Chapter 4 Part 21

In the same way as at lunchtime, they were arguing, their voices getting louder and louder. It was only because the workday had just ended and their bodies were steeped in exhaustion; otherwise, they would have already been grabbing each other by the collars and rolling around on the bloody floor.

Jeong Tae-ui swayed as he stood up. He turned his back on the sparring arena, where insults and slander were rampant, and headed towards the door. Wien-ho, who was still wiping the blood that slowly trickled down his forehead, not yet fully stopped, saw Jeong Tae-ui and asked where he was going.

Jeong Tae-ui looked at him blankly with a tired face, then replied in an even more exhausted voice.

“I’m going to receive punishment for violating the rule that prohibits personal possession of weapons within the Branch.”

“What? Wasn’t being called to the Instructor’s Office earlier the end of it?”

“It seemed so easygoing… They told me to personally hand-copy ten volumes of the UNHRDO Rules and Regulations.”

“Hand-co… …Should I help you?”

“They said if the handwriting is different, I’d have to make another ten volumes, and the one who helped would have to make ten separate volumes too.”

“Hmm… alright, hang in there. I’ll cheer you on with all my heart.”

With Wien-ho’s sympathetic gaze on his back, Jeong Tae-ui lightly waved his hand and left the Free Sparring Room.

He desperately wanted to go back to his room and collapse onto his bed, but his uncle had kindly set a deadline for the submission of the ten hand-copied volumes: by morning, three days from now. All his free time had to be sacrificed.

Finding the UNHRDO Rules and Regulations was not difficult. Without having to search through countless shelves in the Library for classification codes, a separate shelf for UNHRDO-related booklets was located next to the door.

Jeong Tae-ui pulled out a notebook-sized booklet and sighed. Its size and thickness were exactly like a notebook. It was thick enough that he couldn’t possibly not copy it. However, the moment he opened the booklet, the densely packed small print inside made him sigh involuntarily.

By morning, three days from now. Should he be thankful that he at least had time to sleep? He would have to stick with it during lunchtime, break time, and any free moment, but he thought he could probably finish it while still getting some sleep.

Jeong Tae-ui fanned himself with the booklet and turned towards the circulation desk. However, just as he was about to turn around, his eyes caught a phrase affixed to the side of the bookshelf.

‘Not Available for Loan’

“What is this?”

Jeong Tae-ui stopped fanning himself with the book in his hand and muttered, dumbfounded. If he couldn’t borrow it, where was he supposed to get one to copy? Where would anyone even keep such a completely useless booklet?

However, no matter how many times he scanned it with the barcode reader of the automatic loan system, the booklet was not recognized for loan, just as the sign said. He thought about just grabbing it and walking out, but it was obvious that if he did, the recognition system at the door would trigger an alarm that would scream loud enough to make the entire floor echo.

“Oh. Books related to the Organization aren’t available for external loan. They’re internal documents. If you want to see them, read them inside the Library. Or get an instructor’s permission to borrow them.”

The man waiting in line behind Jeong Tae-ui, seeing him dawdling for a long time, peered over his shoulder to see what he was doing, then kindly informed him after seeing the book. Jeong Tae-ui, saying “Oh, thank you,” stepped aside and just stood there, bewildered, holding the book in his hand.

So, internal documents that require an instructor’s permission to borrow. His uncle couldn’t have told him to copy it without knowing that. The point was to stay cooped up in the Library and copy the book whenever he had a spare moment.

“…”

Jeong Tae-ui, fanning himself with the book and sighing, clicked his tongue and turned around. Well then, what else could he do but bring a blank notebook and copy it here? Thinking about it, while he was stuck here hand-copying, he wouldn’t have to rub shoulders with other guys, so there might even be less chance of getting involved in trouble, which could be a good thing.

Jeong Tae-ui gathered his writing tools, returned to the Library, and sat down at a desk in a corner, opening the book. He wanted to grab anyone and ask for help, but his uncle’s words, that if the handwriting was different he’d have to rewrite all ten volumes, were no joke.

Then, if he copied one volume, cleverly made photocopies, and then subtly altered them…

Jeong Tae-ui, who had been contemplating this for a moment, soon shook his head. Let’s not. If he tried to be cunning and got caught, he’d be in serious trouble. That uncle of his was not someone to be trifled with.

Jeong Tae-ui rolled up his sleeves and began to copy. He briefly thought, “What is this, a punishment for an elementary school student?” but then considered, “Isn’t this rather lenient?” Recalling his uncle’s strict addition, “Make sure to write the passage about the prohibition of personal weapon possession very neatly and beautifully in block letters,” Jeong Tae-ui decided to attribute all of this to his own foolishness.

However, about two hours after he started copying.

“I should have just let some stranger die. I should have just let some stranger die…”

Such words were flowing from Jeong Tae-ui’s mouth.

Why did he have to be some kind of apostle of justice, snatching away a gun someone had carefully hidden – and it didn’t even have bullets, so it could have been a pointless death – just to save a stranger’s life? Enduring even half a month of life-threatening danger, he must have been crazy. Crazy. He’d only picked up bad habits from the military.

Jeong Tae-ui gritted his teeth and moved his hand. His wrist and arm were stiff. He thought he should go to the Medical Ward and get a pain relief patch, but considering the sparring session that afternoon, he wondered if there would even be any patches left for him.

But, come to think of it, Jeong Tae-ui and his team were relatively decent.

Before Jeong Tae-ui came to the Library after work, he had stopped by the Medical Ward to get some pain relief patches or ointment for his bruised side, which ached from being harshly elbowed. After asking the Support Staff, who seemed to have been suffering in the Medical Ward all afternoon, for some ointment, Jeong Tae-ui casually looked around the Medical Ward while the staff searched for it, and discovered several ‘living corpses’ lying on the beds.

‘Ugh, what is this…?’