Chapter 271: Ch 271: We’ll Move
I know it might sound strange that there’s a Darkness for equipment
crafting that Daydream’s Research Team uses often...
Equipment is usually something that helps you survive inside a ghost story.
So you’d naturally wonder why the company’s Research Team would ever
need something like that directly, but if you see it in person, you’ll be able
to guess, more or less.
How ’Toy Maker of the Cheerful Institute’ could be used by the Research
Team, in what way.
And how it could replace Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s missing body
parts.
"Alright. Then let’s set our route to E07 and go."
"Yesyesyess!"
That was how the first equipment crafting site we’d visit in the annex was
decided.
...Now, it was time to head to our destination.
"We’ll move."
"Yessir."
The moment Section Chief Lee Jaheon made the call, he started moving
without hesitation. We followed him and began walking down the dark
corridor.
The annex, Basement 3, Darkness isolation area.
Strange noises came from the tightly shut metal doors on both sides, but if
we ignored them and moved carefully...
"Stop."
EXIT
At a dead end.
An emergency door revealed itself.
Right. This time, we were going to use the emergency stairs here to move
directly up one floor, to Basement 2.
The annex’s emergency stairs are different from the main building
basement’s bizarre Cheerful Institute side emergency stairs that have an
’ABSOLUTELY NO ENTRY’ warning posted.
’There are records in the <Dark Exploration Records> several times of
Security Team members who were entering, or people who were fleeing,
using this side.’
– Basement 2 doesn’t give out access permission at all, so we enter from an
upper or lower floor and move secretly.
Of course, this still isn’t a normal route, and strange things can happen
while moving.
’But it’s not unusable.’
Up ahead, Section Chief Lee Jaheon raised his hand.
"I will open it."
And this emergency door would instead lock down if an isolation failure
state occurred, and even normally, an alert would be sent when it was
opened, but this time, ’coincidentally’, that was going to be broken too, so
no alarm would be sent.
For example, even if someone with an absurd amount of strength forced it
open.
Krrrk, ...creeeak.
The emergency door must have opened with that sound, by Section Chief
Lee Jaheon.
...
"Roe?"
But I couldn’t see any of it.
’As expected.’
To me, there is no visible means of leaving the annex. Just like the elevator.
It doesn’t let me perceive a way to exit the floor. Because I’m a Special
Division employee who’s supposed to work as the security manager for one
floor.
’I see.’
...To go from being able to see something, to not being able to see it at all.
It feels strange.
The emergency exit is also something I can’t perceive, so it only looks like
an extension of the wall. A wall in smoke and darkness...
But.
Recommendation : Move in front of 130666
If other people are there, I can follow them.
"...Alright."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje stepped directly in front of me.
"Be careful."
"Whoa!"
It seemed Section Chief Lee Jaheon had finished the re-locking measures
on the broken emergency door, because he lightly lifted the wheelchair.
Then as he started walking, people went into the wall.
I followed them and ’passed through’ the wall too.
From my perspective, it looks like an endless void.
"You okay?"
Affirmative
Even if I can’t see the emergency exit, it’s fine because I can see the group.
Everyone started climbing the emergency stairs.
I used smoke to blink, ignoring my legs that wouldn’t move, and kept
appearing near the others...
In my head, I was drawing the shape of the stairs.
’Normally emergency stairs... go up in a spiral after turning a half circle.’
So originally, after changing direction once or twice, the upper floor should
appear, but.
"..."
"..."
They kept walking.
Upward, still.
"Um, a door isn’t showing up."
"Quiet."
The space was twisted somehow.
But I advised it.
Recommendation : Keep walking
Because it wasn’t a dangerous situation.
’There’s a similar record.’
Qterw-E-352 isolation failure occurrence.
To avoid an entity that boarded the elevator, two
members of Field Exploration Team’s F-squad who were
in the annex used the emergency stairs to escape.
Time elapsed : 1 hour 21 minutes.
Beside me, Baek Saheon muttered something like a curse under his breath
as he kept moving his feet.
And after some time.
"...There it is."
We stopped.
B2F
"Basement 2 emergency door. Time to arrival, 12 minutes 53 seconds."
And.
"Do not approach, under Security Team control... huh."
The door was already sealed with the Security Team’s warning markings.
Of course. The annex’s emergency doors lock down instead in an
emergency and won’t open, and Basement 2 is exactly that ’emergency’
right now.
But we’d already finished talking with today’s person in charge for the
annex’s Basement 2.
"I’ll knock."
Knock, knock-knock, knock.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon knocked on the emergency door in the rhythm
we’d agreed on. A string instrument melody learned from the Groom
Lesson ghost story.
Then.
Click.
The emergency door opened just a crack, and pale, washed-out yellow beast
pupils swept over us.
Then the head withdrew, and the door opened wide.
"Come in... Quietly..."
We went inside, even our breathing carefully controlled.
My perception ability also recovered as I faced the corridor.
The familiar Basement 2 of the annex, a place I’d visited several times
before.
[Oh, what a boring layout, no different from the third basement floor.]
The difference, if anything, was...
[There was no need to express individuality through filth!]
Gruesome traces were scattered everywhere.
Sticky black liquid burned into the floor, claw marks on the walls, yellowed
talismans half peeled off and stuck everywhere, stardust, torn rags, and
smile graffiti...
Traces of the Security Team’s ’suppression’.
They stirred ominous imaginings.
"..."
"..."
Sergeant J3 pulled his cap low.
"Over there... other Security Team personnel are... ’controlling’ it...
so don’t go that way for now."
He had willingly taken on the role of opening doors so that we could move
along a relatively safe route without running into the Security Team.
Alone.
"Then you’re the only one here, Sergeant?"
"Yes..."
We indicated our destination, and the sergeant nodded.
"Follow me... Don’t prompt hallucinations."
The sergeant lowered his gaze.
"You might provoke it for no reason..."
"..."
"Just stay quiet."
Everyone did as he said.
– The sergeant is really strong, um... capable, so he often gets assigned
entire areas by himself. It was the same this time.
– He’s probably patrolling about half of Basement 2 alone, right?
– Yeah...
I followed them silently from the rear, sensing danger as we moved.
J3, in his guard uniform, walked slowly with a flashlight, but his steps
never hesitated even once, as if he were sensing every presence and threat
around us.
"Wait, hold..."
When he told us to stop, we stopped, and when he moved again, we
followed.
After that suffocating stretch of time passed at corners and intersections...
We came face to face with it.
The destination—
A ghost story.
"Just a moment..."
The sergeant placed his access card beside the metal door.
Beep. With the sound, the closed metal door opened. And...
"Huu."
Inside, astonishingly, was something like a nighttime street.
A meticulously constructed model alleyway. Under the streetlight stood an
old shop.
On the dusty glass display window was a poster reading ’Special Sale for
Birthday Gifts!’ but on the door hung a ’Closed’ sign.
And the toys displayed behind the glass were all...
"They’re dolls."
That’s right.
Knitted dolls modeled after characters from fairy tales and old stories were
on display.
Carefully bundled yarn stood in for hair, and gem-like beads in place of
eyes gleamed under the streetlight.
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Toy Maker of the Cheerful Institute]
: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-E-07.
A ghost story in the form of an old toy shop.
Specializes in knitted dolls. If you provide the recipient’s
name, birthday, and hair and eye color, it can create one
birthday gift toy per day.
To utilize this ghost story stably at a level befitting its
Twilight grade, the ’night’ state must be maintained at all
times, and if ’day’ arrives, ■■ ■■ shall proceed.
A ghost story owned by Daydream Inc. since the
company’s founding, and the Research Team continues
to use it regularly for Darkness development trials.
========================
...A ghost story of the ’Cheerful Institute’ that Daydream has owned since
its early days.
’Did they already have it when the company was founded?’
Before, I would have thought that line was just emphasizing its connection
to the Research Team, but now...
It gives me a strange feeling.
In any case, equipment crafting comes first for now.
"Let’s go."
After properly closing the metal door and securing it, the group walked
down the midnight model alley and approached the old shop.
Then, someone knocked on the door.
Knock-knock-knock.
Following the established manual, a safe phrase was recited...
"I’m urgently looking for a birthday gift. May I ask if you’re still selling?"
After a moment.
Flicker.
"...!"
A gentle light came on in the dusty bulb in front of the shop, and the glass
door’s lock released.
"...Excuse us."
We stepped inside carefully.
The shop looked like it had been closed for a long time, and it was covered
in dust. There was the worn smell unique to an old wooden space, mixed
with mold and the scent of rusted iron.
But there was exactly one thing with a light on.
A machine that looked like a vending machine.
"..."
Behind the machine, thick and complex connections like ventilation ducts
were visible, and beside it was a rail for dispensing finished items.
On the operating slot that looked like where bills would be inserted, a light
was blinking at the very top, displaying text.
This was the equipment crafting device we had been looking for.
"Want to try it right away?"
"Yessir."
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae rolled her wheelchair forward in one
smooth motion.
The device that looked like a bill slot actually required a different kind of
paper.
An application form.
Please tell us about the child receiving the gift!
Name : Lee Seonghae
Birthday : May 20
Hair color : White
Eye color : Black
Writing down her real name and even her birthday felt unsettling, but
despite the long history of use of this ’Toy Maker of the Cheerful Institute’,
there had never been an incident involving real names or birthdays, so
inductively, my worries eased.
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae finished filling it out and lifted the
application form.
"Then I’ll put it in."
Yup.
And the application form disappeared straight into the Toy Maker’s slot...
...No, rather.
It should have disappeared.
Tuk.
The machine spat the application form back out.
"...Huh??"
Above the slot, a red light blinked as a guidance message appeared...
– Under Repair –
If you would like a quick repair, please
contact a researcher.
"It’s... broken?"
The group exchanged glances in momentary confusion.
Of course, it wasn’t unprecedented.
Exploration Log #114
Assistant Manager Kwak of Research Team 1 had
inserted a forged application. Device malfunction
message displayed.
The Darkness was left unobserved, and when visited
again after 7 weeks, repairs were completed
automatically and operations resumed.
I had seen records like this before, descriptions where if it wasn’t visited for
a few weeks at minimum, or a few months at most, it would recover on its
own...
The problem was that we needed to use it right now.
"Wait, did we break it?"
"I don’t think so... We only put the application in. It seems like it was
already broken to begin with!"
Then had something else already happened in this corridor?
We reflexively turned to look at J3, but strangely, he was standing outside,
far away from the shop.
Just as I was about to step out to speak to him.
’...Wait.’
I paused and reread the message.
If you would like a quick repair, please
contact a researcher.
A researcher.
And looking closely, there was a strange rectangular marking at the bottom
of the machine.
I realized that the size of that rectangle was almost identical to something I
was carrying...
’...No way.’
After a brief hesitation, I took it out.
Cheerful Researcher
Lee Heowoon
An employee ID belonging to a Cheerful Institute staff member, which I
had found in the basement of Daydream’s main building.
"Roe?"
I brought the ID card up to the rectangular marking at the bottom of the
machine.
At that moment.
Hello, Researcher!
"...!"
Just like that, lights came on across a diagram at the bottom of the machine
that looked like a Braille-style blueprint.
The lights moved chaotically, running all over the schematic.
Self-diagnostic in progress...
Diagnostic complete!
Marking areas requiring repair.
A red light lit up on one part of the ’Toy Maker’ schematic.
I approached that section and carefully examined the connection point...
Then something strange caught my eye.
Something was stuck inside the machine.
’...!’
Using smoke, I carefully pulled out the small object. It was...
’An earring?’
It looked like a rusted piece of jewelry.
An old accessory that felt like something that might be excavated from
ancient ruins or a tomb looked completely out of place here, creating an
eerie sensation...
Repairs complete.
– Initiating regular operations –
In any case, it was fixed.
"Roe. That thing just now..."
I showed the earring that had been stuck inside to the group, then suggested
we proceed with equipment crafting first. That was the urgent part.
"Got it. Thank you, Roe Deer-nim!"
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae looked at me with sparkling eyes, then
soon inserted the application form again.
And...
This time, it was operating properly.
The machine sparkled and produced the sound of a music box, urging
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae to choose a ’desired size’.
"The size should be one to one."
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae pressed the button, and once again, with a
loud clatter, sounds of something banging, cutting, and being assembled
echoed from inside the machine...
And, many seconds later.
Thunk.
A ’birthday gift’ popped out onto the rail.
It was...
A knitted doll the exact same size as Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae.
"...!"
As if it had been carefully handmade while looking directly at Assistant
Manager Lee Seonghae, the hairstyle, eyes, outfit, and even body
proportions were identical.
Black cubic gems shimmering with a greenish light were set in as its
eyeballs.
As it was slowly pushed out along the moving rail, it naturally dropped
beneath it and...
<Helloo?>
It stood upright.
Greeting us.
<For some reason I don’t feel so great, but it’s nice being with kind
people!>
No one answered.
The doll’s shining eyes looked at Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae sitting in
the wheelchair.
<...Huh? Wait a second. Why do I look like this? That’s strange, and why is
there another me over there...>
<Ah.>
Rip—
...Section Chief Lee Jaheon tore off the tag attached to the knitted doll’s
head from behind.
At that moment.
The knitted doll fell back to the floor like a toy.
Having lost all movement.
’...’
Dolls produced by the Toy Maker exhibit speech and
behavior extremely similar to the ’child receiving the gift’
listed on the application.
However, they are not judged to be human by the Dream
Essence Collector, and the larger the size, the shorter the
operating time, so the Research Team uses them only in
limited ways to test new Darknesses without waste.
Please note that once produced, it is not possible to
produce another one for the same person.
"Alrighty, I’ll rip ’em off."
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae detached the doll’s legs.
For some reason, I watched the sight in stunned silence...
I felt strange.
There are many ghost stories that imitate people. So even if the others felt a
bit uncomfortable, it didn’t seem to affect them much.
’Why?’
I was deeply shaken.
Was that knitted doll really nothing more than something made to imitate
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s appearance? Or could it have truly had
self-awareness...
’...Stop it.’
It was pointless.
I simply watched as Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae carefully slid her own
unmoving legs into the legs of the dismantled knitted doll.
Then I saw Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae spring up from the wheelchair.
"Mm. It works well!"
Right.
Because that doll can be controlled as the ’child receiving the gift’ wishes, it
can be used like that.
’Huu.’
Seeing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae safely obtain legs she could use
temporarily made me feel relieved and glad.
It truly was fortunate.
"Are you going to use it?"
"No!"
"I see."
As I watched Baek Saheon recoil beside me and put distance between
himself and the knitted dolls, I was urged by Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
"Roe, shouldn’t you get some legs here too?"
...
About that.
Unavailable status
Target : 130666
And I pointed to the notice attached beside the machine, hidden in shadow.
"...!"
※ This toy is
designed for the enjoyment
of modern Earthlings.
For safety reasons, aliens, otherworlders, non-sentient
beings, gods, and all other non-human sentient life forms
cannot use it. :)
"Damn it."
Sorry, but that’s how it is...
’Is this a characteristic of the Cheerful Institute’s products.’
The candle I used in the ’Manor of the Blind’ had similar conditions
attached, so I couldn’t use it and had asked Yeongeun-ssi instead.
...Back then, I had thought it was simply because I came from another
world and couldn’t use it.
"Then let’s hurry and go find the next one. This is really making
contaminated people feel miserable."
...Thank you.
I nodded and left the shop. Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, who had
regained the ability to walk, came out smiling, and together we went to the
sergeant who had been leaning against the metal door.
’If it comes to it, I can just go back here.’
Even without legs, I can move like this using smoke, so there must be
another way to get legs before entering Sekwang City.
But then...
[Goodness, something feels odd!]
The sergeant was standing completely still, staring at the floor.
’...?’
I raised smoke and brought it in front of the sergeant’s eyes.
Concern : Current condition of J3
"I’m fine..."
Only then did the sergeant lift his eyes to look at me.
But the next moment, another eye popped out from his temple and rotated,
then looked toward the shop.
The toys in the dust covered display case. Among them...
The red hood.
’...Damn!’
I took up a defensive stance.
The instant I felt that J3’s gaze was bulging out strangely and turning
savage.
"...We’re leaving, right...?"
The sergeant turned his head, then once again became a dry, sluggish
employee, dragging his feet as he approached the metal door.
...Thank goodness.
Affirmative
I followed the sergeant and covered his field of view with smoke as much
as possible, so he wouldn’t look at the shop.
And the sergeant, in his unstable state, slowly and calmly regained his
composure and opened the metal door...
Something is standing in the corridor.
"..."
"Huh?"
When I raised my head, a woman adorned with countless ornate accessories
was standing there.
No, something in the shape of a woman...
’Ceramic...?’
A clay figure. A human form molded from earth and fired.
It was far too out of place for a corridor, standing there blankly in the filthy
hallway...
I realized it instinctively.
’A ghost story.’
That is the ghost story that supposedly had an isolation failure.
’...!!’
I pulled the sergeant and tried to close the metal door again first. Before the
others came from behind—
"Mmmmph!"
...A voice.
I stiffly listened to it. From inside the ornate woman shaped clay figure, a
trapped sound was coming out...
And soon, I realized whose voice it was.
"Mph! Mmmph!"
It was Kang Yihak.
goblin note:
I’m so sorry again for the inconsistent update sched! I really thought I
could pull off the same regular update sched as before, but then this Chapter
stumped me for some reason .__. It’s the formatting, it really is
More Chapters soonest! I can’t promise when that’ll be, but I’ll do my best
to somehow make up for lost time!
devastated reader note:
Praise be to the greatest goblin who once was!
Translations by I_Love_Kim_Soleum from here on :)