EP.6 – Sloppy, but Still Alive

  It was one of those days.From the very start.

  Jinguk mixed the wrong sterilizer.Minseo forgot to secure the pump.Doyun gave the wrong command.

  Minseo:"Today feels… seriously off."Doyun:"Have we ever had a day that wasn't?"

  Expected monster: Oralform.Typically crawls on walls, spits goo,follows a set pattern—easy to deal with.

  But today's monster didn't crawl.It didn't hang from the ceiling.It slithered out from the floor.Dry.No mucus.No spit.

  Doyun:"…A failed evolution?"Jinguk:"Looks like it tried copying us.Screwed it up."

  Doyun scrambled for anything in his bag.What he pulled out—a leftover experimental sterilizer:solidified vinegar compound.Not regulation gear.Just something he'd been messing with yesterday.

  He threw it.

  The monster got hit.Slipped.Flipped over.Its guts spilled out.It burst—on its own.

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  Silence.

  Jinguk:"...Wait, did we just… win?"Doyun:"That wasn't a strategy.It just bounced wrong."Minseo:"Still.We won, right?"Doyun:"Yeah.By accident."

  The report came in:

  "Mission Status: Success.Fatalities: 0Root Cause: Unknown.Variables: Numerous.Special Notes: No plan.But effective."

  "We had no plan.So we had gaps.And those gaps…kept us alive."

  ***

  EP.7 – Please Excuse the Delay on Your Commute

  There was a monster on the road.And beside it—a line of commuters.

  The former was ripping someone in half.The latter were late for work.

  "Excuse me, when will this road open?""My meeting's at nine. It's 8:48 now.""If I miss today's KPI, my manager'll be worse than the monster."

  Jinguk pulled back the police tape.Doyun loaded his water gun—not with water,but mint-flavored mouthwash.

  The monster: another Costaliform.They kept showing up.People were starting to look... bored.

  Minseo:"Estimated response time: fifteen minutes minimum."Commuter:"That long?Can't you just kill it quickly?"

  Doyun didn't answer.He raised the water gun.It pointed at the monster—but in his head,he wasn't sure who he wanted to shoot anymore.

  The monster was eliminated.Minseo wiped off the slime.Jinguk collected the remains.

  And then—a civilian got hit.Not on purpose.Just a stray splash.

  News ticker scrolled:

  "1 civilian casualty reported.Traffic restored.Expect minor delays during rush hour."

  Doyun lowered his head."We're still fighting monsters…and people are just angry about being late."

  Minseo:"We might die from monsters.They might die from missing a meeting."

  "Monsters appear occasionally.Work?That's every day.So people dodge monsters…but never skip the office."