Chapter 76: Mad Triangle (3)

Deep Sea Fish Hunting Specialty Broadcast

EP.76 Mad Triangle (3)

“So, this is the footage from that time.”

“Ah, yes. This is the CCTV footage that was recording the office at the time of the incident.”

Natsuko continued to ask questions to the man beside her with an expressionless face.

“Who else saw it besides me?”

“Only the security guard who was on duty in the CCTV room at the time and myself.”

“What happened to the security guard?”

“He seemed to be in shock, so we decided to let him rest at home for a few days. I gave him paid leave at my discretion.”

“Alright… I see. You can go now.”

“Ah, yes. And please be careful when watching that footage. While there doesn’t seem to be any mental effects, the content is quite horrific.”

“Hmm.”

The man who was with Natsuko left the room, looking extremely anxious.

It was as if he didn’t want to spend even a second more with this footage playing in front of her.

Natsuko quietly sat down in front of the computer, staring at the file on the desktop.

The CCTV footage that had been recording inside the basement during last night’s horrific incident.

Natsuko quietly pressed the play button.

What appeared on the screen was that basement where the incident had occurred.

‘Is that the employee?’

An employee who was visibly restless caught her eye immediately.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Probably the one who discovered that… B-rank deep-sea hunter.

As the footage was shot from the side, unfortunately, the computer screen he was looking at wasn’t visible due to the angle.

‘Should we increase the number of CCTV cameras?’

The man continued to fidget restlessly, showing every sign of anxiety, until he finally called for his superior.

And when his superior came and looked at the man’s screen.

“■■■■■■■■!!”

He started talking frantically.

Since the video had no sound, it was impossible to know what he was saying, but this wasn’t a problem for Natsuko.

‘Lip reading.’

[ Skill, ‘Lip Reading’ has been activated. ]

“Th-this is…! Everyone!! Come here and look at this!!”

Then, with a rush-

Everyone in the office, even the security guard watching the door, was called over to look at the screen together.

Natsuko felt a considerable sense of discomfort at this point.

It’s understandable for a subordinate to report an unexpected situation to their superior.

However, for that superior to suddenly call everyone over to look at the screen together? This is clearly an unreasonable situation.

‘They’ve been entranced by something.’

As far as she knew, the person in that ‘superior’ position wasn’t foolish enough to make such an irrational decision in this situation.

Then there’s only one answer. They’ve been entranced by someone in the video.

That would explain it.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Even if that were the case, questions arise.

When a mental barrier skill meets a mental attack skill, the result manifests in a way similar to ‘subtraction’.

For example, if someone has a barrier skill at a level of about 60, and they receive a mental attack with an intensity of 80, they would be entranced by an amount of 20.

At this point, an unsolvable question arises.

As far as Natsuko knows, the mental barrier levels of the ‘superior’ and the employee who called him are vastly different.

If the ‘superior’s’ mental barrier is around 50, the employee’s would be about 10.

If a mental attack strong enough to make the superior make an irrational decision in an instant, let’s say a level 51 mental attack, was flowing from the screen, then the employee with a mental barrier of 10 who received that attack…

‘He should have either gone mad and caused a disturbance, committed suicide, or shown some kind of extreme behavior.’

There’s no way he could have just ‘fidgeted in his seat and called his superior’.

Moreover, even until the superior looked at the screen and called the others, he didn’t show any unusual behavior.

He just anxiously tapped his feet.

Besides, the full-scale mental attack hasn’t even begun yet.

Natsuko recalled what the subordinate who handed her the video had said.

“It appears they were entranced by a mental attack at the 5 minute 58 second mark of the video. There were no noticeable abnormalities until then.”

This ‘5 minute 58 second mark’ is obviously the point where Yu Parang took out the Kraken and started tapping on the machine.

“Haah…”

Natsuko slumped into her chair, holding her forehead.

She had a headache.

Why on earth did this person called ‘superior’ act like this?

Just a momentary lapse in judgment?

A mental attack with different intensity for each person?

Or does there exist a mental attack that ignores status windows and mental barriers?

‘No.’

Natsuko shook her head.

Such a thing couldn’t exist.

A subtle mental attack that applies differently to each person.

This seemed the most plausible.

While this too is unprecedented in history, it’s still a much more sensible explanation than the other two.

The nature of the attack is probably similar to fascination.

So the ’employee’ called his superior and asked him to ‘look at this together,’ and the superior, after seeing it, likely called all the employees to ‘look at this together.’

A very slight distortion of thought that occurred in a confusing situation probably made them unable to recognize that this was a mental attack.

‘As a result, they all gathered to watch the video, and a terrible outcome ensued?’

Natsuko rewound the video a bit and stopped at 5 minutes 50 seconds.

‘Lip reading.’

[ Skill, ‘Lip Reading’ has been activated. ]

“Damn it!! Isn’t there a self-destruct button or something?!”

“Why on earth would we have something like that?!”

“Wh-what! What the hell is that woman doing?!”

“Wh-whoa!!”

“Aaaaaargh!!!”

The cries of bewilderment soon turned into screams of pain.

This is the situation at 5 minutes 57 seconds.

And at 5 minutes 58 seconds.

“■■■■■■■■■!!!”

‘Wh-what? Lip reading.’

[ Skill, ‘Lip Reading’ is already activated. ]

“■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!!!!!”

Everyone simultaneously grabs their heads and screams.

They grab onto any solid object nearby and bang their heads against it. The wall, the floor, computers, the heads of nearby colleagues.

They squeeze their eyes shut and stick their fingers in their ears. As if they don’t want to see, don’t want to hear.

Blood flows out. From every orifice of the body.

Some gnaw at each other’s wrists with their teeth, pulling out veins and tying them together while laughing.

The ‘superior,’ as if having made a decision, stops looking at the screen and heads to the center of the room.

Then crack, crackle! Crunch!!!

He violently bends his limbs in the opposite direction.

Though it should be biologically impossible, the superior doesn’t stop and continues to forcefully bend his limbs.

Waist, neck, and many others.

He twists all the joints in his body, creating his own art in the center.

Eventually, the superior becomes a ball.

Bending and folding his joints by himself, he becomes a grotesque shape as if someone had put him in a ball-shaped mold and compressed him.

The other employees, seemingly impressed by this sight, try to walk towards the superior and bow.

Those whose bodies were still relatively intact could bow without problem, but the majority couldn’t.

However, they themselves had already been banging their heads and poking all the holes in their faces, making it impossible to maintain a posture, so they struggled.

But soon, one employee seems to find an answer and again bends his joints grotesquely.

Arms and legs in reverse joints, back bent backwards.

Even the neck, as far back as possible.

Thus, he creates a posture of bowing with his stomach facing upwards.

As if claiming, ‘This is also a bow, so it’s fine.’

Other employees who were struggling to bow see this and start bowing too.

With happy faces. With joyful faces.

With faces of salvation.

And then, all movement in the room stops.

A ball made of humans in the center of the room.

Surrounding it, disciples are bowing.

Only the fluorescent light in the center of the sanctuary is on, as if the ball made of crumpled humans is being blessed by a holy light.

And then, the door opens and the man who had handed over the video enters.

Probably the security guard on duty was terrified and called him, and after receiving the report, he came in to assess the situation.

The video ends at that point.

“……”

Natsuko stared at the paused screen for a moment.

She truly never dreamed she would use this expression, but.

“…Insane.”

Natsuko could only offer her impression with a low sigh.

This is purely on the level of a monster, isn’t it?

Even Natsuko herself doesn’t have the confidence to launch such a powerful mental attack through a screen.

Is such a powerful attack even a power permitted to humans?

‘I should inform Seo Sunwoo about this too.’

A hunter with such powerful abilities could be dangerous even for that Seo Sunwoo.

No, perhaps he’s already under attack.

The back of Natsuko’s neck prickled slightly.

The thought of Seo Sunwoo being enchanted by her and turning against herself again is a terrifying situation.

‘No. Sunwoo is still in his right mind. He’s not enchanted. If there are any signs, I can prevent it in advance.’

She picked up her phone right there and called Seo Sunwoo.

About 30 minutes later, Seo Sunwoo appeared in the association president’s office, received the USB, and disappeared.

‘Now it’s done.’

Seo Sunwoo will watch the video she gave him and take appropriate measures on his own.

Natsuko whistled with satisfaction.