Chapter 610
Chapter 610
This was the TeSTAR dorm living room.
The atmosphere was lethargic, as they had just finished monitoring the pre-release of a variety show, as was their routine.
“It was a good idea to gather and watch this together, even though we’re busy, right?”
“Mhm…”
“Yes… yawn.”
“Our office worker variety show is pretty fun.”
The sleepy members were yawning or nodding off here and there.
After the music video release, their schedule had become incredibly tight. They had chosen to gather late at night to watch together rather than monitoring individually in their sparse free time.
“Let’s go to sleep now… We have to wake up at 3 AM again tomorrow.”
“God…….”
Naturally, the TeSTAR members rose from the living room sofa and moved in small groups of two or three toward their rooms.
There was no particular tension. Everyone likely felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety for the upcoming promotion period, but they seemed at ease when they were together.
It didn't seem like anything was weighing on their minds.
Ryu Cheong-woo checked on each of them as he headed to wash up.
By the time he stepped out of the bathroom with a towel in hand, the members had all disappeared into their beds.
Except for one.
Park Moon-dae was sitting in the dark kitchen, quietly drinking water.
“…….”
His face was serene.
“…Hyung?”
When he called out instinctively, Park Moon-dae—his cousin, Ryu Gun-woo—turned to look at him. Ryu Cheong-woo sat down across from him and spoke considerately.
“You should head in and sleep.”
Park Moon-dae remained silent for a moment before answering.
“I was just thinking about the filming while watching the office variety show pre-release.”
“Ah.”
He was likely recalling how the situation had taken a turn after the blood-stained calendar fell from the ceiling's outdoor unit.
‘Is he unable to sleep because of that?’
Feeling somewhat amused, Ryu Cheong-woo gave a small smirk.
“You mean when you tried to climb into the ceiling unit, Hyung?”
“…….”
Park Moon-dae averted his eyes from Ryu Cheong-woo’s gaze!
After the corporate variety show, which featured us in suits trading banter, suddenly turned into a horror show.
“…For now, there doesn’t seem to be a separate path. There are some bloodstains, though.”
“Moon-dae, your legs are shaking right now.”
It’s just your imagination.
I pulled my upper body out of the ceiling where I had thrust it to investigate.
‘What a waste of a suit.’
It was a total dustbin.
“Thank goodness. If Moon-dae-Moon-dae had seen a ghost, he would’ve fainted.”
I wouldn't have.
‘Don’t ruin the moment when I’m doing this just to clear my name as a coward.’
Anyway, I avoided the calendar and stepped down from the desk. The others, finally regaining their composure, began to discuss the situation.
The topic: What exactly is going on?
“Why did the date suddenly jump to July, and why are we at work on a Sunday of all days… Um, does anyone know?”
Naturally, there was no response.
“Seeing how Moon-dae got all dusty, it doesn’t look like there’s a secret passage or anything through that ceiling.”
“Right.”
Bae Se-jin nodded.
“I guess it’s not like that zombie variety show.”
“…A zombie variety show?”
“Ah!”
Realizing all of a sudden that this was supposed to be an office skit, the guys scrambled to cover for Bae Se-jin.
“An escape room! He must mean an escape room!”
“Mhm…!”
“Right. We went to an escape room after our company dinner. That!”
“Exactly. The Department Head led the way~ and our Intern Ryu really stepped up!”
Having reclaimed their roles, the guys successfully immersed themselves back into their identities as office workers.
At the same time, they became more cautious thanks to the eerie tension created by the blood-stained calendar.
“Let’s look for clues in here first.”
“Yeah. I think there might be a hint.”
Instead of rushing out immediately, we decided to search the office.
‘The viewers will probably find it more entertaining if we look just as scared because we’re so immersed.’
“Manager Moon, let’s do it together!”
“Sure, Section Chief.”
Following Cha Yu-jin’s suggestion, I began searching the office and confirmed one thing.
“A lot of things are locked.”
“Oh….”
Several cabinets and desk drawers were locked. If there was nothing to put inside, they could have just left them empty; the fact that they were locked without even a padlock was suspicious.
‘Will they let us unlock them later?’
It was then.
Bae Se-jin tapped his desk and shouted as if he’d realized something.
“Come to think of it, about that AI we’re developing.”
“……?”
An AI bit out of nowhere?
While the others were bewildered by the sudden skit attempt, Ryu Cheong-woo asked kindly.
“Department Head, did you think of an AI you want to develop?”
“No, look here…!”
Bae Se-jin hurriedly shook his head and rummaged under the desk. Then, he pulled out a document.
“Look at this!”
It was a navy-blue folder with the letters ‘KIS’ printed largely on the front.
[Artificial Intelligence Development]
“…?!”
It wasn't just a bit; it was an actual part of the setting.
“…Are we really developing an AI??”
“I told you we were!”
Once the brief misunderstanding was cleared, we flipped through the documents that seemed to be part of the company setting.
And on every single paper inside….
“It’s all blacked out.”
Every sentence was crossed out with a thick black marker. The only words we could make out were ‘KIS,’ ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ and ‘Delivery.’
I flipped through the pages and muttered instinctively.
“Usually, people do this to sensitive materials like personal information before putting them in a shredder.”
“Ah, is that so~?”
“Yes.”
It was then.
Flutter.
“Hm?”
A single sheet of paper tucked at the very end of the folder fell onto the desk.
Strangely, the paper had a slightly glossy texture, and at the top, a title was printed in about 26-point Myeongjo font.
[Summer Special Duty Guidelines – For Holidays]
“What’s this?”
Lee Se-jin began reading the contents while rubbing his chin.
“‘In welcome of this year’s summer, we greet the precious executives and employees of KIS who have volunteered for summer special duty…….’”
“…….”
“……Wait.”
That meant.
“What? We don’t have summer vacation?”
“Looks like it.”
It was just holiday overtime?
‘Working overtime on a Sunday during peak vacation season.’
What a hellish world-building. Are they trying to show the world what K-overtime looks like?
“Th-there’s more on the back…! I can, um, see through it.”
“Ah.”
At Seon A-hyun’s words, Ryu Cheong-woo flipped the paper over.
There, just as the title suggested, were the neatly printed duty regulations.
However, they were in a format that looked very familiar.
=====================
KIS Co., Ltd. notifies that it bears no liability for any situations arising from failure to follow the above guidelines.
We wish you a rewarding workday.
=====================
A chilling silence instantly fell over the office.
“…This is weird.”
Ryu Cheong-woo touched the paper with his finger.
“Why mention the B1 level when it says to stay only in the 7th-floor office space?”
“Only number 6 is written informally and creepily… No, wait, there’s also an item saying there is no number 6? What is this?”
“There are many strange phrases….”
The contents were certainly eerie.
Cha Yu-jin frowned at the text but shrugged his shoulders.
“Then let’s just go out for now! It’s better to see for ourselves.”
“Mhm.”
“Shall we? It seems like we’ve searched the whole office.”
After meticulously examining the 7th-floor blueprint found on Seon A-hyun’s desk, the members quickly reached an agreement.
“There’s an elevator and stairs at the opposite end.”
“OK.”
Cha Yu-jin stepped forward proactively.
He completely loosened his tie, hung it to the side, and approached the door.
“Are you ready?”
“Mhm.”
Then, the office door slid open slightly.
Rattle.
The sliding door, designed for space efficiency, moved smoothly.
Cha Yu-jin poked his head out into the hallway and shouted.
“I’m going to go……!!”
No, he stopped mid-shout.
“…….”
“Yu-jin…?”
In that moment.
Cha Yu-jin grabbed Seon A-hyun, who was about to poke his head out behind him, and pushed him back.
“Get inside!!”
“Huh…?!”
Wait.
I immediately looked past Seon A-hyun’s shoulder toward the open door.
Flicker.
The hallway lights blinked.
And at the far end of the hallway.
In front of the emergency exit, there was something.…….
[♪♪♪♬♬♬♪♬♬♬]
It was an old music box.
It was flipped over so the contents were visible, and a haunting melody played from its distorted tuning.
If it were just that, it might have been just a scary prop….
But something was sticking out of that box.
A torso with black, viscous arms—it was unclear if it was a ballerina or a clown.
It was crawling along the floor.
Slowly.
Creeeeak.
“Aaaaah!”
“Ack!”
What is that?
‘It’s… it’s not a size a person could fit into.’
It was just the size of a torso.
It definitely wasn't a mascot costume. How on earth was something like that moving?
As if sensing it instinctively, the guys around me couldn't take their eyes off it and began to shout as if they were in genuine panic.
[Should I just punch it? Damn, it looks like it won't work, but I'll try, so stay back!]
“Yu-jin forgot his Korean!”
“Just close the door!”
And in that moment.
Amidst the guys trying to reach out and close the door, I saw Ryu Cheong-woo’s gaze shift.
Toward the opposite direction of the hallway.
There was another light source there that wasn't the office.
Next to the office entrance. A black stand.
Ding.
A glowing white square sat atop it.
“Wait, to the left….”
I reached out before Ryu Cheong-woo could finish his sentence.
As I gripped the glowing square, Cha Yu-jin swept me and everyone in front of me back with his arms.
“The door!”
Kim Rae-bin closed the door with perfect timing.
Thud.
I sat down as if falling backward and looked down at what I had grabbed.
It was a tablet PC.
“Phew.”
“Wait, wait a second…… Manager Moon, is that the thing from the guidelines earlier?”
“Yes.”
It seemed so.
-3. Delivery can be registered at the tablet PC at each office entrance, and by-products can be registered at the tablet PC in front of the B1 warehouse.
Meanwhile, slowly, very slowly, the music box was crawling across the hallway toward the office.
The sound could be heard.
[♪♪♪♬♬♬♪♬♬♬]
The flickering hallway lights appeared and disappeared through the gap under the door.
‘Damn.’
This is creepier than I thought.
‘Let’s move fast.’
I immediately looked down at the tablet PC.
A message was displayed there.
[Delivery Item Transport Plan]
-Would you like to deliver?
“What are we delivering?”
“Is it, um, okay to just press it…?”
“I think it was mentioned in the duty guidelines earlier….”
“Press it!”
Voices erupted from several people at once.
I grit my teeth.
‘There must be a progression stage.’
Stay calm. This is a variety show, a variety show.
So… right.
It means that even if we press this, nothing catastrophic will happen.
“I’m going to press it for now.”
“Got it!”
After looking back at the others once, I immediately moved my finger.
-Would you like to deliver?
Yes.
And so, I pressed the button….
[Delivering]
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
“Not yet?”
“Wait.”
A few seconds of chilling, anxious waiting passed…….
A message appeared on the screen.
[Delivery Complete]
In that moment.
The flickering hallway lights outside the door returned to normal.
The sound of the music box vanished as well.
[-]
“…….”
The situation was over.
“Phew.”
“Haa…….”
The members let out long sighs and plopped down on the office floor, suits be damned.
“Is it over?”
“It seems so….”
As if coming to his senses, Bae Se-jin looked at the tablet PC in my hand and muttered.
“Then… do we just have to find these pads while playing tag?”
“Oh my god.”
“Man, this is some serious overtime.”
The tension eased slightly.
‘Whew.’
That was intense.
Just as I was about to take a breather and set the tablet PC down.
……An artificial voice began to flow from it.
[Commencing conscription of employees for delivery.]
The office lights went out.
“……!!”
Wreeeeeeee—!
A loud siren blared, and red lights flashed.
What now?
“Is everyone okay?!”
Lee Se-jin’s shout from beside me was swallowed by the siren.
Flash. Flash.
A few seconds of disaster-like emergency alarms suddenly occurred again.
“Moon-dae, watch out…!”
And then, it suddenly became quiet again.
Click.
The office lights came back on.
“Phew.”
I immediately turned my head.
The office looked exactly the same as before.
“Is everyone safe?”
“What was that just now?”
The guys checking on each other seemed no different.
Still in their suits.
However…….
“Where’s Rae-bin…?”
One person was missing.
The one who had been standing by the door.
“Where did Kim Rae-bin go?”
“…….”
After looking around… I spoke quietly.
“He’s gone.”
Ding-dong ding-dong!
…An announcement began to play from the office speakers.
-Intern Kim Rae-bin. Today’s work has concluded.
-Please check the by-product.
Click.
One of the locked drawers in the office opened automatically, revealing a black box inside.
“…….”
Reflexively, I reached out and opened the box.
A small music box.
And draped over it was Kim Rae-bin’s employee ID card.
[KIS Company]
Intern Kim Rae-bin / Music Box
-Keep it Safe
“It gets even more exciting from that point on.”
Park Moon-dae didn't deny it and nodded.