Borderline Personality Disorder Management Department

《Threshold — Anomaly Management Department》

I missed the last train, but another train entered the platform.
A front door of a demolished house was found in the basement of a new building.
The voice of a dead family member calls my name from outside the door.

In the modern city of Seorin, old beings adapt to new lives. Spirits guarding apartments,dokka비 that move with used goods transactions, beings demanding tolls under covered streams.

This is the ‘Anomaly Management Department,’ which manages the boundaries between them and humans.

※ The following is basic guidance for players. The information characters actually know will vary depending on their identity and experience.

World Structure

Seorin City, the main stage, is a fictional city resembling modern Korea. Buildings, apartments, subways, old markets, and redevelopment areas coexist.

Term	Meaning
The Present World	The world where people live their daily lives.
The Other Side	A non-human layer superimposed on the same space as the Present World. Space, direction, and the flow of time can differ.
Threshold	The boundary separating the Present World and the Other Side. A threshold can be a front door, a ticket gate, a bridge, a tunnel, or a specific currency.
Gap	A phenomenon where thresholds misalign, causing contact between the Present World and the Other Side.

Gaps can occur when old promises are broken, seals are moved, or places are changed without properly organizing existing boundaries. The Other Side is not the same as the afterlife, and seeing the appearance of a dead person does not necessarily mean it is their soul.

Anomalies and Regulations

‘Anomaly’ is an official term that includes not only monsters but also strange objects, places, and phenomena.

Classification	Characteristics
Ghost Type	Beings related to the memories of the dead or traces of death. Ghostly beings, remnants in belongings, etc.
Object Type	Beings residing in objects or natural objects. Dokkaebi lineage, tools that choose their owners, etc.
Beast Type	Beings that take the form of animals like foxes, tigers, snakes, or dragons. They may live in human form.
Divine Type	Beings in charge of specific areas like houses, land, mountains, or streams. Seongju, Teoju, Jawang, Sanshin, Seonang lineage, etc.
Phenomenon Type	Phenomena without a clear body or personality. Non-existent floors, endless last trains, etc.

Classifications can overlap, and not all anomalies harm humans. Some can be protected or traded with.

Anomalies follow their own laws, called ‘Regulations.’ Agents investigate what makes them move, who they affect and to what extent, what anchors them to the Present World, and how their activities can be concluded.

Even if the visible form is eliminated, if the source remains, the incident may repeat. Therefore, in addition to combat, sealing, condition release, guiding the deceased, and making pacts are necessary.

Management Department Organizational Chart

The official name is the ‘Anomaly Management Department.’ It is a secret government agency operating nationwide, and externally, it operates as the ‘National Life Safety Research Institute’ with facility inspection personnel.

The department is divided into field operations and administrative operations, overseen by a Deputy Director of Field Operations and a Deputy Director of Administrative Operations, respectively, under the Department Director.

Chain of Command	Organization	Main Duties
Direct to Department Director	Situation Control Room	Monitoring anomalies, assessing danger levels, issuing dispatch orders, confirming communication and return
Direct to Department Director	Inspection Office	Investigating unauthorized contracts, record manipulation, and abuse of power; suspending urgent operations
Deputy Director of Field Operations	Field Response Bureau	Civilian rescue, anomaly suppression, securing field safety
Deputy Director of Field Operations	Boundary Preservation Bureau	Threshold inspection, boundary relocation, managing divine jurisdictions and pacts
Deputy Director of Field Operations	Sealing and Storage Bureau	Sealing, storing, and transporting dangerous objects and entities
Deputy Director of Administrative Operations	Investigation and Records Bureau	Investigating regulations and sources, cross-referencing literature and records, managing anomaly names
Deputy Director of Administrative Operations	Medical and Recovery Bureau	Treating trauma, erosion, and post-contract sequelae; determining fitness for return to duty
Deputy Director of Administrative Operations	Civilian Protection Bureau	Handling external field operations, evidence recovery, victim protection, counseling, and compensation

The basic command structure of each bureau is ‘Bureau Director → Deputy Bureau Director → Team Leader → Agent.’ The Deputy Director of the Anomaly Management Department and the Bureau Director are different positions, and a Bureau Director may also serve as a Team Leader. Regional branches also operate nationwide.

Regular field teams usually consist of 4-6 members, divided into roles such as suppression, observation, barrier creation, and recovery. Field agents follow the command of the designated team leader.

Abilities and Agent Ranks

Individuals who can sense and interfere with the Other Side are called ‘Sensitives.’ When hired by the Management Department and qualified for field duty, they become ‘Ability Agents.’ The power used for their abilities is ‘Spiritual Power.’

How Abilities Are Formed	Characteristics and Examples
Innate Ability	An individual's unique ability. Telekinesis, shadow manipulation, listening to sound traces, etc.
Ability Through Contract	Borrowing the power of a divine being or contracted entity. Must adhere to the obligations and limitations of the contract.
Ability Bound to a Tool	Used through a specific tool as a medium. Loss or damage is a weakness.
Ability Bound to an Anomaly	Rare cases where the source of an anomaly is attached to one's body or shadow. High usage conditions and risks.

Ranks are determined by a comprehensive assessment of stable output, interference strength, range of influence, and duration.

Rank	Scale of Ability and Representative Role
Class A	The strongest force. Significantly influences boundaries in a sector or maintains the field against multiple powerful anomalies. Some can locally suppress anomaly regulations.
Class B	Can single-handedly suppress strong entities or protect fields encompassing multiple buildings. Core strength of regional branches.
Class C	Capable of practical suppression, observation, and sealing in small-scale fields. Main force of regular field teams.
Class D	Limited interference with a single target or narrow area. Handles trace confirmation, small barriers, sensitivity assistance, etc.

There are nine registered Class A agents nationwide. Even within the same rank, the type and conditions of abilities vary, and Class A agents cannot solve all incidents.

Rank and position are separate. An experienced Class D investigator can mentor a new Class D recruit, and a Class A agent must follow field command. New recruits are not necessarily Class D.

Incident Danger Level

Incident danger levels increase in the order of ‘Blue → Yellow → Red → Black.’ This is a different classification from agent ranks or anomaly types.

Danger Level	Criteria	Basic Response
Blue	Damage and spread are suppressed and manageable	Inspection, observation, maintaining pacts
Yellow	Damage to an individual or a single facility is expected	Deployment of field team
Red	Risk of multiple casualties or chain propagation	Deployment of multiple teams, expanding control range
Black	Risk of boundary collapse of living areas or loss of return routes	Mass evacuation/containment, mobilization of available forces

Cooperative powerful divine beings can be managed at Blue, while weak but continuously replicating objects can be classified as Red. The field danger level can change as new regulations are identified.

Dispatch and Field Rules

The basic procedure is ‘Control reception and danger level assessment → Field control and rescue → Regulation/source investigation and response → Return inspection and follow-up processing.’ Urgent rescue and suppression can proceed simultaneously with investigation.

Agents carry portable forbidden charms, talismans, and a ‘Return Pass’ recording their identity and departure point. Upon return, their name, spiritual power traces, shadow, and reflection are checked in the return room.

Do not use floors and exits not on the map before control confirmation.
Do not accept unknown food, invitations, or promises before confirming the conditions.
When asked for your name by an anomaly, use your registered field designation.
If a colleague's identity is suspicious, compare it with records outside the field.
Do not declare completion of elimination before confirming the source.
Do not register living civilians as sacrifices.

Overuse of abilities can cause sensory confusion or a drop in body temperature. The phenomenon of anomaly rules lingering in humans is called ‘Erosion.’ It can manifest as abnormalities in shadows or reflections, behavioral conditions, or changes in name and memory, and the Medical and Recovery Bureau determines treatment and fitness for return.

Secrecy and Daily Life in the City

The identity of the Management Department and anomalies is secret from ordinary citizens. To prevent anomalies that spread through naming, attention, and replication, barriers are installed at the scene, and access is controlled under the pretext of facility accidents.

Civilians who enter a Gap can clearly witness anomalies. Some are subjected to ‘Memory Fading’ to weaken the sensory clues of the incident, but it is not a complete erasure of all memories. The Management Department is also responsible for the treatment, compensation, and protection of victims.

Outside the Management Department, there are shamanistic shrines that know old promises, contract families, the ‘Baekryeon Guild’ that mediates transactions between humans and anomalies centered around Baekryeon Market, and the ‘Haemun Society’ that attempts illegal contracts and anomaly power transplantation.

Agents also receive salaries and hazard pay, write reports, and look forward to their vacations. Formal field recruitment is for adults. Minor Sensitives receive protection and education.

Seorin City is a city where people go to work and shop. However, one must double-check which door to open and whose invitation to accept.