Revenge Of The Waste.

District 3, Office 402. 10:00 AM. The office was eerily quiet. Neither Han-gyeol, who usually lay on the sofa chewing gum, nor Noah, who nagged while tapping away on her pad, was present.

Early this morning, under the pretext of a routine water quality inspection at Underground Haeundae—though in truth, to go on a picnic—they had descended below. The only ones left behind were the new employee, Hana, along with Lucas, Paul, and Caleb.

“Current time: 10:00. Work efficiency maintained at 100%. No anomalies.”

Hana sat in Han-gyeol’s empty chair—not daring to sit deeply, perched lightly on the edge—staring intently at the situation board. Today, she had been delegated temporary administrator authority over the Bureau for the entire day.

“Finally… a chance to prove my capabilities. I will show them that even without my elder sister, 000, everything runs flawlessly.”

Hana was resolute. Yesterday’s satellite deception operation had been a success, but that had been led by Han-gyeol and Noah. Today, she had to control this jungle of an office entirely with her own strength.

Ding-dong. Just then, the intercom at the office entrance rang.

“Visitor identified. Bureau logistics delivery drone ‘Delivery-X’.”

Hana’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh, supplies? Must be new gum or mix coffee ordered by the Boss. Approval for entry granted.”

Hana triumphantly pressed the door unlock button. However, the moment the door opened, what poured in was not a box of fragrant coffee.

Clatter-clatter— CRASH! THUD!

A massive container box flipped over, pouring rusty rebar, dented steel plates, bundles of discarded wires, and unidentified industrial waste into the office floor like a waterfall.

“……?!”

Hana stood with her mouth blankly agape. Paul screamed and ran over holding a broom.

“Eek! What is this! Trash in my sacred garden?!”

A dry, mechanical voice echoed from the delivery drone’s speaker.

“Delivery complete: 1.5 tons of scrap metal and industrial waste.”

“Reason: Based on satellite scan results, the area in question, Office 402, has been identified as a waste storage site. Per Origin’s guidelines, all trash from District 3 will be consolidated and managed here.”

Hana’s deep blue optic glow shook. Yesterday, when they disguised the office as an abandoned warehouse to fool the satellite, it had backfired. Origin’s system had trusted Office 402’s disguise data so completely that it designated the place as an official dumpsite.

“This is… absurd. A paradox of logical error!”

Hana shouted, but the drone was already departing to pick up the next batch of trash. And from down the hallway, dozens of trash collection robots were lining up, approaching Office 402.

“Block them! Stop them from coming in!”

Lucas yelled. But it was no use. The trash collection robots were faithful workers following Origin’s commands. They forcibly opened Office 402’s door and dumped the waste inside.

Clatter-bang—! A rusty pipe rolled in, crushing Paul’s plant, Greenie.

“No! My children!”

Paul threw his body to block the pipe. Scrap metal fell behind his back, throwing sparks. The plants shrank their leaves in fear, clinging to Paul’s legs.

“Ms. Hana! Please issue an order! At this rate, the plants will all be crushed to death!”

Caleb shouted, displaying a red warning light.

“According to calculations, 40 minutes from now, 80% of the entire office volume will be filled with waste. Crushing probability: 99%!”

Hana fell into a panic. She was skilled in hacking and combat, but she had no experience resolving such absurd administrative errors. What would Sister Noah have done? What about Boss Han-gyeol?

Boss would have… chewed gum and spouted nonsense. Sister… would have written a fake report.

But neither was here right now. There was only herself. Hana looked at the massive pile of scrap metal stacked before her. Dented robot arms, severed cables, broken monitors…

“……Wait.”

Hana’s gaze locked onto a component mixed inside the scrap metal heap. It was a high-output motor from a 600-year-old model. Though rusty, its core appeared to be alive.

“Lucas. Is that… trash?”

Lucas raised his head to look where Hana was pointing. His golden eyes flashed.

“No! That’s… the 22nd-century masterpiece, a Titan-X motor! Clean it up and oil it, and it can still serve on the front lines!”

“What about the thing next to it?”

“That’s… an old fiber-optic cable. The transmission speed is slow, but its durability is top-tier. Use that as a plant support, and it’ll last a thousand years!”

A lightbulb turned on in Hana’s head. Or more accurately, her paradigm-shift circuit activated.

Origin had designated this place as a dumpsite. In that case, what if they turned the trash into resources?

“Everyone, attention.”

Hana stood up on her desk. The trembling had disappeared from her voice.

“We will not reject this trash. If Origin sent us waste, we will use it as parts. From this moment, we are changing the operation name.”

Hana picked up scattered blueprints—Han-gyeol’s scribbles.

“Operation Name: Recycle & Upcycle. Using this trash, we will fortify our forest to be sturdier and grander!”

The look in the eyes of the Office 402 crew changed. They were no longer victims. They were engineers dropped into the middle of a treasure vault.

Lucas: CPR on Scrap Metal

“Hrrngh! Hand it over! This isn’t trash, it’s treasure!”

Lucas rummaged through the scrap heap like crazy. He tore off a rusty robot arm and modified it into an automatic support structure to hold up the plant stems.

“Paul! Guide the vines this way! This robot arm will automatically adjust its height to match the growth speed of the plants!”

Paul: Fusion of Iron and Chlorophyll

Paul stripped the insulation off discarded wires. He then wove those copper wires together to construct a beautiful metal mesh.

“It is beautiful… Green vines climbing over cold copper wires! This is a perfect waltz between nature and civilization!”

The plants climbed the copper mesh Paul made, stretching toward the ceiling. Dented tin cans became plant pots, and broken monitor screens were recycled into notification boards displaying plant statuses.

Caleb: Aesthetics of Pattern

Caleb calculated the drop points of the pouring trash, guiding them so the shape in which they stacked became a structure in itself.

“Dropping H-beam at coordinates X-20, Y-40! Stacking steel plates on top! Perfect. This is not a trash heap, it is a barricade!”

Instead of stacking chaotically, the trash became a sturdy barricade blocking the office entrance and a fence protecting the plants.

Hana: Command and Hacking

Hana directed this entire process while simultaneously accessing Origin’s system to slyly alter the delivery data.

“Changing status values of received waste. Redefining ‘Trash’ to ‘Raw Material’. Send more, Origin. We are still hungry.”

As time passed, the office transformed into a bizarre landscape. Flowers bloomed through rusty pipes, and moss grew over stopped cogwheels. Orchids grew out of discarded robot heads, making them look like hair. It was no longer a dumpsite. It was a cyberpunk botanical garden.

“Meow!”

Butterfly was thrilled as well. The cat rolled around inside bundles of discarded wires to charge static electricity, using that power to make old lightbulbs twinkle like Christmas decorations.

At 5:00 PM. Having finished their underground Haeundae inspection—actually playing in the water—Han-gyeol and Noah returned.

“Ah, that was fun. Noah, let’s go up and boil some ramen to eat. Hana kept a good eye on the house, right?”

“She probably did. She’s a very thorough child. She’ll have cleaned it up without a single speck of dust.”

The two stepped off the elevator and opened the door to Office 402. And froze on the spot.

“……?”

The office had become an entirely different world. At the entrance, rusty robot arms formed an arch to greet them, and a swing made of discarded tires and vines hung from the ceiling. The walls were a mix of all kinds of circuit boards and moss, looking like modern artwork.

Above all, the highlight was a massive scrap metal tree standing tall in the center of the office. Real plants draped lush leaves over a trunk made by welding waste pipes and rebar together. And at its peak, on the highest branch…

“Zzz……”

Hana was hanging there, asleep. Her face and suit were covered in grease and dirt, but she was fast asleep holding a welding torch in one hand and a single flower in the other.

“What is… all this?”

As Han-gyeol stood with his jaw dropped, Lucas and Paul popped out from behind the fortress they had thought was just a heap of trash. They were also a complete mess, but their eyes were sparkling.

“Welcome, Boss! Welcome to District 3’s Recycle Center and Ecological Park!”

“Recycle…? Did you guys set up a junk shop here?”

Noah stared blankly around before spotting Hana asleep at the top of the scrap tree. Her younger sister, who had been a perfectionist. That child, who couldn’t tolerate a single speck of dust, was now sleeping on top of a trash heap with the most peaceful expression.

“……No, Boss. Not a junk shop…”

Noah picked up a dented tin can that had fallen to the floor. Inside it, a tiny dandelion was planted.

“She built a miracle. That child.”

Han-gyeol burst into a chuckle. Pulling out a piece of gum to chew, he flopped down onto the iron pipe swing. It let out a creak, but it was sturdy.

“Hey, Hana! Wake up! The Boss is back!”

At Han-gyeol’s shout, Hana snapped her eyes open. She slid down the tree—actually almost fell—and landed on her feet.

“B-Boss! Sister! You’re back! I, I mean… well…”

Hana hurriedly tried to brush off her dirty clothes. Right then, Han-gyeol stepped up and wiped a black grease mark off Hana’s cheek with his thumb. Naturally, it spread even more.

“Good job. You decorated the house real nice.”

“……Pardon?”

“Clean is no fun. It needs to be a bit messy and complicated like this to feel like people are living here. I like this scrap tree. Calling dibs as my personal seat.”

Han-gyeol took a spot under the scrap tree. Hana stood with a bewildered expression before looking at Noah. Noah silently raised a thumb.

“……Thank you. I… actually had a bit of fun.”

Hana smiled shyly. Her smile was far more natural than back in Episode 85.

Bureau Office 402 was no longer a simple office. It was the most perfect junk shop and secret garden—a mix of nature and machine, new and old, efficiency and romance.

Origin’s system still recorded this place as a waste processing site. And that wasn’t wrong. Because this was the most beautiful processing site in the world, where discarded things regained life.