Humanity Protection Company

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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The truck loaded with gifts arrived. Several Club members bustled about, moving boxes to the warehouse, while some members who had participated in two-dimensional exploration made their way to the office to see Yeonwoo.

The old man briefly introduced them.

"Here are ten people to start. Roll for them as you like. We only need one success."

"They could all fail, you know," Yeonwoo pointed out.

"That's fine. We have ten more waiting. We're bound to get at least one success."

Yeonwoo muttered softly, his eyes scanning the Club members.

Their ages ranged from 20s to 40s, a mix of men and women, all in good physical shape. They seemed to be carefully selected Club members, exuding an air of expertise with sharp, focused gazes.

Yeonwoo gave a final warning, like a nurse telling a patient their shot might sting.

"If you fail, you could be unlucky for a few days. If you critically fail, you might suffer misfortune for life. This is riskier than you think, so if anyone doesn't want to do this, you can back out now."

"We just need one success, right? If we get a critical success, that'd be amazing," one member said, rubbing their hands together with a grin.

They seemed to be focusing on what they could gain rather than what they might lose. It wasn't baseless confidence or gambling addiction.

The old man spoke up. "We've made our own preparations. No need to worry."

"Well, if you say so..."

Yeonwoo thought about it. The Club was probably well-versed in risk management and diversification. Besides, Yeonwoo himself wasn't in any danger. Whatever happened would affect other people.

Yeonwoo looked at the member standing on the far left.

"I'll start with you."

"Alright."

The dice rolled.

Clunk!

A miss meant no change. Yeonwoo kept rolling until he got a result that would manifest a possibility, whether failure or success.

One, two, three, and all ten.

Seven failures and three successes.

The people split into two groups based on the results. Those who succeeded stood behind the old man, while those who failed huddled near the door, shivering.

"My body feels weird..."

"Why did I fall? Is this bad luck? There was nothing on the floor!"

"Ugh, cough, cough! I choked on my own spit!"

The consequences of failing to receive luck were already hitting them. Minor accidents. Some suddenly caught colds, others saw their cryptocurrency values plummet.

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On the other hand, those blessed with luck smiled happily. Fortune favored them.

"Stocks are rising!"

"Now's the time! I'm buying a lottery ticket!"

"Quick, to the gacha games...!"

They were using the luck meant for exploration for personal gain. Frantically tapping on their phones, excitedly pacing about.

Yeonwoo watched them with an uncomfortable expression. More precisely, he waved his hands at the unlucky ones, wary of them.

"The request is over. Please leave quickly. The payment will be handled as agreed."

He was afraid their misfortune might affect him. With more bad luck than good luck around, who knew what kind of accident might happen?

The old man nodded contentedly, then struck the floor with his cane. The sharp sound pierced their eardrums. The chattering members fell silent, and Yeonwoo turned to look at him.

"The results are better than expected. We'll finish one more task before leaving."

"What task do you mean?"

"At this rate, we might have a traffic accident on the way back. We need to take precautions."

Saying this, the old man reached into his jacket. His hand emerged from the inner pocket with a straw.

Yeonwoo blinked.

'A straw? What's this about?'

A plastic straw with red and white stripes.

The members seemed to know what it was, eyeing each other nervously. They looked like competitors sizing each other up.

The old man explained, "Bad luck and good luck. We'll concentrate them each on one person. It's easier to control that way. Now, understand? Choose who will take it all."

At that moment, the members quickly raised their hands. Shouts of "Anyone but me!" or "I have to win!" erupted.

"Let's do rock-paper-scissors!"

"Drawing straws would be better!"

It seemed they were going to pick two people to concentrate the luck and misfortune on. The members argued fiercely, and Yeonwoo, who had somehow grasped the situation, wore a puzzled expression.

'Can they handle this? Good luck is one thing, but concentrating all the bad luck on one person...'

Noticing Yeonwoo's expression, the old man waved the straw at him.

"It's called an immaterial straw. It can suck up things like luck, emotions, and such. It can turn things we normally can't handle into commodities."

So, they were going to maximize the good luck and concentrate all the bad luck in one place.

'Is this right?'

Yeonwoo frowned, thinking for a moment before giving up. It was out of his hands now.

"Whatever you're doing, please do it outside."

"No need to worry. You don't think we'd act recklessly, do you?"

"No, but..."

By this point, two people had been chosen. The arguing members now wore different expressions.

The person who would receive all the bad luck kept rubbing their face with a gloomy expression, while the one getting all the good luck smiled smugly.

The old man first handed the straw to the person who would take on all the bad luck.

"Go ahead."

"Yes..."

That person, clearly reluctant, grudgingly took the straw. Sighing continuously, they began to suck up the others' bad luck.

Whoosh-

The straw, pointed at another person, made a sucking sound. Though it looked like they were just playing around, Yeonwoo felt a strange sensation.

A sense of probabilistic possibilities squirming. A feeling of danger creeping in.

'There are seven people with bad luck. If it's all concentrated...'

Sure enough.

As they absorbed the bad luck from two, then three people, minor accidents kept happening.

"Gack!"

They suddenly fell, scraping the roof of their mouth with the straw. Red liquid, a mix of blood and saliva, dribbled from their mouth. They let out a long scream.

The old man coldly watched the person rolling on the ground in pain.

"Keep going."

"Old man, am I going to die? I feel like I'm having a heart attack. No, I really might have one!"

"You volunteered knowing this, didn't you? It might be better to finish quickly."

In the end, that person forced themselves to endure the searing pain and absorbed the remaining bad luck.

A whole seven people's worth of bad luck.

Chaos ensued. They bumped the nearby shelf, knocking down the team leader's carelessly placed electric drill, which turned on and fell on their foot. Crack, their arm bone broke. It was a stress fracture.

In an instant, a perfectly healthy person became a dying patient. They lay on the floor, letting out groans that couldn't even become screams.

"Urgh, ugh."

"You did well."

Then, the old man took out a stamp from his pocket and pressed it against that person's forehead.

It was a temporary seal. It would contain the bad luck until they returned to their base for proper processing.

Yeonwoo had retreated to a safe distance, watching cautiously.

'Is it over? Is that it?'

If they'd just dealt with the bad luck, there shouldn't be any problems. He just needed to avoid getting caught up in any accidents.

Yeonwoo, clutching his bag tightly and looking around, slowly returned to the office. His body, which had been tense and ready for battle, finally relaxed.

The old man glanced at Yeonwoo, then wiped the straw with a handkerchief before handing it to the person who would receive all the good luck.

"Your turn."

"Yes!"

Whoosh-

The luck of three people concentrated on one person. No accidents occurred. As their luck increased, reality began to work in their favor.

They received messages about winning coupons and notifications about being selected for events.

With this, the old man's work was done. He smiled with satisfaction and nodded to Yeonwoo.

"Good. We'll be going now. I hope we can cooperate again in the future."

"Right, please just go," Yeonwoo said glumly, looking at the mess in the office. The unlucky ones had caused chaos, leaving the office in disarray.

'Do I have to clean this up? Oh. I guess I do.'

The Club members hurriedly left the office in a crowd. The injured person hung limply on someone's back.

Watching them leave, Yeonwoo let out a deep sigh and went to find a mop.

They were like troublesome customers, but they'd probably pay well for this, so he decided not to complain and started cleaning up.

The request seemed to be wrapping up.

The old man walked away, tapping his cane on the floor, with the other members following slowly behind.

"..."

The person who had received all the good luck suddenly turned back. Though they felt an urge to leave quickly, an idea had struck them.

'He used to be an investigator. He must have some kind of survival instinct.'

Even with good luck, two-dimensional exploration was dangerous. They would be randomly thrown into dimensions in search of gold. There was no telling what dimensions they might face or what beings they might encounter.

'Even friendly entities could be dangerous.'

That's why the member chosen for exploration looked intently at Yeonwoo.

At Yeonwoo, busy moving about, mopping the floor and putting fallen objects back in place.

'The luck of someone who started as an investigator, became a department head, and survived the risks of the dice. I'll just borrow a little.'

Swish-

The member quietly raised the straw. Their hand suddenly trembled, almost dropping it, but they quickly caught it and put it to their lips.

"Cough, ahem."

Though they suddenly coughed and felt short of breath, the member used their strong willpower to inhale deeply.

To suck up Yeonwoo's luck.

Whoosh-

Their throat stung. It felt like inhaling sand. Or maybe poison gas.

It was actually similar. Instead of the survival luck they had expected, they absorbed something more like a fate that attracted accidents. And they did so for over ten seconds.

'Got it!'

The member smiled broadly and hurried their steps. This was indeed good fortune. Thanks to their luck, no one had caught them using the straw without permission.

'Now that I've absorbed a survivor's luck, I should be able to survive even if I encounter accidents!'

With those light steps, the member dreamed of a bright future.

"What's this? Why do I feel so refreshed?"

Yeonwoo tilted his head, holding the mop. Was it because he had cleaned? Or because he was going to receive a generous payment? He suddenly felt good.

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