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Chapter 236: The Organ Recipient I

1

I’ve had a lot of different jobs.

In the last episode, I got a job as a "DJ Producer." In other episodes, I’ve been a convenience store owner, a proofreader for misread books, a personal secretary to Tang Seorin, an academy teacher, a café barista, and more. I’ve held many different occupations.

Living off just one job has always been tough, so people took on two, three, or even more. This trend has always been the same, and I couldn\'t escape it even as someone who has returned from the future.

However, despite all this, my primary profession has always been just one thing: an undertaker.

The one who buries the dead.

Today, let\'s talk about my main job for the first time in a while.

2

[Undertaker, an abnormality has been detected.]

One day, the Saintess spoke to me.

Being someone who could detect odd occurrences faster than any “eternal elementary school bespectacled detective” or “young man whose grandfather\'s honor is infinite,” the Saintess had sensed something strange.

“What’s going on?”

[Please go to the National Road Management Headquarters. Someone there will explain it to you.]

So I did.

In front of the headquarters was a large open space, which was called the Tower of Babel Plaza. The headquarters had earned the nickname “Tower of Babel.”

As soon as I arrived at the plaza, I understood what the "abnormality" the Saintess had mentioned was.

“A green village bus?”

A green village bus, which wasn’t there before, was now parked in the plaza.

Although the side of the vehicle was slightly dented, other than that, it looked like a perfectly normal village bus.

“Ah, Your Excellency, the Undertaker, you’ve arrived.”

Murmurs spread among the crowd gathered around the green village bus. Yoo Jiwon was the first to recognize me and saluted.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re still trying to figure it out. One of our staff found it on their way to work early this morning.”

“And it wasn’t here last night?”

“No, sir. The last person to leave was around 4 AM, and they said the plaza was empty at that time. This village bus appeared between 4 and 6 in the morning.”

I looked up diagonally at the sky.

[What Yoo Jiwon says is correct.]

… So that meant the bus had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

To move a vehicle of this size, you’d either need fuel to drive it, or a person with supernatural strength would have to carry it.

If fuel had been used, someone would have seen or heard it. The engine noise and the bus’s movement would have been noticeable.

If an awakened had stealthily moved it, the Saintess’s [Clairvoyance] would have detected it. She was always monitoring the movements of the awakened 24/7.

The conclusion was simple.

“It’s definitely a strange anomaly.”

“Yes, and we confirmed that external damage does affect it.”

So you were the one who dented the side, huh.

“What about the interior? Have you checked inside?”

“No, no one has gone inside yet. I only just arrived after being called.”

“That’s probably a good thing. It might look harmless, but it could be a trap.”

“Ah, your wisdom and cautiousness are unparalleled, Your Excellency. If you give the order, we will destroy it immediately.”

I rubbed my chin, thinking for a moment.

“No, I feel uneasy about destroying it outright. Bring me a death row inmate.”

“Are you sure? I’ll bring one right away.”

Soon, a death row inmate, who had been sound asleep, was dragged out.

The prisoner, who had been making a face that said, "Just 10 more minutes, mom…," woke up completely upon seeing Yoo Jiwon and me.

“Ahhh! Please, have mercy! Spare me!”

“Throw him inside the bus.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Please, I’m begging you! I’ve done wrong! I truly regret it! Please, just spare my life!”

Yoo Jiwon skillfully lobbed him inside.

The convict, who had murdered seven elderly patients by targeting their prosthetics and mobility aids, was tossed into the bus.

Pshhhh—.

As soon as the convict entered, the bus\'s automatic doors closed by themselves. The convict frantically banged on the door, pounding the glass.

“Please, help me! Ple—.”

His screams didn\'t last long.

Thud! The glass turned red.

The convict’s body had burst, splattering red paint all over the bus’s automatic doors.

It took less than a second for his body to swell and explode, so most people probably didn’t even comprehend what had happened.

“Whoa, what was that? Did you see it?”

“No, not at all.”

Even the gathered staff were shocked.

I shrugged.

“It’s a trap, as expected.”

“Indeed, Your Excellency. Thanks to your wise and precise command, we were able to use our resources efficiently.”

“Make sure no one enters anything that looks like a village bus. Issue a warning in the name of the Road Management Division, and post it on SG Net.”

“Your Excellency, always thinking of the people and handling post-incident management so thoroughly—your virtue will be praised for generations to come.”

“If you don’t want me to hit you in front of everyone, cut it out.”

“Was that too much?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be more concise next time.”

I left the so-called “Village Bus 44” and went on my way.

The next day.

I was relaxing at my café hideout, browsing SG Net. A heartwarming post had caught my attention.

- NewMemberToday: My father has regained his health, haha

- He’s always had heart problems, but today he seems to be in great shape. The last time I saw him like this was after he was treated by the Saintess of the North ^^

- He says the support and encouragement from SG Net members helped him a lot. I joined today to thank you all.

- It’s tough these days, but let’s all push through. Thank you, everyone. Fighting!

I nodded.

“Mm.”

Good story.

By the way, "NewMemberToday" was the nickname of Lee Jooho. He’s the young man who accompanied me the first time I went to deal with the villain exploiting elderly people.

It was nice to see he was taking good care of his father. As I was feeling content, a voice echoed in my head.

[Undertaker, sorry to disturb your break.]

“No worries at all. What’s going on?”

[The Village Bus 44 has disappeared.]

“What?”

I tilted my head.

"Disappeared? I told them to park it near the National Road Management Headquarters. Unless they didn\'t do their job properly..."

[No, Undertaker, the bus was parked just as you instructed. We even had guards taking turns watching over it.]

[But it still disappeared.]

I furrowed my brows.

"That\'s strange. Are you saying the bus vanished in the short moment when the guard was being changed?"

[No, it was even shorter than that.]

[While standing watch, the guard glanced away for a brief moment—just enough to look elsewhere—and the bus vanished.]

"..."

It was said to have literally \'disappeared.\'

The guard on duty was known for being meticulous, the type who followed protocol to the letter. Even though the threat had been neutralized, he never let his guard down.

He set up a plastic chair right in front of Bus 44 and didn’t leave it, not even for a second.

But when he briefly turned his head at the sound of children laughing in the plaza, his face softened with a smile.

And then—when he looked back—the bus was gone.

[And just to be clear, no one witnessed the bus disappear. Neither the awakened ones nor the ordinary people.]

“…That’s bizarre.”

I stroked my chin.

"Aside from the disappearance, was there anything else unusual? Any damage reported in the area?"

[No, no damage has been reported so far.]

"Then... hmm. It seems unsettling, but I think we can leave it be for now."

[Really?]

"Yes. The fact that it looks like a village bus is peculiar, but essentially, it\'s a trap type. Traps are most dangerous when they haven\'t been triggered, but once people are aware of the trap, it\'s not much of a threat. If it appears somewhere else, though, take caution."

[Understood.]

And with that, the case seemed to come to an end.

But after that, Bus 44 would continue to reappear across the country.

It would appear in small communities like Yeongwol, show up at a bus stop in Incheon, and reappear in Busan.

Each time, we couldn’t fully prevent the damage.

While awakened ones could issue warnings in the name of the constellations, ordinary people often encountered the bus first, and there was little that could be done.

Those who approached the bus hoping to salvage some scrap or junk would open the doors, only to be instantly crushed into pulp.

In such cases, the bus would disappear again within a day, making it hard to even know that a victim had been taken.

\'Why has this bus-related anomaly appeared in the first place?\'

I pondered.

The first thing that came to mind when thinking of buses was the Knight Bus from Harry Potter.

But there didn’t seem to be any connection to Bus 44. Dismissed.

In Korean, "bus" and "verse" sound the same, which could lead to associations with words like universe, multiverse, or metaverse.

But none of those seemed to have anything to do with Bus 44.

Could it be that the passengers on the bus were actually being transported to another world? I wasn’t sure. Set that aside for now.

There was also the tragic incident when a bus fell during the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge, killing many passengers, including the driver.

But if this anomaly were related to that tragedy, it would manifest near bridges or overpasses, not randomly like this. No clear connection to Bus 44 either. Dismissed.

\'This is tough. I really don’t know.\'

I continued thinking about it for a long time, but I couldn’t come up with any anomaly related to a bus.

I could sacrifice myself by boarding Bus 44 to uncover the truth... but honestly, the risk didn’t seem that high.

At worst, one or two people would die each time the bus appeared.

I felt sorry for the victims, but there were plenty of anomalies out there that caused far more damage. I couldn’t throw away my life on a low-level anomaly like this when there were still high-risk ones whose methods I hadn’t yet figured out.

It just left a lingering discomfort in the back of my mind.

‘Should I just leave it alone?’

I sighed.

To clear my head, I logged onto SGNet.

Before writing my post about the Three Kingdoms, I quickly skimmed through the day’s recommended posts.

- Anonymous: A miracle happened for my family! My younger brother had an incurable disease and we thought there was no hope, but yesterday morning he said his lungs don’t hurt at all...

- Anonymous: Holy crap, my mom says she can see again, lol. She lost her sight five years ago because of that freak, but now she says she can see my face! Lol, the first thing she says is why I look so skinny, haha. But guys, I secretly replaced our dog with a similar one when it died—if she finds out, am I screwed?

- TodayJoined: An update on my father’s condition! We went for a walk and jogged together today! He’s totally healthy now, haha.

"Hmm."

Looking through these posts put me at ease. Lately, SGNet had been filled with warm and uplifting stories.

‘That didn’t used to happen in the previous turns. Maybe some new anomaly is influencing people...’

It was then that something absurd occurred to me.

I urgently grabbed a red shirt and waved it in the air—a signal to get in touch with the Saintess.

[What’s the matter?]

“Saintess, do we know how many people have fallen victim to Bus 44 so far?”

[It’s not exact, but so far, five confirmed deaths. If we assume the bus appears every three days, it would be reasonable to add another two to four potential victims.]

“Thank you.”

So, around 7 to 11 people in total.

I searched through SGNet.

After looking through posts I had previously missed, I found four that mentioned a sudden miraculous recovery of family members from various ailments.

The conditions involved the heart, lungs, corneas, and pancreas.

And of course, every post had been made by an awakened individual.

Which meant, if we included ordinary people who hadn’t posted, there might be even more cases.

[But why do you ask all of a sudden?]

“Saintess, I think I may have figured out the true nature of Bus 44.”

A cure for incurable diseases.

No, more precisely.

“Organ extraction. And an anomaly that performs organ transplants and cures by itself.”