Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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The World Alteration Department was a scene worse than hell itself. Researchers ran around screaming, while others crawled on the floor, wailing.

"The device, the device!"

"Even the blueprints are gone! No, no!"

In an instant, the core of their department, the device they'd poured their blood and sweat into, had vanished. They'd witnessed it with their own eyes.

The intense mental anguish overcame even the dice's persuasion. One by one, the researchers began glaring at Yeonwoo. A light bordering on madness glinted in their eyes.

"Who are you anyway!"

"Yeonwoo! It's Yeonwoo! Why did this department destroyer come here!"

One researcher hurled insults. Some rushed to report to the director, while others called for security.

Yeonwoo, his eyes darting around, slowly backed away and said seriously:

"Don't worry. This can be fixed quickly. I'll somehow reverse it."

"Don't!"

The employee who had directly guided Yeonwoo screamed. They could imagine what accident might happen if he failed again. They might even erase the memories in their heads, forcing them to rebuild the World Alteration Device from scratch.

No, perhaps even the anomalous pencil that was the core of the device-

'Wait, is the pencil still intact?'

At that moment, a researcher threw themselves at the device's remains, their body shaking violently. If that pencil disappeared, they could never recreate the World Alteration Device.

Steel fragments tore their clothes and scratched their skin, leaving red wounds, but the researcher swam through the debris like a madman, flailing their hands.

"Find it quickly! That, that!"

Other researchers rose one after another. They moved fragments with their bare hands, the sharp and rough edges tearing their palms.

Just then, the door burst open with a bang, and armed security guards poured in. They immediately aimed their weapons at Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo clenched his fist.

'To the city with the Club building.'

The dice rolled.

Success!

Movement could be fatal if done wrong. His survival instinct erased failure and critical failure. A moderate success came up.

Yeonwoo's view changed.

------

It was the city he'd visited not long ago. As if the sun had fallen, the entire city was bathed in golden light. Yeonwoo quietly looked up at the sky.

"The world..."

The world that rejected anomalies was lashing out at Golden Omnipotence's domain as if in its death throes. That power was mighty, but somehow weakened. Because the world was on the brink of destruction.

The expanding hell, the Association President's influence spreading from inside the Arts Center, and Golden Omnipotence's exerted authority. All of these were weakening the world.

Even the 'persuasion' Yeonwoo had set was still deceiving the world.

'No, is that because I created an ordinary space?'

He wasn't sure. After scratching his head briefly, Yeonwoo slowly started walking. His destination was the Club building where the chairman was.

Looking at the dazzlingly bright building, Yeonwoo fell into thought.

His goal. Returning to the original world. What he needed for that. What he had to do. Repairing, no, rebuilding the World Alteration Device was just the first step; he had to do much more.

He recalled the words he had shouted just before the alteration:

'Dice. Create a way for me to survive... I interfered and turned it into the Anomaly Protection Company.'

If he could interfere, other Level 6 entities could too. Each Level 6 would dream of a different world, so he had to stop their interference.

And then there was the company.

'I need to make them give up on an ordinary world.'

The intertwined situation was more difficult than world alteration. There were too many involved entities, and the knot was so tangled he didn't know where to start.

Would it take the company's think tank hours of meetings to even begin to grasp it?

Lost in thought, Yeonwoo walked unsteadily. The answer wouldn't come, making his steps slow.

And that time was long enough for the chairman to notice Yeonwoo's visit. Golden light gathered in front of Yeonwoo, forming the chairman's figure.

"What is it? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be attacking the company at a time like this? Or the demon worshipper."

The chairman showed his discomfort.

The alliance was certain, at least. Yeonwoo wouldn't tolerate a company trying to eradicate anomalies.

But Yeonwoo was a bomb that should be thrown at the enemy lines, not kept at headquarters.

Yeonwoo, who had been thinking with his head down and eyes lowered, slowly raised his head. His lips moved as if to say something to persuade, but then closed firmly.

'This isn't someone I can persuade.'

He'd lose if he tried to win with words and logic. Hadn't he already experienced that when he came to change the world?

At that moment, an idea flashed through his mind.

'Why did I try to persuade and deal with this rationally? Who was it? I think some king in the past said to cut the knot.'

If you eliminate the problem, there's no need to solve it. Or threaten the knot with a knife to make it unravel itself.

Just as the chairman was about to speak again, sensing danger, Yeonwoo reached out his hand. The image in his mind was of a doomsday cultist holding an eraser. He spoke flatly:

"Dice. The possibility of the Earth exploding."

The dice rolled.

The survival instinct erased success and critical success, but the possibilities of miss, failure, and critical failure wriggled. Without related senses, it was a tangle of probabilities impossible to distinguish.

In an instant, the chairman panicked. He couldn't think of anything else and just shouted:

"Stop it!"

Golden light flashed so brightly it seemed white, enveloping Yeonwoo. The wriggling threads of probability shrank like bugs hit with insecticide.

The rolling dice stopped. It had been canceled. Silence fell for a moment. The two men just stared at each other.

"..."

"...What are you doing? Are you insane? Suddenly trying to explode the Earth?"

The chairman spoke first. He assessed the gold consumed and came to his senses. For stopping Earth's explosion, very little gold had been used. It meant it wasn't going to happen in the first place.

Annoyance settled on the chairman's face.

"Is this a joke? Is this the time for such pranks?"

"It's not a joke. This isn't my world. It's an altered world. My memories, my life were rewritten. My real life and connections only exist in the world before the alteration."

Yeonwoo slowly opened his hand again. The chairman's gaze focused on Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo muttered as if talking to himself:

"A world like this should be destroyed. Should I erase people first? Dice. The possibility of a disease that kills people spreading worldwide."

"Cancel."

Golden light flashed again. This time, a lot more gold was consumed. Unlike Earth's explosion, this had a real possibility of happening.

The chairman's expression hardened.

"Are you serious? Do you really think that? No, you can't be. Or can you?"

The chairman pressed his head, feeling a headache coming on.

He couldn't understand what Yeonwoo was trying to do, what kind of person he was.

"You came to change the world, I don't know what you did with the demon worshipper, and now destruction? Do you perhaps have multiple personalities? Does your personality change based on the dice roll results?"

The most rational possibility was that Yeonwoo's mind had been corrupted by the dice's contamination.

Yeonwoo maintained his expressionless face.

"I told you. A world like this needs to be destroyed."

The chairman looked at Yeonwoo quietly before slowly realizing the situation. It was a simple negotiation technique. First, make a strong demand, then ask for what you really want.

Like saying you'll sell at a high price, then slowly adjusting it.

"You have something else you want. Tell me. Stop this pathetic threatening."

"Hmm."

Yeonwoo, his intentions exposed, stopped his clumsy act and sheepishly scratched his head.

His voice came out somewhat embarrassed.

"My goal is to return to the original world. No matter how I think about it, the original world was the most ideal."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What on earth are you talking about? The Humanity Protection Company wants to eradicate anomalies, how is that ideal?"

"That's a problem too, but I've prepared countermeasures for that in my own way."

Yeonwoo turned his head slightly. The ordinary domain he had created. He'd use this as a carrot for the company and these destruction threats as a stick to negotiate.

"The company's policy is protection, not attack, right? I think I can appeal to that."

"Let's say that works. But why should I agree to this?"

The chairman wore an incredulous expression. The war was going in their favor, and the Club had procured tons of gold.

If they brought down the company in this world, it would be over. Why go back to the pre-alteration world where the company existed?

Yeonwoo wasn't confident he could change the Club's stance either. He spoke hesitantly:

"I'm not asking you to agree, just to fix the World Alteration Device and not interfere when I try to revert things."

"So, why should I... No, forget it. I don't think this world is that bad. I'll stop you."

In the end, the chairman insisted on keeping the current world.

Yeonwoo lowered his head in disappointment. A deep sigh escaped him.

"Ah. This isn't working."

If the chairman had helped, the World Alteration Device could have been fixed right away. Even threatening with a knife hadn't made the knot unravel itself, so the only option left was to cut the knot with the knife.

"Then I have no choice. I'll have to get rid of you first."

Golden Omnipotence wasn't the chairman. If he killed the chairman, he could use it himself. This was actually more certain.

"Dice. The possibility of the chairman dying from a heart attack."

Kill the chairman and solve all problems with Golden Omnipotence.

At the same time, the chairman's figure also shone with golden light. He countered attack with attack.

"Stop Yeonwoo's heart."

The dice rolled and showed a result, while Golden Omnipotence, having heard the wish, consumed gold to exert its force. In an instant, the attacks pierced each other.

Thud. Both men's hearts stopped simultaneously. And then, both hearts started beating again.

The chairman fell backwards but recovered as his insurance activated, while Yeonwoo's survival instinct simply guided him to a future where his heart beat again.

The two Level 6 entities, having briefly experienced death, glared at each other.

"Fine. Let's see which is more omnipotent, Golden Omnipotence or your dice."

"Don't worry too much. You'll be alive and well in the world I revert to."

Immediately after, the dice began rolling madly, unraveling threads of probability, while Golden Omnipotence devoured gold endlessly, twisting reality.

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