Chapter Text
"Well, it looks like we are reacting to Grapes-ie."
Agent Choi stated before Lee Seonghae joins in.
"I can't wait to see more about Roe Deer. I might even take inspiration on how to save more good people like you did."
'I didn't really save that many people but if I said that, the agents and D squad would go after me...'
"Thank you but please give yourself some credit as well, Miss Dolphin."
"How kind, thank you!!"
[ Shush, let me start the show ( ´Д`)ノ]
"We are sorry, Reaction-nim."
Where did Lee Seonghae get the name 'Reaction-nim' from???
[...]
The TV suddenly turns off and back on.
Go Youngeun exclaimed.
"It's starting!!"
[ A dark and desolate city alleyway.
A passerby stepped into the gap, casting a long shadow behind a telephone pole. ]
"That's not our Roe Deer."
"I think we might get to his viewpoint later..."
Park Minseong and Eun Haje started to talk with agents who joined the conversation as well.
"That man is definitely planning to do something shady."
"Lets not think the worst about a stranger."
[ "Ugh!"
Thud. The man, having bumped into the pole, lifted his head.
"F*ck...!"
The heavy stench of alcohol wafted from his mouth.
He was completely wasted—the kind of drunk people would instinctively steer clear of if they crossed paths on the street. With bleary eyes, he muttered curses to himself. ]
"See, Bronze-ie. I was right."
Agent Choi says proudly.
Agent Bronze looks at him with a defeated look and then turns back to the screen.
[ "Money... the money... Fck, fck, this f*cking..."
Thud, thud! He kicked the telephone pole.
He was in a state where he was losing his mind, desperate to vent his rage on any easy target.
500 million won.
The debt started from trying to recoup his sports betting losses with crypto. It had spiraled past commercial banks, secondary lenders, and straight into the hands of loan sharks.]
"Can we switch to something else? This is getting boring."
Baek Saheon starts talking.
'Who the hell would wanna hear about someone in debt... It would be more interesting if I got information on that lunatic.'
"Aren't you getting a little inpatient, Goat."
'Fuck...'
"Sorry sir, but don't you agree that it's better to see something else."
[ Does anyone have a problem? ]
Everyone turns their head to Baek Saheon and wait for what he has to say.
"No, we are all enjoying it."
Baek Saheon decides to lie through his teeth to stop the darkness from asking more.
'What a liar.'
Go Youngeun thought. She is glad, she doesn't have to work with him anymore ever since she got the wish ticket.
[ Somewhere deep inside his head, he still felt a strange numbness to the severity of it all.
Because it simply didn't feel real.
Me? Owing such an astronomical debt?
I have to pay it back?
I'm ruined?
‘There’s gotta be a way out, right?’
"This... uh, this shouldn't be happening, hic—"
It was the exact moment his bloated ego clashed with a toxic mix of despair and groundless optimism. ]
'This is his fault but why are they showing this to us tho? Wait... if this person is from the DER world and is in debt then they will probably soon show how he got into the Namhae branch, right... that's why they are showing this to us.'
I started to understand the process this reaction room is going with.
'Let's see if I'm right...'
[ Flash.
A cold, dry light pierced his eyes.
Crumpled. The flyer wrinkled in his grip...
Revealing the back of the paper.
"...?"
There was more writing on it, scribbled as if with a black marker.
(Immediate daily payout upon application! 500,000 won in cash.)
500,000 won. ]
'I was right.'
"That's definitely not a coincidence, is it?"
Go Youngeun asks while looking at the other's shocked faces.
"How lucky for him to find a paper like this!!"
She knows it's probably a darkness but still!! To find the darkness at such a good time!!
The others started to talk about the paper and the dangers of it while Counsellor Ho and I started our own conversation.
"That paper will take him to Namhae branch, right Counsellor?"
'I need to get more information about the branch while I still can!!'
"If he accepts it then yes. Did you not get that paper before you joined the branch?"
'Counsellor Ho caught me in the act...'
"I woke up there thanks to some jerks throwing water at me..."
"So you have no recollection of how you got there?"
'I don't know how to explain this...'
Counsellor Ho noticed me thinking a little too much about it and decided to say something.
"There is no need to answer if it's difficult. We will see it anyway."
'Yeah... they will definitely give me even more questions after they see it...'
"Probably..."
[ "........."
It wasn't 50,000 won, nor was it 5,000,000 won. It was exactly 500,000 won!
It was an oddly realistic amount.
An amount that actually felt believable enough to receive.
Yet, at the same time, it fell into the category of a relatively 'high sum'—the kind of money you could easily squander on a night out.
That was what caught his eye.
Furthermore...
‘Just one good run...?’
It was an amount he could use as seed money.
Hope exploded in his brain like fireworks.
‘If I work my ass off for a month, uh, and get paid... if either crypto or gambling hits big just this once...’
This time, for sure! ]
"Wow, excited little too much."
"He definitely won't survive whatever job it is."
"It's obviously a scam."
'Wow, they are really throwing the words out...'
I thought while looking at Agent Choi, Eun Haje and Baek Saheon.
'They definitely bond when it comes to hating on people...'
[ As the thought of 'recovering his principal' expanded in the drunkard's mind, his hope swelled, and he gulped.
Even if it was a bit illegal or dangerous, wasn't it worth a shot?
And wouldn't everyone else think the same and call? Were there even any spots left?
Now, urgency set in.
"Where..."
Where was he supposed to contact?
The man scanned the flyer again. That was when he noticed the paper slips at the bottom, cut vertically so they could be torn off.
The place where phone numbers are usually written down.
〔070939312535〕
In an impulse, the drunkard tore off one of the paper slips with a rip.
Riiip.
He pulled his smartphone from his pocket and typed in that "major corporation job" number.
070, 9393...
Ring... ring... click. ]
Agent Choi eyes flickered with an idea.
"Lets make a bet, how about it?"
Agent Bronze who was clearly done because of the situation couldn't help but ask.
"Agent Choi, do you really wanna make bets in a darkness?"
"Bronze-ie, the darkness said that we should relax!! We might as well just do some friendly bets!!"
Agent Choi isn't someone who gives up easily so he tries to catch the bait who will ask about the bet.
"What is the bet about?"
I asked Agent Choi.
He looks at me and smirks. His face says it all, there will definitely be more bets like these.
"I'm glad you ask, Grapes-ie. It's very simple. Will someone respond to the phone or not?"
'That's what we are betting on?'
I thought before someone decided to exclaim something.
"Let me guess first!!"
Lee Seonghae happily exclaims while waving with her hand.
"Someone will respond to phone but they will speak in gibberish!!"
"That's a good one."
Eun Haje nods with her head as a agreement.
"I think that someone will pick up and says its the wrong number."
Park Minseong says his option.
"What do you think, Section Chief?"
"The phone number won't exist."
"I agree."
Agent Bronze decides to agree.
'They are really betting on what will happen...'
'We are bonding over if someone picks the phone or not... This is something...'
It must be because I haven't seen them for over a year to find it unbelievable. It must be because I really missed them...
I suddenly didn't know what to think about all this. I thought it would take longer for all of us to reunite but it was way faster than I thought.
That's probably even why I don't know what to say to them. I imagined all sort of scenarios where all of us would meet again but this one wasn't one of them.
'I'm really happy.'
I couldn't help but start to laugh at the situation we're in, which made everyone attention focus on me.
"Now what's so funny, Grapes-ie? Is our guessing really that funny?"
"Maybe"
I responded back.
"Well, it's definitely interesting."
Counsellor Ho nodded, deciding to agree with me.
"See? Even Counsellor Ho agrees with me."
I point out happily but suddenly everyone's face turns into confusion.
"Since when were you two close for you to call him that?"
Eun Haje asks while sending glares at Counsellor Ho.
She definitely wasn't happy with me and Counsellor Ho friendship...
"It happened back in Sekwang. I think it was right before you came to the top of the roof, you know?"
'Why are they looking at me weirdly? Even Counsellor Ho is looking at me confusedly now...'
"Sekwang? You were in Sekwang? Wait no, We were in Sekwang?"
Eun Haje asks me as if it was her first time hearing it.
'If they don't know about Sekwang then...does it mean we are from different timelines?'
"What's today's date, guys?"
"It's XX. XX. 20XX, Grapes-ie?"
"The same goes for me too..."
"Us as well."
"You are from the future aren't you, Roe Deer-nim?"
Counsellor Ho asks me.
"Yeah, that's right..."
"At least we now know why Roe Deer looks older and we look younger for him, right?"
"Yes..."
'They haven't experienced Sekwang yet...'
Everyone has turned tense because of me...
'Maybe I shouldn't have laughed...'
"Can I ask you something, Roe Deer-nim?"
"Of course, Counsellor Ho. What is it?"
"Do we save them?"
'Right...the people of Sekwang...'
"We do. You save them, Counsellor Ho."
"Thank you, I'm pretty sure you played a big role in it."
"I couldn't have done it without you and others."
"It's definitely something that you two became friends, Grapes-ie especially after what he has done to you but let's focus back on the show, okay...?"
Agent Choi decided to chip in and make us focus on the television once again.
[ "Hello? I heard you're hiring... No, I'm asking if it's true that you're hiring. I saw the flyer, 500,000 won, yeah, is that for real? In cash?"
......
"...Am I going to do it? Ah, I called because I want to do it. Right now? Start right now? Yes. I can do it right now. Where, hic, should I go What... huh?"
"Look at the number again?"
"What do you mean by... Huh?"
......
"Why is there an extra digit, uh, that's weird, uh, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"
......
"Come over here."
Tut.
......
......
Thud.
The smartphone falls onto the ground of the dark alleyway.
“The number you have dialed does not exist. Please check the number and try agai—”
Beep.]
"Looks like our Section Chief won the bet."
"Technically..."
"Congratulations, Section Chief!!"
Everyone started to congratulate to the winner.
[ Silence accompanies the sound of the call disconnecting.
The blinking screen of the smartphone lying on the ground goes dark.
......
Now, the alleyway is completely empty.
In that place, lit only by the lonely beam of the telephone pole, the glossy coating of the flyer reflects the light once more.
[ Hiring Completed ]
Down to the very bottom of the crumpled, hidden paper:
Daydream Co., Ltd.
Namhae Branch
••• ]
"Looks like they already disappeared."
Lee Seonghae comments.
"That was definitely fast..."
Go Youngeun says.
"I think you own us some explanation don't you think, Daydream?"
Agent Choi asks after seeing the Daydream card.
Someone getting accidentally stuck in disaster was a normal thing that would sometimes happen but Someone getting stuck in disaster thanks to Daydream is something that shouldn't be taken lightly.
"We don't know anything. All of us work in the main building so we don't know much about the branches. Stop falsely accusing us."
Eun Haje responded back. Section Chief doesn't work with branches. Park Minseong is security guard. Lee Seonghae is with her squad. The rest are rookies, who know nothing yet.
However there is one person that definitely knows something about it.
"How about that Director here? You think, he is innocent?"
Agent Choi looks at the Director and back at Eun Haje.
"You think I would defend him? No way. He is not part of the "we" I was talking about."
"You know that I'm still here, right?"
Counsellor Ho finally decided to say something.
"That's why I'm saying it."
"Well Director??? Are you going to explain the branch?"
"I'm not obliged to explain anything. The television will explain everything."
"Tsk."
'Can't they stop being at each other's throats...'
I thought before turning back to the television again...
[ "Soleum."
"......"
"Soleum!"
Ah.
I snapped my head up.
In the brightly lit office, my boss was standing next to my desk, tapping on my monitor with his hand.
"Are you not feeling well lately?"
And there it is... the classic, all-purpose corporate guilt-trip phrase...!
Instantly putting on my practiced professional smile, I replied.
"I'm sorry. Was my response a bit slow?"
"No, I'm not saying this just to get an apology..."
Not that my apology was genuine either.
"...I'm just asking out of worry. You've just been staring at a blank monitor during your break."
"...Haha."
Ah, so that's what it was...
I smiled awkwardly and took my eyes off the
screen.
‘Is this... just a food coma or something?’
I suppose I really was zoning out.]
Agent Choi started to sit straight at the mention of me on the screen. You could see some worry in his eyes before it all disappeared.
"Finally our Grapes-ie showed up!! Is this the home you were referring to?"
"Ahh...yes. I managed to get home thanks to everyone here."
'Just thinking about Director Cheong makes me feel unwell...'
Eun Haje looked at me on the screen and back at me now multiple times and decided to ask.
"I really hope you didn't put that practiced smile on us back then in Daydream too, Roe Deer."
'I'm sorry, Assistant Manager but I definitely used it...'
"Of course not!!"
Eun Haje didn't look like she 100% believed it but she left me off the hook.
'Sometimes it's better to lie!!'
"Do you work in an office now, Agent Grapes?"
Agent Bronze asked.
'He must think I like office work or something like that...'
"Yes, I worked there."
Agent Choi couldn't resist to ask something again because of my answer.
"Do you not work there anymore?"
"I don't..."
'Please don't ask me why because I can't explain that I figured out that there are ghost stories in my world and that Apocalypse is coming to yours...'
As if hearing my pleas, the TV decided to continue the reaction.
["Your performance is great anyway, so why walk on eggshells even during lunchtime? Go look up something fun. Didn't you used to watch something all the time, Soleum? That..."
……Wait.
Just a second……
"Ghost stories, I mean."
"……."
The moment I heard that word, a bizarre chill ran down my spine.
It was a strange sensation—halfway between trauma and nostalgia. An uncanny, surreal feeling.
I……
"Yes."
I barely managed to squeeze out an answer.
"Thank you. Haha, maybe I really caught a cold from the air conditioning... I guess my mind went a bit blank while trying to unwind."
"Right, right. Take care of your health and let's get back to it."
"Yes."
Let's relax.
Being too tense will only look unnatural.]
'I really didn't want them to see this...'
Agent Choi looked at me suspiciously and asked.
"Didn't think you were one of the people who reads ghost stories, Grapes-ie?"
"I used to read them back then..."
'Please don't ask about what it was about...'
As if sensing my discomfort, Section Chief turned to look at me and asked.
"Do you want an advice, Roe Deer?"
His advices are always useful...
"What is it..."
"Don't give in to nostalgia."
'Right...of course...'
There is no need to worry about nostalgia when I'm here again...
"Thank you, Section Chief."
Everyone else probably wanted to say something too but currently didn't dare to.
[ Actually, it wouldn't even matter if I looked awkward, but there was simply no need to be, so I tried to ease my mind—
"Huh?"
My boss glanced behind me, right toward where my bag was resting.
"Ah, do you carry things like that around too, Sol-eum? It's fluffy and cute, though."
"...Pardon?"
"No, I mean the plushie on your bag. It's a rabbit, right?"
"…!"
Startled, I whipped my head around.
Looking over at my bag...
"Ah, looking closer, it's a dog."
A popular white dog character keychain was hanging there.
……Not a pink rabbit.
"…Yes. That's right."
Zing.
A ticklish sensation, like a sudden release of electricity, spread across my chest.
Relief. Or maybe... emptiness.
"Did your girlfriend give it to you?"
"No."
"Oh come on, don't tell me you don't have a girlfriend?"
"…I don't."
"……."
"……."
"My bad…”
"It's nothing..."]
Park Minseong looked at the dog plushie sadly as if missing my pink bunny doll too.
"You don't have the pink bunny doll anymore?"
"I kept it hidden..."
'With the rest of the stuff that I had...'
"Pfft..."
I turned to see who it was.
It was Baek Saheon.
"Do you find something funny, Goat?"
"No sir. Nothing at all."
'He is definitely making fun of me.'
I started to send him glares when someone else spoke up.
"There is no need to be so sad about not having girlfriend, Grapes-ie!! Look at me and Bronze-ie, both of us don't have girlfriend and we are just fine."
Agent Bronze turned to look at him.
"Why am I mentioned in this?"
"Do you have a girlfriend, Bronze-ie?"
Agent Choi said with a fake gasp, clearly enjoying the current situation.
"No..."
"See?!"
Agent Bronze definitely has it hard...
"Thank you for the encouragement, agents..."
'Can we go away from this conversation now?!'
[ My boss left after offering some generic well-wishes, along the lines of 'Anyway, make sure you don't catch a cold from the AC.'
Whew.
I let out a deep sigh and leaned back in my chair.
The recent conversation reminded me of a KakaoTalk chat message I received earlier…
– Hey Kim Soleum, down for a blind date? lol
– You should definitely take this one lolol
– No way, did 'that incident' give you a phobia of women? lololol
"...Ha."
– Screw off
I tossed my smartphone onto the desk with a thud.
And as I stared at the ceiling where the air conditioner was running, then glanced outside the blinds where the summer sunlight was in full bloom... I looked back at my desktop screen.
July 7th.]
'This darkness is really humiliating me...'
I could hear others giggle at my misfortune.
'Laugh while you still can...'
I couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Counsellor Ho looked very much entertained but there was glimpse of curiosity behind his eyes.
"What happened on July 7th?"
"It's the date when I returned home."
I answered with honesty.
'There is no need for me to talk about the pop-up store since it will be shown soon anyway.'
Counsellor Ho nodded at my answer and focused on the television again.
[ A strangely familiar date was displayed there.
And I instantly realized why that date felt so familiar.
The day I went to the pop-up store.
At the same time...
It was also the day I returned home.
'Ah.'
I see.
Before I knew it, 365 days had passed.
The day I came back to reality from the <Darkness Exploration Records> pop-up store venue.
In other words... it has been exactly a year since that day I finally arrived home.
I had immersed myself back into my original daily routine with surprising speed.
My original life, devoid of ghost stories.
Going to work, heading home, and meeting family on my days off.
The routine of my daily life, which had merely shifted from school to a workplace over the past few decades, created a peaceful rhythm once again.
Human complacency and resilience operated surprisingly well.]
"You visited a pop-up store?"
Go Youngeun decided to ask.
"Yes, but I'm no longer interested in those things."
'It's better to not talk about DER yet.'
"It's surprising that you can remember that you went to pop-up store a year ago."
Lee Seonghae declared which made most of the people nod their heads in agreement.
"Grapes-ie truly has excellent memory."
'That's not it... it was just too traumatising to forget!!'
[ Before I knew it, my time being sucked into another world, into an urban legend, felt like nothing more than a dream or a figment of my imagination.
Whenever I went back to my parents' house to sleep peacefully, or met up with friends and acquaintances to laugh without a single care before returning home, it felt even less real.
‘It feels like a lie.’
The fact that I went to the world of <Darkness Exploration Records>.
The fact that I worked at a mysterious pharmaceutical company that grants wishes and a supernatural government agency.
The fact that I met the characters from that place as real people.
But...
"......"
Sometimes, I still flinch.]
Agent Bronze asked.
"Is our world called 'Darkness Exploration Records' ?"
"No, that's just how I call it..."
'The truth will come soon...'
"Well if you explain the situation like that then I guess you could say it would feel like a dream."
Eun Haje said. The work they do is insane but it is still real.
The moment the flinch part got mentioned, it got quiet.
'Out of all the people here, YOU flinch?'
Baek Saheon thought. That Lunatic being able to flinch is impossible.
I looked at him and stayed quiet.
[– Stay tuned to this channel!
When I hear that phrase on a TV talk show.
When the subway announcement crackles with static. When I fill the bathroom tub with water. When I listen to the logo jingles while grocery shopping at a hypermarket. When I see an advertisement for a counseling program, and...
When I unexpectedly cross paths with <Darkness Exploration Records>.
[The horrific truth behind the 'Panacea' developed by 7 researchers from a famous pharmaceutical company / Qterw-B-486]
"......"
On a Friday night after work.
I had briefly turned on my smartphone while in bed, only to quickly scroll past that WeTube video that popped up on my algorithm.
Because that fading 'sense of reality' would instantly send a sharp chill running up my spine.
'Phew.'
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
It was because I could no longer consume it simply as an entertaining story.
When I read about the tracks or the endings of the people I actually met, how could I possibly not feel an 'unbearable' weight in my heart?
I couldn't bring myself to enjoy <Darkness Exploration Records> like I used to.
At the same time, the mere thought of ever enjoying it as a 'Wiki' again... repulsed me.
It felt like something I shouldn't do.]
"We are characters from that 'Wiki'."
Section Chief confidently declared the sentence...
'Looks like it's time...'
"Yes, you guys are characters in my world."
...
'Someone please just say something.'
"Do you see us as characters, Roe Deer-nim?"
Counsellor Ho asked me. He was probably the one most composed here.
"I don't, not anymore. Some of you were mentioned but you changed. You guys are more than just a few characters in some 'Wiki'."
"Well if that's what Grapes-ie thinks then that's important!!"
[ "......"
And then, one thought sparked another, branching out endlessly.
If the world of <Darkness Exploration Records> that I visited still exists...
Is that world still connected to this world even now?
If so, how much time has passed there since I returned?
How is everyone living over there...?
"Stop."
...Let's stop.
It was pointless to think about it anyway.
"It's not like I can find out, regardless."
You couldn't find out even if you looked at the <Darkness Exploration Records> Wiki.
Because ever since I dropped into that world, a butterfly effect had caused events to unfold differently from the Wiki. But...
‘What if even those changes were reflected in the Wiki?’
Given the nature of a Wiki that gets updated in real-time, is it possible that I just don't know what's happening... right now?
What if I check it out right this moment...?
"......"
No.
Let's not let impulse and unbearable curiosity drag me around.
I barely managed to make it back home; let's not borrow trouble by poking a sleeping dog. ]
'I remember this...'
I thought before hearing Go Youngeun speak.
"I'm pretty sure we all miss you too, Roe Deer."
Go Youngeun stated. There is no way that we couldn’t miss him after everything he has done for us...probably even that guy...
Go Youngeun turns to Baek Saheon who is making disgusted face.
"Talk about yourself..."
I clearly won't miss that lunatic...