When I opened my eyes again, what greeted me was not the familiar ceiling of my studio apartment, but Unit 201 of “Tricent Itilazium,” the place I had been dragged to after being kidnapped.
Fortunately, the door to Unit 201 was wide open, and I was no longer restrained.
However, separate from that fortunate fact, there was also something deeply unfortunate—the middle-aged woman who had shoved me straight into an Anomaly was standing right in front of me. My heart pounded even faster than when I had seen The Mass or the Caretaker Impostor. By my standards, communicating with her was far more difficult than dealing with the entities inside the Anomaly.
When I flinched the moment I noticed her, the woman did not approach any closer. She simply stood where she was and spoke.
“ I didn’t expect you to come out on your own. I never imagined you’d open the door and leave.”
“Yeah, well. I almost died thanks to that.”
“But you didn’t die—you escaped quite impressively. You even brought back the Teeth of a missing Retriever. As expected, you’re exactly the kind of talent our Dorae Corporation needs.”
“I told you, I have no intention of working for whatever Dorae is.”
“Then will you become a Controller?”
“No? I plan to remain a carefree college student at least until I graduate.”
Being hit with a recruitment pitch the moment I woke up left me unsettled.
What unsettled me even more was the fact that there was a black dog lying beside me on the bed.
No way… did Minsu come out of the Anomaly with me?
My blood ran cold. Considering how much Minsu valued promises and oaths, I had assumed there would still be some time before he could leave—at least until Dowon High School stabilized.
The moment I shot upright from the bed, the black dog approached me.
My whole body tensed, bracing for the dog to open its mouth and shout, “Iru!”
But instead of speaking, the black dog simply barked—like a normal dog.
—And when I touched it, it really was a normal dog.
The large, heavy animal suddenly climbed on top of me, forcing me to collapse back onto the bed. As if expressing affection, it began licking my face with its tongue.
“Ah, damn it—stop licking me. Someone please get this thing off me.”
“I will if you agree to join Dorae.”
“I’ll just let the dog lick me forever, then.”
While I was pinned helplessly under the dog, the middle-aged woman approached closer.
“Did you bring this dog out of the Anomaly? It looks like an ordinary dog for something like that.”
“I did meet it inside the Anomaly.”
“Hmm. It’s neither contaminated nor distorted. That’s unusual.”
I barely managed to grab the dog’s snout and pull it into my arms. The dog, which had been whining, immediately settled down as if nothing had happened, rubbing itself comfortably against me.
Unless Minsu was deliberately pretending to be a dog, the black dog really did look like nothing more than a normal animal. It didn’t speak, and there was no sign of it suddenly enlarging and devouring something.
He probably couldn’t come directly to Baekju Apartment from inside the Anomaly, so he must be using this dog’s body instead…
Since I had come back to reality, it seemed the dog had come out along with me.
“Anyway, like I said before, I have no intention of working with Dorae. Who would want to work for an organization that kidnaps people out of nowhere and forces them into employment?”
“I’m sorry our recruitment method was a bit aggressive. But I hope you understand—we couldn’t afford for you to end up affiliated with someone else.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard someone ask me to ‘understand’ being kidnapped…”
“We were in a hurry. Everyone who comes into contact with Jeon Jiho becomes a Controller before we can even approach them.”
So being a Controller definitely wasn’t a good job either.
Come to think of it, Jeon Jiho had tried to manipulate my mind as well. For some reason, it hadn’t worked at all—and instead, he had coughed up blood and collapsed.
The fact that they kidnapped me without even knowing his mental manipulation didn’t work on me was absurd. Controllers were probably government employees, so holding two jobs wouldn’t be possible—but crashing a government vehicle and abducting someone just to avoid losing talent to the state sounded more insane than any urban legend.
“The Anomaly Control Department is a government-run organization. They’re not very interested in civilians who get caught in Anomalies and go missing. Their only concern is how to eliminate Anomalies—or how to maintain them.”
The middle-aged woman, seemingly unconcerned with my disbelief, began explaining Dorae Corporation by criticizing the Anomaly Control Department.
“Our Dorae started as a group of families of missing persons abandoned by the Control Department’s search efforts. It’s true that the survival rate of the missing is extremely low—but sometimes, even when survival is confirmed, the Control Department forbids bringing them back to reality.”
“…There’s probably a reason for that, isn’t there?”
“Usually, if someone stays inside an Anomaly for a certain period, they become contaminated. Their form changes, or they lose their memories—those things happen all the time. In special cases, they even devolve into a unique entity belonging to the Anomaly. You saw one yourself in Baekju Apartment, didn’t you? The Caretaker is a special entity of Baekju Apartment.”
The explanation was similar to what I had heard from Jeon Jiho.
Bringing a special entity into reality was extremely dangerous.
I already knew that—considering I had essentially become the ultimate traitor just by making a date promise with Minsu.
“The Anomaly Control Department doesn’t want special entities or long-contaminated missing persons to return to reality. Their reasoning is that it could cause further damage. Besides, restoring a human who has been contaminated by an Anomaly is extremely difficult… in fact, most say it’s practically impossible.”
“……”
“But imagine your family, your friend, or your partner suddenly disappearing one day. If you were in that situation, Iru, could you really give up so easily, telling yourself it can’t be helped? If you hurry, you might still be able to save them while they’re intact. Even if they’re dead… you might still be able to find at least a single strand of hair…”
Suddenly, I thought of Kim Jihoon and Lim Jinseong, who had gone outside Dowon High School.
I wanted to find them too.
I wasn’t particularly close with Lim Jinseong, but still—when someone you know goes missing, it’s not easy to sleep peacefully with both legs stretched out.
Between the Control Department and Dorae throwing recruitment offers at me, I hadn’t had the chance to go looking for them. But if I had the time, I would have tried to find my friends first.
Even when the Caretaker Impostor hinted that it knew something about them, my resolve had wavered slightly.
Even this much worry—for friends I hadn’t known that long—felt heavy. So if it were family bound by blood, or a beloved partner… how unbearable would that be?
Just as the woman said, even knowing the dangers, it would be nearly impossible for families of the missing to give up.
“Let me formally introduce myself. I’m Park Sookyung, the representative of Dorae.”
The middle-aged woman extended her hand.
—From now on, I’ll just call her Director Park.
She might be insane enough to shove someone into an Anomaly for refusing to join her organization, but I couldn’t just ignore the hand she offered. I briefly shook it.
“As I said earlier, Dorae specializes in rescuing missing persons from Anomalies. Among similar groups, we actually have one of the highest success rates.”
“……”
“Most Retrievers in Dorae have lost family, friends, or lovers inside Anomalies. We do pay for recovering remains, so some work for money—but usually, they belong to Dorae because they have someone they want to find.”
Director Park promised that if I joined Dorae, they would prioritize finding Kim Jihoon and Lim Jinseong first.
I didn’t know how she knew, but she was also aware that I could communicate with the ordinary entities inside Anomalies.
That was why she wanted to recruit me so badly.
“You can communicate with special entities that were originally human—but as of now, you’re the only one who can communicate with ordinary entities. Information gathering is essential for rescuing the missing, and you have the ability to do that exceptionally well.”
“Yeah… I guess.”
“So, have you considered joining Dorae and dedicating yourself to rescuing the missing?”
Suddenly, I thought of Lee Jaeyoung, who had slipped a Rulebook into the mattress of Unit 201.
I didn’t even know his face, gender, or age—but he, too, must have entered Baekju Apartment to save someone.
Even without some noble sense of duty to save people, the salary and incentives Dorae offered were undeniably high. It was hazard pay, sure—but still, it was enough to make me consider entering an Anomaly once or twice.
But I didn’t really want to become a Retriever for Dorae.
With Minsu’s help, I could probably track down Kim Jihoon and Lim Jinseong without Dorae. And more importantly—I couldn’t trust Director Park, who had shoved me into an Anomaly just because I refused her.
When I hesitated to answer, her eyes narrowed.
From her expression alone, it looked like she might throw me back into an Anomaly and keep me there until I agreed.
“No. Kang Iru is someone who should become a Controller.”
Startled, I had been absentmindedly petting the black dog—but then, through the open door, Jeon Jiho burst in, looking completely disheveled.
“Kang Iru should become a Controller, not a Retriever.”
…What? Why me?
I froze, my hand stopping mid-motion as I stroked the dog.