Six individuals stand here, each with enough story to satisfy the Ascetic in the box.
Which of them shall be trapped in merciless agony averaging 27 years, leading to a slow and inescapable death?
Such an absurd decision is now forced onto us...
“Roe.”
I lowered my head.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, in the guise of an old woman, was tapping near my shoulder.
“Set me down a bit. Even though I look like this, I’m not really a frail elder, am I?”
But.
“Let me spit out the marble and regain some mobility. From the look of things, this may not turn out well.”
...
I let Assistant Manager Eun Haje down. The Assistant Manager spat out the glass marble and began to revert to her original form.
Agent Bronze’s expression changed.
“You are...”
“Well now, it’s been a while. Sir Geezer.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje grinned.
Coincidentally, the two had crossed paths here in Jisan Village before, and now they were meeting again at the same place.
“Oh. Hello, Assistant Manager! Have you been well since you quit?”
“Yes, yes.”
While Assistant Manager Eun Haje greeted Assistant Manager Lee Songhae, Agent Bronze flinched as he glanced between her and Ho Yuwon.
As if realizing the identity of the entity that had been using Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s body.
“Are you perhaps being threatened or subjected to undue pressure by a supernatural entity?”
“It’s similar, but my situation isn’t that urgent, so let’s set it aside for now.”
Tap, tap.
The Assistant Manager nudged me.
“Roe, you seem to know a lot about that strange Darkness. Explain it to us first. If we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we might press some buttons and end up in danger without realizing it.
...
The Church of the Luminous Unknown’s Dangerous Box
: The Ascetic in the Box
I explained to everyone as quickly as possible.
The danger of this box, the peculiarities of this location, and the fact that we were trying to escape from this cult.
And lastly, the most basic countermeasure.
>Victims required to meet the ‘quota’
>Current quota : 2
A brief silence fell among the veteran ghost stories explorers, who read the words I transcribed with smoke.
“So, if you put two people in, they’ll suffer torture for decades before dying, and the rest pass through unharmed. Is that the gist of it?”
That’s correct.
“If we could extract even one B-grade dream essence here, the company would be thrilled.”
>Assumption: If one does not enter the box, Dream Essence extraction is impossible.
“Ah, I see. It’ll just be counted as evading the Darkness, not as entering it.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje muttered, looking at Ho Yuwon, as if it were a relief.
At any rate, then.
>Request: Do not move.
>Do not provoke it unnecessarily.
>Reason
>▶ Possibility of being identified as a suitable target if you move.
>▶ Chance of escape from inside the box is negligible.
(Item usability cannot be confirmed.)
Once locked on a target, the Ascetic in the Box will continue to follow the intended victim to fill its capacity.
This process will continue endlessly…until the quota is filled and the box closes completely.
As long as the Ascetic in the Box has vacancies in its quota, it will never abandon its attempts to fill them with suitable individuals.
Since that relentless pursuit constitutes its doctrine.
As time passes, the box will manifest closer to its target, beckoning them to join with its two hands. Eventually, it will appear directly before the sacrificial target whenever they turn their head.
At this point, if the intended victim tries to move, physical contact with the box becomes inevitable.
>▶ Escape is impossible once a suitable target is acquired and the box has closed.
Anyone among those present here could end up in that state...
If my salivary glands and esophagus had been in their proper anatomical locations, my mouth would be parched.
‘I have to confirm.’
Whether the box is currently moving based on one of them. Exactly who among the six it is getting closer to.
‘Or...’
I could provoke the box first.
‘It would be easier to deal with if it were chasing me.’
If necessary, I might even be able to ‘read’ the box and erase its settings before it swallows me.
…it was chilling to think about what kind of, or how long lasting, side effects I would experience from using that ability. Yet it would be better than spending decades suffering on display inside that box.
“Wait, Grapes-ie.”
...
“…You said not to move. That includes you.”
Agent Choi, after confirming I had stopped moving, glanced around.
“Alright, everyone heard that, right? Is anyone here dying to go to the bathroom? No? Well, that’s a small blessing, isn’t it?”
Beside me, Agent Bronze clutched his forehead.
“Let’s take just a little bit of time! It sounds like we have a bit of leeway.”
Agent Choi, despite the cold sweat on his brow, smiled and lowered himself while speaking calmly.
“It’s not right in front of us yet.”
His eyes remained fixed on the strange hands extending from the box.
“For now, let’s all sit down and think of a countermeasure without provoking the box… Is that okay, Grape-ie?”
...
I slowly nodded.
However.
> Recommendation: Everyone keeps tracking the box’s position.
As time passes, it will only get closer.
Thus, the six of us sat down, separated by the entrance to the Church of the Luminous Unknown’s underground bunker.
Three inside.
Three outside.
And… the black box with its hands outstretched, placed close beside the path of the exit.
Slightly closer.
‘…It changed positions.’
The guillotine’s blade is edging in.
Already another half-step closer.
“Agent Grapes.”
I turned my head with difficulty. The moment I sat down, Agent Bronze casually tossed something at me.
“This is your issued gear that you left behind. Please take it.”
Only after catching it reflexively did I realize what it was.
…My agent jacket.
‘…Why.’
I couldn’t wear it now anyway. Or rather, why would they go through the trouble of looking for a corporate spy who had already resigned?
My stomach felt like it was churning. Not knowing what to do with the jacket, I just took it.
‘For now… I’ll store it in my tattoo.’
So, to fold it, I reached for the hem at the bottom of the jacket...
There was something in the pocket.
I sent Black Smoke to feel inside carefully, and realized what it was.
Colorful threads.
It was the Five Colored Shoelaces.
[Oh, isn’t that an escape item?]
That’s right.
It’s an item normally issued one per field agent, allowing for emergency escape from supernatural disasters, bypassing regular protocols.
It was also an item I desperately needed, the kind I had just asked Ho Yuwon about earlier. But...
‘…Why on earth would they give this to me?’
At this urgent moment?
I looked back at Agent Bronze, but his mosaicked face avoided my gaze and was engaged in some conversation with Agent Choi.
As if wanting to gloss over whatever was inside the jacket.
Could it be...
‘Are they telling me to use it now?’
If I used this, I would be sent to the escape location designated by the Disaster Management Bureau, and my custody would be passed onto them.
But what about the others remaining here?
What was the intention behind giving it to me? Was it Agent Bronze’s acting by himself?
“Then, let’s begin.”
And just as Agent Choi was about to move things forward quickly, regardless of my confusion,
“First, the condition for the box to count someone towards their quota is that the victim is a sentient being…”
“Excuse me!”
A flash of movement.
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae was the first to raise her hand.
“I know! The fastest and simplest method!”
She remarked in a very Daydream employee fashion.
“You said this was a cult, right? We just need to find the two most wicked people and put them in!”
“...”
“Yes?”
“We can get ahead of it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be one of us.”
Yes.
Agent Choi was trying to resolve the issue logically. In a ‘Let’s brainstorm various methods within the time limit’ kind of way.
But there was a problem.
With this group, I had a feeling I knew how the conversation would end.
‘The guillotine’s blade is already hanging above our heads. This isn’t a situation where we can afford to waste time deliberating…!’
For now, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae was determined to find two wicked individuals from this base and use them as scapegoats.
She was someone who wouldn’t care even if her own subordinates died. Given the nature of the cult members, she would have no qualms sacrificing them in our stead.
“Ah, that’s a good suggestion. Coincidentally, the box has already swallowed one cult executive. Another cult executive is behind us, unconscious.”
“Ooh, nice! It’ll be even easier to put them in.”
Lee Seonghae smiled brightly, and Ho Yuwon smiled too.
But, you see.
“Bronze-ie, I think I might be going deaf. I think I just heard someone suggesting they’d toss a civilian into a supernatural disaster right in front of a government agent.”
There was someone here who couldn’t side with a decision like that.
Agent Choi remarked as if he were joking, but sighed and continued speaking.
“Ugh, of course, I understand how you feel! But that’s something we should only consider as a last resort...”
“Hey, we don’t have time. Why should good people risk themselves trying new things but end up in danger and get scared?”
“…!”
Hoo.
“I’m not saying we should just put in any random follower. I think it’s actually better for society if a cult executive dies! It’s not like they’ll get severely punished even if they’re arrested…”
Lee Seonghae rested her chin on her hand and nodded solemnly.
“It’s a good opportunity to exact retribution!”
A short silence followed.
“…That’s a rather biased personal judgment, isn’t it?”
“I won’t ask the agents to choose. I’ll pick the other one myself, so wait for me! If the box follows, it’ll be nearby, so I’ll dodge it and slip them in!”
“No...”
“Please wait a moment.”
Agent Bronze spoke.
Perhaps one might think this agent was also joining in to stop Lee Seonghae.
But...
“We will be the ones to select them.”
“…!!”
The current Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau is an organization that can say, ‘If someone has to die, let it be the evil one.’
They select malicious individuals through the scales of evil and sentence them to darkness associated with inevitable deaths. It was a decision made to minimise loss of life.
The agent was living proof of this, having once played the role of a murderer at a mountain lodge where evildoers were selected to gather.
Gesturing towards the box, which had moved another half-step closer, he said anxiously.
“Is there anyone here who has personally witnessed this cult’s executive causing numerous casualties?”
“Well, I saw it.”
The Assistant Manager spoke up.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje was a practical person. Given the circumstances, she was open to accepting a moderately gentle option when presented.
“Just to brew liquor, they must have killed at least dozens of people.”
“Confirmed.”
“Bronze-ie.”
“Agent.”
Agent Bronze cut off his senior.
“Rules are rules.”
-An agent’s life always comes first.
And if there is a confirmed villain, it is right for them to die.
“When a verified method exists, prolonging debate based on conjecture only makes it harder to decide.”
…It was rational.
“And as we lose more time, we might not be able to choose the verified method even if we want to.”
Either the cult executive gains consciousness first.
…Or the box draws too close.
“We must act while we still have room to do so.”
Even Agent Choi had no reply at that moment for those words.
The public opinion had already shifted to a majority.
[Hmm, it’s coming together better than expected. Sacrificing a third party is a decent plan to neatly escape.]
[The sinful twins will suffer a long torture until their deaths inside the box. Getting rid of extras who hold no real significance.]
Braun’s voice sounded deflated.
Agent Choi said nothing in response. I saw Ho Yuwon smiling as he watched the other’s discussion settle.
I remained silent as well.
‘…Is this really okay?’
The truth of the Happy Ending Sect kept me unsettled.
I couldn’t subdue all these people who were prone to act impulsively. I couldn’t force them to listen to me, and even if I could, there wasn’t any other alternative.
‘I think I could buy some time for them to try other things by drawing the box’s attention...’
“Grapes-ie.”
I turned my head.
Agent Choi had been lost in thought, alternately staring at the box and the floor, over and over again. As if calculating something, and...
He picked up the Dokkaebi Lantern he had placed on the floor earlier.
“…You were planning to move and lure the box, weren’t you? Until everyone else could leave safely.”
…!
“You’re the same as ever. Wow, I guessed it again.”
He laughed.
“But that’s not something the youngest should do. There’s an order to such things.”
Just a moment.
Agent Choi looked at me with the eyes of someone who had made his mind and grinned.
“Still, as an agent, I should try what I can. …Thank you.”
Hey!
Agent Choi stood up and moved. Agent Bronze scrambled up after him at the sudden motion, but it was too late. The box sensed the agent rich with stories and moved to follow him...
“That agent is almost less hypocritical than expected. Not very Bureau-like. Don’t you think so too, Mr. Roe deer?”
Get lost!
“So I’m going to select one too, Mr. Roe deer.”
Thump.
“The one more like the Disaster Management Bureau.”
Agent Bronze was pushed by Ho Yuwon’s hand.
His body collided with the box.
Thump.
二
—
Agent Bronze.
Disappeared.
‘...’
I saw Agent Choi’s eyes widen. Ho Yuwon’s smile, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s blinking eyes, Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s frown, the predictions flashing through my mind...
‘No.’
> Request: Wait.
I shot myself towards the box using smoke.
And disappeared.
Into it.
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