[Then again… Good morning. Special Department Registration Number 130666. Are you ready to go to work?]
[Oh, the assistants are late in preparing~ Security Team 3 Sergeant, have you forgotten how to go out because you’ve only been working as a janitor or security guard? You’ve become a front paw, not a hand, hahaha!]
[….]
[… Hey, are you listening?]
[Anyway, it looks like the assistants are finally ready to transport the special department staff. I’ll introduce you to today’s work place.]
[I think that guy Osori knows, but he says that the security team has also been contacted about this matter.]
[A questionable request came from our sales team.]
[As you know, our company is a pharmaceutical company that makes some special medicines. So, accordingly, we have some ‘special customers’… Well, you could say they are useful people at the top of society.]
[For those people, sales representatives from Daydream Co., Ltd. will visit you in person to make sales. If the amount is large, there are also regular deliveries.]
[By the way, the sales team delivery people who went to deliver this potion regularly. They just sent a formal rescue request to Daydream Co., Ltd…. They said they were experiencing a strange phenomenon.]
[But isn’t this really fun, no, doesn’t it smell like a nice darkness?]
[Because this sales guy wasn’t asking me to get him out of there, he was just asking me to give him the answer!]
[He says he’s being chased by something and locked in a room, but he doesn’t know the answer. He’s talking nonsense about who to trust and where to choose.]
[And before, whenever regular deliveries came to this house, he would sometimes say things like he got a strange feeling or it was creepy. That’s right …]
[On rainy days, like today.]
* * *
It’s raining hard outside the window.
Kwakwang.
Thunder passes by like tinnitus.
In a state of nervous tension, the two suit-clad office workers entered this house on the outskirts of Seoul and were led to a sofa.
“Please wait a moment.”
“thank you.”
‘Phew.’
Jinyoung Lee, a sales representative of Daydream Co., Ltd. and a sales team member known as the ‘delivery worker,’ sighed and adjusted his tie.
The middle-aged woman who lets them into the house and goes upstairs to ‘announce my visit’ is already visible only from the back.
Probably not the customer’s family.
‘This must be the person who does the housework in this house.’
It’s unlikely that people who are so smart as to develop and supply very special custom medicines for their company would do their own cleaning and dishwashing.
‘Still, it’s amazing that you can buy the medicine yourself.’ I glanced at the box my boss was holding.
They came to this place to introduce and sell a ‘special’ potion.
It was only after I joined the company that I learned that this Daydream company develops and sells not only hair loss medications but also more specialized medications.
And that the raw material is something… …unpopular and special.
‘What kind of ingredient is it extracted from the human body? It can’t be something like that.’
It smelled a bit illegal and was uncomfortable, but what group in modern society doesn’t take the risky path of illegal means? They just work without getting deeply involved and get paid.
1 It’s a little bit uncomfortable though. ‘All sales jobs are like that…’
And this was the first time I had come to this house for a regular delivery. The boss brought him in to replace the person who was on vacation. “Agent, are you okay?”
“Hmm. Not good.”
A pale office worker with a poor digestive system answers gloomily. ‘I said I wasn’t a difficult customer.’
…is it because of the rain?
The manager recalled the conversation they had before coming here. About today’s regular delivery customers.
-Well, they are the kind of customers who would make sales if you put in a little effort… But on a rainy day, that house just doesn’t feel right.
-You don’t feel well?
-Uh. That… That feeling that you get when you go to a place like a tunnel where an accident has happened, don’t you know?
-hmm….
-I told you to bring an amulet just in case.
To that extent?
‘Isn’t it just that I’m not in good condition?’
It’s always a bit uncomfortable when the weather is cloudy, humid and gloomy.
‘The house is so nice.’
The manager shrugged his shoulders and looked around the expensive townhouse in Seoul.
Classy and clean.
It was like a rich house where someone else cleaned the house. The manager felt a slight sense of deprivation as he looked at the floor without a speck of dust.
Then suddenly, I saw it.
‘…uh?’
There’s something shabby under the sofa.
I absentmindedly reached out and picked it up… .
Thin and smooth texture.
‘… sketchbook paper?’
It’s something a child would write on. I flipped the paper over without thinking… .
hungry
A crooked handwriting appeared, looking like it was written by a child.
Surrounding the letters are several crude human figures made of circles and sticks drawn with crayons of various colors.
Did you draw another family?
“Hey, you’re coming.”
“ah.”
The manager put the paper next to the sofa and greeted the customers who appeared from upstairs.
“hello!”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
They were a surprisingly soft-spoken couple.
“Has the delivery arrived?”
“you’re right!”
The boss changed his expression and served the customer skillfully.
“It’s a C grade you always get.”
A sealed box passes from his hand. The couple opens the box, looks at the bottle of light green liquid inside, and nods in satisfaction.
‘What on earth is that?’
The salesperson, who didn’t know much about daydreaming potions, just glanced at them. Will it make me younger?
Anyway, the price for that special potion isn’t paid on the spot, and rumor has it that it’s not even worth paying for.
‘They said they would help with the company’s work…’
The salesperson guessed that there might be something illegal or involved in the bidding process.
Of course, my mouth didn’t open wide.
Anyway, from then on, things went back to being a regular delivery.
Before leaving, try to please them and lighten the mood, so that the transaction can continue.
And the salesperson, as usual, only recalled the superficial small talk feeling.
“Oh, I see your child likes to draw.”
“…yes?”
“He left this behind.”
The salesperson reached out and felt the sofa, recalling the picture he had seen earlier. So it must be here… .
“It’s a cute crayon drawing that says ‘I’m hungry.’ That’s….”
…uh?
I blinked.
All I can feel is the feel of the leather on the sofa.
Even if I turn my head quickly, I can’t see anything that can be called a picture.
That’s strange, I definitely left it on the sofa… .
“What kind of paper?”
“ah.”
When he turned his head to explain, he saw a couple looking at him with a puzzled look. “Our eldest child is already independent. He’s in college.”
“That…is Rush.”
The reaction is, “There are no children at home, so what kind of out-of-the-blue thing is this?”
shit!
The couple, who had been looking at him with a suspicious look, soon got up and said, “I’ll go and get the medicine,” and as soon as they left, the boss glared at his subordinate with a dumbfounded expression.
“Are you crazy?”
“sorry.”
But it was unfair.
How did this happen?
“No, but it was definitely there. Did you see it, sir?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, it’s a drawing that looks like it was torn out of a sketchbook. Like a child’s doodle….”
Something like that.
“ah!”
The salesperson absentmindedly got up from his seat and walked over to what he had discovered.
I saw a piece of paper half-hidden under the carpet under the kitchen table.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“Do you see this? It was something like this.”
He turned the paper over. Perhaps this too had a child’s drawing or writing on the back… .
Hurt
hungry
Hurt
Go out and get ten
Crooked letters filled the paper.
And the rough family drawings that filled the area around the text.
The adults hold black sticks and nooses in their hands, and their faces are painted with strange, red and black features.
As if looking out of a piece of paper.
“….”
A chill runs up my spine.
It’s not normal.
This is usually something that abused children draw at a counseling center or something… … .
“Excuse me, sir. I need to check this out….”
“hey.”
My boss patted me on the back.
“What was the first proverb we were taught when we were educated?” “….”
“Do you remember?”
“…curiosity killed the cat.”
-Do not try to tell your customers about the performance of the product you are selling.
ignorance.
It was a training program that ran exactly the opposite direction of the expertise usually required of sales professionals.
So, as I emphasized at the beginning, it must have been something that was taught. “Yeah, that’s it. You still don’t know what medicine we’re delivering?”
“….”
“It’s best to not know as much as possible.”
The same goes for customers.
It’s better not to know.
“….”
Go out and get ten
The salesperson looked down at the picture and text for a moment, then sighed and nodded. “yes.”
The boss patted him on the back. The salesman bent down to fold the paper and place it on the pavement.
“Okay. Now go out carefully….”
get out
Stop.
“…!”
Suddenly all the lights in the house went out.
In the pitch-black darkness, the two salesmen grabbed each other in confusion.
It’s dark.
“Excuse me, is there a power outage?”
“Yes, I think so….”
It was strangely quiet.
Usually, when the house suddenly gets dark, don’t you tend to make noises or talk to yourself to check the situation?
But in the still darkness, only the sound of rain falling outside the window fills the silence.
Dudududududuk… … .
“…hey!”
No answer was heard.
The dark house, as if holding its breath, has only faint outlines visible… .
Desolation.
“….”
“…Let’s go out and take a look outside for now. Let’s check if the power is out in other places
too.”
The two headed toward the front door.
It was raining so hard that it was dark, but not so dark that I couldn’t see anything at all, so it was not difficult to walk to the front door.
But somewhere… it feels awkward.
‘…the smell of rain.’
It smells like damp earth.
It wasn’t the kind of smell you’d expect to find in a well-managed home. The manager took a deep breath and stepped forward, feeling a bit uneasy.
In front, the boss seemed to be reaching into his pocket and fiddling with something. Is that the talisman?
“This is locked… Wait a minute.”
And he seemed to be having trouble with the lock on the front door, as it was unfamiliar and dark. “Should I try?”
“Yeah. But….”
“Why are you still holding that paper?”
I turned my head.
You can see the paper in his left hand.
Water is dripping from the paper… .
‘ah.’
The smell of rain was coming from here….
Beep.
Woodduck.
“….”
sound.
The manager turned his stiff head forward again.
The boss who was holding the lock on the front door was looking this way.
no.
Only the neck turned.
thud.
The body, with its neck twisted in the opposite direction, fell to the ground like a toy. “….”
My body froze in shock.
corpse.
Fluid began to flow from every orifice in the dead boss’s face.
Tears, snot, and drool flow down the hallway.
Like rainwater.
“Hic, eeek, hic….”
Degurrurur… .
A small, round machine fell from the dead man’s hand and landed in the worker’s hand.
The employee thought as he reflexively grabbed it.
A ringing in my empty head.
What is this?
What is this… situation?
That moment.
“Oh my goodness, I’m sorry! I know you must have been surprised by the sudden power outage.” “Are you okay?”
The voices of a panicked couple were heard.
It was a slightly muffled sound, perhaps coming from upstairs, but the important thing was that it was a human voice.
“ah…!”
Hook, the feeling of reality came back.
A feeling of relief, fear, shock, and helplessness.
He could barely open his mouth, unable to take his eyes off his dead boss.
“No! No….”
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Because this house is a residence, there are occasional power outages like this… Oh my. This is surprising.”
The salesperson, barely able to catch his breath, sat up. Then he raised his hand to throw away the paper he was holding… .
liar
Changed wording on paper.
and….
Something that brushes the head.
“Where are you??”
1 … . “excuse me.” The mouth opens.
My voice is trembling.
“You definitely said that. ‘The older one is already independent.'” “Yes? That’s right. Why is that….”
however.
“…The expression ‘big kid’ is used when there is a ‘small kid’.”
2 … .
“Then where is the ‘little one’?”
Deathly silence.
“hey?”
“You’re late.”
“It’s late.”
The salesperson started running like crazy.
Opposite direction of the upper stairs.
“It’s late.”
“It’s late.”
I feel like the back of my neck is going numb with goosebumps.
The survival instinct screams.
Something is wrong.
Have to hide.
But where to?
He unfolded the paper again with trembling hands. Thud. Soaked dirt and dust fell to the floor.
But before you can freak out, the contents are revealed.
The letters changed again.
“….”
Bathroom Bathtub
‘restroom?’
When I look up, I see a door with a sign that says ‘Bathroom’.
The salesperson hesitated for a moment, then opened the door next to the bathroom, went in, and locked the door.
“Hic.”
The silhouette inside the dark pantry is eerily revealed, but for now, I catch my breath.
And then I held my breath.
…because I heard the sound of someone coming down from upstairs.
Thud, thud.
“You’re late.”
Getting closer.
It was getting closer and closer, the footsteps were getting louder and louder… .
“It’s late.”
Standing in front of the door.
The employee starts crying and holding his breath again, but eventually the sound of the doorknob being grabbed is heard… .
Click.
“….”
“….”
The next moment.
The staff realized.
The door wasn’t opened.
The door was locked from the outside too.
“You’re late.”
“It’s late….”
What is this?
What judgment am I making right now?
what?
“ah….”
“Please take a rest.”
“There is no way right now.”
What should I have believed?
The salesperson, shaking in confusion, tried to unfold the paper again, only to realize what he was holding in his other hand.
‘The boss’s talisman.’
I check it properly for the first time with trembling hands… .
‘…Beep?’
It was a pager.
A shabby little electronic device called a ‘pager’ that was all the rage a few decades ago.
Above it, ‘505’ was entered, as if the boss had already entered it.
that….
‘…SOS!’
A desperate brain comes up with an interpretation value.
‘Where does it lead?’
Maybe the term talisman doesn’t actually refer to a real amulet, but rather… something that can be used to ask for help?
The salesperson reached out his hand frantically and pressed it, feeling as if he was grabbing a rope. He repeatedly pressed whatever buttons looked like send buttons.
“Please, please….”
and.
[Application in progress.]
“…!”
A businesslike voice comes out.
In the form of a small whisper that rings in your ear.
[Would you like to call the security team? This will incur additional charges.]
“yes yes!!”
I don’t know what it is, but I needed help. Help!! Please!
“Who, who should I trust, no, where should I go, please tell me. I don’t know the answer.”
[Application in progress.]
The staff rambles on, telling stories of what has happened so far: the suspicious house, the rainy day, the painting, the lies.
kid!
“The kid who drew this….”
“Do you have a child in need of childcare?”
“Ahhhhh!”
The salesman fell backwards.
The pager with the strange voice falls to the floor.
And from the black shadow that had formed in the fallen place, a similar black figure began to rise.
[Reception completed]
[Security Team Assignment]
Employees wearing the security team uniforms of Daydream Co., Ltd.