“So this time you’ll be entering with this lineup?”
“Yes.”
I looked ahead.
The agents who came to the Fox Counseling Room after four straight days of rescue duty wore complicated expressions at the sight of the newly added members.
They had to be exhausted, surely, but perhaps because so much had blown up while they were away, their eyes still burned bright.
Director Cheong, the Security team, even new equipment brought in.
Agent Choi scratched the back of his head.
“If you set the schedule like this, we can’t accompany you. You know that, right?”
...I know.
The agents had spent all their leave at once this time and then, in the latter half, had to cover shifts for another Black Tortoise team call.
They had been compensated with additional leave days instead of hazard pay, but of course they couldn’t just use them again on such a short interval....
Even if they technically could, wouldn’t that look suspicious?
Considering these workaholic agents had opted for leave over cash in the first place, it might look suspicious enough already. This was the moment to tread carefully.
They would have to sit this one out.
And the two people entering in their stead were—
Long-Term Recovery Room
(No Visits)
Someone contaminated so deeply his face couldn’t even be seen.
“Hello....”
And another in Security uniform, with an ominous look about him—only made things worse.
Their feelings had to be complicated....
“...Ah, we’ve met, haven’t we? You’re the one who attacked me in that ‘underground lab.’”
“Mm..., yes....”
Agent Choi, who had once clashed with the Guard Captain and seen that overwhelming contamination firsthand, smiled thinly as he extended a hand and looked him over head to toe.
But the Guard Captain, in a worn-out, lifeless manner, only accepted the handshake perfunctorily.
Agent Cheongdong muttered.
“At least only one of the two should be included.”
“Mr. Public Servant,”
“If they’re in that state when we enter Se-gwang Special City... no one can be sure what will happen.”
He was right.
Up to now it had only been induction through past experience; no one could be certain.
For that reason, the Guard Captain had originally been left out.
“Hey... you just kill them, right....”
“...!”
He volunteered.
“The Security team knows best how to kill contaminated entities.... If we both go in, at least—if we have to go in—it’ll be better that way.”
Because they could restrain each other.
“I won’t eat anyone... I’ll just... kill them....”
“......”
The statement was chilling.
Agent Cheongdong forced himself to speak again.
“But Security doesn’t usually enter supernatural disaster zones themselves, and this particular ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) city is not an ordinary disaster. From experience—”
“I have it... experience....”
“...!”
“Mr. Public Servant. Most of our Security staff used to be Field Exploration.”
Making thrifty use of contaminated employees.
When Cheongdong understood what that meant, his face cooled instantly.
And his gaze shifted to me.
...Well. I could be seen as a similar case myself.
“Then the rule will be: the moment anything seems wrong, we pull out.”
In the end, Cheongdong voiced no further opposition.
Thus the Security team’s inclusion was confirmed.
And Baekilmong Corporation’s reputation sank to depths beneath depths in Cheongdong’s mind.
“Hm.”
Choi didn’t look surprised.
He only asked a few more questions to confirm.
“So. You were once the leader of an elite team, is that right?”
“Well... yes....”
J3, once captain of Elite Team B, answered, slumped as if dragged down by his own limbs.
Hearing that, another thought slipped into my mind.
If he enters Se-gwang Special City...
Might even the Guard Captain return to the state he was before contamination?
[Transformation. A motif beloved by all.]
I didn’t let myself cling to that hope. I pushed it aside, somewhere in the corner of my heart.
Next came the introduction of the new equipment I had requested.
“So this is... the collector?”
Confirmed
Agent Cheongdong picked up Baekilmong’s special product with a strange expression.
The Dreamstuff Extractor.
The very reason Baekilmong’s Field Exploration Teams risked their lives entering ghost stories.
Director Ho had obtained a handful of “officially unlabeled” extractors—dreamstuff collectors with erased registry numbers, designated as “long-missing persons”—under the pretext of “security measures for project confidentiality,” and then siphoned them off.
An official unlabelled Dreamstuff Extractor.
Such a thing would be unthinkable if he weren’t a Director of Development.
Getting even three is impressive.
Of course, Dreamstuff Extractors are nearly the only equipment this company counts with obsessive precision.
If they knew one was being checked out in an agent’s hands right now, they would try to devour us alive.
He must have met heavy resistance inside as well.
I had to pray it really would extract high-grade dreamstuff. If one were lost, the backlash would be unimaginable.
But if it worked—
The company won’t dare treat this project lightly, at least not this year.
And the odds were extremely high.
At Se-gwang Industrial High, dreamstuff had been extracted cleanly even from those who escaped by dying.
In short—unless it counted as truly dead in reality, the collectors functioned properly.
So here, in the middle of a Catastrophe-class disaster, within a subway ghost story still functioning—
High-grade would almost certainly appear.
And one more thing.
I drew out a fourth extractor, different in make from the others.
The Elite Team’s Dreamstuff Extractor.
One of the goods obtained from the “Dark Exploration Records Real Goods Box.”
I had retrieved it on this occasion.
– Manager, could I restore part of my belongings with this?
– Yes.
I had melted down the gold trinkets from the “Golden Jar of Canopus” to repay Manager Lee Jahaeon the debt I owed, but I had bought back that one item, yet unsold....
Whew.
If this Elite Team collector extracted dreamstuff as well—
I could siphon off its liquid.
As for where to use it... many ideas came to mind. For now—
Question
Target: Agent Choi
“Hm?”
I let smoke rise, visible only to Agent Choi.
Current status of the Dream Incubation Room
The space where potions had once been made.
The same place where Agent Choi had caught me as a spy.
“...Ah, that underground lab.”
Choi’s voice was smooth as ever as he asked,
“Why. Planning to use something from there?”
Confirmed
“Hm.”
And he gave no further answer.
But in that silence I read a certain nuance.
So they didn’t just hand it to Disaster Management Agency.
Once we extracted dreamstuff liquid on this exploration, I would contact him again.
I nodded lightly to Choi and moved on.
Finally, a headcount.
“Regrettably, Deputy Dolphin will be sitting this one out.”
Deputy Lee Seonghae was excluded.
If he woke up inside Casino Station, his Dealer contamination could cause disaster.
Besides, his long absence meant he had many matters to settle on returning to the company, and he hadn’t yet been officially reassigned to Director Ho’s project team—he still had aftercare to handle.
“These prosthetic legs will last me a few months at least, so don’t worry. I just wish I could personally help such kind explorers like you... too bad, huh.”
“Indeed. You’d be a great reassurance, Deputy Dolphin.”
It was true.
Everyone knew how valuable Deputy Lee was in unexplored darkness.
If he were to accompany us into Se-gwang again—
“Hss, maybe if we could somehow transfer your body from the Casino wholesale, the contamination would ease. Or else wreck the whole Casino.”
But for that—
It’d take someone like a legendary card shark to explore the Body Casino.
No such personnel existed right now. So we had to make do with conserving the Casino Coins we had.
I gathered the coins I had stashed in my tattoos, untouched when I left the Casino.
In the chaos, I hadn’t retrieved those wagered at Russian Roulette.
“How many do I have left?”
Casino Coins: 924
Not a small sum.
But.
“More precisely, 424 remain.”
More than half were already promised to someone else.
I looked at Baek Saheon, whose eyes shone at me with expectation.
But—
“The promised 500 coins....”
“I’ll be keeping watch for you over here!”
“...?!”
He was snagged by Deputy Lee Seonghae.
I ignored him.
“~!”
He’d be sitting this exploration out anyway....
If you entered the Casino, they’d treat you as part of my party and seize your body to cover the damages.
This expedition had too many new variables. Solo action from Baek Saheon could prove fatal.
Don’t worry. You’ll get your promised coins. ...On the next entry, when it’s your turn.
Directive: Remain here
“......”
To my surprise, Baek Saheon accepted that.
I thought he’d throw a tantrum demanding them immediately.
But the look he cast Deputy Lee Seonghae was one of shrewd calculation—like he meant to extract something from staying close to the elite team.
Hm.... Well, good luck with that.
So the lineup was set:
Manager Lee Jahaeon.
Deputy Eunhaje.
Kim Soleum (130666).
J3 (Guard Captain).
And—
Chief Park Minseong (contaminated).
“Another certified government-recognized cult-corporation team. Let’s go.”
With both hope and fear.
We hurled ourselves down the passage into a Catastrophe-class disaster.
I opened my eyes.
Colored bulbs strung above. In the distance, bodies writhing—those who had lost theirs.
A subway platform.
Midnight Station.
The place of the Body Casino in Se-gwang Special City.
“...!”
I sat up.
I’d worried we might respawn at the place of death.
But everyone awoke on the platform floor. Thank goodness.
And then.
“......”
The one who rose in sync with me turned to look at me.
It was—
“Roe Deer?”
“Chief.”
Chief Park Minseong, staring at me in disbelief.
His face, clammy with sweat like from a nightmare—
Was intact.
“Are you alright?”
It worked.
His eyes, freed from the contamination of “Teacher Sprout,” trembled with lucid awareness.
Looking down at his armless hands.
“W-where is this? How....”
“Badger!”
The others, now awake, rushed to check his state.
“Take this.”
“Ah, uh...!”
He drank a C-grade Regeneration Potion.
Soon enough, arms sprouted again from his shoulders.
“Whew!”
We undid the bindings we had tied him with to throw him down the well and breathed sighs of relief.
“It worked.”
“Yes.”
Thank goodness.
And in that moment, another new entrant to Se-gwang slowly awoke from where he’d been lying in a daze.
The Guard Captain.
J3 was—
“......”
Exactly as a Security officer.
Worn coat, guard cap.
[Ah, unfortunate. Some condition must not have been met!]
...I didn’t know.
But I was satisfied he didn’t seem to be in pain.
He was competent enough already.
And besides—
“Looks just like the old days of exploration, doesn’t it?”
“...Yeah.”
Except for the Guard Captain, the team was exactly the old Field Exploration Team D.
Now that Chief Park Minseong had been dramatically restored and his arms regenerated, the mood was high and that similarity wasn’t obvious—but it seemed best to take care that the Guard Captain didn’t feel excluded.
“Would you... like a hand?”
“Ah, um... thank you.”
I accepted his offer to support my legless body.
He might not care about feeling left out—but he surely cared about the fact that it was his contamination that had torn off Chief Park Minseong’s arms.
Even now, he seemed to avoid meeting Park Minseong’s eyes.
And Park Minseong, dazed and overjoyed, hadn’t noticed yet.
That vanished the moment he heard the explanation.
“...Catastrophe-class? By Disaster Agency standards....”
“Yes. Not exactly the same criteria, but compared to Baekilmong, it’s Abyss-tier darkness.”
“...!! I see.”
At the mention of the highest-level ghost story, his survival instincts as a veteran explorer instantly returned. He quickly understood what he had to do.
“So, I just need to buy Roe Deer’s legs from the Casino, right?”
“Yes. We need your help, Chief, since you’re unconnected to the property damage case.”
Chief Park Minseong slipped into the Casino with a few hundred coins I gave him and soon returned with my legs.
Trustworthy as expected of a ghost story veteran.
“Here...!”
“Thank you.”
Whew.
Thus I reclaimed my legs at Midnight Station.
Lucky they weren’t seized in the VIP Room but only pawned in the general shop for property damage.
If need be I’d have taken Nostalgia Candy, disguised myself, and gone to buy them.
Better to be thankful I’d saved the Candy.
“So... where to now?”
Most of the team couldn’t possibly enter the Body Casino yet.
In truth, there was only one plan.
“We take the train.”
And—
“I want to wait for the train Ms. Sa-nyang mentioned.”
–That train. G1572. If you just board that one....
...I had checked the fire hydrant where Ko Yeongeun had pushed me, but all traces were gone.
Not a corpse, not a drop of blood. Only a water bottle left inside.
She must have boarded.
No doubt.
I wanted to wait for that train and find her.
But—
“Mm. But trains... their assignments could change, couldn’t they....”
“...!”
“You don’t know how long you’d have to wait, right...?”
......
I nodded heavily.
And asked back.
“Do you have another suggestion?”
“...Me?”
“Yes.”
“Mm....”
The Guard Captain answered slowly.
“Since we’ve got exploration goals anyway... how about checking other stations, and waiting for the train at one of those....”
“You mean, the train would come to those as well?”
“Most likely... yes....”
A surprisingly fast and accurate judgment.
[Hoho!]
“Then let’s board.”
Manager Lee adopted the Guard Captain’s idea, and we boarded the next train to arrive at Midnight Station.
Heading for the next stop.
[The screen doors are closing.]
The train was completely empty, giving off an eerie air.
“......”
The screech of wheels on rails.
At last, after long silence, the announcement came—
[The next station is Hanbam, Hanbam Station.]
[Library of Knowledge, Citizens’ Rest Space, Sanctuary of ■■. Passengers bound for Hanbit Library, please alight at this stop.]
A library, huh.
“Sounds promising.”
“Sure does.”
At least better than a Snare Forest or a body-snatching Casino.
[Doors opening.]
But when the train stopped at the next station and the doors slid open—when we saw the platform of Hanbam Station—
We froze.
“......That.”
The platform was intact.
But the problem was the sheet of A4 paper taped to the pillar.
Graduation Ceremony of Se-gwang Industrial High
Exit 4 →
This was.
The station near Se-gwang Industrial High School.