NOVPUBAs usual, I was watching a gaming YouTuber's livestream when Carol entered the containment room and began installing something.
Her movements were discreet and swift—no different from the hands of a criminal plotting something nefarious.
“What’s that, Carol?”
At my words, Carol flinched.
But she quickly turned her head toward me, feigning innocence as if nothing had happened.
“What do you mean? Are you talking about the emergency alarm over there?”
An emergency alarm...? Normally, that’s something you install as a safety measure.
But why was she installing it in secret? I was genuinely curious.
“Yeah.”
“As you can see, it’s just an emergency alarm. In this day and age, every household has one—it’s a perfectly normal item.”
No way. I didn’t believe her and examined the alarm closely.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed there was text written underneath the alarm.
Alice Protocol.
“So nowadays, it’s normal for emergency alarms to have ‘Alice Protocol’ written on them?”
“Yes!”
...
“Hey!!! Anyone can see this is meant for me! Why are you installing something like this?!”
I lunged at Carol, ready to grab her by the collar.
But before I could reach her, Carol suddenly flopped onto her back, assuming a submissive posture like a dog surrendering to its owner.
It was a clear sign that she had no intention of resisting—her way of declaring surrender.
Striking someone who wasn’t resisting left a bad taste in my mouth.
And Carol knew that very well.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with Alice! It’s just an alarm that might go off when the personnel in this branch are in mortal danger or desperately need help! Of course, it’s not something Alice needs to concern herself with!”
“Then why are you placing such a suspicious emergency alarm here?! This is basically a blatant cry for help!”
“There’s no obligation to respond! You can just ignore it, so don’t think too much about it. Anyway, I’ll be off now~!”
Just as I was contemplating whether I should stomp on her, Carol took advantage of my momentary distraction.
Still lying on the floor, she rolled away, tumbling toward the exit like a log.
The moment she reached the door, an awaiting staff member opened it for her as if they had been expecting this, allowing her to escape safely.
I was so dumbfounded that I could only stand there, watching in silence.
“I’ll be counting on you!”
“Take this thing with you!”
The containment room door shut.
“Haah...”
I didn’t feel like going out of my way to destroy the thing.
Like Carol said, if I didn’t respond to it, there wouldn’t be a problem.
I wasn’t a pushover or a saint. Just because someone was in trouble didn’t mean I had to step in and volunteer my help.
Of course, it would still bother me.
Carol seemed to have already figured me out to some extent, which was why she was banking on that.
But I wasn’t going to let her get her way so easily.
In fact, since I had no real means of understanding what was happening outside, I might even be able to use this thing to my advantage.
So, I decided to ignore it.
I threw myself onto the bed. My body felt heavy.
Ever since I ended up in this body, I’d always felt this way.
Because of it, I couldn’t even fall asleep. I spent my nights on the computer instead... and without any real mental rest, my sense of exhaustion only grew deeper.
But I wasn’t too worried about it.
This kind of aimless lethargy—this unidentifiable thirst that I convinced myself was just burnout—was something every modern person dealt with.
To distract myself from my pain, I started thinking about something else.
If I had to recall something significant that had happened recently, it would be that.
The painting of a great star, drawn by an artist who had seen it with his own eyes.
Whatever he had seen, it had inspired him to paint.
And just by recreating its image, he had inadvertently brought a powerful monster into existence.
A ridiculous notion, really.
That nameless artist must have witnessed something out of a cosmic horror tale—something humanity was never meant to comprehend.
But it was too soon to despair.
After all, he had only seen it. It wasn’t like humanity was completely incapable of responding to such things.
It was a common trope.
The idea that humanity had only survived by sheer coincidence.
The belief that the world was filled with terrifying entities capable of eradicating civilization, yet by some stroke of luck, people had managed to endure.
But how long could that luck last?
In stories about organizations dealing with anomalies, there were always absurd world-ending scenarios lurking just around the corner.
They loved to instill fear by suggesting that complete destruction was inevitable.
But I’d never actually seen one of those stories end with the world truly perishing.
So, it would be fine. It had to be fine.
“For the love of god, stop expanding the damn lore.”
And then, a few days later—
The Alice Protocol emergency alarm began blaring.
BEEEEEEEEP—BEEEEEEEEEEP—
The alarm glowed red.
They even added a flashing feature? The grating, high-pitched noise clawed at my nerves.
“I’m not a pushover.”
Even though no one was listening, I muttered those words to myself.
It was partly pride, but mostly because I despised the feeling of being manipulated.
And the worst part? Knowing I was being played, yet still reacting.
“...I’m not going.”
...Absolutely not.
-----
“Goddamn organization bastards! I knew it! I knew this would happen!”
A man, bleeding profusely, was running for his life, trying to escape his pursuers.
Despite the pain, he never stopped cursing.
To an outsider, his ability to spew profanities even while wounded might seem tough.
But did they realize this was nothing more than a final act of defiance before death?
I knew. Because I was the one experiencing it.
I had always been full of complaints, and swearing was my only outlet.
So, when I was alone, I cursed as much as I wanted.
Yeah, I had a lot of grievances. No, maybe calling it ‘stress’ was more accurate.
I held back around my colleagues, but right now, I had every reason to curse them.
“Every last one of them is insane!”
They called me a murderous monster.
If they were in their right minds, they never would have.
But they had all lost their sanity—thanks to that newly contained, unidentified, tool-type anomaly.
RATATATATATA!
Gunfire erupted behind me, the killing intent at my back only fueling my rage.
“I’m not a monster! Don’t you remember me?! Brem! Irene! Seong-hoon!”
“There he is! Shoot! SHOOT!”
“He’s a humanoid anomaly! Where the hell is the Gray Judgment Unit?!”
Why were they so ruthless? Why was this happening? What had I done to deserve this from my own comrades?
I was in agony. I was furious. And there was no reason to hold back my resentment.
I knew this was an accident.
That my colleagues were just unlucky enough to be caught in the anomaly’s influence.
At the end of my desperate escape, a containment room came into view.
A standard holding cell for one of the many murderous monsters in this facility.
The door seemed to whisper to me.
Open it.
They don’t understand your pain.
So take revenge.
Kill them.
Join me.
“...Tch.”
But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Instead, I used an old trick I had for slacking off—misleading my pursuers and slipping into another room, locking the door behind me.
It was just a breakroom, though. It wouldn’t take them long to find me.
I needed a plan.
Then, my eyes landed on a recently installed button.
“...Alice Protocol.”
Carol’s damn button.
...Screw it.
I pressed it.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Silence. It lasted long enough to make me lose hope.
“...They’re not coming.”
BANG! BANG!
A loud impact echoed from the locked door—someone was trying to break the handle.
‘Damn it! I haven’t even cut the rope yet!’
I hurried to sever the rope, but a dreadful realization struck me—I was too late.
I clenched my eyes shut as the sound of the door breaking filled the room.
“...Hmm. Where is this?”
Instead of gunfire, a melodious voice tickled my ears.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
A girl with golden hair stood there.
No way. Was this Alice?
The higher-ups at the organization tried to keep terrifying rumors in check, but when it came to good news, they were utterly hopeless at keeping secrets.
Even someone of my low rank had heard about this supposedly friendly anomaly.
The girl, who had just spoken, swept her blonde hair back and turned toward me.
She was beautiful.
It’s said that demons take on alluring forms to tempt humans—but this was enough to make my heart seize.
If she didn’t have the appearance of a child, I wouldn’t have even dared to speak.
Our eyes met.
Her expression was [N O V E L I G H T] unreadable.
Or was I imagining it? Her doll-like face had such a stillness to it that it almost felt unnatural.
“...”
She kept staring.
For a moment, I thought I saw the slightest flicker in her pupils—but was it just my imagination?
...What did a demon want from me, staring at me like that?
But really, it was obvious what demons sought from humans.
No matter how many good rumors surrounded her, she was still a demon.
“...You want something in return?”
“?”
“Fine. Take my soul. Remember, this is a contract—you take my soul, and in return, you must give me the power to fix this situation.”
“??”
“I’m ready. I was going to die anyway.”
“!”
Her eyes widened at my final words.
A flicker of emotion passed over her face—guilt.
Then, sadness.
She looked genuinely shaken.
Then, in a quiet voice, she asked,
“...Were you planning to die?”
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry. I hesitated out of stubborn pride... I didn’t realize someone had been pushed so far that they were considering suicide.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“No, actually, I knew. I just... didn’t fully grasp it until seeing it with my own eyes. I’m such a hypocrite.”
It was only then that I realized the rope was still wrapped around my neck.
And I understood what kind of misunderstanding she was having.
“That’s not—”
“No excuses. I’m sorry for being late. I won’t ignore the protocol again.”
...For some reason, I felt like I had just significantly contributed to the organization's resources.
She reached out toward me—slowly, gently.
“Here. Take my hand. I’ll be with you, so can you hold off on dying, even just for a little while? I’m on your side, so you can relax... even if just a little.”
“...Tsk... Fine. Got it.”
Now labeled as a mentally unstable suicide case, I grabbed a pair of scissors, cut the rope, and took her hand.
And suddenly—
She pulled me into an embrace and began stroking my head.
“Don’t be alarmed. Apparently, I have a talent for calming people down—that’s all this is. I have no ulterior motives... Though, would you believe a demon saying that?”
A soft warmth enveloped me.
The scent of roses filled the air, soothing me.
The pain from my wound... faded.
A sudden wave of guilt washed over me.
She had done nothing but offer kindness—yet here I was, manipulating her concern.
Wasn’t this, in its own way, the most demonic thing about her?
“Are you feeling better?”
“...Yeah.”
“Good. So, what did you call me for? If it’s something like bullying, don’t worry, just tell me everything.”
Bullying? Well... technically, it kind of was.
For a brief moment, I almost spilled all my fears and anxieties to the gentle demon before me.
She had this way of making the wounded want to open up.
A part of me wanted to continue pretending to be a fragile victim.
But I couldn’t do that. I shouldn’t do that.
So instead, I explained everything.
“Everyone in this branch has been affected by the new anomaly we brought in.”
Alice nodded.
It wasn’t as if the suffering of humans mattered to her.
And yet, she was listening seriously.
Maybe... she really was trustworthy.
“That’s right. The anomaly looked like a recorder. The moment it was played, a voice rang through the entire branch—‘A MURDEROUS MONSTER!’
And then... everything changed.
The way people looked at me—everything.
They saw me as a monster.
As if I needed to be contained... or killed.”
Alice tilted her head.
“So what did they do next?”
“I figured they’d draw their guns to take down the so-called ‘monster’ that had suddenly appeared.”
“And?”
“I was right. They started shooting.”
“That must have been terrifying.”
“...Yeah. It was heartbreaking. But for some reason... I kind of saw it coming.”
A pause.
Then, Alice murmured,
“...You saw it coming?”
“Yeah.”
“Has something like this happened before?”
“No. Never.”
...
As we talked, I realized something.
Alice, despite being a demon, was far more rational than most humans I’d met.
Even humans lost their minds and did insane things sometimes.
But Alice—she was calm, logical, composed.
It was ironic.
When I told her that, Alice let out a bitter smile.
Just as I was thinking about how to fix this situation—
Alice suddenly spoke.
“...Something’s wrong.”
“Huh?”
“Why aren’t your pursuers here?”
...She was right.
They had been banging on the door.
But the moment Alice appeared, they had vanished.
Was there some kind of connection?
Now that I realized I was no longer being chased, I had time to think.
If they weren’t chasing me anymore, what were they doing?
“...We should check on the others.”
As I stood up, Alice smiled approvingly.
“I’ll be your ally.”
And with that, the two of us began searching the facility for the other survivors.
Just having one more person beside me made all the difference.
Maybe that’s why people called Alice a friend.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“MONSTERS! THEY’RE MONSTERS!”
Gunfire echoed from close by.
I instinctively shrank back—but Alice stepped forward.
I quickly followed after her.
And there, we found one of my fellow recruits—Helm.
He was firing his gun wildly.
“Helm!”
“A-AAAH! P-281 ESCAPED! THOSE DAMN BUGS ARE GOING TO EAT ME ALIVE!”
Helm had a trauma from a past incident when an insect-type anomaly had escaped and wrecked the facility.
But why was that fear resurfacing now?
Hadn’t he taken a memory suppression treatment for it?
Something was off.
I reached for my gun, preparing to take him down before he caused any more damage—
But Alice casually walked forward.
And caught every single bullet with her delicate fingers.
Then, she gently took Helm’s hand.
Helm was a huge guy—a bear of a man.
Next to him, Alice looked absurdly small.
And yet, the moment she touched him, he calmed down.
His face flushed red.
Seeing that, I made a decision.
I was going to spread rumors that Helm was a degenerate with a thing for children.
And it had absolutely nothing to do with jealousy.
“Helm. Where are the others?”
Alice asked, and Helm, perhaps wanting to appear impressive in front of a girl, lowered his voice in an exaggeratedly grim tone as he replied. (Just saying in advance, it's not because I'm actually jealous!)
"Hmm. I don't know. I was too busy running from the bugs."
The contradiction in his very first sentence was so blatant that I immediately called him out on it.
"What? There weren’t any bugs anywhere."
"What? Lies! Look at this wound!"
There was no wound on Helm’s body.
"Huh..."
We continued searching for the others.
"Damn it... Another containment failure. Another escape. Another damn killing monster. The higher-ups always hide information from us, but even the lowest ranks know just how dangerous this branch is..."
The people we encountered were in a state of panic, either firing their guns wildly or fleeing from monsters that weren’t even there.
But from what I observed, they were the minority. Most of them, particularly the veterans who had been in this facility for a long time, showed signs of extreme lethargy.
They sat around, mumbling like corpses, some of them even being the same people who had shot at me earlier.
"...Some people are screaming about monsters and firing their guns, yet there aren't actually any monsters here."
"I swear I had a wound on my stomach, but now it's gone. Was I hallucinating too?"
"Probably. And so was this person."
Alice spoke as she looked at the body of a high-ranking officer who had taken his own life.
Her expression was as stiff as a doll’s, but to my eyes, she looked like she was about to cry at any moment.
I offered her a few words of comfort.
"This isn't your fault."
Alice’s lips curled slightly.
"...Thanks."
"...”
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"The phone is ringing."
I didn’t hear any ringing.
Then, suddenly, a small hand mirror materialized in Alice’s hand.
She reached into it and pulled out a phone.
Without hesitation, she answered the call.
"Carol."
"Haa... Hello, Riddle. It's been a while. Oh, wait, no, you’re not Riddle. Damn it, you're really not. You sound similar, but... Ah, whatever..."
"Hearing you talk like that, I guess you’ve been hit too. Hold on, I’m coming."
"-No. Just deal with the situation first. The third containment room in Corridor C is open. The thing inside is the cause. Destroy it."
"...Are you really okay? You’re not in need of help? You don’t sound like you’re doing well."
"...You’re not doing great either, are you? If it’s you, you must have already noticed. Yeah... there's nothing we can do about the psychological side of this."
"..."
Alice wordlessly hung up and headed toward the containment room where the anomaly was being held.
I grabbed my gun and followed. When we entered the containment room, I couldn't help but raise my voice in shock.
"What the hell is that?!"
The newly released anomaly looked, at first glance, like nothing more than an ordinary tape recorder.
But right beside it was a ten-meter-tall plant-like monster, covered in grotesque faces.
"It’s feeding off the unconscious fears of the people in this facility. Because it's been forcefully dredging up suppressed memories and emotions, everything has turned into a chaotic mess. It’s similar to anomalies, yet entirely different."
Alice stepped forward toward the enormous creature without a hint of fear.
I found myself momentarily admiring her.
Then, shaking myself out of it, I gripped my gun.
Alice, noticing my reaction, smiled approvingly.
["It’s meaningless! Everything is meaningless! Endless, insurmountable trials await! Everyone knows—they are doomed to break eventually!"]
As the monster spoke, an unseen pressure crushed my body and mind.
Lethargy. Yes, it was lethargy.
Unlike fear, which compels one to run or fight, this feeling drained me of the will to do anything at all.
Alice quickly recognized my symptoms and devised a countermeasure.
"How boring."
Two mirrors formed behind her.
From them emerged two creatures.
One was a black entity wearing a constantly shifting mask.
The other was a monstrous figure in a prisoner’s uniform, laughing maniacally.
"Excessive emotion and uncontrollable fear. These two anomalies were born from those exact sources of terror. They might not be beneficial under normal circumstances, but in this case, using poison to counter poison should work."
Just as Alice said, the two creatures emanated strange waves, and my body began moving again.
It was a forced, creaking kind of motion, but it was enough for me to raise my gun.
That was when I noticed—the real anomaly, the tape recorder, was lodged in the gaps of the plant monster's exoskeleton.
I took aim at it.
Bang!
But my bullet was blocked by a moving leaf.
"So that's the weak point. Thanks for the confirmation. Hmm... What was your name again?"
"Petto."
"Right. Petto. Take a break now. You've done enough."
Alice turned away from me and led her two anomalies forward.
She advanced with a momentum so fierce it was as if an entire army was marching alongside her.
"You were merely extracting fear, but in doing so, you also unearthed memories that people had sealed away. Before they were even ready to face them.
Isn't that strange? That’s really quite a bizarre thing to do. It’s not severe enough to warrant total eradication, but...
If you keep burying your disgusting roots deeper and driving people who could have lived to their deaths—"
Alice’s voice sharpened.
"—Then I’ll return you to a seed and plant you in concrete."
With that, she kicked off the ground and charged at the plant monster.
The creature extended hundreds of tendrils toward her.
"Uncontrollable."
["No one can control anything! Emergency! Emergency! Hahahaha!"]
At the prisoner’s words, the tendrils meant to restrain Alice twisted in an unnatural way.
However, those meant to attack remained functional.
"Excessive emotion."
["I'm angry! I'm furious!"]
The black entity’s mask changed into one of pure rage.
Immediately, the tendrils became thicker and more powerful—but in return, they became slower and less precise.
Alice dashed across the bulky vines toward the monster’s weak point.
The plant creature attempted to capture her, but with its reduced speed and clumsier movements, it had no chance of keeping up.
["Kooooooaaaaahhh!"]
The monster spewed pollen.
As it drifted toward me, the faces embedded in its body began chattering their teeth.
Alice immediately realized what it was about to do.
Click! Click! Click!
"...No way."
The clicking teeth sparked, igniting into a raging fire.
A dust explosion.
The moment I understood what was happening, a powerful shockwave struck me.
I instinctively shielded myself, protecting my body from the worst of the heat and wind.
Even so, just the blast pressure alone was devastating.
If it hit me this hard, what happened to Alice, who had been at the center of the explosion?
Just then, her voice came from my pocket.
"I just remembered something. If I go inside a mirror, I don’t take any damage. Even if the mirror breaks, it doesn’t affect me at all."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a tiny hand mirror.
When did she put this here?
Alice emerged from the small mirror, returning to her full size.
"That was unexpected. I didn’t think it would go so far as to use an attack that would damage itself. I’ll have to be careful when borrowing the power of the Overemotional Anomaly.”
The massive, ten-meter-tall plant monster, now charred black, drooped its bud.
It looked like it had reached its limit.
Though its body was regenerating, it no longer had the energy to protect its weak spot.
I knew this was my chance. I took aim at its weak point.
[...Petto. Help me, Petto.]
A voice, unnervingly eerie, echoed from the bud.
Suddenly, all the strength drained from my body. My gun barrel slowly lowered toward the floor.
[I was infected and turned into a monster. Please help me escape from the pursuers! Please!]
I wasn’t ready to face this memory.
A past I had barely managed to forget with memory suppressants was now chasing after me.
[Petto! Help me, Petto! I don’t want to die, and I don’t want to be locked away!]
But you... you killed people.
You craved blood like a beast.
And yet... your tears must have been real.
You must have been terrified.
But I had no choice but to ignore that.
I wanted to ease your suffering, but at the same time, I didn’t want to be treated the same way you were.
I was so contradictory.
Drowning in self-loathing, I fully lowered my gun.
Alice walked up to me and spoke.
"That thing is a monster formed from the subconscious fears of the people in this facility.
Even if memories are erased with suppressants, those fears remain in the subconscious.
Unless one overcomes them on their own, they will never truly disappear.”
She grabbed my arm and adjusted my aim toward the monster’s weak spot.
Thanks to her support, I was finally able to align my sights properly.
“It’s really unfortunate.
There are no workers as dedicated as you all, yet the endless emergence of terrifying anomalies, events, and disasters keeps chipping away at your will.
That’s why the higher-ups, the ones who know the most, sink deeper into lethargy and often end up attempting suicide.
Probably because they believe that none of their actions have any meaning.”
A faint sense of vitality returned to my body. Was it because of Alice’s influence?
I slowly placed my finger back on the trigger.
“...This isn’t a problem I can solve.
I can’t eliminate every anomaly that spreads across the world.
Even if I contain this creature, the feelings of despair will remain in people's hearts.
The subconscious lethargy within the facility will persist, and there’s nothing I can do about that.
But Petto...
At the very least, if you choose to face your fears and move forward—
If you choose to accept the existence of your friend who was turned into a monster and sealed away—"
"..."
"I’ll gladly be your companion as a friend."
Bang!
The gunshot rang out, and the tape recorder—the monster’s core—shattered.
A seed that had been inside fell to the ground.
Afterward, the seed was buried deep in concrete for containment.
"It’s over. Thank you for your help, Alice."
"Mm. You helped me too."
"...Did I really? The fact that I had a colleague who turned into a monster and was locked away... It’s confusing my memories."
"Maybe you empathized too deeply with the emotions of your friend who was contained.
Think carefully about the hallucinations you experienced. You might find a clue there."
"I see... Thank you."
"If it ever gets too hard, let me know. I’ll give you advice or help you out.
So..."
Alice hesitated for a moment.
"...So don’t try to kill yourself again, okay?"
"Ah."
I quickly shook my head in denial, but Alice just waved her hand with a doubtful look and walked back to her containment room.
I couldn't bring myself to tell her that it was a misunderstanding.
She still looked suspicious, but... it would probably be fine.
Two days later, Director Carol personally came to see me.
Without any warning, she handed me a yellow badge.
"Employee Petto, you have been selected as an at-risk individual.
Here, wear this badge."
"...Excuse me? Director? What is this?"
"You attempted suicide, didn’t you? Now you’ll need to undergo a psychological assessment and counseling. You know... standard procedure."
I stood there, staring blankly at the yellow badge in my hand as Carol walked away.
The people I normally joked around with now approached me carefully, asking about my well-being.
Even when I went to the restroom, I was closely watched in case I tried something again.
It was incredibly awkward.
I had refused the memory suppressants.
But how the hell was I supposed to prove that I was mentally fine?
"Haa..."
The only one who had seen me with a rope around my neck...
Was that damned demon.
"Alice..."
Why the hell did you report it to my superior?
