Chapter 369: Ch 369: All of it
Agent Choi found the dream incubator.
The very same device that had once been installed in the underground
laboratory — the place where he had caught Kim Soleum spying — was
now being kept safely in the subway-turned-Resort’s facilities.
As cherished as the desperate wish of the person who had found it.
"..."
Agent Choi poured all the liquid from the Dream Collector he was carrying
into it.
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1,410,000.
An amount so enormous that any member of the Daydream Field
Investigation Team, who collected Dream Essence as part of their daily
work, would have been horrified to see it.
It was, after all, from a highest-grade Darkness.
Moreover, it wasn’t just cleared, but concluded.
The concentration of Dream Essence, condensed from an Extinction-class
supernatural disaster that had been sealed for ages, was terrifying.
However.
"...It’s not enough."
It was less than a third of the five million points Kim Soleum had predicted
would be necessary.
It made sense.
Agent Choi hadn’t contributed much to eliminating the direct cause of the
Segwang Metropolitan City supernatural disaster itself.
That had been the work of Kim Soleum and Ho Yuwon.
The only reason such a massive amount was extracted despite that was
because he had played a decisive role in ’Chasing Ggwangcheol’ at the very
end....
Because that had been the fundamental source of the incident.
"Don’t worry."
Even so, Agent Choi said it calmy.
Because–
"I wasn’t the only one carrying a Collector."
And the next person arrives.
Those who remember Kim Soleum.
"This way, sir."
"Yes."
The lump in the tank perceived it.
Lee Jaheon, a body inhabited by an alien entity, entered the small research
facility in the resort.
He performed a check, as if inspecting the dream incubator’s safety and
condition.
And once that was done, he inserted the Dream Collector he was holding
without hesitation.
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The number updates.
And one more.
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"...Civilian, do you have two Collectors?"
"Yes."
The first was from successfully escaping the repeating May 4th of Segwang
Metropolitan City.
And the total points this man had accumulated by later returning to the
rooftop, joining the final stages of Kim Soleum’s conclusion, and
contributing to ’Chasing Ggwangcheol’ was even greater than Agent Choi’s.
"..."
The lump in the tank knows.
That belongs to ’Us’.
Lee Jaheon’s Collectors were clearly items issued by both the company and
the Project that he had ’deliberately not returned’.
To have handled things so cunningly meant he had intended to use them for
something else.
The lump perceived the will of ’Us’ regarding this choice.
And strangely, it confirms that ’Us’ did not consider this a loss. It had
judged this as a payment in exchange for saving a single entity.
The very entity performing this act.
Lee Jaheon.
"..."
Lee Jaheon said nothing as he finished.
He merely watched the tank quietly.
The tank containing the lump that had once been ’Kim Soleum’.
Inside the transparent tank he had torn from the Potion Maker, the lump that
still intermittently spewed Black Smoke pulsed.
Beside it, the Mascot costume lay limply on the ground.
They had tried to put it on Kim Soleum, hoping it might give him form like
the Security Team Uniform, was a meaningless failure.
It didn’t work.
The melted flesh, bones, and mass of organs remained as they were.
But Lee Jaheon was not shaken.
He simply said this:
"I will call the next person."
The lump in the tank sensed a small being entering the Resort.
"Hello!"
Lee Seonghae had just escorted Go Youngeun to her family and left
Segwang Metropolitan City for the outskirts, and had now she had returned
to the Resort.
The employee’s tone as she spoke to Agent Haegum was as cheerful as ever.
"She was reunited with her family safely!"
"That’s wonderful to hear."
But soon, she saw it.
"Oh."
Someone who had been reduced to pulp at the end of the rooftop festival.
What had once been ’Kim Soleum’, now just a remnant of flesh, pulsing and
twitching in the tank.
"Huh."
Lee Seonghae was not sad.
Because appearance isn’t important.
But since he probably wouldn’t prefer being in that state, if she could help,
she should!
"I’ll just put this in for now."
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Lee Seonghae’s points weren’t as high as those who had directly
participated in the ritual, but they were still significant, as she had
successfully returned from a high-grade disaster.
But she pours it in without a second thought.
She’s already collected all her Wish Ticket points anyway!
And...
"Good people should live well."
Because in Lee Seonghae’s standards, that is simply the correct state of
affairs.
However.
"But we’re still short on points, aren’t we?"
Her eyes drifter to the mass-produced Mascots standing outside the facility.
The Resort was still intact.
But those Mascots had lost their vitality.
They only gave a few responses, ’like a theme park mascot should’, as if
they were machines or kiosks performing only set tasks.
That in itself makes people recall Kim Soleum’s current state....
But Lee Seonghae thinks of something else.
The certainty that going in and out of this Resort won’t accumulate many
points.
"Even if we find another high-grade ghost story, it won’t be as efficient as
Segwang Metropolitan City. We could all die trying to conclude it just to
extract more liquid!"
"I see."
But Lee Jaheon replies calmly.
"There are still people left."
The next person comes.
"So... this is Roe Deer."
"Yes."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje and Agent Ryu Jaegwan.
The people Kim Soleum had desperately tried to pull out of May 4th had
finally awoken.
Coming to their senses in the middle of a Seoul street or in a well, the two
were brought to the Resort by their respective team members.
And of them, the one who arrived first....
"...Hoo."
Eun Haje looked at the lump of flesh in the tank.
The lump perceives the other’s gaze darkening.
And it knows.
This person had already experienced countless superiors and subordinates
who had gone missing, their ’last sighting record’ a horrific state within a
ghost story.
An irreversible state.
An immutable horror.
A miserable end.
To reverse this, only one thing came to a daydream employee’s mind:
A Wish Ticket.
Of course, she also considered the possibility that Kim Soleum could just
go to a worldline where he was fine.
’But if the original Wish Ticket exists....’
It was a gamble worth taking, the former Field Investigation Team assistant
manager judged.
"Alright."
The lump watches as Eun Haje, too, unsparingly plugged her Collector into
the incubator.
The number rose again.
The golden liquid rippled, reflecting light upon the Black Smoke.
This person’s Dream Collector, naturally, had an incredibly high
concentration of the potion gathered within it.
Trapped in the subway for a long time, entering an Extinction-class
Disaster, then escaping through the high-grade Resort.
Even if she hadn’t contributed to the conclusion, it was an insane, irregular
case.
As far as Eun Haje knew, there was virtually no precedent for someone
surviving long-term in such a crazy high-grade Darkness with their Dream
Collector intact.
’Well, to be precise, it was closer to long-term death than long-term
survival.’
But she came out alive, didn’t she?
That’s what’s important.
She almost let out a reflexive whistle as she saw the insane number rising in
the incubator.
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A hollow laugh escaped her.
"Oi, this doesn’t feel real. If I reported this to the company, I could get at
least five Wish Tickets, right? Maybe more, if I negotiate."
....
"Of course, I have no intention of doing that. You know that, you Roe Deer
punk."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who had been speaking cheerfully, slowly let
the grin on her lips soften.
Then she leaned close to the tank and spoke in a low voice.
"Thank you."
....
"I know you went all out and pushed yourself to save me and that agent.
And..."
Her voice sounds gentle.
"I now remember accompanying you as a reporter."
....
"Thinking back, I think I had a crazy dream like that a long time ago."
And.
Eun Haje, who had spoken of the events on the surface of Segwang
Metropolitan City, whispered in an even lower voice.
"...Don’t worry about Minseong."
....
"The team leader and I will take care of him."
The lump did not react.
It is just a piece of flesh spewing Black Smoke.
But Eun Haje smiled and tapped the tank.
As if she had heard a reply.
"...I’ll be going now."
And the next person arrives at the Resort.
"..."
The lump in the tank perceives the being entering the room with a hardened
expression.
Blue eyes, a massive frame, black hair.
It was the first agent from the Disaster Management Bureau that Kim
Soleum had met.
He appeared here, safe and sound.
"..."
Ryu Jaegwan approached and stood close to the tank.
And he spoke.
"Agent-nim."
....
"I mentioned before... that an agent from the Disaster Management Bureau
saved me when I was in high school, on my way to school."
He spoke to the lump.
"So... we meet like this."
....
"It’s not uncommon to meet acquaintances from the past or witness scenes
from the future in a supernatural phenomenon. But–"
Ryu Jaegwan took a breath.
"I never thought I would be one of those cases...."
....
"I’ve always wanted to thank you. Both of you."
....
The lump in the tank perceives the agent’s eyes staring at it.
That is all.
Ryu Jaegwan, who had been looking at the pulpy, Black Smoke-wreathed
’Agent’, took out... his Dream Collector.
"I don’t know... Agent-nim."
....
"My judgment hasn’t changed."
If your home is gone, you can build a new one.
Clinging to an unattainable wish might lead to a terrible end.
If you can’t turn back, it might become too late.
But—
"..."
Ryu Jaegwan looks at the lump.
If it’s already too late.
If this is the only thing they can try.
...If it’s what the other person desperately wished for–
"Still, I wish to repay you."
The Dream Essence Liquid Ryu Jaegwan collected flowed into the
incubator.
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It glitters.
Lee Jaheon, who had watched the entire scene, spoke.
"The next person is coming in."
There was also Dream Essence Liquid pending in Director Ho’s counseling
office.
Dream Essence from the Project that were being temporarily stored, not yet
offered up to the company.
When the counseling office closed, those cylinders were ejected outside
along with those who were inside.
Fortunately, among them, there was a being who instinctively sought out
and plundered ’things lost in their territory’.
"Here..."
A gaunt man in shabby clothes.
The Security Chief, who himself looked worn out, holds out the Dream
Collector he was carrying.
"This was being stored in the counseling office... hmm."
What began as a slow and rough motion soon transformed into a
surprisingly efficient one, skillfully finding the insertion port with practiced
ease.
The liquid was drawn in from the Collector.
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Those points, unrelated to the time of the conclusion, were not an absurdly
high, but it was still golden liquid that would slosh and fill the incubator.
"..."
The Security Chief said nothing.
He didn’t express shock or sorrow like the others, nor does he talk to it as if
Kim Soleum were there, perfectly fine.
He doesn’t ask about this situation where Kim Soleum tearing up Director
Cheong’s contract has set the security team free of their restrictions and and
constraints.
He simply stroked the tank once, then quietly lies down in a corner.
As if waiting.
The inside of the incubator was now filled with holographic light.
The self-illuminating thing filled the small research facility. It was like a
small pond filled with Wish Tickets.
It was a scene that felt almost transcendental.
But....
"..."
That was it.
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The points stopped there.
With 25,900 points short.
Without reaching 5 million.
The lump feels no emotion.
But it could calculate.
That there was no one else left to come.
No one remaining who would willingly hand over their Dream Essence
Liquid to help ’Kim Soleum’.
"Should we get the rest from another Darkness?"
"We’ll have to, Civilian. We’ve already picked out some candidates, so don’t
worry."
The agent with the scar on his neck taps the tank, trying to sound cheerful.
"Grapes, you just wait, okay? ...We’ll be back soon."
The lump knows.
They won’t be back.
Because Resort No. 2 will soon disappear.
By the time these people enter another ghost story to gather the remaining
25,900 points, this place, with the Mascot’s influence weakened, will no
longer hold and will soon collapse.
And everything would end.
The dream incubator would vanish along with the Resort, and the lump, too,
will disappear with it, to be stacked and abandoned in a warehouse behind
the Resort.
Forever.
For an unspeakably long time.
Even predicting all of this, there was no reason to struggle.
Because there is no desire.
Because there is no fear.
The lump simply existed.
And it is about to end—
....
Knock, knock.
"Who... Noonim?"
"Everyone."
Agent Haegum opens the door, panting, and enters the facility.
"I brought one more."
The lump perceives the one entering through the door.
An unexpected person.
"What is it?"
Baek Saheon.
The daydream employee wearing an eyepatch looked disgruntled but also
slightly anxious.
"I heard there’s liquid."
"Hey, we have no intention of giving it to you."
Baek Saheon’s annoyed voice rings out.
"I heard that agent was in danger, so I came to make a deal. That person.
The one who came to Jisan. The one wearing glasses."
"...Right."
"Where is he?"
Everyone’s gazes gather.
Baek Saheon entered the Resort’s research facility, rigidly.
And he, too, saw what the others were staring at.
The lump of flesh.
"...This is the agent?"
"..."
"...That–"
But Baek Saheon swallows his words.
His face shifted beyond denial to a stark, immediate acceptance—paling
first, then collapsing into anger.
A sneer twisted his mouth.
"I knew this would happen!"
His eye burned.
"Uselessly trying to save people, it was obvious it would end like this. I
don’t know why he even bothered. This is what you get for it..."
Agent Choi, clenching his teeth, tried to intervene with a smile, but the
tirade died before he could.
Baek Saheon’s voice trembled and stopped.
....
"Hey, can you understand me?"
The lump cannot respond.
"Hello?"
Baek Saheon stepped closer to the tank.
And he speaks.
The conjecture he couldn’t voice.
The reason he couldn’t take his eyepatch off to check this being’s Halo.
The identity of ’the agent who came to Jisan Village’.
"Are you... actually..."
The agent who can’t be contacted when a certain person goes missing.
An agent who seems to know him strangely well.
That was....
....
....
"Ah, never mind."
Baek Saheon took his hand off the tank.
He couldn’t get an answer now anyway.
No–
Perhaps he wasn’t ready yet....
So he only said this:
"Pay me back later."
He turned back to the others.
"If I give you this, you can definitely save him, right? You’re not going to
divert it somewhere else, are you?"
"We are not."
"...Ha."
Baek Saheon finally took the Dream Collector from his pocket.
When the Project started to go sideways with Kim Soleum’s disappearance,
he had deserted it.
But because the administrative processing for his issued Collector had been
delayed, and no return request came, he had dragged his feet without
returning it.
He had calculated that when the Project blew up, he’d have to return it
anyway, but maybe he could get a slightly better deal by handing it over to
the company side.
And he had come to this moment.
"...Here."
He takes out the Dream Collector and plugs it into the dream incubator.
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And so,
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The points were gathered.
The amount Kim Soleum needed to go home.
All of it.
Chapter 370
The lump looks at the sparkling dream incubator.
At the liquid inside it.
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