Chapter 218
Chapter 218
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A familiar voice.
A familiar attitude.
Talk show host-level eloquence.
The being I'd always conversed with from my front pocket was right there.
[Friend?]
I picked up the rabbit doll.
The doll, small enough to fit in one hand, maintained its shape even enveloped in black smoke.
Soft fur and neat stitching.
Its black pebble-like eyes glistened in the lamplight.
Beneath the pink head, a black bow tie sat perfectly knotted, just as I'd tied it every week.
Fake.
What looked like Good Friend's bow tie was actually a hair tie I'd bought at Death Row Boutique.
But under this doll's head was a real bow tie that tied with a string.
Decisively, the 'new Good Friend plush doll' I'd customized at the Jolly Lab wouldn't have a bow tie.
The previous Good Friend had burned it himself.
So this was no different from the model laptop on the desk with only a shell, or the books on the shelf with only covers.
Just another prop recreating Junior Clerk Kim Sol-eum's private quarters.
A counterfeit.
Of course.
Then what are you?
The unmoving rabbit doll's eyes glimmered again in the light.
...
I realized.
The voice wasn't coming directly from the rabbit doll.
It was coming from inside me.
I'd only accepted it as emanating from there once I noticed the doll.
And this was...
Because it was mimicking Good Friend's speech patterns.
...
No.
But didn't you know everything already?
Six months.
The time I'd spent alone in that morgue-like place on sublevel 13 of the annex, surrounded only by corpses and ghost stories.
You could have spoken to me anytime then.
But that period was so dull and pointless it held no entertainment value, so you skipped it, right?
Isn't basking in the thrill and pleasure of appearing at the most captivating moment now the essence of your being?
As an entertainer.
The sound of arms crossing.
...
Training video?
-Dreams and passion-filled special entity employee! Welcome to Daydream Corporation's Security Management Team!
The endless loop of training from the spherical black-and-white TV in the corner of room 666 on sublevel 13 of the annex.
Security Management Team special division labor training.
In the middle of that... the rabbit doll.
The host on the TV screen.
Had appeared...?
Greeted me...?
That, that...
...
It didn't matter.
Because it wasn't related to work.
I understood the last line as sarcasm a beat late.
And that it wasn't pure sarcasm either.
I recognized it slowly.
...
Thanks to the Nostalgia Kitty briefly letting me know 'how I originally felt,' I could think in a way similar to before.
However...
Does that even matter?
From this mashed-up, truthful form, with melted brain and limbs whose origins are unknown.
And crammed into this bizarre horned monstrosity.
Wouldn't it have been better not to realize a similar mind lurks within?
This disconnect.
...?
I met its gaze.
The fake Good Friend was in my hand.
...
I did.
A gloved hand moved amid the black smoke pouring from the gas mask.
I folded the towel twice and carefully placed the doll in the center.
A habit from before.
As if returning from a suffocating darkness exploration, tending to Good Friend's bed after a long-awaited shift end.
Still like that.
And this plush doll referred to itself as Good Friend. As if still under Good Friend's constraints.
Still like that.
...
Deceptive mimicry.
...
It whispered.
I didn't answer, but it already knew.
My answer.
The sound of the polite host tapping fingers on the table.
As if struck by a great idea.
I averted my gaze.
...
If you can't return to being human, mimic one.
Like buying items at the space mall.
Like getting a tattoo at the moonlight tattoo shop.
Like trading clues at the faceless market.
The me desperately preparing to survive in ghost stories.
...I remembered.
Then, like fireworks bursting above the rabbit doll, a small golden effect appeared, traced out letters, and vanished.
This Goal: Master Fancy Disguise Techniques!
'...'
'...Yeah.'
I nodded.
Let's find an appearance that allows interaction with people.
Even if it's not real.
I slipped that fake Good Friend into the security team uniform's pocket.
Just like before.
And made a plan.
Just like before.
I flipped through the Darkness Exploration Records pages in my memory, listing possible methods...
And the moment morning work began that day.
As expected, the duty staff arrived in the isolation room for business.
But not from the Security Management Team.
"Haha... We meet again so soon!"
Kwak Je-gang.
The lead researcher arrived in utter disarray. His pinky finger on one hand seemed properly treated, at least, but it was stubby.
One joint gone.
"The surveillance cameras are busted, so I had no choice but to visit. I've figured out countermeasures... Excuses like that actually fly here, which is a company perk... But that doll!"
Excitement flowed from eyes that had spotted the environmental incongruity.
"The doll's gone from the desk. Did you take it? Ah, does it help with mental stability? Or forming attachment...?"
I exhaled smoke.
Question: Teammates' whereabouts
> The one wearing the Badger mask
> Security sergeant
"Ah, those two won't be coming today! They have to go through a light, very light interview process... So I'm here instead! Hahaha!"
I didn't react.
"Do you like those two? Why? Plenty must have built rapport with you... Ah, what about other Field Exploration Team staff? If you met privately...?"
No thanks?
"......"
Kwak Je-gang was still smiling, but his face paled.
I could tell he bore some mental scars...
I needed to let this researcher know that.
That the roles of questioner and questioned had switched.
Question: Director Cheong's orders regarding 130666
"...Wondering what Director Cheong said when assigning you to my care?"
...
"Well, someone at Director Cheong's level probably knows a fair bit about your identity! Or he might even be the one who summoned you in the first place!"
Kwak Je-gang wiped the cold sweat pooling on his chin haphazardly and grinned fervently.
"But Director Cheong isn't the chatty type, so regrettably, in summary, it was about two phrases..."
-Train as an employee
-Figure out effective usage
"...And, 'stand by until further orders.' That's it!"
...
"You've caught on. In a word, it's no different from house-training a dog! Figuring out what treats it likes, what punishments make it obey... Yes, exactly that. Hahaha!"
...No.
"Anyway... Seems we've reached the same conclusion. Once we've properly figured out how to use you, darkness collection tasks with direct orders from Director Cheong will probably come down!"
The guy who'd nearly gone on all fours drew an intriguing conclusion.
It matched mine.
"And there might be hints in those. If Director Cheong summoned you, it was probably for those tasks!"
Hints to my existence.
"Especially if a researcher like me digs in, and you give me even a slight pretext, yes, we could learn... so very much."
...Hm.
Request: Shorten processing time
"Hm? Shorten the time to get there? To do that...?"
I formed letters with black smoke.
About how to elicit a response from Director Cheong.
Use:
130666 containment failure incident
"...Hm? ...Ah."
I continued explaining with smoke.
Various examples.
Kwak Je-gang scribbled them down on paper, then on the back of his hand when it ran out. He was adding his own ideas too.
And when I selected one, he grinned ear to ear.
"This is great, isn't it? Let's trick them with this, hahaha!"
130666 usage: Add false rule
Rule: Cannot tolerate boredom
Daydream Corporation's record database is updated.
And a few days later.
A new page is added.
Thus.
Under Development Division Director Cheong■■'s approval, special task assigned.
Collection of bizarre phenomena at a certain terrestrial broadcaster. Commonly known as the 'Man in the Screen' ghost story.
See ■■Record #C16548 for details.
And.
The dolphin-masked upholder of justice and the sea pony-masked golden opportunist make their entrance.