I know it might sound strange to hear that there are darknesses used to make equipment that the Baekilmong Co., Ltd. research team frequently uses.
Equipment is usually the kind of thing that helps people survive Ghost Stories.
So you might wonder why the company’s research team would need something like that directly in the first place, but if you saw it for yourself, you’d probably get the general idea.
How The Toy Maker of the Cheerful Research Lab could be used by the research team.
And how it could replace Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s missing limb.
“Good. Then let’s set our route for E07 and head out.”
“Yes, yes, yep!”
And just like that, the first equipment-production site we would visit in the annex was decided.
…Now, it was time to head for our destination.
“We’re moving.”
“Yep.”
The moment Manager Lee Jaheon made his decision, he set off without hesitation. The rest of us followed him into the dark corridor.
Annex, Basement Level 3, darkness containment zone.
Strange noises came from the tightly shut steel doors on both sides, but ignoring them, we moved forward carefully…
“Stop.”
EXIT
At a dead end.
The emergency door revealed itself.
Right. This time, we were planning to use the emergency stairwell here to move directly up one floor, to Basement Level 2.
—Since we don’t have access authorization for B2 itself, we’ll enter from the floor above or below and move through it quietly.
The annex emergency stairs were different from the bizarre emergency stairwell in the main building basement, on the Cheerful Research Lab side, where a warning was posted that read Absolutely No Entry.
There are multiple records in the Darkness Exploration Record that say the Facility Security Team used this side to enter, or that fleeing people used it.
Of course, this still was not a normal travel route, and strange things sometimes happened while moving through it, but—
It’s not unusable.
Up ahead, Manager Lee Jaheon raised a hand.
“I’ll open it.”
And unlike ordinary times, when this emergency door would trigger an alert whenever it was…