Chapter 68

Morning.

I sit in the quiet office.

-Ah, a refreshing winter morning. How about a cup of coffee, my friend?

Sure. Let's have some at lunch.

As I tidy my desk a little and chat with Braun to chase away the silence, my lizard-headed boss comes through the door around 8:50.

I approached and greeted him politely.

"Good morning, Team Leader."

"Yes."

I raised my head and continued.

"I heard you helped arrange my paid leave. ... Thank you."

"Yes."

Lizard looked at me, moving only his eyes.

"Will you be able to perform your duties in the same condition as two weeks ago?"

"Yes. I can work as I did before. Even if my results aren't quite what they used to be, I'll get back into the rhythm as quickly as possible."

"I see."

His slit pupils stared straight at me.

"I will assess that and make up for any shortcomings."

Hmm.

By now, I could more or less translate that.

'Does he mean he'll keep an eye on how I'm doing and cover for me, so I just need to keep working hard as usual?'

I was starting to think that even if his appearance and word choices were those of a lizard, he was a good boss, so what did it matter...?

Of course, that didn't mean I could let my guard down.

'For the time being, I absolutely have to keep clearing Darkness well.'

I'd already been given paid leave.

But what if an employee who'd been so efficient he made supervisor in sixty days came back from his break and couldn't produce results like before?

That would get people around the company talking.

Because it would look strange.

["But none of his colleagues died. They all made it out alive, didn't they?"]

["Hmm... That Kim Soleum must be surprisingly vulnerable to psychological trauma."]

["But if he's that mentally fragile... how did he manage to get those results all this time?"]

... That sort of thing.

'Nothing good will come of people getting suspicious.'

I couldn't give them anything to latch onto in the first place.

'Let's clear this properly.'

Even if... I hadn't managed to buy any new, reliable items yet.

I recalled the message that had been displayed on the Alien Shop's homepage throughout my leave.

<Space Shopping Mall>

※ Redecorating (A Temporary Situation) ※

>>I understand!

That's right.

The website was being revamped...

'When will it reopen?'

I'd never seen any documents about a revamp, so it would probably be over and open again soon.

My budget was fixed, so I planned to secure new items after seeing what the reopened Alien Shop had to offer.

For now, I should get back to basics and focus on clearing Darkness properly.

'They won't send me into another high-grade Darkness for a while, anyway.'

I couldn't do anything about the strange emptiness left by our reduced numbers, but quitting wasn't an option... so I had to manage somehow.

I deliberately put a little energy into my voice.

"Will I still be going into Darkness starting today? I heard we're likely to be assigned to support another team since we're below our full complement of three..."

"Correct."

Oh.

"Which team are we supporting today?"

With any luck, I might meet one of the recruits from my intake I hadn't met ye—

"An elite team."

...

What??

Again?

"Do you mean Team A?"

"No."

"... Which team, then?"

"Team C."

A team I'd never met.

The fact that they were an elite team bothered me, but at least Team A's leader and Lee Jaheon wouldn't be crossing paths... or so I was thinking when—

'Huh?'

Come to think of it, in a sense, Team C wasn't entirely unfamiliar.

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

That suspicious deputy who'd introduced me to Salmon Market!

'He definitely said Team C.'

Maybe I'd finally see his face this time.

But there was a more important question to ask first.

If an elite team was going into this Darkness...

"Would this happen to be a high-grade Darkness that's difficult to clear?"

"By what metric would you like me to judge?"

"... I'm sorry. That was poorly phrased."

"?"

"Um. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me its grade and whether there's a manual."

"It's D-grade. The manual is complete."

Oh, then I probably wouldn't have to witness any insanity like calling in the Cleanup Team to use as meat shields. Much reassured, I asked more comfortably,

"Understood. When should we head out, then?"

"We will depart in five minutes."

Yes, sir.

And so we picked up our bags, left the office, and started walking.

But...

"..."

"..."

"Team Leader."

"Yes."

"Why are we heading toward the Annex instead of Team C's office?"

"Because Team C has already entered the Darkness."

"..."

What?

After a few more questions and answers with Team Leader Lizard, here was what I managed to learn:

[Team C's leader is on leave, leaving two team members.]

[Today's ghost story is D-grade.]

[But Team C decided there was no point sticking to the full complement of three for such low-grade Darkness and went in on their own, ignoring procedure. This sent Administration scrambling to assign additional personnel.]

"..."

Wow.

When I'd first joined, Deputy Eun Haje had practically breathed fire over their stopgap excuse of "There are three of you if you count the new recruit."

'These people voluntarily went in with two...'

This did not bode well.

-Hmm, participants who don't follow instructions! A fine host must be able to manage every element of a show, especially its human resources.

-Will today be Mr. Roe Deer's chance to learn that skill? Let's find out. Shall we get going with some spirit, my friend?

I wanted to collapse in a listless heap...

But I needed points, and it was indeed about time I went back into Darkness.

'Not one of the elite-team members I've met so far has been normal...'

And I had a strong feeling this time would be no different.

Still, a lowly supervisor who'd only been here half a year had to do as he was told.

If I didn't like it, I should have joined Team A... though of course, if I had, I'd already have been shunted off to the Cleanup Team and ended up a corpse.

'... Do I miss them already?'

I kept walking, trying not to think of my two superiors from Team D.

Section Chief Lee Jaheon handed me a tablet.

"You have ten minutes to familiarize yourself with the manual."

"Is there a reason I only get ten minutes?"

"Because the entry window will close shortly, and the survival rate over the past two quarters has approached 97 percent."

Thank you for the kind explanation...

'So now I just take a three-percent death rate in stride...'

Honestly, under these circumstances, with a complete manual available, the three percent who died were usually either incredibly unlucky or had done something unpredictable.

'It'll be fine.'

Feeling something between unease and resignation, I looked down at the tablet...

"..."

"..."

-Hmm? Mr. Roe Deer, your mind seems to have gone completely blank.

Yeah.

Because I'm screwed.

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

[Not Knowing Is the Right Answer]

: A ghost story appearing in <Records of Dark Exploration>. Its Daydream Inc. identification code is Qterw-D-2367.

A nerve-racking, classic ghost story in which you must spend an entire night among ghosts.

* * *

"..."

Wait.

Hold on a moment, Team Leader...!

Instead of wailing that I wouldn't go in, I barely managed a rational suggestion.

"Um, would it be possible to spend another thirty minutes preparing before we enter?"

"No."

"..."

Right. He'd said the entrance was closing...

That hadn't been a particularly rational suggestion.

"..."

Aaaaagh! Seriously!!

Why did this have to be my first assignment back?!

"There are no recorded deaths apart from two people who died of cardiac arrest. It's safe compared to others of the same grade."

"... Yes."

'That's not why I'm acting like this...!'

I'd simply gotten something wrong.

I'd become so caught up in "building my persona as an elite recruit" that I'd forgotten.

Even before my paid leave... I'd just been a guy who hated scary things and speedran everything while sobbing internally.

And now my comeback ghost story was a hell of pure, classic horror—the kind I was weakest against.

'Half the group will be strangers, and elite-team members at that. I can't pull any tricks.'

The grade was even low enough that using a tattoo sticker would feel like a waste, leaving me no choice but to grit my teeth and tough it out.

This wouldn't be a situation where my survival instincts sounded the alarm and sent me running for my life, desperately searching for an escape. I'd have to feel every bit of it, unfiltered...

The horror the wiki writer had intended.

'Whew...'

At least I'd stumbled into that game of tag with the convenience-store ghost without knowing what I was getting into.

It felt as if I'd been jolted back to reality by a splash of cold water. Should I call it shock therapy?

Feeling like I was being dragged to the slaughterhouse, I reluctantly entered the Darkness on my own two feet.

My legs trembled.

"This way."

One small mercy was that this wasn't the sort of Darkness that warped space and time and swallowed us into some strange place.

This time, entry was very simple.

Knock on and enter an enclosed space that met specific conditions, and that place became the ghost story.

An enclosed indoor space with four walls and a ceiling, with no people within a hundred meters in any direction.

There must be no windows or other interior features allowing a view outside, and there must be exactly one analog clock.

The volume must be approximately 40 m³. The Darkness will not manifest if it differs by 4 m³ or more.

Our company had apparently renovated part of the Annex to create a separate space satisfying these conditions, and used it on an everyday basis too.

Specifically, a space measuring 4 m × 4 m × 2.4 m...

[Break Room]

Team Leader Lee Jaheon and I stopped in front of the door bearing that sign.

It was indeed a break room beside an ordinary office, but the conditions had been met.

A Wednesday on a date ending in the digit 4.

The ghost story begins when the door to the enclosed space is knocked on in a specific rhythm.

"..."

I... have to do it, don't I?

Because I'm the junior?

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK-KNOCK, KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

I knocked on the door, trying not to let my trembling hand show.

Then, as if by magic, the door clicked open.

"Huh?"

"Who are these... Oh!"

Two employees were sitting comfortably inside. They waved when they saw us.

"Oh, are you here as support?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, we said we didn't need anyone, but they sent you anyway."

As the employees chatted between themselves about how more people clearing meant the points would be split further, the raw Dream Essence would be more diluted, and so on, Team Leader Lizard answered,

"If you have complaints, apply for a departmental transfer and revise the general field exploration manual."

"..."

"..."

The two employees gaped, then finally nodded awkwardly.

"Yes... Um, we weren't trying to criticize you for coming. Sorry..."

"Hahaha, that was rather rude of us! We're very sorry. You're the section chief from Team D, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then you're..."

"Supervisor Roe Deer."

"Ohhh!"

Both their expressions changed again.

"You're that recruit who nearly joined Team A, right? I heard Deputy Butterfly had her eye firmly on you!"

"I also heard you saved an employee who was supposed to die... Oh, you'll have to tell us about it once we're out of here!"

"It's not that impressive a story. I was just lucky... But yes. It's good to meet you too."

At their invitation, Section Chief Lee Jaheon and I sat together at a small table in the corner of the break room.

"We're spending the whole night together, so let's at least introduce ourselves. You can call her Supervisor Dolphin."

"Nice to meetcha, Supervisor Roe Deer."

The petite woman wearing a dolphin mask waved when she was introduced. Her speech was rather bubbly.

Then a somewhat tanned man with an affable, sociable manner grinned and offered me his hand.

"And I'm Leopard. Deputy Leopard."

"Yes. Deputy Leopard."

Hmm.

[K.LEE: Oh, hello there, Employee, haha.]

Lee Gangheon's profile picture had definitely been a Hawaiian beach. The tan fit.

And there was the matching rank and sociable attitude too.

'I think this is him.'

Of course, I intended to keep an open mind. I didn't know his real name yet.

And naturally, I had no intention of acting like I knew him in front of my boss.

"I look forward to working with you."

"Yep. Let's spend the night here in our break room, munching on snacks!"

Anyway, up to this point, it sounded like the sort of conversation people might have settling in for a late night at the office.

And indeed, the walls of the break room wouldn't suddenly start weeping blood, the room wouldn't flip upside down, and the coffee machine wouldn't turn into a killing machine.

But...

'The ghosts are already here.'

Some of the explorers are replaced by ghosts.

That's right.

Someone taking part in this conversation had already been replaced by a ghost.

Possibly more than one.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Oh, I'll make it."

"Nah, we don't make the junior do that in our team. Stay seated."

There was no knowing when it happened. Perhaps the instant you crossed the threshold, perhaps the moment you sat down and exchanged greetings...

'The people replaced by ghosts actually have it easy.'

They simply lost consciousness upon entering the break room and woke up the next day.

The problem was the manual for those who hadn't become ghosts.

"..."

The rules I had to follow.

The ghosts are identical to the explorers in every respect, including appearance, identity, and personality, but create a sense of unease by doing things humans would not do.

However, you must not notice who the ghosts are.

Every explorer who openly showed signs of having realized it has disappeared.

I-I could do this.

'I just have to let my eyes pass over things and ignore them.'

I could do this!

If someone's mouth split into a huge grin or something, all I had to do was look away and bear it, right?

'When that happens, I'll casually pretend to look at someone else and hold out.'

With this many people, I felt I could manage.

I'd wondered if all my experiences had only made me more of a coward, but perhaps I'd actually gotten a little better with horror.

At least I wasn't bathing in cold sweat imagining what was about to happen!

"Oh! The entrance just closed completely. Now we just have to stick it out with everyone here."

"Ooh!"

"Great. Let's do this!!"

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!

The employees beamed and applauded. It was a heartwarming scene.

Except for one thing.

"Yay!"

Everyone in the room was clapping with the backs of their hands.

"..."

Ah.

"Huh? Mr. Roe Deer. Why aren't you clapping?"

"..."

"Why?"

Deputy Leopard leaned his face right up to mine.

"Is something bothering you?"