It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 059

The tattoo engraved on me by the horror story was all letters.

One was a Latin letter.

: Socius :

It was the membership given by the blue dragon, the theme park mascot, which burned as it was engraved. According to Brown, it was a letter that granted the authority of a ‘special privilege’ pass.

And the other one was a Hanzi.

: 恩主 :

This was a tattoo burned from the contract document of the cabin keeper in the serial killer horror story.

However, because I lacked the ‘qualification,’ it was merely an ornamental letter without any actual function.

If I were to choose one of them to ‘enhance’…

‘This one, for sure.’

“Please take care of it.”

The tattooist looked over the tattoo I pointed at.

: 恩主 :

The reason for this choice was very simple.

‘Increasing the variety of abilities is better.’

It’s almost certain that I will be entering various horror stories in the future (as sad as that is).

It means there’s no situation where just one superpower can solve everything.

‘Even the Lizard Manager nearly died with that power, it’s useless.’

It’s better to have more cards to play in different situations rather than vaguely enhancing a single ability.

‘So, it’s better to use the useless letter.’

Here at the Moonlight Tattoo Shop, there’s no worry about “stepping on a landmine.”

They’re very friendly to people and don’t give out powers that could be harmful, meaning the cabin keeper won’t suddenly pop up and slice my neck.

Moreover…

I glanced at the Latin letter.

-Good Kid.

…Thinking back to that mascot, which seemed to have formed a strangely emotional bond, covering this tattoo felt like it would somehow be a defacement.

‘A warning signal is ringing.’

As a devoted reader of the [Dark Exploration Records], my instincts told me to avoid such things.

– Ah, it’s finally starting!

Thus, I made my choice, and the tattooist began to move.

I stopped the tattooist, who was about to show me multiple drafts.

“Ah, please just do it in the best way you see fit.”

If maximizing the effect is the goal, it’s best to leave it to the expert.

I smiled.

“I trust in your abilities, Tattooist.”

“…!”

The shop owner’s eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment, and then assertively urged me to lie back comfortably in the chair.

While tightly holding onto Brown.

– Did they misunderstand me as some sort of pain-soothing doll? It’s a rude yet amusing misunderstanding!

However, there was no pain.

The tattooist wore some intricate steampunk-style goggles and began to operate a huge tattoo machine.

‘…Is the machine originally that big?’

Just as I was slightly taken aback by the nearly surgical-looking gigantic machine, moonlight enveloped the machine.

Ziiinnn—

The light pouring from the LED ceiling was sucked into the machine.

And it converged into a focal point.

The needle tip of the tattoo machine.

Like a shimmering jewel, the sensation approached my arm, and I closed my eyes as instructed.

“……”

A bizarre sensation was felt in my left arm.

It wasn’t pain or ticklishness. Nor was it pressure.

It felt as if old dirt was being stripped away, and my skin was being rearranged and correctly assembled, giving a refreshing and pleasant sensation that lingered.

Tap, tap.

It’s done.

The light before my eyes vanished, and as I opened my eyes at the tattooist’s gesture.

“…!”

‘Oh my God.’

The tattoo now had a background.

The full moon hovered in a dark blue night sky, as if painted in one stroke, and letters carved like moon shadows floated above it.

Stars sparkled like pearls scattered near the letters.

Tap, tap.

The tattooist looked at me with hands on their hips, as if asking if I liked it.

“It’s absolutely wonderful.”

The tattooist’s face beamed with pride as they patted my shoulder and dashed towards the counter.

“…?”

What the tattooist returned holding was a single pearl. It looked like it had been taken from the necklace I brought.

‘What is this?’

The owner placed the pearl onto my tattoo.

And it sank in.

“…?!”

– Hooh, this is interesting. Hmm…

– Doe, this is quite fun. ‘A passage’ has opened.

A passage?

– Would you like to gently rub the tattoo? You might feel something.

I raised my hand and lightly touched the tattoo, which, strangely enough, had neither swelling nor pain.

“…!”

I felt it.

Between the touching skin, there was a ‘gap’ of something.

“……”

I cautiously ‘inserted’ my hand inside.

The pearl I had earlier—now in my hand.

‘…Space?’

– Right. It seems that poor cabin worker’s contract included ‘space provision’ as well!

– After all, it’s a servant’s duty to provide a room to a guest, isn’t it? Perhaps the artist found the loophole in that contract and made it so that a small space would be provided to you!

Wait a minute.

Does this mean that I now have… a small personal inventory?

‘Is this even possible?’

My heart raced at the webtoon-style gift I never expected from the horror story.

– Let’s see… Think of it as a cube about 2 feet on each side. That amount of space seems to be ‘connected’ to you!

A 2-foot cube is roughly about 60 cm.

Although they used a wicked unit of measurement uncommon for American talk show horror, it was genuinely useful information.

But here’s the thing.

‘So, is this connected to that cabin?’

That crazy murderous cabin must have surely disappeared.

– Well, where it connects… no one knows, right?

– What exactly type of space the cabin keeper agreed to provide is only known to the original contractor.

“……”

– This is fascinating. It also works well as a betting topic! What should we wager for the joy of our lives?

I politely declined…

Still, since this Moonlight Tattoo Shop likely wouldn’t activate powers in a harmful way, I should avoid being overly cautious and miss out on usable abilities.

‘From now on, I won’t have to worry about sneaking items around.’

That alone was already an amazing feat.

“Thank you. This really is amazing and wonderful.”

I returned the pearl I took out, and the joy and satisfaction shone in the tattooist’s eyes.

“Can I go now?”

I nodded.

“Then I’ll head in.”

And just as I was about to step out the entrance.

The tattooist seemed to realize something and gestured for me to wait.

‘What’s going on?’

Then they rummaged intensely under the counter and pulled out a piece of paper. Carefully wrapping it in transparent packaging, they handed it to me.

‘…Tattoo design?’

The moment I took it from the other person, I realized.

It was a tattoo sticker.

Even the design I had recommended and picked out—the tomato tree was right there.

And there were three of them!

“…!”

Wait a minute.

“Does this mean that while wearing these… I become ‘brave’? Just like getting a tattoo?”

The tattooist nodded with a smile.

‘Oh my God.’

This was an unexpected bonus.

“Thank you.”

The shop owner waved at me with a smile.

It felt like it was really time to send me off.

I carefully placed the stickers into my pocket, or rather, into the new ‘space,’ and grabbed the door handle to finally leave.

“I hope you have a great day.”

With a polite greeting, the door closed behind me.

Ding.

And when I turned my head back again.

“……”

There was vacancy.

Inside the glass window, twisted real estate contact details stuck were blankly empty.

‘…It was said to be like this.’

The Moonlight Tattoo Shop could only be accessed once through this ‘It is Vacant’ horror story.

‘I guess there will be opportunities to utilize other horror stories next time.’

– Ah, it was a unique and enjoyable experience.

I agree.

“Doe, how was the exploration?”

“Yeah.”

That day, I successfully completed the ‘It is Vacant’ exploration without any problems and accrued points nicely.

The pleasant aroma of the aroma massage Brown received lasted for days.

However, the cover-up tattoo vanished like a lie the next day, leaving only the original letters on my wrist.

Still, the abilities I acquired remained intact.

‘Let’s use them wisely.’

Thinking about the possibilities of the inventory, I began to repeat experiments.

*

And three weeks later.

The ability that seemed to be a lie had seen no action…

“……”

Well, I mean… normally, this would be standard.

When entering a horror story with a manual, the necessary items are already provided by the company, so there’s no real need to hide anything.

And the cases where I was thrown into horror stories without manuals have significantly decreased.

‘Even in the alien shop, I didn’t particularly want to go around madly loaded without anything useful…’

In the end, it had turned into a utility for just carrying my existing items more conveniently.

‘At least I found out that if the inside is in a vacuum, food doesn’t spoil.’

When I placed an analog clock inside, the second hand remained unaffected, but if I put in an electronic clock, it drains its battery.

The rules of the situation were completely incomprehensible.

Yet, it wasn’t an urgent time to use it.

In conclusion, I went through the days accumulating points without having to use items or abilities desperately…

‘It’s a good thing, though.’

“There are three weeks left until the regular appointments.”

“Hoohoo.”

“You’re going to stay here, right, Doe!? ”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

The hottest gossip in Group D was whether I could safely remain in this group after the regular appointment assignments.

Just like the horror story company, accidents or scary events occurred from time to time, but I had gotten used to that too.

Holding onto the tattoo stickers like talismans allowed me to get by.

‘I should really only use this in urgent times.’

I began to feel at ease working alongside these great coworkers, gradually getting used to this company.

And naturally…

That sense of ease didn’t last long.

Two days after three weeks had passed.

Monday morning.

“Doe, are you here?”

“……”

The atmosphere had changed.

‘…What’s this?’

A strange calmness.

The air in the office felt like the moment before leaving a final message to family during a disaster.

The calm particular to those awaiting acceptance of catastrophe.

This was definitely not a good omen.

“…Well, I guess I’m going to have to do this too.”

“It’ll be alright. Our team members here are all quite unlucky!”

Chief Park Min-seong’s words made Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je remain silent.

This really felt ominous.

“Have a seat, Doe.”

Instead of my seat, I was made to sit on the couch. Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je, who sat across from me, calmly placed a tablet PC in front of me.

“This will be the darkness you’re entering in three days.”

“……”

Three days?

‘Why are they giving me so much time?’

A three-day notice typically means saying something like, “You might be going in, so prepare.”

When being told so definitively, it was almost never the case.

“There will be twelve people going into the darkness… and it’s a B-grade.”

“……”

“Don’t be too surprised. The survival rate is absurdly high. Plus, the additional points are generously allotted… you can earn 2,000 points each.”

“…And?”

A grimace of ‘this aware little guy’ passed over Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je’s face.

“And there’s a problem. Finding a darkness that doesn’t exist is faster, but… this darkness is a bit peculiar.”

“…What do you mean by peculiar?”

“To put it simply… yeah.”

Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je crossed his arms.

“It’s a pure luck X disaster game.”

“…!?”

“As soon as you step in, one person is definitely going to die… completely random. Only based on luck.”

Damn.