Chapter 10

CLICK, CLICK.

I finished clicking.

The Alien Shop displayed the items in my cart in a neat list.

What I was buying was...

Alice Picnic Set - ₩11,999,999

※Sale! ※ Silver Snake - ₩4,999,999

= ₩16,999,998

That's right.

I bought the effect-boosting potion and the sale item.

The reason was simple.

'I can't use the others...'

A blood-drinking weapon? It sounded cool. But there was a prerequisite.

I'd have to charge at a ghost with a knife...

'A coward who does something that stupid dies...'

There was a reason horror movies were full of trembling nobodies who tried that and ended up dead.

Besides, it would only work if whatever I attacked had blood. Not exactly versatile.

'Armor might be another story, but weapons are out of the question as I am now, right?'

Overestimating yourself was a shortcut to an early grave. Enough said.

Next, the Longer-Range Radio.

This one...

'... Anyone here capable of convincing their boss to carry around a toy radio?'

Someone like that... probably wouldn't be working under anyone else, would they?

Even explaining that it wasn't just a toy but an amazing item would cause problems. If they started asking where I'd gotten it, I'd have no answer.

This was an item I could only use once I had genuinely trustworthy colleagues.

'So that's out.'

That left two items: the Alice Picnic Set and the Silver Snake. Both fit within my budget, so I was buying both.

They both looked useful.

For starters, doubling or halving effects with the Alice Picnic Set would have all sorts of applications.

'I might even be able to use it defensively in a pinch.'

It would also be easy to use without my coworkers noticing. Sold.

Finally, the sale item called the Silver Snake.

'Its regular price is twenty million won?'

That immediately gave me an idea.

This was an investment.

'They specifically called it a silver coin. That makes me think it's currency.'

The world of <Records of Dark Exploration> had various currencies found in ghost stories, and some could be exchanged for cash through certain organizations.

'Buying something worth twenty million won for five million is definitely a good deal.'

The Alien Shop usually had a reason for offering steep discounts, but it was still worth the risk.

... This was absolutely not the same mentality as investing in crypto! Really! It was a rational decision!

And so... now I had to pay seventeen million won.

"Whew."

The only payment option was a bank transfer.

The website displayed the number of an easily opened online account under the name "Space Alien."

'Guess I can't expect a tax deduction...'

I hadn't transferred such a large sum in one payment since renting my own place.

Hands trembling, I transferred ₩16,999,998 through my banking app, having raised my transfer limit beforehand.

At that moment.

Purchase successful!

Your items have boarded a rocket!

Time until arrival 00:00:08

Uh.

00:00:07

00:00:06

Wait a second.

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01

DING.

A cheerful sound rang out.

Arrived!

POP.

"Gah!"

The air in front of me "opened," and something tumbled out with a puff of smoke.

It was a postal service shipping box.

"Wow."

Literal rocket delivery.

'You crazy fictional universe. You can actually be wondrous instead of terrifying!'

I was almost moved.

After marveling for a moment, I pulled myself together and opened the package.

First, the <Alice Picnic Set> was a rusty tin case decorated with fairy-tale illustrations.

Inside were drinks in flat cans and cookies wrapped in paper. They were labeled "Drink me" and "Eat me," respectively.

"Nice."

Like the Smile Stickers, I could just carry one or two of these around. I nodded.

When I lifted the tin case out of the shipping box, I spotted a round silver object underneath.

I picked it up.

A gleaming silver coin.

'It really was currency.'

That gave me a little thrill.

I held up the silver coin, about the size of a five-hundred-won coin and engraved with a snake biting its own tail, and gave it a little flip. It had the solid heft of metal.

A few possible places to spend this currency flashed through my mind.

'Wherever I use it, let's make it count.'

Even if seventeen million won had just melted away like snow.

The money would vanish anyway once I returned to my own world. Let's curb that materialism... curb it.

Mm. I felt calmer.

'Then... I guess I'm pretty well prepared now, at least.'

I took stock of my current items.

-Memorial Griptok

-Smile Sticker :)

-Alice Picnic Set

-Silver Snake

From now on, I'd have to use these to clear higher-grade Darknesses as quickly as possible.

'Let's make active use of them.'

Avoiding something scary could land me in something even scarier. Don't forget that, you coward.

Resolving to remember every resource at my disposal and make the most of it, I tried to sleep.

Instead of sheep, the convenience-store ghost frolicked through my head and wrecked my quality of life.

Ha ha.

* * *

And the very next day.

"There are a few ghost stories we manage regularly. Today, we'll be going into one of those."

"... Yes."

I'd come to work on exactly three hours of sleep. At this rate, I really might die.

But the deputy apparently interpreted my expression as worry and patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry too much. It's D-grade."

"That's right! About as bad as what you went through at orientation, Roe Deer. Just that bad!"

Was that really something to say to a new recruit who might have PTSD from a death game...?

But these Field Exploration Team employees, whose ordinary human sensibilities had long since been shattered, chuckled as if they were offering words of encouragement.

"You cleared one going in completely blind. Why wouldn't you manage now that you have a manual?"

"Just don't do anything unexpected and you'll be fine. Got it?"

"... Yes."

Well... all right, then.

Anything would be better than playing tag with the convenience-store ghost alone.

'Please, let me get some sleep at night.'

Please let this one be an art-house-film sort of ghost story, eerie because of its strangeness and lack of information but not actually all that horrifying!

I wished with all my heart.

"Here, the material."

The supervisor held out a tablet.

The ghost story I'd be entering today was...

[The Tuesday Quiz Show / Dusk (D) Grade]

"..."

Huh?

"See, Roe Deer? You go in as a contestant on a quiz show."

"Yes."

"Get a question wrong and you get a penalty, except the penalties are horrific... That sort of ghost story."

"But we already have all the answers, so we're fine! Don't get too nervous!"

The supervisor grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

Okay, good.

'I have a feeling this will be much less scary than seeing a ghost in person...'

But there was a problem, too.

'I don't recognize the name.'

The Tuesday Quiz Show?

There was no D-grade ghost story page by that name in <Records of Dark Exploration>.

I couldn't use the Memorial Griptok to search my memories with my superiors right there... but I was sure without checking.

At the very least, it wasn't among the ghost stories I'd read.

Then again, even if I'd read every ghost story in <Records of Dark Exploration>, other stories could still exist in this world.

It had been an online playground where people added new ghost stories in real time, after all.

Still, I'd thought the ones I didn't know would be relatively few. I hadn't expected to be sent into an unfamiliar one already.

'... Does the company have a much larger catalog of Darknesses than I thought?'

Cold sweat trickled down my neck.

My superiors, however, were perfectly relaxed.

"We get assigned an awful lot of broadcast-related Darknesses."

"Oh, every team has its thing."

Then the deputy sent me a PDF, saying it was the answer key for The Tuesday Quiz Show.

"For now, read that answer key and... go over the field exploration manual again. We'll go when the team leader gets here this afternoon."

"Yes."

For the moment, I simply nodded obediently.

The supervisor kindly added,

"Oh, should I get you a paper copy of the manual, just in case? You'll need to take notes, too."

"Oh, that's all right. I've memorized it all."

With the Memorial Griptok, it would only be extra baggage.

"You've memorized... all of it?"

"Yes."

"... So that's why you weren't taking notes!"

"Sorry?"

"Oh, nothing."

Looking as though something had clicked, the supervisor nodded.

"I think the team leader will find you really easy to work with."

"...?"

Well, it sounded like a good thing, so I let it go.

For the record, Team D's leader was still out on business, but we'd been told he'd be back this afternoon.

'I'll be meeting him soon.'

But an hour later.

"Hold on. Our team leader—the section chief—is still out on busin—What? No, that won't work."

The deputy hung up with a fierce scowl.

"Have these people lost their minds? Saying we've got a recruit now, so that makes a team of three. What kind of insane..."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I think..."

The deputy glanced at me.

Ah.

'Is this because of the convenience-store ghost?'

By clearing an F-grade Darkness alone, far too quickly and using an unusual method, I'd given the higher-ups an excuse to say, "Really? Then he can pull his own weight."

Who knew pocketing all twenty million won would come back to bite me here?

Of course, it wasn't because they resented me keeping the money.

"It's the end of the month."

"Ahh."

Watching my two superiors murmur to each other, I more or less figured it out.

'Is the department having trouble meeting its targets?'

I didn't know the details, but apparently they needed to fill a "quota" before lunch.

And now it looked like the recruit could do a full person's share.

After a brief deliberation, the deputy made her decision.

"Roe Deer, have you memorized all of that?"

Oh, the quiz show answer key... Wait.

'If I say I've memorized it, does that mean we're going in?'

In that case, perhaps a little strategic whining—

"Come on, I'm sure he has already! He said he's memorized the whole exploration work manual, too. That thick thing!"

"Oh."

The deputy nodded.

"Good. Then it's just us going in today."

"..."

And there went my small, desperate hope of having just one more person along to make it less frightening...

An explanation followed along the lines of, "Teams of three are the rule, but sometimes we go in as a pair when someone takes annual leave. We do get support staff, but coordinating schedules is difficult," and so on and so forth.

Yes. Thank you for explaining how very much like a company this company is.

'... Anyway, I'm ready.'

I was fully armed with items, and I'd confirmed that this wasn't a particularly frightening type of ghost story, hadn't I?

Come to think of it, going now might actually be better than going in the afternoon!

Better to get the beating over with sooner, as they say.

The longer I waited, the more horrors my imagination would invent. The courage I'd scraped together now was the most I was going to get.

Maybe I should go in before it dwindled any further...!

"Let's go in."

While I was endlessly talking myself into feeling better, the deputy accepted something from a visiting employee of another department and approached.

'That must be... the medium for entering the ghost story, right?'

It was a postcard.

But the "To" field on the postcard, which bore an old postage stamp, was already plastered with bizarre characters.

And across the top, "Application Form" was repeated in tiny print.

Like a curse.

-One day, I discover a strange postcard in an old magazine.

Enclosed is a flyer recruiting contestants for some quiz show, but when I look it up, no such program exists. Probably just a theme they used for a vintage postcard.

Intrigued, I write my name in the "From" field for fun, and...

I'm dragged into a truly bizarre quiz show.

Was that the sort of ghost story this was?

It did give me proper chills, looking unremarkable at first glance only to turn grotesque under closer inspection, but...

"Just sign here."

"..."

"If it makes you uncomfortable, just write your animal mask name instead of your real name."

"... Yes."

I needed those points.

Watching the other two write "Badger" and "Peregrine Falcon," respectively, I filled in the "From" field myself.

-Roe Deer

The instant I lifted my pen,

my consciousness was sucked into the postcard as though being ripped out of me.

"...!"

[Ah, there you are at last. Our applicants!]

The lights dazzled my eyes.

Through my hazy vision, a bright, cheerful voice assaulted my ears.

A hand extended from a suit sleeve, offering a handshake.

[Welcome, welcome... Now, the cameras will be rolling any moment. Let's put on our best smiles and give them a great show!]

I shook the hand reflexively and looked up.

Where a human head should have been, there was an old-fashioned television.

... An emoticon was displayed on it.

[

mark

]

The TV person released my hand, then turned with a jaunty flourish and spread both arms.

[Ladies and gentlemen in the audience!]

WOOOO!

I heard cheering, but the glare of the studio lights blurred the figures in the audience, making them hard to see clearly.

Soon, I realized I was standing on some sort of colorful platform.

'A quiz show contestant's spot?'

It wasn't frightening enough to make me faint.

No, honestly, thinking of it as a quiz show hosted by someone wearing a TV costume helped me feel at ease.

'After that eye-gouging subway and the convenience-store ghost, this is practically heavenly.'

Mm. Good. I thought I could keep calm and use my head.

I adjusted my mask and took stock of the situation.

[Is this your first time in a talk show audience? Oh, then don't forget to cheer. Your cheers are what make this show!]

The TV person seemed to be warming up the audience and getting them excited.

Presumably, this was the talk show's host.

'So this Tuesday Quiz Show is a segment on some talk show?'

Judging by the feel of the set, the band providing background music, the audience layout, and the way the host ran the whole thing single-handedly... it looked like a traditional American talk show.

'A little old-fashioned, too.'

...

What?

'Again.'

An old American talk show.

A quiz segment.

Contestants who already knew the answers.

This was...

...

I knew these keywords.

* * *

※Read With Caution! ※

Notice: Daydream Inc. accepts no liability whatsoever for fear, auditory hallucinations, ■■, ■■■■, or any other issues arising from reading this document.

Sign before proceeding.

* * *

This wasn't D-grade.

This ghost story was...

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

[Sacrificial Canticle]

: A ghost story featured in <Records of Dark Exploration>. Daydream Inc. identification code: Qterw-A-104.

A Darkness classified as Pitch Dark (A).

The starting point of the grade-reclassification incident that caused countless casualties.

Currently, no officially recorded survivors.

* * *