Chapter 61

Suddenly, Braun was reviewing the bath additive I had made by squeezing out 500 mL of my blood.

‘... Unusual?’

I was bewildered.

‘I almost turned around to look at the tub.’

Keeping my head firmly in place, I asked,

“What do you mean, unusual?”

“Exactly what I said! Hmm, there are different kinds of bath additives, aren't there? Salts, oils, bubbles... Yours differs quite a bit from that wild ginseng, Mr. Roe Deer. Though there are similarities, too.”

Well.

That was ghost-story ginseng, and I was a human being...

‘Of course we'd be different, wouldn't we?’

“Different, yes. But why do you have anything in common with that wild ginseng, Mr. Roe Deer?”

“...!”

“Hmm... Ah. Now I see why.”

Braun smacked his lips as though tasting wine, then said,

“Mr. Roe Deer. Your bath additive is a blend.”

A blend.

In plain terms, a mixture.

Usually, the term meant combining different ingredients to create a new flavor, as with coffee or cocktails...

“That's it. There's something mixed in that's in a similar category to the wild ginseng...”

“...”

Was he talking about ghost-story contamination?

I thought of the security chief.

Of the way something like a twisted wolf had ripped through his human form.

Was that happening to me, too? Was I being contaminated and consumed by supernatural phenomena?

“Contamination! What an extreme, negative way to put it. Isn't life a process of change? Influencing one another—that's the fun of it!”

Damn it.

Reflexively, I looked down at my body. The most obvious influence of a ‘supernatural phenomenon’ would be...

“Do you think the tattoos are the cause of that ‘influence’?”

“Hmm. It's quite difficult to guess the origins of something that's already been mixed together...

“Some connoisseurs claim they can identify the vineyard with just a drop of wine on their tongue, but I'm not the sort of Host who enjoys that kind of pretension!”

“...”

“In any case, it's not as though you'll be meeting a new you next week, Mr. Roe Deer. There's no need to be afraid!”

In theory, he was right.

‘As long as I live and work here, some degree of ghost-story contamination is probably inevitable.’

Making a needless fuss wouldn't accomplish anything.

The stronger the supernatural abilities you could use, and the more of them you had, the greater the power consuming you became.

You had to strike a balance as you went.

Though I hadn't thought I had enough abilities yet to need to worry about that balance.

‘... I'll have to keep an eye on this from now on, too.’

As it happened, one of the facilities I had gained access to upon becoming a supervisor offered treatment for this.

I'd have to pay it a visit once I made it through this ghost story safely.

“Hmm. There seems to be something else quite unusual mixed in, too... Ah, it's all dissolved.”

Braun, who had been sniffing as though trying to further assess the bath additive, let out a long, satisfied sigh.

“I've thoroughly enjoyed myself!”

Well, I'm glad at least one of us had a good time.

Neon light flashed several times inside the tub, like someone changing TV channels.

The shadow of the plush doll reclining comfortably against the side of the tub shifted animatedly.

“Shall we get out now?”

I walked over and lifted Braun out.

Once again, the plush doll looked inexplicably more luxurious, though his size hadn't changed.

Still, Braun's voice sounded somewhat clearer and more cerebral.

I covered the doll with a towel, hiding him from view, and asked,

“Feeling full of energy?”

“Couldn't be better!

“Hmm, I feel as alert as I did back in my busy days...”

Apparently, the change wasn't as dramatic as when we'd used the contaminated wild ginseng, but he did seem to have ‘rejuvenated.’

Then, as I lifted the towel covering Braun, I noticed something I hadn't seen before.

‘... A tag?’

There was a scrap of cloth at the nape of the plush doll's neck, as though a tag had been cut off.

‘Was there originally an intact tag here?’

It looked as though the rejuvenation had restored part of what had been cut away.

‘That's a strange feeling.’

I'd keep it in mind.

“Ah, how comfortable.”

“Glad to hear it.”

After drying off the plush doll, I carefully set him on the towel on his usual table.

The preparations were complete.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Ah, I had an inkling!

“How could I refuse after my friend has even helped me bathe? You'd like me to lend my masks to other people as well, I assume?”

“That's right.”

Now that Braun had rejuvenated, he should be able to use more powerful abilities.

“Very well. How many?”

“Two.”

* * *

Two days later.

Following the official notice I had received, I reported for work somewhere other than the company.

It was the building of a defunct private kindergarten, and company employees had already set up inside.

“Good morning.”

“You're early, Roe Deer!”

As I stood near the entrance of the kindergarten, which hadn't been properly cleared out, my teammates soon arrived.

“Please let those bastards die instead of us.”

“Please... Please...”

“...”

Thank you for keeping your voices down.

Though, really, it probably wouldn't have mattered if anyone had heard. Everyone was wearing the same expression.

“Roe Deer, Roe Deer! See that person with the rabbit feet strung together? That's an item that's supposed to improve your luck.”

“Does it actually work?”

“What do you think? Two expeditions ago, some guy wearing a similar item got picked and went straight to the afterlife.”

“...”

“The deputy's right. Items like that don't work here... Apparently, the selection is ‘fair.’”

I turned to the supervisor, who was wearing a strained smile.

His face was pale. He seemed terribly nervous despite having braced himself.

“Supervisor.”

“Yes?”

“Would the company take issue with me trying something like that, too?”

“Oh, you mean coming up with a way to avoid being chosen as the sacrifice?”

“Something like that.”

The supervisor smiled and patted my back.

“Oh, Roe Deer, of course not! Everyone does it!”

“I'd bet my salary every last person here has spent the past three days trying all sorts of crazy shit to save their own ass.”

You certainly don't hold back, Deputy...

Deputy Eun Haje gave a wry chuckle.

“How do you think they found out that stuff doesn't work in the first place? Because the bastards who tried everything still got picked as sacrifices.”

“...”

“Why? Are you going to try something, too, Roe Deer?”

“Yes.”

After some deliberation, I took Braun out of my pocket.

“Oh, that keychain you carry around.”

“He's my lucky friend. Would you mind if I lent you both his ability as well? In secret.”

Both smiled, looking slightly deflated, then nodded.

“Well... thanks.”

“I really hope we get lucky!”

Okay.

‘And I've covered my bases so there won't be any complaints afterward.’

“Whew.”

“Now, let's get ready.”

“We're entering shortly.”

Like everyone else, I looked at the single old pendulum clock hanging in the entrance hall.

TICK.

The hands passed 8:59:56 a.m.

“You're entering the studio now.

“Don't be nervous if you see cameras. Think of them as starlight. You'll feel perfectly at ease.”

TICK.

Fifty-seven seconds.

Strangely, my mind was calm.

Certainty about my identity.

“You happen to be wearing a mask! Oh, excellent.

“From this moment on, that mask is you.”

TICK.

Fifty-eight seconds.

I raised my head.

My antlers itched. They had the texture of wood, but only I knew that they weren't actually wood, but ■■...

“There are other animal friends here! Two of them.”

TICK.

Fifty-nine seconds.

Turning my head, I saw Badger and Peregrine Falcon. They were observing the humans around them.

And...

“No one here seems more powerful than you.”

I knew that.

I blinked. My heat-sensing vision detected the cold-blooded animals around me.

The body temperatures of humans, heated by tension.

And...

TICK.

Nine o'clock.

The pendulum clock sounded a deafening alarm.

DONG...!!

“...!”

I drew a breath.

The kindergarten building, which had looked abandoned, had turned into a spotless space smelling of new construction.

Like a brand-new building just about to open.

And I was standing in a room full of neatly arranged toys with Peregrine Falcon... no, Deputy Eun Haje.

... We had entered the ghost story.

“...”

Slowly, I looked down at my neck.

Clear.

“Ha.”

I let the tension leave my body.

‘I dodged it.’

The strange thickness all over my body, as though I were wearing a mascot costume, slowly faded, along with the sensation of antlers.

So did that strange certainty about my identity.

“Hmm, that concludes your brief roles.”

Thank you.

‘So that's what a mask does.’

It had felt so strange that I was glad it was over quickly.

Braun's voice sounded drained, perhaps because he had applied the ability with extreme precision to three people, pushing right up against his limits.

It was impressive that he'd held out even those few seconds.

‘Good work.’

I was about to give Braun a gentle pat inside my pocket...

“Now... Wait a moment. What on earth is this?”

“...?”

Why did he sound flustered?

I immediately took Braun out of my pocket.

Something that hadn't been there before was hanging around the plush doll's neck.

... A hologram of a black rope.

The mark of the sacrifice.

“...?!”

Had Braun just been selected as the sacrifice?

‘A ghost-story resident?’

Just as I was about to go mad with confusion over whether my theory had been completely wrong and whether this was something to worry about, Braun started talking.

“Pardon? What do you mean, participate in a teaching demonstration...? My job is interviewing teachers, not teaching children myself. Good heavens!”

“For the love of show business! You people are far too dull. Stuck in a rut, inflexible, and utterly lacking in popular appeal.

“Count me out.”

Then he snapped his stuffing-filled hand.

And... astonishingly, the rope vanished from the plush doll's neck!

“...!!”

“Invoking rules to drag me in when I'm not even a suitable participant! What a thoroughly unprofessional kindergarten.”

“...”

‘Being classified as nonhuman... It really did work.’

Though not quite the way I'd expected.

That much was certain, seeing how Braun had been chosen, only for the ghost story to pass the rope to someone else simply because he'd refused to participate.

“...”

Wait.

‘Passed it on?’

I hastily looked down at my neck.

Still clear.

‘Who did it go to?’

I was glad it wasn't me, but was this really happening? Someone else was going to die at random because a ghost-story resident had refused to take the baton?

“Roe Deer.”

Still flustered, I turned to Deputy Eun Haje.

“Deputy, I just...”

“...”

“...”

There, before my eyes as I turned.

“Don't panic. Take a deep breath. Slowly.”

The deputy grinned.

“I'm going to ask you a favor... Say no if you don't think you can do it.”

“Deputy.”

“I'd like to do it myself, but I can't.”

Still grinning, the deputy tapped her own neck.

“It's a done deal, you see.”

The neck with the black rope around it.

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

[Hungry Hangman]

: A ghost story featured in <Records of Dark Exploration>. Its Daydream Inc. identification code is Qterw-B-191.

A Darkness based on the word-guessing game. It permits explorers no exceptions to any of its rules.

They can never escape their assigned roles.

The resulting psychological conflict and terror are superb.

Each time the other explorers correctly guess something about the sacrifice designated as the hangman, the sacrifice ascends the gallows, ultimately to be hanged.

There are no exceptions.

* * *

“I suppose I should be glad there's time for some last words, at least.”

No.

“Wait, please, just wait a—”

“Enough.”

The deputy's grin turned bitter.

“Hey... I'm going to die either way.”

“...!”

“The only difference is whether I die and you live, or we all die together.”

... It was true.

If the participants failed to guess the correct word by the end of the game, they were disposed of.

The hangman was disposed of along with them.

There were no exceptions.

Damn it.

“Now, listen carefully. I've set up some things to be automatically purchased from the points mall if I die in a workplace accident.”

“...”

“Just make sure the team leader checks them properly. He's surprisingly scatterbrained sometimes.”

In that moment, I realized.

She had completely accepted the situation.

KZZZT—

“...!”

“Pull yourself together. It's starting.”

In one corner of the playroom, an old-fashioned TV flickered to life with a crackle of static.

[“Hello, teachers of ■■ English Kindergarten! Today, we'll learn a fun game you can play with your pupils!”]

[“It's... Hangman!”]

The rope around the deputy's neck writhed violently.

“...!”

Taking solid form, ropes coiled around her arms and legs, one by one, lifting her into the air.

[“Today's teacher, new hire Eun Haje, will lead the game!”]

Then enormous blanks appeared on the TV.

* * *

[“Hangman! Let's Guess the Word Together!”]

The hanging had begun.