We found the missing party, Deputy Lee Seong-hae, on the train at Casino Station.
We could have rejoiced that the pursuit was successful.
If only she hadn't been working as a dealer with one eye missing, as described in the Casino Ghost Story.
"Dolphin..."
"Shh."
Agent Choi gripped my shoulder tightly. I instinctively shut my mouth.
"..."
"Yes, Dealer. Please show us the way~"
"Yes, yes!"
And then, quietly, we began to follow the dealer, a ghost story resident in the form of Lee Seong-hae, who started walking ahead.
Agent Choi whispered in a low voice.
"Rather than making a fuss about recognizing her, we need to seize the moment and snap her back to her senses, even if only briefly. Got it?"
I nodded.
The dealer led us through the dilapidated entrance area of the casino and inside.
We entered, quietly observing our surroundings.
...If this were a Darkness Exploration Record, this is the environment that would have been recorded...
As we followed the dealer through the casino entrance area, a place with three iron doors lined up side-by-side appeared, as if a subway facility management space had been remodeled.
The areas accessible through each door will be described in order.
1.Left - Red Door
"This is the Slot Machine Zone!"
As the door opened, a square space appeared, filled with fast-paced, low-frequency music, old brass ornaments, and endless rows of slot machines.
It felt more systematic and persistent than the atmospheric machines at the entrance.
"You can enjoy simple games by pulling the lever, and you can challenge the jackpot with just one coin, so it's very popular."
Most of the slot machines were already broken, but many visitors were seen pulling the worn-out, still-operational machines with vacant eyes.
If they had no hands, they used their feet; if they had no feet, they used their mouths.
I even saw someone frantically grabbing something that came out of a winning slot machine and fleeing to a corner.
And the addicts chasing that winner like madmen.
It was a sight that sent shivers down my spine.
"Then, I will guide you to the next area."
2.Right - Blue Door
"This is the Dealer Zone. It's where various table games are played. Only parties with over 50 coins can enter."
The casino space that appeared was cleaner than the Slot Machine Zone.
However, more than half of the game tables were broken or shattered.
At the few remaining intact tables, 'dealers' in similar attire to Deputy Lee Seong-hae were standing still or conducting games.
But their numbers were significantly fewer, and there were almost no visitors seated...
[It seems like an isolated place. Oh, like a run-down casino in a tourist spot that no one visits anymore.]
[Look at them. What a pathetic sight!]
The visitors seated in front of the dealers were either missing both legs, had more than half of their facial features missing, or were completely covered in worn-out hoods or padding.
"..."
"How is it?"
"Ah, it seems to be a quiet day today."
"We usually have more visitors on weekends than weekdays!"
It clearly wasn't that kind of problem, but it was natural that realistic conversation was difficult with contaminated people.
I gently changed the subject.
"Actually, I was a bit surprised to see a dealer. I thought it was an unmanned facility."
"Ah. I understand. Lately, the number of subway passengers has been decreasing, so I heard that ■■City Royal Casino is also changing its management policy to be more innovative."
It was a meaningful statement.
The dealer, in the form of Deputy Lee Seong-hae, smiled and led us to the next room.
"Still, there are special games you can only enjoy here!"
The last room.
2.Center - Golden Door
A rusty golden iron door with its paint completely peeled off.
Above it was a velvet nameplate that had not yet frayed.
VIP ACCESS
"This is a room only accessible to visitors with over 999 coins!"
As expected, the iron door was firmly shut.
As if we couldn't enter.
"It's an area I highly recommend because you can see the true face of the Royal Casino."
"What kind of games are played?"
"That is something that can only be told separately to visitors who meet the entry requirements!"
"How many people are inside right now?"
"That is something that can only be told separately to visitors who meet the entry requirements!"
It meant that if we wanted to know anything about the VIP Room behind that door, we needed 999 coins.
"What I can say for sure is that you can earn a tremendous amount of coins!"
"...I see."
[Hmm. Are you curious, friend?]
Of course, it felt unusual, but that wasn't important right now.
"...Thank you for the explanation."
"Not at all, visitor!"
The dealer, in the form of Deputy Lee Seong-hae, smiled again and bid farewell.
I bowed in return, accepting the farewell, but a certain thought wouldn't leave my mind.
One question kept circling in my head...
Was Deputy Lee Seong-hae
that tall?
"Then, first, I will help you enter the Dealer Room!"
There was definitely more than a 10cm difference with Assistant Manager Eun Haje, but now, at a glance, she was taller.
Even though she was wearing flat shoes, not the cushioned sneakers she usually wore.
How could that be?
"Would you like to play a game?"
Returning to the Dealer Room, the second area, the dealer, standing across from a shabby table, explained in a cheerful voice.
"It's a simple card game. You just have to guess the identity of the card I'm holding! You can bet a minimum of 3 coins, and you can win up to 36 times your bet!"
Lee Seong-hae's hands moved with dazzling speed as she took out a deck of playing cards.
And I realized something else.
"Are you going to bet?"
The one-eyed dealer made eye contact with me, who also had one eye missing.
"If you bet all of your 35 coins, theoretically, you could gain VIP Room access in one go."
....
"It's okay."
I smiled and stepped back slightly from the table.
"This is our first time here. We'll try the slot machines first, and if possible, we'll enjoy ourselves a bit before coming to bet. Thank you."
"...Yes, yes. Thank you!"
The dealer's persistent gaze finally broke, and I left the Dealer Room with my companions.
Then, returning to the entrance area, after confirming the dealer wasn't following us from beside the pawn shop, I opened my mouth.
"Grapes-ie, did you see?"
"Yes."
I saw the dealer's hands shuffling cards.
"The ring finger and middle finger had a different shape."
"Right. ...And the connection of the wrist and hand bones looked unnatural."
And the dealer's height, which was 'strangely tall compared to Deputy Lee Seong-hae.'
All of it pointed to one fact.
....
"Only the head is Deputy Dolphin."
The dealer was made of different bodies crudely connected.
Along with Deputy Lee Seong-hae's head.
"She must have repeatedly sold and repurchased most of her body parts while gambling here."
Or perhaps.
"She might have incurred debt, lost all her body parts to the casino, and been reassembled as a dealer."
Either way, one question remained.
So.
"...Can we consider this a situation where rescue is possible?"
....
"We must kill her."
"Wait,"
Agent Bronze's voice insisted again.
"Then she will wake up in reality. If we shoot her in the head, she will die."
"Just a moment!"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje cut off Agent Bronze.
"Mr. Public Official, please calm down. Let's think. ...Can someone with only a head still be considered themselves?"
"Hmm~ It should be considered the person whose brain is there. After all, it's the head that dreams."
"No."
Agent Choi and Section Chief Lee Ja-heon disagreed.
The two looked at each other.
"Citizen, why do you think not?"
"Yes. In the Darkness, there are cases where symbolic or ritualistic classification is used instead of medical diagnosis."
"...For example, you mean the heart could be the standard instead of the head? Because there are cultures that see the heart as a more fundamental element of a person?"
"Yes."
"Hoo."
Agent Choi sighed.
If 'Deputy Lee Seong-hae with only her head remaining' is not recognized as herself, and therefore she doesn't wake up in reality...
'Her consciousness might just die.'
Moreover.
"There's no guarantee here that 'dying will immediately wake you up in reality,' just like the last station. Old Man."
"...Even so, it is more humane to leave her in a state of complete contamination within an unrecognized World-ending Class supernatural disaster than to do nothing."
"Cheongdong."
Agent Choi's low voice was heard.
"I told you not to speak of the Management Bureau's manual as if it were your own opinion, didn't I?"
"..."
"Our Hubae is a bit rigid, but he didn't mean any harm, citizens."
"I know. Well, what the Old Man said has a bit of a generalization error, but it's not entirely wrong."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje smoothed things over.
"After all, we brought Euthanasia Pills because we figured we'd have to die to leave without any other method, didn't we?"
That was also true.
'I thought the gimmick wouldn't have changed much, unless it was extreme.'
Moreover.
"I think so too. ...Seeing me in human form, it's likely we've entered a dream, not reality."
"...Noruya."
"So, if there's truly no other way, we'll have to do as Agent Bronze suggested, but... I'd like to explore other options first."
"..."
Agent Bronze nodded heavily. The others seemed to have reached a consensus.
Gather as much information as possible from the Midnight Station Body Casino.
This was our first objective.
However, there were those who did not agree with this.
Baek Saheon, whose face looked like he had written 'Not Interested.'
He had no particular connection to Deputy Lee Seong-hae, and Ho Yuwon was the one providing the reward, so rescue wasn't the goal.
'He's probably more interested in the reward.'
And Ho Yuwon had made an unusually lenient request this time.
·For now, I'd like you to gather information about Sekwang Special City outside the subway.
Perhaps we could find related information by thoroughly exploring the station, rather than just rushing out.
Even if not, a casino is a perfect place to find items.
'His mind must be elsewhere.'
And perhaps sensing his uncooperative attitude, Agent Bronze shot Baek Saheon a contemptuous glance from behind his mask.
But that's not how you treat people.
I placed my hand on Baek Saheon's shoulder.
"Hey."
"Yes, yes?"
Baek Saheon was (thankfully) startled, but this time it was the carrot, not the stick.
I spoke as gently as possible.
"If this is a casino, wouldn't the dealer know the most about its mechanisms and products?"
"So?"
"I mean, if we rescue her and bring her out, we might get some useful information."
"..."
Perhaps having already collected information about Deputy Lee Seong-hae's personality, Baek Saheon's expression changed slightly.
Yes. He knew she wasn't the type to take help and run.
"Think about it yourself."
I let him go.
'At this point, he won't at least interfere within here.'
And so, people dispersed.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje went to observe other casino visitors, Section Chief Lee Ja-heon and Baek Saheon went to the slot machines, and the agents went to the body pawn shop and item exchange counter respectively.
And I...
"You're back!"
I entered the Dealer Room.
·Deputy, could you possibly lend me 20 coins for a moment? I don't plan to spend them, I just want to go into the Dealer Room.
·Okay. I'll be there soon, so come and meet me.
With the coins, which were literally 'blood money' as Assistant Manager Eun Haje had said, carefully borrowed, I met the 50-coin requirement and gained the qualification to play with the dealer.
"Yes. We meet again."
I sat down across the table.
The dealer, with Deputy Lee Seong-hae's face, smiled broadly.
"Are you going to bet?"
"...Yes."
"Understood!"
The dealer, with a pleased expression, stood across the table and began to sort the cards again.
"A preliminary announcement! If you are caught using 'cheating,' a penalty will be imposed."
"Yes. I'll be careful."
I carefully observed all her movements and said, as if casually.
"Have you perhaps worked anywhere else?"
"...Yes?"
"I think I saw you at a resort."
The hand moving the cards paused for a moment.
And then...
"Ah, I did work briefly at the Flower Golden Resort. It was a really nice place!"
"...I see. That's wonderful."
"Thank you."
At least she remembered that.
I decided to proceed with the game to ask more personal questions that might jog her memory, and to find out what Deputy Lee Seong-hae had gone through.
Just then.
"Then, let's start the game... Oh!"
Someone else sat down at the table.
'Who is it?'
I turned my head, wondering if it was someone from Assistant Manager Eun Haje's party who had entered without meeting me.
"...!"
A resident of Sekwang Special City, wearing a worn-out padded jacket pulled all the way over their head, sat next to me.
"..."
"..."
'What is this?'
I had a bad feeling about it.
I considered getting up, but I remained seated for now.
My palms were sweating.
"Are you going to bet?"
The resident next to me nodded slowly and silently, placing three coins on the table.
Stained and worn coins.
"..."
I placed 3 coins on the table.
In contrast, the clean coins glinted slightly in the light....
"Yes, yes. Then, let's begin!"
The dealer collected the coins and spread the deck of playing cards face down on the table, asking.
"Which card will you choose?"
I waited.
But the person next to me didn't choose a card.
Suffocating silence.
"...This one."
"Yes, yes!"
And then, the customer next to me, as if waiting, tapped the card next to mine the moment I chose mine.
'...What is this?'
It felt strange.
"Now, you just have to guess the suit or number of the card you chose. If you guess the suit, you get 3 times the prize, if you guess the number, you get 8 times, and if you guess both, you get 36 times!"
The explanation continued, kindly stating that K, Q, J were excluded and A counted as 1.
[Oh, the odds are in favor of the casino. How obvious can it be!!]
Right.
But amidst the bizarre tension rather than unfairness, I spoke quietly.
"It's a game of probability. The number has a higher multiplier than the suit, so it seems like a higher grade. Like a precious solution."
"That's an interesting analogy, customer!"
It seems I can make small talk up to this point. Let's keep probing.
"So, have you ever played as a visitor yourself, Dealer? I'm curious about how many coins you've bet."
"Me?"
A flat voice was heard.
"I've bet up to 990 coins."
...!
But before I could say anything more, the game proceeded.
"Then, I will ask the customer who placed their coins first. How will you bet?"
....
"Customer?"
A index finger was raised from the next seat. The hand, obsessively wrapped in bandages, concealed the other fingers.
"Yes, you bet 1!"
Hoo.
Now I had to bet too.
'For now...'
"I'll guess the suit. Diamonds."
"Confirmed!"
And the dealer looked at the resident next to me again, and my gaze followed....
And I realized.
The person who had sat next to me had almost completely turned their body towards me.
Even though the dealer was announcing their bet.
"Let's check the customer who bet on the number first..."
The dealer flipped the card.
"It's a Spade 3."
"..."
"Unfortunately, you failed!"
The customer next to me remained motionless.
And then....
"Now, this time..."
The card I had chosen was flipped over....
Diamond 8.
"Congratulations! You got it right! Here is your prize."
The dealer paid me 9 coins. Among them were the old, stained coins I had taken from the person next to me. I swept them into my pocket.
"..."
"Congratulations! Would you like to play again?"
I felt a gaze.
The Sekwang Special City resident, who had lost their coins, was staring intently at me.
Though I couldn't see it, I was sure of it.
"..."
I quietly gathered the coins I had won and stood up.
'Let's escape.'
I'll go meet Assistant Manager Eun Haje first, and then come back.
"Ah, are you leaving already?"
"I was just going to look around other places for a bit..."
And as I turned, the casino visitor from the next seat, who had already risen from the table, stood before me.
"..."
"..."
The person raised their head.
Their lower jaw was revealed from beneath the padded jacket.
And then….
"Mr. Roe Deer."
A familiar face.
A familiar voice.
[Good heavens!]
"Why are you here?"
Ms. Go Young-eun.
My colleague, with anxious eyes, was saying what I was going to say.