Chapter 88

Naturally, exploring Darkness meant experiencing impossible things and chilling encounters.

Being chased by ghosts, public transportation suddenly heading for some bizarre destination you had never heard of, everyone on the street staring at you the moment you stepped outside...

But plenty of employees said they had grown used to those things through experience.

'Even I seem to have gotten a little used to it.'

Granted, contamination and items had played a part, but hadn't I just gone into the last ghost story determined to earn a high-grade clear, losing limbs along the way, and actually succeeded?

But some kinds of horror never became familiar.

For instance, a ghost story that recognized me out of nowhere.

"..."

My eyelid twitched as I turned the page.

There was even a crude reproduction of the packaging, drawn by the explorer who had written the report.

-Oh, the artist seems to have sacrificed aesthetics in their dedication to the fundamental purpose of conveying information.

Meaning it was drawn like shit, but you could tell exactly who it was.

'... Braun.'

-Do speak freely, my friend!

'Doesn't that look like me?'

-Allowing for the artistic style and judging solely by the mask and hairstyle, it seems we have both arrived at the same conjecture!

"..."

Even the product was called 'Good Child,' and the flavor was 'Cinnamon Churro'...

'That's the theme park's blue mascot.'

And the ghost story it appeared in was... 'Qterw-C-1603'? Why on earth had it appeared in that ghost story?

I reflexively started to glance at my tattoo, then stopped myself.

Instead, I asked Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who was looking blankly at me.

"This hasn't been added to the official manual yet... correct?"

"Correct."

Whew.

That, at least, was a relief.

'If Director Cheong went out of her way to show me this in advance...'

... Goodwill? A debt?

Probably both.

The moment this became an officially recognized Exploration Record, descriptions that could identify me would be censored with black squares according to the security clearance level.

Instead, the research team would most likely try some experimental explorations to find out why this phenomenon had occurred...

Sending in an employee dressed like me, or making me explore without telling me anything.

'Kwak Jegang might even figure it out and try to shove me back into the theme park.'

Wow. This was driving me insane.

If things got that far and I went asking Director Cheong for help just because I had joined her faction, I could end up as an 'Outstanding Employee Celebrating Thirty Years of Service with Director Cheong.'

Why were there so many ways for me to get screwed when I had worked so hard...?

'That's a ghost-story setting for you.'

Anyway, I should be grateful I knew already. It would leave me feeling moderately indebted to Director Cheong, but that was still better than finding out after the research team had taken the bait.

'And if she went out of her way to tell me in advance...'

"Is this the Darkness our team will be exploring this week, by any chance?"

"I don't know."

"... In your estimation, Team Leader, is there at least a fifty percent chance of that?"

"Yes."

Just as I thought.

'If she's telling me ahead of time, it only really means something if I go in and check for myself.'

'Qterw-C-1603,' huh.

If I had to enter a ghost story and suffer mental torture as a coward anyway, I might as well choose the one that offered more value...

That principle had never changed.

'Let's check it out.'

Besides, this time I would have a very reassuring companion.

Team Leader Lee Jaheon himself, the Named Employee universally acknowledged for exorcising things through brute force!

... Though, thinking back to the Pierrot ghost story, he might give orders based on his absurdly deadened sense of fear.

'Well, one-on-one, there should be some way to persuade him or get out of it...'

I also felt like I had gotten the hang of talking to him lately.

In that sense, going with my fearless team leader seemed fairly reassuring. Not bad at all.

But there was one more variable.

"Soleum."

"Yes?"

"Would you like support personnel?"

Oh, right.

Field explorations were based on teams of three, so this time we would be receiving someone else's help instead.

'A sort of trial run as an Elite Team, I guess.'

Usually, they seemed to just pick someone available at random and slot them in... Hmm.

"Would it be possible to request someone specific?"

"Yes."

Oh! ... No, wait.

"... I'd like to rule out asking Director Cheong for a favor. Would it still be possible?"

"No."

"..."

'Thank goodness I caught that...!'

I had almost squared my debt.

I tried to hold back a groan, but eventually couldn't help asking something I had long wondered about Team Leader Lizard.

"Um, Team Leader. You tend to keep your answers very brief... If there's a reason, I'd appreciate it if you could tell me."

"I see."

The lizard briefly directed his gaze upward, then looked back at me.

"I am incorporating feedback that I should give detailed answers only when requested."

"... Under what circumstances did you receive that feedback?"

"During a Darkness exploration on my third day working at this company."

"..."

I see...

He hadn't even given me a detailed description, but I felt as though I could picture the scene vividly.

"Um, Team Leader. Unless it's an emergency, I'd like you to feel free to say more when you're with me."

"Yes."

And then Section Chief Lee Jaheon... continued talking!

"If you wish to specify the support personnel's disposition, Kim Soleum, report it to me. You cannot designate a particular individual, but you can request preferred characteristics for the sample group."

"...!"

He was volunteering an explanation!

-Mr. Roe Deer, you have a talent for interviewing as well!

Th-thanks.

For a moment, I almost got carried away by that sense of accomplishment, but what mattered now was what Section Chief Lee Jaheon had actually said.

'So I can't pick exactly who comes, but I can ask for a certain sort of employee?'

Hmm.

After some thought, I settled on one 'characteristic' for our support personnel.

"I'd like someone at Employee rank."

There was a hidden meaning to that.

Everyone currently at Employee rank had joined the company with me.

'It's definitely not because I'm being left out of the recruits' group chat...'

Well, honestly, there was something about this exploration I wanted to keep under wraps, so I had chosen that condition because I didn't want someone senior who knew too much about how the company worked.

'And it'd be nice to get acquainted while I'm at it.'

I had been thinking it was time to get to know more people at work.

"Yes."

Section Chief Lee Jaheon readily agreed to my request, and I found myself looking forward to it a little.

What new face would I get to meet?

* * *

And a few days later.

"..."

"..."

I met Jang Heoun at the door to the Team D Office, his eyes bright with pleasure at seeing me.

"Employee Jang Heoun, Team F...!"

That was a familiar face.

Still, it wasn't a bad outcome. At least he wasn't my superior, so the exploration should be more comfortable.

Smiling, I offered him my hand.

"We meet again. I'm looking forward to working with you on today's exploration."

"Yes, Soleum! I'll make sure I help us clear it!"

Jang Heoun took my hand readily and shook it. Yes, a decent guy after all...

"Oh, y-yes, I'm looking forward to working with you too!"

"..."

"...??"

I turned to see a beaming employee stepping out of the elevator and approaching us with a bow.

A friendly-looking woman around my age.

She was wearing a pony mask.

"Support personnel from Team I. The manual recommends an even number of explorers for this Darkness, so we received two people."

"I'm Kang Ihak! Nice to meet you, Supervisor, Employee!"

"Yes...!"

Jang Heoun hastily bowed, then exclaimed in recognition.

"Oh, you're the one who talks a lot in the group chat...!"

"Yes, yes, haha. A little embarrassing, but that's me!"

Oh.

[Kang Ihak: Is it true you received 40,000 points? Haha]

I remembered her too.

She was the person who had eagerly tried to pry information out of me when I joined the group chat, prompting me to keep her in check a little.

'She seemed to be setting the tone in the recruits' group chat.'

Steering it toward personal gain rather than friendship.

Before I knew it, my fellow recruit was smiling and offering me her hand.

"Wow, our top recruit! This is our first time meeting like this. Looking forward to working with you!"

"Likewise."

I gave her a brief handshake.

... Straightforward.

'She's more easygoing than I expected.'

I had pictured someone with honeyed words and a dagger hidden behind their back, but she seemed affable. Her questions didn't seem to have ulterior motives, you could say.

'Well, if she's a decent person, I'll just be grateful...'

She would be much more reassuring to have beside me on an exploration than some exhausting piece of human garbage like Baek Saheon.

You wouldn't know unless you'd experienced it. That feeling when a ghost appears and you're screaming inside, with nothing but a sociopath beside you... Ugh.

"We will depart."

"Yes."

Team Leader Lee Jaheon strode off.

We quietly followed him and got into the car. I took the wheel and set the navigation.

"We're heading to Gyeonggi Province now, right?"

"Yes."

Right. This Darkness would take us outside Seoul again.

The exploration report I had read earlier might give the wrong impression, but Qterw-C-1603 wasn't simply a ghost story about a strange candy shop.

It was bigger... and more sinister.

"Um, to enter this ghost story... Oh, did we meet so late because we need to wait for sunset first?"

"That seems to be the case."

I answered Jang Heoun kindly as I started driving.

To enter this Darkness, we first had to satisfy two conditions: time and place.

To enter Qterw-C-1603, proceed to the residential neighborhood on the outskirts of ■■ City, Gyeonggi Province.

This neighborhood was a shopping district of side streets popular on social media in the early 2010s for its many restaurants and cafés. It now sees little foot traffic.

On very rare occasions, promotional posters for local businesses are observed on utility poles here.

Printed in the center of the poster is a QR code alongside the phrase 'Come Visit Death Row in ■■ City.'

※Do not examine the wording on this poster too closely.

For reference, the company had secured one of these posters in advance and covered everything but the QR code.

"Supervisor, I'll scan the QR code for you!"

"Oh, thank you."

Scanning the QR code opens the download page for an event app certified by the ■■ City local government. The download will proceed normally if the explorer is under forty years of age.

A little later.

After arriving at our destination, we parked in a public lot, got out, and walked into a quiet alley.

The short winter day was drawing to a close, the light fading.

Most of the restaurants and cafés were still there, but the area carried the stagnant atmosphere peculiar to a shopping district whose moment had passed...

"Launch the app now."

I looked at the screen.

After a slightly dated opening featuring ■■ City's old logo and mascot...

When the app is launched for the first time at the designated location in early evening, before the sun has fully set, navigation guidance will activate.

Sure enough, the app itself began giving directions.

This Way to Death Row →

Follow the arrows!

My GPS location appeared on the smartphone like an augmented-reality display.

"Walk."

"..."

All of us began moving together, looking only at our own smartphone screens.

Follow the arrows!

At first, it was normal.

It guided us along the wider streets among the alleys, seemingly leading me farther and farther toward the edges of the shopping district.

But after a little more time, the route began to twist.

Follow the arrows!

It led us through gaps between houses barely wide enough for one person, made us enter buildings through the front and leave through the back.

It even guided us into dead ends, then made us turn around and come back out.

Dark alleys.

Somehow, our surroundings began to feel increasingly unfamiliar and bizarre.

A chill crept over the back of my neck. I heard ungrammatical muttering, and strange, shadowlike things seemed to pass just beyond my field of vision...

'... I have to endure it.'

But I couldn't turn my head.

While following the app's navigation guidance, never look away from the screen for more than three seconds or deviate from the designated route.

Failure to comply will result in being classified as missing.

We kept moving in silence, taking care not to bump into or startle one another.

Follow the arrows!

"Something strange just..."

"Shh."

After about sixteen minutes of walking in silence...

Even the faint light of sunset vanished completely.

"..."

"..."

Every trace of light had disappeared from the already dim shopping alleys, leaving them unnaturally pitch-black.

Our smartphone screens were the only light illuminating the residential neighborhood when...

CLICK.

CLICK-CLICK-CLICK.

One by one, lights came on along the dark street.

"...!"

The shops were lighting up.

Yellow and blue light from their signs illuminated the alley.

... But this wasn't the familiar, aging shopping district we had seen earlier.

MURMUR, MURMUR.

The alley bustled with countless figures.

Signs bore names that looked familiar at first glance but were somehow distorted upon closer inspection.

The various shops lining the alley had their doors wide open, welcoming customers...

DING.

The app displayed a congratulatory message.

You have arrived safely.

Welcome to Death Row!

"... Have we arrived?"

"Yes."

We had successfully entered.

Right into the heart of the ghost story.

* * *

Records of Dark Exploration / Ghost Stories

[■■■ Road 16]

: A ghost story appearing in <Records of Dark Exploration>. Its Daydream Inc. identification code is Qterw-C-1603.

An alley lined with shops where things that are not human solicit customers.

Explorers who enter this alley through the smartphone app must never close the app.

* * *

"Walk slowly."

"..."

We nodded and followed Section Chief Lizard...

Into the strange alley.