Chapter 16
The Gourmet Who Is Not Alone
The sunlight was nice.
More precisely, the LED light in my studio room was evenly bright and smooth, almost like sunlight.
The fact that it was pitch-black darkness outside the window? I chose to ignore that.
Because opening it felt like something bad would happen.
I opened my eyes.
I rubbed away the sleep crust and stretched my arms with a long yawn.
Waking up still means I’m alive, and being alive means I can start another day.
“Such a refreshing day.”
It was a mutter.
But that was fine.
Even a self-talk helps, as long as the probability isn’t zero. Optimism can change a day.
I sat up, and the bedsheets made a rustling sound.
With practiced motion, I shook the blanket flat and straightened the pillow neatly.
The faint blood stain on the corner of the pillow… well, it must’ve been a minor nosebleed.
Probably.
I washed my face at the sink, squeezed shampoo, and showered with hot water until the bathroom mirror fogged up.
I stood under the water for a while, blankly, then finished with cold water to wake myself up.
“Alright… this is a proper routine.”
I dried my face with a towel, grabbed the hair dryer, and dried my hair.
Then I opened the closet and took out a shirt.
A white shirt I had gotten used to wearing. I buttoned it neatly.
“Feels empty.”
I opened the fridge.
As expected, it was empty.
Only an empty probiotic drink bottle from last night rolled around with a clunk.
“Breakfast being empty stomach… helps the brain work better.”
I muttered self-justification and closed the fridge.
My stomach growled slightly, but I ignored it.
I stood at the entrance like I was practicing upright walking, straightened my shoulders, and faced the door.
Time to go to work.
“See you later.”
With a light farewell, I turned the handle.
Click—
The door opened.
And in front of me—
“Grrrooo— grrrr…”
Section Chief Sik was standing there.
A thick chain hung over his shoulder, and he stared at me intensely.
Behind his mouth full of sharp teeth, a low growl echoed.
I returned to reality.
“Good morning, Chief.”
I smiled reflexively.
My lips went up, but my spine was drenched in cold sweat.
Section Chief Sik looked at me for a moment, then slowly tilted his head.
Creak.
Something bent.
Hopefully not his neck bone.
“I will do my best today as well.”
I greeted again.
Only then did he give a slight nod.
I felt the hair on my shoulders stand up at the same time.
“Then… shall we go?”
He walked past me into the hallway.
Chains scraped against the floor with a strange friction sound.
I quietly closed the door and followed him.
The bright, refreshing morning was over.
The strange daily life had begun again.
Lunch Time
Cafeteria.
A place I had only ever thought about.
I hesitated.
Then hesitated again.
And finally decided.
“Let’s go.”
Let’s eat today.
I will be here until I quit anyway.
So I should try eating with others.
My brain was already barely working from hunger.
My stomach burned, my legs were weak, and my insides felt twisted like a collapsed straw.
Also, it felt like Section Chief Sik was subtly looking at me like, why don’t you eat with us?
I didn’t know what the cafeteria would be like, but didn’t Vice Manager Batori once say it?
We’re all from the same group anyway, so we should look after each other.
“…Um.”
I spoke to my team.
Just as the lunch announcement played and everyone began standing up.
“Today… would it be alright if I… joined you for lunch?”
Before I even finished speaking, the Section Chief Manager nodded from the front.
“Of course.”
“Regular nutrition intake is important.”
“Oh, what’s going on?”
“Grrrr… krrrraaa… kuoo—!”
Team Leader Mok, Assistant Hand, and finally Section Chief Sik.
Everyone reacted positively.
Well… the last one might not be exactly positive, but close enough.
I felt a strange sense of relief and lowered my head.
When I looked up, my eyes met Vice Manager Batori.
She didn’t stand up.
As always, she sat with a tumbler in hand, quietly watching me with a faint smile.
“Vice Manager…”
“Hehe, I’m fine with this.”
She lifted her tumbler slightly.
Inside it, something red swayed.
I quietly bowed and followed the others out.
The cafeteria was on another floor.
At the end of the hallway, an old elevator waited.
Screeech—
The metal doors opened.
One person.
Two.
Three.
Four.
And Section Chief Sik.
Clank.
As he entered last, the elevator walls groaned under pressure.
I was half crushed against the wall.
“Ugh…”
Breathing itself felt difficult.
Team Leader Mok stood politely as always.
Assistant Hand had folded and neatly tied his vine-like limbs.
Assistant Hand leaned casually against the wall with folded arms.
And I was pressed between Sik’s back and the elevator wall.
I should’ve just skipped lunch.
Regret.
I could barely speak.
The elevator creaked and slowly began descending.
Then Team Leader Mok spoke quietly.
“You said the Coordination Department requested full participation this time?”
“Yes.”
“It went smoothly after detection and capture.”
“For training purposes, they want everyone involved.”
Assistant Hand tilted his head.
“Smoothly…? Didn’t they capture it near Seoul Station?”
“Yes, precisely beyond the boundary. Past the third filter.”
Team Leader Mok spoke calmly.
“No system detected it. They tracked it purely by instinct.”
“That’s unusual,” Assistant Hand said.
“Or maybe Assistant Director An helped.”
“Grrrrr…”
Section Chief Sik growled low.
I turned slightly.
Did that mean laughter?
Or dissatisfaction?
“I heard there were one D-class, one C-class, and one A-class classification.”
Assistant Hand continued.
“The new A-class purification potential is uncertain. Its structure is different from the previous ones. Is it okay for a newcomer to join?”
“Hehe. It’s still necessary work.”
Team Leader Mok smiled.
“A new A-class…?”
My mind caught the word.
Afternoon. New dimensional entity.
Something was coming.
“Employee Jeong.”
Team Leader Mok turned toward me.
“Yes.”
I straightened my posture.
“You don’t need to be nervous. Today’s schedule is… simply interesting. We hope you grow from it. Especially A-class cases are rare for beginners.”
“Understood. I will do my best.”
My heart tightened.
New dimensional entity.
The elevator continued descending through dark corridors.
It was heading toward the cafeteria.
But it felt more like heading toward an execution ground.
Cafeteria
Lunch was surprisingly… fine.
Of course, “fine” carried many complicated meanings.
The elevator itself was strange.
At first, I thought it was just slow.
Then I thought it was just long.
Then I thought it was broken.
Then at some point—
It just kept going down.
The floor numbers turned into symbols, then into strange shapes.
And finally, the doors opened.
The cafeteria entrance was oddly clean.
Bright lights, clean tiles, working menu boards, trays stacked neatly, and… monsters everywhere.
Tables had wet towels placed on them.
This is… a real cafeteria.
Just with monsters.
Still, there was human food.
Pork bulgogi, beef rice bowl, grilled pork belly, egg soup, kimchi, rice.
But next to it were unreadable symbols and moving shapes.
Some beings were eating jelly-like substances with spoons.
Some drank strange liquids like corked bottles.
And when our Extraction Team 1 entered, the atmosphere changed.
Everyone froze.
Multiple eyes. Mouth-filled faces. Amorphous bodies.
Everyone was watching us.
I see…
Hierarchy.
Even in this strange organization, our team stood at the top.
Not respect exactly.
More like distorted caution.
Fear mixed with reverence.
And something close to admiration.
I remembered Vice Manager Batori’s pride.
She wasn’t exaggerating.
We really were different.
We sat down.
Then the food arrived.
And chaos began.
First, Section Chief Sik.
He devoured food at impossible speed.
Clang! Slash! Crunch! Grrrk!
He didn’t even use utensils.
His huge hairy paws shoveled food into his mouth.
Rice flew onto my plate.
Then—
“Grrk.”
Some black sticky soup splattered onto my kimchi.
I sighed internally.
Yeah, I give up.
Next, Assistant Hand.
He looked at his plate for a moment.
Then dumped the entire tray onto his head.
Egg, rice, soup, side dishes—everything.
Then he kneaded his own head like dough.
When he lifted his hands again, everything was gone.
No mouth.
But everything had disappeared.
That’s impossible.
Team Leader Mok calmly brought soil to his plate.
No rice. No side dishes.
He planted roots into the tray.
That was it.
He ate by growing plants.
Yeah… I’m definitely still human.
Then Manager Section Chief.
He ate in the most “normal” way.
If not for the seven faces on his body.
Each face handled different parts:
Face 1: rice
Face 2: soup
Face 3: side dishes
Face 4: rice again
Face 5: soup again
Face 6: scanning the cafeteria
Face 7: smiling at me
“Employee Jeong, are you eating well?”
The seventh face spoke gently.
I nodded silently.
My tray was normal.
Egg, pork, rice, soup, kimchi.
Nothing special.
And yet—
“It’s delicious.”
It was truly delicious.
Warm. Not too salty.
Soft meat. Fluffy rice.
Soup that slid smoothly down my throat.
Something inside me rose.
Ah… this is food.
My body, starved for days, finally recognized life again.
I ate slowly.
Around me, food was still flying, trays were dumped onto heads, soil spread across tables, and seven faces moved rhythmically.
But for this moment—
I was human.
And that alone made me want to keep living.
We finished eating and returned to the office.
All six of us prepared to head to the extraction room together.
It was the first time.
Usually someone stayed behind.
But today, everyone was going.
Something was coming.
At the entrance of the extraction room, Team Leader Mok stopped.
One of his faces turned to me.
“Employee Jeong.”
“Yes, sir.”
“There are three new dimensional entities today.”
He spoke slowly.
“A broken violinist. A disassembled image of god. A white, fat ball of fur.”
I listened.
My mind lagged a second behind.
A broken violinist?
A distorted sound-based entity?
A human-like creature using itself like a bow?
A disassembled image of god.
A divine figure shattered into pieces?
A metaphysical entity?
White, fat ball of fur.
……what is that supposed to be?
Suddenly it felt too simple.
My thoughts raced.
Then one of his faces smiled faintly.
No pressure.
No force.
Just a choice.
“Employee Jeong.”
The fifth face spoke quietly.
“Which one do you think would be good?”
I closed my mouth.
And slowly turned the three names over in my head.
Broken violinist.
Disassembled image of god.
White fat ball of fur.
One of them.
The thing I would face today.
With excitement, fear, and faint anticipation…
I slowly opened my mouth.
“I…”
