A rainy Monday afternoon.
The employees of Field Exploration D-Squad were scribbling through situation reports at a speed never seen before, even completing proxy approvals using the team leader's ID.
There was only one reason.
A rookie who ignored the time limit and cleared the ghost story!
“Wasn’t the time limit… three days?”
“That is correct.”
An Assistant Manager and a staff member sat across from the rookie, who was seated on the sofa, and laid out snacks raided from the pantry.
They glanced at each other and nodded.
It was finally time to ask the question properly.
“But how on earth did you get out so quickly?”
“Ah.”
The new recruit seemed to ponder for a moment, then answered with an expression of understanding.
“I fast-forwarded time.”
‘He’s answering as casually as if he’s telling us what he had for lunch…!’
…Before they could even voice that thought, the new employee slowly explained the method he had used.
“Since there was a time limit, I thought there would surely be an event that would be judged as ‘time has passed.’ I focused on that part….”
He even explained the method of triggering the ‘time alarm’ using expiration dates.
The superiors listened in silence and thought:
‘He’s a genius.’
‘He’s banned from resigning.’
Intuition and logic that pierce through the essence of a ghost story at once?
This was talent on a level that seemed born for the Field Exploration team. He could never escape this team—no, they had to help him adjust well!
“I’m not in a position to be giving you a welcome or anything, Mr. Roe Deer.”
“You’ll probably overtake me and become an Assistant Manager in no time.”
“…!?”
A rookie like this could never be found again…!
“Don’t forget us when you become successful… and come brag to us when you get a Wish Ticket….”
The rookie seemed a bit flustered.
“No, it's not that. Uh… actually,”
“Hmm?”
The rookie added, as if making a grand confession.
“I only tried to get out quickly because I was scared.”
“…….”
Was a ghost story usually something you could escape quickly just because you were scared…?
It felt like Cognitive Contamination was about to occur, making them think this was some kind of escape room.
‘His humility is excessive…!’
However, the rookie remained steadfast.
“Next time, I hope you would give me a heads-up. I almost fainted from fear.”
“Are those words coming from the guy who cleared it in an hour…?”
With a strange expression, the new recruit said:
“I thought I was going to die.”
‘Liar!’
Why would someone who felt like they were dying perform a time attack as if they were breaking a record? That was pure madness that even most veteran employees wouldn't attempt.
But separately, they understood his sense of betrayal.
‘Honestly, it was a bit much.’
No matter how safe it was said to be, falling into an Anomalous Phenomenon alone was no small feat.
And they knew very well how to soothe this wounded heart.
The cure for office workers!
The Assistant Manager asked while drinking coffee.
“Roe, how much did you get?”
“Pardon?”
“The money you get when you clear it.”
“Ah, yes. I got ten million won.”
That was correct. Clearing this F-rank Darkness gave a prize.
And it was clearly stated in the manual:
—When clearing a Shade (F) rank Darkness for which the company has a complete manual, 50% of any secondary profit generated will be paid to the employee as a bonus.
In other words, the company takes 50% of the money an employee makes in a Darkness using an established manual.
Furthermore, the Darkness first assigned to a rookie is not even eligible for this clause!
The company’s stance was that they couldn't give hazard pay for assigning a ghost story whose safety was guaranteed by dozens or hundreds of previous attempts.
The rookie had already read this manual.
However.
“The company usually takes all of that… but you should just keep it.”
“…Yes?”
When you gain enough experience and know-how, there are always ways to handle things off the books!
Since there was even a wonderful exception in the company regulations stating that ‘clearing via a new escape method does not fall under the manual,’ it could all be taken care of. Indeed.
Getting a huge sum of money on your first day of work makes everything look rosy!
The Assistant Manager and the senior staff member performed the same technique they had once been on the receiving end of, with warm smiles.
“Ehey. Put it away, put it away. There’s a way to handle it all.”
“…….”
‘Actually, it was twenty million won.’
Kim Soleum, who had intended to keep half for himself, broke into a cold sweat.
After a brief moment of the joy of gaining an inexplicable ten million won profit and a pang of conscience, he stood up following his superiors.
“Since you’ve successfully completed the darkness investigation, we should go register the most important thing.”
“Register… you mean?”
“Yeah.”
The senior staff member grinned.
“The employee welfare mall points!”
“Phew.”
He couldn't be happier to be in the middle of a crowded city in broad daylight.
Even the future where he wouldn't be able to sleep without all the lights on didn't worry him for now.
‘Does having twenty million won in cash in my pocket create such peace of mind…?’
No matter how he had fallen into a ghost story, this was still 21st-century Korea and a capitalist society.
I finally sat at my assigned desk, turned on the computer, and logged into the intranet.
Sitting in a spinal-correction office chair in an office with bright fluorescent lights, the crazy reality of facing a ghost just moments ago felt like a lie.
There were even quite cute writing supplies and a bug-eyed Lizard doll on the desk.
‘…Doesn’t it look a bit used?’
Well, he could only hope the previous user had resigned immediately because they won the lottery and didn't have time to clear the desk.
At any rate, the welfare mall was already bookmarked on the PC, so I could access it easily.
[Daydream Corporation Employee Welfare Mall]
I quickly signed up using my employee number and clicked the ‘Point Registration’ tab as my superiors had instructed.
—Just select the rank of the Darkness you cleared, enter the name, attach the PDF, and submit.
I did exactly that.
And five minutes later.
[Employee Kim Soleum / Accumulated Points: 100p]
“…!”
The screening was finished and points were credited at an amazingly fast speed.
‘So clearing an F-rank alone gives you 100 points.’
Well, regardless of how much I suffered, it was F-rank, so it probably wouldn't be a lot of money…. Let's not get our hopes up.
Still, since I had points, I tried to check if there was anything I could buy with 100p.
And I was surprised from the very first page.
“…A robot vacuum?”
The items were better than expected.
Most items on special sale were 100p, and top-tier large appliances usually bought for a wedding dowry were around 500p.
Furthermore, Daydream Corporation's unreleased reagents were being sold for around 1000p, and among them were numerous items of shocking over-technology, such as a Cornea Regeneration Potion.
Oh, for reference, hair loss medication cost about 500,000 won as a non-covered item on the market, but here it could be purchased for 100p.
‘This is actually really good.’
I moved the mouse with a bit of anticipation.
Now was the moment to check the most important thing.
That brilliant name that appeared when sorting by ‘highest price’ in the ‘Company Products’ tab.
‘Wish Ticket.’
The price of that miraculous potion introduced as the President's welfare right after the Death Survival was….
Wish Ticket: 500,000p
“…….”
You're joking, right?
‘Five hundred thousand?’
I just cleared a ghost story and got 100 points….
500,000 points?
‘Theoretically… if I assume I enter an F-rank alone every single day, it would take 15 years.’
But there was no way it would be that easy.
‘There’s no way a company would let things go according to my plan.’
It was impossible to only pick F-rank Darkness to clear every day, and there were bound to be numerous variables.
‘There will definitely be many cases where I’m forced into high-rank Darkness with colleagues.’
Wait, do they split the points N-ways there too?
I searched the point registration tab of the welfare mall to find out the base points provided for each rank of Darkness.
F-rank: 100p
D-rank: 1000p
C-rank: 2500p
B-rank: 10000p
A-rank: 100000p
S-rank: Separate evaluation
On top of this, additional pay was added according to the specific characteristics measured internally by the company.
Such as if the clear was urgent, if there was no information yet, or if there were additional risks.
‘Since it’s a 3-person squad, if a 3-person clear is the standard….’
……I would have to clear a B-rank 150 times to get it?
‘Are they insane?’
At B-rank, the survival rate for civilians plummets to about 2%.
From that rank onwards, it's a level where you'll die or end up in a state worse than death no matter what choice you make!
If you enter that 150 times, an ordinary employee might as well be dead.
It was a crazy situation where you’d have to get on your knees and beg not to go even if ordered.
This meant a speedrun targeting only high ranks was impossible.
‘In the end, I have to invest over 10 years just to increase my survival rate even a little.’
This isn't some "gentleman's revenge"...
But even so, if the Field Exploration team was the fastest among all departments, it meant people in other departments would most likely never get a Wish Ticket during their entire tenure.
Since there are many diverse products in the welfare mall, many people in other departments probably resign themselves to that and find satisfaction there….
But I couldn't.
Because my goal was very surreal and clear.
Returning to my original world.
But I'm supposed to live here for 15 years? I’ll die of shock from a heart attack before then!
‘No!’
A plan, I needed a plan.
‘I need to properly figure out which ghost stories I must enter and which I should avoid.’
I had to collect 500,000 points in the shortest period possible while maintaining a golden balance with safety.
I was just about to fall into deep distress when the senior staff member tapped my back and asked.
“Roe, did you register? The computer works well, right?”
“Yes. Ah, these personal items here….”
“Ah, that’s the Team Leader’s desk.”
“…….”
No wonder it looked used!
“Just don't break the monitor. Use it comfortably today, comfortably.”
Is this company… really okay?
Is it okay to tell a rookie to temporarily use his superior's desk for a bit?
‘Thinking about it, there’s no way it’s okay.’
Isn't this a company that grinds people into ghost stories to extract potions? If I apply the common sense of a virtuous 21st-century Korean office worker, won't appalling situations keep occurring?
……As expected, it might be right to use some tricks.
“Ah, Roe, do you smoke too?”
“I’m fine.”
I didn't follow the superiors for their cigarette break.
Instead, I looked down at the desk I was using, took a deep breath, and flipped over the keyboard.
As expected, a post-it note was stuck there.
[Section Chief Lee Jaheon / 105105301]
ID: yongj1111
PW: dydajflgodks!111
It was a scene I'd seen all too often in offices to criticize it for lacking a sense of security.
‘If he’s the team leader… he must be a Section Chief.’
And actually, in this company, there’s a certain site that can only be accessed starting from the Section Chief rank….
That would be really helpful when clearing high-rank Darkness.
“…….”
After seeing that insane target of 500,000 points once, it really feels too good to pass up.
Fine.
‘Let’s do this.’
I made up my mind and accessed the welfare mall again.
Except this time, it wasn't my ID.
ID: yongj1111
Password: dydajflgodks!111
I attempted to log into the welfare mall with the D-Squad Team Leader’s ID.
[The password does not match.]
“Hmm….”
It’s fine. I expected this level of difficulty.
Let’s see. If I click sign up, I can check the password setting requirements.
‘He needed an uppercase letter.’
In that case, if I just change the very first letter of the password written under the keyboard to uppercase and try logging in with ‘Dydajflgodks!111’….
Ding.
[Welcome, Manager Lee Jaheon.]
‘It worked!’
I pumped both fists under the desk. It was a ceremony one could do in an office without drawing attention. Although I was the only one in the office right now.
Anyway, what I need to find on this page is… a sort of phishing link.
The so-called ‘Alien Shop.’
In the <Exploration Records>, there were quite a few alien ghost stories, and among them were those who tried to sell things to Earthlings using clumsy communication methods.
‘They didn't have bad intentions, but from an Earthling's perspective, they sold things that were eerie or dangerous.’
Well, it was still a ghost story that was rarely heartwarming due to its almost comedic nature.
And they had a business mindset in their own way. Perhaps they wanted to target people who had a demand for their goods as customers…….
They had even planted something like ransomware on the Daydream intranet.
‘The shopping mall phishing link was only visible to those at the rank of Section Chief or higher.’
I also remembered well how to see that phishing link.
‘If you keep clicking random things in the welfare mall and then press the back button five times in a row….’
Click, click, click….
Beep.
Suddenly, a small green hand appeared in the corner of the welfare mall screen.
A pixelated left hand that waved as if to greet and catch one's attention.
A speech bubble floated above it.
[1st Anniversary Appreciation Sale! Up to 80% off!]
[Is work boring? >>Click]
[Do you want to become stronger? >>Click]
[Do you want to own cool things? >>Click]
‘Tacky.’
It looked just like an internet banner ad from the ancient past.
But surprisingly, if you click this clumsy thing!
Like magic, the external internet opens from the intranet, and you are kidnapped to an alien site.
I wanted to click it right away, but!
‘Let’s hold back.’
Instead, I right-clicked to copy the link, pasted the link address into Excel, and took a picture of it with my Smartphone.
‘All access records are left on the company PC.’
Nothing good would come from leaving a record that I clicked an alien ransomware link. Especially with someone else's account.
A moment later, seeing the superiors return from their cigarette break, I nodded and greeted them as if nothing had happened.
“Roe~ Let’s have a welcome dinner when the Team Leader returns from his field work. On the corporate card.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
And I waited until it was time to clock out.
The evening after the monumental first day of work ended.
But my work wasn't over yet.
“Let’s try this.”
I went home after depositing the twenty million won.
And now, in my bedroom, I was copying the ‘Alien Shop’ phishing link I took a picture of from my Smartphone gallery using image analysis.
After correcting a few parts that weren't read properly, I opened an internet window and pasted it into the address bar.
“Phew.”
Take a deep breath… and Enter.
Click.
The page turned as it followed the complex link address.
A screen with a format similar to the Daydream Inc. welfare mall page appeared, and then… it broke apart.
Then a new page appeared.
Like the internet in the early 2000s, it was a screen with blatant underlines and fonts.
<Cosmic shopping mall>
※Cool items from outer space※~!!
I look at the items
Pew pew pew. A green spaceship rotated in the corner.
‘It’s really tacky.’
But I shouldn't be fooled by the tackiness.
If you click ‘items’ here, you can see extraordinary, supernatural items for sale.
…Though the prices are also extraordinary, which is a problem.
They started from at least the million-won range.
……It was the result of imaginary inflation stemming from the bloated egos of Ghost Story Creators who thought, ‘I should use something more expensive!’
If it were me just yesterday, I wouldn't have been able to buy a single one of these items….
‘But I have twenty million won.’
My heart raced a little. Being able to directly purchase items from a fictional world was certainly a dopamine-inducing event.
“Phew.”
I finally clicked the ‘items’ tab.
The screen appeared.
[Items]
Blood-Sucking Cutlery - ₩14,999,999
Wide-Range Walkie-Talkie - ₩4,999,999
Alice's Picnic Set - ₩11,999,999
We Help! - ₩66,666,666
※Sale!※ Silver Coin Snake - ₩4,999,999
~~₩19,999,999~~
“…!”
I know more than half of these items.
Has my luck finally turned!
‘Great.’
In my joy, I quickly recalled my memories.
Blood-Sucking Cutlery.
It was a weapon consisting of a small fork and knife, a blade that evolved to be larger and sharper by sucking the victim's blood.
It could be called a growth-type weapon in the literal sense.
Wide-Range Walkie-Talkie.
It was a toy walkie-talkie that allowed remote communication with others even within a ghost story.
It would be very useful when there are colleagues.
Alice's Picnic Set.
The name alone suggested it, but it was a food set motifed after Alice in Wonderland.
It must have been a set of a drink that temporarily doubled an item's effect and a cookie that reduced it to 1/2.
Those were the items I knew.
I didn't know the remaining two, but for now, I'd skip ‘We Help!’ as it far exceeded my budget, regardless of its interesting title.
‘The Silver Coin Snake is on sale.’
Buying something on sale somehow makes you feel like you're getting a good deal.
“……Hmm.”
I crossed my arms.
A weapon, a communication device, buff potions, and a sale item… huh.
My budget is twenty million won.
What would be the most profitable purchase within this?
“Okay.”
I made up my mind and clicked.
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