The moment their manager agreed, the heavy gloom on the employees' faces vanished as if clouds had been swept away.
Two of them even broke into smiles—it was obvious just how badly Hod had been troubling them.
"Thank you so much, Manager! You're truly a once-in-a-century great boss!"
"Thanks, Manager! Wishing you a whole lineup of beautiful girlfriends!"
"Thank you, Manager! May your career soar—and may there be no love triangles even after you get a bunch of girlfriends!"
"Thanks, Manager! See you!"
After a chaotic round of bowing, ninety-degree bends, and noisy gratitude, the relieved employees happily trotted off together.
Even the sound of their footsteps seemed lighter than before.
"Honestly… those kids…"
After parting with them, X let out a wry smile and shook his head, then headed toward the department head's office.
The moment he pushed the door open, he saw a petite figure stumble backward in fright, clearly startled by the sudden movement.
It was Hod—who had been leaning against the door, eavesdropping on the conversation outside.
There were faint traces of moisture at the corners of her eyes, as if she had been crying not long ago.
The ahoge on her head—usually held proudly upright—was drooping limply, and her overall demeanor looked completely off.
"Good afternoon, Hod."
X greeted her gently, just as he always did.
"I came to check if there's anything else I need to handle… um…"
He continued as if nothing were wrong.
"Could you pull up the recent psychological reports for the Training Department staff? I'd like to review the raw data in the database."
"…"
Hod didn't respond at all. She didn't even greet her manager.
She just stood there in silence, head lowered.
"…Sigh."
Seeing her like this, X had no choice but to walk over to the work terminal himself, intending to remotely call Angela to retrieve the data.
Even though he hadn't voiced any suspicion about falsified reports, as the manager, verification was still necessary.
But the moment he reached the terminal and saw the lines of text already displayed on the screen, the word "Angela" died silently on his lips.
"…Ah. Looks like that won't be necessary."
Displayed on the screen were the very psychological test results of those employees.
They looked as if someone had just accessed them not long ago.
Just like the paper reports handed to him, every single conclusion ended with the same cold word:
Normal.
Data stored in the database and personally managed by Angela was absolute law within the company—there was no possibility of error.
"…Sigh."
X let out a deep breath.
"Hod, I—"
He had originally wanted to say something like, See? I told you earlier, but seeing his subordinate in such a hollow, broken state, he abandoned those words.
Instead, he chose a more indirect approach.
"You heard what those employees said, didn't you?"
To be honest, he continued calmly,
"I was never really worried about them from the start."
X stepped closer to Hod and bent slightly, lowering himself so they were at eye level.
"I've been paying attention to what's happening here because… I was worried about you."
He gently placed both hands on Hod's shoulders.
"The one I was more worried about was you. You, as a Sephirah."
Looking at her eyes hidden completely behind her bangs, X spoke softly.
"I think… maybe… you're the one who needs a psychological evaluation the most, Hod."
"After everything that happened today… is there anything you want to say?"
"Manager… no… X …"
Feeling the firm warmth on her shoulders—weight she couldn't simply shake off—Hod slowly lifted her head.
"It's because of you… yes, because of you…"
"…?"
Hearing that tone, those words, the look of concern on X 's face froze for a split second.
This… wasn't how he'd imagined things going.
No—not even close.
This reaction from his department head was completely outside every scenario he'd anticipated.
"I wasn't doing this for myself! I did it for them!"
Hod shouted, her tear-filled eyes locked onto her manager in resentment.
"It's because of your presence that my plans lost their value! They were supposed to rely on me more!"
"Why is it that you can win their gratitude with nothing but those so-called small favors?!"
Her voice grew more agitated, louder with every sentence.
"I've done so much for them! I've given so much! And they still end up hating me for it!"
"Hod, listen to me!"
X finally reacted, tightening his grip and shaking her shoulders hard, trying to pull her out of her spiral.
"You're sick! You're seriously sick!"
"There's something very wrong with you psychologically—you've gone completely obsessed!"
"I don't want to pry into anyone's secrets…"
"But your situation right now is really serious!"
X spoke with genuine pain in his voice.
"What did you go through that made you so desperate to 'help' others—so desperate that you'd rather burden them with all this trouble?!"
"If there really is something… please, tell me. Okay?"
"Don't keep everything locked inside yourself like this… you'll break yourself that way."
"If you say it out loud, even if I can't help… I can at least listen. I can share a little of your pain."
"I…"
X 's words seemed to finally have some effect.
Hod, who had been on the verge of hysteria, showed signs of calming down.
"I…"
She looked into her manager's eyes—eyes full of worry and concern—and opened her mouth, as if about to say something.
But in the end…
Nothing came out.
"Waaah!!!"
Tears burst forth as Hod cried out, using all her strength to shove X away.
She turned, slammed the door open, and ran out without looking back.
The confrontation ended with Hod fleeing the room.
Silence returned to the office.
Only X remained, standing there wordlessly.
And behind him—
A blurry blue-haired projection, appearing at some unknown moment.
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