Chapter 99: Anomalous Incident Response Agency (１)

****

Research Department, emergency meeting-cum-conference.

Another mess was unfolding today. A far worse mess than usual, at that. The atmosphere was nearly as hostile as it had been during the Yulje-myeon Incident.

“Dr. Choi! Are you joking right now?”

“No, this is already a settled matter.”

“The Pitch-Black King is waging war on our dimension, our nation right now! Didn’t this happen because of the containment failure of the dimensional exploration machine? Take responsibility!”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Nigurath-1 has existed for a long time, and their cult has been around just as long, hasn’t it? Why is this my fault? Isn’t this a time to discuss strategy rather than point fingers?”

Dr. Chae rose from her seat.

“This is Dr. Chae. Everyone, please calm down first—”

“Dr. Chae! You failed the rite and tore the oversized containment wing in half, and now you dare lift your head and tell people what to do here?”

“What— no, the containment succeeded.”

“Didn’t the Director himself come in with a flamethrower and catch it personally? What right does Dr. Chae have to boss everyone around when she did nothing?”

“So you’re all trying to get us killed, is that it?”

“No, do you think this makes any sense? Slandering someone over a job well done—”

I let out a sigh.

“Everyone. Shut up.”

The researchers fell silent immediately.

“I understand that you’re all clearly invested in this issue. Good. Now, please present the research findings on Nigurath-1 first.”

The Head of Research tilted his head.

“W-well, Nigurath-1 is dead. Didn’t Dr. Chae seal it into an egg shape?”

“Head of Research. Do you have any basis for claiming that an egg-shaped avatar cannot exert influence?”

“No.”

“Let’s gather opinions on Nigurath-1.”

The meeting room buzzed with murmurs.

“Nigurath-1 is believed to be an avatar of the Pitch-Black King. It reacts to sound at specific frequencies. It’s difficult to harm through physical means.”

“Right. Then can we confirm what it is, where it came from, how it’s summoned, and whether there are any past records of it?”

I looked around the meeting room, but the researchers all avoided my gaze. It seemed no one really knew.

“There are media related to the Pitch-Black King, but—”

“Yes.”

“There’s a rumor that you die if you look at them.”

Ah.

“I apologize. To offer a defense, however weak… there’s a rumor that anyone who views records of the Pitch-Black King dies, which makes research difficult.”

“…”

“Is there no countermeasure?”

“Doesn’t that apply to all media, though? I thought the Pitch-Black King’s effect only applied to certain creative works.”

“Hard to say. It’s not certain.”

“Should we erase memories? Or—”

I pressed my temples.

“I’ll contact the Cognitohazard Division. It’s not as if there’s no way to break the curse. I’ll minimize the number of people working on this issue.”

“Yes.”

“And I’ll also minimize the number of people working on matters related to the Pitch-Black King.”

Only those involved were present as it was, but those who could leave did. The discussion continued for a long while. Yet one problem remained.

“The Pitch-Black King has declared war on us. We need to prepare a counteroffensive.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s hunt down every anomaly related to the Pitch-Black King within the country. This time I’ll request support all the way up to Foundation headquarters—let’s catch every last one, leaving none behind.”

“Hmm. That’s extreme.”

I shook my head.

“I believe this is the solution the situation demands. The colossal monster, the dimensional mage. The newly bloomed flower. All of them.”

“We need to neutralize or contain as many of the Pitch-Black cultists who serve as vectors for the plague as possible.”

****

To wage a war, first I need to know who my enemies are and who my allies are. Let’s start by thinking of allies I can ask for help.

The Korean government’s anomaly response organization. The exact name was the Anomalous Incident Response Agency, or something like that. And the Peacekeeping Force is also worth considering.

“Ah, ah. Can you hear me?”

I picked up one of the landline phones.

It’s the hotline to the Anomalous Incident Response Agency, under the Ministry of National Defense of the Korean government. I don’t contact them often, but simple matters get handed over to the Agency.

[Yes, I can hear you clearly.]

“Have you noticed anything strange lately? Like the number of anomalies or their frequency of appearance increasing, something like that.”

[It has increased somewhat. There was a major incident on Jeju Island in particular, and our side still hasn’t figured out what exactly happened.]

“Ah…”

So something did happen on Jeju Island.

[I apologize, but could you explain what incident took place on Jeju Island? A sudden typhoon, a gunfight, high-explosive damage on the roads. We don’t even know who did it or why.]

I thought about it for a moment.

“Um… An anti-Foundation Group of Interest and several humanoid anomalies fought each other. It’s been resolved now, so there’s no need to worry.”

[I see.]

I thought about it a bit more.

The Bureau of Special Phenomena is, in a sense, the Foundation’s subcontractor. So it wouldn’t be easy for them to take the initiative and ask the Foundation about something outright.

“Any other questions?”

[Yes. A few Foundation vessels were detected by naval radar sailing into a typhoon a while back. Can you explain how that happened?]

The typhoon had been created by the Foundation through some means, to cover up as much as possible the traces of the Foundation’s internal war fought on Jeju Island.

“Um… It was a typhoon caused by a specific anomaly. The Foundation vessels headed into the typhoon to manage it.”

Paper rustled on the other end of the line.

[Understood.]

“You must be busy, so let me get to the point. Today’s matter is important. A cult called the Pitch-Black King has declared war on the Foundation and humanity, and we need personnel to respond.”

[Ah, I see.]

“I’ll send you a list of regions and individuals, so please investigate them. If anything comes up that your side can’t handle, contact us immediately.”

[Yes. We’ll use this for our operations.]

The regions were as follows: places where anomalies related to the Pitch-Black had occurred in the past.

Slums in some major cities. Other locations where significant anomalies had been sighted, and places where Foundation or Group of Interest facilities had once stood.

The list of individuals was far more complicated.

Location data, algorithms including internet usage history—things like that were used to find people who seemed highly likely to be connected to anomalies.

Beyond that, there were simply people who had been associated with anomalies for a long time.

“I’ll send the documents by fax. Ah, and if you’d like, we can dispatch a Foundation team to support the Bureau of Special Phenomena’s operations.”

[A Foundation team, to the Bureau of Special Phenomena?]

The head of the Bureau of Special Phenomena thought it over.

[Fine. Send them over.]

I nodded. I’d have to think about who to send. Probably Administrator Lee and a doctor or two.

“Yes. Please review the information we send you and do your best. I’ll be in touch again soon.”

****

The head of the Anomalous Incident Response Agency let out a sigh of relief. They were Foundation employees, so they’d certainly be helpful—but if the Foundation caught wind of any weakness… Then again, did they even have any weaknesses the Foundation could find?

Was there anything under the sun those people didn’t know? Unless information was hidden by magic, truly concealing something wouldn’t be easy.

Last time the Agency had direct contact with the Foundation like this, they’d thrown a massive fit over why an alien craft had been preemptively shot down. They’d also been terrified watching a Director personally dive into the deep sea.

Above all, the Anomalous Incident Response Agency needed to have a clear understanding of the Foundation. They spent more time investigating and trying to understand the Foundation than they did on anomalies themselves.

The Foundation was infinitely powerful.

One moment, the Foundation’s carrier battle group would materialize out of thin air; the next, massive natural disasters like earthquakes and typhoons seemed to occur at the Foundation’s convenience.

On the other hand, the Foundation’s Seoul Branch had been a complete mess over the past few years. I couldn’t know the internal details, but the command staff of the Foundation’s Seoul Branch had been replaced almost daily.

I didn’t know why. Whether it was a coup, whether it was just an inherently dangerous job, or whether it was a position that changed hands as often as a regional office chief.

This time, though, it was different.

****

[This document is restricted to authorized personnel by order of the Overseer. Attempting to access this document without clearance will result in no guarantee of your life.]

[Filed by: 8th Overseer, Justitia]

[ ※ Cognitohazard ※ ]

[This is a bit of a dilemma.]

[Who should take over as the master of Jeju? It’s an important post, but the situation there is an absolute mess. The predecessor was shot dead by the Seoul Branch Director — who in their right mind would want it?]

[The Foundation is in an uproar on all sides.]

[They’re asking whether it’s true that the Seoul Branch Director personally executed the Jeju Branch commander. Well, now. I can’t exactly lie about it.]

[The Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, and Vladivostok branches have all expressed concern. They’re worried about being dragged into an internal Foundation coup or a power play by force.]

[They’re asking whether the execution of the Jeju commander wasn’t a proxy war among the Foundation’s highest-ranking executives. I’ve done my best to reassure them, but they don’t seem convinced.]

[Veritas. Prepare countermeasures.]