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Chapter 1 - After That Day, We Started Cleaning

Prologue – No One Could Explain It

The monster appeared one day, just like that.No one remembers the exact date.Because… well, it was just another day at work.We went to the office, had our coffee, fought over who booked the meeting room—and in the middle of it all, a breaking news alert flashed across the screen.Seoul Station had been destroyed.

People thought, "Is this a terrorist attack?"But on the screen was something writhing—something with ribs the size of a subway car.That was our first monster.

The government moved quickly.The military was deployed, special forces sent in, helicopters swarming.And they all failed.Bullets didn't work.Bombs didn't work.Worst of all, the monster felt nothing.It moved slowly, quietly—then pierced a man through the chest without so much as a growl.

Then, it happened.An elderly lady, without thinking, sprayed Febreze at it.And the monster… stepped back.

That was the start—of a very strange war.

Mouthwash.Toothpaste.Hand sanitizer.Surfactants.Hypochlorous acid water.Household chemicals started affecting the monsters.

Nobody knew why.Scientists claimed it "disrupted their biomechanical tension systems."Whatever that meant, the message was simple:"Spray them with cleaning products. They die."

And so was born theSpecial Task Force for Domestic Chemical Application—abbreviated: STF-DC.We weren't soldiers.We weren't heroes.We were just people…reporting to work with water guns and Febreze.

Someone once asked,"If monsters are that terrifying…why do people still go to work?"

I answered:"If we don't clock in, the company dies.""Monsters show up sometimes.Paychecks come every month."

After that day,we didn't kill monsters.We just…cleaned them.

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