The sound of a bell.
Tinkle.
The clear sound is proof of existence.
Evidence of some divine energy that repels evil.
Tinkle.
What followed was the sound of footsteps.
A quick, unhesitating, brisk walk, heading straight for its destination.
Light, but not frivolous.
The footsteps drew closer and closer to the officetel, then paused, casting a shadow before the open door.
And…
"Let's see, the citizen who arrived first is… no."
An agent from the Disaster Management Bureau reveals himself.
A long scar across his neck.
A smile.
Team Hyumoo 1.
The one who was once my superior.
"It's a cult-like company."
Agent Choi.
His speaking mouth was smiling, but his eyes, as they assessed the situation, held no trace of laughter.
With somber eyes, Agent Choi scanned the blood-spattered living room and the corpse that had died by gouging out its own eyes.
And he speaks.
"This can't be a coincidence, can it?"
"…!"
Tinkle.
Agent Choi's hand is pointed behind his back as if to hide something. But I know what is there.
A giant Executioner's Sword.
A hallucination of a blue light seeming to emanate from the blade rises.
Agent Choi moves his arm…
"Well then…"
"I surrender!"
Kang Yi-hak raised both hands and decisively dropped to his knees on the floor.
"…?!"
[Oh, it seems he sells his knees on the cheap!]
But Agent Choi didn't even blink.
"Oh yeah? All the better."
"Wait! Just a moment!"
Kang Yi-hak, desperately trying to block the barrage of the Executioner's Sword, ran his mouth even faster.
"Hey now, Agent, you remember me, right? We met in that Darkness that gives out the expensive Conch Shell!"
"Of course, I remember."
Agent Choi grinned.
"You're the employee from that cult-like company who tried to escape using injured children as hostages, right?"
"That was Assistant manager Nabi acting on her own, not me!"
The Security Chief is watching their tiki-taka with a dazed look, as if wondering what this is all about.
"We just came to see if there was a usable Darkness, but it was clearly out of our league, so we were just about to leave!"
"Oh~ So you're completely unrelated to this situation?"
"Is that what's important? What's important is this."
Kang Yi-hak quickly turned his head and solemnly asked the Security Chief.
"Is Director Cheong there?"
"The line… already cut off."
"Okay."
Kang Yi-hak, a broad smile on his face, looks at Agent Choi again.
"It means you can buy the information we found about the Darkness at the lowest price!"
Kang Yi-hak made a circle with his thumb and index finger, leaving a short and powerful impression.
[Good heavens.]
"Hey, what do you mean, lowest price? A good public servant pays a fair price for goods. Citizen. As for the price…"
Agent Choi smiles and pulls his hand from behind his back.
One step forward.
"I'll make sure you get good prison food."
The Executioner's Sword flies.
Thud.
But the form of a Beast's Black Paw blocked the Executioner's Sword.
"…!"
The Security Chief's mutated left arm.
But between the giant, vicious claws, the Executioner's Sword has dug in as if it would slice right through it.
Chiiiiik.
The surfaces in contact are burning.
Just looking at the mangled state of that dangling paw, the pain must be immense, yet the Security Chief doesn't flinch.
He just stares at Agent Choi, the Executioner's Sword between them.
"Hey… we're just… going to go back…. We won't do anything funny… so let us go… I'll… cooperate…"
"My, my, how can I get your cooperation if I let you…"
Agent Choi's smiling reply cuts off.
His eyes, looking at the Security Chief again.
His expression changed.
"…You."
As if he just realized the identity of the person whose silhouette and features were almost completely hidden by the security team's daytime work uniform, thanks to the current mutation.
…The night Director Ho placed the restriction.
The Security Chief I had met in that dream incubation room, where I was exposed as a spy by Agent Choi.
"..."
For a moment, a tremendous conflict and impulse surge across Agent Choi's face.
But the next moment, the expression vanished as if suppressed.
A business-like smoothness returns to his dry tone, which has regained its priorities.
"…The security team is here too? Wow, this must be no ordinary matter. I'll need to hear all your statements. As quickly as possible."
"You've got it wrong. We were just here to try and earn some extra income, yes, if you can just guarantee that part…"
"I'll just tell you everything."
"…!"
Lee Seong-hae stepped forward, raising his right hand.
"Dep, Deputy?!"
"You will?"
"Yep, yep."
Without even looking at Kang Yi-hak, Lee Seong-hae says brightly.
"You have to help an agent who's working hard to rescue citizens."
"..."
"So could you please put away the Executioner's Sword? The security team member looks like he's in a lot of pain!"
After studying Lee Seong-hae's face for a moment as if to gauge him, Agent Choi soon retrieved the Executioner's Sword and smiled out of habit.
"Shall we do that, then?"
And he quickly listened to Lee Seong-hae's briefing.
Lee Seong-hae truly recounted everything, from the actions of the 'man on the screen' to the crisis situation that seemed certain to spread uncontrollably.
I wondered if he was going to mention that the USB was in his possession, but after glancing back and forth between the Security Chief and the transport cage I was in, he didn't mention it.
It seems he thought it would bring harm to us.
"Okay."
…And all the while, the blade of the Executioner's Sword remained in front of the bars of the transport cage.
I held my breath.
So that the smoke would not escape.
…So that the other party, would not know anything.
Agent Choi, listening to Lee Seong-hae's testimony as if memorizing it without missing a single syllable, did not let his guard down until the very end of the story.
Only at the very, very end did he put away the Executioner's Sword.
"My, my, thank you for your cooperation."
"Don't mention it! Helping a good person is a good thing!"
"Wow~ Really? That's my daily life, too. I'm achieving some real self-actualization through my work. Helping good citizens. But…"
Agent Choi looks at the golden mark on Lee Seong-hae's mask.
At the elite team's Deputy Dolphin.
"Why do you go to Daydream?"
"..."
"You already know that plenty of good people die because of what that company does, right?"
Lee Seong-hae smiled faintly.
"For now, I'm stopping them from doing bad things whenever I see them!"
"Is that so? How about just quitting?"
"..."
Lee Seong-hae didn't answer. And Agent Choi stopped the conversation there as well.
[Oh, it seems he's about to leave.]
That's right.
This incident happened to multiple broadcast editors simultaneously. The agents probably moved together, each assigned to a different location.
And now that he's found out all he can here, he'll leave the cleanup of the body and such to the Joojak Team and go help the other Hyumoo teams…
I know.
I, too, used to do it.
[…Friend, you seem to be in a bad mood. Oh dear, are you alright?]
I'm fine.
No, rather than being fine… my dull brain can't reach a proper conclusion anyway.
I don't really know what I'm feeling.
I just watched from beyond the bars of the transport cage as the familiar figure left the officetel door…
"You there."
Agent Choi, who had been holding the door, turned back as if he couldn't hold it in, came close, and whispered in a low voice.
To the Security Chief.
"You know me, right?"
"..."
"You also know the employee who uses the alias Noru, right."
The Security Chief met Agent Choi's eyes.
"What happened to him? Don't give me that meaningless line about him being missing and processed as deceased after the train ghost story. His whereabouts after that."
"..."
"…Did he, really ride the Wish Ticket?"
The Security Chief answered slowly.
"The Wish Ticket… he rode it."
"..."
The expression vanishes from Agent Choi's face.
"And?"
"..."
"And what happened?"
The Security Chief gently tapped my transport cage, then turned his head this way…
"Don't."
The blade of the Executioner's Sword struck the bars.
"Use of supernatural disasters is prohibited."
A nostalgic light sparks from beyond the bars.
"Hey, mister. If you suddenly show up at a scene with a suspicious transport cage like that, anyone would think it's a portable containment unit for a supernatural disaster."
"..."
"Should I split it in half and check? See what it's used for."
"It's not… like that."
"Then please answer the question."
"..."
The Security Chief didn't answer.
Because he couldn't confirm my intentions.
And as the silence lasted for a few seconds, Agent Choi, who needed to wrap this up and join the civilian rescue for an active supernatural disaster, showed a hint of impatience… then seemed to give up.
On getting an answer right here and now.
"Right. Well… maybe you don't feel like talking. That's your personal freedom."
Instead, he chose another path.
"But you might feel like talking after relaxing over a bowl of hot seolleongtang."
The moment Agent Choi put his hand in his coat and grinned, I realized.
"And this whole situation is suspicious, you know."
"…!"
"Just heard a rumor and came to catch a Darkness in Daydream, you say… The timing of the report is quite a coincidence, isn't it?"
A chillingly accurate intuition.
"For persons of interest found at a disaster site, witness statements like these often come out more after some time and slow consideration."
And what comes out of his coat is…
A Glass Prison Transport Device.
"The Bureau will provide a place for you to rest and wait."
The agent had changed his mind, deciding to transport the Daydream Inc. employees all at once.
'…No.'
I have to return with the USB after finishing my task.
I released the smoke.
The moment I was about to slip out of the transport cage.
"You there."
A cold voice echoed through the officetel.
A new person, who had entered the room at some point, grabbed Agent Choi's arm.
"Cool your head."
"…!"
A tall woman, wearing a Four-Sided Divine Sword.
Team Hyumoo 3's Team Leader Haegeum.
The agent I had encountered at the Fun Theme Park was standing there.
[Ah, I see. The employee who helped with your resort management!]
That's right.
"Tasks like dealing with cult-like companies are for team leaders to handle when they're present. The agent brat can go to the broadcast station now."
"..."
"Still young, I see, full of vigor. Even trying to use shortcuts."
"Aw, come on, sis. I'm practically in the prime of my youth."
Agent Choi grinned, but his words were followed by a hint of urgency.
"But I have more to say…"
"I said, go. Agent."
"..."
"The chaotic cases have all been rescued. Now you need to go to the broadcast station and sweet-talk the director. You're the right person for the job."
Agent Choi stood frozen to the spot for a moment, but eventually turned and moved his feet.
The sound of footsteps running out the door fades away.
....
"Hoo."
Team Leader Haegeum straightens up, then glances over the two masked people and says.
"Alright, you two from the field exploration team, if you have nothing more to say, how about you get going."
"…!"
"Yep, thank you!"
"Wait a sec. Can the security team members go too?"
"Ah, this one has something to talk about with me. I'm not throwing him in jail, so don't worry."
"Ah, then I'll wait…"
"Yep. Thank you!"
After a moment of hesitation, Lee Seong-hae follows the hastily departing Kang Yi-hak. And so, the two from the field exploration team left the officetel.
Team Leader Haegeum watched the backs of the Daydream employees with a somewhat bitter expression, then approached the Security Chief.
And…
She lowered her gaze.
To me.
"Golden Mascot."
…!!
"No, should I call you the resort owner."
Team Leader Haegeum smiles wryly.
"Why so surprised? After you even hired me as a resort employee."
Ah.
"An event that alters one's existence to that extent is bound to leave a scar. For instance… in the form of recognizing a former employer."
But for something she described as a scar, the agent's expression wasn't bad.
On the contrary, she leaned down to the transport cage and said this.
"And I must offer my thanks."
…Thanks?
"Thank you for safely sending home the citizens who get caught up in the resort."
....
"Even if they don't have the coins to pay, you hire the adults and give the children experience passes to let them stay the night."
[Good heavens. Friend, are you running a charity?]
"If it were during a red zone period, it would surely have been above a supernatural disaster wave pattern, but thanks to you, it's currently registered as a phenomenon."
In a strange, inexplicable shock, I looked at Team Leader Haegeum.
Yes.
That… was certainly a decision I had made in the past.
And I was still the owner of that resort.
Unchanged, even after all that had happened.
"So, what I'm saying is…"
....
"No matter how I think about it, the resort owner doesn't seem to be a good fit for Daydream Inc."
Ah.
"Are you bound by a contract?"
…!
"It seems Daydream Inc. finally managed it. A way to command a supernatural phenomenon."
....
"An originally pure being is easily deceived by such a wicked promise. It's because they don't know the malice of humans."
Denial
"You're saying it's not to that extent? But… your energy has changed."
Team Leader Haegeum taps the transport cage. When the Security Chief tries to stop her, she raises her hands slightly, then continues speaking…
"You seem very tired."
....
"This isn't the vibrant figure I saw at the resort before. Something… is turbid. It reminds me of the true form of that Magic Bunny, the red mascot."
…I remembered.
The grotesque form of the red mascot, which had been devoured by its mask, lost its original form, and melted away.
And the Blue Mascot, who never wanted to show its face without the mask.
"Do you want to run away? Before you lose more."
....
Impossible
"Hmm… is that so."
Team Leader Haegeum, who had slightly furrowed her brow as if in pity, presses her temples and thinks deeply about something.
"Then what is it you want most right now?"
....
I want to have a human-like form.
Answering that would have been the correct answer.
Since that was my intermediate goal.
But… I was moving the smoke without realizing it....
To find myself
It's a vague and impractical statement.
It's not that I lost myself; I was just originally this form. I've only just realized the truth.
Just as I thought I should cancel it.
"…Hmm."
To my surprise, Team Leader Haegeum began to search her pockets.
"Team Leader Hong compared you to a lantern… but for someone like you, always shrouded in black fog, what I used to use would be better."
And she holds something out in front of the transport cage.
A small object.
A round thing made of jade and silver…
"Even if you can't see, you'll be able to hear the sound."
A bell.
"When you've lost yourself, when you can't see an inch ahead, when the world is blurred by delusion and anguish."
"You follow that sound."
Tinkle.
"And realize. Who you originally were."
A clear sound rang from the bell.
Team Leader Haegeum gave it to me.
"It will help."
....
I formed a hand from within the smoke and took the bell.
At the same time.
Outside the officetel, in an alley in Seoul.
"Hoo."
Kang Yi-hak walked on with a sigh.
'Couldn't make a single penny here.'
It was so regrettable! No matter how she thought about it, this was a situation where she could have at least snagged an item.
She looked at Lee Seong-hae, who was now walking some distance behind her, and smacked her lips in disappointment.
'He's not placing any bets.'
What a shame. Next time, I'll definitely figure out how to use this superior and generate some extra income!
Of course, if I'm going to work with an elite team member, I'd rather work with a different superior.
'Assistant manager Jin Na-sol is much more generous with her money!'
But then again, it wouldn't be a company if you could just pick and choose like that.
'Still, I broke even.'
Let's strive for more in the future. Kang Yi-hak shrugged her shoulders only inwardly, then spoke amiably to Lee Seong-hae.
"Deputy, is the taxi fare for our return to headquarters also covered…"
Lee Seong-hae stopped walking.
...?
"As I thought."
At that moment.
Seeing the person walking out from beyond the alley, Kang Yi-hak felt a strong premonition stab her in the back of her neck.
The feeling of being 'screwed.'
"You came this way."
It was another agent.
One who had finished his own rescue duties and, instead of being dispatched to the broadcast station, was scheduled to return to the Bureau to report his information.
The agent Agent Choi had called for as he ran to the broadcast station.
Cheongdong.
"I am informing you. Those who have experienced a supernatural disaster are subject to a minimum of half a day to a maximum of indefinite quarantine for the purpose of debriefing and protection by the Disaster Management Bureau."
Kang Yi-hak immediately tried to turn and run. The moment she decided to use an item.
She saw it.
Lee Seong-hae, standing behind her, urgently raising his hand.
'…!'
It was a motion as if to use some kind of equipment or ability, and in that moment, Kang Yi-hak flinched reflexively.
....
'Ah.'
Lee Seong-hae, standing behind her.
Smiled and waved the hand he had raised at Kang Yi-hak.
A farewell.
"Commencing transport."
Before the blackout, Kang Yi-hak saw a giant glass curtain covering her.