The Wish Ticket.
In this world of ghost stories, where bizarre bad endings appear everywhere, this is the most certain way for me to return home.
For this alone, I endured at Daydream Inc., and endured even becoming a spy.
And now, at last, with the conditions met to claim my Wish Ticket, Director Ho in front of me is lightly clapping his hands.
As if applauding me.
Clap, clap, clap…
“I’m genuinely happy to see you finally receive your Wish Ticket.”
“……”
“But haven’t you ever thought about this?”
The clapping stops.“What if Director Ho never intended to give you the Wish Ticket in the first place?”
“……”
“Even if you did exactly as you promised, Soleum-nim, I could just change my words. Tell you to do something else, offer the ticket as bait again and again. Just endlessly string you along like that.”
Director Ho smiled gently.
“Have you really never thought about that?”
“I have.”
You’d be a fool not to.
How often in society does someone avoid paying after you’ve finished the work, or delay it, or just never pay at all?
Conversely, how many times does someone take payment in advance and never do the job right?
And in this situation, the Wish Ticket was Director Ho’s one-sided promise.
And a promise from someone in a position of power can be broken at any time. There’s no penalty for breaking it.
But…
“I also know that you, Director, take promises very seriously.”
“……”
The bindings.
Director Ho was a type of supernatural entity who bound others by the form of a ‘promise’.
Yes, it would be foolish to think of Director Ho as human at this point.
‘And for supernatural entities, rules are a crucial element.’
From a semantic perspective on ghost stories, rules exist to foster a context of uncanny fear, and to dangle hope as a kind of torment for the victim…
In any case, that’s why the rules are actually more trustworthy than if Director Ho were simply a malicious human.
There’s a much higher chance that he’ll have no choice but to keep his promises.
All the more so, when I recall how Director Ho would assert—almost unnaturally—about the trustworthiness of the counselor of the ‘Fox Counseling Office.’
Even if he uses people while hiding other motives or sets traps, he never makes false promises.
I looked at the expressionless Director Ho.
“So I judged that any promise you made yourself, you would absolutely keep.”
“……”
Clap.
“Of course!”
Director Ho laughed as he clapped his hands.
“I always keep my promises. I never make a promise I can’t keep… Absolutely.”
“……”
“Now then.”
Director Ho lifted a briefcase from beneath the table and reached into it.
“It’s time to receive your Wish Ticket.”
And something radiant came out.
A small glass vial.
“…!!”
The waiting area of the Fox Counseling Office. In this comfortable place, an enchanting, otherworldly glow, like an aurora, began to shimmer.
It was hard to believe that such overwhelming mystery could come from a single small bottle.
The Wish Ticket.
“It’s yours, Soleum-nim.”
“……”
Tak.
“Go ahead.”
I reached out my hand.
Just as my arm was about to touch the Wish Ticket set on the table…
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Director Ho smiled.
“It’s not just one bottle, is it?”
“…!!”
Tak. Tak.
Still smiling, Director Ho took two more dazzling glass vials, shimmering with pearly light, out of the briefcase and placed them on the table.
Three vials of Wish Ticket potions in total.
‘Holy shit.’
On the table, waves of light reminiscent of pearls of the orient glowed, rippling like the Milky Way Galaxy.
“…These are.”
“Yes. These are Wish Tickets for the other two employees who worked with you. You said it yourself, didn’t you? That the other two also contributed sufficiently to this assignment.”
That’s right.
But… He’s just handing them over like this?
And Director Ho wasn’t finished.
“But since you came as the representative of the team to deliver the report, it’s only right for you to receive them as the representative!”
“……!”
Wait a second.
“You mean I’m to receive all three bottles…and then give one each to the other two people?”
“Well, who knows.”
…!
“You reported on behalf of the team, didn’t you? Then isn’t distribution up to the representative?”
“……”
“I don’t mind either way.”
A dark flame flickered in Director Ho’s eyes.
But in the next instant, as if nothing had happened, his face returned to a gentle smile.
“I truly hope this Wish Ticket fulfills the wish hidden deep in your heart, Soleum-nim.”
I spoke.
“Aren’t you going to use one, Director?”
“……”
Director Ho looked at me for a moment.
“That’s an item only regular employees can use.”
“……”
“Unfortunately, executives are considered contract workers. That’s the rule.”
Director Ho’s hand reached out as if he wanted to touch the Wish Tickets on the table… but soon withdrew.
“So.”
“……”
“Will you take them now? Or later? Either is fine with me.”
Whether to accept all three bottles, or to leave them all for now.
In truth, I only had one choice I could make.
“Yes. I’ll take them.”
I nodded.
And then…
“Excellent!”
With a bright smile, Director Ho took a box out of the briefcase and began packing the Wish Ticket bottles one by one, tying them with a ribbon and placing them into a bag, as efficiently and neatly as a salesperson.
“Instructions for use are included in the box! I’ll put one bottle in each compartment.”
Director Ho tidied up the box with swift, practiced motions, closed it with a ribbon, slipped it into a bag, and slid it across the table to me.
“Here you are.”
“…Thank you.”
I picked up the bag.
For a moment, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘…I did it.’
It was finally starting to feel real, that I had finally gotten my hands on it.
It’s here, in this black paper bag.
I got my Wish Ticket.
“Get home safely, Soleum-nim. I’ll be in touch.”
My mind felt blank.
I rose from my seat.
After politely bowing to Director Ho, who was waving, I left the waiting area of the Fox Counseling Office.
Creak.
I thought I heard the sound of the door to the Fox Counseling Office opening and closing behind me…
As if someone had entered.
And when I glanced back from the entrance, there was no one left at the waiting area table.
All that remained were the three bottles of Wish Tickets in my hand.
“……”
– Oh, congratulations, Friend ! Now, do you just make a wish and blow out a candle?
It would be nice if it were that simple, but the problem is…
‘I have two extra bottles in my hands.’
A little while later, at a nearby cafe.
‘How am I going to hand these over?’
I sat down, clutching the bag, my mind racing frantically.
It felt like walking around with checks worth millions stuffed carelessly in my bag.
Every time I was conscious of the Wish Tickets inside, I was seized by the impulse to take them out and drink one immediately, but first I had to finish what needed to be done.
First…
‘I need to contact Go Yeongeun-ssi.’
All I needed was to come up with some indirect way to deliver the item.
Then, that colleague could fulfill her wish and resign safely. She wouldn’t have to enter any more ghost stories.
And…
‘I can save Jang Heowoon-ssi too.’
If someone just wished for Jang Heowoon to be saved using a Wish Ticket, that would be enough.
Everything was perfect.
Once that’s done, once I’ve finished distributing them…
‘I’m going home.’
My heart pounded with anxiety and anticipation.
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