Chapter 027
Baek Saheon.
-“You idiots. If you can escape with just one eye, then of course you do it right away!”
The same-year hire who had caused that whole mess on the subway.
That guy, a named employee in Darkness Exploration Record, was supposed to keep leaving his mark and eventually rise all the way to manager….
“Die?”
There was no way I wouldn’t ask that when, all of a sudden, a stuffed doll from inside a Ghost Story had basically slapped Baek Saheon with a death sentence.
“Why?”
No, because I know he has a future where he makes it all the way to manager…?
-Ah, it’s very typical. Very typical indeed… Mr. Roe Deer, have you ever seen one of those movies by any chance?
“…Movies?”
-Yes. The kind with a serial killer in it.
Oh, please no.
-In popular media, there are always the kinds of targets who become its victims. A blonde, a college student, a hitchhiker, someone wearing red shoes—those sorts of eye-catching symbols.
-Do you know what the most typical victim-selection method of all is, the one with the clearest order to it?
The shadow of the stuffed doll whispered,
-Picking up something that belongs to the murderer.
“……”
The huge black shadow cast on the wall pointed beyond the wall.
-Your “coworker” picked something up, and now he’s going to die horribly very soon!
“……”
Haa, seriously….
“For now, thanks for telling me.”
-Don’t mention it!
I put it as gently as I could that “I have to go to work tomorrow, so I need to sleep,” and fortunately the Good Friend kindly understood my situation.
-My, what a tiring day you must have had. I hope you sleep deeply and dream sweet dreams!
I think that ship has sailed.
‘And you share some of the blame for that….’
-Adios!
The flashlight on my phone switched off on its own.
The huge shadow cast over the wall disappeared too.
After thinking about it for a moment, I made a reasonably soft sleeping spot on the desk with a clean towel and set the stuffed doll down on it.
‘This should be enough that it won’t come after me in my dreams with a knife asking why the hell this is how I’m treating it.’
Though at this point, I probably ought to be more worried about whether I’d even be able to fall asleep and dream at all.
“Hmm.”
I lay down on the bed with the mood lamp turned up to its brightest setting.
Baek Saheon.
He was probably asleep in the room next door right now….
‘What the hell did he pick up?’
What kind of vicious Ghost-Story object had he picked up for a stuffed doll beyond the wall to detect it?
Was this the butterfly effect? Or had it always happened, and he just got through it originally?
I thought back over the things Baek Saheon had done in Darkness Exploration Record, and even when I searched the wiki, nothing quite matched.
Maybe that was only natural. If it was something that had happened in his private life rather than on duty, after all.
Hoo.
“……”
‘If I knock on his door at this hour, he’ll probably go into cardiac arrest, won’t he?’
And from my perspective too, I really didn’t want to voluntarily approach in person some terrifying Ghost Story intense enough to mark you as the serial killer’s next target….
To be honest, it wasn’t as if my roommate had the kind of personality that made him worth risking my life for either.
‘Still, now that I know, it’s only right to warn him at least.’
A way to approach this indirectly….
‘There is one.’
As it happened, it was related to the next thing I needed to do anyway.
Lying on the bed, I checked the messenger app on my phone.
[Jang Heowoon: This is the group chat for the new hires. You can join through this link. Thank you! (link)]
It had been sent by the same-year hire from Group Y.
With a sigh, I clicked the link.
[17th Class Field Operations Team Group Chat]
It was an open KakaoTalk chat.
I wondered why it was specifically in this format, but it was probably so that when news of someone’s death came in, the blow would be slightly lessened by the fact that it wasn’t linked to your contacts.
Either way, everyone seemed to have set their profile names to their actual names, so there shouldn’t be any problem telling people apart.
‘Guess I should set mine to my name too before going in.’
[Kim Soleum has entered.]
And just as I started typing a greeting….
[Wow]
[Oh my god]
[Are you really Kim Soleum?]
[Nice to meet you^^]
[For real? Who invited you?]
“…??”
An intense reaction poured in before I had even written anything.
‘Surely they’re not asking whether some tactless idiot invited that guy in here.’
Thinking positively, maybe it was just that my recent performance had been good enough to make people curious, or rumors had started circulating.
I posted a simple greeting.
[Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.]
As if they had been waiting for it, someone immediately asked,
[Kang Yihak: Is it true you got 40,000 points?ㅎㅎ]
Hmm.
[Yes.]
[Kang Yihak: I’m jealous! I’m curious what method you usedㅎㅎ]
[I did my best.]
I didn’t answer beyond that and just sent a little bowing emoticon.
‘It’s a jungle in here.’
For a second I had wondered whether it might be one of those warm, friendly group chats where same-year hires share tips and information and even enjoy hobbies together, but apparently not.
‘It’s more like a group chat for interns where only ten percent get converted to full-time.’
In other words, it was the kind of atmosphere where everyone pretended otherwise while trying to scrape whatever advantage they could from everyone else.
‘Yeah. In a place where people die left and right, Wish Ticket is both far away and desperately wanted, so I guess it can’t be helped.’
If I started feeling any sense of belonging in this chat, I’d just end up depressed every time news of another death came in.
It left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, but it was understandable.
[Go Youngeun: (fighting emoticon)]
[Go Youngeun: (clap emoticon)]
Still, there were same-year hires who still seemed genuinely nice.
‘Looks like she’s doing well….’
Looking at the neat emoticons from the med-school dropout same-year hire who had fully backed my opinion in that subway where people were dying, I nodded.
‘Then shall I do what I came here to do?’
In other words, listen to the voice of my conscience.
I found Baek Saheon’s profile in the group chat and opened a one-on-one chat.
Then I typed:
[Watch out for serial killers]
The 1 disappeared in a second.
But no reply came.
Hmm, maybe the message hit a nerve for him too?
‘If it bothers him, he’ll be careful.’
That seemed like a decent enough warning.
“I should send it to him every morning from now on.”
A week or so should do, until the impact wears off.
Giving myself a passing grade, I turned off my phone.
‘…Now let’s sleep.’
I didn’t know whether I actually could, but I had to at least try. I had work again tomorrow… ngh.
‘I wish the company would explode.’
Bitterly chewing over the sad fact that, given the nature of the company, I’d still have to go in even if it did, I ended up staying awake all night….
When I briefly dozed off at dawn, I had a nightmare where I was chased by theme park mascots swinging intestines around and offering churros to a stuffed doll.
‘Please save me.’
It was the night of an ordinary office worker suffering from trauma.
The news I heard the next day, however, was anything but ordinary.
“Roe Deer. You hit the jackpot.”
“……?”
“You… got 20,000 points.”
Excuse me?
I looked up at the points credited that morning.
[Employee Kim Soleum / Accumulated Points: 20000p]
It was real.
‘They definitely said only 10,000 points were coming in yesterday…?’
My senior staffer started thumping my shoulder hard.
“Looks like Assistant Manager Jin from Group A filed a report saying you absolutely had to be given extra points!”
Assistant Manager Jin…!
So she had recognized the effort I put in trying to save her even with a hole through her palm!
In my head, I raised the internal evaluation of the butterfly-masked assistant manager, who had previously seemed work-obsessed to the point of psychopathy, by about three levels.
From now on, she was a competent superior who worked well, had quick judgment, and was clear about rewards and punishments.
“Originally our group leader was also being discussed as a major contributor to clearing it, but Group A’s leader is raising hell, so….”
Ah.
Well…… honestly, from their perspective, it made sense to raise hell….
‘Did I just benefit from a lucky windfall?’
I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to be happy about it, but I’d gratefully take it anyway.
“Anyway, this is huge, Roe Deer. You’re not just on the level of setting a record for shortest time since joining anymore, okay?? This is insane.”
“Thank you.”
Though at this point, I might have to give up on the idea of staying unnoticed in this company….
‘Still, points are sweet.’
But it didn’t end there.
Before the morning was over, I got a call.
“…Assistant Manager Jin?”
-Yeah.
It should have been a relatively easy day. We had finished investigating a B-rank Darkness yesterday, so I ought to have been spending it filling out paperwork and taking it easy.
Instead, I got a call over the company network from the assistant manager of Group A.
I thanked her immediately.
“Um, thank you. I heard you recommended me as a major contributor to clearing the theme-park Darkness….”
-If the people who did the work get more points, that’s how things run properly. Why are you thanking me for something like that?
Ah, yes.
-Anyway, come up here for a bit.
“……?”
-Our group’s going into a Darkness today, but we’re short on people. I want you to come help.
“……”
-You don’t want to?
Yes!
Would it kill you to let the new hire who almost died yesterday rest for a day?!
“Please give me a moment. ……Um, Assistant Manager Eun. I’ve received a call.”
“Oh, why?”
Help me, boss from my own team!
I called over my superiors from our group and handed them the phone, trying to muddle through the call and somehow dodge it.
But it didn’t work.
“Group A has a vacancy? Was this a Group A vacancy call?”
“…!”
Oops.
Even the senior staffer who had been collapsed face-first on the desk at the other side of the room suddenly shot over in his chair and whispered,
“Wait, Group A called Roe Deer in to fill an empty slot today?”
I don’t know either, Senior Staff. My shoulders hurt, so stop shaking me.
“All right, understood. Yes.”
In the meantime, the assistant manager hung up.
Then she brightened and pumped a fist at me.
“Hey. Go.”
…Excuse me?
“That’s right! With Group A in its current state, this is a good break! Safer, and you can earn more—don’t miss this.”
“It’s all points. Points, Roe Deer.”
“……”
…In other words, it meant this.
‘First of all, elite teams like Group A get additional bonus points per case.’
And apparently that was pretty sweet.
On top of that, since there had been no call for a cleanup team like Group Y, this wasn’t the kind of Darkness that needed sacrificial bodies.
And if they were even calling in a new hire like me as a substitute, then it probably wasn’t a particularly difficult Darkness either.
In short: extra work, but with great pay and easy money.
“They got a vacancy and had to bring in someone, and it looks like they took a good impression of you yesterday, so they’re giving you a shot. Go!”
“……”
‘There’s really nothing I can say to argue back….’
Something like I couldn’t sleep because I was too scared, so I want to rest a bit was not something I could say now even if my mouth got torn open.
‘An on-site exploration employee who says that when there are a lot of points on the line in a relatively safe situation? That’s way too suspicious…!’
Unless I wanted everyone to know I was a coward and get shoved onto cleanup duty, I had to keep my mouth shut.
And so, forcing my unresponsive feet to move, I ended up heading for the fifteenth floor….
“Now that’s the spirit of a new hire!”
Feels more like defeat than spirit, actually.
Trying not to look as much like I was dragging myself, I headed to the elevator.
And when I reached the fifteenth floor—the top floor of the Field Operations Team—and the doors opened,
I was a little shocked.
“…!”
There were no tightly packed desktop stations or partitions like you’d see in an ordinary office.
Instead, there was a luxurious reception room that looked like it belonged in a hotel. And beyond it, I could see private spaces divided by frosted glass.
Every single one was a personal office with an employee’s name on it.
‘Good lord.’
One person, one office.
That was the kind of benefit you’d expect to see in an executive suite.
‘So this is another kind of motivation.’
Apparently, once you became part of an elite team in the Field Operations Team, you got to use a private space like this.
‘It’s an office worker’s dream, but….’
Just then, a familiar face stepped out through the glass door right beside me.
A superior already wearing a butterfly mask.
“Good morning, Assistant Manager Jin.”
“Yeah.”
Assistant Manager Jin of Group A looked a little more human than she had in the Ghost Story.
“The group leader said he wanted to see you one more time.”
And from the larger office opposite hers, Group A’s leader walked out holding a cup of coffee.
“Mr. Roe Deer.”
“Good morning, Manager.”
With a genial face that made him look like an easygoing middle-aged man, Group A’s leader smiled and patted my shoulder.
He behaved as though the way he had looked ready to kill Lee Jaheon back at the theme park had never happened.
“Assistant Manager Jin isn’t the type to praise people, but it sounds like she thought very highly of our Mr. Roe Deer. I’ve heard a lot of good things.”
That much…?
“That’s why I called you in today. It’s my first time seeing Assistant Manager Jin say over and over that an employee is this good.”
I reflexively turned to look at Group A’s assistant manager.
The assistant manager in the butterfly mask gave a little snort and smiled.
“I merely reported the facts.”
“Oh, there she goes again.”
The superior in the butterfly mask frowned when our eyes met, but her voice had softened.
“What? You did do well.”
“…Thank you.”
“Yeah. Do well today too.”
“Oh dear, look at the young people getting along.”
Chuckling to himself as he watched, Group A’s leader put on a mallard mask.
“Welcome to Group A, Mr. Kim Soleum.”
“……”
“Then shall we get to work?”
To be honest, I was a little curious too.
‘Do elite teams use a different approach?’
I had this expectation that the actual work process of the Field Operations Team might be different.
Wouldn’t it be different from an ordinary team that gets assigned work the very same day, reads the manual, gets thrown into a Darkness, and has to muddle through?
And it was different.
“Collector checked, recording device checked, mask checked, equipment checked, basic supplies checked. Thirty-one minutes remain until entry time, 11:00, into ‘Identification Code Qterw-C-402.’ As of the current time, I declare the readiness inspection complete.”
Mm… this is strict.
The atmosphere itself was completely different from Group D, where people would lounge around a sofa for a rough briefing, crack jokes their group leader didn’t understand, and then trudge into a Darkness.
Even with only two people because one of them had died, the hierarchy and protocol here were firmly in place.
The fact that the moment I arrived, they made me do the preparation and equipment-check briefing said it all.
“…That is all.”
“Good. Now let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Whether I was only a temporary substitute or not, it meant that as the lowest-ranking person on this team, I had to do what the lowest-ranking person did no matter what.
‘Come to think of it, even that Assistant Manager Jin doesn’t have an easy personality, but she was speaking to the group leader with strict, by-the-book honorifics….’
Right. At some point, she had probably gone through a team like this too.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to experience something like this in advance.
‘As long as they don’t find out I’m a coward….’
At least if I knew which Ghost Story we were entering today, I could prepare myself mentally.
Holding the manual, Group A’s leader spoke to me.
“Ah, Soleum, you haven’t read the manual yet, have you?”
“No.”
Trying to think positively, I politely held out both hands toward the group leader.
And just before the manual pages for the Darkness we were entering were about to be passed to me,
Group A’s leader’s hand stopped.
……?
“That’s right. Soleum, how about going in without something like this and experiencing it directly?”
Excuse me?
“I heard that reasoning things out without a manual is your specialty.”
I jerked my head up.
Below the mallard mask, I could see the lower half of Group A’s leader’s face smiling.
“If it looks dangerous, I’ll hand it over right away. All right?”
“……”
That didn’t mean he’d give it to me if I asked.
‘He’s saying he will decide whether it looks dangerous or not.’
Which meant he might not give it to me until I was already dying.
“……”
They were all going to enter the Ghost Story knowing everything, while I went in knowing nothing?
“Well then, shall we head in? Ah, it’s been a while since I had this much fun at work~”
Wait. Was this, by any chance…?
‘Workplace bullying?’
It was so stereotypical it felt like a joke. My head was spinning.
But why would a manager from another team, whom I had only met yesterday, do this…? Ah.
‘…Lee Jaheon!!’
Was it because our group’s lizard manager had seriously rubbed him the wrong way, and now he was taking it out on me, the new hire from that group?!
So I’d gotten marked too?
