On the day of assignment.
"Let's all congratulate our Agent Grapes on his official appointment~!!"
"..."
"Wahahaha! How about a team dinner tonight? Our team's overtime meal allowance for this month has stacked up quite a bit, right? How much do I have again? Anyway, it's on me!"
Wow.
I received the team's welcome in the waiting room of Black Tortoise Team 1, eyes already resigned to everything.
Honestly, calling it a 'welcome' didn't feel quite right. I saw them just a few days ago.
It's just that today, I'd been officially confirmed to be a member of Black Tortoise Team 1!
"…I look forward to working with you."
"...Yes."
Incidentally, the senior who said he'd do his best to voice his opinion so I could be assigned to a different team was here as well.
Agent Bronze, even while shaking my hand, avoided my gaze.
"..."
Yes, I know, Agent. I dug my own grave…
'Destruction King… Let's just work diligently and try to shake off that nickname.'
Though I wondered if this was really okay for a spy.
'Ha ha…'
In the end, I gave a polite bow to Agent Choi as well.
We'll be seeing each other often now, so there's no point in whining again about not wanting to join Black Tortoise Team 1.
"…Thank you for the welcome."
"No problem~"
Agent Choi grinned and patted me on the back.
At the very least, he has a decent personality…
"We'll be working together for life now. Shouldn't the welcome be even more extravagant? Haha!"
"..."
The sense of mission in these early agents is a little scary.
"Let's work together for a long time, Grapes-ie…"
No, like really…
Anyway, Agent Choi's dinner suggestion became reality that evening.
As soon as work ended, Black Tortoise Team 1 moved out to eat together.
"This is a place we come to often. The owner here is a retired agent. Ah, please bring a large portion of gopchang-jeongol! And two bottles of soju."
And so, in the corner room of a popular, crowded restaurant, we started our meal and conversation with some light drinks.
It was during this time that I was finally, officially introduced to Black Tortoise Team 1.
"Team numbers don't really mean much anymore, but when we first started, Team 1 did take on tougher missions. So it's fine to feel a little pride in your team, thinking of your seniors!"
I already knew that.
But hearing it explained directly by the person involved felt different.
Same with hearing about the current situation like this.
"Black Tortoise Team 1 originally had a team leader and five regular agents… but two are on sick leave, and one is… um, on an extended hiatus."
"..."
He didn't mention it, but I'm sure there were many who died in the line of duty.
Thinking of the writing in all sorts of handwriting covering the whiteboard in the waiting room, I looked at the two remaining team members.
Agent Choi grinned.
"And now we're finally back to three members. Isn't that great? Hey, Jaekwan, don't you agree?"
Maybe… this person was just happy to see a new face.
I suppressed a wry smile. Raising my glass, I gave a polite bow to the two of them.
"Um, thank you again… for welcoming me…"
"…!"
Even though they knew I'd stubbornly requested to go to another team, not once did they rebuke me for ending up here anyway, and I was grateful for that.
And I could tell they understood what I meant.
"No, we should be thanking you."
Agent Choi waved his hand as if to brush it off.
"You didn't want to come, right? Our team."
"..."
I held back a sigh and downed a shot of soju.
"It's not that I dislike Dispatch & Rescue. It's just… I can't really trust myself."
"Soleum-ah."
Agent Choi looked at me.
"It's fine. No one actually does."
"..."
"Who could ever be one hundred percent sure they're doing the right thing in a supernatural disaster? If someone is, that's the real supernatural phenomenon."
At some point, this senior had started calling me by name and title, instead of 'hoobae'.
He grinned as he ladled stew into my bowl.
"…But for us, we have advice from those who've gone before us, don't we?"
"..."
"Believe in that."
The exploration records.
"And as you go on… Sometimes, you'll want to try something yourself, even just once. Then you'll be the one giving advice to whoever comes after you."
"..."
Agent Bronze's gaze turned distant, but he didn't argue.
It felt like the two had already fought and settled this issue long ago.
"But there's no need to think that far ahead just yet!"
Agent Choi grinned and refilled my glass.
"Soleum, you've really had a rough time since coming here."
I really couldn't deny it.
"But honestly, things like that only happen maybe once every six months—or sometimes, not even once in several years if you're lucky. Just because you joined our team doesn't mean you'll be dealing with that stuff all the time, so don't worry."
Agent Choi grinned and clinked his glass against mine, unilaterally.
Clink.
"You'll do fine."
"..."
"Got it?"
I nodded.
And, as if it was a lie, those words soon came true.
Three weeks since the official assignment to Black Tortoise Team 1—
"Grapes-ie, over there!"
I was handling rescue work in ghost stories much more smoothly than I'd expected.
"Catch that guy!"
"Yes!"
I grabbed the person requesting rescue, who was frantically trying to run past me, and shoved him into the washing machine.
"Ack!"
Sorry, but that's the exit, so please bear with it for a moment!
"Hey, it's over! Get out of here!"
Before the drying finished, I also dove into an empty washing machine, plunging into the swirling water…
"Phew!"
I managed to escape safely.
"Rescue of the requester and two others, safely completed at 'Intersection Laundromat'."
Today, I saved three civilians from a crazy laundromat that remodels your personality and reformats your body.
And the past three weeks were much the same.
'About one dispatch every three days…'
Honestly, it's scary and exhausting.
But…
"Is that kid the one? The Destruction King? Wow, he really gets things done, doesn't he!"
"Wahaha! Right, Team Leader!"
"..."
Surprisingly, the 'Destruction King Rookie' image was working in my favor!
– Destruction King Rookie is adapting smoothly ^^
– so ur in this chat now too, huh?
Thanks to my persona being a kind of funny, approachable, and positive character, it made adjusting easier.
And this characterization just kept getting reinforced. At this rate, it wouldn't even be strange to read about myself on the wiki.
'Me, being a named character of the Disaster Management Bureau…'
Honestly, it didn't feel bad.
And maybe because what I went through before was like an exorcism, for three weeks there were no unexpected incidents in the ghost stories.
All that was left was to follow the already established rescue manuals and bring people out.
If you could just put up with the terrifying stuff, it's doable!
'If it's a ghost story where you can even find the Disaster Management Bureau's rescue request number, it means the Bureau already has a good grasp of it.'
To the extent they can embed a number into the ghost story.
Now I can understand why there are so many solo missions.
'At this rate, I can handle it…!'
Besides, since I'm still a rookie, I was always in a pair.
Less scary! A lot safer!
So, at one point I tried bringing this up to Agent Bronze, but he looked at me seriously.
– No, it's not safe.
– ...
– Your standards are a bit warped.
Once you've spent just half a year in Daydream Inc. like me, you'll be the same, Agent-nim…
'I could almost cry.'
Since I ended up in Black Tortoise Team 1, Agent Bronze had been looking after me a bit excessively, while also subtly avoiding small talk. He must have an awkward sense of indebtedness. I get it…
Anyway, for the past three weeks, it was something I could endure even while tense.
I naturally blended into Black Tortoise Team 1, and now I didn't even have to introduce myself as part of the team whenever I met people at headquarters.
I'd blended in so well that everyone already knew.
'…It's fine.'
I couldn't deny the sense of security that came from belonging.
…The problem was, it was about time for me to get my first solo mission.
Ha.
'Alone… It'll be scary.'
Having to experience a ghost story alone every three days… that's the real problem.
But before that, I got this suggestion.
"Grapes-ie. Do you want to take a little break?"
It was when I was getting ready to leave in the waiting room, having finished transferring duties to the Site Cleanup Unit.
"You haven't really taken a break these past three weeks, and you kept helping out with support duty too. Someone who was hospitalized just a month ago shouldn't be overdoing it. You need to rest now, to clear your head and recover your strength."
Agent Choi made the suggestion.
And…
To be honest, I kind of planned for this.
'It's hard for a rookie to just use up their annual leave all at once…'
So I purposely overworked and maxed out my hours, hoping a senior would eventually urge me to take a few days off.
'Success.'
Agent Bronze caught my eye and quickly nodded in agreement.
Good.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, make sure to use your two days off together, and don't forget to tack them onto your regular days off!"
That way, I managed to take four consecutive days of leave.
If you add the two regular days off per week, that makes six days total.
Of course, I definitely needed this time off for a reason.
[Sir Kim Soleum, your psychological stability test results are in. Please book a counseling session and pick them up when you're free ^^]
Last week, Director Ho texted me.
…Soon, I'd be able to enter Cheerful Theme Park.
'I need to prepare.'
And I need to handle the schedules I'd put off because of work.
[Arent you going to trade, sir?]
[its info youll definitely want to hear]
Baek Saheon seemed to be ready.
And that evening—
I met him at a secluded room café[1] in Seoul.
"Hurry up and talk."
Baek Saheon, pressed as soon as we met, had veins standing out on his temple.
"...Hey, this is a trade, you know. If you talk like that, it doesn't exactly feel good."
"You like efficiency, don't you? Isn't it better to talk fast and get your item? Try thinking things through for once."
"~!"
Baek Saheon's face twisted in anger for a moment, but he quickly hid it and smiled.
"…Then fine. Let's just get on with it!"
Oh. He must be feeling pretty confident.
I focused, ready to listen closely.
"So, first…"
Baek Saheon began in a very meaningful tone, about to reveal something special…
"Two people from our batch have disappeared."
"..."
"Remember? Go Yeongeun and—"
"Jang Heowoon."
"…!"
Ugh.
"I know, already so skip that part."
"W-Wait a second. But even you don't know where they went, right, Supervisor?"
Nah, I actually do.
I looked at Baek Saheon with dead fish eyes, and he broke into a cold sweat as he hurried to continue.
"They got reassigned to a branch office!"
Nope.
"You know about the branch offices, right? Out in the countryside. These days there are a lot of people being assigned to headquarters from the branches, but honestly, the place feels pretty suspicious? I mean, they've cut off all contact…"
"Uh-huh. Next."
I told you, that's not it.
I'm pretty sure Baek Saheon was swearing at me internally right now.
'Whatever…'
But I should give him a bit of hope if I want more info to come out. So I changed tack.
"Tell me something else. There's no point going on about stuff I already know. You'll just tire yourself out."
"..."
"No other rumors?"
Baek Saheon gave me a look that basically screamed, 'How do you even know this?!' but eventually coughed up the next bit of information.
And that was…
"I saw people from the Research Team and the Security Team fighting not long ago."
Hmm.
'Did a researcher get his head bashed in or something…?'
Maybe my face looked disgusted, because Baek Saheon hurriedly explained.
"No, listen. You know that researcher too. Section Chief Kwak Jaekang from Research Team 1—"
"…!"
What?
I almost lost my composure right then.
I barely managed to just widen my eyes, but it was already too late.
"Looks like you're really interested."
Baek Saheon grinned with satisfaction.
"I want to tell you quickly, too, but… Well, let me see the item first, just in case. If you hear everything and then say you don't have it, that would be a problem."
"..."
"I'm not saying you'd do that, Supervisor… It's just, mutual trust, you know? Speed is important, but so is trust when you're making a deal."
Hmm. Cheeky.
"Is that so?"
"…!"
Fine.
Like a magic trick, I pulled out the Necronomicon from my wrist.
Seeing the intimidating book-shaped item, encased in a creepy book case, Baek Saheon's eyes sparkled with greed.
He reached out his hand…
Smack!
"You said you were just going to look."
"..."
For a second, Baek Saheon gave me a hostile glare, but then started spilling more information.
"I heard that Security Team member picked a fight with the researcher. Apparently, he asked the researcher something but didn't get a straight answer, so he tried to hit him?"
And the 'rumor' goes like this:
A Security Team member ran into a researcher while on duty and asked him something about the facility. Then the researcher's superior showed up.
That's Kwak Jaekang.
And he said something to him.
"What did he say?"
"No idea. Doesn't sound like it was anything special. But suddenly, the guard attacked."
"..."
A scene came to mind.
The sergeant talking to Kwak Jaekang on the phone.
– Just to let you know… I may not be able to enter Darknesses, but… I can still kill people.
Wait.
'Could that Security Team member be… Jay-ssi?'
Note/s:
[1] Room café – cafés that provide small private spaces, with books, manhwas, board games or other varieties available for customers to use. (There's been controversy sparking around some room cafés being no different than love motels, but that's beside the point lol) ↩
"Probably because of contamination. Those Security Team guys go absolutely nuts from contamination you know—"
"Don't make things up."
"What?"
"You're mixing in your own imagination."
I put on my crazy act, too.
"If I can tell you're exaggerating… my dopamine dries up."
"..."
"Keep going."
Baek Saheon looked a little scared.
His tone became more matter-of-fact.
Thankfully.
"…A-Anyway, that Security Team member hardly ever comes outside, but now he's volunteering for shifts in the annex and things like that. I hear he used to be pretty famous."
"Who said that?"
"A bunch of section chiefs were chatting. I don't know exactly who, but they were all pretty senior."
"..."
'The sergeant… he was originally a squad leader on an elite team.'
Looks like it really was Jay-ssi.
'He's actually trying to look into the Cheerful Research Institute for me…!'
Still, I hope he doesn't do anything too dangerous, but it seems he's keeping a safe distance.
Running into Kwak Jaekang is enough to make you sweat, but even if he gets hit, it's not like anything's going to happen to the sergeant. What's scary about Kwak Jaekang is the crazy explorations he sets up for people!
'It's nice to have this confirmed.'
Now I don't have to worry for no reason.
"This one's for sure!"
"Yeah, okay."
After that, I pretended to be interested and listened to a few more useless bits of gossip from Baek Saheon.
And when I sensed that his patience was just about gone, that the price had reached the right level—
"Honestly, the rest of the backstories weren't that interesting."
"..."
"But the one about the fight with the researcher was interesting. Good job. That's quality info."
"…!"
I smiled and lifted my hand off the Necronomicon.
"Take it."
Baek Saheon snatched up the bizarre book the moment I finished speaking.
His eyes scanned the eerie bookcase in excitement, then he suddenly looked at me and asked,
"This isn't, like… only readable by people like you, Supervisor, or anything, right?"
"No."
I met his gaze straight on.
"But don't expect to use it with the same power as I can."
Because you're not a creepypasta maniac!
"..."
Baek Saheon hesitated, but in the end, packed the book away.
Phew.
At last, I was able to relax my tense shoulders.
Item disposed of.
'Got some info, and got rid of that thing too.'
That fake Necronomicon. I'd been uneasy about keeping it around, so this worked out well.
Not that it's the kind of item that causes problems just by having it, but…
'…I think I'd want to just keep using it for work.'
It's just that powerful.
If I kept it, every time things got complicated, I'd feel the urge to just read it and resolve things 'that way'.
Because then everyone would listen to me.
But the longer you use something like that, the more likely you are to get caught.
'It's practically asking to be found out.'
And… no matter how you look at it, if I overdid it even a little, I'd end up going insane or suffering some permanent mental problem.
So, selling it for information to someone who isn't a ghost story maniac is just right.
'Things worked out well.'
As he put away the book, Baek Saheon's face visibly brightened, and then he looked back at me with a subtle expression.
"Um, Supervisor. I'd like to hear more about what counts as 'good information' for you."
It seemed he wanted to squeeze a bit more out of me, since the trade item was so powerful.
"If you could be a bit more specific, I'll—"
"Something interesting."
"..."
"I already told you, didn't I? You want it even more specific?"
"…Yes. If you would, I'd appreciate—"
I rested my chin in my hand.
"That story about the researcher was interesting, too. It's easier to picture when it's someone I know… Right. The security guy is fine too. It's unique."
"…Then I'll try to focus on rumors about those two, and look into some other things as well."
"Good."
I nodded.
And so, the deal ended with an unspoken sense of closure. Baek Saheon packed up his bag with today's spoils and stood up from the table.
Once he left, I also—
"Excuse me."
Hm?
Baek Saheon hesitated before continuing.
"You're still at the Disaster Management Bureau, right, Supervisor?"
"..."
"You were rescued by the agents in the form of a child back then. So…"
I quietly turned to look at Baek Saheon.
And I warned him.
"It's better not to know."
It was the truth.
Unless you want to disappear with a 'branch office assignment' too.
'If he keeps digging into my past and gets caught by Director Ho, it's over…'
"There's nowhere in there you can get something like a Wish Ticket anyway."
"..."
"There's nothing in it for you."
Maybe sensing something was off, Baek Saheon glanced around, then nodded.
'That should be enough.'
But then, unexpectedly, he added,
"…Yes. Well… Take care of yourself, Supervisor."
"You too."
And that was the end of our deal.
I only sighed after confirming Baek Saheon had left the room café.
"Haa."
Baek Saheon.
I already knew what kind of person he was as a character, and after living in the same company housing unit, I've figured him out.
So in that sense, he's a low-risk guy.
'He acts just as expected.'
That's why I'm still trading with him… though honestly, I barely know anything about him besides his personality.
And come to think of it, that goes for almost everyone I've met here, not just Baek Saheon.
'…Because I'm going to go home eventually.'
Maybe only my superiors in the D-squad are the exceptions.
After hearing Baek Saheon's trivial gossip today, I became keenly aware of that.
So now I'm a bit curious, too.
'Why is Baek Saheon so desperate to get a Wish Ticket?'
There was never any particular mention in [title] as to why someone who gambles everything on survival would risk his life this way.
'Well… Not that it's any of my business.'
Honestly, I'm more curious about the other batchmates' reasons than his.
I'll ask if I get the chance later. For now, I should focus on my own Wish Ticket.
And on my own survival.
"Huuu."
After making sure Baek Saheon was really out on the street, I took out my smartphone.
And sent the reply I'd prepared.
To Director Ho.
[I'd like to make an appointment, sir.]
Let's go.
Cheerful Theme Park.