Rejuvenation.
It is the dream of humanity, but since no one has succeeded with science so far, no one in reality has likely experienced actually becoming younger.
However, in this ghost story world, I am experiencing it… that very rejuvenation!
…Even if my height has been cut in half.
“Achoo.”
“Uh-oh, be careful. Kids catch colds easily.”
I fell silent for a moment as I looked at Agent Choi, who was wearing an excited expression while covering me with a blanket.
It was because it was so absurd.
‘My sense of reality is fading.’
To think I’m eight years old!
My state, having returned to that of a lower-grade elementary school student, was very strange.
All those protagonists in old cartoons who adapted as soon as they turned young were liars. A child’s senses were several times sharper, and my physical strength was strangely overflowing with energy.
I thought I would waddle awkwardly because my reach had shortened, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.
“It is because of the Dokkaebi Trick.”
Agent Bronze explained cleanly.
Of course, that was by the standards of a veteran of the <Dark Exploration Record>; for a rookie, it wasn’t clean at all.
So, I gave a reasonable reaction.
“D-Dokkaebi Trick…?”
“You can think of it as a supernatural phenomenon that deceives reality. It’s not a disaster, and it can’t be used for evil purposes at all. Because it’s a ‘prank.’”
Hmm. It was a good explanation.
Glancing at the Dokkaebi Fire dwelling on my arm, I recalled the explanation from the <Dark Exploration Record> I knew.
Dokkaebi Trick
A mysterious ability used by several agents of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
It occasionally manifests when an agent is issued a spiritually potent object related to Dokkaebis specifically tailored for them.
It is said that various abilities derived from traditional Dokkaebi folklore— such as shapeshifting, hiding objects, showing illusions, and playing with fire in mid-air—dwell within them depending on their compatibility with the agent.
“As you’ve probably guessed, the Management Bureau is quite deeply connected to Dokkaebis. So, for now, you can just assume that the Team leader of Hyunmoo Team 1 can also use ‘Dokkaebi Trick.’”
You’re openly telling me that there’s a deeper backstory and that you’ll tell me once I’ve put in more time. Thank you….
“Gasp, Jaekwan, you told him too much! What are we going to do, Hubae? Your memory might get wiped for this!”
“…….”
“Hmph. You’re already not falling for it.”
Agent Bronze pressed his temples. It was quite bizarre to see him doing that with the face of a child who looked like he’d lived through everything the world had to offer…….
“You don’t have to respond when Agent Choi… says things that aren’t directly related to work.”
“Hey! That’s too much. Fine, I’ll just talk about work then!”
The grumbling of the child-version of Agent Choi was slightly less irritating.
“Anyway, so Dokkaebi Trick is basically all a trick~ Keep in mind that we haven’t actually become children of a new nation.”
“Yes.”
I understand what you’re say….
“But the senses deceive the body, and the body deceives the mind.”
Agent Choi poked his head forward with a grin.
Seeing an adult’s expression on a child’s face felt somewhat eerie, giving me a bit of a chill.
“While you’re in this form, strangely, you won’t be able to control your emotions, your stamina will be overflowing, and your strength will weaken.”
Because it’s a child.
“That’s why we’re in two-man cells. If there’s a colleague who’s turned into a kid next to you, you try to keep your wits about you to take care of them, so the adult ego manifests a bit~”
“…….”
I see.
“A prank is just a prank, so be careful not to be swallowed by it!”
“Yes…! I will keep that in mind.”
“Aigoo, our rookie is so good at answering.”
Around that time, the Management Bureau vehicle that was transporting us stopped.
Ah, because it was difficult to ride a bike due to physical conditions, a van loaded us up and moved us this time.
The destination was also quite far.
“We have arrived.”
Clack.
The door opened, and what revealed itself was….
Swooooosh…
A beach.
On this chilly early spring day, the sunless beach had a somewhat desolate and solemn aura.
If someone said there was a ghost story about children going missing there, anyone would nod in agreement….
“Not there, this way.”
“…?!”
I turned my head at Agent Choi’s gesture.
It was… a dilapidated, massive raw fish restaurant.
‘Oh my god.’
The neon sign of a tail-wagging yellowtail flickered on the giant billboard. It was very avant-garde.
However, a notice was posted on the glass door.
[Closed today]
But the three children approached the front of the restaurant and placed their hands on the doorknob.
“We are going to the Dragon Palace now.”
Entry Location.
A children’s playroom attached to a large restaurant that handles sea creatures, such as a fishery center or raw fish restaurant.
At this time, the floor area of the playroom must exceed 49㎡, and a red cylindrical slide must exist.
Additionally, paintings related to the undersea kingdom must be observed on the walls.
(When the murals of playrooms satisfying these conditions were changed, distorted similar ocean paintings began to be witnessed irregularly. It is estimated that a complete blockade of entry is impossible.)
“Confirmed.”
“Good.”
Agent Bronze cleared away toys with his arms, which were shorter than before, revealing the poster-style wallpaper printed there.
A mermaid, smiling fish, and behind them, a charming castle shaped like coral, clams, and conches.
And next to it was a slide that looked like a red cylindrical play structure and a ball pit.
“Wow, I miss this. Places like this really don’t disappear. Is it because there’s constant demand?”
“Stop the small talk and let’s get ready.”
“Kay.”
Hearing this bickering in children’s voices made it feel relatively more affectionate.
“Hubae, you read the whole manual, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Let’s do it.”
I stood at the exit of the red slide, following the children.
Method of Entry.
With eyes closed, crawl backwards up the slide from the bottom.
At this time, one must have a strong thought of wanting to enter the undersea kingdom depicted on the wallpaper.
The probability increases if one possesses a related item (such as a seashell).
And then, recite the incantation.
“Sparkling Dragon Palace, I’ve moved to the Dragon Palace.”
With eyes closed, I entered the black hole of the smooth, cold slide.
The incantation appears irregularly in the form of graffiti on the walls or floors of playrooms that satisfy the entry conditions.
Sometimes, it is depicted in detail with drawings in the supplement pages of comic books placed in the playroom, under the title ‘How to go to the Sparkling Dragon Palace.’
“Sparkling Dragon Palace, I’ve moved to the Dragon Palace.”
I continued to climb up.
Clear, high-pitched children’s voices in front and behind me followed my incantation.
A strange feeling.
It was dark.
I kept reciting the incantation.
“Sparkling Dragon Palace, I’ve moved to the Dragon Palace….”
The slide didn’t end.
Instead, the upward slope strangely became steeper, and eventually, I ended up climbing the slide as if hanging onto it.
I heard the sound of the children panting. I felt like I was going to cry, but I endured it.
If the slope starts to get dangerously high, the entry ritual is a success.
There is no record regarding the outcome if one fails to hold on and slides backward at this point.
How much time had passed?
Finally, at the moment it felt like I was hanging off a cliff.
“Sparkling Dragon Palace…!!”
I fell forward.
“Ah!”
As if rolling off a cliff, like a roller coaster that had climbed to the top was plunging down.
My young body rolled downward.
“Hiek!”
Finally, the moment my child body couldn’t take it anymore and I screamed and opened my eyes.
A fantastic landscape came into view.
“…!!”
A city one would only see in dreams.
The place, shimmering in gold and filled with a vast blue sky, had light rippling through the air like an aurora.
No, it wasn’t the sky; it was the blue sea.
Beneath the dazzlingly rippling sea, golden pipes and ivory brick houses were lined up, creating elegant and brilliant streets like something out of a fairy tale.
Shining coral reefs, colorful banners, and decorations. Golden speakers and delicate metal decorations of flowers and wave patterns sparkled on every streetlamp.
And up there, a beautiful blue palace of five colors, adorned with pearls and gold.
“Ah…!”
Before I knew it, my body was no longer falling.
Floating, as if swimming above the clouds in a dream, I was gently approaching the ground below.
Toward the beautiful golden village.
Float.
The two children who came with me descended alongside me on both sides.
In the center of the city getting closer, a banner in front of a white fountain fluttered, sparkling in gold, blue, and red.
[Welcome
to the
Sparkling Dragon Palace,
New Resident!]
And then.
“A new friend!”
“Wow, someone else came!”
Over twenty children rushed down the beautiful boulevard from under the banner.
Every single one of them was wearing a wide grin.
Clean, pretty hair and clothes. The children, dressed like princesses or princes from a fairy tale, looked like the guests of honor at a birthday party.
“Three of them came?”
“I like this one!”
“…!”
When Agent Bronze flinched as his arm was grabbed, the child who had grabbed it burst into giggles.
Laughter and a shimmering sense of ecstasy overflowed.
“Where… is this?”
“This is the Sparkling Dragon Palace! It’s really, really fun? It’s really great?”
The child chattering to me began to guide the way with a smile.
As if there were nothing to worry about, as if their parents had sent them to a wonderful program and they were just making new friends and having a good time in a heavenly, fun place.
But….
“…….”
These children are all missing persons.
Every living being identified in this Supernatural Disaster is presumed to be a missing child.
Age groups have been confirmed from 5 to 11 years old, and the majority express deep ecstasy and satisfaction.
“Ahahaha!”
The children burst into laughter and led us down the boulevard, trying to take us to the front of the palace in one go.
Even while doing so, they were easily distracted here and there like children.
“Look at this, look at this!”
There were doll decorations throughout the streets that moved with wound-up gears.
Golden signs hanging over their heads.
[Children,
please take
some honey!]
There was a water fountain near the belly of a colorful soldier decoration with a whimsical expression, and when I turned the faucet attached to it, honey really poured out.
“If you fill up a bottle, the Little Mermaid will give you a present!”
When honey was placed in front of the white ivory mermaid statue before the castle, wonderful toys, clothes, picture books, and other things one might want poured out as the statue’s pedestal opened.
“Waaaaah!”
The sound of children cheering and laughing.
“I’ll give you this.”
“…Thanks.”
I received a pair of very fine-looking shoes from a child wearing a blue dress who looked younger than me.
The theory that folk tales about the Dragon Palace, passed down out of pity for children who went missing near the sea, manifested as a Supernatural Disaster is the most likely.
“…….”
I deliberately held onto the child and spoke quietly, acting anxious.
“Um, I have to go see my mom now….”
“Mom? They said Mom is coming to get us! We just have to play here!”
“…….”
“You know, my mom is really cool. She’s really good at sewing, and when she comes later, I’ll only show her to you.”
And then, looking slightly shy, she giggled again and ran off into the street.
“…….”
……Probably.
That child will not be able to show me her mom.
-Once you go in, you’re going to feel like you can just take all the kids out the moment you see them. You can’t get caught up in that. Got it?
I bit the inside of my cheek.
-If you take them out wrong, that child dies.
When a long-term missing person (over 1000 days) of the ‘Sparkling Dragon Palace’ is rescued, they turn into foam and disappear the moment they return to reality.
The date of disappearance must be thoroughly identified before rescue.
But they say this is insanely tricky.
-…The children we meet change each time we enter. However, there have been cases where a child who wasn’t there during a visit last year showed evidence of having stayed here for over three years.
Because the flow of time is jumbled, even a child who went missing yesterday in reality might have spent about five years here.
Conversely, it seems children from the distant past or from timelines where different events occurred than in our reality are also found.
So, one must listen to the story of what year that child lived in reality and, based on that, confirm if they are a recent missing person before taking them out.
It’s a relief that the agents’ time has never been distorted, which is presumed to be because they use ‘Dokkaebi Trick’ and are actually adults.
-Still, it’s dangerous to stay here long because you can be contaminated by this Supernatural Phenomenon just like the children.
Agent Choi, the person in charge of this mission, had declared.
-Two days.
-…….
-We’ll spend exactly two days here and leave on the third. Got it? … Actually, we could hold out longer, but the Management Bureau told us to do that….
-Agent.
-Fine! So it’s two days.
Thus, from now on, the three of us—Hyunmoo Team 1 and I—had to find a ‘child who hasn’t been missing from reality for more than three years’ and leave.
…Only that child.
“…….”
This won’t do. Perhaps because I’m in a child’s body, I seem to get agitated easily.
“Let’s calm down….”
I moved while taking deep breaths.
To meet as many kids as possible within the set time in my assigned area and listen to their stories.
And I pride myself on having done my best for two days.
I caught and spoke to every single one of the children who had come to greet us, and I even found the bedrooms where the children who hadn’t come to greet us stayed.
But….
“…This regular rescue ends here.”
“…….”
“…….”
……We failed to find a child who met the criteria during those two days.
Not a single child.
“Let’s return.”
I lowered my head.
“…….”
…In this world, there are things that don’t work out even if you do your best.
‘It was a ghost story I didn’t know.’
Since it was a ghost story I hadn’t seen in the Dark Exploration Records, I didn’t have any other special methods.
Following the rules of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau and the supervisor’s plan was safe and correct.
‘Besides, it’s dangerous for me to stand out any more than this.’
So, what’s happening now is….
“No!”
…….
…?!
Wait.
D-did I just say that?
“I don’t want to! Let’s look more!”
…I did say that!
“……T-that’s.”
What was even more maddening was that my supervisors’ faces were starting to well up with tears as well.
…Because of these children’s bodies!
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