Chapter 67

After that, everything was handled fairly quickly.

Apparently, I had earned myself yet another impressive distinction at the company.

Employees rescuing contaminated colleagues on their own did happen from time to time, apparently, but most spent months or even years preparing before staking their lives on the attempt. Countless others went missing themselves while trying.

Dragging someone out immediately after contamination like this was supposedly unprecedented among new recruits.

“Look, that antlered mask...”

“Oh, that's him?”

“Wow... How many times has it been now?”

Sometimes, as I walked through the company corridors, I heard whispers behind me.

Come to think of it, similar things had happened several times before while Team D was eating together in the cafeteria...

Maybe it was because I was alone now, but the whispers stood out more.

That didn't last long, though.

“Mr. Kim Soleum.”

“Yes?”

“Starting tomorrow, do not come to work for ten days.”

“...??”

“You are on paid leave.”

With half its members gone, Team D's operations had already been temporarily suspended. Now I had been granted leave, too.

'I'd still been coming in every day for the past few days to write incident reports.'

They were intensely curious about how on earth we'd bent the rules to bring Deputy Eun Haje out alive from a B-grade Darkness that required the hangman to die before anyone could clear it.

'Someone must have reported that Supervisor Park Minseong and I were trying something.'

Apparently, there had even been talk of scheduling interviews with the research team to bolster the exploration records' credibility...

[“Oh, Supervisor Kim. What do you need to do that for? Rest, get some rest! You've done something incredible!”]

[“... Right. Thank you.”]

But Section Chief Lee Byeongjin, who handled manual reviews, and our own Section Chief Lee Jaheon seemed to have put a stop to that.

Funnily enough, the employees who had gone in with us had apparently testified in their reports that “Kim Soleum must have acted solely to save his teammates, without any ulterior motive.”

They'd offered an explanation on my behalf: things had simply fallen into place thanks to quick thinking and luck.

'They all bolted the moment the exit opened, but they still put in a good word for me.'

The former was only natural, and I was grateful for the latter, so I decided to accept it as it was.

Anyway, thanks to that, my name was making the rounds on the company phone lines again, and the <Hungry Hangman> manual had been tagged “Potential Revision.”

The recruits' group chat was trying to pry information out of me again, too...

[Go Youngeun: You've been through a lot.]

“...”

Some people sent comforting messages as well.

'Thank you. Really.'

For the record, Baek Saheon hadn't asked how I was doing even once, not even at home.

'That's just the kind of bastard he is...'

I hadn't expected anything from him.

In any case, the situation so far wasn't bad for my survival.

'No, maybe it was actually good.'

I was continuing to build an impressive career.

Specifically, I was steadily establishing myself as a Named Employee defined by “fast clears through fresh approaches rather than following the existing manuals” and “kindheartedness.”

And now, ten days off.

I had expected either to be happy about spending ten whole days away from ghost stories or disappointed that I'd be earning points more slowly.

But I didn't really feel either.

So I just did nothing...

“Mr. Roe Deer, would you care to hear my opinion on precisely how that abysmal comedy failed to capture its audience's attention? Braun's insights will be most fascinating!”

“Sure, why not.”

I spent a few days sitting in the living room, watching TV.

About three days passed like that.

... Then a text arrived.

[Deputy Eun Haje: Come see me at the hospital.]

“...!”

* * *

“Hey, Roe Deer. You're here.”

“... Deputy.”

I set the get-well gift I'd brought beneath the nightstand and stood beside the bed.

Deputy Eun Haje chuckled.

“Soy milk? Good choice.”

“... Thank you.”

This was our first meeting since we'd exchanged a few words when she briefly regained consciousness in the infirmary...

She looked a little pale, but otherwise fine.

The Snow Mountain Apple seemed to have helped to some extent.

“Not bad for someone who nearly died, huh? ... That was a good item. Thanks.”

The item had made Deputy Eun Haje look like a corpse, but fortunately, the unusual fact that she was missing a hand rather than her head meant she'd been kept in isolation.

'They said Section Chief Lee Jaheon confirmed she was alive at sunrise the next day, reported it, and had her moved to the infirmary...'

Now she'd been transferred to a hospital with some sort of affiliation with the company, where she'd apparently just finished receiving urgent treatment.

“Oh, I just told them the apple was something I'd had lying around. People usually don't want their sources exposed.”

“... Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for? I'm the one who should be saying that to you and Minseong.”

Deputy Eun Haje started to lift her left hand as though to wave off my thanks, then paused.

It wasn't there.

“...”

Her bandaged left arm ended in a blunt stump at the wrist.

The standard-issue potions the company provided couldn't regenerate missing body parts like that.

“... Um, Deputy.”

I voiced what I'd been thinking.

“The C-grade Regeneration Potion I have...”

“Don't tell me you're offering it to me?”

“I was going to sell it to you for money.”

“Hah.”

Deputy Eun Haje clicked her tongue.

“Listen carefully, Roe Deer. Items that can only be bought with points aren't things you can buy outside for any ordinary amount of money.”

“...”

“Besides, using that potion over one severed hand would be a waste. That stuff can more or less grow back half your limbs.”

“But still,”

“Forget it. I'll sort out my hand myself. You keep it for emergencies.”

A slightly somber gleam entered her eyes.

“If you keep going into Darkness, there'll definitely come a time when you lose more than a hand.”

A small chill ran down my spine...

“Actually, I've got something to give you.”

Using her one remaining hand with the ease of someone who'd been doing it for years, Deputy Eun Haje reached into a drawer.

She pulled out a gold-foil box decorated with an elegant oil painting.

“...?!”

[Daydream Potion]

'W-wait a minute.'

That was a box for Daydream Inc.'s special potions!

It was even more ornate than the one my C-grade Regeneration Potion had come in.

“Deputy, what are you...”

“Here, see? There's one left.”

Deputy Eun Haje flipped the box open.

The silk lining inside was shaped into hollows for two round glass bottles.

But one was already empty.

She took out the remaining bottle and casually tossed it to me.

“Take it.”

“...!”

Good God.

I hastily reached out and caught the glass bottle before it could fall, then examined it.

Inside, a liquid that looked woven from purple and silver swam smoothly about in graceful lines...

: Daydream Potion :

Poison

Desert Rattlesnake (Outstanding)

Poison?!

“What you bought with your points was...”

“That's right.”

Deputy Eun Haje grinned, baring her teeth.

“Handle it carefully. That's a Death Note worth 170,000 points.”

“...!!”

“You can kill people secretly from a distance.”

W-wait just a moment.

With trembling hands, I read the description on the glass bottle.

Desert Rattlesnake poison quietly and cruelly assists your revenge.

Perform a simple ritual and breathe your target's name into the bottle...

And that night, a horrific death will visit your target.

“In short, if there's some bastard you want dead, it's perfect for taking them out without a trace.”

“...”

“Apparently, before they die, they suffer intense burning pain and mental torture so horrific they want to curse the world. Then they fall into a coma and spend four hours suffering what feels like four years before they go.”

And you were giving me a murder weapon like that...?

Deputy Eun Haje grumbled things like, “They insist on selling two bottles as a set because snakes have two venom glands,” and, “That damn theme doubled the time I had to keep working.”

But in the end, she looked at me and grinned.

“If you ever find a fucker you want dead, use it.”

“...!”

“I had one.”

I made a low sound as I looked at the empty space in the box.

... So she really had used it already!

“Curious? About who I used it on?”

I couldn't help recalling it instinctively.

[“The word that best describes Teacher Eun Haje is ‘betrayer’!”]

The revelation in <Hungry Hangman>.

“If it's personal and you're uncomfortable discussing it, you don't have to tell me...”

“Uncomfortable? Hey, I'm dying to talk about it.”

W-well, in that case.

Deputy Eun Haje folded her arms and leaned back against the bed.

“To cut to the chase... Yes, I did cause trouble as a reporter and change jobs because of it.”

“...”

“I tried to dig up a scoop on a politician's kid who was involved in drugs, human trafficking, and every other kind of crazy shit. Wrecked my life doing it.”

Her tone was as matter-of-fact as ever, but the story itself was anything but.

It merely had the neatness of an account refined through years of thought and reflection.

Her article hadn't made it past the news desk. Starting the next day, the entire team had come under tremendous pressure. They were stalked, their families received threatening phone calls...

“Actually, the team had decided to scrap the whole thing and quietly pretend it never happened. But I couldn't stomach that, so I tried taking it to an overseas news outlet to break the story. It was a betrayal, sure. But...”

A small sigh.

“On the day I was supposed to fly out, I got a call. All four informants were dead. Just like that.”

“...”

“Well, officially, they killed themselves out of despair over their circumstances... Obviously, that wasn't it, right? They were either murdered or tormented until they died.”

“...”

“I was the idiot who thought everything would be solved once the story got out.”

“You weren't.”

“Stupid is stupid. Anyway...”

Deputy Eun Haje quit journalism.

She said she simply couldn't keep doing it.

“But I needed a job. I had people at home to feed.”

Fortunately, she found a suitable company then.

One that hired new recruits across a relatively wide age range and favored sales applicants with experience in various fields.

A pharmaceutical company in a different industry, where she wouldn't be blacklisted.

“Daydream Inc.”

And after joining, she had discovered...

Wish Coupons.

“Well... At first, I wondered if I could bring all the dead people back. But that felt like an insult to the dead.”

Deputy Eun Haje adjusted her folded arms.

“Running around trying to bring them back without asking, just because I feel guilty, would only be for my own satisfaction. The dead deserve to be respected as they are. Plenty of bastards at our company wouldn't agree, though. Anyway...”

She finished with a faint smile.

“So I got my revenge last night, and that's the end of it.”

“...”

“If you see the news about a politician's kid dying horribly, just know I killed him.”

Then Deputy Eun Haje stretched luxuriously.

“Ah... F*ck. Finally quitting this goddamn Darkness exploration!”

“Are you leaving the company?”

“You never know what life has in store.”

Despite her breezy declaration, her expression was somewhat stiff.

She'd mentioned it lightly to avoid burdening me, but Supervisor Park Minseong was clearly weighing on her mind...

“Still, I'll be resting for a while... So I won't be able to work on Team D like before.”

“...”

Deputy Eun Haje smiled a little bitterly.

“I made such a fuss about Roe Deer needing to stay on our team. Guess I got my way after all.”

“... Yes.”

The realization struck me instinctively.

From now on... Deputy Eun Haje, who'd sat beside me in the office...

I wouldn't be seeing her anymore, either.

“...”

“Roe Deer.”

“...”

“Having a hard time?”

“...!”

“Yeah. You'd be a fucking sociopath if you weren't. It's hitting you late because you've been so capable, but it's something everyone goes through.”

Deputy Eun Haje smiled and tapped her chest.

“Not seeing the teammate who sat beside you the very next day.”

“...”

“But give yourself some credit. This is the best-case scenario. Thanks to how good you are, you're losing sight of a teammate for a good reason.”

“... Supervisor Park Minseong,”

“That's a debt for me to carry.”

Deputy Eun Haje cut me off firmly.

“You rescued him, too. You should be proud of yourself. He's strong in his own way. He'll recover on his own... So just worry about yourself out there.”

Then she glanced at me and smiled.

“The team leader's been pretty worried about you, too.”

“...?”

Lizard was... worried?

“Roe Deer, the team leader's hardly been in the office lately, right?”

That was true.

“Normally, when you lose half your team like this, you don't get time off. You get sent to support other teams.”

Oh.

“But he got you out of it.”

“...!”

“Whether by pulling strings or going in himself in your place.”

Good God.

“Makes you trust him a little, doesn't it? He's been like that since I joined. He's strangely inflexible, but you can count on him.”

Deputy Eun Haje gripped my shoulder with her intact hand.

“It's hard to find trustworthy people to work with at this company. You're lucky there, too. ... Keep working well with the team leader.”

Then she grinned and held it out.

“Whoever takes my place, with Team Leader Lee Jaheon and Kim Soleum there... You'll be all right.”

Her remaining right hand.

“I hope you earn plenty of points safely, Roe Deer.”

I clasped it tightly.

“And that your wish comes true.”

“... Yes.”

I shook hands with Deputy Eun Haje of Team D.

That was the last time.

* * *

On my first day back after leave, I found that Deputy Eun Haje's belongings had vanished from her desk in the Team D Office.

Supervisor Park Minseong's desk was still untouched, but who knew when it might be cleared out?

“...”

I quietly went to my desk and sat down.

And just like that...

I was the only team member left in Team D.