Chapter 63: Ch 63: Seize the opportunity
Hurry up. Hurry up.
"Then, Supervisor, your previous experience would be the 35th round,
correct?"
"Y-Yeah. It was the only round where they attempted to bring in new hires."
Kim Soleum quickly exchanged a few hurried questions with Supervisor
Park Minseong and immediately pieced together the essentials in his mind.
’Supervisor Park’s detailed experience...’
"Is this all? Is this what we need?"
"I’m working on putting it together."
– New hires were drafted into this Darkness’s exploration, resulting in
chaos and panic from fear.
– Some kept cursing so they received penalties. A fight broke out over
calming pills, and it led to penalties for both parties, including the one who
drank them.
– Seven people received more than two penalties, reaching the brink of
contamination.
– The new hire chosen as the Hangman passed out from panic halfway
through, but the sheer terror and confusion left no one able to help.
– Another new hire collapsed after being struck on the head by the body
that fell from the gallows. They later resigned.
"..."
Huh?
"After that, they never brought in new hires again..."
"Hold on."
"Hm?"
"Do the bodies remain?"
Kim Soleum stared urgently at the supervisor.
"The bodies of the people who’ve died here as the Hangman, I mean."
"Well, yeah? Though I don’t know about decay or anything like that... I
don’t think there was a head, but it’s not like I personally attended the
funeral and checked every detail..."
"...!!"
A chill ran up Kim Soleum’s spine.
This, this...
"W, What is it??"
Supervisor Park grabbed Kim Soleum’s shoulders in a panic.
"Is there a hint? Does this help?!"
"Yes."
Kim Soleum nodded urgently, but cold sweat trickled down his neck.
’I can’t guarantee it, though.’
It felt like madness.
But, but...
The mere possibility was such an exhilarating hope.
’This is worth trying.’
Kim Soleum hastily pieced together what was needed.
...It seemed barely feasible.
’With this, we might be able to slip through the cracks without breaking the
rules...!’
The only problem was...
One essential skill wasn’t currently available.
’...Braun.’
Once again, he was needed.
’How much longer until your transformation ability is ready?’
– Hm.
– Even I need about half a day of rest, don’t you think?
Kim Soleum quickly adjusted the question.
’What if I change the conditions?’
– Conditions?
Kim Soleum explained the ’altered conditions’.
The response changed.
– If that’s the case, I can manage after about an hour of rest!
– It’s a tough schedule, but... hm, I’ll endure it. I’m a professional, after all!
’Thank you so much.’
– Don’t mention it!
One hour.
The conditions were reset.
’I need to buy time.’
Within this chaos, I had to ensure that Eun Haje didn’t fully ascend the
gallows for an hour.
And that was impossible to do alone.
"Sunbae-nim."
"Hm?"
"If possible, I’d like you to act as a decoy."
"...?"
Kim Soleum quickly held the ’Silver Heart’ badge in his pocket.
Then he shouted to the nine employees who had gathered in the room,
enthusiastically immersed in the Hangman game.
"Everyone!"
"...!"
Nine pairs of eyes turned toward Kim Soleum.
He swallowed hard.
What was needed now was...
’...Aggro!!’
"If you could double your clear points, would you do it?"
* * *
Assistant Manager Eun Haje of D-squad raised her head.
Even though she was hanging midair, sentenced to death with black ropes
wrapped around her neck and limbs, she was surprisingly calm.
’All things considered, this isn’t a bad way to go.’
Aside from dying just short of reaching her point goal, it was honestly far
better than the bloody messes from her coworkers’ deaths in the past.
"Assistant Manager Eun! What was your mode of transportation?!"
"Dunno. I told you already, I don’t remember."
If taking these goddamn trolls with her to the grave wasn’t enough to make
it worse, she didn’t feel all that cooperative.
Still, the right answers would eventually come, regardless of her efforts.
That’s just how Hangman works.
"Damn it... The last mode of transportation she used as a reporter? How the
hell would I know that? Fuck it— A?"
[Correct!]
"It worked, it worked!!"
Even without figuring it out from the hint, throwing out letters eventually
leads to the correct answer.
_ _ _ _ A _ _ R
’Ugh.’
Eun Haje looked at her now missing feet, feeling the chilling fear of death
crawl up her neck. But, no, she didn’t show it.
She didn’t want to serve as entertainment for the trolls.
[Here’s the hint for the 3rd blank letter!]
[Why can’t Teacher Eun Haje take airplanes anymore?]
Meanwhile, her two hoobaes from D-squad were busily whispering in the
corner.
’What are they doing?’
They clenched their teeth as if seeing Eun Haje lose both her feet was too
much, then started talking more fervently.
They must have some delusional idea of saving her...
’That might be better.’
If they just keep talking and eventually realize there’s no way out, they’ll
give up.
At least they’ll find some comfort in having tried.
’...’
Meanwhile, someone came up with the answer to the relatively easy
question.
"Trauma? T!"
_ _ T _ A _ _ R
[Correct!]
Her entire left leg disappeared.
’Fuck...!’
"Woooo! We got it!"
"Ah!! I should’ve answered first!"
The trolls screamed like they were at a sports event, watching someone’s
leg disappear.
Eun Haje’s irritation and anger began to boil.
’Maybe I should just troll along with them.’
But then, suddenly.
"Everyone."
Someone raised their hand beyond the trolls.
"If you could double your clear points, would you do it?"
’...Roe?!’
Yes.
The rookie from D-squad, or rather, the now-former rookie who’d climbed
the ranks in record time, Kim Soleum, raised his hand with a calm
expression.
"What the hell?"
"Isn’t that the guy... that one who got promoted recently?"
Everyone recognized him by then.
The top new hire, wearing a mask with antlers like a deer, who had been
promoted to supervisor after just 60 days, had already become a widely
talked-about figure.
Maybe because of the rumors, everyone was now strangely drawn to him.
There was something... natural about his presence.
And just now.
’Did he say points...?’
"..."
In the strange atmosphere that had overtaken the playroom, Kim Soleum
spoke.
"How about we make a bet?"
...??
"If any of you win this bet, I’ll give you all my clear points, Sunbae-nim."
"...!!"
"What?"
Insane aggro.
"Is that guy crazy? Why’s he doing that?"
But for members of the Field Exploration Team, the mention of ’points’ was
irresistible.
"Are you really saying you’ll give up all 2,000 points?"
"Yes."
"Ah, Supervisor Roe Deer, you must not know since you’ve only been here
a few months... Points are non-transferrable."
"I know."
"You do? Then what..."
"But there’s no rule against using 2,000 points to buy items from the
company store and giving them away, is there?"
"...!"
"If you win, you can pick whatever you like. I’ll even pay for custom
equipment."
The atmosphere shifted.
If the ’sacrifice’ had already been chosen, then how useful would additional
points be?
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
He was serious.
Of course, if they could win.
"Then what’s the bet?"
In response, Kim Soleum crossed his arms.
"Who can guess the most letters in the Hangman puzzle."
"Ah!"
"The person who guesses more letters than me will get the points."
Is he insane?
"For reference, I’ve only guessed one, so just getting two would meet the
threshold."
"W-Wait!"
Supervisor Park Minseong from D-squad stood up in alarm.
"Roe, why are you making a bet in this situation...?"
"There aren’t many B-class ghost stories that are safe as long as you follow
the manual. I thought this could be a good opportunity to see if guessing
more correct answers might trigger any special phenomena. Right?"
Kim Soleum spoke seriously, looking around at the employees.
"If the atmosphere gets strange, please stop. I hope it doesn’t become
dangerous."
"Hah."
Some of the employees exchanged smirks and sneers before one of them
spoke up with a sarcastic grin.
"Oh~ so noble. You’re making a bet to add more detail to the manual and
make it safer?"
"Yes, that’s correct."
Kim Soleum replied without hesitation.
"I want to help make it so that those who come in after us can clear this
more safely."
"...Why?"
"No particular reason. Hmm... I just think it’d be good if someone did it,
and I’m in a position to do so."
"..."
The employee who asked fell silent.
For some reason... they felt uneasy.
’Come to think of it, didn’t this rookie rescue a missing person?’
Another memory surfaced.
’Last time, I heard he saved all the other employees from some B-class
Darkness and got promoted because of it.’
He’d retrieved an unpopular desk worker that no one else cared to find,
without pay. He’d risked his life in a high-grade Darkness to save
employees he didn’t even know.
’He’s not normal.’
Normally, these people would’ve laughed at someone like this guy, calling
him gullible.
But strangely, for some peculiar reason... they couldn’t.
Tiiing—
A clear, metallic sound seemed to echo in their minds.
It was as if their thoughts were sharpening, seeing things in a clearer, more
objective way, detached from their usual habits and inertia.
...And oddly enough.
Those seemingly foolish choices began to look, somehow, impressive.
"..."
"..."
They spoke without thinking.
"...Alright, let’s do the bet."
"Oh, thank you!"
Kim Soleum bowed repeatedly, thanking the now-quiet employees, and
then began to walk away.
"I’ll see you all when the game is finished."
He approached Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who had been watching the
whole scene with her jaw dropped.
"Assistant Manager."
Eun Haje felt a throbbing headache.
’This guy’s problem is that he’s too nice!’
Smart rookie or not, this was his flaw.
’He’s too sincere.’
The type to burn out or break under the weight of his own ideals.
He’d passionately declared that his items belonged to his coworkers just to
try and save them before, and now he was seriously pulling a stunt like
this...
"You, you’re seriously..."
Kim Soleum lowered his voice and spoke quickly.
"It’s a bluff."
"..."
Oh.
"I just stirred things up to buy us time."
For a moment, Eun Haje almost forgot she was about to die, but then she
managed to reply.
"...You’re saying you’re stalling for time?"
"Yes, ma’am."
Hah.
"Wait, if you’re planning to try something in that time, don’t. That’s how
you get yourself killed..."
"What if I insist on doing it?"
"...!"
"We’re going to try no matter what. ...If you cooperate, our chances of
success will be higher."
This... this stubborn brat!
Eun Haje gritted her teeth.
"Hey. I told you I’ll handle it myself."
"I don’t believe that. ...You’ve already given up. You’re ready to die."
"..."
So quick on the uptake.
’Ugh.’
"...I won’t say I haven’t thought about trying something."
Finally, Eun Haje confessed.
Things she hadn’t mentioned to avoid giving her hoobaes false hope.
"You know how this ghost story enforces all sorts of rules on the so-called
’new teachers’, right? But do you know who the only exception is?"
"...That would be—"
"—The Hangman."
Eun Haje grinned.
"That’s me."
The Hangman wasn’t penalized for anything—not for cursing, not for
slamming their head against a wall hard enough to break the skull.
"The problem is, even so, moving my body is difficult."
She gestured with her eyes toward the ropes binding her.
"But... if I put it the other way around, it means I can do whatever I want
with my upper body."
"...!"
Of course, the chances of anything working were slim to none.
Eun Haje spoke casually, keeping her composure.
"Did you hear that? Only I can keep trying this loophole. Even so, I don’t
get penalized. So you penalty targets just sit and—"
Kim Soleum’s eyes glinted.
"I’ll use that loophole to maximize the survival rate."
"What?"
"Please remember what I’m about to say."
Kim Soleum explained, clearly, firmly, and concisely, what Eun Haje
needed to do.
And after...
"...!"
"...That’s all."
Eun Haje suddenly felt like she’d been doused in ice water.
Were they seriously going to do this?
"We’ll head off and start the work. See you in a bit."
"Hey!"
Wait a second.
"Roe!! Badger!! You damn brats!"
But the two were already walking out of the playroom.
"Hey! Come back here!"
* * *
’Phew.’
It seemed the stalling tactic had worked.
I was walking down the unnervingly clean, colorful, and quiet kindergarten
hallway with Supervisor Park Minseong.
’Let’s move faster.’
The testimonies from Supervisor Park and Assistant Manager Eun were
helping me form a clearer picture. My mind wavered between anxiety and
hope.
Even so, the unsettling atmosphere of this ghost story’s setting still made
my skin crawl.
But courageous as always, Supervisor Park kept glancing back at me with a
worried expression before finally speaking up.
"R-Roe, are you sure about this? Those 2,000 points aren’t a joke... What if
someone actually guesses two letters?"
Ah.
That?
"That’ll never happen."
"...!"
I grinned.
"With selfish personalities and everyone keeping each other in check, it’s
impossible."
"Huh?"
"They’ll sabotage each other every time someone tries to guess."
"...!!"
According to the records, each question’s time limit ranged from 7 to 10
minutes, depending on the whims of the ghost story.
Even conservatively, they’d have to cycle through nine rounds of this full
time limit.
So, what’s the best method?
"They’ll probably keep sabotaging and fighting until the very last moment.
And since they still wouldn’t want to accumulate penalties, someone would
begrudgingly propose terms for their guesses."
And the likelihood of that being the correct answer? Very slim.
"In the end, they’ll all have to take penalties, and the time will drag on."
Additionally, once contamination starts accumulating, they’ll hesitate to
randomly guess letters, slowing things down further.
So...
"It’ll easily take an hour."
I stated this confidently.
"And since the prize isn’t the 2,000 points themselves but an item you can
buy with them, it’s harder to split the reward. They can’t easily form teams
to share, and verbal agreements aren’t trustworthy enough."
’The only reason they trusted my promise was because of the Silver Heart.’
I had to make sure it wasn’t exposed. I consciously avoided even thinking
about the badge in my pocket as I continued.
"So don’t worry about that. Let’s focus on saving the assistant manager
first."
"..."
A flicker of emotion crossed Supervisor Park’s face beneath his mask.
Realizing there was no time to waste, he quickly suppressed it.
"Alright. Let’s get to it! Oh, we’re here."
"Yes."
It was time to begin preparations.
’Huu.’
I sat down with Supervisor Park, settling on the floor.
It was the largest space in the kindergarten.
[Playroom]
I tried my best not to look too closely at the scene before me.
In front of us was a colorful ball pit and a stage decorated with flowers and
butterflies.
But atop the cheerful stage, two grotesque chunks of flesh stood awkwardly.
A left leg. A right foot.
They were parts of Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s body.
’Haah.’
A chill ran up my spine, raising the hairs on my neck. Whether it was from
fear, dread, or a sense of crisis, I couldn’t tell.
’The gallows.’
There was only one chance.
I had to seize it here.