…The phrase ‘What a relief that you’re alive’ carried two implied premises.
That he knew who the other person is.
And that he had assumed that person was dead.
All of it pointed back to one thing.
The Security Team’s sergeant had recognized me, the one sitting in the taxi driver’s seat, as Supervisor Kim Soleum of the Field Exploration Team who had been declared deceased.
‘……Since when?’
I checked the sergeant sitting in the back seat through the rearview mirror. He was wearing his worn security uniform as if they were civilian clothes, cap pulled low.
I couldn’t see his face clearly.
But somehow… he seemed relieved.
Suddenly, I remembered what Supervisor Park Minseong had said. – Sergeant Jay from the Security Team asked about you sometimes… I didn’t say you got lost in a Darkness or anything… but a few days ago, he seemed to have figured it out already.
…Given his years of experience as a sergeant in the Security Team, he would’ve seen plenty of rookies from Daydream Inc.’s Field Exploration Team vanish.
Still, maybe because we were acquainted, he’d worried about me……
‘I’m grateful. And sorry.’
And on top of that, it was surprising how he recognized me and still played it cool, quietly waiting without saying a word.
Of course, given that I was currently playing the role of corporate spy, this wasn’t exactly a heartwarming reunion.
Anyway, Director Ho already seemed to suspect that the D-squad knew I was alive. I couldn’t afford to make things worse.
‘The sergeant’s not the type to run around blabbing about seeing me, anyway.’
A subtle hint when he gets off the taxi, asking him to keep it quiet, would be enough.
Once I’d sorted it all out in my head, I spoke in the most taxi-driver-like, friendly voice I could muster.
“Oh man, what a ride… Thought my heart was going to give out. So, sir. You said you’re headed to Seoul Station, right? It’ll take about 40 minutes to get—”
“Ah, that… It’s fine. I don’t need to go.”
“……Pardon, sir?”
I instinctively glanced at the mirror to look at the sergeant.
He met my eyes in the reflection, smiling faintly.
“No reason to go anymore, I guess…?”
“……”
Wait a second.
– Um… is this how you do it… Please take me to Seoul Station where I can ride the express train…
Express train. Seoul Station.
…That place is also the publicly known departure point for Tamra Express into the Darkness—the very one I’d been reported missing in.
‘No way.’
No, that couldn’t be. I kept my eyes fixed on the road ahead.
And yet… I ended up speaking.
“…Ah, did you decide to meet the person somewhere else?”
“That’s not it… I already met them.”
“……”
“It’s okay…”
Ah, damn it.
He really did come looking for me?
‘The guy who’s not even allowed outside except at night.’
It’s been over a month since I went missing. Everyone had given up hope and processed me as dead.
And yet, this guy… just because we were somewhat acquainted, he came chasing traces of me before dawn to catch the express train. That’s…
Maybe it’s because I know his backstory. Before he was assigned to the Security Team, he was a named squad leader of the B squad. Somehow, that made it even more touching.
And it made me think.
“……”
If it’s to this extent… maybe he’s trustworthy.
‘…He was never the type to be blindly loyal or passionate about the company anyway.’
If that’s the case.
I decided to double-check.
“Ah, sir. Are you maybe out on assignment? Does the company reimburse the fare or maybe track your location for reports…?”
“Umm…… No. They don’t.”
The sergeant answered firmly.
“They don’t really care enough to do that now… And these days, they’re more lenient about going out, too.”
“……”
Alright.
“Then… before sunrise, would you like to take a little drive with me?”
“……!”
I turned off the car’s built-in navigation and pulled up a new route on my personal phone.
The destination… a location accessible through the keywords: ‘공감.주목.장난감’.
(T/N: ‘Empathy, Attention, Toy.’)
The lab where Daydream Inc.’s prototype device was stored.
* * * I parked the taxi at the destination.
As soon as I got out with the sergeant, I called out to him.
“Jay-ssi.”
The sergeant looked up instantly. Not in surprise, but almost with relief.
“Ah, so the taxi wasn’t contaminated by the Darkness…”
“…Pardon?”
“The express train… sometimes you get contaminated while riding it, and… um… you end up reassigned to other transport, like as a driver or something…?”
“……”
Hold on.
Did he seriously think I’d been so contaminated by a ghost story that I became a ghost story taxi driver, and just played along the whole time?!
‘If I’d pushed too hard, he might’ve tried to yeet me out of the car.’
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Good thing that misunderstanding didn’t go too far, and he got out when he did.
“It’s nothing. Still… Thank you for worrying about me.”
“Yes… What a relief…”
‘I almost had the rare experience of walking straight into the maw of a ghost story…’
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly and locked the car door after the sergeant stepped out.
Then suddenly, a question popped into my mind.
“Um, but… why did you suddenly hail a taxi in the mountains?”
Don’t tell me… he tried walking to Seoul Station from the mountains and got lost…
“The mountain?”
A confused voice.
“I… was in front of the company.”
“…?!”
The explanation that followed was this.
As expected, the sergeant had been dazedly walking from in front of the company toward Seoul Station.
It was so early that all public transportation had stopped, and apparently he’d forgotten how to call a taxi.
And then he saw it.
A taxi that oddly stood out to the eye.
“And I heard the radio…”
“…!!”
“Hearing the radio, um… reminded me of the time I took a taxi before…”
So, though clumsy, he’d impulsively followed the taxi and managed to catch it.
……There was only one possible explanation for this entire story.
‘…Braun!’
Distorted time and space, and the spotlight.
If it was the handiwork of the showbiz ghost story host, then no wonder it left such a chilling impression.
And the way the sergeant recognized me was just as striking…
“The smell.”
“……!”
“I have a good nose…”
A remark that, to anyone watching, would be extremely convincing coming from someone tainted by an animal ghost story with a snout…
In any case, I had a rough grasp of the situation now. I shook my head once and moved closer to show him something.
“This way, please.”
A door disguised as a manhole cover, propped up against a wall in an alley.
“It would be better to go inside and talk in more detail.”
Then I opened the door and headed down.
“Oh…”
The sergeant followed behind with a lifeless murmur, but the moment he saw the lab’s nameplate, he froze for a second.
Dream Incubation Room.
“……”
“This is… the company……”
“I don’t think so.”
I opened the lab door and let the sergeant see inside.
“But it does seem to be connected.”
“……!”
Among the people I know, he had worked the longest at the company, was deeply involved, but had no particular personal stake.
The former squad leader of elite B-squad quietly lowered his gaze as he looked at the fundamental research lab of Daydream Inc.’s pharmaceutical tech.
“Jay-ssi, is there anything here that catches your eye?”