Chapter 100.2
It was a photo of a gloomy, long-haired peer from the company.
“Youāve met before, havenāt you? You went to the Cheerful Theme Park together. Heās part of the Round-Off Team.”
“Heās not part of the Round-Off Team anymore, though. I believe he was reassigned to F-squadā¦”
“Oh, right, he got transferred. But heās still officially listed as someone from the Round-Off Team.”
“ā¦ā¦!”
“Itās just a temporary dispatch to a general team. His formal reassignment wonāt be finalized until next year, donāt you think?”
Kwak Jaekang tapped the file.
“Soā¦ heās still eligible to be deployed for tasks like this.”
“ā¦ā¦”
Tasks like this?
A chilling sense of foreboding ran down my spine.
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Itās simple. Once youāre done with your business in the ghost story, call that employee to the elevator and leave him there.”
“ā¦ā¦!”
This insane bastard.
No, stay calm. I couldnāt show any signs of distress.
“Is this Darkness only accessible with two participantsā¦ or is a sacrifice required?”
“Hahaā¦ figuring that out is the whole point of our research, isnāt it? Just follow the instructions. Itās a straightforward task, yes?”
Thump.
Kwak Jaekang tossed another file onto the table.
The ghost story assigned to me.
“Itās the elevator ghost story I told you about.”
– Well, Iāll leave it to you, Mr. Roe Deer! Donāt forget to call the Round-Off Team rookie when itās time.
“ā¦ā¦”
I reread the manual Iād already memorized, then tucked it back into my pocket.
What did I plan to do?
[Ahh, okay! Got it!]
I wasnāt going to bring him along.
And I knew what this meant.
āThis could land me in serious trouble.ā
No matter how good my excuse was, this would cause an issue.
This wasnāt some flexible rule I could bend and expect to get away with.
But if I didnāt block this entirely, itād be meaningless.
āKwak Jaekang has likely set something up involving Jang Heo-un.ā
I had to ensure he wouldnāt come in the first place.
Even if it meant risking disciplinary action, I had a potential benefit in mindāone to address after the exploration.
For now, the pressing matter was this.
ā¦ā¦I had to ride a haunted elevator alone.
“Huu.”
This was the first time I had entered a haunted place alone, after being given time to prepare myself.
āMaybeā¦ it was better when I went in blindly, without knowing anything beforehand.ā
My hands trembled with fear.
And I had left Braun behind.
āThe elevator in this ghost story is for one person only anyway.ā
I didnāt want Braun near the elevator. Who knew what could happen?
I had asked Section Chief Lee Jaheon to check on Braun periodically, so it should be fine.
āā¦Letās go.ā
I entered the building designated by the company as the confirmed entry site for Qterw-D-718.
It was a decrepit rental apartment building, with the water supply cut off long ago, though the company had temporarily restored electricity.
A cold, stale odor of neglect hung in the dimly lit interior.
The shadowed corridor stretched endlessly ahead of me.
And there it was, the lone operating device.
[5F]
The elevator door on the first floor.
“ā¦ā¦”
I swallowed hard and walked down the hallway.
The emergency exit signs and dim bulbs flickered as the elevator came into view.
ā Under Maintenance ā
We will fix it as soon as possible.
Happiness Land Apartment Security Office
Despite the message, the yellowed slip of paper was barely hanging on by worn-out tape.
This phenomenon commonly arises in buildings equipped with a single elevator, particularly when the elevator is frequently out of order or displays a maintenance sign.
This was it.
With trembling hands, I pressed the elevator button.
The elevator slowly descended.
5, F, 3, 2ā¦
[Ding.]
I took a deep breath.
The doors slid open, revealing a dim, rusted interior.
The floor was smeared with soot, as if it hadnāt been cleaned in ages.
Still, I stepped forward.
Inside, I noticed something on either side: dirty mirrors smudged with handprints.
āā¦Huu.ā
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Donāt Look in the Mirror]
: A ghost story featured in < Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-D-718
One of the ritual-based ghost stories circulating online in the 2000s.
They say if you play rock-paper-scissors with your reflection in the elevator mirror and win, it will answer any question truthfully.
The ghost story entry includes a gamebook-style guide on how to handle various phenomena.
[The doors are closing.]
I pressed myself against the wall without a mirror and watched the doors close with a growing sense of dread.
My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst.
The doors shut completely, and darkness and silence enveloped me.
There I stood, alone, in the stalled elevatorās eerie interiorā¦
ā¦with the mirrors.
“ā¦ā¦”
The seconds stretched endlessly.
I had to endure it. If I enduredā
[Going up.]
Ding.
The elevator began to move, despite me not pressing any buttons.
ā¦It had been summoned somewhere.
All the floor buttons lit up red, casting an ominous glow throughout the cabin.
It had begun.
Upon entering the elevator, refrain from pressing any buttons.
If the elevator begins moving on its own, you have successfully entered the ghost story.
1- Play rock-paper-scissors with your reflection in the mirror until the elevator reaches the top floor.
If you win at least once : Proceed to 3.
If you donāt win at all : Proceed to 13.
“ā¦ā¦”
I swallowed hard and cautiously turned my head to look at the left mirror.
There, in the mirror, stood my pale reflection in the elevator.
Countless versions of me.
My front and back reflections repeated infinitely between the left and right mirrors, shrinking until they became indistinguishable points.
Each reflection grew smaller, blurrierā¦
“ā¦ā¦”
I wiped my sweaty left hand on my shirt and slowly raised it.
Then I muttered softly,
“ā¦Rock, paper, scissors.”
Scissors.
Every one of my reflections in the mirrors was showing scissors, front and back, endlessly.
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
This time, all my reflections showed fists.
I repeated it several more times.
Rock, paper, scissors.
Rock, paper, scissors.
Rock, paper, scissorsā¦
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
On the fifth round, I chose a fist again.
Thatās when I noticed something strange among my countless reflections.
ā¦One of them opened its hand.
Amid all the fists, a single reflection with an outstretched palm appeared in the farthest mirror.
“ā¦ā¦”
I froze with my hand still raised.
Then, from deep within the mirrors, that distant reflection of me slowly turned its headā
āand smiled.
A wide, chilling smile.
T/N: Wahoo! Chapter 100~! Thank you all for sticking with me and our beloved roe deer this far~
I havenāt had a single break since I started working on this novel ahah~ Itās been a very fun and fulfilling ride, but Iām in severe need of some breathing room~
It wonāt go into a complete hiatus tho! Temporarily, there will just be one scheduled unlock per day for 8 days, meaning only one part of a chapter per day will be released for everyone to read.Ā
This goblin will be using that time to sleep 7 days straight, then 1 day to stock up on future chapters so that we donāt run out of updates~ lol
(Advanced chapters will still be posted sporadically whenever I have time!)
Thank you all~!
marshmxlo
thank you for your work š«¶
Leeefa
I fell super behind on chapters, finally getting caught up again. Though Iām a bit late, congrats on 100 chapters and thank you for so many months of hard work!
Siptea
Thank you for your hard work šŖš¼