The sound of a bell.
Tinkle.
A clear tone—proof of existence.
A sign of some sacred force that repels the profane.
Tinkle.
Next comes the sound of footsteps.
Brisk and unhesitating, a warning-paced stride that heads straight for its destination.
Lively, yet not frivolous.
The footsteps grow nearer and nearer to the officetel, pausing briefly at the open door where a shadow is cast.
And then...
“Let’s see. The civilian who got here first is... oh, no.”
An agent of the Disaster Management Bureau reveals himself.
A long scar crossing his throat.
A smile.
Hyeonmu Team 1.
Once my superior.
“A cult company, I see.”
Agent Choi.
His smiling mouth moves, but the eyes scanning the blood-soaked living room and the corpse that gouged out its own eyes are devoid of laughter.
“This wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”
“...!”
Tinkle.
Agent Choi gestures behind him. But we already know what’s there.
A massive guillotine.
An illusory glow of bluish light shimmers faintly from the blade.
Agent Choi moves his arm...
“Well, then—”
“We surrender!”
Kang Ihak raises both hands and slams to her knees dramatically.
“...?!”
[Oh my, seems your knees go on sale quickly!]
But Agent Choi doesn’t even blink.
“Yeah? Even better.”
“Wait! Wait a sec!”
Kang Ihak speaks faster than the guillotine swings.
“C’mon, Agent! You remember me, right? We met during that one Darkness—the expensive one with the conch shell!”
“Sure I remember.”
Agent Choi smiles thinly.
“You were the one from the cult company who tried to use injured kids as hostages to escape, weren’t you?”
“That wasn’t me! That was Assistant Manager Nabi acting on her own!”
The Security Team Captain watches the banter with a blank look, as if wondering what the hell this is.
“We were just scouting for viable Darkness, but saw there was no way we were getting involved and were just about to leave!”
“Ooh~ So you’re totally unrelated to all this?”
“That’s not the point. The point is—”
Kang Ihak quickly turns to the Security Captain and solemnly asks,
“Is Director Cheong still on the line?”
“She’s... already disconnected.”
“Okay.”
Kang Ihak flashes a wide smile and turns back to Agent Choi.
“We can sell you the info we gathered on this Darkness—at the lowest price!”
She makes a small tight circle with her thumb and forefinger for emphasis.
[Good grief.]
“C’mon now, lowest price? A decent public servant should pay full price for goods, don’t you think, Citizen?”
Agent Choi smiles as he pulls his hand out from behind his back.
One step forward.
“I’ll make sure your prison canteen meals are well-stocked.”
The guillotine flies.
THUD.
But a beastlike black forepaw blocks it.
“...!”
The Security Captain’s mutated left arm.
Yet even so, the blade digs deep into it, nearly slicing it clean off between the monstrous claws.
Ssssssshhh.
The point of contact hisses and burns.
Even just looking at that trembling limb is enough to imagine overwhelming pain, but the Security Captain doesn’t flinch.
He simply stares at Agent Choi over the edge of the blade.
“Look... we’re just gonna head back now, alright? We’re not gonna pull anything... we’ll cooperate... I swear...”
“Come on now. How do I extract cooperation if I let you leave—”
Agent Choi’s chuckling answer is cut off.
His expression changes.
He looks at the Security Captain again.
“...You.”
It’s as if the transformation helped him realize what the uniform had concealed—recognition dawning at last.
The night Director Ho placed the contract constraints on me.
Back in the dream incubation chamber, when I was exposed as a spy by Agent Choi—
He had met the Security Captain there.
“......”
A powerful surge of conflict and emotion briefly clouds Agent Choi’s face.
But the feeling is quickly repressed.
His tone shifts back to that dry, bureaucratic politeness.
“...Security Team, huh? This must be serious. I’ll need full testimony. ASAP.”
“This is all a misunderstanding. We were just hoping to make a little side profit—if you can just guarantee that part...”
“We’ll tell you everything.”
“...!”
Lee Seong-hae steps forward, raising her right hand.
“D-Deputy?!”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, sir.”
Lee Seong-hae doesn’t even glance at Kang Ihak as she smiles brightly.
“We should help good-hearted agents like you working to save citizens.”
“......”
“So could you please put the guillotine away? The Security Team staff member looks like he’s in a lot of pain!”
Agent Choi studies Lee Seong-hae’s face, then finally retracts the guillotine and smiles, habitually.
“Shall we, then?”
He quickly listens to Lee Seong-hae’s briefing.
She explains everything—what the ‘Man in the Screen’ did, how it’s certain to spiral out of control—without skipping a detail.
I worried she might even mention the USB in her hand, but after glancing back and forth between the transport case (containing me and the Security Captain), she omits it.
Likely thinking it might bring us harm.
“Okay.”
...And throughout it all, the guillotine blade remained pressed against the front of the transport case.
I held my breath.
To keep the smoke from leaking out.
So they’d have no clue.
Agent Choi listens to Lee Seong-hae’s testimony without relaxing for a second.
Only at the very end does he retract the guillotine.
“Whew. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Oh, not at all! Helping good people is the right thing to do!”
“Wow~ For real? That’s what I do every day, you know. Fulfillment through work—helping decent citizens. But...”
Agent Choi peers at the golden mark on Lee Seong-hae’s mask.
An elite agent of the Dolphin Team.
“Why’d you join Baekilmong?”
“......”
“You do know that plenty of good people have died because of that company’s work, right?”
Lee Seong-hae smiles brightly.
“Well, I try to stop any bad stuff I can see from happening!”
“Do you? Why not just quit?”
“......”
She doesn’t answer. And Agent Choi lets it drop there.
[Oh, looks like it’s almost time to leave.]
Indeed.
This was a simultaneous event affecting multiple editors. The agents were likely dispatched in tandem to cover different locations.
Having gathered what he needed here, Agent Choi will probably leave the cleanup to the Fabrication Team and head out to support another Hyeonmu unit...
I know this.
I used to do it too.
[...Friend, you seem to be in low spirits. Oh dear, are you alright?]
I’m fine.
Or rather—maybe I’m not. But it doesn’t matter.
This sluggish brain can’t come to any conclusions anyway.
I don’t even know what I’m feeling.
I simply watch, through the bars of the transport case, as a familiar silhouette steps out through the officetel’s front door—
“Hey, you.”
Just before closing the door, Agent Choi turns back and approaches, lowering his voice.
He speaks to the Security Captain.
“You know who I am, right?”
“......”
“And you know that employee who goes by the nickname ‘Noru,’ too.”
The Security Captain meets Agent Choi’s gaze.
“What happened to him? Don’t bother saying he was declared dead after going missing during the Train ghost story. That means nothing. I want to know what happened after.”
“......”
“Did he really... get a Wish Permit?”
The Security Captain answers slowly.
“He... got it.”
“......”
Agent Choi’s face goes blank.
“And?”
“......”
“And then what?”
The Security Captain gently taps my transport case, then begins to turn his head toward me—
CLANG.
The guillotine blade slams into the cage.
“Use of supernatural disaster is prohibited.”
A flash of familiar light bursts beyond the bars.
“Come on now, sir. Showing up to the scene with a suspicious mobile case like that—anyone would think it’s portable isolation for a supernatural threat.”
“......”
“Shall I split it open and see what it’s for?”
“It’s... not like that.”
“Then answer me.”
“......”
The Security Captain didn’t answer.
Because he hadn’t confirmed my intent.
And as the silence dragged on for a few seconds, Agent Choi—who should have already been moving to assist with civilian rescue amid an active supernatural disaster—showed signs of impatience... then gave up.
Gave up on getting an answer here and now.
“Right. Well... I guess you might not feel like talking. That’s your right.”
Instead, he chose another path.
“But, you know, maybe after a hot bowl of seolleongtang and some rest, you’ll feel like opening up.”
The moment Agent Choi reached into his coat with a grin, I realized it.
“Besides, this whole situation is suspicious. Really suspicious.”
“......!”
“A cult company just happening to show up chasing Darkness after hearing rumors... and the timing of the report? Way too convenient. Don’t you think?”
Uncannily accurate intuition.
“People involved in disaster scenes often recall more after some time and reflection. That’s how witness statements work.”
And from his coat came—
A mobile glass containment unit.
“We’ll provide a place for you to rest while you wait. Courtesy of the Bureau.”
The agent had decided to transport all Baekilmong Corporation personnel at once—just in case.
...No.
I need to finish the mission and return with the USB.
I dispersed my smoke.
Just as I was about to slip out of the transport cage—
“Hey.”
A cold voice echoed through the officetel.
Someone new had entered.
She grabbed Agent Choi’s arm.
“Cool your head.”
“...!”
A tall woman wearing the Sword of Divine Calamity at her side.
Team Leader Haegŭm of Hyeonmu Team 3.
The same agent I encountered at the Yukhoe Theme Park.
[Ah, indeed. The employee who assisted you in running the resort, yes!]
Exactly.
“When dealing with cult companies, if a Team Leader’s present, they’re the one who takes over. Rookie agents should go tend to the TV station.”
“......”
“Still so full of fire, trying to use shortcuts and loopholes.”
“Aw, come on, noona. I’m basically in the prime of youth!”
Agent Choi smiled, but his tone carried urgency.
“But I still have something I need to—”
“I said go. Agent.”
“......”
“The real chaos has already been contained. Now it’s time to go butter up the station director. That’s your job.”
Agent Choi stood rooted for a moment, then finally turned and walked away.
The sound of his footsteps faded as he ran off.
......
“Whew.”
Team Leader Haegŭm straightened up and looked over the two masked figures.
“Alright. If the on-site investigation team has nothing more to say, you can be on your way.”
“...!”
“Yes, thank you very much!”
“Wait. Can the Security Team staff leave too?”
“Ah, I’ve got business with them. Not sending them to jail or anything, so don’t worry.”
“Then we’ll just wait—”
“Yessir! Thank you!”
Kang Ihak bolted for the door, and after a moment of hesitation, Lee Seong-hae followed. The field investigation team exited the officetel.
Team Leader Haegŭm watched their retreating backs with a slightly bitter expression, then approached the Security Captain.
And then...
She looked down.
At me.
“Golden Mascot.”
...!!
“Or should I call you the resort owner?”
Team Leader Haegŭm smiled wryly.
“Why so surprised? You hired me as a resort employee, remember?”
Ah.
“Changes that drastically affect one’s existence tend to leave scars. For example... recognizing one’s former employer.”
But despite calling it a scar, the agent’s expression wasn’t harsh.
She even leaned toward the cage and said—
“And I should thank you.”
...Thank me?
“For sending the citizens caught up in the resort incident back home safely.”
......
“You hired the adults even without payment, and gave the kids vouchers for a night’s stay.”
[My word. Friend, are you running a business out of kindness and dirt alone?]
“If that had happened in a Red Zone, it would’ve registered as a supernatural disaster. But thanks to you, it’s been officially logged as a ‘phenomenon.’”
In a strange, confusing rush of emotion, I looked at Team Leader Haegŭm.
Yeah.
That was a choice I made back then.
And I was still the owner of that resort.
Even now.
Even after all that happened.
“So, that’s why...”
......
“No matter how I think about it, the resort owner just doesn’t seem like a good match for Baekilmong Corporation.”
Ah.
“Are you bound by contract?”
...!
“So they finally did it, huh? Baekilmong figured out how to bind a supernatural phenomenon.”
......
“Truly innocent beings are the easiest to fool with corrupt contracts. Because they don’t understand human malice.”
Denial.
“So it’s not quite that bad? Still... your energy has changed.”
Team Leader Haegŭm tapped the cage. The Security Captain moved to stop her, but she raised both hands slightly and continued—
“You seem tired.”
......
“Not like the vibrant presence I saw at the resort. It’s... muddled. Reminds me of that red mascot—the one called Magic Bunny.”
...I remembered.
That grotesque red mascot form, melted and deformed after being devoured by the mask.
And the blue mascot, who never wanted to reveal what lay beneath the mask.
“Do you want to run away? Before you lose anything more?”
......
Rejection.
“Hmm... I see.”
Team Leader Haegŭm’s brows knit slightly in what looked like regret. She pressed her fingers between them as if in thought.
“Then what is it you want most right now?”
......
To have a more human shape.
That should’ve been my answer.
That was my intermediate goal.
But instead... without meaning to, my smoke moved and spelled out—
To get myself back.
A vague, impractical sentiment.
I hadn’t lost myself—this had always been what I truly was. I’d simply realized the truth.
I should cancel it.
But then—
“...Hmm.”
Surprisingly, Team Leader Haegŭm began rummaging through her pockets.
“Team Leader Hong always said I was like a lantern... but someone like you, shrouded in dark mist, might be better suited for something I used to carry.”
She held something out to the front of the cage.
A small object.
Round, made of jade and silver...
“Even if you can’t see it, you should still be able to hear it.”
A bell.
“When you’ve lost yourself, when you can’t see even an inch ahead, when the world is clouded by confusion and doubt—”
“Follow the sound.”
Tinkle.
“And remember what kind of being you used to be.”
The clear tone of the bell echoed softly.
Team Leader Haegŭm gave it to me.
“It’ll help.”
......
From within my smoke, I formed a hand.
And took the bell.
***
At the same time.
Outside the officetel, in a back alley of Seoul.
“Hoo.”
Kang Ihak let out a sigh as she walked.
Didn’t make a single cent out of this one.
It was a real shame! No matter how she looked at it, this had been a situation where she should’ve at least picked up an item or two.
Before she knew it, she was glancing back at Lee Seong-hae, who was walking a bit behind her, and clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Didn’t place a bet, huh.
Disappointing. Next time, she’d definitely figure out how to use this supervisor to generate some extra income!
Of course, if she had to work with an elite team anyway, she’d rather be paired with a different superior.
Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol is way more generous with her spending!
Not that you got to pick in this company, though.
Still, I broke even.
Time to push forward again. Kang Ihak gave a slight inner shrug, then cheerfully spoke up to Lee Seong-hae.
“Deputy, do we get reimbursed for the cab fare back to HQ—”
Lee Seong-hae suddenly stopped walking.
......?
“I knew it.”
In that moment—
Kang Ihak saw someone emerging from the far end of the alley, and a sharp instinct stabbed her in the back of the neck.
That familiar feeling of:
I’m f**ked.
“You came this way.”
It was another agent.
One who had finished their own rescue assignment, wasn’t redirected to the broadcast station, and was now returning to the Bureau to report the intel.
The one Agent Choi had called as he ran off to the TV station.
Cheongdong.
“Notification: Individuals who have experienced supernatural disasters are subject to containment by the Disaster Management Bureau for the purposes of testimony and protection, ranging from a minimum of half a day to an indefinite period.”
Kang Ihak immediately turned to bolt. She’d already decided she’d use her item if she had to.
That’s when she saw it.
Lee Seong-hae, who had been standing behind her, urgently raised her hand.
...!
In that instant, Kang Ihak reflexively hesitated, thinking it looked like she was about to use some kind of equipment or ability.
.......
Ah.
The Lee Seong-hae standing behind her—
Raised that hand and waved at Kang Ihak with a smile.
A farewell gesture.
“I will proceed with the transfer.”
Just before the blackout,
Kang Ihak saw the massive glass curtain falling over her.