Editor’s Survival Guide

I stared at short-haired Cha Si-eon in disbelief.

But Cha Si-eon, standing in the corridor, was not alone.

A person stood before Cha Si-eon with their head slightly bowed.

It was Baek Sa-ra, with straight black hair.

This was truly inside Cha Si-eon’s 「Life Chronicle」.

“Hah…….”

Seeing familiar faces makes me happy, at least.

I approached Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra’s side.

The two of them had stopped as if they were stuffed specimens.

Cha Si-eon looked down at Baek Sa-ra expressionlessly. Baek Sa-ra silently bowed her head.

It seemed like their time on the same team.

At that unfamiliar sight, I sighed again.

To think I was chased out of my own 「Life Chronicle」 and came here.

Then did Cha Si-eon also enter his own 「Life Chronicle」?

If so, the one who could escape from here would not be me, but Cha Si-eon.

Then what should I do?

There was no way I could reconstruct Team Leader Cha’s memories by myself.

It was when I was looking at the past Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra in difficulty.

Rrrrk— rrrk—

I felt a faint vibration beneath my feet.

When I looked around to see what it was, small crumbs were falling from the space.

It was a signal that the time limit was approaching.

---

■ Manual Production Meeting for 「Circulating Library」

Cha Si-eon: There is a time limit for reconstructing fragmented memories. If reconstruction is not completed within the time limit, the personnel inside are released into 「Circulating Library」.

Jo Eun-bi: It says that time limit is 2 hours and 42 minutes at maximum, and 1 minute and 34 seconds at minimum. Is this correct?

Cha Si-eon: According to records, yes.

Jo Eun-bi: Has it been determined by what standard this time variance occurs?

Kim Ji-an: That seems to be due to memory quality. Looking at the field exploration records, it says “bright-smile release after 2 hours and 42 minutes,” and when the space endured for over 1 hour, the expression “bright-smile release” was always used. On the other hand, when release occurred between under 1 hour and over 10 minutes, it was simply “release”; in records where release occurred in under 10 minutes, profanity was written as “release, fuck.”

Jo Eun-bi: Profanity?

Kim Ji-an: We judge it to be a circumventing expression used to avoid record erasure.

Jo Eun-bi: Is this Team Leader Mun’s doing?

Mun Ho-san: I do not remember a thing.

---

According to the Bureau’s presumption, the time limit of a memory inside a 「Life Chronicle」 differed depending on the quality of the memory.

If it was a peaceful and good memory, there was leeway of around 1 or 2 hours.

The more uncomfortable or bad the memory was, the faster the collapse seemed to proceed.

If that was true, then for Team Leader Cha, this did not seem to be a very good memory.

Seeing how the space was already trying to collapse.

Then am I going to be released back into 「Library」?

That would let me return to my 「Life Chronicle」, at least.

The only thing bothering me was this wire still connected to Cha Si-eon.

What if some needless problem occurs because of this?

Should I cut the wire beforehand, just in case?

No.

Right now, this is my only connection to Cha Si-eon.

Once I cut it, I cannot reconnect it, so for now, I had to first confirm what would happen when this space collapsed.

Rrrrk— rrrrrk—!

The shaking of the space grew stronger.

While waiting for the space to collapse, I turned back toward Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra, since I had time left.

If Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra were on one team, this must be around 3 or 4 years ago.

Perhaps because of that, both of them looked quite a bit younger than they did now.

On top of that, they said Baek Sa-ra had been Cha Si-eon’s direct junior.

He really did call her separately and scold her.

Mm…….

Since I have nothing to lose anyway, should I try it once?

Looking back and forth between Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra, whose atmosphere was not very good, I quietly murmured.

“Cha Si-eon is putting Baek Sa-ra, his direct junior who transferred from another team, in line.”

“What are you, getting into fights at every little thing?”

I got it right!

When I guessed the situation, Cha Si-eon, who had been stopped, moved his mouth and began to speak.

---

However, if the entrant is not the person to whom the relevant 「Life Chronicle」 belongs, they cannot interpret the fragmented and distorted memories.

↳ Kim Ji-an: Even if they are not necessarily the person in question, someone who understands the owner of the 「Life Chronicle」 well can interpret the fragmented memories.

---

No.

I do not want to become someone who understands Cha Si-eon well.

“If you transferred here after causing trouble, then act with tact.”

But regardless of my wish, the memory before my eyes had already been interpreted.

“Do you think you becoming one useless failure is where this ends?”

Cha Si-eon pressed his junior in a voice holding back anger.

“I am sorry.”

And Baek Sa-ra reflected with her head bowed.

Wow, so this could be guessed roughly.

But the fact that I got this right was not that surprising.

Both Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra were already familiar figures to me.

On top of that, the current situation had some obvious aspects.

If I could not read even this level of context, then I would not be an editor. Yes.

Cha Si-eon’s dressing-down continued for a while.

Perhaps acknowledging her mistake, Baek Sa-ra only answered occasionally with her head bowed.

Then, a certain remark flowed from Cha Si-eon’s mouth.

“Come to your senses. No one will go easy on you because you are a woman.”

Such a formulaic discriminatory remark.

Feigning surprise, I examined Baek Sa-ra’s reaction.

But Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra stopped moving again.

Like a video on pause.

Did this mean the “Cha Si-eon dressing-down” part I had said only went up to here?

As expected, there was no way it would be solved this easily.

Getting it right once by luck was not enough.

Thinking this without much disappointment, I recalled the photo I had seen yesterday.

Mm, perhaps…….

“Baek Sa-ra made Cha Si-eon’s nose bleed.”

“Hah.”

Baek Sa-ra lifted her head with a breathy laugh.

Insane. I got it right again…….

Chills ran down my spine at myself, and I covered my mouth.

And Baek Sa-ra in the memory said to Cha Si-eon with a bright smiling face,

“I never asked you to go easy on me, so what are you talking about?”

“You are now…….”

The moment Cha Si-eon was about to press Baek Sa-ra again.

WHACK—!

Baek Sa-ra’s hard forehead slammed into Cha Si-eon’s face.

“……!”

Cha Si-eon stepped back at the powerful impact.

Drip drip—

And a nosebleed poured just as fiercely as the strength of the impact.

Good heavens.

Baek Sa-ra’s headbutt had destructive power entirely different from the one I suffered from Ryu Dan-a.

But Cha Si-eon was not an easy gentleman either, so he grabbed Baek Sa-ra by the back of the neck as he was.

As if Baek Sa-ra had no intention of ending it after a single hit either, she kicked the floor and hooked her leg around Cha Si-eon’s neck.

Thud—!

Baek Sa-ra intended to drive Cha Si-eon into the floor.

But her opponent was Cha Si-eon, who endured that weight with pure weight class.

Perhaps Cha Si-eon was also quite angry, because he slammed Baek Sa-ra, who was hanging from his arm, straight into the wall.

THOOM—!

With the impact, Baek Sa-ra’s leg came loose from Cha Si-eon’s shoulder.

On the other hand, Cha Si-eon still had the back of Baek Sa-ra’s neck clenched in his hand and shoved her against the wall.

“Are you insane?”

Cha Si-eon gritted his teeth while dripping blood.

But the refined Baek Sa-ra did not use rough language.

She merely crushed Cha Si-eon’s foot without warning and hung onto the arm that held the back of her neck, upsetting his balance.

This time, perhaps because he had not managed to prepare, Cha Si-eon’s upper body staggered and tilted.

It was just as Baek Sa-ra was about to strike Cha Si-eon’s face with her elbow.

Stop—!

Their movements stopped again.

Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra were fixed in empty air as if time had stopped.

Even so, their forms were brutal, and I sighed, a little sick of it.

“Huh…….”

Even the real Kongjwi and Patjwi would not fight this much…….

By the way, why did it stop here?

Do I have to guess who won?

Mm…… I really cannot guess this one.

It would not be strange no matter which of the two won, and on top of that, neither of them seemed likely to lose.

In terms of physique, Cha Si-eon was naturally overwhelmingly superior.

But in terms of ferocity or aggression, would Baek Sa-ra not be overwhelming……?

Rrrrk— rrrk—!

While I hesitated, the space shook again.

At this rate, should I just guess roughly?

While thinking about what to do, I looked around at the space breaking away little by little.

At that moment, a suspicious human figure entered my eyes.

There was someone secretly watching this way from beyond the corridor.

Who is that?

I went that way and examined the person.

He was a man in his early to mid-30s and was wearing the Bureau’s service uniform.

Judging by his physical condition, he seemed like a field agent, but it was a face I did not know.

And for some reason, that man was filming Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra with his phone.

Aha.

So the photo I saw yesterday was taken like this.

Then why is this person filming those two?

As a joke?

A senior who came to watch Cha Si-eon, the youngest, disciplining the new recruit?

No. If he were that kind of person, he would have gone to stop them already when Baek Sa-ra headbutted him.

If so, this person’s identity is…….

“……The Field Division Menstruating Man who thought Baek Sa-ra, who had rejected him, had gotten involved with another young bastard and secretly tailed Baek Sa-ra?”

Stop—!

The vibration of the space stopped.

And I could not help marveling at my own guessing skills.

Time flowed again, and Cha Si-eon and Baek Sa-ra continued scuffling.

Baek Sa-ra sincerely tried to knock out Cha Si-eon’s molars.

Cha Si-eon barely blocked that with his arm, and was truly fucking pissed.

Then the two of them discovered the Field Division Menstruating Man.

They soon realized the photo had been taken too.

Ah, they started running.

Cha Si-eon, Baek Sa-ra, and the Field Division Menstruating Man too.

With their sprint as the end, the memory completed reconstruction.

---

Is this a true story?

I succeeded in reconstructing Cha Si-eon’s memory by myself.

There was quite a sense that I had stumbled into it, but still, is this not an incredible thing…….

When I opened the door and went out, another memory unfolded.

This memory also had the Bureau as its background.

Cha Si-eon still had short hair.

And before him stood Kwak Jae-gyeom in the Bureau’s full dress uniform.

I observed Jae-gyeom, who was standing before Cha Si-eon, for a moment.

A younger face than now, with an excited, beaming expression.

Hair that was pitch-black without any dye, and a full dress uniform that looked completely new.

This scene was probably…….

“Cha Si-eon is putting Kwak Jae-gyeom, who is excited after going through his appointment ceremony, in line.”

At that moment, Kwak Jae-gyeom, who had been stopped, shouted toward Cha Si-eon.

“Hyung!”

At that, Cha Si-eon made a rotten expression.

“Who is your hyung?”

“Ah, Team Leader.”

After hearing one line from Cha Si-eon, Kwak Jae-gyeom immediately corrected the form of address.

But his embarrassment lasted only a moment, and Jae-gyeom soon spoke energetically again.

“As of today, I have been assigned to Response Team 3, Team Leader. I look forward to working with you!”

After that, time stopped again.

Hmm…….

Cha Si-eon still looked displeased even though a new recruit was greeting him.

Was he trying to put Kwak Jae-gyeom in line?

No, it did not seem like that kind of atmosphere.

It felt more serious and uncomfortable than that…….

“Cha Si-eon kept putting Kwak Jae-gyeom in line because he was displeased that Kwak Jae-gyeom entered the Special Management Bureau……?”

“You came in on your own two feet, so do well. I am not going to go out of my way to take care of you if you cannot keep up, so follow properly on your own.”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

Cha Si-eon encouraged him coldly, and Kwak Jae-gyeom answered brightly.

Hahaha.

At this rate, I might actually escape.