This is bewildering.
I infiltrated Daydream as a researcher, only to run into Baek Saheon.
And now I'm in a complicated situation where he recognizes me as 'the agent from Jisan Village'!
[Oh, but surprisingly, that's the truth, isn't it?]
I know, right?
'In principle, I am that agent.'
I broke out in a cold sweat.
But if I reveal that I'm Kim Soleum here, things will only get more complicated, won't they?
'Ah, screw it.'
Now that it's come to this, I'll just patch it up and push forward.
I deliberately put on a slightly firm smile and spoke to him.
This is what a good-natured agent would do.
"No. I wasn't trying to get your help. I just saw that you were safe and greeted you without thinking."
"..."
"You're right, citizen. I shouldn't have done that while undercover."
Ding.
In the meantime, we arrived at the floor Baek Saheon was supposed to get off on.
"Well then…"
"Wait a minute."
Instead of getting off, Baek Saheon pressed the close button.
What the hell.
Then he pressed my floor number again, stopping the elevator completely, before crossing his arms and looking at me.
"What are you here to do?"
"It's better for you not to know."
"Why do you get to decide that? No, what if you're here to blow up the company? Your words are making me anxious, and if I mess up my work today because of it, are you going to take responsibility?"
Is he crazy?
"I'm telling you to take responsibility for starting this conversation, aren't I?"
This was the kind of obnoxious behavior I hadn't experienced since he was my roommate, back when he met me as Kim Soleum.
'This annoying bastard…'
I seriously considered just revealing that I was Kim Soleum and telling him to shut his mouth.
But it's probably better to go with the flow than to take another risk.
'I'll just scare him a little, indirectly.'
I opened my mouth with an air of 'it might be okay to say this much.'
"…It will be safer for you, citizen, if you pretend not to know me today."
"..."
"That's all I can tell you."
After saying that much, a man like Baek Saheon, who prioritizes his own safety above all else, would quickly cut ties with the 'Paper Boat Agent.'
…Or so I thought.
Instead of leaving the elevator, Baek Saheon flinched and continued speaking.
"What, are you going to steal some information or an item?"
"Rather than stealing, there's something I'm trying to find out."
At that, he looked at me with a suggestive gaze and said, as if cutting me some slack.
"Well, let's go fifty-fifty."
"Excuse me?"
"Share whatever you find out here. I'll write off the debt you owe me."
"..."
Why would I?
I swallowed the retort that rose to my throat and countered.
"Then… are you saying you'll help me?"
I meant, I know you won't help, so just go.
But.
"Well, it's like mutual aid."
Oh?
"Just tell me if you need anything."
[Surprisingly, it seems your ordinary ex-roommate isn't planning a double-cross!]
I know, right?
In the end, as I got off on the 20th floor, I had secured Baek Saheon's promise of help.
He told me to contact him if I needed anything. That he'd be on standby.
-I'll be at the company all day, so you can contact me through Paper Boat.
I thought I'd misheard him.
'Is this really Baek Saheon?'
But (unsurprisingly) Baek Saheon also left me with a few choice words.
-If you get caught, I'll say I was threatened or controlled by you with an item.
Do whatever you want…
The Disaster Management Bureau doesn't know anything about this anyway. If it ever comes up later, it'll just end with, 'That was an impersonator.'
-What should I call you?
-Ah, I'm Researcher Park Kyung-hwan.
-That name doesn't suit you at all.
-....
He also made a comment that would have made the real Park Kyung-hwan do his utmost to throw him into a high-level Darkness without any information…
'Whatever…'
I'm not him, anyway.
More importantly, I can't believe he's cooperating like this on his own. That he's listening to me without being pressed by rank.
Due to my influence, Baek Saheon's trajectory after joining the company had changed considerably, creating a slight difference from the 'Section Head Viper' I knew from the
'But that personality of his was still the same.'
The part where he didn't care if others died, as long as he could survive.
'But he seems particularly cooperative with this 'Paper Boat Agent.''
No, rather than cooperative… his attitude seems to change in a strange way.
Goodwill? Trust?
'…A sense of familiarity?'
…Did the incident at Jisan Village cause some kind of change?
It was hard to know without asking him directly.
'For now, let's just be satisfied with having one more card to play.'
I walked on, mulling over today's objective.
To the meeting place on the 20th floor.
"Hello~ Not many people here yet."
"I know, right?"
I entered a large conference room with the new researchers and sat there for a while.
I pretended to kill time by giving appropriate responses to meaningless chatter, but the tension didn't leave my body.
A short while later.
At 9 a.m. sharp, the person helping to 'guide' the researchers during their probationary period entered.
But.
[New researchers! The future of our company! Today is the fifth day of your probation!]
…!
It was a familiar face.
'The orientation host…'
The first day.
When I first woke up as a new employee of Daydream.
-Welcome to Daydream Inc.!
The superior who had conducted the orientation.
The person who had put on a performance of growing younger by drinking a Wish Ticket was holding the microphone, his appearance as taut and wrinkle-free as it was back then.
[Now, now, follow me!]
....
Suddenly, memories of that time came flooding back.
Everything had started from there.
The Abyss Transportation Corporation Ghost Story, Baek Saheon with his eye gouged out, the calm Ms. Go Young-eun, the new employees who survived the ghost story only to disappear at the host's declaration of 'free-riding'…
The welcome gift.
And…
───
If needed
010-0153-24865[1]
───
Back then… didn't I receive a business card?
'Wait a minute.'
That was a number even Kwak Jegang had recognized.
-…New employee Kim Soleum, did you happen to receive a business card?
-If you want to earn points faster, contact that number.
So much had happened since then that I had completely forgotten about it.
In the most casual tone possible, as if I had just remembered, I spoke to the person next to me.
"Ah, come to think of it, what department did they say he was from?"
"Uh, I don't know… I'm not sure."
He shrugged.
"Well, probably from the research side? Surely he's not a field agent."
"..."
Look at that damn researcher elitism.
'If you'd been caught up in the disappearance incident, you would have died with your neck snapped…'
But at that moment, the horrific scene I had witnessed at Afternoon Station flashed through my mind, and my breath caught in my throat.
"..."
"Kyung-hwan?"
"Yes. I'm coming."
'Hoo.'
I have to be careful.
To think like a human means that the mental trauma and impact a human receives will also manifest just as they are.
The chilling pain in my chest felt almost like an electric shock.
'…But at least I won't have to enter a ghost story today.'
I'll be facing a more realistic fear. After all, I've stolen someone's identity to infiltrate a major corporation.
'Saying it like that makes it sound like a ghost story, too.'
Anyway, I followed the orientation host…
[My, my, instead of that title, how about using the simple and fitting term 'Host'?]
…the Host.
Staring at him the whole time.
[Excellent, my friend!]
The new researchers' steps halted as they left the Main Building and entered the building next to it.
This place, which I was visiting again.
"This is the Annex. The day before yesterday, you were told that the basement is where Darkness for supplies and Darkness with outstanding production value are kept in isolated storage, correct?"
"Yes!"
"That's right. And on the upper floors of the Annex…"
The Host's hand pointed past the front desk, to the floor indicator of the elevator.
"is our company's core facility."
A place the Field Investigation Team was rarely permitted to enter.
"Shall we go?"
We move.
I was about to give a slight nod to the Security Team member sitting at the front desk, dressed all in black, but stopped.
Because not a single one of the new researchers even offered a greeting.
It was a reaction closer to apprehension or fear than disregard.
'…Have they already heard stories about the Security Team?'
I reflexively thought for a moment of the special department I used to work in. Of my own Security Team members.
Security Chief J3 and Supervisor Park Minseong.
"..."
"Aren't you getting on the elevator?"
"Ah, sorry."
I boarded the elevator.
…thinking that it was a relief the researcher whose identity I'd stolen hadn't made any close friends yet.
[Going up.]
The elevator headed for the upper floors of the Annex, a place I had never been.
And what was revealed when the doors opened on the 10th floor was…
"The Dream Processing Machine, which manufactures potions."
There was no room there.
In the vast space where the entire floor had been opened up, huge machines were lined up.
"…!"
Unlike the dream incubator, there were no visible pipes or plumbing.
Their exteriors, all finished in a clean white tone, looked like products of modern science to anyone who saw them.
However, their shape retained elements that hinted at the dream incubator…
"Now, look. This is the Dream Essence Liquid."
I saw a machine in which golden Dream Essence Liquid was shimmering.
'It's gone.'
The egg-sized object in the center of the tank was gone.
And there were no emoticon-like buttons either. Instead, a sleek electronic panel was attached at arm's reach.
"You input the number corresponding to the potion on the panel to produce the product. Newly developed potions are assigned new codes. I doubt anyone here would have trouble understanding this."
"Haha!"
"..."
But there was just one thing.
One button remained.
At the very bottom.
O
That alone was attached in a strangely similar form…
"That is the Wish Ticket button."
"…!"
I snapped my head around.
The Host was looking at me, smiling with his taut, young face.
"Your name is… Researcher Park Kyung-hwan! What do you think, are you interested in the Wish Ticket?"
"…I was just looking because it's fascinating! I'm sorry!"
I shot up and answered like a disciplined new employee.
The Host chuckled and patted my shoulder.
"Well, there's no need to be sorry!"
"Ah, thank…"
"I asked if you were interested in the Wish Ticket."
"..."
I swallowed hard.
Honestly, it wasn't even an act.
"I am interested, but frankly, the points are so high that it seems… uh, difficult for us to collect."
Then, I glanced around before asking.
"…I'm sorry, but what title should we use to address you by…"
"Ah, me? Haha, you can just call me Team Leader Kim."
Team leader.
It was a difficult position to gauge, as there were so many different teams.
"May I ask which department's team leader you are?"
"Hmm~"
The Host winked.
"Have you ever heard about the branch offices?"
...!
"Right, right, young people these days, they all love Seoul and threaten to quit if they're told to go to the provinces, don't they?"
The Host shrugged and rubbed his hands together as if it were a shame.
"But there's no better place if you want to collect a lot of points. Huh? If you go to a branch, you don't just get a promotion, you can go straight into a management position."
....
Could it be that the business card I received right after the entrance exam was a route to a high-ranking position at a branch office?
Fortunately, the Host didn't seem very interested in 'Researcher Park Kyung-hwan,' shrugging and turning his attention to another researcher.
'Hoo.'
…The explanation for the probationary researchers continued for about 20 more minutes.
The patent for the Dream Processing Machine, the emphasis on the confidentiality agreement, the work done in the potion development lab, the value of the Dream Essence Liquid…
"So in the end, the work you'll be doing in all the teams you're assigned to, diligently developing Darkness, recording manuals, and managing potion production…"
Tap, tap.
"It's all in this processing machine."
The Host, who had tapped the Dreaming Device, grinned.
"So security is very important, right?"
....
The Host pointed to something on the wall that looked like a recorder.
"Now, what did I say this item was?"
"A Security Team pager."
"That's right!"
Hoo.
"What happens inside here is usually paged to the Security Team. If anything happens, page them immediately. And even if not… ah, they're here just in time."
Ding.
The elevator opened, and two figures in special uniforms that covered their entire bodies appeared.
It was the Security Team.
"The Security Team will be periodically patrolling this space."
....
I recognized the appearance of one of them.
I couldn't tell if he recognized me, but we didn't make eye contact.
"Now, then, today you will learn the basic operation by assisting the senior researchers here."
And so, we began to observe the potion manufacturing process by following the senior researchers.
[Hmm, the security seems quite tight. What do you think, Mr. Roe Deer? Will you pull off some mysterious feat like a professional thief in a mystery novel? Or…]
[Will you get help from your acquaintance over there?]
'....'
[Oh, you[2] mean that has-been.]
I didn't look at J3.
At that withered employee, wearing a uniform similar to the one I wore when I was in the special department.
'No.'
[Hoh.]
The fact that he was here, despite having been clearly drafted for Ho Yuwon's project… could mean this was part of Ho Yuwon's preliminary work to smuggle out a machine.
So, cooperation is out of the question.
'It has to be a diversion.'
And besides.
'I never intended to steal what's here in the first place.'
[Hm?]
'Just wait and see.'
I spent the morning quietly, exploring the internal area.
I planned to carry out the real work in the afternoon, after lunch.
And so, I blended in with the new researchers, holding my breath and waiting quietly so as not to stand out…
And it was the moment I returned to the 10th floor of the Annex after finishing my meal.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened, and screams and hyperventilating sounds were heard…
An unexpected situation occurred.
"Security Team! Paging the Security Team. Something strange has happened inside…"
One of the Dream Machines was gone.
The empty space where the Dream Machine had been, as if cleanly lifted out, was blatantly exposed, with not even a trace of it left…
"All researchers, over here! From now on, everyone is under quarantine!"
"B-but our work…"
"Leave it all! None of you can leave this building until the interrogation is over!"
[Oh my god! Someone beat you to it!]
"..."
Oh, please.
'It's Ho Yuwon, right?'
That bastard beat me to it, right? Please tell me that's the case. If so, all I have to do is switch gears from now on!
'All I have to do is draw some crazy aggro and let him get away safely…'
Ding.
...I turned my head to see the Security Team entering through another elevator to escort the researchers.
The Security Chief is just standing there, too.
"..."
"..."
Why are you still just standing there?
'Wow, this is driving me crazy.'
If that's the case, this seems like the work of a third party, not Director Ho… Could it be that this wasn't Director Ho's doing?
Seeing the empty space where the machine was, my brain, facing a survival crisis, went into overdrive.
Right, if anything is possible…
"Researcher Park Kyung-hwan, move to the interrogation room!"
"..."
It can't be helped.
I changed my plan.
'I'll do both.'
[What do you mean, my friend?]
This is what I mean.
As soon as I entered the interrogation room, I spoke.
"There's a bomb in the elevator."
"…?!"
"I saw it."
'While drawing aggro like a madman, I'll do the stealing, too…!'
I'm sorry, Researcher Park Kyung-hwan.
You're getting fired today…
[1] Please do not actually call this number
[2] might be “i”