When I opened my eyes again, I was in reality.
“Roe Deer.”
My body was no longer even the shape of a human student in a uniform—no, not even a human shape at all—just a silhouette defined only by the Security Division uniform.
...But my mind was still inside Segwang Industrial High School.
Between the students napping, in that corridor where the sunlight came in.
Submerged in an indescribably aching afterglow.
But I couldn’t stay in that feeling for long.
“What did you see?”
Right beside my bed—without my knowing when he arrived—those dangerously bright eyes were staring into me.
Ho Yuwon.
In order to sleep using the sleepless body of 130666, I had received the restriction of being “knocked unconscious” by Ho Yuwon in the fox counseling room.
“You didn’t go to Segwang Industrial High School, Roe Deer?”
[My goodness, this person must have been waiting all night for whatever news Roe Deer would bring back. Like a viewer waiting for the rerun of their favorite show!]
The voice of Director Ho, pretending to be polite as always, reached me.
“I am truly curious what you were planning to accomplish by going in like that....”
......
I provided the plain truth.
To protect the students from a supernatural disaster.
Ho Yuwon stopped.
Result: Success.
Conclusion of In the Black Shadow.
Contributors: Supernatural Disaster Response Agency operatives.
“.......”
“And that included Podo among the operatives, for the record. Ugh.”
On the bed next to mine, Agent Choi sat up.
With a bitter smile, he slipped the high school photo he had kept under his pillow into his pocket and looked over at us.
His hostility toward the other party no longer flaring.
“Ho Yuwon. I’ve got a question for you.”
“.......”
“Do you resent the Agency because of Se-gwang Special City? Because the Agency closed it instead of rescuing the people.”
Agent Cheongdong, who had also been sitting up, froze.
“The fact you’re searching for something in Se-gwang Special City—doesn’t that mean you lived there before the lockdown, and left something behind....”
“.......”
“That thought crossed my mind. How about it.”
...Truthfully, I had reached a similar inference.
There had been a hint, so mine was more certain.
Counselor (suspected identity: Ho Yuwon) — activity record at the time:
—Requested rescue of a student from the Supernatural Disaster Response Agency.
“...!”
If the counselor truly was him—
Then Ho Yuwon had already known about the Agency, and had established a considerable relationship of trust with them.
Ordinary citizens don’t even know the Agency exists.
Though Ho Yuwon isn’t really an “ordinary citizen” in the ghost-story sense.
Which makes it even clearer that he had built goodwill beforehand.
If the relationship was close enough to request rescue—
Question: Ho Yuwon’s past identity.
Could it be—
Inference:
A cooperating spirit-being of the Supernatural Disaster Response Agency.
“...!!”
The operatives’ eyes immediately turned to Ho Yuwon. And then—
“.......”
“.......”
“Oh. That might be so.”
Ho Yuwon smiled.
“But all of that has already been erased. When Se-gwang Special City was sealed, everything inside it became meaningless.”
“.......”
“Nothing from there has meaning in reality now.”
No.
Denial.
“Yes?”
The true identity of the ghost story In the Black Shadow:
A rescue request from operatives who entered Se-gwang Special City to extract trapped students.
“......!”
Meaning Ho Yuwon’s rescue request had, in fact, been answered.
And the operatives’ own rescue request had been answered as well.
Conclusion:
The rescue request was successfully transmitted.
The students were kept safe until rescue.
Now, even if they remain inside Se-gwang Special City, they are free from corruption or death, peacefully napping.
Because the Agency operatives protected them.
And once the rescue is executed—
“But that rescue will never happen.”
......
“Because the Agency has already decided so. Isn’t that right?”
Clap.
Ho Yuwon smiled widely, clapping his hands. The expression was stretched too far, almost splitting.
A chill ran up my spine, and I reflexively pushed myself upright in bed—
“We’ll do it.”
“...What?”
“We’re going to rescue them.”
“.......”
Agent Choi said it as if tossing the words down, and began stretching.
“We know now—we don’t have a choice. We do it. Right, Cheongdong?”
“.......”
“We can’t just leave those kids there.”
Agent Cheongdong only sighed.
Which was tacit consent.
“.......”
I remembered that when I had once asked Ho Yuwon whether it was irrational to assign blame to individuals within a collective, he had answered that emotions themselves are irrational.
So—regarding this outcome, which could stir emotion—what would he say?
Exploration result:
Many operatives died or went missing to prevent the tragedy in Segwang Industrial High School.
“Is that so.”
Affirmation.
“Then because of the lockdown, those operatives are treated as if they never existed.”
......
“Do you have a better method?”
“What?”
“A method to stop the extinction-level supernatural disaster in Se-gwang Special City. ...If there was any other way to prevent the estimated tens of thousands of deaths in a single day triggered by that ghost story.”
“Agent Cheongdong!”
I was startled—but then I understood.
“...If there had been such a method, they wouldn’t have resorted to something as extreme as ‘unrecognizability.’”
He wasn’t picking a fight—he was stating something he had genuinely agonized over.
“The Agency is not a perfect organization. The best decision to minimize casualties cannot be flawless for everyone.”
But Ho Yuwon didn’t even blink.
“Oh? So there was no other option. It couldn’t be helped....”
“.......”
“And the Agency made a correct, rational decision. Is that what you want to say...?”
“......I mean that at least their decision was driven not by personal gain but to save more civilians.”
Agent Cheongdong’s eyes lowered.
“But you...”
“Yes?”
“Cheongdong.”
“No. I would very much like to hear what you were about to say.”
“.......”
“So? ‘What about Ho Yuwon’?”
Agent Cheongdong looked to me, clenched his teeth, and spoke.
“Are you not driving staff you wish to exploit into supernatural danger for your own sake? Luring them without even giving accurate information.”
His eyes shifted to Agent Choi.
“And you attempted to murder an operative completely unrelated to your grudge. ...I suspect this was not the first attempt.”
“.......”
“Do you believe your actions can be justified by calling them vengeance?”
“Justified? Why would they need to be?”
“...!”
“There is no such thing as a justified action. One simply accepts the responsibility of one’s choice, and bears it.”
Ho Yuwon smiled faintly.
“Likewise, regarding how the Supernatural Disaster Response Agency treated Se-gwang Special City. If they chose to save the many at the cost of a few, then they must accept the grudge of the few. Naturally.”
But the strange glimmer that had always lurked in his gaze whenever he looked at Agency operatives was mostly gone now.
He finished softly.
“I am grateful to you two. Because you promised me. That you would rescue the students in Se-gwang Special City.”
He turned to me, smiling.
“And the thing I’m searching for—please take care of that as well, Roe Deer.”
...Haa.
[How disappointing—I thought we’d spiral all the way into fistfights! It was entertaining, but it seems we stop here.]
[In that case, shall we move on to another interesting topic?]
An interesting topic?
[The small object you entrusted to that officer.]
Ah. That.
I had already thought of it.
While Ho Yuwon stepped away and Agent Cheongdong checked his belongings, I approached Agent Choi.
Request: Confirm the item.
“...Ah.”
Agent Choi’s conflicted expression turned into a dry laugh. He drew the item from inside his uniform...
“This one?”
Dream-Collecting Unit.
The Elite Team collector device that came from the “merchandise box” I had possessed.
It had been safe in Se-gwang Special City, but in the 130666 state, I didn’t know what judgment it would trigger, so I entrusted it to someone reliable.
And its state was—
“...!!”
A strange holographic shimmer coursed across it.
The golden brightness surpassed liquid radiance—almost comparable to a wish-token.
Ah.
The ending did not show score, but the result was unmistakable.
“How is it.”
Estimated grade: Dark (A) ~ Abyss (S)
Equivalent to highest tier.
“...!!”
It was the densest dream-residue I had ever seen since joining the Agency.
Unbelievable.
And the reason for such concentration... was likely the nature of Segwang Industrial High School itself.
The extinction-level disaster of Se-gwang Special City.
The “corrupted intruder” in the school... was probably part of what triggered the city’s disaster in the first place.
At minimum, the connection was undeniable.
“...Impressive.”
Agent Choi looked at me.
“You need it, right? Here.”
And he handed me the dream-residue willingly.
Even though it was obvious at a glance this wasn’t ordinary material.
State of 130666: Gratitude.
“What. Don’t thank me, Podo....”
Then he whispered darkly:
“Now, whatever you figure out or extract with that—we split it fifty-fifty. Got it? Shared fate. Yeah?”
Ah.
“Haha. Sounds like a joke? It’s not.”
Yes....
“And now we have something important left to do.”
He removed his hand from my back.
“...We have to meet the Team Leader. Podo.”
......
I glanced down at my silhouette-body within the Security Division uniform, but in the end, I nodded.
***
Blue Hope Hospital remained warm and quiet.
Team Leader Park Hongrim’s granddaughter was not present, but the traces of her frequent visits remained in the caregiver’s seat.
“Yeji must be at school. Here.”
We stood gently around the bed.
...As the breeze pushed through the window and the curtain fluttered—
[Podo.]
The warm presence sitting on the bed took my hand and guided me to sit.
“...Elder.”
I realized I was able to speak like a person again.
The strong power of the Will-o’-the-wisp had guided the sleepless me into her dream—not like Ho Yuwon had done, but in her own way.
And I now knew another name for this presence.
“Team Leader Honghwa.”
.......
[Cheongdong told you. You’re calling me by the name I used to cherish.]
Of course.
The operative who desperately tried to protect Segwang Industrial High School.
The shattered upper body holding the torn talisman was this Team Leader Park Hongrim—codename Honghwa.
And I had to ask.
“Team Leader. ...Do you remember what you did in Segwang Industrial High School?”
And—
[I remember.]
“......!!”
[But it is only because you spoke of it. I cannot remember on my own. Not even in a dream. That is what erasure from cognition means. A terrible kind of awareness.]
.......
[But if Podo tells me this, then it must mean our method succeeded. Did you find the children sleeping?]
“...Yes.”
[Thank goodness. Thank goodness!]
Hearing her joy, I understood.
She doesn’t know.
This Team Leader Park Hongrim did not remember everything.
She did not know what her upper body remaining in Se-gwang Special City had endured.
How the students, teachers, and operatives were corrupted, devoured, merged into monsters within a nightmare-layered school on the new moon cycle.
And I was relieved.
But also—my chest ached.
Because the Honghwa who lived through all of that, and the Azure Dragon Team who fought with her—no longer existed.
“.......”
I remembered how In the Black Shadow ended in Darkness Exploration Records.
Checked: Bad Ending No. 05 (End of the School).
This ending occurs only if you witness the Teacher carry out the horrifying sacrificial graduation to the end.
Phenomenon: Auditorium melts and consumes students. Glitching around the Teacher. Appearance of ■■ that must not appear.
And then—
Kickout phenomenon.
Every attempt to enter that supernatural disaster failed afterward.
For six months. Case closed.
...I had thought the game simply broke from too many errors. That the ghost story was nothing more than a collapsed game where the glitches pretended to be students.
A school consumed by a horror game.
But that was wrong.
...If it had concluded exactly as written in Darkness Exploration Records, it would have been a tragedy of pure annihilation.
Students and operatives all consumed by the supernatural phenomenon.
No truth ever uncovered.
The efforts and sacrifices of the operative before me completely erased.
That weight lay cold and heavy in my chest, though I tried not to show it.
But—
[Your hand has gone cold, Podo.]
[It seems the students cannot be rescued at this time.]
“.......”
[Yes. If the Agency removes the lockdown, they cannot bear what will follow. But... the world holds many stories, and its course cannot be known.]
Her hand stroked my head gently.
[You’ve worked very hard. You have tried so, so hard not to take the wrong road, and to return to the right one.]
“...How do you know that?”
[Because you are thinking and doubting on your own.]
[And also—]
[I heard that you wielded the Marked Sword.]
“......!”
[My goodness. You’re ready for a goblin trial now.]
Excuse me?
[Just joking. ...Now, when you wake, there will be someone who can help you.]
[Gather your strength.]
The next moment—
I regained consciousness.
Once more I was the uncanny being 130666 exhaling black smoke, standing in the hospital room.
Agent Choi and Agent Cheongdong, who had come with me, were waking from sleep near the window and bed.
And I realized the operatives in the room were not the only ones present.
“You all....”
“Honghwa-sis.”
Agent Haegeum was looking at us.
Judging from her hurried appearance, she had come with the same purpose—but her eyes narrowed sharply as she looked at us.
“You’re Podo, right?”
That—
“Enough. Your physical response already answered.”
Good grief.
“Sis. Komyeong and the others....”
“They aren’t waking. ...They’re sleeping. Peacefully.”
“.......”
I didn’t know what to feel.
Perhaps we should call it fortunate that they weren’t killed by the Teacher and erased.
“Looks like we’ll be notifying the list of agents going on leave. And those hospitalized will be returning to fill personnel gaps the moment they’re discharged.”
Agent Haegeum wore a practiced calm, but a faint heaviness lingered beneath it.
Then her sharp eyes returned to us.
“I saw all those credits-looking things. ...Where exactly are those kids sleeping?”
“.......”
“You three seem to know.”
About the Special City.
“We’re going to have a lot to talk about.”
A new set of operatives had entered the investigation.