Frozen air.
The only entrance to this confined space where the ghost story was quarantined: a voice outside the iron door.
Teacher?
......
Teacher?
I brought some teaching material I prepared!
“M—”
I clamped my hand over Baek Saheon’s mouth. He reflexively struggled, then froze stiff.
Because both I and the Guard Captain were staring motionless at the iron door.
“......”
“......”
The sound stopped.
The voice of the nursery teacher from the ■■ annex kindergarten vanished °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° like a lie, no longer heard from beyond the door.
But already I could guess who it really was.
‘...Deputy Park Minseong.’
The man who had been stationed at the annex front desk was now here, standing just outside the B2 quarantine door.
Completely contaminated.
‘.......’
A chilling premonition prickled along my nerves, crawling over scattered flesh I couldn’t even locate, hidden under the uniform.
‘What the hell did Director Cheong do?’
I cautiously stepped toward the iron quarantine door—
Beep.
“...!”
The lock disengaged.
The door was being opened with Security Team authorization. Beside me, the Guard Captain tugged his cap down and moved forward. Creak—the iron door opened. And through the gap—
A hand thrust inside.
Teacher, look at this!
Wearing a hand puppet.
Today’s storytime! It’s...
With the teacher’s finger movements, the puppet waved its arms and bobbed its head cutely. Brown braided hair in pigtails, flushed cheeks...
Red Riding Hood.
A child in a red hood.
Once upon a time, there lived a cheerful, plucky little girl. She always wore a red cape her grandmother had made for her.
Beside me.
I heard a strange sound.
One day, the girl was carrying cake and butter to her grandmother’s house...
when she met a huge, hungry wolf.
I tried to step forward, to stop the storytelling at the door.
But strangely, my body wouldn’t move.
As if following someone’s command.
Frozen.
The hungry wolf spoke to Red Riding Hood.
“Little girl, where are you going?”
Another arm appeared through the door gap, shirtsleeves neatly rolled. A deformed cartoonish wolf puppet spoke with Red Riding Hood.
The wolf learned she was going to her grandmother’s house, and so he ran ahead, got there first, and...
ate the grandmother!
A black shape wavered.
He swallowed her whole, with such relish! Don’t you think our ■■ annex kindergarteners should eat just as well, without being picky? And the wolf’s appetite didn’t end there—he prepared another tasty meal, just as planned.
Red Riding Hood herself.
The sound of lips smacking.
I could hear it.
The wolf, dressed as the grandmother, lay in bed to await Red Riding Hood!
She tilted her head curiously and asked:
“Grandmother, why are your arms and legs so big?”
The wolf answered:
“To give you a big hug, my dear.”
“Grandmother, why are your ears so big?”
“To hear you better.”
“Grandmother, why are your eyes so big?”
“To see you more clearly.”
And then she asked again:
“Grandmother, why are your teeth so big?”
“Because...”
“To eat you up.”
Black mass engulfed the space.
The sound of stone altars shattering, of branches being crunched down a gullet, everything devoured by enormous teeth.
The Guard Captain was already gone.
“■■ child.”
The black silhouette swelled, eyes and fanged maws bulging across its body, claws raking the floor, rolling eyeballs searching prey. It snatched up the puppet whole through the door gap, swallowed hand and all. Aa■■■■gh■■■flesh■■■tearing■■■■—The perfect teacher does not scream. Chaos, dust, pain, space devoured by sticky tar-like fluids, nauseating gulps, countless eyeballs rolling.
A monstrous quadruped, grotesquely stitched together, burst from the cramped quarantine room.
Like drenched in tar, its huge wolf-body oozed blackened, sticky ichor.
Its maw gaped.
From both sides of its head—
“■Delicious■ ■■■■.”
“Run■Quick■■.”
Censored ruptures echoed through the room.
Its eyes rolled.
Its giant forepaw bent its claws to snatch at the blindfolded man scrambling desperately into a corner. Its melting head jammed its snout into the iron door gap, trying to force itself out into the corridor....
The instant I witnessed it—
My body moved.
‘...!’
I rushed to the door like a burst of smoke, slamming black mist against the monster’s gaping maw. One wasn’t enough—the jaws were doubled.
At the same time, I lashed another stream of smoke to blind the vision of the countless eyes set in its claws. They bulged against the haze, fanged mouths drooling from within, the peril overwhelming—if I slipped, annihilation. Somehow I had to hold it back until the Guard Captain came to his senses....
Gulp.
......?
Crunch, crunch,
Chewing, swallowing, slurping scraps down its throat....
I heard it from inside the smoke.
One of the wolf’s mouths
was eating my black smoke.
!!
I forced it shut again. That filthy, decrepit beast was feeding on me! This worthless trash dared to consume ■■, but the sheer force, the violent appetite—
Shut up!
What? That flicker of resentment—what did I just say? I had to regain focus. Again, again—no! To stop the Guard Captain somehow....
Ah.
Erase it by reading the Wiki.
Yes, in the end, that was the only way.
If this grotesque beast devoured me, it would break through, consume Deputy Park Minseong and Baek Saheon whole. I wouldn’t last. Before that, to quell it, even at the cost of backlash, I’d have to read—
......
......!!!
I realized.
Director Cheong must have planned this too.
That I’d be forced to use my ability!
Why else had my body frozen as if “on someone’s command,” only to suddenly move once I was cornered?
So I’d be rushed, desperate, driven into rashly using the Wiki power...!
Then I’d revert to state 130666.
Lose Kim Soleum’s sensibilities and human judgment, reduced to making only empty, contractual decisions as a Special Department employee.
And then, inevitably, I would....
—Director Cheong has noticed.
By the very one orchestrating this outside, I would lose myself again, returned as a convenient game piece.
What better way to make 130666 walk out of Director Ho’s project on his own feet?
‘No.’
That helpless fate had to be avoided. But if Deputy Park Minseong or Baek Saheon were killed here? If not them, then the Security Team on this floor would surely deploy, the incident spiraling beyond repair.
Cornered in checkmate.
‘Damn it.’
And yet... one last unresolved doubt.
How does Director Cheong even know my condition?
That using my power against a ghost story strips me of my identity—how?
I couldn’t know. And time was running out.
Horror and urgency tangled as thought flickered in a heartbeat.
But there was no other way....
“Mm!”
Baek Saheon, scrambling hastily away from the smoke and beast, dropped a Nostalgia Candy.
I grabbed it.
—While the candy melts in your mouth, it locks the user’s body and mind into the healthiest state of the past ten years.
The sphere was oddly larger than before.
“Wait! Don’t use it! It won’t work! That thing’s not even human!”
I knew.
I remembered when the Nostalgia Kitty around my neck had snapped instantly in my 130666 state.
But...
It didn’t matter.
I only needed time. Enough to use another method.
A single opening!
I hurled the Nostalgia Candy into the beast’s jaws.
Chomp.
...Gulp.
Though normally the candy would last a while, rolling in one’s mouth, on its tongue it melted like salt on a slug. But—
In that instant, a flicker of human form appeared.
‘...!’
Then vanished.
I pulled another Nostalgia Candy, flung it between those massive teeth.
And this time, as the human shape flickered again—
Clink.
I drove one of my spare Jade Bells into its flesh.
The artifact of the Disaster Response Agency, restoring rationality, rang clear and pure.
“■■! End■■■!”
If the contamination had warped its very essence, like mine—
‘Then use the same method as me...!’
Force it back to reason.
The monstrous quadruped, with its two maws, countless eyes, black tar-dripping fangs, writhed—and froze as if electrocuted.
I shoved another bell into its torso, kept shaking them, making sure the sound reached. Another bell, and another—
“Stop.”
A clawed human arm grabbed my hand.
“Any... more, backfire....”
And the wolf-form melted.
The muzzle prying the door apart dissolved into sticky black fluid, the burnt-stitched beast collapsing—
The Guard Captain emerged.
“......”
Eyes still rolling hungrily in his temples, claws gouging deep into the iron door, violent traces remained.
But at the same time, he drew something from his coat and stabbed it into his own abdomen.
Like a sedative.
But not liquid—
‘...Stone?’
Gradually his body slackened.
That familiar listless, drained air returned, his features settling back into their usual impression....
But I recalled.
What I’d glimpsed when the Nostalgia Candy had worked.
It wasn’t the same as the Guard Captain’s current face....
A man in a suit, wearing a wolf mask.
I thought I’d seen him.
“......”
In the shattered quarantine room, at the ruined altar, the Guard Captain froze in place, eyes open, sinking into stillness.
...Subjugation, successful.
Thud.
“Haaah.”
Beside me, Baek Saheon gasped for breath. From the doorway, Deputy Park Minseong’s corrupted voice recited lesson texts endlessly, his severed arms pouring blood.
Barely, I rose and moved toward him—
“What a filthy sight.”
The ruined iron door swung fully open.
Beside a Sapling Class ■■■ crouching to wipe blood, someone stepped in.
With the sound of shoes striking stone, a voice resounded—
“What is this commotion?”
Director Cheong Dallae.
Eyes ageless, sweeping the scene, landing on me.
“Are you aware that such unauthorized intrusions are disciplinary offenses? To damage even a front desk employee?”
......
“This won’t escape sanction. Regrettably, you’ll also be removed from that absurd project team. You, in particular.”
Ruined.
A surge of dread shot up my spine. I tried to back away, but my feet wouldn’t move. Director Cheong’s hand reached for my head—
Knock, knock.
“...!”
From across the hall, another quarantine room door.
Polite knocking sounded, and then, impossibly, it opened.
The Fox Counseling Room.
Backlit by streaming sunlight, Ho Yuwon stepped out.
“Well now. Speak of the tiger and he appears. Have you mistaken yourself for someone important, parading around like this?”
“Director Cheong Dallae.”
Director Ho approached.
“What is the meaning of this? Truly baffling.”
He came to my side, resting a hand on my shoulder.
“Employee 130666 was here on patrol at my request. An unfortunate accident occurred, and he stepped in to subdue it. Who could have caused such an incident? Evidently, a front desk staff member appeared suddenly in an extreme contaminated state.”
“......”
“And come to think of it, I’ve heard you prefer using the Security Team’s contamination for your methods, Director Cheong.”
“While you, on the other hand, reassign Special Department staff into your project team as you please.”
“Completely different matters!”
Director Ho’s voice turned soft, almost regretful.
“As an executive, I am entitled to second Baekilmong Corporation staff into projects. Unless, of course, you were attempting to use a contracted employee like a personal servant—then this might be an uncomfortable accusation.”
“Personal servant.”
Director Cheong’s laugh was audible.
“Not words you should be saying to me, Director Ho.”
“......”
“These days....”
His gaze drifted to the quarantine room door Director Ho had just exited.
“I’ve heard reports that the Fox Counseling Room is often vacant. Strange, isn’t it?”
Director Ho’s expression didn’t change.
“Ah, of course you’ve nothing to do with the Fox Counseling Room. Still, there are murmurs that your recent activities are difficult to comprehend....”
“......”
“I look forward to your results this year. I wonder how long you’ll continue holding the same Development Division title.”
His gaze returned to me.
“And how long you’ll keep this employee.”
If I’d had saliva, I would’ve swallowed it.
“Even a raised beast doesn’t bite its master. I never imagined an employee who only survived by signing my contract would do this....”
“......”
“Well, I’ll help clean up. For the company’s sake.”
Director Cheong reached out—
And seized Deputy Park Minseong’s head.
The Sapling Class teacher, still babbling lesson texts in frenzy.
“Now then, shall we call Security to transfer him to their training wing?”
Wait.
“In his state of contamination, he’ll be unfit for duty for some time, needing re-education. Naturally, the service is offered at employee rates—but given the depth here....”
He glanced at the severed arms I had tried to staunch.
“I imagine his debt will pile up quite severely.”
“......”
“And I think I ought to set especially generous conditions this time.”
From his tone, I knew.
Director Cheong was fully aware.
That Deputy Park Minseong had aided me, aided Director Ho.
That I cared.
“For this ‘unfortunate’ annex front desk worker, I suppose I’ll need to prepare a new labor contract....”
“Just like the one you signed.”