I didn't know.
From the perspective of a hand-sized plush doll, just how gargantuan and overwhelming a talk show set could appear.
How much pressure it would feel like to have everything be unnaturally massive, yet find myself unable to even blink an eye or struggle once.
Especially.
If there was a bizarre Host with a TV for a head casting a giant shadow right beside me.
That vivid voice….
[Now, let’s welcome today’s guest!]
‘~~!’
The vibration travels through me, shaking my internal stuffing.
But regardless of whatever situation I am in, the talk show continues.
‘The guest….’
Classic light bulbs flash as the door opens.
The eerie ghost story—an idea I had proposed during a meeting that was adopted as a ‘very good idea’—walks through the door and sits in the guest chair.
To be precise, a staff member picks up the guest and leans them against the guest seat.
Since it was a human-shaped thing made of wooden sticks.
The Red Scarecrow!
Its head was wrapped in cloth, with a person’s eyes, nose, and mouth scribbled haphazardly with a red marker.
Even that was smeared by rainwater, making it look even more grotesque.
A monster that lures people into a city-sized cornfield to make them lose their way, then turns into a monster at night to hunt them down one by one until they go missing.
It sat there, a chilling ghost story based on a famous American urban legend that I had recommended for the <Dark Exploration Record> because I thought it would suit the atmosphere of this talk show.
I felt like I was going to vomit.
But nothing happened.
Because I was a plush doll.
I had no mouth, no stomach, and no small intestine.
[It was difficult to bring you all the way to this seat. Now then…….]
As the Host moved toward the guest, the pressure shaking my entire body eased slightly.
The scarecrow could not answer the Host’s words, and its scribbled face stared eerily into empty space, but the Host conducted the interview perfectly well on his own.
[Oh, I hear that most recently, fleeing bank robbers entered the cornfield! How exciting….]
The story of how bank robbers, entering a cornfield to evade police search, met the Red Scarecrow and all became fertilizer for the corn and innards for the scarecrow.
An ‘Exploration Record’ that was relatively less ethically uncomfortable yet packed with tension unfolded, adding humor and thrills.
“Wow, that’s seriously chilling.”
“Awesome.”
The people sitting in the audience watched the show with great joy and excitement, gasping in surprise or fear, yet never losing their smiles.
Yes.
As if they could enjoy watching any terrible thing happen as long as they all laughed together.
Even as the interview flowed in a ghastly direction where innocent victims were appearing, the audience cheered and found it thrilling.
‘They’ve been Contaminated.’
I knew it now.
All these people were slowly being Contaminated while watching this talk show.
And perhaps, I was too…….
Even if I wasn't at first, gradually, as the talk show proceeded.
[That was an exciting story! Wasn't it? Oh, please give a warm round of applause to our guest, who has stepped out of the cornfield and stood before the public for the first time!]
The eerie scarecrow was still just eyes, nose, and a mouth scribbled with red marker.
However, now those eyes somehow seemed to be looking at the audience…….
[Now… then, it’s time to move on to the next segment… that’s right! It started just last episode! Do you remember this short segment, viewers?]
To Braun’s Friend
Let us know!
Wait a minute.
[Regrettably, today isn't the day my friend originally appears, so he couldn't come in his original form….]
[But with burning passion, he has come to find us in a new form.]
He picks me up.
My body dangles in the air, my head and arms bobbing in the void, held by a massive, gloved hand.
[Can you see? This is my friend!]
The audience cackled and pointed fingers, then clapped and cheered.
He began to talk while holding me like a puppet. Like ventriloquism.
[Now, what was that, friend? Aha!]
[I will give you 100 seconds to ask questions, so please answer. Audience!]
The Host mimicked my way of speaking and my intonation with chilling smoothness. My plush arms waved toward the audience. The people laughed.
The sensation of my spirit trying to become elated is terrifying.
[Now, shall we hear what kind of question my friend will ask?]
The TV speaker tilted toward me.
…I cannot speak.
Because a plush doll has no mouth.
But….
‘I can think.’
This thought is intensely conveyed to the other party.
Just as I had understood the voice of the Good Friend.
So….
I thought.
‘I want to stop.’
[…Aha! My friend says he’s very nervous.]
[But now, the first question is… oh, how bold. ‘If you were to redraw the Red Scarecrow’s face, what would you draw?’]
‘I want to stop.’
[Something cute! Oh, what a good answer. My friend thinks so too, right?]
‘I want to stop.’
[Of course, Braun!]
I continued to show a rejection response to the Host’s words.
But the Host continued his ventriloquism with unbelievable composure, moving the doll as if I were enthusiastically responding.
After 100 seconds had passed like that.
[Hahaha! Thank you! That was 'Braun's Friend'!]
[Now it’s time to welcome a new guest. Before that… let’s take a quick commercial break!]
The moment the camera stopped and the lights on the stage went out.
…….
…….
[How dare you interfere with a live broadcast.]
My body froze.
The giant TV head leaned down and whispered to me.
[This is unacceptable. Soleum, have you started thinking with straw instead of a brain, just like the scarecrow? To think you’d dare try to ruin the show!!]
My head was pressed. My head was crushed between his gloved fingers as if my brain had vanished.
[My goodness… this is… how can you be so shameless.]
[As a Good Friend, I actively cooperated with whatever you did! And yet, Mr. Roe Deer, you’re trying to ruin this live talk show broadcast, which is now your workplace.]
[This is absolutely unacceptable….]
‘I have one thing that I find unacceptable, too.’
[…….]
‘You said audience members went missing and died.’
Amidst the vision crushed by the gloved hand, I kept thinking.
‘You said you sent thank-you letters after the show ended, purposely telling those people how they could meet the guests.’
‘You did it because it would make for interesting talk fodder when the guests reappeared.’
[Who did you hear that from?]
[No, that isn’t important. Friend, there’s been a misunderstanding….]
The pressure of the gloves pressing on my head vanished.
Instead, he massaged my head well so that the stuffing would puff up again.
[Mr. Roe Deer, my show forces nothing.]
[If a serial killing occurs because someone is fascinated by a movie featuring a murderer, that would be the responsibility of the perpetrator, not the fault of the movie.]
A crying face appeared on the TV.
[Why should a show prioritize anything other than joy, pleasure, and thrills?]
‘I have no intention of persuading you.’
I thought.
‘So don’t you think about persuading me either.’
And.
‘I don’t want to make or appear on a talk show that kills and incinerates people.’
…….
…….
[Oh.]
The gloves released my head.
And….
[I see.]
[Then from now on, I’ll have to treat you as just a manual laborer staff member.]
It felt like my blood was freezing.
But since I had no blood, I could keep thinking….
‘You have no right to do that. I never signed a staff contract.’
That was true.
We had done everything verbally.
The contract was merely scheduled to be signed in the near future.
‘And you said it yourself. You’d let me go if it wasn't enjoyable.’
I stared at the screenless TV with eyes that could not blink.
‘Let me go. It’s scary and not enjoyable.’
The old TV remained still.
‘I have no intention of listening to your persuasion or words here. Just let me go right now.’
…….
…….
Thud.
Braun places me back on the desk.
And what comes out is…….
A softened, sad voice.
[I.. don’t quite understand. Think about it, Mr. Roe Deer. Why would you want to leave a joyful and rewarding job to return to a painful one?]
[Was there something you didn't like about our talk show’s treatment? There is no perfectly ethical show in the world, Mr. Roe Deer…. You know that.]
He whispers.
[Perhaps, a conscience is merely a reason you’ve found. Could it be that you actually have complaints about your lifestyle as a staff member?]
[How about changing your lodging? Ah, how about living in a more powerful, cool form suited for the show….]
No!
‘I told you. I won’t listen to your persuasion!’
I could be dragged away if I’m not careful. I am a doll right now. I don’t even have my silver ring. No. I must not be persuaded….
‘I’m quitting. The story ends there.’
[…….]
The TV head moved away.
[I see what kind of misunderstanding you’re having.]
[But since I am your friend, it’s only right that I grant your wish.]
Gloved fingers gestured to the staff to clear me away.
[You’re fired. Feel free to leave this wonderful studio and return to your pathetic, boring life!]
[However, from now on, there will be no Good Friend.]
‘…….’
[Bear that in mind. Now, once today’s show is over, you’ll be able to go anywhere. Well….]
[If you can go anywhere with that Plush Body, that is.]
‘You’re the one who put me in here. Send me back.’
[Oh. Why should I?]
‘Naturally….’
[How amusing, Kim Soleum. You say and do whatever you want without any sense of responsibility toward the show, and you even barked at this Braun not to even try to persuade you, didn’t you?]
[But now you’re trying to persuade me. You have no shame. Ah, that too is an emotion consumed in a show….]
[Mainly the fun of watching someone receive punishment!]
The staff member threw me onto the table next to the guest, rather than the desk.
A precarious position as if I might fall into the trash can.
[Oh, the camera lights are coming back on!]
Braun’s voice became brighter and more cheerful than ever.
Fitting for a talk show.
[Now, think carefully while watching the rest of the talk show. This is your last chance.]
[Will you choose punishment, or will you again……]
Just then.
Phut.
A strange, thin sound echoed in front of me along with a flash.
Something appeared to my unblinking eyes.
The talk show studio ceiling was pierced with a hole as thick as a needle.
From above, an unnaturally blue light shot down and illuminated me.
And….
Phut-phut-phut-phut-phut-phut-phut-phut.
Holes were pierced continuously.
Stuffing burst out into my vision.
‘Ah.’
Something
Had pierced
Me…….
[…!]
Don't tell me that’s… is this the Holy Fire Barrage?
No.
‘…Am I dying?’
If I die in this body, do I die just like that as a plush doll?
Just then.
[Now….]
I felt a hand tightly grasping my plush doll.
It was the Host.
He seemed to be trying to stop the stuffing from coming out of the punctured plush doll.
But the barrage, which strangely and persistently targeted this plush doll, did not end.
Phut-phut-phut-phut-phut-phut-phut-phut.
My head was detached and fell to the floor.
[…!!]
Thud.
Rumble, rumble!
The ceiling collapses.
Onto the stage of the talk show studio, transparent and shining things began to fall like meteors, starting to smash only the talk show set.
In my tumbling field of vision, I saw the Host frozen, holding the cloth and stuffing that used to be my tattered body.
Ah.
Just as I was flustered when the Good Friend was torn in two.
This guy is too….
-Kim Soleum.
“……!”
-Have you returned?
“……Yes.”
I regained consciousness in a place where I could feel nothing again.
In the CCTV-like field of vision before me, Section Chief Lee Jaheon was moving again.
The difference was that the studio in my vision was shaking as if it were being hit by a bomb.
-The Holy Fire Barrage has commenced.
Yes. I know….
Because you shot me….
“Did you purposefully target the plush doll I was in? To make me return to this body?”
-Yes.
-The barrage in question will continue for the next 10 minutes, but it is a high-risk situation. Assistant Manager Kim Soleum must exit this location as quickly as possible, preferably within 3 minutes.
“Couldn't the Host put me back in a doll right now?”
-He could.
-However, Darkness is an extreme phenomenon without balance. A host-type supernatural being obsessed with a talk show is highly likely to prioritize restoring the studio and identifying and eliminating the cause.
As Section Chief Lee Jaheon moved at an insane speed, his dry voice said something chilling.
And then he announced another thing nonchalantly.
-Also, approval for entry into a Safe House has been granted.
“…What?”
-The Union has acknowledged the current situation where the emergency pager user is unable to escape.
-Therefore, Assistant Manager Kim Soleum can be transported to a location where you can evade the pursuit of supernatural beings.
“…….”
I don’t know what the Union is, but it’s probably some group like an alien organization.
-The only way to prevent an unexpected situation in the current circumstances is to quickly leave this studio and go there.
Then… does that mean I can evade the Host’s pursuit for a while?
Then, while I got my situation in order, I might be able to find a way to completely shake off the Host from the <Dark Exploration Record>.
In my CCTV-like field of vision, I watched the movements of the Lizard Team Leader running through the shaking studio hallway accompanied by the sound of thunderous roars.
“…Have you figured out the way out?”
-Yes.
-I reconfirmed the route while re-infiltrating the studio to identify the location where Assistant Manager Kim Soleum’s persona was summoned.
“…!”
I really felt like I could escape.
Whether I went back out to ‘Delusion Home Shopping’ or somewhere else and entered the Safe House I was supposedly approved for, it seemed like I could take a breather for now.
It was a powerful temptation, but…….
…….
Actually, I knew.
It was all a temporary measure.
‘It’s an extremely hostile escape method.’
I have a strange feeling that this might be making an irreversible choice with the Host….
‘The Host, Braun, might find me again whenever he wants.’
So this escape was not a solution, but merely a temporary evasion.
Moreover….
“…….”
I recalled the scene I saw right before I was separated from the plush doll.
The Host trying to plug up my bursting plush doll.
“…….”
Perhaps.
“…Team Leader.”
-Yes.
“Are you the type of sentient being that is easily Contaminated by Darkness?”
-No.
‘…Okay.’
And one more thing.
“Is it correct that even if I die in your body, you will simply return to being Section Chief Lee Jaheon?”
-If I die within 55 hours, that is correct.
……If so.
“Team Leader.”
I swallowed hard.
“Don’t go out through the exit like this; go to the Host instead.”
If it’s a gamble anyway, I’ll try a certain method that I perform myself.
“I’ll try a different way out.”
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