Chapter 30.2

 

From the perspective of anyone who’s read <Dark Exploration Records>, this was nothing more than random trinkets, meaningless props, or outright misinformation.

In short, it felt like a secondhand occult marketplace with minimal professional credibility.

I rubbed my forehead.

“Is this place mostly run by non-professionals?”

– Ah, public platforms inevitably lose their credibility over time! To prevent that requires considerable effort, but… this place feels purposefully neglected.

– Amateurs often pay a high price for trivial items. Just like fans peeling off bits of the stage floor where their favorite celebrity performed!

Well, at least that’s genuine memorabilia, but here it’s all fake.

Yet I noticed quite a few expensive transactions had actually been completed.

“……”

‘Right. The world at large doesn’t officially acknowledge supernatural phenomena.’

Governments, worried about social disorder, and corporations, wanting to protect trade secrets, investigate paranormal occurrences in secret. But even civilians are frequently affected by these incidents.

There’s no doubt urban legends and personal encounters circulate within society, so it makes sense that a site like this exists.

Judging from the sky-high prices for some items, it’s a wild place.

‘One item for a million won…’

Money’s exchanging hands as if they’re paying for security deposits. Maybe it’s survival anxiety, or maybe the Veblen effect^[1] applies to occult goods too…

‘Could I actually sell something here?’

If that employee really was an assistant manager in the elite C-squad, then Daydream Inc. employees were likely using this site to sell odd trinkets and information.

That, however, made me uneasy.

‘If I cross the line, I’ll definitely get flagged for an audit…’

I needed a secure setup.

So, I logged out of my current account and created a new one.

As for a username…

 

[Blue Friend]

 

– ‘Friend’? Oh! Did you think of me? My, how touching!

Well, I guess so—I just combined whatever came to mind. For the referral ID, I used the account I’d created earlier.

“Done.”

– Hooh, so you’re creating a new identity to avoid tracking!

Exactly.

I’ll use this account for items a Daydream Inc. employee shouldn’t have or for things that might be flagged during an audit.

‘This way, any purchases can’t be tracked back to me.’

“Of course, I’ll still leave some transaction records on the first account.”

– To avoid raising suspicion. Smart thinking.

On that account, I’d trade items that might appear to be within reasonable bounds for a Daydream Inc. employee.

With that settled, it was time to think about what I could actually sell.

‘Reselling items from the Alien Shop is out of the question.’

Seeing the amateur level of this site, that’d cause absolute chaos. Anyway, I’m busy enough buying things I actually need there to worry about reselling for profit.

I scrolled through the latest posts on Salmon Market, looking for something low-key that I could still sell for a profit…

 

[Buying : Food from Paranormal Phenomena]

 

Oh?

 

 

--------------------

 

[Buying : Food from Paranormal Phenomena]

For research purposes
Strong preference for food originating from Fracture-sanctioned phenomena (according to the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau’s classification)

40.0

 

--------------------

 

 

– there he goes again, this punk

– aaah ‘Looking for food for research purposes. Fracture-sanctioned phenomena only. (Pretentious glasses push)’ lolololololol

– Is this guy a bot? He posts every day.

– hey occult otaku, pls get out of your world. wtf even is the supernatural disaster management bureau’s classification huh

 

Most of the comments were mocking or teasing.

However…

‘…It’s real.’

The <Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau>.

In <Dark Exploration Records>, they’re one of the three major forces along with Daydream Inc., a government agency dedicated to handling paranormal events.

The phone accessory I have, my ‘Memorial Popsocket’, is also issued by this agency to their officials.

‘And the bureau classifies creepypasta risks by ‘sanction’.‘

The classification level mentioned in this post—Fracture-sanctioned—is indeed a real ranking. In the Daydream Inc.’s system, it’s roughly a little above a C-Class creepypasta.

This person clearly knows their stuff.

I stared at the page.

‘If this really is a legitimate contact, I probably won’t get ripped off.’

Using terms only insiders would understand, without explaining them, lowered the chance that this was a scam. It boosted the post’s credibility.

And look at the price.

40.0?

‘That’s 40 million won.’ (Approx. 28,500 USD)

At that price, anyone unfamiliar with the specifics might still contact them out of sheer curiosity.

Sure enough, after digging through past posts, I found discussions in the comments.

 

– Wow, but it’s 40 million won… Has anyone actually contacted them?

└ i tried bc i thought they’re legit, but after asking a few questions, they just ghosted me LOL

└ everyone’s been left on read. just a poser. nah nahh im good

 

No, that’s not it.

‘From what they’re saying, it sounds like the food they offered didn’t meet the necessary ‘Fracture-sanctioned’ level, so the person just ignored them.’

Conveniently, I happened to have something on hand that would likely meet their requirements.

A food item with a mysterious origin and unknown effects that I certainly didn’t dare to consume myself.

‘…Yep, I’ve got it.’

In fact, I even had two packs.

 

<Blue Soda Churros>

 

A snack gifted by the blue dragon mascot at the theme park.

“……”

– Ah, that unsavory food!

It wasn’t that unsavory…

Well, either way.

‘Even a good child sometimes needs a bit of funding.’

The mascot would understand. Uh-huh.

 

[BlueFriend : Hello there sir/ma’am ^^ I have the paranormal-origin food item you’re looking for!]

 

Message sent!

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next day—

‘It’s perfect that it’s the weekend.’

I was waiting near Gwanghwamun Station, holding a box containing one pack of the ‘Blue Soda Churros’ given to me by the mascot.

‘I think I handled this well.’

I thought back to the messages I’d exchanged with the buyer yesterday.

They’d replied almost instantly.

 

[T : What kind of food exactly?]

 

This was a key moment.

I had two options.

I could show off my expertise, hinting that I knew what the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau and the ‘Fracture-sanctioned’ level were, to build trust with insider knowledge.

Or…

 

[BlueFriend : It’s kind of like churros? I’m honestly not sure… I got it under some strange circumstances, and honestly, keeping it feels a bit unsettling. I also really need the money. Could we maybe meet so you can check it out? If it fits your needs, you can take it from there.]

 

I could play clueless and let the buyer make the call.

Fortunately, the second approach worked.

‘To be fair, that message was pretty much the truth.’

I wasn’t keen on letting on that I worked for Daydream Inc., either.

So, here I was, waiting near Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station, seven minutes ahead of our meeting time.

‘If anything feels off, I’ll bail.’

I stayed alert. Soon, someone approached from the direction of Cheonggye Plaza, glancing around near Exit 5.

‘There.’

With the way they were scanning their surroundings, it was clear they were here for a transaction.

Tall, dressed entirely in black, and wearing a mask, the person walked over as soon as our eyes met.

“You must be the one from ‘Salmon’…”

I nodded, opening the box to let them inspect the contents.

“……”

The person reached out a gloved hand. Their voice sounded young, but I didn’t expect them to be this cautious with their identity.

‘Not that I’m one to talk.’

I’d also dressed in a hat, sunglasses, and anything else I could think of to obscure my face.

Hood pulled low, I kept my eyes on their movements. If they tried to take off with the item, I’d move first.

The buyer ran their gloved hand over the box and nodded before taking hold of it.

Hmm?

“This is exactly what I was looking for.”

Then, they handed me a small box that looked like a sippy cup. When they opened it just a bit, I caught a glimpse of 50,000-won bills inside before it quickly closed again.

“……”

They looked at me as if to ask why I wasn’t taking it.

I couldn’t consult Braun, which was a shame, but…

‘First things first.’

I set the box down on the ground.

“……?”

After nodding politely, I pulled out a notepad from my pocket.

“……??”

I showed the open page to the buyer.

 

[I don’t know the effects of this item.]

[It wasn’t dangerous to keep, but just in case, I’d recommend not consuming it.]

[I know you said it’s for research, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.]

 

“……!”

I couldn’t see their expression, but they seemed a bit taken aback.

‘Sure, this looks like some kind of random performance, but…’

Apologies, I’d rather not risk having my voice recognized.

After a brief bow, I showed the final page, nodded respectfully, took the cash cup, and bolted.

 

[Have a nice day^^]

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Great.”

Once home, I deposited the cash immediately.

It was the weekend, so it looked like Baek Saheon wasn’t around. Judging by his comings and goings, he probably went back to his family’s home.

Anyway.

“It’s time to log into the Alien Shop.”

I pulled up the link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Note/s:

^[1] Veblen effect – abnormal market behavior where consumers purchase the higher-priced goods whereas similar low-priced (but not identical) substitutes are available. This behavior stems from the belief that the higher the price, the higher the quality. ↩