Chapter 71

Buying every single product in the Alien Shop.

'Wow.'

My hands were shaking a little. It was my first time burning through 130 million won on a handful of purchases.

Still, having spent tens of millions before made it a little easier.

'Let's put these to good use.'

They would all serve as stepping stones toward survival.

I boldly hit the purchase button.

Purchase Successful!

Your goods have boarded

a rocket!

Soon, just as before, a rift in spacetime opened in midair, revealing a delivery box. Heart pounding, I waited for it to drop to the floor...

But then,

"...??"

The package stayed suspended in the air.

Someone was holding it with exceedingly courteous movements.

... A tentacle.

"...!?"

TAP TAP

The tentacle gently jiggled the delivery box, as if asking, 'Shall I put it here?'

"...! You can put it on the floor."

The package smoothly settled onto the floor.

"Thank you."

But the tentacle didn't immediately disappear.

Instead, it deftly pulled something from the rift in spacetime and offered it to me.

It was a little greeting card gleaming gold.

I'm a Space Shopping Mall VIP!

~Gratitude Cells Enclosed~

"... Thank you?"

Once I took the card, the tentacle gave something like a wave and vanished into the rift.

"..."

Hmm.

It seemed the Alien Shop had started treating me as a VIP...

'That's... good, right?'

For now, I decided to keep the thank-you card. Its gold surface shimmered in a riot of colors...

"Good heavens. How do they manage to make even a tag card so hideous...?"

Apparently, expecting good design from the Alien Shop was a mistake. Well...

'What matters is how the items perform.'

I turned my attention to the delivery box.

It was unboxing time.

"Whew."

When I opened the box, the bulkiest item caught my eye first.

An item with a list price of 28 million won.

'Happy Maker.'

It came in a cheerful pastel box.

The rectangular box looked like something that might hold liquid digestive medicine or vitamin drinks. Inside stood twelve glow sticks, each about the size of a highlighter.

Except a needle popped out of the end of each glow stick.

Sold under the same name in the ghost story 'Delusion Home Shopping'...

The perfect painkiller.

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Delusion Home Shopping

/ Items

Happy Maker

Is life painful?

For those who lose sleep over unexplained pain, and those afraid of suffering an accident, here is your perfect savior.

Allow us to proudly introduce the fast-acting pain eliminator, 'Happy Maker'!

—Product description from 'Delusion Home Shopping,' September 9, 20XX

* * *

It did exactly what it said.

I read the description printed on the box.

A Quick and Comfortable Shot

Say Goodbye to Your Pain!

Press this stick-shaped autoinjector against your skin, and it automatically delivers a shot that quickly and comfortably 'eliminates' pain altogether for a set period.

'This really is technology beyond our time.'

Even if the mechanism behind it was supernatural rather than scientific.

Pain really did cloud your judgment in extreme situations.

After everything I'd been through, braving all kinds of injury risks, I could say that with certainty. This would come in handy someday.

'Though I'd rather never need it... Ha.'

Let's give up on that futile hope...

'This shitty ghost-story world...'

I readily resolved to keep this item on hand.

Even if the back did have some horrifying 'Additional Instructions' printed in tiny letters.

In irreversible situations, this product may be used for euthanasia.

Yeah. Never using it for that.

'Pain relief only for you.'

"Ah, painkillers. I, too, used to take headache medicine on occasion. The agony of creation! Such is the fate of an entertainer and show creator."

... How exactly did a ghost-story resident with a TV for a head take headache medicine... No, never mind.

I quickly banished the image that sprang to mind, offered Braun a few flattering words to leave him feeling pleased with himself, and looked into the box again.

Whew.

'The next item is...'

Two items came into view at once.

An extremely ominous-looking old book, covered in dust and completely sealed in dark red wax.

And rolled up in the corner beside it, some sleek, modern, eco-friendly cushioning wrap.

Yes, literally. There was nothing wrapped inside it; the wrapping itself was the item.

Wrapping Paper 12B357na

Aside from those words embossed on the outside alongside a barcode, it didn't have so much as a basic description.

Doesn't sound like much?

Wrong.

'It's here. My armor!'

This was 'cushioning wrap' with some unusual properties.

It would become my precious lifeline.

With the utmost care, I safely stored the wrapping paper away. I'd use it when the time was right.

Then I turned my head...

I regarded the old book with a cold gaze.

Necronomicon

The Necronomicon.

Also known as the Book of the Dead.

It was the quintessential fictional grimoire filled with forbidden knowledge.

After appearing in all kinds of stories for decades, it had apparently become synonymous with an utterly evil grimoire.

And, naturally, it had earned a place in <Records of Dark Exploration>, where I'd read about it.

So what were the Necronomicon's usual, clichéd traits?

1. Reading it drives you insane.

2. Made of human skin.

"..."

Yes.

That meant actual human skin.

Which was why its signature cover image was the flayed skin of a face screaming in agony.

I could faintly make that out even through the dark red wax coating the old book I'd received.

'Ha.'

I really... didn't even want to touch it.

"Mr. Roe Deer, did you just say Necronomicon? Ah, that translation. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while."

The Host of an American talk-show-themed ghost story knew the Necronomicon? That was so obvious it didn't even surprise me...

Unfortunately, though.

'I doubt this is the Necronomicon you know.'

"Hmm?"

It's a thing, you punk.

Without a word, I picked up the 'Necronomicon,' firmly sealed in wax, and stored it in my forearm.

'Whew.'

That took care of my 'item for making threats.'

Next, I safely put away the Nostalgia Candy I was already familiar with.

'Let's call this an emergency recovery item.'

Even if I ended up in danger of severe contamination, it should provide first aid until I could escape.

'... Good.'

And finally.

I focused on the little red button casually deposited in a corner of the package.

By process of elimination, this item could only be one thing.

We Help! - ₩66,666,666

Have you ever heard that internet ghost story?

Someone gives you a button and asks, 'If you press this, someone will die, and in return, 100 million won will be deposited into your account. Will you press it?' What would you do?

This red button looked exactly like something out of that story.

On closer inspection, I spotted a little inscription on the side. Only...

'I don't recognize the language.'

"Do you need a translation, my friend?"

I enlisted Braun's help with this part.

"Hmm. Yes. You may understand it as 'emergency escape,' Mr. Roe Deer!"

I see. So pressing this little button let you make an 'emergency escape with alien assistance.'

'I hope it's worth sixty million won.'

Honestly, buying it had been close to gambling, but I had no regrets.

'The Alien Shop doesn't scam people.'

With any other ghost story, I might have entertained horrible possibilities like, 'Will pressing this make my brain escape my skull in an emergency and end up as a cooking ingredient?'... But let's trust the Alien Shop's reliability.

"All done."

"My friend really is a tidy soul. I like that!"

And so I stored all my shopping spoils in the tattoo on my wrist.

A person completely contaminated by a ghost story had gone in and come out without a problem, so items like these should be fine too.

... Though that wasn't how I'd wanted to establish that fact.

'Whew.'

Let's stop thinking about it.

Fortunately, shopping and putting everything away hadn't eaten up all my daylight hours, so I managed to catch up on some sleep in broad daylight.

And when I woke up again, news I'd briefly forgotten about came crashing in.

[Go Youngeun: Have you checked the intranet?]

[Go Youngeun: The regular personnel assignment notice just went up!]

"...!"

Regular personnel assignments.

That meant Team D's vacancies would soon... be filled.

"..."

Who would it be?

* * *

A few days later.

"Good morning."

"Oh, yes, hello."

I met the employee newly assigned to Team D in the office.

The same rank as me: supervisor.

He looked about the age I'd been before entering this ghost-story world.

The bespectacled employee gave me a quick once-over.

"Oh, so you're that supervisor? The one promoted in sixty days?"

"Yes."

"So you're really just a new hire, then?"

"..."

I looked at him quietly.

"Ooh, look at that stare. What? Want me to treat you like a supervisor with three years on the job?"

Then I smiled.

"Of course not. I look forward to learning from you, sir."

"Right. Hey, people tell you you're pretty quick on the uptake, don't they?"

"Haha..."

"This Field Exploration Team business is all group projects. Reading the room! That's what it's all about."

Is it?

"People whine about wanting senior treatment because they got promoted early, get on everyone's bad side, and die because nobody helps them. Happens all the time, you know?"

As he spoke, he slowly looked around the empty office.

"I hear the deputy and supervisor who used to be here got their hand chopped off, got contaminated, all that shit. You could've been next."

"..."

I turned my head slightly.

One spot in the office had been cleared out completely.

It had been Supervisor Park Minseong's desk.

A few days ago, when I'd come to work the day after the regular personnel notice went up, all the little decorations, the cup, and the photo frame had already vanished.

"That's true. It could be you, too."

"... What?"

"There are so many dangerous assignments, after all. I'll do my best to support you so that doesn't happen. I look forward to working with you."

I politely offered my hand.

"Uh..."

He looked at me with a slightly uneasy expression, but apparently decided he was imagining things and shook it.

A short while later.

"Section Chief! Supervisor Yoon Johun, reporting in. I look forward to working with you!"

Section Chief Lee Jaheon nodded at his new team member's greeting as he entered the office.

"Yes."

"Haha, did you know our names have the same initial consonants? Doesn't it seem like I was destined to work under you?"

"Yes."

"... No, what I mean is... uh, it feels like fate, right?"

"No."

"..."

Having utterly failed at small talk, our new teammate, Yoon Johun, came over to whisper to me the moment the team leader left the office for a meeting.

"Hey. Does Team D's leader actually have some kind of mental disability? I'd heard rumors."

"Is that how he strikes you?"

"You heard that conversation. How can you not see it? I thought I was talking to a free AI."

He let out a heavy sigh.

"Ah, fuck. This company is already the perfect place to go mentally ill... Whew. And now our team leader's like that?"

"Team Leader Lee Jaheon takes good care of his team members, though..."

"So what? If you're dead, it's over anyway. I hear he can't understand a damn thing anyone says, does whatever the fuck he wants even inside Darkness, and got on Team A's leader's bad side. Is that rumor true?"

"..."

"Guess it is. Ugh, fuck. You watch yourself, too. Of all the teams to get stuck with..."

Grumbling, Supervisor Yoon Johun left, saying he was going to the restroom, and didn't return for several dozen minutes.

"..."

So I had to work with a bastard like that...

"Oh dear... You don't look particularly happy, Mr. Roe Deer."

"Is there anything I, Braun, can do to help? As you know, I am your Good Friend, am I not?"

"If a friend asks, I would gladly..."

'Yeah. Let's watch a variety show together after work.'

"Ah, that sounds nice, too!"

That exchange helped me calm down a little.

Right.

Strictly speaking, I'd had absurdly good luck with people before.

'This is the default for office life...'

Let's be grateful that supervisor hadn't been the one training me.

I quickly composed myself.

That afternoon.

"I'll now brief you on the Darkness we're entering tomorrow."

Back from his meeting, Section Chief Lee Jaheon distributed a PDF and began the briefing.

Our new supervisor was appalled.

"Grade undetermined? Wait, is this a Darkness without a manual?"

"No."

Lizard looked at Supervisor Yoon Johun with his vertically slit pupils.

"Apparently, each time it is cleared, the liquid in the Dream Essence Collector registers a different grade."

"...!"

An anomaly?

"B-but why give that to a regular team like Team D instead of an Elite Team?"

"It wasn't assigned exclusively to Team D. All field exploration personnel in regular teams will attempt entry."

Team Leader Lizard turned toward me.

"This is because the Darkness is entered through dreams, and the probability of failing to enter at all is high."

"...!"

"The basics are as follows. If you read a particular book and fall asleep on the night of a full moon, you may wake up in a school at night."

Wait a second.

"If that school is named 'Segwang Technical High School,' you have successfully entered the Darkness."

Segwang Technical High School.

"..."

I knew this ghost story.

But it wasn't just that I knew it...

'... This is a ghost story I contributed to.'

Exploration Record #13

I was the one who had written the thirteenth entry in that ghost story's exploration records.