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Footsteps sounded loudly around the giant hall. I stayed completely still in the dark and cramped closet. There were no signs of any light pouring in from the small line of gap that allowed peeks either. Cold sweat covered my back entirely, I could feel my clothes sticking to me. The familiar uncomfortableness I felt was the least of my worries.
Ar e y ou n o t scar ed ?
...
Yo u're re a lly no t sc are d? H ey. Yo u're to oo o oota lly sc are d. Hah ah ah a haha! Hah ah ah a h ah ah a! A m I sca r y?
Isn't this just bullying...?
– Ah, what childish remarks! Such behavior is no way to welcome a guest!
The high-pitched voice that almost sounded like the screeching sound made when teachers write on the blackboard, kept speaking to me inside my head. Yes. There was a darkness like this.
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Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story [The voice resonating within you]
: A ghost story featured in
: Baekilmong co. identification code – Qterw-C-76
It's a psychological torture ghost story that repeats your strongest thoughts—usually negative—Inside your head, and mocks you about them mercilessly. It sometimes even bring up thoughts you aren't aware of.
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Basically, it was a ghost story meant to drive people insane. There will be 3 patrollers inside this hall, they will stop walking around for 4 minutes every 20 minutes. When they stop, the entire hall will become silent. The only way to clear this ghost story was for each person to run towards a closet, stay inside it, and endure until the 7th silence.
If you can endure until then, a light will shine through the gap of the closet, by that time, you will be able to open the closet and get out safely.
It was a relatively easy ghost story, but I–
Yo u w an t to go hom e?
...What?
H ah a. Y ou wan t t o go h ome? Th er e i s no pla ce yo u c an cal l ho me, sill y!
That's not true. I know I have. I know where I came from...
Yo u ca n' t g o ho m e! Yo u ca n' t g o ho m e! You ca n' t g o home! You can't g o ho m e! You can' t go hom e! Yo u ca n' t g o home! Yo u can' t go ho m e! Yo u ca n' t g o ho m e! Yo u can't go home! You can' t go home! You can' t go ho m e! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go home! You can't go—
As if getting confident in it's words, the voice that yelled in my head became clearer, more resolute. It almost sounded convincing. No. I know that's not true. It's a ghost. It's just mocking me.
You can't go home! There's nowhere like that for you! Nowhere! Nowhere! Nowhere! Nowhere! Nowhere! Nowhere!
No..! There is. I will go home. I know I will. That elevator ghost story helped me confirm it. Right, I just needed to keep this up.
– As expected of my friend, you have such a strong will. One that's befitting of a show host!
'Thank you, Brown...'
As I focused on ignoring the voices that rang in my head relentlessly, time passed by.
Step, step, step.
......
Now! Seeing the blinding light that glowed from the gap, I pushed open the closet and jumped towards the light, letting it engulf my whole body.
***
Exhaustion bursted through me the moment I exited the company building. All of a sudden, I'm feeling thankful for their provided dorms again. I can't wait to shower and just pass out on my bed... I'm too tired to watch cartoons.
As I unlocked the door to the dorm, I glanced around the living room. Quiet and empty. Baek Saheon was probably in his room like usual. Good. After finishing two darkness explorations in a row today, I'm mentally strained. If you asked me to act like a psychopath for the sake of keeping up a persona in front of someone who might kill me instantly if given the chance, I really will die.
So please don't come out. Tomorrow is the weekends, so it should be okay. Luckily, I don't have anything planned, so I can just stay at the dorm and get my well-deserved rest.
I carefully set brown on top of the cushion on my room's desk before going to shower.
As I thought about today's events with warm water washing away my exhaustion, my mind drifted back into the ghost story earlier. The way it sounded so sure of itself, why? I had dismissed it as nonsense, but... no, no. I shouldn't have doubts. Not now. Not when I'm close to getting the wish ticket.
I dried myself and put on my pajamas, stepping out of the bathroom-..! Ack!! Baek Saheon!
I almost jumped back out of reflex. I was thinking so much that I didn't hear him coming! No, seriously, didn't I just say I was too tired to deal with him?
"...?"
It honestly scared me... why wasn't he wearing the eyepatch? Ah, no, don't look at it.
Suppressing a shiver, I shot him a glare with a cold expression and calmly walked into my room, shutting the door. ...Just now, he raised his eyebrow and looked at me skeptically.
I looked towards brown.
– Hm?
'No, nevermind.'
Whatever it is, I'll think about it again tomorrow. Yeah. It was the weekends. For now, just sleep.
***
Holy shit!!! Crazy!! Baek Saheon splashed his face with water, wondering if this was real. He had got out of his room because he thought he was hallucinating voices in his head. He thought he was contaminated somehow, but that couldn't be right. None of the darkness he entered today had that kind of effect.
He was going to wash his face, hoping it was just tiredness. But then he bumped into that psycho. He was freaked out initially... until that voice he had been hearing spoke again.
[Ack!! Baek Saheon!]
'Although it was in my head, that was definitely Kim Soleum's voice! What, he said he was scared of the eye he gave to me?'
It sounded like nonsense. Yes. It didn't make sense at all and it didn't sound anything like the psychopath he knew. The Kim Soleum he (kinda) grew accustomed to always sprouted crazy bullshit you'd hear from a serial killer and he doesn't know when to quit!! But now you're telling me he was scared of horror!?
It felt unreal. However, true to his nature, Baek Saheon saw this as an opportunity. This could be a weakness!!! If this was a chance given to him by the gods, then he might as well make good use of it!
what kind of person would he be if he looked away from gold when it was right in front of him?
With that in mind, he went to bed with a good feeling.
Starting from there, Baek Saheon spent the weekend listening to Kim Soleum's thoughts. He would deliberately pass by him in the living room, bumping into him 'accidentally', and going around the dorms without his eyepatch.
Kim Soleum... that guy was so damn careful. He didn't slip, not once. His expression was always the same, he never even flinched. But now, even his carefulness can't save him.
As he kept listening, he began to figure out how this 'ability' worked.
He seemed to only be able to hear thoughts that had strong emotions linked to them. So, unfortunately, he can't get any hints about darkness. But that was fine. Because gaining information about darkness isn't his only goal.
Two days passed. Now, Baek Saheon was sure.
The thoughts that occured to Kim Soleum most: [I'm scared], [I'm on the verge of tears]... and, [I want to go home.] So if he pieced everything from his thoughts and his actions up until now altogether...
Click.
"...You're in the way." Kim Soleum spoke with a hint of annoyance, as if to sound threatening.
.
.
"Kim Soleum. Are you a coward?"
..!? Kim Soleum's eyes widened.
Bingo.
Baek Saheon watched his supervisor's face crumble with a smug face.
...Ah. He had deliberately picked this timing—when I get off work. When I was tired from working all day long. When I didn't have the energy to keep up a facade.
I felt tears beginning to well up at the corners of my eyes again. I should've expected this. I should've been able to counter this. Why did I let my guard down? Why did I fall asleep yesterday knowing something felt wrong? This was a ghost story world. The Baek Saheon who was scared of me was still...
Viper. Of course. He was a person like this. I knew that. When? When did he notice? What triggered that thought? Can I deny it now? How does my face look like? Do I look scared? Can I still-
"You do."
...
Ha. I had almost forgotten, distracted by what was said to me. But last week's ghost story, [The voice resonating within you], had an exploration record of an anomaly that only occured if you had intense thoughts affected by the voice during the ghost story.
An lingering effect that exposes your vulnerabilities to someone who had strong feelings towards you. In Baek Saheon's case, it was probably hatred. Or fear. But I'm leaning towards hatred. Calm Down... if I can talk this out somehow...
"...What did you hear?"
Baek Saheon scoffed.
"Why would I tell you? That defeats the purpose of having this ability, doesn't it?"
Should I just kill him?
"..."
Maybe I should've just let this guy die in that lodge.
"!!"
'Baek Saheon, can you hear me?'
...
No answer. The poisonous snake just stared at me with his arms crossed. Seriously. Why does this have to happen? I'm so tired. It's not like I wanted to act like a psychopath. Was I supposed to just act like myself and risk getting fired or killed or thrown into the round-off teams? Was I supposed to just be a pushover? I'm so close to getting the wish ticket, you know. Couldn't you just ignore the sounds?
What did I even do? In the first place, I just wanted to go home. It's not like that's a crime. Just as you did everything cruel and unjust to survive, I also only did what I could to survive in this horrifying world.
Is being a coward really that big of a deal? I'm good at my job, aren't I? I've saved your life more than once, didn't I? Fuck. Why did I even do that? Right. Wow. Honestly, this is pissing me off. Is this how you treat someone who saved your life three times?
– Oh dear. My friend, it seems like you have a lot of pent up frustrations.
That's right. I do. I'm about to cry out of anger right now. This kid don't know how to be grateful and he's even threatening me.
– An irritating coworker you have, indeed. Then, Mr Roe Deer, shall this Brown here lend you a hand?
'No.'
I shut Brown's suggestion down, as much as I'm frustrated, it wouldn't be a good idea. Actually, I don't think I want to see Baek Saheon incinerated. I don't even wanna imagine it.
When I finally snapped out of my thoughts and looked back at him, Baek Saheon was wincing, rubbing his temple like he was in pain. Why?
"Fuck... you're so loud."
Ah.
"Aren't you used to it by now?"
"Why the hell would I be?"
"You acted like you had me all figured out. So you should've expected this."
"..."
Even if I could no longer use the psychopathic dopamine addict superior card, I can't just let him do whatever he wants.
"Yeah. So don't come to me acting like you know all about me now. Hey. What makes you think I couldn't just keep thinking of a lie over and over?"
"You can't do that. If you could, you wouldn't have looked so shocked when I called you a coward."
That again.
"Really? You believed I was a psychopath until now. I could've also been acting just to see how you would react."
"You-"
I walked closer to him, putting my hand on his shoulder.
"What I'm trying to say is: don't cross the line, Baek Saheon. Just because you know a thing or two, you think you're invincible? Have you always been that stupid?"
"This fucker-!"
... That felt pretty good.
I ignored the glare that was burning holes into my back and walked into my room as calm as I can. I already felt a headache coming. How will I handle this guy now... sigh. Everything's a mess.
***
Kim Soleum is so loud. Baek Saheon thought while walking next to the said loud person.
Ever since he had gotten that ability to hear his supervisor's thoughts, everyday was less than pleasant. It was already bad enough to be working in this shitty company, of course, but he thought that ability would've helped him! It sounded like the perfect way to turn things around at that time.
But that bastard Kim Soleum's thoughts and actions are complete opposites that it put him off even worser than before.
Sometimes, Kim Soleum's thoughts would mirror his own. Thoughts that he also had, especially when he thinks about the village. He even tried to threaten Kim Soleum, saying he'll send him off to the round-off team. Kim Soleum just looked at him with a face that said 'Go ahead. Who would believe you?' This guy seriously piss him off.
Other times, Kim Soleum would keep thinking [stay calm, stay calm] to himself then proceed to scream internally right after. It made Baek Saheon wonder how did he even become supervisor and an elite squad member in the first place.
Right now, they were on their way to an unamed bridge.
This was an easy Darkness that just needed everyone to say feelings that you would never show to others in your daily life on the bridge out loud in order to get out. If you refuse to confess those feelings or lie, the Darkness will personally reach out it's hand and take your heart; and if you don't say anything, you can never leave.
He didn't question why he was paired with Kim Soleum, it was likely because they were from the same batch. This happens occasionally.
He took a glance at the supervisor next to him. He looked calm, as always. His expression is just as irritating as usual. Hah. As they took the stairs to get onto the bridge, Kim Soleum didn't threaten him to keep quiet or anything.
"Mr Goat. Do you want to go first?"
Oh, really.
"Are you trying to find out how to screw me over?"
"No. I don't need to."
'Right. I'm the only one who gets annoyed whenever I see your face, huh?' Baek Saheon took a deep breath. Actually, this Darkness wasn't that bad. But it was... humiliating. He was always a person who hated showing weakness, and the way his hometown clinged to his memories like a parasite, making his heart ache—He never wanted anyone to know it, this side of him.
The fact that the person who will end up knowing all of these, is Kim Soleum, was the worst. Before Baek Saheon could say anything, the person next to him spoke again.
"Don't drag this on longer than necessary. Can you not speak?"
Kim Soleum sighed.
"I'll go first."
Inhale.
"Ah, ah. Ahem. ...I've thought of wanting to die more times than I can count..! I hate this ghost story world, honestly, I'm so fucking scared every day, even after working hours. Hey, what if- I get sucked into a ghost story in the middle of the night? What if Baek Saheon gets fed up and stabs me out of nowhere? Would Brown warn me? They're not in the records I know, so how could I predict anything like that? I hate this, I hate this so much, it gets so tiring, and I can barely sleep at night.."
It almost sounded like Kim Soleum was waiting for this, to spill everything out. What the. Was this what you wanted?
[Shit. I feel like I'll cry.]
Maybe not.
"... I want to go home!" [... I want to go home!]
... He heard that often.
"Haah, ha... There. It's your turn, Mr Goat."
He turned to Saheon, waiting for his words. Saheon clicked his tongue, but he knew there was no use complaining.
"I miss my noona."
"I... sometimes lie awake at night, thinking about what I could've done to prevented it from happening. I resented myself a little, I wanted to meet her again! Even so... I still want to live. Even if death comes up in my head, in the end when I'm thinking of how much I miss noona, they're just fleeting thoughts... I've never stopped wanting to live."
Click. The sound of a door opening. But there was no door. Instinctively, both of the Baekilmong employees looked around, then took out their dream essence collector to check.
It was full. After confirming it, they walked down the stairs.
On the way back to the company building, Baek Saheon stared at Kim Soleum for a moment, as if contemplating something. Then he decided to say something impulsive.
"I don't plan on stabbing you in the middle of the night, Kim Soleum."
He thought he heard a small gasp, accompanied with a relieved sigh.
"Yes.. That's good to know."
[Thank goodness.]
Despite the familiar voice overthinking right after the relief washed over (which took less than 20 seconds), He still looked slightly more relaxed.
Kim Soleum was kind of easy to please... Baek Saheon felt the corners of his lips curl up a little, amused.
The walk back to the company was peaceful.