Yawning, Rojin drifted lazily into the classroom.
To ensure that the princess could get a good night's sleep and wouldn't cause havoc in the research institute, everyone had put in tremendous effort to help her select suitable fragrances.
Soft enough, not noticeable when stuffed inside a pillow.
Fragrant enough, but not sharp.
The scent had to be gentle and long-lasting.
After a long ordeal, they finally managed to get her what she wanted just before she went to sleep.
Some may wonder why they had to bend over backward for Princess Syalis.
Her position in the institute was subtle.
Although she had never signed a contract with the Humanity Protection Agency to become an official member, whenever a containment breach occurred, she always chose to help.
In her words: those troublemakers severely ruined her sleep quality.
Though technically a contained entity, her actual status was likely higher than some of the regular staff.
After all, she was a woman capable of beating countless anomalous beings into the ground.
The bizarre powers that other entities pride themselves on simply didn't exist in her eyes.
Once caught, they wouldn't escape a beating.
It was said that when she was at the Pacific headquarters, she didn't just beat one contained entity into depression.
'This is giving me a headache.'
Rubbing his eyes, Rojin collapsed into his seat.
When he had just entered high school, Rojin truly had dreams of experiencing a sweet youth romance.
After spending every day with abnormal people, he felt his sense of aesthetics was being warped.
If it wasn't a mad scientist, it was some twisted containment creature.
Over time, even a rabbit would start to look delicate and charming.
Suddenly returning to high school felt like entering heaven.
Ah, this was youth.
No dangerous entities, no scientists with terrifying ideas.
Only bright, lovely girls.
Even a romance destined to end in a breakup wouldn't be bad.
That really was how Rojin felt.
Unfortunately, after Princess Syalis caused trouble, the little spark in his heart had been extinguished.
Forget relationships, he just wanted sleep.
Bag down, hands folded, legs kicked out — the posture of giving up worldly concerns.
Sakamoto glanced at the dozing Rojin and pushed his glasses up lightly.
He didn't ask why Rojin's behavior was off.
Half-asleep, Rojin heard someone excitedly sharing something.
"Hey, hey, did you hear about it?"
"Hear about what? How am I supposed to know what you're asking?"
The first voice seemed briefly choked off, but soon grew excited again:
"I heard there's a department store near Ueno Park that you can enter but not exit!"
"It's full of humanoid monsters, and the people swallowed inside have built defenses to fight them!"
"And so?"
With the sound of a book closing, a calm male voice responded.
Compared to his excited companion, this boy sounded uninterested.
"Let's go explore it! Bring a camera. If we really discover something, we'll be famous!"
"And then what? Perform dying live on the spot?"
"Uh…"
The enthusiastic voice gradually faded after being smacked down verbally.
'There are still plenty of sane people in the world.'
Despite being sleepy, Rojin heard the exchange clearly.
A student had heard some urban legend and wanted to drag others along.
But three sentences later, he was shut down.
If nothing unexpected was happening, they were talking about SCP-3008 infinite IKEA.
Rojin personally preferred calling it Unc's Fun House.
Simply put, it was an IKEA where the exit changed locations.
Once inside, it was extremely difficult to get out.
The entrance was fixed, but everyone who passed through would be transported into SCP-3008.
Unless they were lucky or strong enough to find the next exit — and the exits inside weren't fixed either.
The internal staff were uniformed faceless humanoid creatures, SCP-3008-2.
At night, they attacked humans.
During the day, they roamed the building.
They would fight back if attacked.
Research showed that SCP-3008 housed an unknown number of trapped civilians.
Data indicated they had formed a primitive civilization inside, building settlements and defenses to resist SCP-3008.
Only fourteen people had ever escaped.
One was killed even after escaping, by an SCP-3008 entity that chased him out.
The institute's understanding of SCP-3008 came entirely from survivor logs and descriptions.
All survivors had their memories erased after debriefing.
'I have to check where this rumor came from.'
The thought crossed Rojin's mind.
By all logic, SCP-3008 had already been sealed, so it shouldn't be swallowing more people.
Information about it was also supposed to be locked down.
But now a random high schooler knew about it.
Something was off.
'Is it those people?'
Rojin patted his cheeks and sat upright.
Although the Humanity Protection Agency was dominant worldwide, there were always fools hiding in the shadows causing trouble.
They believed the agency had no right to decide whether humanity could know about anomalies.
They claimed everyone had the right to know.
Some idiots even shouted slogans like "anomalous entities have the right to live too."
The institute rarely bothered with them.
They were just clueless.
Compared to normal people, they weren't better.
As long as they didn't cross the line, the agency ignored them.
But once they touched the taboo lines, the agency would show them—
Actually no, those people either ended up dead or had their memories erased.
Right, they literally knew nothing.
That was why so many thrill-seekers kept provoking the agency.
They had never seen what the agency did to those who truly understood anomalies.
They believed the agency was just a larger version of the silly groups they themselves belonged to.
There were even people who, after gaining some power, charged a research base directly.
You could probably find their remains in Dr. Jean's lab.
"I say."
Scanning the room, Rojin identified his target.
Just as he was about to speak, the school bell rang.
The balding middle-aged math teacher entered right on cue.
Seeing this, Rojin had to give up his idea for now.