It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 077

I am currently walking up the stairs at school with a Disaster Management Bureau agent in the midst of a nightmare.

…Dragging my captive along like a prisoner.

For reference, I knocked them out using the item they handed me.

“…”

What a mess.

‘This won’t do.’

I think I’ve crossed a line here.

By tomorrow, I might end up on the Disaster Management Bureau’s blacklist and risk being conscripted into the forces of evil.

I think the company might protect me, but I don’t want to deal with the insane situation of being indebted to Daydream Corporation…!

‘Uh, I have to somehow rehabilitate my image.’

My back has been drenched in cold sweat…

I spoke earnestly.

“If you promise not to scream, I will loosen the gag. Just nod your head.”

The agent’s glare softened.

And then, they slightly nodded their head in a very still manner.

‘…That’s a lie, isn’t it?’

If you’re going to deceive me, at least do it better…!

Ultimately, I sighed and said,

“I have no intention of harming you, nor do I plan to trick you into leaking information about the Bureau to the company.”

“……”

“And… as I just mentioned, I felt no pain when I made that statement.”

“…!”

“I know that the caramel you gave me is a torture confession drug.”

The agent’s pupils trembled.

“Of course, I don’t think you had any malicious intent. It’s just…”

I gazed into the air with slightly misty eyes.

“I didn’t explicitly mention that I work at Daydream Corporation, but I wanted to convey that I had no intention of lying…”

Technically, that was a fib.

If the situation escalated, I was thinking of shoving painkillers delivered via rocket from the alien store into my system while coming up with a survival joke.

As expected, discomfort began to rise from within.

‘Ugh.’

It felt like my insides were twisting like an ulcer.

But in this situation, confidence was key.

‘I can hold this much without showing any signs now.’

The more malicious or intentional the lie, the more intense the pain. Given that my previous statement was close to a dodge, it shouldn’t be more than a level one.

Endure it.

‘Next is….’

Trust.

Simultaneously, I pulled out a small silver badge from my pocket and hid my expression slightly.

Then I openly showed the agent the item, ‘Silver Heart.’

“I’m saying this without relying on such effects.”

“……”

“Let me repeat. If you promise not to scream, I will loosen the gag. Just nod your head.”

An indescribable conflict showed in the agent’s eyes.

And when we reached the landing of the stairs,

Indeed, very slightly, they nodded.

“……”

Without any further ado, I removed the gag.

The agent, as promised, did not throw a fit.

‘Hmm.’

Good. Next step.

I returned the flashlight and pistol I had confiscated from the agent back to their hands.

And I loosened the bindings on their arms.

“This is…”

“You’ll need self-defense in such a desperate situation, right?”

‘Besides, that pistol is almost useless against anything that isn’t a ghost or supernatural phenomenon anyway.’

It might work on villains depending on the ammunition, but I seriously doubted either I or Jang Heo-woon fit the criteria for such villainy.

‘Is Jang Heo-woon… rumored to have gone mad over the last three months?’

But the agent must not escape before my favorability works out, so I didn’t untie them completely.

I made up a reasonable excuse for that too.

“It’s too dangerous to escape alone, so I’ll keep you tied up until your rational judgment returns.”

“……”

We were cautiously observing our surroundings as we climbed the stairs.

Suddenly, the agent asked,

“Is Doe your alias?”

“……”

“Don’t you all move in numbers and call each other by nicknames derived from your masks?”

“…That’s correct.”

“Are you the Team Leader?”

“No, just a newbie. As for her… she’s a colleague.”

I smiled somewhat wryly as I took half a mask from my pocket and placed it over my face.

The familiar texture of bark, like tree horns, covered my skin.

The agent looked at me with a shocked expression.

And I could hear Jang Heo-woon’s defeated voice.

“…I’m so sorry, Doe. You’re trying to help me…”

“It’s okay. You must be very flustered.”

Honestly, this was a situation I was prepared for from the moment I started pretending to be a temporary agent, compared to Baek Sa-heon’s attempts to ruin me…

Moreover, Jang Heo-woon even made an excuse for the agent.

“Doe is really a kind and decent person. Even when I first met her, she risked her life to save me from the darkness…”

“That’s not the case.”

Nice shot!

“We just helped each other. We were just trying to survive the darkness together.”

“Doe…”

“……”

The agent’s expression became even more complicated.

But let’s be glad they didn’t attempt to hit me with the small pistol’s grip.

“…Entering 4F.”

And thus we reached the next floor.

[4F]

“……”

We’ve arrived, but…

‘This is nerve-wracking.’

From the 4th floor onward, something begins to twist.

First off, even if a student dies, there is no announcement…

It’s exceedingly dark.

Sizzle…

Most of the lights are already broken, and the few that are working—except some—are flickering.

And the bigger problem is…

“…!!”

“Gasp,”

Dozens of students are standing in the hallway.

And they’re already staring at us intently.

‘Ha.’

Those students are standing aligned like mannequins in the dark school hallway.

The entities on the 4th floor are all 3rd years, and over 100 entities have been confirmed in every exploration that has entered this level.

Just hearing this, one could think it’s simply an invitation to die.

But.

“……It’s okay.”

The agent provided information in a stiff voice.

“They can’t leave that spot.”

Right.

The fourth floor is really too bizarre. We obviously can’t witness those ‘students’ moving, but we can see them change positions, right?

However, the 4th-floor students can’t move.

It’s as if their feet are glued to the classroom floor.

-9th Exploration Record Recording

Since they don’t rush at us and just stand there, we just need to avoid entering their territory.

If we need to get close, we’d have to keep watching them and stop our movements entirely.

‘The problem is that it’s so dark that it’s easy to lose sight of them.’

And they are very… very cunning.

They often try to catch us off guard through psychological warfare.

‘…Hmm.’

So, that’s how it is.

After confirming that Jang Heo-woon had the name tag he obtained from the school students pinned to his blazer, I said seriously,

“Then let’s investigate the 4th floor very carefully and slowly.”

There was no disagreement.

We moved through the gaps between the students.

‘Phew.’

Jang Heo-woon swallowed.

It felt really strange.

Walking right next to those ‘student’ entities, barely brushing against their uniform sleeves, made him shudder.

But he bit down.

‘It has to be helpful.’

Somehow, he felt he had ruined this exploration for his grateful colleague, Kim Sol-eum.

What was he planning to do while accompanying an agent?

‘He probably aimed for a high score… clear it, right?’

But according to the manual, the longer one survives and the more name tags they collect, the greater the concentration of the liquid in the Dream Collection Device, right…?

Was Kim Sol-eum too afraid to even look at the name tags attached to the 4th-floor students?

‘…I don’t know.’

Jang Heo-woon decided not to judge unnecessarily.

Relying solely on his intellect wasn’t a good habit.

He merely focused on the approaching students.

Especially when entering areas where lights were out or flickering, he obsessively shone the flashlight.

Step by step, step by step.

“Doe, please watch the back.”

“Okay.”

His voice trembled slightly.

Jang Heo-woon looked back while walking backward.

From where they had passed, dozens of students turned towards them with outstretched hands…

“There’s the music room! Let’s push on until there!”

He moved his feet.

Soon, they reached an area with absolutely no light.

‘Phew.’

In the suffocating darkness, standing still were students still staring blankly at them.

As he was shining the flashlight and advancing through the gaps,

Flicker.

Somewhere, a light flickered. It seemed there was a power outage…

‘Huh?’

Wait a minute.

Something felt off.

‘How did a light flicker when there’s no electricity?’

Then, Jang Heo-woon belatedly realized.

It wasn’t a power outage.

The flicker was…

The flashlight of someone ahead.

Just now, someone lost sight of us.

“…!”

He nearly turned around. But a calm voice pricked his back first.

“Don’t look back.”

“You…!”

“For now, we have to keep moving…”

Kim Sol-eum’s voice mixed with panting.

And….

The smell of iron.

Drip, drip…

In Jang Heo-woon’s backward glance, he caught sight of crimson liquid dripping from somewhere on the floor.

He couldn’t see them properly while focusing on the students, but he could feel his shoes slipping.

And,

Jang Heo-woon saw a hand reaching out towards the center of the hallway, as if colliding with his waist.

It was a student, stained crimson, blood dripping.

Jang Heo-woon fought back the urge to vomit.

“D-Doe…!”

He barely managed to break through the students and turned around.

Kim Sol-eum was clutching his abdomen, his face pale.

And the flashlight he held flickered once more.

He smiled with a pale face.

“…The battery,”

-Effective time: 60 minutes

That’s right.

Emergency flashlights don’t have a long usage time.

‘Ah…!’

Those who had prepared additional emergency flashlights went full well expecting that the opponent would have considered the time limit of their flashlight…!

“J-just a moment… Ugh.”

“D-Don’t talk!”

Despite fighting back the urge to vomit, Jang Heo-woon tried to support Kim Sol-eum. The agent instinctively joined in.

Thus, the employee of Daydream Corporation and the public official of the Disaster Management Bureau hurriedly helped one person into a classroom.

Were there a few students peering in there too, struggling to maintain the distance as they set down the injured individual?

And Kim Sol-eum, sitting there, pressed on the wound, said,

“You two.”

“……”

“Leave me behind.”

The horn-masked one blocked the wound while managing a weak smile.

“Ah, just a moment.”

Kim Sol-eum reached out his non-injured hand and completely untied the bindings on the Disaster Management Bureau agent.

“I forgot. If you go now…”

The agent didn’t listen and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out spare name tags and stuffing them into Kim Sol-eum’s pocket.

But…

“You don’t have to. You must have somewhere else to use those.”

“……”

“Go. Surely there will be others on this floor. If you join them… ugh, it will be okay.”

Kim Sol-eum tried to frown slightly but then spread his expression.

“Honestly, dying like this wouldn’t be a big problem for me regarding the company. I’d say they’d be satisfied enough with this much…”

“Damn company!”

The agent clenched his fist tightly.

“Why the hell do you trust such a ridiculous and disgusting organization?”

It looked like the agent had hit a nerve.

“Do you truly think that a company that treats human life so lightly will grant your wishes?”

“…!”

Jang Heo-woon looked shocked at the agent.

The agent bit down and said,

“I know you work for the sake of wish rights, and I know about all this nonsense. Do you really believe in that illusion? That a magic potion will grant any wish?”

Kim Sol-eum looked up at the agent, staring.

“It does grant wishes.”

“……”

“If wish rights were a lie, this structure couldn’t hold.”

As long as you get on it, any wish you have will be granted.”

“…Huh.”

The public official sighed as if he would go crazy from frustration, repeating the long-accumulated logic.

“Think about it. Let’s say someone wishes for world peace and another wishes for the extinction of humanity. How can you possibly fulfill both contradictory wishes?”

The doe-masked Jang Heo-woon flinched.

But Kim Sol-eum remained unruffled.

“Wishes are granted based on the one making the wish. Yes, they will be fulfilled.”

“What… does that mean?”

“The wish rights are not used to change the world. They are objects that grant individual wishes omnipotently.”

What the heck does that mean?

It sounded like some sort of cult-like doctrine.

However, Kim Sol-eum’s demeanor felt more like resignation from someone who seemed to have validated this numerous times through inductive reasoning…

The agent looked at him in a confused state, but Kim Sol-eum merely shrugged.

“Anyway, I think it’s about time for me.”

“…!”

Beneath the hand pressing on his abdomen, blood began to pour out.

The hemorrhage was not stopping at all.

Kim Sol-eum handed a name tag back to the bronze agent.

Blood stained the name tag.

The agent ground his teeth.

“Even if you continue to be dragged here every new moon and keep offering name tags, that company will never help you.”

“That might be true.”

Kim Sol-eum shrugged his shoulders again, but grimaced slightly from the pain while smiling.

“But someday, the Disaster Management Bureau will put an end to this darkness… I mean, this disaster. Then I’ll be completely free as well.”

“……!!”

The agent looked at Kim Sol-eum as if he had been struck.

“Go, you two. If you keep looking back like this, it might be dangerous.”

Kim Sol-eum raised his head, illuminating outside the classroom with his emergency flashlight, which was still working.

“I will keep an eye out for any threats while you go.”

“……”

“And Doe, you’re just a newbie, and there’s really nothing wrong you did, so it would be great if you could stick together for a while for safety.”

“Doe….”

The agent hesitated.

But in the end, he gritted his teeth and turned around, flashlight in hand.

“Follow me.”

“Ah….”

Jang Heo-woon hesitated but ultimately made up his mind.

‘There’s nothing I can do being beside them….’

To ease things for Kim Sol-eum, it might be best to disappear quickly.

But he couldn’t just leave, so he secretly slipped something into Kim Sol-eum’s pocket.

“Doe, this… is my spare name tag.”

“…!”

“Thanks to you, I’ve lived a bit longer… Since there’s no one else I have to save, though it may not be enough, even just one… thank you.”

And before hearing the reply, he followed after the agent.

He couldn’t bear to look back.

“……”

Kim Sol-eum, as promised, watched for a moment as the agent and Jang Heo-woon left.

And…

‘It worked!’

The moment they turned the corner and disappeared, he hurriedly pulled the prepared item from his pocket.

A single individually wrapped jawbreaker.

That sweet time,

Magic candy!

Red, yellow, and white old-school jawbreakers were beautifully wrapped inside the nostalgic packaging.

Nostalgia Candy.

The emergency recovery medicine Kim Sol-eum had purchased.

With blood-stained hands, he tore open the wrapping and popped one into his mouth.

Then, changes began to take effect.

“…!”

The wounds on his body began to close.

The blood he lost was reabsorbed, and broken bones naturally realigned to their original shape.

Like time rewinding.

While rolling the candy in his mouth,

The memories of the past surged back!

While the jawbreaker melted in his mouth, it fixed the user in the healthiest state of both body and mind during the past ten years.

‘It’s only a dream, so this kind of temporary fix is enough.’

His condition dramatically improved, and his mind became clear.

His head spun.

‘It worked…!’

Kim Sol-eum let out a sigh of relief.

The ploy had worked perfectly.

He had carefully seized the greatest opportunity available to use in such a situation.

‘I was super nervous thinking I might miss the timing of the emergency flashlight turning off.’

He dusted himself off, standing up, and let out another big sigh of relief.

His heart raced wildly.

A mix of liberation and fear.

‘…Alright.’

Now, he knew what to do.

Kim Sol-eum stood up and inspected the new tattoo that had appeared on him, then pulled out a spare powerful flashlight and gripped it in his hand.

After taking a deep breath, he left the classroom and took a single step into the dark 4th-floor hallway.