Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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Whiiing-

The drill pierced through the center of the forehead. Blood trickled down from the forehead where the drill was embedded.

"No-!"

Choi Jae-min screamed, opening his mouth, and pushed Lee Yeonwoo, who was holding him tightly instead of the team leader. As Yeonwoo staggered and was pushed away, Jae-min ran forward but stopped abruptly.

Floppy-

Her features crumbled like clay, turning into gray clay and falling drop by drop onto the first-floor entrance floor.

The drill, which had been rotating with a lot of clay on it, stopped.

Jae-min looked at what was Ah-yoon on the floor with disbelief.

The red blood turned into clear water, and the gray clay gradually evaporated. Evidence that it was not human.

"It wasn't Ah-yoon...? This, this."

While Jae-min couldn't collect himself, the team leader brought the soju bottle up to his face and clicked his tongue briefly.

"Used too much. What a waste."

Just enough for two glasses of soju. The soju bottle had about a finger's worth left. Even a few drops would have sufficed, but he poured it all out in a fit of temper...

Yeonwoo approached beyond the soju bottle.

Jae-min, feeling pain from his excessively tightly gripped arm due to tension, rubbed it.

"Team leader. Is it over?"

"The demon of sloth is finished. What's left is the friend who summoned this."

The team leader glanced at Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo couldn't hide his anxious expression. As if it was strange for things to end like this, he watched the disappearing gray clay.

Then he spoke.

"The summoner is still left.... Ah, please."

"Why, do you think another accident will happen?"

"Considering what we've experienced so far, a little bit. I hope it's just unnecessary worry..."

Yeonwoo sighed deeply.

The team leader looked at Yeonwoo, then turned his head and called Jae-min.

"Hey kid! Stop looking at that and come over here."

"Huh? Ah, yes."

Jae-min, who approached hesitantly, couldn't keep his eyes fixed on one spot, moving them around. The team leader sat on the entrance railing and gestured with the drill.

"Do you know anything about that friend's family situation, any problems? Like academic stress or something."

Usually, the method to summon the demon of sloth comes in text, and its content is so absurd that an ordinary person would dismiss it with a laugh.

Those who try it are often mentally pushed to their limits.

So, he was asking if Ah-yoon had any hidden suffering.

"Well..."

Jae-min hesitated to answer. Though answers floated in his mind, they sank down in doubt.

'She studies better than me, but not exceptionally well. But her family didn't seem to push her to study much... Both seemed like good people...'

They had lived in the same apartment, attended the same school, the same grade, and the same class for quite a while. If measured in years, it would exceed five fingers.

But Jae-min ended up lowering his head.

"I don't know.... I'm sorry."

Since the moment he mistook the demon of sloth for the real Ah-yoon, Jae-min had lost his confidence. Despite looking carefully, he had been deceived.

He couldn't help but doubt if he truly knew the real Ah-yoon.

The team leader struck Jae-min's drooping shoulder hard with the drill handle.

"Why is that your fault? Anyway, on the surface, it seems like there's no big problem-"

"Team leader."

Yeonwoo's call. The team leader's head snapped towards Yeonwoo. Holding the drill tightly in hand.

"What? Why?"

"Over there, someone's coming."

"What?"

He pointed somewhere with the hand that had recently been freed from a cast.

The sunset sank, and the sky turned navy blue. One person was walking diligently on the sidewalk illuminated by streetlights. It was Ah-yoon.

Dressed in casual clothes and swinging a puffed-up eco bag, Ah-yoon suddenly stopped. Her gaze shifted between Jae-min, the team leader, and Yeonwoo before returning to Jae-min.

"Jaemin?"

A voice mixed with curiosity and a bit of anxiety.

Jae-min confirmed the usual characters above Ah-yoon's head and shouted.

"Hey! What did you do!"

The emotions of worrying, doubting, and hesitating all day poured out in a yell. His voice echoed through the apartment complex.

---

---

"Calm down. Hey, student. You summoned a demon, didn't you?"

The team leader stepped forward and asked before the suddenly excited Jae-min. Ah-yoon stepped back hesitantly and shook her head.

"N-no? How would I summon a demon?"

"Don't lie. We know everything. You know you did something wrong, right? Be honest."

"Well... yes."

She lowered her head and looked at her toes. She knew her mistake without needing further explanation. Jae-min hurriedly approached, asked quickly, and then lifted his head.

"Why the hell did you do it! You almost-"

"...I just wanted to see the concert! I’ve never seen Lego-Flavored Ice Cream before, and today was the only chance!"

Jae-min, with a dumbfounded expression, exhaled a long breath mixed with relief.

"That's so like you..."

"Look at this! It's a limited edition item from the performance!"

She took out a Lego ice cream model from the eco bag and shook it rhythmically. Ah-yoon's face still had the excitement and emotion from the performance, glowing red like the sunset.

"The performance was so great! Really-"

"..."

"Wow."

The team leader and Yeonwoo were momentarily speechless. Summoning a suspicious demon just to see a performance? Not knowing the terrifying consequences...

The team leader scratched his head with the end of the drill, speaking in a relieved voice.

"Kid. Messing with things like that can get you killed. If you'd been just a little later, you'd have gone to hell."

"H-hell? That wasn't mentioned."

"If they told you everything, they wouldn't be demons. Don't ever do something like that again."

Ah-yoon shrank back and nodded slightly. Then, just as she was about to ask out of curiosity, the team leader held the drill and the soju bottle in one hand and extended his empty hand.

"Give me your phone. Show me the demon summoning message."

"Okay... It came as a text... Just a moment."

She quickly put the Lego ice cream back in the eco bag and pulled out her phone, tapping on it. After a moment, Ah-yoon handed over the phone.

Unable to contain their curiosity, Jae-min and Yeonwoo leaned in from either side of the team leader to look at the small phone screen. There was a long text message.

[Do you hate school? Do you wish someone else could do your homework for you? Do you want someone to go to school for you, get scolded by your parents for you?

Or do you hate going to work? Do you want someone to work for you, get scolded by your boss for you, and earn money for you?

For those like you, we have the demon summoning system!

Summon a doppelgänger to replace you during those unpleasant moments!

Just click the link, and a doppelgänger will be summoned to take on your suffering!

Don't worry! There's no price to pay! Enjoy the sweet moments of your short life!

Link: 666.13.666]

The more they looked at it, the more they couldn't understand why Ah-yoon would click on such a suspicious message.

As the team leader thought he couldn't understand kids these days, and Jae-min glared at Ah-yoon.

Yeonwoo instinctively looked away from the phone and toward the path Ah-yoon had walked. There were two people. Two people walking with a distinctly suspicious aura.

"Somewhere around here..."

A small man muttered to himself. His face was listless, looking pale.

And then.

Hehehe-

A tall man with bronzed skin, wearing a tracksuit with a military jacket, was laughing while looking at his phone.

The next moment, the small man looked at Ah-yoon and said,

"Ah. Found her."

---

---

The team leader quietly lowered the phone. He frowned and looked at the small man and the tall man.

"...Who are you?"

"Ah, must be someone from the company... I'm late... I moved really quickly though..."

The small man muttered gloomily, shifting his gaze from Ah-yoon to the team leader. His eyes were as lifeless and dull as fish eyes, and his voice was equally dead.

"I'm a demon worshiper... I'm here to take the person who summoned the demon. If it's alright, can I just take that girl...?"

"Haha, like hell you can."

"I'm not taking her as a sacrifice. I just want to educate her in demon worship... Surely we don’t have to fight about this…?"

His dull eyes turned back to Ah-yoon. Eyes that desired the girl.

Jae-min took a step diagonally, shielding the frightened Ah-yoon from his gaze. Jae-min looked at the top of the small man's head.

"Your parents-"

"Ah, such vulgar language is too much... But my parents are also demon worshipers. And I'm doing what I've been taught."

"Oh..."

His words were calm. Jae-min's mouth opened and closed, then he shifted his focus to the tall man. The man still looking at his phone and laughing had a blank space above his head.

Empty.

Jae-min muttered softly,

"That guy in the military jacket is strange. He has no parents."

"He must be a demon. The problem is what kind of demon."

The team leader glanced down at the holy water and drill in his hand. They were only minimally armed, knowing the traits of the demon of sloth. To face an unknown anomaly...

As a loose tension flowed between them,

The small demon worshiper spoke.

"I don't want to fight, but it can't be helped... Demon. Please."

"No."

"Oh, come on... I even gave you the phone."

The man called a demon replied while still looking at his phone.

"What do you have to do to command a demon? You have to utter my true name first."

"Ah, seriously... Even though the name doesn't mean much..."

The name.

Knowing that name would allow them to guess what kind of demon it was and its characteristics. Guessing would make it easier to respond. The team leader and Yeonwoo pricked up their ears, not wanting to miss a word.

The demon worshiper looked at them and blushed with embarrassment.

"I don't want to... Ah. I'll say it. It's..."

Then he closed his eyes tightly and muttered softly,

"Changingnamesisreallyfun Demon... Please get rid of them quickly."

Hehehe-

The demon laughed. The demon pointed a finger at the team leader.

"You bastard... Accident!"

From the top floor of the apartment, a flowerpot fell.

The flowerpot caught a sudden strong wind, drew a gentle curve, and struck the team leader's head.

An absurd reality engulfed them.