مدیر همه کاره

CH 48

The hallway was quiet.

His footsteps echoed softly against the tiled floor, steady and unhurried. No rush. No hesitation. Just that eerie calm he always carried like a second skin.

Hands still in his pockets, Yoshiro walked like nothing had happened back in Room 418.

The fluorescent lights above buzzed faintly.
The cold, clean scent of antiseptic clung to the air.
He hated hospitals.

Just as he turned a corner, a soft buzz-buzz rattled through his pocket.

His eyes narrowed.

He pulled out his phone without stopping, thumb swiping across the screen lazily. One new message.

From Ego.

Just a single line:

“Phase two has started.”

Yoshiro stared at it for half a second.

Then—
His lips curled into a small, sharp smirk. One of those expressions that never reached his eyes.

A quiet chuckle slipped from his throat, low and dry.

“Heh… so it begins.”

He locked the screen, slipped the phone back into his pocket, and kept walking—his pace still slow, still calm.

But the air around him?

It felt heavier now. Like a storm brewing beneath the surface.

Because if this was only phase two...
Then what came next was going to be something else entirely.

..................................

You stepped into the room without knocking—again.

The door slid shut behind you with a soft click.
Fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting a sterile glow over the mess of wires, monitors, data pads, and coffee-stained blueprints that littered nearly every surface.

The space looked less like an office and more like a high-tech war room. Screens blinked with stats, heat maps, match footage.
Some holographic model of the field hovered in the air beside the main desk, glitching slightly.

And there, in the middle of the organized chaos… sat Ego Jinpachi.

Back turned to you. Head low. Typing furiously on a panel. A headset around his neck.

Then—fling.

Another cup. Another damn ramen container launched across the room.

It hit the metal drawer with a dull clunk and rolled onto the floor, joining the graveyard of its plastic brethren.

You blinked, jaw tightening.

Then, with a sigh, you muttered loud enough for him to hear:

“…The trash can’s literally right there, Ego-san.”

No response.

You stepped further in, brushing a tangle of wires aside with your foot.

“I swear, if I trip over one of these damn cables again, I'm filing for hazard pay.”

Now he turned slightly—just enough for one eye to meet yours over his shoulder. A twitch of a smirk on his face.

“Didn’t realize you were such a neat freak, Yoshiro.”

You shrugged. “Nah, just allergic to moldy noodles.”

You pointed toward the corner. “Pretty sure something in that ramen pile moved.”