I took a shower for the first time in a long while.
That is, it had been a very long time since I'd showered in my own body.
My body was right where it was supposed to be, no longer melting away or spilling apart.
The sensation of hot water running over my skin.
I was me.
"..."
I changed my clothes.
It felt a little awkward wearing something other than the Security Team uniform after so long.
This was a clean sense of reality—not a temporary body, nor a dream I was having while asleep.
The sensation of breathing.
'Hoo.'
…I feel unburdened.
Feeling refreshed, I opened the door to the hospital room and stepped out.
In the waiting area of the Fox Counseling Room, people were already gathered and waiting for me.
"Sorry I'm late. I was taking a shower."
Come to think of it, it was surprising that this Fox Counseling Room even had a shower… No, on second thought, a hospital room without a shower would be a ghost story in itself.
I smiled and sat down.
The sensation of sunlight warming my face.
"…You don't have to wear the Security Team uniform?"
"No."
"I'm fine now."
Truly.
Relief and joy spread across Agent Choi's face as he sat down at the table.
Then he pulled me into a hug, as if to encourage me.
"Thank goodness."
"..."
My throat tightened a little.
And then I noticed Agent Choi subtly using dowsing to check my contamination, confirming there was no problem before putting it away.
This guy really never changes…
"Ahaha~ Well, you seemed to have recovered last time, but you actually hadn't. …I thought it might be a similar situation."
"That was… um, a different body made with an Item."
The Lizard body.
It's still being kept at Section Chief Lee Jaheon's company residence, and it will probably remain asleep.
'I didn't even use it for very long. Maybe I can get a refund...'
Of course, that was impossible. It had been a gift, and making such a demand was a surefire way to end up blacklisted as a VIP nuisance on the Cosmic Shopping Mall.
Besides, I'd feel too guilty to do that… Thanks to it, I was able to talk to people and eat meat, even if only for a few days.
In any case, I smiled and shook my head.
"I should be fine from now on. For good."
As long as I continue to accept myself, I'll be able to sit here as Kim Soleum.
"...Yeah."
The relief in Agent Choi's eyes deepened.
"Will Assistant Manager Falcon and Bronze stay at that station?"
"There's a good chance, right? The free-for-all is over, so they probably got on the train just fine. I'll go in and check, so Grapes-ie, you…"
"How very touching, Roe Deer-nim. And you, Agent."
"…!"
The man who had been sitting silently at the table until now finally spoke.
"It seems you had a very moving and beneficial experience in Sekwang Metropolitan City. I'm envious that you could feel such emotions while on the job."
He smiled, looking straight at me.
The very person I had a lot to say to.
"And you've regained your appearance, too."
...
"Director Ho."
"You can call me Ho Yuwon, just like before. I don't mind."
Really?
"Then, Ho Yuwon."
"..."
I looked at the smiling Ho Yuwon.
My mind went numb wondering whether it was really okay to address a director like this, but if I kept using honorifics and walked on eggshells around him, the dynamic would revert to that of a 'new employee and a director.'
So even if the body of a fresh-out-of-college hire was breaking out in a cold sweat, this was the right way to talk.
'If you have a problem with it, fire me.'
No, please, fire me.
But he probably couldn't, since Director Cheong has my contract.
…Somehow, it feels like ever since I ended up here, I've only met people I had to one-up from the get-go.
I spoke quietly.
My biggest question.
"I saw you in the Special City this time."
"...!!"
Ho Yuwon's face stiffened.
"Do you know where I saw you?"
"…I wonder."
"The Disaster Management Bureau branch."
"..."
"It was a place contaminated by the Scales Tribunal. You were endlessly sorting through which citizens to rescue."
"I…"
Ho Yuwon's voice turned strange.
"...was there?"
The counseling room distorts.
"I was doing the sorting?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"You helped me stop the sorting process."
"…!"
"And…"
I placed my hand on the table.
"In the end, you also helped me regain this form."
"..."
I glanced at the door to the 'counseling space' of the Fox Counseling Room.
I recalled the appearance of the 'counselor' who had appeared in the window when I was being counseled there.
—Mr. Kim Soleum.
The Fox counselor who had appeared with my face.
Although what I experienced at the Scales Tribunal was far rougher and more shocking…
"By appearing with my face and pointing out my inner self."
Couldn't that also be considered a form of counseling?
"That being referred to itself as 'a projection left here'."
"..."
"Ho Yuwon."
I opened my mouth.
"Isn't that what you were looking for in Sekwang Metropolitan City?"
"..."
"Yourself."
A part of himself, left behind in Sekwang Metropolitan City.
I'd almost had similar experiences a few times myself, so the inference was clear.
That dangerous experience of trying to tear off the contamination, only to have my entire self torn away—my ego and characteristics severed.
"There was something I kept wondering about. Why don't you infiltrate Sekwang Metropolitan City yourself?"
Now, a theory came to mind.
"Perhaps a part of you is already in Sekwang Metropolitan City, so you can't exist there as another separate entity."
Because a person who is already there can't enter again.
"..."
"Ho Yuwon. Is what you're trying to find in Sekwang Metropolitan City… a part of you?"
Ho Yuwon remained silent for a long time.
A voice finally emerged from his body, which had been sitting at the table as if frozen.
"No."
...!
"I'm very sorry, but you're mistaken."
He lifted his head.
"What's there is not a part of me."
I looked at Ho Yuwon's face, which was still grinning.
'No.'
There's definitely a connection.
"Really? How can you be so sure?"
"Who knows?"
"..."
I looked at Ho Yuwon.
—I am a projection left in this place.
Those words.
And even its way of operating.
'It's definitely him.'
...
If that's the case.
Then perhaps.
I recalled the first thing I had said.
"Not a part of you… you mean it's your whole self?"
"...!"
Ho Yuwon himself.
"Your entire self is trapped in Sekwang Metropolitan City, and what I'm seeing now is…"
I suddenly remembered.
How Director Ho would suddenly appear in various places, transformed into the likenesses of various people.
How he controlled Assistant Manager Eun Haje's body.
If so.
'Perhaps in a similar way.'
This Ho Yuwon in front of me right now could also be…
"Are you, by any chance, a body being controlled by the person trapped in Sekwang Metropolitan City?"
"..."
The Fox Counseling Room fell silent.
I looked at the being before me…
"That's right."
…!
Clap.
Ho Yuwon clapped his hands and beamed.
"Yes. Just as you said, Roe Deer-nim… I'm the part."
"..."
"No, it's hard to even call me a part. I’m a kind of recording, an illusion."
I stared at it blankly.
A consciousness dwelling in another person's body.
"The real one is in Sekwang Metropolitan City. The one here now is just a fragmented consciousness. One that escaped to the outside…"
Ho Yuwon muttered as if to himself, like a madman. As though he couldn’t hold back the words spilling out.
Or as if they were beyond his control.
"But did you know? Overly intense emotions and mental anguish can sometimes dominate a personality. A brief stay that should have ended in a moment can change a life forever…"
Ho Yuwon pointed to himself.
"That's me."
"..."
"The total, comprehensive, and intense consciousness of 'someone' trapped in Sekwang Metropolitan City made me into Ho Yuwon."
Then Ho Yuwon stared strangely at Agent Choi.
"And I know for a fact what caused this to happen…"
The Disaster Management Bureau.
'Wait a minute.'
I had a bad feeling.
The back of my head tingled, and a chill ran down my spine at the sight. I hurriedly threw out a question to draw Ho Yuwon's attention.
'Aggro!'
The name I found during the process of 'reading' Ho Yuwon.
And Braun's words.
-[Mr. Roe Deer, I sense the scent of the Plague from this person.]
"What is the Nine-tailed Fox Sickness?"
"..."
His gaze returned to me.
"To ask about a person's private medical history so publicly… I'm truly baffled and frightened, Roe Deer-nim."
"I never said you had the sickness."
"..."
"What kind of sickness is it? Could it be related to a nine-tailed fox having nine tails? Is it also related to the folk belief that nine-tailed foxes can shapeshift? And…"
I looked at him.
"Is it also related to how you suddenly pop out of the bodies of random people in that form?"
"..."
A cool voice answered.
"That's right. One who is infected with the Nine-tailed Fox Sickness… if they infect another with the Nine-tailed Fox Sickness, they can live that person's life for a while as if it were their own."
"...!"
"Is that difficult to understand? Then would it be easier to understand if I said they become a clone?"
Ho Yuwon laughed.
As if he had given up on something.
"So, you could say I'm a clone of someone trapped in Sekwang Metropolitan City."
"..."
"Who could I be? I remain here in a single state, but I have no way of knowing."
I opened my mouth.
"Perhaps an agent of the Disaster Management Bureau, or a Cooperative Spirit Beast…"
"Who knows?"
The corners of Ho Yuwon's mouth twisted.
"I don't remember. Hahaha…"
"…!"
"I don't have any structural or specific memories. Only the consciousness remains. I can only know what I am through the emotions and perceptions that surface inadvertently."
"..."
I lifted my head and looked around the counseling room.
"Is the fact that you provide counseling something you know in that way, too?"
"…!"
"Is that why you made this counseling room?"
"...Yes."
A faint smile spread across Ho Yuwon's lips.
"I was a counselor. That much is certain."
Is that why he made this place, so he wouldn't forget, so he wouldn't lose that feeling?
'…Just how powerful is he?'
To have become a director of Daydream in that state was no ordinary feat. I listened to the words he spilled out.
There was an emotion there that I, too, knew.
Catharsis.
"I just know a few intense things. Cognitions close to identity, or emotions, should I say? Counseling, disasters, and…"
His gaze shifted again.
"Selection."
Agent Choi faced him with a hardened expression.
"That happened at two thirty-four in the afternoon."
"..."
"Are you curious? If you're curious what it feels like, you just have to answer my questions from now on…"
"You said he was a good agent."
"..."
"Was I wrong?"
"You're right."
Ho Yuwon turned his gaze back to me.
I felt like I was going to die, relief and cold sweat taking turns running down my spine.
But I still couldn't let my guard down.
"Ah, and it's also a bit difficult for me to enter Sekwang Metropolitan City for another reason. I don't sleep. I've become unable to sleep, because I'll disappear if I do."
"..."
"But it's okay! It'll all be over soon!"
Joy and anticipation seemed to swirl in his eyes like madness.
"…Right. Ho Yuwon."
"Yes."
"I'll check whether what I saw at Morning Station was really you."
"…Yes."
"But…"
I stared into his face.
"What are you going to do?"
"..."
"If I confirm it's you, how on earth are you going to get him out?"
"Figuring that out is part of the job…"
"No. Our job was to find what you wanted in Sekwang Metropolitan City."
"..."
Ho Yuwon's eyes narrowed.
"So."
"You're saying you won't do it?"
"I'm asking whether you have a method in mind."
I was so scared I almost collapsed.
"If you don't, I was going to tell you my idea."
"Ah, and what idea might that be?"
"Ending the Supernatural Disaster in Sekwang Metropolitan City."
"...!!"
"It makes sense, doesn't it? If the disaster ends, there's no need to maintain the lockdown, and he'll naturally be freed…"
"What? Hahaha…"
Ho Yuwon burst out laughing.
It didn't sound like he was laughing out of amusement.
"Roe Deer-nim! Hundreds of thousands of people have died there like dogs. How on earth do you plan to end it…?"
Did he think I was saying this because I actually wanted to make such a crazy attempt?
"Then how are you supposed to get yourself out?"
"..."
"Two of our exploration personnel are trapped there, dead. If we can end it, it'd be good to end it."
And then I’d get to go home.
'It's a win-win.'
My desire to go home hasn’t changed.
To be honest, I still wanted to start screaming, 'Just let me go already! Give me the Daydream Device! Let me at least test whether it can be ended!' or run away…
But now I know I don't have to.
By looking at myself from multiple angles, I suppressed those feelings.
So I was able to speak like this, a little less blindly, a little less fearfully.
"I'll do my best. So let's both do our best."
"..."
"At least let's try."
Ho Yuwon looked into my eyes.
"Can you swear it?"
"I can swear it."
I stood up from the table.
"But I won't accept your binding. Because that's not really a vow, it's a contract."
"That's harsh… after you forced me into employment at the Resort to tie me down."
The words 'Then quit if you don't like it' rose to my throat, but even if I was speaking casually, that remark was too nerve-wracking, so I held it back. I guess I can't do it because I'm not Assistant Manager Eun Haje…
Instead, I said this.
"Anyway. Shall we do that? Agree to do our best."
Ho Yuwon stared at me silently, without a smile, as if searching my face.
Then he slowly extended his hand.
"Let's do that."
We shook hands.
And just like that, the official objective of the Sekwang Metropolitan City exploration changed.
The termination of a World-ending Class Disaster.
* * *
Afterward, through my conversation with Ho Yuwon, I also adjusted the compensation system a bit.
-Half of the Dream Essence Liquid that the team members hand over to you while exploring Sekwang Metropolitan City. I want that as my compensation.
That should leave enough to maintain this Project.
…For the record, while I was saying that, Agent Choi stared at me silently, but he didn't say anything at the time.
However, as we left the Fox Counseling Room together later, he said this.
-…If it seems like that's not the way to go home, give up.
-...
-And don't risk your life. Got it?
I nodded.
I don't know whether it was because he had confirmed that I wasn't seriously contaminated and was more emotionally stable than before, or because he was thinking something else… but I didn't feel the same hostile wariness from Agent Choi as before.
But it was still difficult…
-Huh? You feel bad about our team's staff shortage? Then do you want to come back, Grapes-ie?
Please.
I almost said yes out of a pang of guilt.
'I have to rescue those two quickly…'
I accepted the rising impatience and anxiety once more. Honestly, it was only natural to feel this way when two acquaintances were dead and trapped in a disaster.
Conversely, given the nature of Sekwang Metropolitan City, I was also terrified by the fact that the gravity of the situation was gradually fading from my mind.
But I just had to do my job calmly, without letting it overwhelm me.
And so, here I am.
"Thank you, Section Chief."
Instead of the Fox Counseling Room, I asked for permission and visited Section Chief Lee Jaheon's company residence.
I wanted to think things over at a familiar desk, just like before.
Like when I was originally a new employee at Daydream.
For the record, Section Chief Lee Jaheon showed no particular reaction to my return to my original form, simply identifying me.
He really was a consistent Lizard…
Um, in a good way.
"May I use this?"
"Yes."
And thankfully, I was now at his desk, deep in thought.
Recalling the information, risks, and methods I originally knew… thinking about how to end the Sekwang Special City Ghost Story and go home.
'First, if I follow Lee Kangheon's note…'
I have to steal a Daydream Device.
And then I remembered one thing.
[What a wonderful plan this is, Mr. Roe Deer!]
"By mobilizing all my Daydream connections."
I declared solemnly.
"I'm going to steal the application documents for the research team."
[…Hmm?]
-The entire research team should be missing.
-That's right. It seems you met them inside the Special City.
Then one procedure naturally follows.
'Securing new personnel.'
Yes.
They will hire new researchers.
For the record, I don't even need the list of successful applicants.
'I just need to see who's going to pass.'
All I have to do is find the names that appeared in the <Dark Exploration Record>.
"And…"
You should never put all your eggs in one basket.
'Ho Yuwon did say he'd try to steal a Daydream Device, but still.'
But he'll be under constant scrutiny from Director Cheong, and with the entire research team missing, he might be too conspicuous if he tries to steal the device.
In that case, we need a feint.
Make each side draw the other's aggro.
"Heave-ho."
And so, I made my decision.
'I'll secure one more route for smuggling out the Daydream Device.'
Now that it's come to this, I’ll gift the researcher a life without ghost stories, if only for a little while.
‘I'll become a one-day researcher…!’
TL Notes: -
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