Chapter 8

The ghost stories in <Records of Dark Exploration> have one thing in common.

The more popular they are, the more likely irregularities are to crop up in their exploration logs.

'Because there are multiple writers.'

When a ghost story first appears, its writers stick strictly to the rules.

But what happens when it grows popular and everyone starts writing exploration logs for it?

As the log numbers climb, exceptions gradually emerge, within the bounds of what “makes sense,” to escape repetition and tedium.

The example I had desperately dredged up was one of those exceptions.

An exploration log in which Team J of <Daydream Inc.>'s Field Exploration Team only had to survive twelve hours in an abandoned hospital at night.

Except...

※Special Notes: Exploration ended after 16 hours and 11 minutes.

The exploration had ended after the oddly specific duration of sixteen hours and eleven minutes.

This was indeed the “temporal irregularity” I was looking for. But...

'It actually took them longer to escape.'

Something must have gone wrong during the exploration, leaving them trapped in the ghost story longer than the twelve hours they were supposed to survive.

'Right... They definitely made some kind of mistake.'

I remembered!

'They never got the signal that time was up!'

* * *

(03:12) Employee Lee Jaejin accidentally severed the phone line at the counter.

* * *

That had prevented a call that should have come through to the ward desk.

The shift-change call.

Which led to the insane situation of the doctor continuing to work instead of going home after his twelve-hour night shift.

* * *

(12:12) It is past 7:12 a.m., but the sun has not risen.

* * *

No matter how much time passed, the night never ended.

The employee who had set their wristwatch to 7 p.m. upon entering the ghost story reportedly panicked upon realizing this.

'I think they fought over whether to just get caught and restart, and someone ended up tied up.'

Fortunately, another teammate reconnected the phone line several hours later, allowing events to proceed normally so they could finally escape.

* * *

(16:09) Phone line successfully restored. Phone rang immediately. Waited at least 3 m away from the desk.

(16:11) Doctor answered the phone and disappeared. Escape attempt successful.

* * *

A ghost story that didn't end even after the promised time was up. A chilling irregularity, to be sure.

'Still, there's a clue here.'

Although this case had extended the duration, there was a mechanism I could glean from it.

There had been a trigger signaling that time was up.

'In that case, it was the shift-change call.'

And if that trigger failed to activate, the ghost story wouldn't end.

Thinking about it the other way around...

'Could it end sooner, as long as the trigger signaling the time activates?'

"..."

What was there in a convenience store that could indicate the passage of time?

TAP.

"...!"

Wait.

'... That sound.'

It was coming from above my head.

Without thinking, I looked up at the solid surface overhead.

I was beneath the convenience store counter.

Which meant what was above me was...

The POS terminal.

BEEP.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEE-BEE-BEE-BEEP-BIP-BEEP-BEEP.

The ghost was pressing buttons on the POS terminal.

A recorded voice rang through the convenience store in time with that strange rhythm.

Calling a staff member... Calling a staff, calling a sta calling a staff ca-ca-ca-calling a calling a sta calling a staff member

"...!!"

I got it.

It knew I was underneath.

It was deliberately toying with me instead of catching me.

... Even knowing that, I felt cold sweat trickle down my back rather than anger.

God, this was insane. It was driving me insane.

'Get out.'

I had to get out and run.

But my feet wouldn't move as easily or lightly as I wanted them to. I was no different from an extra in a horror movie who collapses at the sight of a ghost and dies.

'No.'

Even if I got caught either way, I couldn't let myself learn helplessness.

In the end, I somehow forced myself out from beneath the counter.

At that instant.

Calling a staff member.

Suddenlyrightinfrontofmyfaceablueandbloatedface

Grinning wide enough to split its mouth.

- Got you

* * *

Restart.

'...'

I took a very slow, deep breath.

My heart was pounding so hard that my head hurt for a moment, but I endured it.

'It's over.'

My whole body tingled.

'Hang in there.'

Instead, I looked out over the dark convenience store.

This time, instead of heading for the counter, I ran in the opposite direction from the illuminated drinks refrigerator.

Straight toward the entrance.

"..."

Beyond the glass door was pitch-black darkness.

Still, as I tried my hardest to see outside, I spotted something mounted beside the door on the outside.

"...!"

A digital clock.

[12:00⼁04⼁04]

Twelve o'clock, April 4.

Was that the current date in this ghost story's setting?

My eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, also picked out a chime attached to the glass door. The moment I grabbed that door, the ghost would probably hear the bell and come running with those strange footsteps.

'And it probably wouldn't open in the first place....'

The convenience store was the designated place where I had to survive. There would be restrictions.

I looked away from the view beyond the glass door and half concealed myself behind a nearby display.

Then, with my back against the wall, I continued thinking as I kept watch over the store.

The cold sweat running down my temple felt icy.

'I have to survive for three days.'

Then what kind of trigger could signal a time around the point when I'd be done?

Something that would happen in this convenience store three days from now...

'A delivery?'

I glanced at the boxes piled near the glass door.

The time when new stock arrived.

'Somehow find out what goods are due to arrive three days from now. Then disguise something as those goods and put them in early to suggest the time....'

No. That was far too unintuitive.

Simply going through such complicated, fiddly fabrication steps couldn't possibly work.

<Records of Dark Exploration> was internet horror.

'And internet horror is intuitive.'

The more petty conditions and contrived connections there were, the less impact a story had, making it impossible to gain popularity.

'It has to feel simpler, like everything clicks neatly into place.'

In that case...

What item in a convenience store made the passage of time most readily apparent?

"...!"

Right.

I looked at the display closest to the entrance. It looked different from the drinks refrigerator, but it too gave off cold air.

Strangely, however, it held only a few items.

A few dairy drinks and coffees, and... boxed meals and triangular rice balls.

Meals that spoiled quickly.

'... Expiration dates!'

I immediately headed for the display and began picking up boxed meals and rice balls to check them.

'Most triangular rice balls have a shelf life of thirty-six to forty-eight hours.'

Boxed meals were probably similar.

But an oddly large number of them either had expiration dates more than three days away or had their dates messily rubbed out altogether.

Patiently, I inspected the front and back of each item, being careful to make as little noise as possible.

And finally...

'Found it.'

The current time in this ghost story was twelve o'clock on April 4.

An item that expired at twelve o'clock on April 7.

[Soupy Hamburg Steak Boxed Meal]

I picked up the boxed meal.

Then I crossed the convenience store toward the POS terminal.

'Ugh.'

The image of the ghost standing at the counter, frantically pressing the call button, flickered before my eyes.

But that was just my imagination. It hadn't appeared over here yet...

'Stay calm.'

Open the terminal's device settings, then select “Change Date and Time”... Yes, there it was! Holding back a sigh of relief, I peered at the screen.

'Set the time to....'

Exactly two days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-nine minutes after the starting point of midnight on April 4.

[April 7, 11:59 p.m.]

'Please!'

I prayed anxiously.

Press the change button, then confirm...

[Change Complete]

"...!!"

It worked!

'A lot of these won't even let you change the settings. That's at least a silver lining—no, it's a real stroke of luck.'

My hands shook with joy and anxiety, but I steadied them.

Almost there now.

All I had to do was pick up the food I'd brought and register it as due for disposal—

BEE-DEE-DEEP!

"..."

[Disposal Alert]

[An item is approaching its expiration date!]

The POS terminal announced it cheerfully.

That recorded announcement echoed alone through the dark convenience store.

BEE-DEE-DEEP! BEE-DEE-DEEP!

"..."

Frozen stiff, I turned my head.

Far away,

Our eyes met.

It was running toward me.

"You...!"

Don't look at it. Look at the screen. Only the screen!

Please, please! Hurry!

BEEP.

After three failed attempts, my hand finally scanned the barcode.

[Would you like to register this item?]

Hammer Yes...

The footsteps drew closer far too quickly.

That strange t-t-t-t-ticking kept getting closer, but I endured it and kept moving my hands...

[Item registered for disposal.]

The ghost charged at me with those insanely strange footsteps, reaching the space right in front of the counter—and just as I felt the vibrations...

[Complete]

It disappeared.

"..."

CLICK.

The lights came on.

Inside the convenience store, now so bright it hurt my eyes, the terminal's screen was no longer quite so conspicuous. It displayed a simple, clear message.

[Registration Complete]

With a whirring buzz, a closing receipt printed out.

Amid that white noise, it sank in.

'I did it.'

I had succeeded.

"Whew."

I leaned against the counter and lowered my head. My legs were trembling.

'I can't breathe....'

Humans really did depend on light!

Still, the mere fact that it was bright again brought peace to my body and mind.

'Now I just have to go out the door—'

CLACK!

The cash drawer beneath the POS terminal opened automatically.

'Huh?'

Inside was a single thick brown envelope.

"This is..."

I picked up the envelope and opened it.

Inside were four thick bundles of crisp, golden banknotes.

"...!?"

Bundles of fifty-thousand-won notes!

'F-four bundles of a hundred each?'

That would make twenty million won in total.

I'd never handled this much money in cash before. But why was it in the convenience store's cash drawer...?

Oh.

'The prize money!'

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

/ Choose One

Trivia

It really does give you money when you clear it.

Doesn't that just make it a nice guy who likes scaring people

* * *

Oh.

* * *

"How long do you think he'll take?"

"I think he'll get out as soon as the three days are up."

"Succeed on his first try? Wow, that's generous. Very generous."

Team D of <Daydream Inc.>'s Field Exploration Team.

The two employees had taken the stairs beside the storeroom up to the rooftop for a smoke.

They had just seen their new recruit off into the Darkness.

No matter how often they did it, they never quite got used to pushing a newcomer into a supernatural phenomenon.

Still, with the Darkness called <Choose One>, shorter time limits generally meant a more hardcore experience, while longer ones meant an easier time. The recruit who had drawn three days probably wouldn't have it too rough.

'It'll be like a three-day, two-night test of courage.'

Of course it was harsh. They weren't saying otherwise.

But both employees shared one conviction.

- Anyone who can't endure even this will die in no time.

Better to quit, then.

Quite a few recruits had actually left because of this Initiation, earning Team D frequent disapproving looks from HR executives. Even so, they kept brazenly muddling through.

Watching a colleague—especially a new recruit on their own team—die right beside them was truly terrible for their mental health...

This time, though, things felt a little different.

A peculiar sense of anticipation.

"About this new recruit."

"Yeees?"

"He was something else."

"He certainly was."

Kim Soleum, the top recruit newly assigned to Team D.

"I've never seen anyone act like that on their first day."

Most recruits recoiled or panicked the moment they realized their “job” was to keep entering the same sort of supernatural phenomena that had nearly killed them. That was only natural.

Kim Soleum, however... had been strangely composed.

"He didn't even seem particularly nervous."

"Right. He wasn't surprised. Drank his coffee just fine, too."

Not once had he lost his composure, hidden in the restroom to cry, or tried to run away.

Of course, Kim Soleum had merely had everything spoiled for him already, given up on everything for three days, and finished mentally preparing himself.

But to anyone who didn't know that, he looked like a new recruit with an insanely strong mind!

"Looks like you've taken a liking to him, Deputy."

"Yeah. He's very promising."

Nerves of steel were always welcome.

This department faced all manner of horrifying, bizarre, and chilling Urban Legends. A coward would be a problem.

'Well, no coward could have passed that death game in the first place....'

One had!

Naturally, his superiors had no way of knowing that. They simply kept nodding and repeating how promising this new recruit was.

There was, however, one small disappointment.

"He doesn't seem like the type to cut corners, so why doesn't he take notes?"

"It's his first job. Maybe he doesn't know any better. We can teach him that."

They both nodded. In a job where lives were on the line, information and manuals were essential.

"When someone explains something, you need to write it down. That way you can read it again and make sure you really understand."

"Exactly. It's not like he already knew any of it."

He did already know!

The two, who once again hadn't the faintest idea, continued chatting like any team that had just received a new recruit before deciding it was about time to head back.

"We need to write the situation report."

"Ugh, those damn reports nobody reads. Every single time..."

The recruit wouldn't be out for another three days at the earliest anyway.

Still, this ghost story had food and somewhere to sleep inside, so he should be fine even if it turned into a long haul.

They nodded and picked up the tablet displaying the internet post that had sucked the recruit in.

"Well, back to our paperwork...?!"

TICK.

At that moment, the tablet spat out a person.

The new recruit who wasn't supposed to emerge for another three days.

"...!?"

The new recruit, Kim Soleum, stood up from the floor, brushing off his suit, which was just as clean as it had been an hour and a half ago.

Then he raised something in one hand.