Chapter 612
Chapter 612
Silence filled the elevator.
I watched a stiffened Cha Yu-jin move only his eyes to scan the guidelines I was holding.
And from outside, the voice could still be heard.
[This is Intern Kim Rae-bin.]
Click.
At that moment, a sound echoed from the elevator as if it couldn't hold back any longer.
However, the doors didn't open.
It was the sound of Bae Se-jin clicking a ballpoint pen and frantically scribbling on a sheet of A4 paper he had hurriedly brought along.
Then, with his other hand, he rolled a handful of pens across the floor.
‘Here!’
The moment they saw that, everyone, as if by unspoken agreement, grabbed a pen and crowded around the paper.
At Ryu Cheong-woo’s last suggestion, everyone’s eyes turned toward the buttons.
And then they saw it.
‘…That!’
The light for the 4th floor was on.
As if someone had pressed it.
Even though no one had.
“…….”
An eerie silence filled the elevator once again.
I raised a hand to signal the others to stay calm, then carefully moved my feet.
[Assistant Manager?]
Ignoring Bae Se-jin’s flinch behind me, I stood in front of the elevator panel.
And slowly…
[B1]
After pressing our destination.
[4]
I turned off the 4th-floor button that had been lit.
Immediately.
Whirrr—.
As if by magic, the elevator began to move again.
“Phew.”
Inside the elevator, where the lights had returned as if normal power was restored, the members wiped away cold sweat and sighed in relief.
And the moment the announcement ‘Going down’ played.
[Ah, are you going to the basement? Understood.]
“…….”
[I will use the stairs.]
The elevator indicator descended.
3.
2.
1.
“Run!”
[B1 Floor.]
The moment the elevator doors opened, we burst out and ran at full speed.
“To the side…!”
We turned our feet according to the shout based on the map.
“There it is!”
Passing through a dimly lit, old concrete hallway, a grayish-brown fire door appeared at the very end.
And there was a tablet PC attached to that door.
[Would you like to register a by-product?]
“Yes! Yes!”
I slammed the 'Yes' button.
With a creaking sound, a small slot opened at the bottom of the fire door, much like a mailbox or a delivery box.
Screeeak.
It was pitch black inside.
…Are we supposed to put the by-product in here?
“Director A-hyun, the music box!”
“H-here…!”
Seon A-hyun quickly handed over the music box he had been clutching. I reached for Kim Rae-bin’s employee ID card, but…
“If we throw away Kim Rae-bin’s, we won’t be able to use the elevator!”
“Ah!”
For that practical reason, we only put in the music box for now.
Of course, it was uncertain whether common sense would apply in this crazy variety show.
Fortunately, a few seconds later, the tablet PC calmly displayed text.
[Registration Complete]
However, there was no other reaction.
Silence.
“…Is this it?”
The fire door that took the music box didn't open either. Ryu Cheong-woo suggested Lee Se-jin try pulling it, but the door remained firmly locked.
“…….”
“…….”
“What about our clock-out?”
“I guess they want us to work overtime.”
A few weak, joke-like comments were exchanged for a brief moment.
Flicker.
Far off at the other end, the light of the exit sign began to blink.
And then, the sound again.
Knock, knock, knock.
[Assistant Manager? Are you there?]
“…….”
“…Looks like our friend from the 4th floor came down.”
The sound of someone knocking on the emergency exit door echoed through the hallway.
Keun Se-jin muttered with a hollow laugh in his voice.
“I guess the answer really was to put the employee ID in too?”
I looked down at the tablet PC again.
[Until next delivery
- 00:24:56]
…A message was now displayed at the bottom.
The same question I had seen before.
The light of the exit sign flickered more and more erratically.
As if it wasn't Kim Rae-bin… but that music box monster we saw earlier lurking behind it.
But everyone knew what happened when 'Delivery' was pressed here. As they hesitated, forgetting their fear for a moment.
Keun Se-jin gripped my shoulder.
“…Let’s do it.”
“…….”
“There’s no other way.”
“Is there really, really no other way…?”
No one could answer Seon A-hyun’s question.
Eventually, I asked with a sigh.
“Should we take a majority vote?”
No one objected.
And as a result.
“I will proceed with the delivery.”
“…….”
I pressed the button.
[Delivery Complete]
As the screen changed, the flickering light of the exit sign and the knocking sound both vanished.
But from past experience, everyone knew.
That this wasn't the end.
[Commencing requisition of employees for delivery.]
The lights went out again, and a red siren wailed.
“…….”
The members formed a circle and held hands, just like when they were about to win a Grand Prize. It was the same for the person next to me.
I didn't pull away and stayed still.
When the lights came back on, my hands were empty.
“Everyone was really serious back then.”
Even though they knew it was a shoot, seeing the members next to them disappear one by one in such an eerie situation was more shocking than expected.
In the middle of the night at TeSTAR’s dorm, Ryu Cheong-woo watched Park Moon-dae, who was sitting across from him at the dining table, nod silently.
His serious expression made it seem like he was reminiscing about that time.
Ryu Cheong-woo suppressed a smile for some reason and continued his own recollection.
Of those slightly spooky moments.
“Even after that, the members kept coming back to find us.”
“…….”
“The members who had disappeared, I mean.”
We returned to the 7th floor to look for clues.
Of course, during that process, we experienced the phenomenon of hearing the voices of the members who had suddenly vanished.
This time, it wasn't Kim Rae-bin.
This time, it wasn't even from behind a door.
It was right behind our backs.
“…….”
Everyone froze at the vivid voice, then, without daring to look back, they scrambled into the elevator and went up to the 7th floor.
“Hearing Lee Se-jin talk like that made me feel so strange…”
“…….”
“I mean, Assistant Manager Lee Se-jin.”
I nodded at Bae Se-jin’s words.
Then, on the now pitch-black 7th floor, I organized our findings so far.
Not that there was much.
“The nap room and the pantry are locked.”
“Both are related to the guidelines.”
Recalling those items, I unconsciously leaned against the wall next to the nap room door.
And it was the moment my hand naturally touched the door. I felt a texture different from what I expected.
‘…! This is.’
A cold, smooth surface.
‘A screen.’
When I turned my head, a small screen partially hidden by my body lit up as it sensed the skin of my finger.
A tablet PC was attached to the nap room door.
I immediately read the contents.
[List of Employees for Delivery]
-
And at the end, a cursor was blinking.
As if asking for an input.
“…….”
Wait a minute. This is…
‘Are they letting me choose?’
“Assistant Manager Moon-dae, did you find something?”
“Assistant Manager Park?”
But before I could properly answer them, the lights began to flicker again.
“……!”
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
“That thing is coming out again!”
“Aaaagh! Seriously!”
Handprints began to appear on the office windows again.
Even though they were used to the atmosphere, the members jumped and screamed.
“I can’t take it! Let’s just not do the delivery this time. Let’s just see what happens instead!”
“Yeap! That’s right! You’re right!”
“Yeah!”
Bae Se-jin had started speaking informally to Seon A-hyun, who was the Director, but no one cared; they just nodded.
However…
‘I don’t think they’ll let us do that.’
And sure enough.
The office window where the handprints were appearing finally shattered.
[!!!!]
With a loud crashing sound, another old music box fell to the floor.
And from inside, limbs stretched out like a spider’s and began crawling toward us like a zombie…
“Aaaagh!”
“Ack!”
“Run!”
“No.”
However, I grabbed the members.
“Why!”
“Moon-dae, can’t you move your legs? Get on my back!”
It wasn't that.
I lightly dodged Ryu Cheong-woo’s support and thought quickly.
Okay, let’s look at what’s happened so far.
No matter how I think about it, this is based on a horror movie motif.
It’s a structure where things get unlocked as members are slowly eliminated.
So, it’s designed so that inevitably only a few survive to uncover the truth and see the ending.
‘So…’
If there’s a choice, shouldn't I use it?
I took a quick look at the faces around me.
Bae Se-jin, Seon A-hyun, Cha Yu-jin, Ryu Cheong-woo.
Two have high ranks, and two are physically strong.
‘Since the setting has power, the high-ranking ones must be useful somewhere.’
They wouldn't eliminate Assistant Managers or Interns first for no reason.
And anyway, I… yeah, let’s admit it. I’m not exactly someone who’s strong against ghosts.
So.
“…….”
I touched the empty space at the bottom of the list on the nap room door, activating the keyboard.
“Assistant Manager Moon-dae?”
“Park Moon-dae, what are you doing?”
I’m writing that name.
At that moment.
The siren wailed again.
[Commencing requisition of employees for delivery.]
“It’s okay.”
I don’t know if they heard me, but anyway… I thought this was the right direction.
I patted the back of the member next to me, whoever it was, and quietly closed my eyes.
And just like that… I was delivered.
In the silence.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was Kim Rae-bin, his eyes sparkling.
Looking very… neat.
“……?”
What the.
“Assistant Manager Moon-dae is here! Welcome!”
Keun Se-jin, who popped out from the side to hug me, also looked to be in great shape. No.
“Why are you guys perfectly fine?”
I thought they’d be wearing ghost makeup or something.
“Assistant Manager Moon-dae is fine too~ Ah, you’re not an Assistant Manager anymore!”
What on earth was that supposed to mean?
“Look at that!”
I turned my gaze toward where Keun Se-jin was pointing… but before that, I took in my surroundings.
‘What the hell.’
It looked like a neat company lounge, but a giant hologram panel was floating on one wall like something out of a spy movie.
[Appointment to Regular Employee]
Park Moon-dae (A) 12:33:52
“……?”
What is this?
“Well, it turns out that ‘employee requisition’ is actually picking one more person to handle the delivery work.”
“…….”
“And it seems the employees who carry out the delivery work are the regular employees!”
“Exactly, it’s practically a promotion! Wow, to think we were all contract workers and not regular employees to begin with.”
Not regular employees?
At that moment, I remembered.
…That line from the guidelines.
[11. Only regular employees are allowed to enter the pantry.]
“…….”
‘So that’s why it was locked.’
I thought it was about the interns, but it wasn't that… it meant none of us could enter.
“But why do we suddenly disappear?”
“Maybe it’s because we’re secret agents? Like the NIS.”
“…….”
While my head was still reeling, the text on the hologram changed.
[Your task is the maintenance and repair of the containment facility.]
[Capture the supernatural entities in music-box-type control devices and deliver them to the KIS Foundation.]
“…….”
Foundation?
“So, we’ve been doing all this just to become regular employees of some cult foundation…”
“Ahem, ‘cult’ is such a scary word! You should call it a secret foundation! Secret agents!”
“That is correct! They said it is a job to protect the world by guarding dangerous objects inside this company!”
“…….”
Let’s just move past that for now.
Meanwhile, Kim Rae-bin muttered in a slightly dejected tone.
“I wanted to try persuading them first, but it seems communication wasn't smooth because information disclosure is restricted to non-regular personnel…”
Even so, seeing him brightly say that he made appeals like ‘I can even use the stairs that are forbidden in the guidelines,’ I suppressed a groan.
“…?”
“Anyway, if we deliver all the music boxes to that foundation… we get to go home, right?”
“Yes!”
And in that process, the members are naturally incorporated into regular positions.
‘Good grief.’
[Facility Team / Park Moon-dae (A)]
[Shift Start]
I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at the display on the electronic board.
“…….”
On the pitch-black 7th-floor hallway where the remaining members gathered after the ‘delivery’ was finished.
“Moon-dae…”
Whether he forgot he was supposed to call me ‘Assistant Manager,’ Seon A-hyun’s voice could be heard gloomily muttering my name.
All that was left were Director Seon A-hyun, Manager Bae Se-jin, Section Chief Cha Yu-jin, and Intern Ryu Cheong-woo.
[KIS Company]
Assistant Manager Park Moon-dae / Music Box
They were probably looking at a message like that on the tablet PC.
Just like I had done moments before.
Since half the members had retired like in a horror movie, it was a situation where gloom was starting to outweigh fear.
‘Hmm.’
The kids are probably exhausted by now. It’s time to pick up the pace.
Let’s see.
‘They said not to reveal information for regular employees and to call out the rank of the next person to be delivered.’
Fine then.
Knock, knock.
I first knocked on the door quietly.
From inside the locked pantry, toward the 7th-floor hallway where the members who hadn't been delivered yet would be huddled together.
And I spoke.
“Section Chief.”
[……!]
At that moment, a strange sound, like someone stifling a scream, occurred.
And outside the door, the noise suddenly dropped to a dead silence.
…Are you guys covering each other’s mouths?
“I know you’re there.”
Then came the sound of the members scrambling and tumbling. It seemed they were running away.
‘…….’
No.
I spoke as mildly and non-threateningly as possible.
“Can we talk for a few moments? Just for a bit.”
A heavy silence.
Then, a hushed voice whispered.
“…….”
The soundproofing is terrible, I can hear everything, you punks.
And so, my one-day experience as a ghost part-timer began.