Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Dorimcheon Station - 1
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"Here's the ghost story investigation report for this time."
I handed the stack of documents on my desk to Kang Ha-na. It was a five-page report. I had especially put effort into analyzing Lee Na-rae's characteristics and abilities.
As Kang Ha-na skimmed through the report, her eyes sparkled.
"Oh... You even deduced that the entity of the Repeater Witch ghost story is a fox yokai, specifically a three-tailed fox?"
"Well... I got lucky."
Truthfully, this wasn't luck but thanks to the Ruminative Thought Enhancement Serum. The information about the ghost stories was neatly organized in my memory, like a catalog.
However, I couldn't mention the existence of the Talent Shop, so I vaguely passed it off as getting lucky.
"For a new recruit, you have a good eye and are quite logical."
Kang Ha-na closed the report and continued.
"Since this one was a D-rank ghost story, the danger pay will likely be around ten million won."
"Ten million won?"
"The approval should come through soon... Ah, there it is. Check your account."
I checked my smartphone, and sure enough, ten million won had been deposited.
Getting Talents every time I cleared a ghost story was good, but the danger pay I received in cash was quite a nice bonus too.
"Is the danger pay always this much?"
"No, it's because this was a D-rank ghost story. For E or F-rank, where there's almost no danger, it's only about two to five million won."
Two to five million won for each ghost story exploration. Compared to a regular job, it was definitely a merit in terms of income.
The only downside was that it came with the risk of death.
Ah...
"Mr. Jeong-woo, since you got the danger pay this time. To celebrate, how about dinner with me..."
It was at that moment.
"Senior, have dinner with me today."
Na-rae abruptly cut in from the side. The handcuff marks on her wrist were still clearly visible.
"Hold on."
Kang Ha-na put down the documents and spoke.
"I have a dinner appointment with Mr. Jeong-woo first."
"Is that so? I didn't hear about that."
"We were just talking about it while reviewing the report."
Na-rae's eyes narrowed. Her pupils elongated vertically like a cat's and began to gleam with a yellow tint.
"Ah, I see. Then I can just join you, right?"
"This is work-related..."
"That makes it even better. I'm Mr. Baek's buddy, so I should naturally be part of work-related discussions..."
"Hold on."
Kang Ha-ra raised her hand to stop Na-rae.
"Your official buddy appointment hasn't even come through yet..."
"Appointment? Team Leader Cheon just officially appointed me as Mr. Baek's buddy, didn't he?"
"That's unofficial at best, and besides, Ms. Na-rae is a ghost story..."
"Enough."
I cut in, interrupting their conversation. I had no desire to watch their bickering any longer.
"Let's just all eat together."
"Excuse me?"
"What did you say?"
The voices of the two women erupted simultaneously. I let out a sigh and stood up from my seat.
"We're going to have to work together eventually anyway."
Kang Ha-na looked at me as if something was weighing on her mind, then awkwardly nodded. Na-rae, seeming to have lost her desire to fight, tightly shut her mouth and followed me.
The air in the elevator was heavy. Kang Ha-na and Na-rae stood in opposite corners, turning their heads to look only out the window.
With a beep, we arrived at the company cafeteria located in the basement.
"I'll have bibimbap."
Kang Ha-na spoke first.
"I'll have ox bone soup."
Na-rae followed.
Just as expected of a fox, she liked ox blood soup.
"I'll... have tonkatsu."
The cafeteria was quiet since it was past the dinner rush. Once we took a seat in a corner, Na-rae was the first to speak.
"By the way, Senior, you wrote the report really well."
"Ah, yes..."
"How did you know I was a three-tailed fox? I'll give you the part about finding out I'm a fox yokai after my transformation wore off, but I never told you I had three tails."
I had just guessed after seeing her three tails when her transformation slightly slipped.
At Na-rae's words, Kang Ha-ra lifted her head. Her gaze became sharp.
"How did you figure that out?"
I glossed over it with a plausible excuse.
"Hmm... A hunch, you could say."
"A hunch? What do you mean..."
Kang Ha-na couldn't even finish her sentence as the food we ordered arrived. As soon as the ox bone soup was placed in front of her, Na-rae started scooping it up with her spoon.
"You must have been very hungry?"
"Of course. Even a yokai can't live without eating."
While eating, she kept glancing at me. She was probably doubting whether I would keep my promise to turn her into a yousei.
I cleared my throat and told her.
"Don't worry. I will definitely keep my promise."
"For real?"
Kang Ha-na stopped her chopsticks and looked back and forth between us.
"What promise?"
"It's just... a private matter."
As I glossed over it, Kang Ha-na's gaze grew even colder.
"A private matter? With a ghost story entity?"
"Team Leader, that's..."
"No, I'm just curious. What kind of promise is it?"
Na-rae cut in with a snicker.
"What's with you, Team Leader? Are you perhaps jealous right now?"
"What did you say?"
"It's fine. The promise I made with the Senior is just..."
"Ms. Na-rae. That's enough."
I cut her off firmly. It seemed nothing good would come from letting the conversation continue.
"Team Leader, please eat as well."
A heavy silence fell over the table. We focused only on our food without a word. The only sound was the occasional clinking of chopsticks against bowls.
'And I have to go out on a field job in this kind of atmosphere...'
I swallowed a sigh and cut into my tonkatsu. I had a thought that the tension between these two might be scarier than the ghost story at Dorimcheon Station.
After the meal, Na-rae and I headed for Dorimcheon Station. We took the subway from Gangnam Station and transferred at Guro Digital Complex Station. The clock pointed exactly to nine o'clock.
The arrived Dorimcheon Station was desolate. It was usually a quiet station, but it was especially so at this time of night.
There were no station employees in sight, and the ticket office was tightly shut. As we stood in front of the stairs leading down to the platform where the fluorescent lights flickered, Na-rae sniffed the air.
"The air here feels similar to the River of Three Ways."
"What are you talking about?"
"It smells like death, you could say..."
The boundary between the afterlife and the living world as described in Buddhism. If her words were true, did that mean this place was a space standing on the boundary of death?
While thinking this in my head, I began to quickly memorize the scenery of the platform.
The fluorescent lights of the dilapidated platform blinked faintly. Cobwebs were strung across the corners of the ceiling, and dust was piled thick on the floor. It had the atmosphere of a station that had been abandoned long ago.
The advertisement boards pasted on the walls were also faded. Some were so worn that the text was illegible. Thanks to the serum, I memorized it as it was, but to prepare for any unexpected situations, I tried to take a picture with my smartphone.
-Click!
But strangely, when I took a picture of the platform with the camera, all I could see was a black background.
"Hmm... Is this another anomaly?"
It seemed the Dorimcheon Station platform itself might be a different dimension of sorts, preventing the camera from working.
We soon began to climb the stairs.
The first loop.
At first, the stairs looked ordinary. But the public service announcement posters pasted on the walls were strange. They were clearly anti-smoking campaign posters, but they had somehow changed into photos of a ghost's face.
"Let's go back."
As we immediately turned back, we confirmed that the floor level had risen to B5.
On the second loop, nothing unusual happened. We went straight as instructed in the manual, and the floor level rose.
That's how we reached B4.
On the third loop, a middle-aged man in a suit appeared. His mouth was torn up to his ears, and he had no eyeballs. He looked at us and let out a monstrous shriek.
-Kyaaahhh!
It was a piercing sound that felt like it would tear one's ears apart. I was startled and quickly backed away.
Since it wasn't a gruesome sight, Leon's Keychain did not activate.
"You're scared of a mere minor spirit like that?"
Na-rae mocked me. However, according to the ghost story investigation records, anyone who was caught by that man disappeared immediately, so Na-rae and I retreated back down the stairs we had come from.
Luckily, once we went back down the stairs, the man did not pursue us any further.
[B3]
We had discovered an anomaly and turned back, so the floor level naturally rose to B3.
As we entered B3, the temperature dropped sharply. A coldness seemed to seep into our bones. Even though we were wearing thick winter clothes, this didn't feel like a simple cold.
'This is an anomaly.'
We immediately turned back the way we came. As we did, the floor level rose again.
[B2]
We were in a situation where we could escape the Dorimcheon Station ghost story with just one more correct answer.
To be honest, it seemed easier than the difficulty of 'Jack's Hamburger'. The energy bars and water bottle I had brought along for unexpected situations felt useless.
Still, since it was the last one, I didn't let my guard down and carefully checked for any changes while comparing it to my memory.
It was at that moment.
Black water surged from the end of the corridor like a wave. This was a phenomenon that was neither in the manual I received from the company nor in the original ghost story I saw on the Ghost Story Gallery.
'What is this?'
I was flustered, but I instinctively felt that I must not touch the water.
"Don't touch the water!"
I grabbed Na-rae's hand and ran back. But the black wave was faster than us. In an instant, it reached our ankles, and soon after, it submerged us up to our waists.
"Hold your breath!"
With Na-rae's shout, we were completely submerged in the water. The cold water rushed into our lungs. Along with a sensation that my entire body was freezing, my consciousness began to fade.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
How much time had passed?
When I came to my senses, I was back on the platform. The suit and bag I was wearing were soaked with water, and a coldness rushed in on me.
"Cough, cough!"
I coughed up the water that had filled my lungs and barely managed to get up. Na-rae was also coughing beside me.
The cold chill was still lingering inside my body. It felt as if my soul had frozen.
We climbed the stairs we had come from again.
[B1]
We continued up the stairs and arrived at the exit leading to the surface. As soon as we passed through the ticket gates, we stopped in our tracks.
"What is this..."
I was at a loss for words. The scene unfolding before my eyes was no longer a night street in Seoul.
A red moon filled the sky. Below that red moon, cherry blossom trees stretched on endlessly. But the petals were not white; they were a sooty black. Petals that had burned black like ash were being carried by the wind.
A landscape of another world that anyone could see was not reality.
I instinctively turned my head to check the sign with the station name.
[River of Three Ways (三途川)]
In an instant, all the hair on my body stood on end. This was definitely a ghost story I had seen at least once on the Ghost Story Gallery.
A ghost story where you fall asleep as if you've fainted inside the platform, and when you wake up, you find yourself at a station that doesn't exist in reality.
This was... Kisaragi Station.