Chapter 166: Ch 166: Missing family
The very night I escaped from the Mermaid Grave—
I was able to meet Director Ho immediately at the usual Fox Counseling
Room’s waiting area.
And...
"Goodness, you must have had a rough time, Soleum-nim! Don’t worry
about the bodily tissue that was harvested from you. I’ll recover it right
away."
"...Yes. Thank you."
The conversation was wrapping up much more smoothly than I’d
expected...
’Is it really this easy?’
Honestly, even though it wasn’t my fault, and this wasn’t even a routine
report, just the fact that I was having an emergency meeting with a director
at my rank was enough to make me break out in a cold sweat.
But Director Ho listened to my story with great interest, and even clapped
his hands in delight.
The only moment he indirectly showed any discomfort was just once.
"So that’s why the Disaster Management Bureau’s support team ended up
coming all the way to company headquarters."
Shit.
"Ah, I’m not complaining to you, Soleum-nim! It’s just... they’re such a
hypocritical group, all surface and no substance... I instinctively feel
uncomfortable getting too close to them."
"..."
And this from someone who planted a corporate spy in there?
And honestly... personality-wise, aren’t they on a completely different level
compared to Daydream Inc.?
’Shouldn’t our company at least pretend to have some self-awareness...’
It was almost bizarre, the level of revulsion he showed toward the Disaster
Management Bureau.
"If my personal feelings made you uncomfortable, I apologize, Soleum-
nim."
"Not at all, sir."
In any case, the conversation itself flowed smoothly, and Director Ho
brought things to a gentle close.
"In any case, please don’t worry about this sort of issue. If anything comes
up, just let me know anytime!"
And then...
"Is there anything else that’s bothering you?"
I’d been waiting for this.
’...The mood’s not bad right now.’
And we were alone.
You have to ask while you can. As I poured some more hot water into
Director Ho’s green tea, I spoke.
"It’s not exactly discomfort, but... there is something I’m concerned
about."
"Please, speak freely."
Director Ho nodded with an expression that said, ’I’m so sorry you have a
concern.’
So I explained.
"There’s a Darkness I need to enter as soon as possible."
"..."
About Cheerful Theme Park.
I didn’t specifically mention the blue mascot there, but since getting
’marked’ by strange beings during ghost story explorations was pretty
common, Director Ho would have easily understood the situation.
"I nearly died, but when I promised, ’I’ll come back next time’, it let me
go."
My follow-up explanation made sense too.
At the time, I’d still been working for the company, so naturally I thought
I’d be able to re-enter ’Cheerful Theme Park’ whenever necessary. But after
things turned out like this, I couldn’t get in anymore.
’You’re the one who assigned me this spy job.’
And from what I knew of Director Ho’s personality, this level of request
would be no problem.
"Cheerful Theme Park, huh..."
Director Ho beamed.
"Don’t worry. I’ll arrange for you to be able to visit as quickly as possible!"
As expected.
"Thank you. I was really worried that if I couldn’t get in within a month or
two, personal complications would make it impossible for me to keep doing
my job..."
I nodded seriously.
"Thanks to your help, Director, I’ll be able to focus on my work without
worries."
So please make it happen within a month.
If not, I might drop dead, spy or not.
I trust that message got across.
"Of course. It’ll be ready soon. Don’t worry."
He was so refreshingly decisive in matters like this, and it was comforting.
Because he’s competent.
’Maybe... he’s actually not a bad boss at all, as long as you don’t hit his
berserk button...’
Maybe the only reason I’ve had a hard time is that I was always assigned to
jobs that made me dance on that crazy button...?
For the first time, I could relate to what the Section Chief from the review
team once said: ’Director Ho is actually a pretty decent superior.’
"Thank you."
With that, the emergency report began to wind down.
Director Ho would soon say he had to head back in and get up from his
seat, and I was about to see him off and get ready to leave quickly.
"Oh, by the way, there’s something I wanted to ask you..."
As he was just about to stand, Director Ho looked gave me a scrutinizing
gaze.
"You haven’t been using the Fox Counseling Room, have you?"
"..."
Uuugh.
"If you use the counseling room, you don’t have to worry about running
into other employees. I’d really like you to use it actively and heal your
contamination and psychological trauma."
Like hell I will.
’No matter how I look at it, this place feels like it’s connected to you...!’
Just look at how the place is always coincidentally on break whenever I
come to make a report.
At this point, I could believe Director Ho pays commissions to the
counselor to steal information from the employee sessions.
One thing’s certain. This space—this ghost story—is definitely under
Director Ho’s authority.
That’s exactly why I’d been deliberately avoiding the Fox Counseling
Room.
’It’s just too awkward.’
Even though the last time I had a session there, it was actually very helpful.
And besides, the Elder had just burned away all traces of my contamination,
so I probably don’t even need to go now.
But since I couldn’t say any of that out loud, I just nodded my head.
"Yes. I’ll try. But, this space, including the Fox Counseling Room, is still a
Darkness, and that person isn’t a real counselor, so..."
I was about to finish by saying, ’I’ll keep that in mind.’
"But it’s real."
"...!"
"It’s a ’real counselor’."
Director Ho’s usual gentle tone disappeared.
A voice, flat and almost emotionless, came out.
"Because he’s a Darkness, he’s even more strictly bound by the professional
code of a counselor. He knows exactly what he’s doing and has the pride of
a true expert."
"..."
"So I just want you to know, you can trust the Fox Counseling Room’s
doctor!"
"...Yes."
"And... he’s been very concerned about the state of Client Kim Soleum,
too."
"..."
Tap tap. Director Ho patted my shoulder in encouragement.
"Then, I’ll be heading in. See you again at the next regular report, Soleum-
nim!"
"Yes, Director."
And with that, the emergency report ended.
’...The Fox Counseling Room and Director Ho.’
And Director Ho was a character not even detailed in the Dark Exploration
Records.
...For some reason, I feel like there’s more to him that’s hidden. I want to
look into it further, but...
’Yeah. Focus on the Wish Ticket.’
Let’s not forget: never let the means replace the end.
Just finish this spy job, claim the wish token, and go home. That’s all that
matters.
...In that sense, I might have gotten a little too wrapped up in this ’Twinkle
Twinkle Ocean Palace’ ghost story, desperately trying to get all the children
out safely...
"Phew."
But there was an extra reward.
"The Dream Essence grade went up."
I looked at the elite team collector, which was now full of golden liquid.
Glittering Dream Essence, B-grade or higher.
Given that the original Mermaid Grave was a C-rank Darkness, this is an
irregularity.
’Maybe dragging out the core of that biological disaster was what raised the
grade.’
It’s possible.
And while I was at it, I took out the Research Team’s potion I’d secretly
stashed in the tattoo on my wrist and squeezed it into a plastic bottle.
It was a recovery potion meant to be given separately to children with
heavy contamination or foreign elements.
’If you drink this, you get transported to ’somewhere’ the Research Team
set up, right?’
It’s probably one of the Research Team’s experimental spaces, but just in
case, I won’t throw it away. I’ll keep it for now.
With a sigh of relief, I returned the potion—bottle and all—into my tattoo.
And I rummaged through the space again.
’Good thing all the items in the tattoo-subspace are kept separate from each
other.’
If not, I might have gotten this tag card contaminated too.
I am a Space Shopping Mall VIP!
~ Special Gratitude Cells Included ~
I even found, tucked away in the tattoo, the golden card I’d gotten a few
months ago, hand-delivered by an alien shop’s delivery tentacle.
The ’VIP card’ that Section Chief Lee Jaheon mentioned is probably this,
right?
’Hmm.’
I examined the card-letter more closely, running my fingers over it.
Then, inside the slightly thick card stock, I could feel something thin
layered inside.
"...!"
Carefully, I peeled back a layer of the card paper, and inside, a small...
chip-like object appeared, sealed inside.
’...It looks like a SIM card.’
There was a sticker in rounded font attached to it.
Cell Meal Anywhere!
Healthy And Peaceful Purchase
※ Fast Connection to a Customer Service Agent Guaranteed ※
"..."
Please, just hire a professional translator...
’Meal...’
So this chip is a ’cell’, and... I’m supposed to eat it? ’Healthy and peaceful
purchase’?
’Somehow this reminds me of talking with Chief Lizard.’
It’s the sort of translation error you get when someone isn’t familiar with
modern culture.
Still, I decided to try using this ’cell’ if it ever comes down to it.
’...Chief Lizard isn’t the type to endanger others with lies or tricks, after
all.’
If anything, it’s more reasonable to worry about my head getting smashed
by brute force.
"All sorted."
I finished the accounting and raised my head.
Anyway, for now, I have the most convenient usable items on hand, so I’ll
use those up first.
’Cheerful Research Institute’s potion.’
Right.
At this moment, I was back at the research lab hidden beneath a manhole
cover in the middle of the night.
’It’s even scarier at night.’
But the Dream Essence in the Dream Incubator, sparkling in a dazzling hue,
made it a bit better.
DE 00128313
I injected all the B-grade Dream Essence I obtained this time into it.
The number increased.
DE 00143126
’So, a B-grade is about fifteen grand or so.’
You could say it’s equivalent to a bottle a half of a potion, but there’s
actually a catch here.
The cost is different depending on which button you press.
The first one I drew cost 10,000 points, but the second one was 20,000
points.
’It might depend on how many stars it has.’
The first one I drew, ’Detective Syrup’, had 3 stars, and the next, ’Surprise
Syrup’, had 4 stars.
These stars...
’They definitely represent a difference in performance.’
The 4-star potion even worked, if only briefly, on a biological disaster.
But if you convert it one-to-one with Daydream’s welfare points, these
potions were still more expensive than Daydream’s.
’Maybe it’s just that this Dream Incubator is an early model and not very
efficient.’
But on the other hand, it seemed to produce more potent syrups, closer to
raw essence, than Daydream’s potions.
In any case.
’You don’t know how much will be deducted until you press the button and
draw a potion.’
Not very user-friendly, was it.
’It would have been nice to have research logs or something.’
The security sergeant said he’d look into it for me, but there’s still no
special news.
I’ll wait a little longer. There might be more functions hidden in this Dream
Incubator...
Anyway, since I’ve been using it quite usefully, I decided I’ll visit every
week to collect a potion.
And now, the time to choose.
🥰🥸🤯🧐🤪🥱
"Hmm."
There is a way to safely draw a potion whose effects have already been
verified...
’But maybe it’s better to be more prepared before entering the theme park.’
If I can verify the effect, it’s better to do so quickly, while I have the
chance. Who knows if there are even more useful ones.
For now, I’ll use all the means available to me to pick out the most useful
one.
’Association and reasoning.’
With that in mind, the button I chose to check this time is...
’The one that, compared to Daydream Inc.’s potions, is the most expensive
and has the best effect.’
🥰 🥸 🤯🧐🤪🥱
Clatter.
"Good."
At the same time that 30,000 points were deducted, a small glass bottle
filled with syrup emerged from the dispenser.
I took the shimmering teal liquid.
Disguise Syrup for Kids
(Green Grape Flavor)
★★★★★
An expensive potion. Bull’s eye.
The next day—
I took a whole day off, just as the agents told me I could, and only went into
work late the following day.
"Agent Grapes, thank you for your hard work."
And, thankfully, thanks to the members of Black Tortoise Team 1, who had
already finished almost all of the situation report, I was able to wrap up the
’Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace’ work with just a few simple answers.
’Thank you so much I could cry.’
I received all sorts of compliments from the agents.
And then...
Good news, too.
"They’ve already found the guardians of more than half the children."
"...!"
"Since the entry method was so unique, it looks like there were a lot of
similar cases already in our database."
"There were no cases of rescued citizens vanishing, either. ...As of 7PM
last night, we’ve confirmed all rescues."
The faces of the Black Tortoise Team 1 agents speaking glowed with rare
delight.
...I probably wasn’t much different.
"And, and— Want to hear another piece of surprising news? ...Someone on
a neighboring team found a younger sibling who went missing back in
1989."
"...!"
"There are quite a few agents here who signed up hoping for just that."
To find missing family.
"Thanks to you, that agent finally got to see their years of searching
rewarded, and can sleep easy at night. Together with their family."
"..."
"So, how do you feel?"
How do I feel?
An agent who joined here after searching for their sibling for decades.
Someone who, after finally learning where their sibling disappeared,
couldn’t rescue them because of distorted time.
To hear that person finally found their sibling, safe and sound?
’My god.’
A powerful, overwhelming wave swept over me, like a chill running down
the back of my neck.
This isn’t just a sense of accomplishment.
’So this is why people do this work.’
It was dangerous.
If I’m not careful, I might actually start working here with a real sense of
duty.
’...No.’
I gripped my once-missing right hand tightly.
I have to go home.
That has to be my only goal.
Already, I’ve survived more brushes with death than I can count. For
someone who used to only experience ghost stories as content in a world
without them, there’s no way I can live here with my sanity intact.
’The end and the means to reach it. I must not confuse the two.’
I took a deep breath and tried to calm my heart.
But my excited heart didn’t completely settle.
"Anyway, really, you did a great job."
Agent Choi, who had been listing off rewards that fit a successful
investigation, smiled and patted me on the back.
"Oh, Grapes, you’re still in your rookie period, so you have to move on to
your next assignment, right?"
"Yes. They’ll assign me to a different mission."
"Alright. I’ve kept you too long. Good luck with your work~!"
I parted with the waving Agent Choi and followed behind Agent Bronze.
Thankfully, he didn’t try to recruit me to the Black Tortoise Team again.
Good. Being on the Dispatch & Rescue Unit... I don’t think I could keep
doing this kind of work. Not emotionally.
’Ha.’
Suppressing a sigh, I walked after Agent Bronze.
And the place he led me to was...
[Preliminary Investigation Unit, White-Tiger Team 2]
[1]
This was the team Go Yeongeun was on.
"Soleum-ssi!"
As soon as I entered the office, one delighted Go Yeongeun jumped up from
her seat when she saw me.
Reflexively, I glanced at Agent Bronze.
He was smiling, albeit faintly. It seemed he had specifically arranged for me
to join this team, out of consideration for the fact that we knew each other
from Looky Mart...
"Today there’s no fieldwork, so you don’t need to work in pairs with
anyone. You can just work in this office. ...If you have any problems, come
find us in Black Tortoise Team 1’s waiting room."
"...Yes. Thank you."
I was truly grateful.
And the fact that it wasn’t fieldwork made me feel even more at ease.
’Today is a bit of a breather, huh.’
Of course, I’ll do my best to show I’m someone who fits right in with the
Preliminary Investigation Unit.
After bowing my head to the departing Agent Bronze, I entered the office
with Go Yeongeun-ssi.
It looked just like a clean, standard office, and was still pretty quiet.
"Everyone else is out in the field right now, so I’m the only one here, but
when they get back, we can greet them together."
"Yes. Understood."
I added, with a hint of hope,
"I look forward to your guidance. Who knows, I might end up being
officially assigned to this unit and working with you."
"Ah, um..."
...??
Go Yeongeun somehow trailed off at her answer.
Why such an ominous reaction...?
"...Did I do something wrong?"
"No! It’s not that... huu."
Go Yeongeun made a mysterious expression.
"It’s just, being too competent is... well, it can’t be helped, I guess..."
Pardon?
"Here, would you... take a look at this?"
I took the phone Go Yeongeun handed me.
It looked barely used, like it had just been issued for work, and on the
screen was—
A somewhat old-fashionedly named anonymous group chat.
"..."
Wait a sec.
Is there another group chat that only I’m not in...?
"Ah. I heard they usually invite you after your rookie period ends and you
get officially assigned to a unit."
"I see."
Thank goodness.
’Hmm.’
With Go Yeongeun’s permission, I scrolled through the chat to get a feel for
the atmosphere.
– sudden fortune vending machine appearance in
Seocho-dong oncall agents please check
– About the Swamp Orgel, is it actually okay to
just leave it alone if it’s not working
– yeah it’s fine, it’ll be reflected in the
rulebook next month anyway
– lunch menu recs pls
’The atmosphere’s more laid-back than I thought.’
It looked like a group chat where agents would ask each other for advice
when they were stuck or in a bind at work.
Given the frequent solo and shift work, it made sense to have a place to
share information.
Since it wasn’t like a certain company’s death-match, survival-style
competitive structure, the atmosphere was better, and useful tips seemed to
get shared more freely.
’Come to think of it, I think I read about this in the <Dark Exploration
Records> too.’
That made it feel a bit familiar. I nodded inwardly as I scrolled.
It might actually be fun to get invited here at least once...
– Destruction King Rookie has gone n wrecked
another disaster
"..."
Wait.
Is this... me?
’No way.’
I scrolled down faster to check the latest messages.
– I heard that rookie rescued all thirty kids who
were trapped in a regular rescue disaster? And
apparently demolished the entire city
– wait for real??
– aigoo black tortoise team 1 must be jumping for
joy.lol.
– Wowie if it’s at that level it’s not a
coincidence, that’s straight-up skill... This
person’s not ordinary, might be the first since
team leader hong joined isn’t it
– I wish to be friends, sir...
– Any chance you’re interested in black tortoise
team 3? We’d treat you right, honestly better than
that choi from team 1
– Noonim I’m here too ^^
– Uh-huh i know
"..."
And the group chat was summed up in one conclusion...
– weve got someone ready to go all-in for
dispatch&rescue huh? Lol
– YOUNGEST. TEAM. LEADER. Hope you make it~^^
Please, anyone, save me...
Note/s:
[1] White Tiger – one of the Four Gods of East Asian mythology,
representing the metal element, the directional west, and the season of
autumn. Among the representative gods, it is revered as the protector
against bad fortune and evil beings, however it is also depicted as the one
with attributes that are particularly unstable.