Chapter 26.1
After I finally escaped from that crazy theme parkā
– Roe!
– Whoa crazy, Roeās back!!
I was met with a warm welcome from my teammates who I ran into in the elevator.
Turns out, the team had been in a panic and was even thinking of reaching out to one of the civilian survivors to find out what could have happened inside the ghost story.
“We were just trying to get some insight from them. Anyway, itās a relief you made it out safely.”
D-squadās assistant manager spoke with a much brighter expression.
“What happened exactly? Why were you late?”
Hmm.
Before answering, I deliberately raised my hand so my wrist faced outward, massaging the back of my neck so they could clearly see the burn mark left by the membership.
: Socius :
“ā¦ā¦”
“ā¦ā¦”
“Roe?”
“Oh, sorry. Justā¦ really tired for a moment.”
“Ahh.”
Both Assistant Manager Eun and Supervisor Park just nodded, acknowledging that after all that hellish ordeal, it made sense.
Thatās when I realized.
āThey canāt see it.ā
No reaction. That tattoo isnāt visible to them.
Not a great sign.
After a short pause, I decided to speak.
“The reason I was lateā¦ well, actually, the power to the exit gate went out right in front of me. I waited, but when it didnāt come back on, I had to find another way out.”
“Huh?!”
I deliberately left out the part where the regular admission band turned into a membership band.
In this bizarre ghost story company, it wouldnāt be wise to mention that something weird has attached itself to me.
āLetās also leave out the part about the talking plush doll.ā
But aside from that, I explained everything in detail, so there shouldnāt be any issues with recording the exploration logs and creating the manual.
“ā¦Wait a minute. Soā¦ you went to the yellow zone, but the gate there was off too, so you manually turned it back on? By rewiring the circuit box?”
“Yes.”
“What are youā¦”
“Ehh, Iām just an ordinary roe deer.”
“Ummā¦ Right, I guess.”
“ā¦ā¦??”
In any case, the atmosphere lightened significantly.
“Your points will be credited tomorrow. Donāt be surprisedāI heard the total might be close to ten thousand points this time.”
“Awesome, right?!”
Actually, the points theyād get would be lower since I made it out alive.
The two superiors who seemed so busy worrying about my survival that they hadnāt even had time to wash yet looked at me and grinned.
Honestly, I felt kind of grateful.
It was even a bit touchingāa warmth too good for this company.
But someone was missing.
“Come to think of it, whereās the Squad Leader?”
Assistant Manager Eun averted her gaze.
“ā¦He got called by the Team Leader.”
Urk.
“Itāll be fine. Heāll just get scolded a bit. Honestly, if weāre talking about the A-squadās mantis mask, isnāt it like he practically did that to himself?”
Well, it did seem like Squad Leader Lee got on the wrong side of the A-squadās leader.
I remembered the teal duck mask glaring daggers at him.
Even Supervisor Park was whispering now.
“Assistant Manager, is that actually true?”
“What?”
“That our squad leader has enough qualifications for the elite team but keeps getting held back in D-squad because of his personalityā¦!”
“Oh. Itās probably true.”
Assistant Manager Eun crossed her arms.
“But heās been like that his whole life, so people just let him be.”
“ā¦ā¦”
“It does seem like God is fair, considering that face with that personalityā¦”
“Shhh. Heās a good superior.”
A lizard face with a lizard personality?
Well, I could now somewhat understand and agree that he was indeed a decent superior.
Especially since Iād just seen the worst kind of boss up close.
“Ah, and about Research Team 1ās section chief.”
The head of Research Team 1, Kwak Jaekang, who had impulsively thrown his squad member into a ghost story and eventually got him killed.
“He really crossed the line.”
Apparently, heās now arguing that he was āso startled himself that he accidentally sacrificed the researcher as a pawnā.
āEven though anyone could tell it was intentionalā¦ā
Everyone from the exploration team present at that scene would remember it wasnāt the case.
The problem is, there isnāt anyone willing to testify strongly for the deceased, gambling-addicted researcher.
Just look at the state of our outspoken superiors.
“The A-squadās leader is totally fixated on our D-squadās leader, so much that she doesnāt even care about Research Team 1ās section chief.”
The expectation was that things would just get swept under the rug, with maybe a slight pay cut as the only consequence.
Since this is a company where employeesā lives are valued based on their performance, it didnāt look like a department head would face serious disciplinary action over the accidental death of an expendable employee.
āIs this why Kwak Jaekang, the researcher, kept showing up in the Dark Exploration Recordsā¦!ā
One wrong move and heād be in deep trouble, but he seemed to be crafty enough to avoid it each time, slithering away like a snake.
The D-squad superiors clicked their tongues, saying that some of the creepy rumors about Kwak Jaekang must have been true.
“I hate the thought of having to keep working with that guy, but since he threw a fit this time, he might calm down a bit until the next quarter.”
“Right? If he hadnāt, he wouldāve been fired by now.”
It was exactly the kind of complacency expected in a company where employees risked their lives for ghost stories.
āI agree to some extent, butā¦ honestly, it felt like Kwak Jaekang wasnāt just trying to kill his own researcher but all of us.ā
The researcher was just a pawn in his chaos.
But thanks to everyoneās safe escape, that part got blurred, leaving things a bit murky.
āIāll have to keep an eye on him going forward.ā
I resolved to thoroughly check the <Dark Exploration Records> wiki page where Kwak Jaekang was mentioned.
“Phew, what a long day.”
“Seriously.”
The conversation died down.
Since Squad Leader Lee Jaheonās return was uncertain, we got permission to go home for the day.
Assistant Manager Eun grinned.
“Thereās nothing more to do. You havenāt been reported as missing yet. We thought we might find you. ā¦Good thing we did.”
“Yeah! We all believed youād turn up!”
“Go home and get some rest.”
“ā¦Thank you.”
“Oh, come on, no need for that.”
With their parting words, “Look forward to those points tomorrow,” I said goodbye to my superiors.
I returned to Research Team 1ās office to gather my things and started heading home.
And along the way, I met a familiar face.
“Jang Heo-eun.”
“ā¦ā¦! Soleum-ssi!”
A new recruit from the Y-squad.
Since all his squadmates had died, heād somehow been relegated to the background, sitting idly in the Research Team 1ās office.
And although his shoulder had healed, he was still wearing his blood-stained clothes.
“You made it out safely! Iām relievedā¦”
“Yes, thank you.”
I sat across from him for a moment and made some small talk.
Jang Heo-eun looked a bit pale, probably from blood loss, but his gloomy expression seemed somewhat lighter.
Though it feels odd to call him lucky, given what happened to his squadmatesā¦
I recalled what the superiors had hinted at earlier.
– Ah, that new recruit from Y-squad. Looks like management is considering him favorably after his performance this time. If he maintains it, heās likely to be promoted to a regular employee within three months.
– If he can make it through three months without incident, thereās a high chance heāll be transferred to a standard position!
That all sounds great.
The problem is, can he survive those three monthsā¦!
“So, have you ever thought about quitting? Your situation is too dangerous right nowā¦”
“No.”
A firm answer returned.
Jang Heo-eun, the new recruit from Y-squad, still wearing his cow mask, clenched both fists tightly.
“I need that wish ticket. I canāt quit.”
“ā¦ā¦”
Seems he has his own reasons.
“In that case, I wish you the best of luck.”
After hesitating, I added a few words.
“Three months.”
“Pardon?”
“If you can endure for just three months, thereās a high chance youāll be reassigned.”
Thereās a big difference between enduring indefinitely and having a set period to push through.
From a motivational standpoint as well.
“ā¦ā¦!”
A glimmer appeared in Jang Heo-eunās eyes.
“Y-Yesā¦ Iāll try my best to make itā¦!”
He took a deep breath, looking at the ceiling, then lowered his head respectfully.
“Youāve helped me a lot today. In three months, Iāll work hard to return the favor.”
“No need. Thanks to you, I made it out safely as well. Thank you.”
We shook hands.
And, with a mix of sympathy and understanding, I found myself saying it almost automatically.
“Thank you for all your hard work. It must have been frightening for you.”
“Pardon?”
A look of puzzlement passed over Jang Heo-eunās face.
Uhhā¦!
“Oh, itās fine. Iāve nearly died a few times beforeā¦”
“ā¦Not just that. You must have seen some very disturbing scenes as well.”
“Oh, thatās true.”
Jang Heo-eun gave an embarrassed smile.
“Iām not great with blood or organsā¦ I keep fainting or my legs give out.”
“ā¦I see.”
Hold on.
The definition of ādisturbing scenesā seems to have narrowed down quite a bit just nowā¦
āNo way.ā
“ā¦Heo-eun-ssi, does that mean that supernatural phenomena or ghosts donāt bother you?”
“A-Ah, yes! Those things donāt bother me at all!”
“ā¦ā¦”
“Itās just that I tend to think, āOh, so thatās what it is,ā um, yes. Unless someone gets severely injured, I donāt feel much about it.”
“ā¦ā¦”
So heāsā¦ not a coward?
“Thank you for your concernā¦ Oh, thatās right! Soleum-ssi, did you happen to talk to that person in the new recruit group chatā¦ oh. Y-Youāre not in thereā¦”
Thereāsā¦ a new recruit group chat?
lynniee
Awwwww this conversation just melted my hesrtā¦yes people here tend to forget that st the end of the day seres still humans and like its especially hard for new recruits cuz its all so news and shocking and terrifying rlly, when he said thank you for your hark work j was like omggggggg (Ā“Ā°Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„ĻĀ°Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„Ģ„ļ½)