Chapter 30

The moment I thought about needing a lot of money, a message arrived from an unfamiliar profile asking if I needed money.

Except I was inside a ghost story.

[K.LEE: Hello? Haha]

Screaming, blocking the sender, and leaving the chat seemed like the sensible choice...

'But it also feels a little too textbook.'

Since I was in a ghost story, why not get some ghostly advice?

I set Good Friend down beneath the bed, turned off the lights, and summoned Braun using the same shadow-casting method as before.

This time, though, I used a small flashlight I'd bought on my way home from work.

“Oh, my friend!”

This time, Braun came to almost without delay. After taking considerable delight in recalling how I'd escaped the last ghost story, he quickly grasped the current situation.

A message from a stranger mentioning big money!

“Suspicious! But isn't the curiosity to pursue something suspicious precisely what makes good television?”

“Of course, all the better if glittering gold comes with it!”

The stuffed doll sounded like a dopamine addict, but his reaction confirmed that this wasn't a ghost-story phenomenon. That was good enough.

'In that case.'

I typed a simple question into the chat.

[Kim Soleum: Who is this?]

The reply came immediately.

Honestly, I'd thought the most likely response would be something like “Haha, your friend~”.

Instead, I got a proper introduction.

[K.LEE: I'm Deputy Lee Gangheon from Team C haha]

“...!!”

'Team C?'

Another elite team.

Why on earth would they contact me... No, were they really giving away their identity, rank and all, this readily?

[K.LEE: I heard you turned down Team A's recruitment offer today!!! lmaooo]

Whoa.

[K.LEE: Damn, that's some insane confidence! Never seen a recruit this capable lol]

[K.LEE: You said no this time, but maybe we'll see you on another Elite Team next year? Are we finally getting another person who joins an Elite Team right after making Supervisor? Just saying lol]

Were they wearing Exclusive Equipment that increased their typing speed...?

Before I could type a single letter in response, sentences bombarded me.

I finally collected myself enough to send one sentence.

[Kim Soleum: Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Deputy Lee Gangheon.]

[K.LEE: Aw, likewise! Say hi if we run into each other at work and let's grab a meal sometime. I know this seriously good charcoal-grilled spicy chicken place nearby! Haha]

[K.LEE: Oops, got carried away there. Anyway, the reason I contacted you today!]

The atmosphere changed.

[K.LEE: You need a lot of money, right?]

“...”

[K.LEE: Right about now is when you'd start wishing you had a bit more cash... Promising recruits start looking for ways to get personal items just before they make Supervisor lol]

[K.LEE: I hear you already have Exclusive Equipment. So I'm guessing you're asking around about ways to get items?]

I'm not, actually.

'I just went to the alien shopping site I already knew about...'

[K.LEE: All that costs money, you know haha]

[K.LEE: Don't waste what little time and money you have buying meals and drinks for your seniors. Get the info from me instead haha]

Hmm.

[Kim Soleum: I appreciate the offer, but why would you tell me?]

[K.LEE: Because I want to be friends? Haha]

At least put some effort into your bullshit...

[K.LEE: Want to hear it? Haha]

I considered it for a moment.

“Dear me! Mr. Roe Deer, these words reek of a cheap snake-oil salesman. Hardly the sort to appear on a respectable specialty channel.”

“But... even cheap things have their uses.”

“If you coax them gently...”

I typed.

[Kim Soleum: No.]

“...!?”

[K.LEE: ???????]

[K.LEE: Oh, you've got jokes too haha. Just what I'd expect from the record-breaking speed point-earner haha]

[Kim Soleum: I'll simply ask my section chief.]

[Kim Soleum: Have a good night.]

[K.LEE: Wai;t]

[K.LEE: Hey wait a second]

[K.LEE: Are you Section Chief Lee Jaheon's cousin or something?;; You've got the exact same personality]

I'd rather you just insulted me...

Anyway, apparently they didn't know my personality yet, because the bluff worked beautifully.

A frantic flood of messages followed.

[K.LEE: I'm not charging you, just hear me out. Seriously, I don't make this kind of offer often!;; T_T]

Then KakaoTalk messages came in rapid succession.

[K.LEE: (link)]

Along with a link to some webpage.

[K.LEE: Check it out if you need seed money or items. Put me down as your referrer. Just enter hawaiib53 <- this here]

[K.LEE: You don't HAVE to, but I did introduce you, so listen to your conscience lmaooo. C'mon, you know what I mean? Hahaha]

[K.LEE: And keep it more or less secret from other people! (shy emoji)]

'... A template?'

This looked an awful lot like a copy-paste...

[K.LEE: Anyway, remember I'm the one who told you, okay?]

[K.LEE: I'll leave before Audit catches me. Happy shopping haha]

[K.LEE has left.]

“...”

'If you were worried about getting caught by Audit, why introduce yourself in the first place...?'

Were they trying to make me feel indebted?

I deleted the reply I'd been typing, which had gotten as far as “What exactly is this site you sent”.

'Judging by that shopping comment, it sounds like a platform for buying things.'

Finding a source besides the Alien Shop wasn't a bad idea.

Their choice of words was also rather interesting.

'Seed money, huh.'

They made it sound like I could earn a substantial amount.

'This had better not be an in-house gambling site.'

Either way, there was only one way to find out.

After running a safety check on the link itself, I cautiously opened it.

My smartphone screen went pitch-black, and the words that appeared were...

Salmon

“...??”

Like salmon swimming upstream against the flowing river

We swim upstream against a world gone mad

'CyXorld...?'

What was with this sentimental quote straight out of my younger days?

The text vanished with an effect that really did resemble a swimming salmon, and a new sentence appeared.

Registration Open (Referral Required)

Hmm.

It was deeply dubious—in several senses—but I created an account with that employee as my referrer anyway. I had to check it out, after all.

The moment I logged in and saw the page change, I realized.

Salmon Market

“It's a secondhand trading site.”

A site where individuals bought and sold things to one another.

Except the things being traded were occult and bizarre objects or information.

[Mermaid Jerky for sale (genuine, Hannuriok appraisal included)]

[Buying Blood Bathtub tile fragments. NO discoloration]

[$$Get reliable info on Bad Luck Vending Machine appearance locations and frequency$$]

[Powerful protective talismans for sale]

I clicked around a little and got the picture.

So this was...

'Absolutely crawling with scams.'

To anyone who'd read <Records of Dark Exploration>, the place was full of junk items, meaningless props, and false information.

In short, it felt like an occult secondhand marketplace without much expertise—by industry standards.

I rubbed my forehead.

“Are there more ordinary people here than actual insiders?”

“Hmm. Mass appeal inevitably brings a decline in expertise! Preventing that takes considerable effort and care... but this place feels deliberately neglected.”

“Enthusiasts without expertise will pay dearly even for trifles. It's much like the impulse to pry up pieces of the stage floor a star has stepped on!”

Well, those were genuine souvenirs, so I could understand that.

The problem was that this place was full of fakes.

And I could see records of even those selling for quite a lot.

“...”

'Right. This setting hasn't officially acknowledged supernatural phenomena.'

The government, fearing social anomie, and corporations, wanting to protect their trade secrets, were all keeping quiet and exploring ghost stories in secret.

But civilian casualties would already be widespread.

With sinister rumors and personal accounts presumably circulating quietly among ordinary people, it was hardly strange for a site like this to exist.

The prices made me even dizzier when I compared them to the goods being traded.

'A million won for one talisman...'

Sums big enough for rental deposits were changing hands left and right.

I didn't know whether it was because survival was at stake, or whether the Veblen effect applied to occult goods too...

'Could I sell something here myself?'

If the employee who'd introduced me really was a deputy on Elite Team C, then employees of Daydream Inc. apparently used their connections here to sell off miscellaneous items and information.

That was precisely what worried me.

'The moment I cross a line, Audit will definitely catch me...'

So, time for a safeguard.

I logged out of my current account and made a new one.

For the name, hmm...

[BlueFriend]

“‘Friend’! Were you thinking of me when you made it? Why, how touching!”

I'd combined whatever came to mind with what was in front of me, so technically, yes.

For the referrer's username, I entered the first account I'd just made.

“Done.”

“Oho. Creating a new identity to avoid being tracked!”

Correct.

I'd use this account to trade things a <Daydream Inc.> employee wouldn't be likely to own, or anything that might get flagged by Audit.

'This should keep my purchases from being traced, just in case.'

“Of course, I'll leave a few transactions on the first account too.”

“To avoid suspicion. Excellent.”

On the original account, I'd trade things a ‘Daydream Inc. employee’ might reasonably buy and sell without crossing any lines.

Now that the social niceties were handled, time to get down to business.

What should I sell?

'For starters... reselling things from the Alien Shop is out.'

Just look at how amateurish this site was. That would cause an enormous disaster.

Not that I had the spare resources for that kind of arbitrage anyway. I had enough trouble buying useful things from the Alien Shop for myself.

I browsed Salmon Market's newest listings.

Wasn't there anything I could sell for money without drawing too much atten—

[Buying food originating from supernatural phenomena.]

Oh?

* * *

[Buying food originating from supernatural phenomena.]

For research.

Preference for powerful supernatural phenomena (Disaster Management Bureau Destruction Grade or higher).

40.0

* * *

- This asshole's back again

- Ah, yes. The food I seek is First Form: Destruction Grade, ‘for research.’ (adjusts glasses) lmaoooo

- Is this person a bot? Seems like this gets posted every day

- Please crawl out of your little fantasy world, you occult weeb. What the hell is Disaster Management Bureau Destruction Grade

The comments held nothing but a few jeers and taunts.

But...

'... It's real.'

The <Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau>.

In <Records of Dark Exploration>, this government agency was one of the three major powers, alongside Daydream Inc.

My merchandise, the Memorial Griptok, was also an item this agency issued to its civil servants.

'And the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau classifies ghost stories' danger levels using Sanctions...'

Destruction Grade, mentioned in this post, was a real grade too. By Daydream Inc. standards, it was slightly above C-grade.

This was someone who actually knew what they were talking about.

I gazed at the page.

'If they're a real insider, there's probably less chance of them cheating me out of payment.'

The very fact that they used specialist terminology without bothering to explain it to laypeople lowered the odds of a scam.

It made the transaction seem more trustworthy.

And look at the price.

40.0?

'That's forty million won.'

At that price, surely even someone who didn't understand would contact them on the off chance it was real.

Sure enough, when I looked through the older posts, the comments had already discussed it.

- Wow, but forty million won... Anyone tried contacting them?

└ I actually contacted them to sell something. They asked a bunch of questions about where it came from, then ghosted me lol

└ Leaves everyone on read lol. Just some roleplayer, don't bother

No, that wasn't it.

'They probably heard the details and ignored them because the ghost story wasn't Destruction Grade or higher.'

As it happened, though, I had something that fit their preferred criteria perfectly.

Something suspicious, with unknown effects, that I couldn't bring myself to consume...

'... I do have something, don't I?'

Two bags, even.

<Blue Soda Churros>

The snack the blue dragon mascot had given me at the theme park.

“...”

“Ah, that filthy food!”

Filthy was... a bit much.

You see.

'A Good Child needs funds.'

The mascot would understand. Of course.

[BlueFriend: Hello there^^ I have food originating from a supernatural phenomenon that I can sell you!]

Message sent!

* * *

The next day.

'Another weekend already. Good timing.'

I found myself waiting near Gwanghwamun Station for the person I'd arranged to meet.

In my hands was a box containing one bag of the Blue Soda Churros the mascot had given me.

'I handled myself... pretty well.'

I recalled yesterday's messages with the buyer.

The reply had come almost immediately after I sent my message.

[T: What kind of food, exactly?]

That was the fork in the road.

I had two options.

I could demonstrate that I knew all about the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau and Destruction Grade, earning their trust through expert knowledge.

Or...

[BlueFriend: It's something like churros. Honestly, I'm not really sure... T_T I got it under some really strange circumstances.]

[BlueFriend: But I'm scared to keep it... and I really need the money. Could you check it out and buy it if it meets your criteria...?]

Play dumb like this and leave the judgment entirely to the other person.

And my choice had worked.

'Honestly, everything in that second message was true anyway.'

Besides, I wasn't keen on being exposed as a <Daydream Inc.> employee.

Anyway, that was why I was waiting near Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station, seven minutes before our agreed time.

'If anything feels off, I'm running.'

As I waited tensely just in case, I spotted someone approaching Exit 5 from Cheonggye Plaza, looking around.

'Oh.'

Those searching glances practically screamed secondhand transaction.

Tall, dressed entirely in black, and wearing a face mask, the person met my eyes and approached.

“Are you here for Salmon...?”

I nodded.

Then I immediately opened the box and held it out.

An invitation to inspect it.

“...”

The other person silently reached out.

Their hand was gloved too.

Their voice sounded fairly young. I hadn't expected them to come so thoroughly covered up that it would be hard to infer anything about their identity.

'Not that I'm one to talk.'

I was wearing everything I could, from a hat to glasses.

I pulled my hood low and watched their movements. If they tried to grab it and run, I'd have to move first.

The prospective buyer passed a gloved hand over the box, then nodded and took hold of it.

Hmm?

“This is what I was looking for.”

Then they held out a small beverage carton.

They briefly opened it, giving me a glimpse of the fifty-thousand-won bills filling the inside, then closed it again.

“...”

They seemed to be looking at me as if to ask what else I was waiting for.

A shame I couldn't ask Braun, but...

'First things first.'

I set the box on the ground.

“...?”

After giving the other person a small bow, I took a notebook from my pocket.

“...??”

Then I opened it to show the buyer a page.

[I do not know what effects this food has.]

[Keeping it has not been dangerous, but I recommend not eating it, just in case.]

[You said it was for research, but I wrote this just to be safe]

“...!”

I couldn't see their expression, but they seemed a little flustered.

'You must be wondering what this sudden performance is about...'

Sorry. I don't want you hearing my voice.

I bowed again, showed them the last page, politely accepted the beverage carton, and fled.

[Have a nice day^^]

* * *

“Good.”

I deposited the cash immediately, then went home.

Perhaps because it was the weekend, Baek Saheon was already out of the company housing. Given how he'd been coming and going, I wondered if he was visiting his family home.

Anyway.

“Time to visit the alien shopping site.”

I restored the link.