Chapter 339
After a relaxed weekend, most office workers faced what is commonly called the “Monday blues.” The fatigue and sluggishness made their expressions appear dull. However, the researchers at the Central Research Center in the Hunter’s Bureau annex, often called “the Lab,” were different.
This was not because they were full of energy. Instead, for these researchers, working late nights and weekends was routine, so “Monday blues” was meaningless. They simply wore their usual exhausted expressions.
Among them was a man in his late thirties, his face unshaven for days and his eyes sunken with fatigue. This was Ho-Cheol, head of the Artifact and Monster Research Division at the Central Research Center. A former professor at the University of Pennsylvania, he had been working at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton until five years ago, when Young-Chul personally flew to New Jersey to ask him to take a position at the Hunter’s Bureau.
“I should’ve said no back then,” Ho-Cheol muttered to himself.
“Oh, come on. At least you don’t have to be far away from your family now,” someone responded to his rant.
“What does it matter? When I get home, my kids are already asleep. I haven’t seen them in days.”
“Still, seeing them in person is better than nothing.”
“I guess. Back in the States, all I had were video calls—eeek! Sir?!” Thinking he was chatting with a fellow researcher, Ho-Cheol nearly fell out of his chair when he realized who he was talking to.
He finally lost his balance and tumbled off his seat, landing on his backside. Young-Chul smirked as he casually took a seat, surveying the cluttered desk in front of him. It was full of experimental data scattered everywhere and a towering stack of coffee cups, at least six high.
“How long have you been sleeping on that cot?” Young-Chul asked him.
“Since Friday, sir. Ah, no, I think it was Thursday. So about four days.”
Ho-Cheol dusted off his lab coat and let out a resigned sigh. His thoughts wandered to the exploration of the eighth floor, which had been announced by the Hunter’s Bureau a few days earlier.