Chapter 83

Elite Teams.

At Daydream Inc., where a Field Exploration Team employee’s life was worth less than B-grade Dream Essence solution, this was the rank at which they finally began to consider you an “employee with long-term value.”

You received a private office and a separate pay scale. You even gained access to new offerings in the Employee Welfare Mall.

Above all...

They assigned you Cleanup Team employees to use as spare lives if necessary.

It was a policy that left a foul taste in your mouth, but no one could dispute that it improved your odds of survival...

And now, the Development Department director sitting before me was offering just that.

“The proposal to increase the number of Elite Teams keeps coming up, as it happens... Wouldn’t Team D be a fine choice?”

She would turn Team D itself into an Elite Team.

She was offering to leave my surroundings intact while giving me vastly better treatment.

“The letter even comes next in the alphabet. It would make the administrative procedures easier in all sorts of ways.”

“...”

“Pick an employee you’d like to work with. A shortlist of two or three candidates would be fine, too.”

Wait a minute.

I couldn’t follow where this was going at all...

“I’m grateful, but... why are you making me such a generous offer?”

Frankly, I could understand wanting to put Team Leader Lee Jaheon on an Elite Team.

As I remembered it, he was already supposed to lead one briefly before being promoted along a different track.

But why... was she framing this around me?

‘It’s strange to call in a new recruit for this instead of the team leader.’

Sure, I’d delivered extraordinary results, creating new manuals and bringing back A-grade solution twice, but other Named Employees cleared ghost stories in absurd ways, too.

It was the accumulation of those Exploration Records that made a manual in the first place.

Yet none of them had ever been told, “I’ll turn your whole team into an Elite Team, just for you~”

‘This is strange.’

Anyone could see how unnatural this situation was.

“I’m only a new recruit. The company already gives me ample points and allowances for my work, and my promotions have been extraordinarily fast as it is...”

“Supervisor Soleum. Have you ever heard the name Yoon Johun?”

My back nearly froze stiff.

I barely kept it from showing. I managed to answer in a tone that suggested I was merely nervous about the situation.

“... Is that an employee?”

“Yes.”

Director Cheong answered readily, smiling at me.

“In fact, a supervisor newly assigned to Team D in the latest round of personnel appointments.”

“...”

“But you won’t find that name in the company database now. You won’t remember it, either.”

I didn’t react.

“You occasionally find Darkness like that among the higher grades. The sort that erases anyone who ‘fails’ from existence. However...”

Director Cheong set down the documents and lifted something from beneath the desk.

A Dream Essence Collector.

“A deceased employee’s Dream Essence Collector is sent back to the company.”

“...!!”

“A regrettable expense, but it powers itself using the Dream Essence collected up until the moment of death. And...”

Director Cheong flicked the end of the recorder.

“It includes a basic audio-recording function.”

“...”

“So even the Exploration Records of employees erased from reality can be reviewed and consulted here at the company.”

My God.

“I imagine you, of all people, may have wondered about it. ‘How on earth do the records of dead employees end up being used in the manuals?’”

Wait.

Right. Of course <Records of Dark Exploration> included the findings of employees who had died.

That was only natural. To create the atmosphere of a ghost story, you obviously needed records where every explorer died. That was an effective way to inspire fear!

There were perfectly intact records of employees and objects whose very existence had been erased, too.

But...

‘A wiki is written from an omniscient perspective anyway.’

And there was a rough conceptual explanation for why that was possible.

Upon a field exploration employee’s death, their Exploration Record is transmitted to the company.

Like that.

The specific items or methods involved had deliberately been left undescribed to avoid contradictions in the lore...

So even after landing here, I’d simply glossed over that gap.

This was a fictional setting built on a wiki, after all!

‘But there was actually such a concrete, definite mechanism behind it...’

All at once, every question I’d dismissed with “That’s just how this setting works” came tumbling back into my mind.

Did all of those have “plausible additional backstory,” too?

Just like this?

My thoughts were just beginning to tangle when—

“Mr. Roe Deer! She’s still looking at you. She seems to want to continue the interview.”

‘...!’

“She seems the sort to expect humility from a star, so let’s focus...”

Right.

Right now, I needed to focus on the conversation.

Fortunately, my agitation had remained within the bounds of “an employee discovering the company’s secret know-how,” and the director continued.

“Judging by this recording, Supervisor Kim Soleum explored and took control of the Darkness in a rather unusual way.”

“...”

Apparently, Supervisor Yoon Johun had recognized that I’d become a student.

“Becoming part of the Urban Legend yourself. ‘Assimilation’... Ordinary people are too fearful and lack the wisdom to choose such a method...”

What terrifying things were you saying...?

“At any rate, even records of explorations like that are being collected without gaps... That was what I wanted you to know.”

Director Cheong looked at me.

“Well? More systematic than you expected?”

“...”

“I hear some employees say this company operates by guesswork.”

Th-this was... I broke into the cold sweat of an office worker.

“I’ve met some of them and heard them out myself. Most are clever young things.”

There was something benevolent in her voice.

“But stay here long enough, and you’ll learn that no other company in the world is so clear and rational in its rewards and punishments.”

“...”

“As long as you’re exceptionally capable, you can rise smoothly through the ranks despite a mistake or two.”

I never agreed to anything.

But Director Cheong smiled and dismissed me as though I’d answered, “I’ll give it serious consideration, Director!”

“Off you go. Give Section Chief Lee Jaheon my regards.”

* * *

“My friend. Do you know this saying? ‘Cream always rises to the top.’”

“It means that excellence will eventually distinguish itself anywhere. A perfect proverb to describe you right now!”

Wouldn’t “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” be closer...?

I returned to the Team D office feeling as though my soul had been wrung out.

It felt like reading a convincing book of pseudoscience, only to discover it was actually real...

Eventually, I couldn’t stand it and spoke to Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

“Section Chief.”

“Yes.”

“What I just attended wasn’t an interview.”

“I see.”

“...”

“Do you need help?”

“Yes.”

“Explain.”

I poured out what had happened as though I were rapping.

Director Cheong’s remarks, the Dream Essence Collector, the vanished Team D employee.

And the offer I’d received!

‘Someone at section-chief level probably already knows about the Dream Essence Collectors anyway.’

Besides, I knew Lee Jaheon wasn’t the sort to get angry because a mere new recruit had received an extraordinary offer over his head, or gaslight me so he could join an Elite Team himself.

Because... he was a lizard.

“I see.”

Sure enough, Lizard simply nodded.

“Do you need my advice?”

“Yes.”

“Refuse.”

“...!!”

He’d reached a conclusion that quickly?

“I’d like to know why.”

“Yes. Director Cheong Dallae is a being with a strong sense of ownership over the company.”

“...”

Did he mean she thought this company belonged to her?

No, wait.

“Did you just say ‘being’?”

“Yes.”

That was an incredibly suspicious choice of words.

“... Is Director Cheong not human?”

“I cannot answer that.”

“...”

That was practically the same as saying yes...!

At the very least, I now knew for certain there was something suspect about Director Cheong.

Just what you’d expect from a director at a ghost-story company!

“A-anyway, please continue.”

“Yes. As such, if Director Cheong Dallae sees an opportunity to bind a capable entity to this company she believes she owns, she will not hesitate.”

“...!”

“In that process, there is a high probability of actions that you, Supervisor Kim Soleum, would find intensely repugnant by your ethical standards.”

My God.

“Do not take the risk. There is also a high probability that you will be assigned to an Elite Team within six months.”

“... Though that would mean leaving Team D for another team?”

“Yes.”

“...”

“Do you wish to remain on Team D?”

“I’d prefer to, if possible.”

“I see.”

New recruit or whatever, you really wouldn’t miss me at all, would you, Section Chief...

He was such a consistent person... no, lizard.

‘Not that I expected anything else.’

Anyway, he wasn’t a lizard who would deliberately deceive me, so I could simply take his words at face value.

“Thank you for kindly explaining, Team Leader.”

“Yes.”

Hmm.

After some hesitation, I asked.

“Um, Team Leader, don’t you want to lead an Elite Team?”

“I have no preference.”

Meaning he didn’t care either way.

Meaning it did absolutely nothing to help me decide...

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I spoke with Team Leader Lee Jaheon about a few more things afterward, but gained nothing conclusive.

I only had more to worry about.

‘An Elite Team...’

Section Chief Lee Jaheon had advised me to refuse in the name of logic and reason, but office life often ran on irrationality and emotion.

Why else would he have so many enemies at the company, and why would Team A’s leader glare daggers at him every time they met?

‘I appreciate the advice, but I can’t really approach it that way...’

A higher-up at a ghost-story company hardly seemed like someone who would take no for an answer in the first place.

I doubted I could wriggle out of it as I had with Team A’s leader. Director Cheong bringing that up outright meant I’d be fucked if I tried.

“Ha...”

Seriously, why did I have to agonize over this when I’d been promised a promotion and extraordinary treatment...!

‘I want to quit this ghost-story company so badly...!!’

And so, that evening, I left work mentally exhausted...

“...”

It had been a while since I’d felt this drained without even exploring any Darkness, just sitting in the office writing reports.

“Oh dear, my friend seems quite worn out in body and mind.”

“Let’s get inside quickly. Rest is important for a good performance, isn’t it?”

‘... Right.’

Meeting a higher-up, hearing about the world’s lore, receiving an extraordinary offer...

‘I’m exhausted...’

As soon as I’d washed up, I collapsed on the living-room sofa.

“My friend, why don’t we have some hot chocolate and talk this evening? Let’s unwind after the day!”

There wasn’t any hot chocolate in this house... but a cup of honey water didn’t sound bad...

I put Braun on the dining table, boiled water in the kettle, and produced some honey water.

I meant to drink it mechanically and carry on a light conversation with my back turned slightly toward Braun, but...

“My friend. I, Braun, will tell you a secret.”

A secret?

“Indeed. You probably found it difficult to notice, Mr. Roe Deer, since I concealed it so well behind my professional cheerfulness, but the truth is...”

Braun drew a breath, then declared dramatically.

“Last night’s events came as quite a shock to me!”

“...”

Was that... a secret?

Anyway, he certainly seemed to be trying to comfort me, so I made a sincere effort to respond.

“What... shocked you so much?”

“A ‘Good Friend’ accompanies their friend anywhere, if that is what their friend wishes... Yet I, Braun, failed to do so.”

The rabbit doll’s shadow, glimpsed in passing, somehow seemed to droop.

“It is truly shameful and embarrassing.”

W-was it really that bad?

It had only been a dream, after all.

My guess was that Braun had needed a separate ritual because he was a person on equal footing with me, rather than one of my possessions.

‘Anyway, you don’t have to worry about it. There won’t be many more situations like that.’

“Oh, my friend is so considerate. In that case, let’s think about it this way...”

“If I, your very best friend, had accompanied you through last night’s intense graduation ceremony in the dream, wouldn’t today’s awkward predicament have been a little easier?”

...

That... might be true.

Maybe Supervisor Yoon Johun would never have spotted me in the first place.

If Braun had turned off the spotlight.

“Precisely! That is my role!”

“... It’s been a long time since I felt this anxious. For the sake of our friendship, and so that I, Braun, may fulfill my role, hmm...”

Behind my head, I heard what sounded like dress shoes pacing across the floor, their wearer anxiously lost in thought...

Then they stopped short.

“Of course! It would be wonderful if I could do it myself... but in this stuffing-filled body, I need your help, Mr. Roe Deer.”

“One very simple action will leave us better off, my friend. May I ask a favor?”

Braun spoke in a polite, friendly voice.

“It would bring me the greatest joy if you would help me bathe in the Bathtub of Youth just once more!”