…Now that I’m being deployed into a ghost story with Team A, let’s go over the points I need to observe.
Conditions
‘I’d rather you just kill me.’
Since joining the company, I think I’ve said this to myself more than anything else.
But it can’t be helped.
This is my first time entering a ghost story with a boss who’s practically praying for my downfall!
‘Every day is a fresh new hell….’
And the other one is a workaholic boss whose personality would see me shoved into the cleanup team the moment he realizes I’m a scaredy-cat….
In short, I’ve entered a ghost story with only the people who would hinder my survival.
‘Is the only answer to stubbornly gather Points and use a Wish Ticket to escape this place?’
On top of that, the ghost story we just entered was making me break into a cold sweat and confusing the hell out of me.
“What do you think of the space?”
“…It looks like… an abandoned factory.”
A dark, abandoned factory smelling of oil.
Do you have any idea how many ghost stories featuring abandoned factories there are in the <Dark Exploration Record>?? There are at least dozens.
Plus, there are probably even more ghost stories where the space changes randomly and includes an abandoned factory!
I intended to quickly input the Identification Code and run a search in the <Dark Exploration Record> as soon as I was separated from the two from Team A, but they weren’t giving me a single moment to be alone.
‘They’re, they’re staring at me like they’re surveilling me.’
As if waiting for me to make a mistake, the two bosses from Team A were glancing at me while slowly moving their feet….
A cold sweat broke out.
‘There really isn’t a single cooperative companion….’
-Friend?
“…!”
-Oh! Another location. Hmm, it doesn’t look like a very suitable place for filming! This mange-ridden, donkey-like filth! Don’t you agree?
I quickly looked down.
The voice was coming from the key ring in my pocket, the ‘Good Friend.’
Braun!
‘He was here, a cooperative ally!’
Wa-wait. But with the two Team A bosses right next to us, if you speak out loud like that…
-Oh dear, are you worried our precious friendship might be disturbed? No problem! Those who are not friends are not worthy of hearing my words!
Phew.
Does that mean other people can’t hear him?
‘Come to think of it, there was a record stating that among the “Good Friends,” there was one that only spoke to its owner.’
And did it say it could keenly read the other person’s mood or surface thoughts?
Feeling a bit relieved, I patted my pocket.
-Haha, that tickles a bit!
I could cry.
The fact that a monster inside a ghost story is my only source of comfort….
“Team Leader. I see a door over there.”
“So it seems. Soleum, why don’t you open it.”
“…….”
“Soleum?”
“Yes.”
I immediately walked toward the rusted door in front of me, swallowing a scream.
To designate me without even giving me a Manual, they have no intention of hiding the workplace harassment at all!
-Oh my… Mr. Roe Deer, you seem to be struggling for some reason. Is it a matter of physical strength?
Shake, shake.
I shook my head slightly, just enough not to be noticed.
-Then a matter of the filthy environment?
Shake, shake.
-Aha, in that case, it seems your companions don’t suit you very well!
That’s true.
It’s really hard. This filthy Ghost Story Worldview, and the workplace harassment….
-Bad people who bully my friend?
Nod, nod, nod, nod, nod.
-Oh, I see. Sometimes there are opponents who just don’t match, like the same poles of a magnet! Let’s encourage ourselves and move forward, Friend!
My stomach started to ache.
‘I even have to balance things so the plush doll doesn’t go on a rampage.’
Is this right?
Suffering between fear and stomach pain, I barely managed to grab the handle of the iron door without trembling.
Screeeeeak.
As the rusted iron door opened, what was revealed was… the factory’s work area.
It was filled with dusty cans and boxes, as if operation had ceased. Rotten contents leaked through a cracked can of beef.
But there was something more intense.
The smell of iron piercing the nose.
And… a single corpse collapsed on the floor.
“…….”
Wa-wait a second.
“Did you see? There’s a corpse over there.”
“…Yes.”
“Soleum, go search it.”
“Yes.”
Aaaaah!!
The only reason I didn’t collapse on the floor and wail was because the warmth of the key ring doll was providing comfort, and I’ve never felt so pathetic in my life.
‘Abandoned factory… corpse, abandoned factory, corpse….’
I scoured the <Dark Exploration Record> wiki in my head and approached the corpse, barely managing not to scream.
The corpse was lying face down on a rail, wearing a suit.
It was an adult male bleeding from the back of his head.
Perhaps because he was around my age and wearing a suit, he looked familiar for some reason.
‘I’m going crazy.’
There’s no way I can touch it directly…! Without even taking a breath, I summoned my Exclusive Equipment all at once and levitated my hands in the air to check the corpse here and there.
It was a very, very good thing that this only transmits pain and not the sense of touch.
“…Male in his late 170s to early 180s in height, wearing a suit, and the bleeding is only from the back of the head. It looks like he was struck by something over 10cm in diameter.”
“Hmm. Not bad. Now flip him over.”
“Yes.”
Kim Soleum will remember this….
Glaring at the Team A Leader with all my might internally, I held back my nausea and barely managed to flip the corpse over.
The front, with its eyes closed, is revealed.
That was….
My own face, covered in blood.
“…….”
Fck, fck!!
Ah, these damn ghost stories, seriously!!
“Oh, he looks exactly like Soleum. Is it a trap?”
“Team Leader, perhaps it’s time to give him at least a basic Manual….”
“Ah, right. I suppose so?”
The Team A Leader looked at me as if gauging something, then slowly opened his mouth as if granting a favor.
“Soleum, this place is inside a story.”
“…….”
“Move forward thinking that you’ve entered a novel or a movie.”
I already know that.
The moment I saw my corpse, I realized.
What kind of Darkness this was.
==========
Dark Exploration Record / Ghost Story
[The Day I Died]
: A ghost story appearing in the <Dark Exploration Record>, Daydream Inc.’s Identification Code is Qterw-C-402.
A ghost story where one is dragged into an unsuccessful thriller/mystery story and becomes a victim.
The first witness will always discover their own already-sacrificed corpse.
Exploration has been recorded up to 25 times.
==========
It’s a ghost story perfectly suited for causing a mental breakdown.
‘This is… a potato, it’s a potato.’
While brainwashing myself as much as possible, I tried to look away from the corpse-shaped thing….
“Don’t use the Exclusive Equipment and check it yourself. Look over every nook and cranny in detail….”
Are you kidding me?
“I cannot.”
I replied without even taking a breath.
The eyes behind the Mallard Mask narrowed.
“…Hmm?”
O-oh no.
Talking back to a boss who already dislikes me in a workplace harassment situation?
‘I-I have to fix this!’
Once again, I naturally added more words following my instincts.
……A repertoire that had already been tested and verified once before.
“There is a way to escape faster.”
Again.
It’s going in this direction again…!
A working condition has been added.
Conditions
…Still, the good thing was that thanks to seeing my own corpse, I found out exactly what kind of ghost story this was.
‘And the standard strategy for this ghost story is… this.’
==========
Success if the story is reconstructed so that the victim does not die.
==========
In this ghost story, the further you explore the space, the further back in time you go.
So normally, you would have to go around investigating this entire factory and deduce the process one by one to find out exactly why ‘my corpse’ died.
==========
If the story is not changed within the time limit, the victim’s death is confirmed.
==========
Chased by time like that, you’d have to spend half a day on a blood-drying and desperate pursuit to avoid the fate of a confirmed kill, but….
‘Hmm. My stomach will dissolve before then.’
My digestive system won’t be able to handle it.
If there isn’t a shortcut, I have to make one. Help me, Exploration Records!
If it’s been recorded 25 times, there will definitely be strange and irregular records written by creators who wanted to break out of a rut. Something I can use as a hint!
I flipped through the records in my head.
‘Let’s see, is there a unique experience record worth referencing…….’
==========
Exploration Record #21
Assistant Manager Han Soeun and 2 others deployed.
The employees immediately realized what kind of work it was right after entering a Darkness in the form of an abandoned mountain cabin.
It was a certain movie that had failed miserably at the box office but became famous as an internet meme and a laughingstock.
Reactions such as contemptuous ridicule, meme-following, laughter, and derogatory spoilers followed.
Result: The space suddenly collapsed and moved to another work (subsequent record: Exploration Record #22). Testimony that the sound of crying was heard.
Goodness, is it some kind of ghost of failed directors? Even having a weak psyche is a perfect resemblance.
-Researcher Kwak Jekang
==========
Oh.
“…Manager, Assistant manager, could you give me 10 minutes?”
“Hmm, alright.”
First, let’s not give the bosses any room to step in.
Since I don’t know what kind of interference might come from workplace harassment, even if it’s petty and dirty, I have to do it myself…….
‘……I have to do it quickly before I vomit and scream.’
Using the Exclusive Equipment, I quickly re-checked the shape of the sunken area (aaaaaaah) on the back of the sticky corpse’s head. And I also checked the corpse’s footprints and the surrounding bloodstains….
“Why use the Exclusive Equipment when you have hands?”
“That’s because if I grab it directly with my hands, the evidence might be damaged. I thought it was correct to do this for the preservation of the scene.”
I didn't know I had a talent for rapid-fire rapping.
“Evidence? You’re talking like it’s a mystery novel.”
“It’s not quite a deduction, just a simple guess. And….”
I stood up.
“I found it.”
“Eh?”
“The answer.”
I immediately searched the surroundings. Of course, remotely using the Exclusive Equipment.
Let’s see.
In a place cleverly hidden by shadows but not completely obscured, where one’s gaze might inadvertently pass over….
‘Found it.’
I pulled out a cylindrical object from a musty corner under a shelf.
“That’s… a tin can?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, there are tin cans scattered everywhere here?”
Right. Because this place looks like an abandoned canning factory.
But there is a difference.
The can I picked up had bloodstains on a slightly crumpled corner.
It’s just like the ‘it was right under your nose’ cliché.
-Ho-ho, Mr. Roe Deer! If this were a mystery play, that would be decisive evidence. It perfectly matches the shape and mark of the wound on the head.
Exactly.
“This is a similar size to the groove carved into the trauma on the back of the head.”
-Ah, how typical. A common object in the background that was inadvertently overlooked was the murder weapon! It’s a very story-like structure….
Yes, yes.
Anyway, the Team A Assistant manager also nodded, seemingly convinced immediately.
“Then I guess that’s the murder weapon….”
Thud.
I dropped the ‘murder weapon’ candidate can on the floor.
And crushed it violently with a kick.
“…??”
“…????”
-?!??!
“Ah.”
I tilted my head.
“There’s no way a human’s occipital region would be destroyed with this kind of strength… Hmm. This is strange. It doesn't make sense.”
Rattle.
At that moment, the space shook minutely.
-But no matter how you look at it, it seems like he was struck with a tin can!
That’s what I’m saying.
I nodded as if I had just realized something.
“Ah… this can is aluminum.”
“What about it?”
“Usually, tin cans are made of steel.”
I frowned.
“Why a tin can made of aluminum, which you’d only use for soda cans…. Hmm, could it be….”
-This is exciting….
I intentionally paused for a beat before speaking.
“Is it a research failure?”
Cr-crack.
At that moment, the tin cans around me began to tremble faintly.
But I continued my monologue, ignoring it.
“I suppose that could happen. Since you come across soda cans relatively more often than tin cans, you might inadvertently think of a soda can and accidentally label the material as aluminum….”
-Ho-ho….
However.
I stopped talking and let out a hollow laugh.
“No way, surely not.”
“…Soleum?”
“This is something anyone could find with a single search, so they wouldn't have made the story so sloppily. The core of the mystery genre is the trick, so they couldn't be that stupid.”
-Hahaha!
“Come to think of it, isn't a murder happening with a tin can in a tin can factory such a cliché structure?”
I was being a bit sincere here.
“There’s no freshness or plot twist… There’s no way an author would have written this as a trick in their own way. Not if they were a creator with any sense.”
-Oh, I agree!
The space began to shake violently.
“Honestly, it’s so pathetic that….”
I concluded in a nonchalant tone.
“Even an amateur wouldn't write like this these days.”
Thump.
After a silence.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!!
Tin cans began to explode all over the place.
“Wha-what?!”
The space hit by the tin cans melted away as if shedding streams of tears.
And then it disappeared.
Finally, just before everything vanished, a sorrowful sound of someone screaming and sobbing echoed….
And the next moment,
We were standing in the luxurious reception room on the 15th floor of that company.
While covered in the contents of the tin cans.
“…….”
“…….”
“We’re… out.”
The Team A Leader lost his composure for the first time and stammered.
“The Darkness let us out, …why?”
I silently replied while wiping the scraps of exploded canned beef off my face.
“It had a mental breakdown.”
After escaping from the ghost story where my corpse was.
After washing up in the shower room attached to the office and thoroughly removing the canned beef contents that had covered my whole body, we gathered in the reception room again.
“Truly… the rumors that you pride yourself on quick clears without a Manual were true.”
“You flatter me.”
“This isn’t the time to be humble, Soleum.”
The Team A Leader, who had checked that the yellow liquid was filling the Dream Collector normally, looked back at me.
I could see admiration in those eyes.
“How did you derive this result?”
Yes. I knew you would ask this question.
I put my hands behind my back and took the posture of a well-prepared presenter.
It’s a defense against the boss’s workplace harassment flaring up again to find fault.
“I went through a standard reasoning process.”
“Hmm.”
“First… seeing as I was repeatedly made to observe the corpse and look around, I guessed that the corpse would be the key to escape.”
Of course, he probably just did it to harass me, but isn’t everything down to how you word it?
“And since you said this was a story, it must be a movie or novel about someone becoming a corpse… in other words, a murder case. In that case, I guessed that the standard clearing method would be to prevent my death.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“But that takes too much time.”
“…?!”
“Since you went to the trouble of calling me, I wanted to resolve it within the morning if possible.”
The Team A Leader is looking at me with an expression that says, ‘What kind of crazy talk is this, rookie?’
But Manager, you said a nutcase is better than a scaredy-cat!
“So I looked for a shortcut.”
“How?”
“Because there were hints.”
I looked back at the two of them.
“I’m talking about the actions of you two.”
“…!”
“The two of you have read the Manual. So you kept giving me clues through your actions.”
Just like how you pushed me to observe the corpse.
‘If those were intentional hints, there were also hints given unintentionally.’
I recalled the most decisive part.
-So it seems. Soleum, why don’t you open it.
-Soleum?
“Even though we entered the Darkness, you called me by my real name.”
“…!”
Normally, it is a firm recommendation within a ghost story not to call each other by real names but by nicknames taken from the masks.
Because it can be used in a bad way.
However, the Team A Leader called me ‘Soleum’ instead of ‘Roe Deer.’
If someone who is much more of a veteran and part of the Elite Squad did that, there is only one reason.
He already knew that it was okay to do so.
“That means there is no intelligent being in this Darkness that could harm me upon hearing my real name.”
It also meant that there was no other supernatural interference other than my already-occurred death.
After providing that additional explanation, I continued.
“So my range of movement widened… and in that case, I thought it might be better to be a bit more aggressive and attack and dismantle the story itself.”
“…??”
“You thought… of that?”
“Yes. After all, a story is meaningless if its foundation collapses.”
I nodded.
“So, I attacked the plausibility to make the story crumble and escaped. That is all.”
“…….”
“…….”
The superiors’ faces were somehow blank.
“…You inferred such, such things from not just the surrounding environment, but from our conversation and actions...?”
“That is correct.”
No, I didn't.
Actually, I benchmarked the Exploration Records.
A sudden collapse of space and movement to another work (subsequent record: Exploration Records #22). Testimony that the sound of crying was heard.
Wasn't the work reconstructed because their mental state shattered just from mocking a work that had become a meme?
In that case, I thought that if I thoroughly pointed out factual inconsistencies and trampled on their pride as a creator, the new work and everything else would vanish.
‘And it worked.’
Yay.
But the Team A Leader looked at me and slowly spoke.
“You make it sound… very easy, Soleum.”
Gasp.
“Th—that, of course, is not the standard method. You could call it a shortcut.”
Did I offend him?
I hurriedly laid the groundwork. Then I bowed my head as if in reflection.
This should look real enough, right?
“Still, I will humbly accept any reprimand.”
Yes. Please just curse me out and be done with it.
I quietly waited for Workplace Harassment Mark 2.
But…….
Clap, clap, clap….
I heard the sound of applause.
When I looked up, I saw the Team A Leader, who had taken off his Mallard Mask, his eyes sparkling with surprise and satisfaction.
“Follow the rules and orders. But use any means or methods necessary.”
Excuse me?
“Very good. That’s exactly the kind of talent we’re looking for.”
Me?
“Soleum. You passed.”
“What—”
“There’s an empty spot in Team A, isn’t there?”
At that moment, I realized.
‘Ah.’
This wasn’t workplace harassment.
It had been a test.
“Soleum, you should fill that spot officially.”
“…!!”
Oh my god.
This was a recruitment for Team A!
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