Chapter Text
“Grapes.” Kim Soleum met his senior’s gaze. “Hold onto this lantern and stick close to me, alright?” He nodded, accepted the lantern without a second thought.
In the pitch black forest, two men wearing blue jackets were illuminated by a dimly lit lantern as they walked side by side. With the lantern swaying in hand, Kim Soleum quickly glanced around, swallowing dryly as he did so.
There seemed to be nothing around them.
“Agent….” Kim Soleum called out. “We—“ He paused abruptly, footsteps coming to a halt. Quickly, he glanced to his right where the agent was— no, where the agent should have been.
Kim Soleum broke into cold sweat, staring at the empty space beside him.
There was nobody there.
He was sure the agent had been next to him just a second ago. The faint sound of the other’s footsteps and the feeling of their shoulder brushing against his couldn’t have been fake— The agent really had been next to him but where could he have disappeared to?
Kim Soleum stiffened up, suppressing a heavy sigh that was about to escape his lips. He stared at the empty dark space in front of him and continued to walk forward without any signs of stopping. In his mind, there was a vague idea of what could explain this situation but he couldn’t bring himself to confirm just yet.
Kim Soleum kept moving straight until the light of his lantern illuminated something blocking his path. He stopped, lifting the lantern towards it to take a closer look.
“A wall?” He whispered to himself.
He took another step forward, his other hand reaching out towards the wall. Just then, the space around him seemed to have suddenly shifted with the wall completely disappearing out of sight. The startled agent stood still, glancing around with a slight frown on his lips.
This clearly wasn’t the same ghost story he’d been exploring with his senior agent.
It was different— A ghost story Kim Soleum had vaguely suspected after the disappearance of his partner.
[Into The Maze]
: A ghost story featured in < Dark Exploration Records >
: Daydream Inc. identification code - Qterw-C-88A shifting maze home to a variety of entities.
Pairs of wanderers may end up inside this maze when lost in another ghost story while holding an object bright enough to illuminate their figures.
If you wander around enough, you might reach the center of the maze.
“Hah….” Kim Soleum let out a quiet sigh he’d been holding.
If this situation was exactly what he thinks it is then this ghost story….
Thump. Thump.
At that moment, echoing sounds of large footsteps belonging to something definitely not human could be heard. Kim Soleum swallowed a scream, holding onto the lantern in hand tightly.
As if being by himself wasn’t already scary enough, he was also alone in a ghost story that required you move in pairs.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Kim Soleum tried to suppress his heavy breathing with his body leaning against the wall. He was sitting up with the lantern pressed close against him. The throbbing pain from his injured right thigh hurt like hell. It was physically impossible for him to keep moving.
He had to find a partner quickly.
…. But how?
He hadn’t encountered a single person while running away from monsters and it wouldn’t take long for the creature to find him again. As long as he wasn’t in a pair, there was no chance of survival for him.
Tap. Tap.
Kim Soleum immediately moved his head towards the direction where he’d suddenly heard footsteps coming from. The footsteps sounded normal like they belonged to a human this time.
But was it really a human?
He bit his lower lip, preparing to bolt right away but as he tried to get up, sharp pain instantly shot up from his injured thigh, forcing him back down. Before Kim Soleum could even panic, a low voice belonging to the owner of those footsteps could be heard.
“I was wondering why this area was bright.” Kim Soleum looked up and was met by a rather tall man dressed nicely in a suit with a tiger mask covering the upper half of his face. “So you’re one of those agents, huh?” His tone sounded overly friendly but Kim Soleum could feel the sharp gaze of those blue eyes scanning him thoroughly.
A tiger mask and a suit.
There was no mistaking who this man was.
Kim Soleum was quickly able to recall the contents of a character who had been mentioned in the wiki before.
He was an employee working under Daydream— It was Assistant Manager Choi from C-Squad.
‘Of all people…...’ Kim Soleum wanted to curse out loud. But still, a part of him felt relieved that it was another human being instead of a monster. If it hadn’t been a human who had stumbled here, Kim Soleum was sure he wouldn’t have been able to escape.
“Agent-nim, you’re injured?”
Kim Soleum didn’t reply— or rather, he couldn’t find the right words to say at that moment. Nonetheless, the man wearing a tiger mask continued with a smile, “I can heal you.”
The agent raised a brow curiously.
Choi slightly bent his body forward and took out a bottle filled with unknown liquid. He pushed it towards Kim Soleum and said, “It’s a C-grade healing potion.” His gaze shifted to look at Kim Soleum’s right thigh. “Suitable for your injury, Agent-nim.”
Kim Soleum silently stared at the potion bottle, unmoved.
“A potion made by Daydream.”
“Who else would it be made by?”
‘This bastard sure is provocative….’ Kim Soleum’s lips twitched as he thought. Choi’s personality really did match up with his wiki descriptions.
“Thank you but I’m alright.” He politely declined.
‘Who knows what would happen if I drink that…’ Even if he was currently in a desperate situation, he still couldn’t trust a strange healing potion. Not only was it unfamiliar to him, the person offering it was a Daydream employee as well.
An employee who Kim Soleum was familiar with.
He couldn’t guarantee that this guy wouldn’t pull any sort of stunt.
In other words, Choi couldn’t be trusted.
“As expected from an agent.” Choi fixed his posture, standing straight as he gently shook the potion bottle in hand. “Then how do you expect to move around this place in your condition?”
“That’s not something for you to worry about, civilian.” Kim Soleum calmly responded. His gaze moved towards the empty space beside Choi and realised something.
‘He doesn’t have a partner?’
He was sure that Daydream employees were here to collect dream essences for the company so they should know how to navigate this ghost story with the manuals they were provided with. Could he have also been separated from his partner?
Choi seemed to have noticed his curious gaze and spoke out softly, “Agent-nim, I don’t have a partner just like you so….”
Thud—!
Both of their heads instantly turned towards the direction of the sound.
“Get down!” Kim Soleum shouted lowly with his voice loud enough for Choi to hear and before the Daydream employee could even react, he’d been pulled down by the agent. Choi was forced to sit right next to Kim Soleum, leaning up against the wall with the sides of their bodies pressed together and the lantern held closely.
The ground slightly shook as something horrifying approached. With a hand clutching tightly onto the lantern and another hand clinging onto Choi’s arm, Kim Soleum whispered, “Keep your head down and don’t move.”
Choi didn’t answer and kept his head low.
‘Phew….’ Kim Soleum was grateful for his cooperation.
It didn’t take long for the monster to arrive. Through Kim Soleum’s limited view, he could see the ‘feet’ of something unnatural, slowly walking around as if it was trying to find something. He swallowed dryly, feeling cold sweat dripping down his chin.
The monster sluggishly moved before stopping right in front of them. Because of how close they were, Kim Soleum now could see the monster’s ‘feet’ more clearly. It was something that was shaped like feet but actually wasn’t at all. The thing was slimy, made up of legs and feet that were stuck together. Those limbs seemed to have been forcibly ripped from other humans.
Kim Soleum wanted to throw up.
Was it a monster that was trying to look human by sticking human parts to itself?
If that was the case then he didn’t want to imagine what the rest of this monster looked like.
The creature stood there for a while before raising its ‘feet’, almost as if it was preparing to take another step forward. Kim Soleum sat stiffly and held his breath, internally crying as he did so. In the next second, the creature suddenly shifted to the side and continued to walk off slowly.
Barely suppressing a scream, Kim Soleum let out a silent sigh of relief and moved his head up, leaning it against the wall once the monster completely left the area. Beside him, Choi was staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
The moment Kim Soleum met his gaze, Choi suddenly attempted to stand up. Instinctively, the agent pulled his sleeve, giving it a tug, abruptly stopping the other’s movements.
“Where are you going?” Kim Soleum questioned.
Choi glanced back at the agent with amusement visible in his gaze and stated as if it was already obvious, “To find a partner, of course?”
“But—“ But I’m right here?
Kim Soleum quickly swallowed his words as realization suddenly hit him.
“Haaahhh…” Choi let out a breathy laugh and said, “You obviously don’t trust me, Agent-nim.” He was clearly referring to how Kim Soleum had firmly rejected his healing potion earlier.
“That….”
“Hm?” Choi leaned closer towards the agent who visibly swallowed. “Then is Agent-nim interested in cooperating with me? Of course, if you don’t trust me then I can always find another partner and run whenever I encounter a monster. As for you….” He glanced at Kim Soleum’s thigh.
Kim Soleum pressed his lips together and felt an explosive urge to curse this bastard out loud. He sent him a glare, almost wanting to voice out, “What other choice do I have?”
Instead, he responded with a calm voice, “Could you guarantee that another partner would have a lantern with them?” This was a ghost story that required you to stick in pairs and lanterns were not just light sources, it also functioned like a barrier to obstruct the monster’s view. As long as you held the lantern close to you and your partner, evading monsters was easy.
“True.” Choi grinned and helplessly said, “Then I have no other choice but to cooperate with you now, Agent-nim.”
‘He was messing with me….’ Kim Soleum wanted nothing more than to hit Choi in the head with the lantern at this moment.
“—Or, I could just steal the lantern from you right now.” Kim Soleum immediately shot him an unpleasant look. Choi laughed and quickly added, “I wouldn’t do something like that obviously!"
‘Is he seriously enjoying this?’ Kim Soleum frowned.
“Look, I can’t trust an agent either but…” Choi took a red string. Kim Soleum stared at the string with a puzzled look on his face as Choi slowly started to explain, “This is a string that will keep us together. Not only are we unable to stray apart from each other in this maze, it also prevents both parties from deceiving one another. What do you think?”
Normally, Kim Soleum would’ve been more suspicious but he recognised this item upon hearing the description. It had been mentioned in the wiki before and functioned exactly as Choi said.
It was obvious that Choi had purposely brought this item along into this ghost story, expecting this exact situation to unfold.
But there was one thing Choi hadn’t mentioned yet.
“And the negative side effects?”
“If you end up separating from the other person for too long while the strings are still connected, you both die and your souls will be tied together for eternity.” Choi answered exactly like Kim Soleum had anticipated.
“Okay.” Kim Soleum held a hand out. “Let’s partner up then.”
Choi smiled and wasted no time to tie the string on Kim Soleum’s ring finger. He then handed the other end of the string to the agent who did the same for him as well. Once they were done, Choi took out the C-grade healing potion once more.
“Is this safe for me to drink?” Kim Soleum asked.
“Of course it is!” Choi enthusiastically replied.
With the red string tying them both together, Choi could only answer truthfully from now on. The agent quietly thanked the other and drank the potion. Almost immediately, his injuries began to heal and burning pain completely vanished.
“Looking forward to cooperating with you, Agent-nim.” Choi smiled brightly. “What should I call you?”
“Grapes. You can call me Agent Grapes.”
“I see.” He nodded and pointed at the mask worn on his face. “You can refer to me as Mr. Tiger.”
“Alright….”
With that, they’ve officially entered a temporary partnership.