Chapter 6

'New merchandise?'

And if usage rights had been unlocked, that seemed to mean I could use another piece of merchandise I'd bought.

'Based on what?'

I wanted to click the notepad floating impossibly in midair right away, but then remembered I was still sitting in the middle of the lecture hall. Some people were even stealing glances at me because the emcee had called me the top recruit or whatever.

'Let's get out of here first, then check.'

The event seemed to be over, so I could go home... Wait.

I'd just realized something critically important.

"..."

Did I even have a home here...?

I hurriedly unlocked my smartphone and started checking my records.

As if by magic, every trace of getting hired and working at my job was gone. Even my family's contact information had been wiped out.

'Oh, come on. Please.'

What remained was mostly records from my college days, and they resembled what I remembered closely enough to give me a moment of relief.

The problem was... I'd lived in a dorm in college.

'That's why I had such a hard time when the timing got screwed up while I was looking for a place after graduation.'

Sure enough, the latest records were texts arranging apartment viewings with a real estate agent, and a KakaoTalk conversation with a friend where I'd said I was staying at a motel because the lease for my studio had fallen through...

"..."

Without thinking, I looked up at the screen still on display in the lecture hall.

More precisely, I zeroed in on one line at the bottom.

[Employee Benefits – Other]

Company Housing Support

I should... make full use of my benefits, right?

* * *

And this "company housing support" was processed with astonishing speed.

"Oh, hello!"

"Hello."

Within an hour of asking at the desk, I'd been assigned a unit number, given a key and an address, and made my way over. Even the location was good.

Not that they had any benevolent intention of making life convenient for their employees.

'I guess even slaves who live off-site have to stay nearby if they're going to work us around the clock, day off or not...'

At any rate, the building was a fairly nice-looking officetel. It was clean, as if newly remodeled, and the security was decent.

Considering company housing was usually a benefit for people assigned to regional offices, this was absurdly generous, but...

'Sure, people are going to move right in after the company just put them through a death game.'

But that sarcasm turned out to be literal reality.

When I ran into Go Youngeun outside the building and greeted her, she told me this:

"Did you hear? Seven people signed up for company housing."

"...?"

Wasn't that more than half of us?

Come to think of it, she seemed to be here to move in, too.

Perhaps noticing my look, she gave me a sheepish smile.

"It is a little scary, but we've already joined the company. Turning down a free apartment near a station would be a bit..."

"... Yes."

Right. Under capitalism, money was always the scariest thing.

'Saving around 1.2 million won a month is enough to make you throw caution to the wind and move in.'

Of course, there was another, more damning reason.

"It sounds like the people moving up from outside the city were told about it and signed up as soon as they were accepted."

"I see."

Now I understood. The recruits had cheered and agreed, then hadn't managed to back out.

I'd wondered how they'd freed up a room for me so quickly. Now I had an idea.

'Was my room assigned to a recruit who just failed the death game...?'

I was embarrassed by the chill that thought sent down my spine.

Anyway, I said goodbye to Go Youngeun and went up to the twelfth floor, where my room was.

So far, so good.

The problem was that the apartment had two bedrooms.

And my roommate was Baek Saheon.

"..."

"..."

Baek Saheon was sitting in the living room.

Judging by the medical patch over one eye, he'd received some sort of treatment. Given the timing, it seemed the company had treated him rather than a hospital.

I gave him a silent nod and was about to find my room and go inside when...

"Hey."

What?

"Hey?"

I stopped walking.

Baek Saheon flinched when I actually answered, but his anger seemed to win out. His eye flashed as he spoke without hesitation.

"Must've been real fun watching me get a perfectly good eye ripped out when the lost item was right there, huh?"

Apparently, he'd decided I had known perfectly well about the lost item and kept quiet just to watch him lose an eye.

'What the hell? You're the one who ran out on your own.'

Where had he gotten the novel idea that he could smash someone else's eyeball with his fist, but other people were supposed to look after his?

But at the same time, I knew.

If I took a submissive approach, saying things like "That's not what happened. You suddenly left..." or "Why are you suddenly being so rude to me, sir...?", he'd only grow bolder and spout more bullshit.

In the nuisance-identification system I'd developed over years of dealing with clients, there was a term for people like Baek Saheon.

The Creation-of-the-Universe Nuisance.

They dreamed up whatever version of events suited them and stubbornly insisted it was true.

Explanations didn't work on people like this.

Better to...

"Yeah. It was fun."

"...!"

...come on strong instead.

I walked straight up to Baek Saheon and pressed down firmly on his shoulder.

"Thanks. I really enjoyed that. Is this what they call dopamine?"

"Wh..."

"Keep the good news coming. Actually, I hope we get to work together."

"..."

"Work's going to be fun."

There.

'That should make me look like a complete lunatic.'

Taking his behavior so far together with his exploits in <Records of Dark Exploration>...

'Baek Saheon seems like exactly the kind of bastard who'd shove me into mortal danger the second he finds out I'm a coward, doesn't he?'

In that case, I was better off planting the impression, "Oh, I should stay the hell away from this guy!"

'Might as well get a little bluffing in while I'm at it.'

I patted the now-silent Baek Saheon on the shoulder a couple of times, then straightened up and headed for my room without looking back.

'As long as I don't get stabbed in my sleep.'

Actually, I'd just pulled a bit of a con.

At this stage, the chances of working with someone from the same intake were extremely low.

What workplace would group a bunch of new recruits into a team and tell them to work together? They split them all up.

Besides, the assignments spread recruits around according to their scores to balance the teams, rather like a certain ninja manga.

And whatever else had happened, I'd been called up first and Baek Saheon second.

'They must have judged his performance highly too, so we're even less likely to end up on the same team.'

That meant we wouldn't be working together for a while.

Let's just pretend the other person doesn't exist.

TAP.

Feeling relieved, I entered my assigned room.

"Whew."

The clean room contained what looked like freshly replaced bedding, a desk, and even a door to a private bathroom.

There was an information booklet hanging on that door, too.

"If I sign up, they'll change the bedding and tidy up every week for 100,000 won a month?"

These benefits were so generous the management seemed insane. I was beginning to sense their plan to dazzle the recruits with an avalanche of carrots.

Quite a few recruits would be confused by this polished, friendly reality, as though the death game they'd just experienced had been a lie.

To someone who knew why the company was doing this, though, their motives were painfully transparent...

'Right. It's hard to fill the Field Exploration Team with useful people.'

These recruits had been judged capable of doing the "work," so the company wanted to make sure none of them ran away.

'Well, if they're offering, I might as well make good use of it.'

I'd decided to work here anyway.

There was even a small welcome gift bundle on the desk: expensive snacks and office supplies bearing the company logo.

There was also a planner in a half-open drawer. It had the company logo on its cover too, so it seemed to be company-issued.

'But it's dated last year.'

Had the previous resident left it behind? I opened the planner.

On the first page were enormous letters...

-Run away

'Oh dear.'

Thank you for that invaluable advice, senior colleague, but it was already too late for me.

It wasn't even particularly frightening.

'Isn't this just... the cruel life of an office worker?'

I felt a little surge of affection for humanity. I closed the planner and carefully put it back in the drawer.

Now that I'd checked everything worth looking at, perhaps it was time to get down to business.

[Records of Dark Exploration Real Goods Box]

-New merchandise usage rights unlocked! (!)

Now that I was alone, I could check it!

'Whew.'

With nervous anticipation, I settled comfortably on the edge of the bed and reached for the notepad.

TAP.

Just as it had when it spat out the Griptok, the notepad opened, and something fell from inside.

Clear OPP film packaging.

Inside the kind of plastic sleeve commonly used to package novelty stationery was a stack of stickers.

"These are..."

I lifted the package.

Yellow circles with the classic smiley face printed on them.

Also known as the Bribery Item.

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Daydream Inc.

/ Items

Smile Sticker

A salesperson's friend! :)

When attached to a sentient being, it induces a mild sense of friendliness toward the user.

Item usage requirements: Full-time Daydream Inc. personnel ranked Employee or higher.

(P.S. Inappropriate personal use, such as picking people up, will result in disciplinary action.)

* * *

"Huh."

Despite their shoddy packaging and poor finish, these stickers had featured in surprisingly iconic ways in several <Records of Dark Exploration> entries.

Inducing friendliness? That was essentially manipulating affinity.

'Was it when they persuaded people from other organizations to cooperate?'

And I understood why this particular item had been unlocked.

Item usage requirements: Full-time Daydream Inc. personnel ranked Employee or higher.

"Because I successfully joined as a full-time employee?"

In <Records of Dark Exploration>, most items made by institutions or specific organizations had restrictions limiting their use to certain ranks or affiliations.

The in-universe explanation was to prevent equipment from being siphoned off indiscriminately.

'And from the ghost-story creators' perspective, it stopped overexcited beginners from barging into every ghost story and throwing every tool imaginable around, making Mary Sue nuisances of themselves.'

Anyway, the fact that I'd now met those requirements meant...

'Does this <Goods Box> spit out another piece of merchandise every time I get promoted or change affiliations?'

It certainly seemed as if it would help me survive.

But it would have been much nicer if it hadn't dragged me into this world in the first place. Thinking of it that way, the thing itself seemed like a ghost story.

'Ugh.'

Feeling uneasy, I glanced up at the glowing notepad several times before finally turning my thoughts elsewhere.

"At least I got something."

The Smile Sticker. Having to stick it directly onto the target was a bit daunting, but being able to win someone's goodwill in a real emergency was a definite advantage.

There was just one problem.

'... I'm sure these showed up a few times, then the entire stock was disposed of.'

The writers had fought tooth and nail over how powerful the stickers were, turning their arguments into a verbal colosseum, until the item itself finally vanished into the annals of history...

I didn't know exactly when that happened, but the set in my hands might be the only stickers left in this universe.

I looked down at the packaged Smile Stickers with fresh eyes.

Hmm.

I absolutely could not let anyone find out about these.

Still, just in case, I separated five stickers and put them in the front pocket of my suit jacket.

That way, I wouldn't forget to bring them on my first day.

'... My first day at work.'

My emotions threatened to turn into a muddle, but for now I needed sleep.

After all the spectacular, absurd things I'd been through, my mind and body were utterly exhausted.

'I need to recover.'

I changed into the robe provided for the time being, locked the door, and went to bed.

It was my first rest since falling into a ghost story.

Honestly, I didn't sleep well.

The sight of people bursting apart alive and the grotesquely transformed subway stations fed on my imagination, replaying in my brain in surround sound.

I could have sworn I'd bought a set of home-theater speakers.

At least after about two days, I'd recovered enough to sleep, even if nightmares plagued me.

And so a few days passed.

I checked the meager savings in my bank account and stretched them as far as I could to buy clothes and necessities, preparing for everyday life.

Of course, I didn't forget the most important thing.

'I need to know all of this inside out.'

Using the Memorial Griptok, I kept rereading every <Records of Dark Exploration> wiki page I'd ever read, memorizing them until I could recite them at the slightest prompting.

This was my lifeline.

Then Monday arrived.

My first day at <Daydream Inc.>.

* * *

"..."

Monday morning.

I headed for <Daydream Inc.> headquarters looking far from refreshed.

So much so that Go Youngeun looked startled when I ran into her on my way down from the apartment.

"Oh, Soleum, are you all right? D-did you not sleep well?"

"... A little, yes. I'm fine."

"Oh dear..."

The two of us exchanged a little small talk as we walked the fifteen minutes to headquarters.

We encountered several other extremely tense-looking Field Exploration Team recruits, but only exchanged nods.

Then we scanned our employee IDs and boarded the elevator.

"I heard the Field Exploration Team uses the tenth through fifteenth floors... Oh, I'll get off here. Let's hang in there, Soleum..."

"Yes. Let's."

As I saw Go Youngeun off on the tenth floor, I looked at the elevator button I'd pressed.

The thirteenth floor.

'Even the number feels like an omen of what's coming...'

I could only hope it was my imagination.

I checked the assignment message I'd received the day before yesterday once more.

[New_Recruit(Field_Exploration)_Assignments.pdf]

- Kim Soleum / Team D

DING.

The elevator stopped on the thirteenth floor, and the doors opened onto a corridor divided into sections marked with letters.

I found the automatic door printed with a "D" and pressed its button.

At the same time, I offered a greeting.

"Good morning."

"Oh!"

"Here he is."

Several adult men and women sitting in the fairly spacious office looked up and welcomed me.

One of the men stood and offered me his hand.

"Welcome to Team D, fifteenth intake."

A woman with a bob and an expressionless face stood behind him. She nodded and added,

"For the record, we're nicknamed Team D for 'Deceased,' because all our new recruits drop dead."

"..."

"Just kidding."

Should I quit while I still could?