Darkness Excavation.
The task of entering the endlessly repeating scenes of the Pleasant Research Institute deep beneath the Main Building, and excavating the Darkness within.
To collect Dream Weave, possessing new ghost stories is one of the important work processes of this Daydream Inc.
However, most of the Darkness has now been excavated from the lower floors of the Pleasant Research Institute.
At the point where employees must be sent into the deep levels, which are dangerous, lack information, and where various anomalies occur….
"An employee has appeared. Haha, 130666 from the Special Department!"
That's right.
Employees of the Security Team's Special Department, ghost stories bound as employees to Daydream Inc., are sent in as suitable candidates.
From today, including me.
A week of quiet work in the annex has yielded the intended results.
"However, I heard you don't have to go that deep today!"
That's right.
This is my task today.
The excavation of new Darkness from the lower floors, within 30 floors underground.
Kwak Jegang lowered his voice.
"Of course, if you wish to go deeper, I will unconditionally welcome it, Employee."
"..."
If I go deeper, perhaps, I might even find the ruins of that strange dream incubator room where I woke up….
Just thinking about it made my stomach churn, but I held it in.
'I intended to show myself diligently working today anyway.'
Let's build a foundation.
Mentally, and environmentally.
And naturally, this is a solo assignment given to a Special Department employee, so a Transport Cage is not needed.
"Um, perhaps… if we go together..."
"Hmm? Who said you'd be given that opportunity? This is an employee's solo mission! Honestly, a mere Security Team member who has never even explored underground a few times still..."
Request: Silence
"..."
Kwak Jegang shut his mouth. The Security Chief still maintains an attitude of indifference towards that guy.
It really feels like he's picking a fight only with Jay-ssi.
'Does he have personal feelings?'
Once I regained my senses, I felt it even more.
But… if the Security Chief is indeed the person recorded on Wiki, the leader of Team B…
'Wouldn't it make more sense for the Security Chief to hold a grudge against the research team?'
It was a strange power dynamic.
"Hmm."
But the Security Chief, still more interested in this particular exploration than in Kwak Jegang, seemed lost in thought about 'what to do then'.
Beside him, Team Leader Park Min-seong, looking at me with a worried expression, was the same.
They must be concerned about whether I, in my abnormal state, could go into Darkness of this dangerous level alone.
'....'
Secretly, I drew sentences with smoke, unbeknownst to Kwak Jegang.
In Kim Soleum's way.
I'm back to my senses.
"…!"
Don't worry. I'll go and come back safely. Jay-ssi.
And.
Team Leader Osso.
"..."
The smoke dispersed, but Team Leader Park Min-seong remained still for a moment.
Soon, a voice thick with emotion came out.
"…Hmm. Go and come back safely."
"Be careful…"
I was released from the isolation room in my restrained state and transported to the Main Building for my assignment.
To the elevator.
Ding dong.
I boarded the elevator.
It wasn't the Main Building's surface elevator I used to escape the isolation room.
An elevator that plunged underground.
It was the same one I rode once with the Security Chief, wearing Security Team attire, when entering the San-gun-nim ghost story.
However, there were no preparations like last time.
Only the organized information from the document Kwak Jegang handed me existed well in my head….
Like the
Main Building Underground Exploration Record: Pleasant Research Institute
This Darkness is a specially managed Darkness accessible only through a dedicated elevator leading to the basement of the company's Main Building.
Its appearance and ■■ have been confirmed to be almost identical to the interior of a former institution called the Pleasant Research Institute, and it has been named with the same designation.
A standard emergency stairwell is found inside, but there are no records of returning to the surface through that passage. Proceed with exploration with this in mind.
The appearance of the Pleasant Research Institute seen on each underground floor is structurally almost identical, but it shows peculiar anomalies as one descends deeper underground.
Floors up to the 29th basement level are designated as lower floors, up to the 59th as middle floors, and from the 60th onwards as deep levels.
And so it begins.
Basement Floors 2-9 – Vacation Season Office
Ding dong.
The elevator doors on the 9th basement floor open, revealing the appearance of the 'Pleasant Research Institute'….
A bright corridor with a calm atmosphere.
It looks like a normal office, unbelievable for an underground space.
Inside the offices, obscured by frosted film, the sounds of writing or chatter can occasionally be heard, but it is mostly quiet.
In this lower floor area, the Pleasant Research Institute is typically quiet and calm.
It is estimated that a large number of office personnel are absent, and there is not much activity.
Risk Level: Lowest
Thus, most of the Darkness here has already been excavated.
Ultimately, this cannot be my destination at this point.
I stepped out of the elevator and, instead of walking down the office corridor… turned my body.
And pressed.
The elevator call button located to the immediate left.
The Main Building's dedicated elevator only displays up to the 9th basement floor, and occasionally displays double-digit or higher basement levels, but pressing them is not recommended.
The official exploration method is to disembark at the lowest floor displayed normally on the elevator, and then board the elevator on the left.
That elevator on the left has buttons that descend underground from the current floor with a very high probability. Typically, 10 floors are displayed.
Continue exploration by pressing these buttons.
[Let's go, down there! To find gold, oh, I feel like singing a miner's song. Like Snow White's dwarves….]
Basement Floors 10-19 – Lunchtime Office
In this lower floor area, the Pleasant Research Institute is more boisterous than the floors above, and personnel occasionally come out of the offices.
Risk Level: Low
19th Floor.
From here on, one must be a little cautious….
To avoid being detected by the residents of the Pleasant Research Institute who might be inside those offices.
However, even if they come out into the corridor, I cannot see them.
'The same applies to them.'
The explorer who entered the elevator and the 'personnel of the Pleasant Research Institute' do not perceive each other.
However, they perceive the impact each has on the Pleasant Research Institute.
Do you understand what this means?
I cannot see the other party, and the other party cannot see me.
But if I destroy this corridor, the other party confirms that an intruder is destroying the corridor.
And most area ghost stories are never lenient towards intruders….
Try not to be detected as much as possible.
Heeding that advice, carefully….
Further down.
Boarding the elevator on the left, I search for and press the button to go deeper underground….
Basement Floors 20-29 – Midnight Office
This is my work location for today.
The very end of the lower floors.
Ding dong.
With a cheerful sound, the doors open, revealing the 29th floor.
....
A dark corridor.
Silent stillness.
Occasional, strange clanking noises can be heard.
On this floor, all light sources except for the emergency lights are turned off, and there is almost no activity observed from office personnel.
However, critical mental and physical dangers from individual Darkness occur frequently.
Deployment of Security Team personnel who have not passed the contamination inspection is strictly prohibited.
Risk Level: Low-Medium
(Civilian death risk of 50% or higher)
The risk level has sharply increased.
It was fortunate that the sense of fear had not fully returned to me yet. I could move rationally on my own.
I walked out into the corridor.
The Black Smoke was indistinguishable, consumed by the Darkness.
Only my eyes, a light source like a yellow lantern, dimly illuminated the corridor….
Even that was at the lowest possible brightness.
All attempts to use artificial light sources brought from the surface and brought inside have ended in disappearance.
A note left by Security Team R16 was recovered. Document attachment approved.
Note content: After turning off the lights, do not turn on…
…Following the manual like this, it felt like returning to the Field Investigation Team.
Of course, whether that is truly necessary for me, who is not human anymore, is a different story.
[Where will you start searching, friend?]
To the darkest place.
I will go to places people would avoid. That way, individual ghost stories will remain.
I accept for the first time the usefulness of having a Body that is not affected by the absence of light….
I walked towards the office furthest from the emergency lights.
The place with the fewest recorded exploration records on the 29th floor.
[3-⋢⟤⦯]
…The sign on the dimly lit office was somehow distorted and unreadable.
However, no sound could be heard from within.
…It is safe, for now.
'From here.'
I grabbed the office door handle, turned it gently, and opened the interior.
...The interior revealed itself.
It had the exact same structure as the dream incubator room.
'...!'
Before the shock could engulf my body, a bell chimed. A bell sound, a clear 'clang', echoed in my head....
....
Calm down.
'Hoo.'
Yes.
The office was indeed… very similar in form to the underground dream incubator room I found… with PCs and desks of the same specifications.
However, there were no dream incubators.
'This office… might not be directly related.'
I felt an inexplicable sigh of relief mentally escape me.
Then I began to scan the office.
'…It's clean.'
A scene of an office that looks like people would come to work in it as soon as morning breaks.
However, peculiar things began to catch my eye one by one in the Darkness.
Colorful samples like children's toys placed on desks, numerous hand mirrors stacked on desks, or PCs covered in sticky notes.
Focus on the differences from a typical office for exploration, but judge wisely.
There is always a possibility that the product of a ghost story, where interaction alone can lead to loss of consciousness or instant death, exists, and if it cannot be transported, it has no value as Darkness.
Easier said than done.
'Hoo.'
I tried not to imagine the expressions of the unfortunate employees who would have done this work, and checked each of the strange appearances.
[It's crude, but one could call it creativity.]
It wasn't a particularly pleasant search, perhaps because I was aware of the 'creepiness', but it was much better having someone to talk to.
'No unusual reactions.'
And then I moved to the next desk....
....
Wait a minute.
'…This.'
I checked a palm-sized circular object placed on a retractable shelf between the desks….
A black model, shaped like a disc standing upright.
'…Roulette!'
It was the same toy roulette that I spun at the
Even the button that looked like the walkie-talkie I pressed was implemented and placed next to it.
'....'
How can this be?
What is happening?
'A hint.'
I realized it instinctively.
I reached out immediately. I need to check this first. If I know what this does….
"Wow. It's really nice to see you, Soleum-nim."
…!!
I turned my head.
My hand touching the roulette.
Next to it.
A man's bare hand, gripping the roulette almost simultaneously, is visible….
Following that hand, I looked up.
"Have you been well?"
Director Ho.
He was looking at me.
…With the Pleasant Research Institute employee ID hanging around his neck.