head.
“What kind of person is he?”
“Well… very meticulous. Responsible. Kind, polite, takes care of people.”
“That sounds like an ideal boss.”
At least in theory.
In this company, “good boss” probably meant something else entirely.
I mean, Department Head Myeon is a good boss if you ignore the seven faces.
Assistant Manager Batori is fine if you ignore the occasional skin splitting.
And Section Chief Seo is great if you ignore the inability to speak human language.
“You’ve been doing well since you joined. Mok will notice that too.”
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you and the seniors.”
“Oh, stop being modest.”
If I wasn’t modest, I’d probably be dead.
Then I imagined Vice Chief Mok.
“Mok… as in ‘neck’?”
My brain auto-filled the image.
A boss with no head.
A formal black suit.
A severed neck stump where the head should be.
A voice echoing from the torso.
And—
“…Or maybe it’s ‘wood’ Mok?”
I muttered unconsciously.
Not impossible.
In this company, even chairs might be employees.
Maybe Vice Chief Mok is a tree parasite.
Eyes growing on branches, typing with vines, speaking through root vibrations, eating through photosynthesis…
My imagination slid further away.
Slurp.
I drank the rest of my coffee quietly.
And then—
The familiar sound of chains echoed.
Section Chief Seo’s shadow rose.
Afternoon work had begun.
‘We won’t be able to quit before Vice Chief Mok returns… right?’
I stood up with that useless thought.
The heavy chain sounds echoed through the office again.
Golden eyes glanced at me.
No words, but it felt like: let’s go.
I smiled.
My twisted smile had long become automatic.
“Yes. Let’s go, Section Chief Seo.”
My steps overlapped with his.
The chain sounded again.
The corridor vibrated.
Let’s go to the extraction room.
Let’s go to the containment room.
Let’s go to the dimensional entities.
