Darkness Excavation.
Entering the endlessly repeating scenes of the Cheerful Research Institute deep beneath the main building, and excavating the Darkness within.
To collect Dream Essence, possessing new ghost stories is one of the important work processes of this Daydream Inc.
However, most of the Darknesses have now been excavated from the surface floors of the Cheerful Research Institute.
At the point where employees must be sent into the deep levels, which are dangerous, information lacking, and where various anomalies occur...
"An employee has arrived. Haha, 130666 from the Special Department!"
That's right.
Employees of the Security Team's Special Department, ghost stories bound as employees to Daydream Inc, are sent in as suitable candidates for this task.
From today on, that includes me.
A week of quiet work in the annex has yielded the intended results.
"However, I heard you don't have to go that deep today!"
That's right.
This is my task today.
The excavation of new Darknesses from the lower floors, at or below basement floor 30.
Kwak Jekang lowered his voice.
"Of course, if you wish to go deeper, I will unconditionally welcome it, Mr. Employee."
"..."
If I go deeper, perhaps, I might even find the ruins of that strange dream incubator room where I woke up...
Just thinking about it made my stomach churn, but I held it in.
'I intended to show them that I can work diligently today anyway.'
Let's build a foundation, mentally, and environmentally.
And naturally, this is a solo assignment given to a Special Department employee, so a Transport Cage is not needed.
"Um, perhaps… if we go together..."
"Hmm? Who said you'd be given that opportunity? This is Mr. Employee's solo mission! Honestly, a mere Guard Team member who has never even explored underground a few times still..."
>Request: Silence.
"..."
Kwak Jekang shut his mouth. The Sergeant still maintained an attitude of indifference towards that guy.
It really feels like he's picking a fight only with Jay-ssi.
'Does he have some kind of personal grudge with him?'
Once I regained my senses, I felt it even more clearly.
But… if the Sergeant is indeed the person recorded on Wiki, the leader of B-Squad…
'Wouldn't it make more sense for the Sergeant to hold a grudge against the Research Team?'
It was a strange power dynamic.
"Hmm."
But the Sergeant, still more interested in this particular exploration than in Kwak Jekang, seemed lost in thought about what to do.
Beside him, Supervisor Park Minseong, looking at me with a worried expression, was the same.
They must be concerned about whether I, in my abnormal state, could go into a Darkness of such a dangerous level alone.
'...'
Secretly, I drew sentences with smoke, unbeknownst to Kwak Jekang.
In a way Kim Soleum would speak.
>I'm back to my senses.
"…!"
>Don't worry. I'll go and come back safely. Jay-ssi.
And.
>Supervisor Badger.
"..."
The smoke dispersed, but Supervisor Park Minseong remained still for a moment.
Soon, a voice thick with emotion came out.
"…Um. Alright, come back safely."
"Be careful…"
I was escorted out of the isolation room in my restrained state and transported to the Main Building for my assignment.
To the elevator.
Ding dong.
I boarded the elevator.
It wasn't the Main Building's surface elevator I used to escape the isolation room.
This was an elevator that descended deep underground.
It was the same one I rode once with the Sergeant, wearing Guard Team attire, when entering the Sangun-nim ghost story.
However, there were no preparations like back then.
Only the well-organized information from the document Kwak Jekang handed me existed in my head...
Like the <Dark Exploration Record> Wiki.
Main Building Underground Exploration Record: Cheerful Research Institute
This Darkness is a specially managed Darkness accessible only through a dedicated elevator leading to the basement of the company's Main Building.
Its appearance and ■■ have been confirmed to be almost identical to the interior of a former institution called the Cheerful Research Institute, and it has been named with the same designation.
A standard emergency stairwell is found inside, but there are no records of anyone returning to the surface through that passage. Proceed with exploration with this in mind.
The appearance of the Cheerful Research Institute seen on each underground floor is structurally almost identical, but it shows peculiar anomalies as one descends deeper underground.
Floors up to the 29th basement level are designated as lower floors, up to the 59th as middle floors, and from the 60th onwards as deep levels.
And so it begins.
Basement Floors 2-9 – Office in Vacation Season
Ding dong.
The elevator doors on the 9th basement floor opened, revealing the appearance of the 'Cheerful Research Institute'...
A bright corridor with a calm atmosphere.
It looks like a normal office, unbelievable for an underground space.
Inside the offices, obscured by frosted windows, the sounds of writing or chatter can occasionally be heard, but it is mostly quiet.
In these surface floors, the Cheerful Research Institute is typically quiet and calm. It is estimated that a large number of office personnel are absent, and there is not much activity.
Risk Level: Lowest
Thus, most of the Darkness here has already been excavated.
Ultimately, this wasn’t my destination today.
I stepped out of the elevator and, instead of walking down the office corridor… turned my body.
And pressed.
The elevator call button for the elevator that was located immediately to the left.
The Main Building's dedicated elevator only displays up to the 9th basement floor, and occasionally displays double-digit or higher basement levels, but pressing them is not recommended.
The official exploration method is to disembark at the lowest floor displayed normally on the elevator, and then board the elevator on the left.
On this elevator on the left, buttons that descend underground from the current floor are very likely to appear. Typically, 10 floors are displayed.
Continue exploration by pressing these buttons.
[Let's go, down there! To find gold, oh, I feel like singing a miner's song. Like Snow White's dwarves...]
Basement Floors 10-19 – Office during Lunchtime
In these surface floors, the Cheerful Research Institute is more boisterous than the floors above, and personnel occasionally come out of the offices.
Risk Level: Low
19th Basement Floor.
From here on, I must be a little cautious...
To avoid being detected by the residents of the Cheerful Research Institute who might be inside those offices.
However, even if they come out into the corridor, I cannot see them.
'The same applies to them.'
The explorer who entered the elevator and the 'personnel of the Cheerful Research Institute' do not perceive each other.
However, they perceive the impact each has on the Cheerful Research Institute.
Do you understand what this means?
I cannot see the other party, and the other party cannot see me.
But if I destroy this corridor, the other party will know that an intruder is destroying the corridor.
And most area ghost stories are never lenient towards intruders...
Try not to be detected as much as possible.
Heeding that advice, I moved carefully...
Further down.
Boarding the elevator on the left, I searched for and pressed the button to go deeper underground...
Basement Floors 20-29 – Office at Midnight
This is my work location for today.
The very end of the lower floors.
Ding dong.
With a cheerful sound, the doors opened, revealing the 29th floor.
...
A dark corridor.
Silent stillness.
Occasional, strange clanking noises can be heard.
On these floors, all light sources except for the emergency lights are turned off, and there is almost no activity observed from office personnel.
However, critical mental and physical dangers from individual manifestations of Darknesses occur frequently.
Deployment of Security Team personnel who have not passed the contamination inspection is strictly prohibited.
Risk Level: Low-Medium
(Civilian death risk of 50% or higher)
The risk level has sharply increased.
It was fortunate that the sense of fear had not fully returned to me yet. I could still act rationally on my own.
I walked out into the corridor.
The black smoke around me was barely visible, consumed by the Darkness.
Only my eyes, glowing like yellow lanterns, dimly illuminated the corridor...
Even that I kept at the lowest possible brightness.
All attempts to use artificial light sources brought from the surface have ended in disappearance.
*A note left by Security Team R16 was recovered. Document attachment approved.
Note content: After the lights are turned off, do not turn o n…
…Following the manual like this, it felt like returning to the Field Exploration Team.
Of course, whether that is truly necessary for me, who is not human anymore, is a different story.
[Where will you start searching, Friend?]
The darkest place.
I will go to the places most people would avoid. That’s where individual ghost stories would remain.
I accept for the first time the usefulness of having a body that is not affected by the absence of light...
I walked towards the office furthest from the emergency lights.
The place with the fewest recorded exploration records on the 29th floor.
[3-⋢⟤⦯]
…The sign on the dimly lit office door was somehow distorted and unreadable.
However, no sound could be heard from within.
…It is safe, for now.
'From here.'
I grabbed the office door handle, turned it gently, and opened the door.
...The interior revealed itself.
It had the exact same structure as the dream incubator room.
'...!'
Before the shock could engulf my body, I rang the bell.
A clear chime sound, 'jingle', echoed in my head...
...
Calm down.
'Huu.'
Yes.
The office was indeed… very similar in form to the underground dream incubator room I found… with PCs and desks of the same specifications.
However, there were no dream incubators.
'This office… might not be directly related.'
I felt an inexplicable sigh of relief mentally escape me.
Then I began to scan the office.
'…It's clean.'
A scene of an office that looked like people would come to work in it as soon as morning breaks.
However, peculiar things began to catch my eye one by one in the dark.
Colorful samples like children's toys placed on desks, numerous hand mirrors stacked on desks, or PCs covered in sticky notes.
Focus on the differences from a typical office environment during exploration, and judge wisely.
There is always a possibility that these are a product of a ghost story, where interaction alone can lead to loss of consciousness or instant death. If retrieval is not possible, then they hold no value as Darknesses.
Easier said than done.
'Hoo.'
I tried not to imagine the expressions of the unfortunate employees who would have done this work, and checked each of the strange appearances.
[It's crude, but one could call it creative.]
It wasn't a particularly pleasant search, perhaps because I was aware of the 'creepiness', but it was much better having someone to talk to.
'No unusual reactions.'
And then I moved to the next desk...
...
Wait a minute.
'…This.'
I spotted a palm-sized circular object placed on a storage shelf between two desks...
A black model, shaped like a disc standing upright.
'…A roulette!'
It was the same black roulette that I spun at the <Dark Exploration Records> pop-up store.
Even the button that looked like the walkie-talkie that I had pressed back then, was placed right next to it.
'...'
How can this be?
What is happening?
'A hint.'
I realized it instinctively.
I immediately reached out. I need to check this first. If I know what this does...
"Wow. It's really nice to see you, Soleum-nim."
…!!
I turned my head.
My hand touched the roulette.
Next to it.
A man's bare hand, gripping the roulette almost simultaneously, was visible...
Following that hand, I looked up.
"Have you been well?"
Director Ho.
He was looking at me.
…With the Cheerful Research Institute employee ID hanging around his neck.
TL: Notes: -
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