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She entered the auditorium with a slight misstep, nearly tripping. It was troublesome. She smoothed her pants, patting them out deliberately, smiling awkwardly at a woman who walked past.
Baek Seoyeon could not mess up this chance at escaping her hometown. She knew that she would have to return one day, but until that happened, she would see this job opportunity as her golden egg.
She sat down near the end of one of the rows, hoping not to run into anyone who was chatty. Seoyeon wasn't up for a chat right now.
Though it appeared she was put together on the outside, it was all a facade. Make-up worked wonders, and Seoyeon had always been good at putting on a pretty face.
Sitting straight up, back perfectly aligned, a little too zealous, she waited. Other hopeful employees-to-be entered the auditorium. They were fluttering about, talking to each other in low voices, some of them looking meeker than the shyest school children.
Seoyeon almost thought that one of them in the corner was acting like Saheon, but she forced that from her mind. This was not the time to think about the past. She couldn't save him. She didn't deserve to recall fond memories of encouraging Saheon to interact with others.
All was going to plan: as the minute ticked by, no one decided to sit next to her. Seoyeon hoped that her straight-laced, or even cold, attitude made anyone too intimidated to sit next to her.
But then, just after the doors to the auditorium closed, a man suddenly sat down next to her. He was tall with dark hair and eyes, his suit smoother than hers and his hand tightly pulling at his cuff links like a nervous quirk.
He looked like her, not in appearance, but in feeling. He didn't make eye contact, choosing to look around the room with half-lidded eyes as if he didn't know what he was seeing. Seoyeon wondered if it was his first time at a company so large, just as it was hers.
She wasn't the type to make friends easily. She was always taking care of others—trying to do the right thing as the older sibling. As the one who had to protect those younger than her from the truth of their village.
Seoyeon knew that her brother assumed she was just as kind to everyone else as she was to him. It was an incorrect assumption, one that worked in her favor, because it made Saheon try to be on his best behavior as if she would leave him if he didn't confess to the impulsive thoughts that lingered in his mind.
She would never be the person her brother thought she was, but maybe just this once, she could emulate it.
"Hello," she greeted the man next to her.
His eyes scanned her, as if just now noticing her presence. He was the one who sat down next to her, yet the slight widening of his eyes made her question his sanity.
"Ah, hello," he replied after a long pause.
Seoyeon noticed he didn't introduce himself. Was that not the norm? She came from a small village where everyone knew everyone, so it wasn't strange for people not to introduce themselves, but ever since moving to the city, she noticed that many gave out their names in almost every conversation they had with someone new.
His eyes continued to scope her face, but soon, it went to checking behind her and beside her. She wasn't his priority; he was focused on the auditorium and its inhabitants.
Just before she managed to ask a question—where are you from, are you like me?—the lights turned off.
Suddenly, trying to get to know the guy next to her wasn't the priority. The announcer at the podium made it seem like they were chosen to be here, the elites of all the different hosting sites to recruit new employees.
Some things clicked once Seoyeon found herself thrown through space.
She was on a train now, a subway train that caused a murky feeling in her stomach to return. It was an unsettling return, like she was sitting in the village, waiting to hear the results of some test.
A shiver went down her spine, and when she looked up to focus on anything aside from this eerie feeling, she only saw two familiar faces.
The woman who passed by her in the auditorium stood just a few steps away, her short bob cut and cute bangs jiggling slightly as the cart continued down the track.
And the man who sat next to her. His eyes didn't focus on the people in the cart. He actually closed his eyes to listen to the train's announcements, like they were important—more important than seeing who all was among their group.
Seoyeon would learn their names: Go Yeongeun and Kim Soleum.
Still, that didn't mean they were friends. Go Yeongeun was too trusting, and Kim Soleum had too much hope in his actions.
Seoyeon was not like them. She had nothing to hold onto.
When she heard an announcement asking for an eye, she didn't hesitate. She couldn't trust in Soleum's plan; she didn't trust anyone in the cabin.
When she took an eye from the man next to her—unsuspecting, always unsuspecting, as if she wasn't a threat—she didn't hesitate. It was easy to survive at the cost of others.
She took the eye with her, and thought she had done well, only to turn around to see Soleum holding up an eye in a small container. Seoyeon was irked as she looked through the window of the train, the subway already starting to move again.
But it was fine. She survived.
Orientation was unlike anything Seoyeon expected. She was glad that later, when she received a bag with her official congratulations on passing, that this wasn't a normal job.
Everyone in the room shook, their shoulders and hands trembling uncontrollably as they accepted their path to a new job—to a way to earn a wish that could make things better.
Part of her didn't believe in the wish. It was too good to be true. No one in their right mind would believe in a wish's powers, even if a display of it occurred in front of them.
The fire was lit anyway. A flicker of flame was all it took, and the wheels in her head started to turn.
What if—
No, she shouldn't be thinking this. It was crazy; he was dead. But…
What if she could bring him back?
Seoyeon's bad luck followed her to Seoul. Did she ever truly leave Jisan? Sometimes it didn't feel like it.
Go Yeongeun, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, was her assigned roommate. She was too nice and more than adamant.
In the first week of living together, Yeongeun constructed a chore chart and a weekly girls' night to do something fun—I was thinking like a movie or a drink or just a day to laugh about all of the crazy things we'll see. Doesn't that sound fun, Seoyeon-ah?
Yeongeun was hard to live with. She was too outgoing and social, which was a strong turn, because at work, she was quiet, like a small mouse. Yet, as soon as Yeongeun stepped into the dorm, her voice came back.
Seoyeon thought Yeongeun was like a rollypolie, always hiding from new people, but as soon as they were safe, they uncurled.
They didn't click immediately, unfortunately.
Even after a couple of weeks of living together, Seoyeon seriously questioned if she should send in an ask to be paired with someone else. She only stopped herself from doing so because the dorm was free with her employment.
They were both working hard, though. Somehow, Soleum was the top rookie—he got into one of the top squads, so Seoyeon wasn't overly surprised—but she and Yeongeun were just after him, and they came in from lower levels.
In the fourth week, Yeongeun didn't come home at a regular time. Seoyeon hadn't expected the fear she felt as the hours went by with no sign of her roommate showing up.
Yeongeun returned late in the morning, blood on her shirt and in her nails. R-squad's other rookie died, and Yeongeun had to witness it but keep silent or else give away her position.
Seoyeon was glad that Yeongeun was the one to survive. She didn't think much of that feeling. It was only natural to want the person you knew to live rather than a stranger, yet more things kept popping up.
Was Seoyeon growing attached?
She couldn't be. Seoyeon couldn't have anything standing in her way. She just needed to focus on clearing Darknesses and earning points for a Wish Potion. She couldn't allow herself to care for someone else.
Trying to lock out her emotions didn't work at all. It was an instant failure.
It was like living with a sister, Seoyeon thought one morning when she woke up to find Yeongeun attempting to make pancakes.
She hated that she had the thought, but as Yeongeun screamed as she lipped the pancake, and the non-cooked part of the pancake splattered onto her during the flip, Seoeyon had no choice but to laugh.
And then Yeongeun, in response, lit up. She grinned widely from ear to ear, and sniggered. Loudly. Pointing at Seoyeon and accusing her of always being a stick in the mud.
Seoyeon threatened to leave and not eat the pancakes Yeongeun prepared. Yeongeun abated, just for that, but the looks she sent to Seoyeon the rest of the day lingered. They were full of happiness and awe, like Yeongeun had known this entire time that Seoyeon wasn't showing her true self.
How annoying. Seoyeon wasn't supposed to show her hand. She was to stay guarded and leave people guessing. She was dangerous—she would sacrifice others for her goals, didn't they know?
Things were going too well, Seoyeon supposed.
She walked into Baekilmong with her head down, only briefly scanning her badge before she turned back to her phone.
The rookie group chat was loud that morning, full of gossip and news of the latest feats of the elite groups—Butterfly was the hottest, Seoyeon would not take any other questions at this time. Apparently, there was some kind of scammer hitting people up, too, that Seoyeon needed to be wary of.
However, as Seoyeon boarded the elevator up, she glanced up to see a familiar face. Soleum in the flesh, or Roe Deer as most people referred to him now when they weren't whispering about him as the Super Rookie.
"Goat-ssi," he greeted, if a bit awkwardly.
"Roe Deer-ssi," she replied cooly, delicately clicking off her phone so that he didn't read their current topic—how he managed to basically defeat a Darkness through mere words.
"I, uh, I wanted to ask you something if you don't mind," Soleum continued, looking much more nervous than the picture that everyone else painted him as.
Seoyeon nodded her head, allowing it. "Sure."
"Do you have any male siblings? Or have you considered being a man yourself?"
… This guy was strange.
Seoyeon remained impassive, but internally, she was telling herself to never interact with Soleum again. She allowed some questions, but she could never have expected this topic.
Did he know about Saheon? Did he know about their village? Was he actually a Baekilmong implant to spy on the rookies just as some of the group chat members suspected?
"I'm not sure what you mean," Seoyeon responded calmly, if a bit shortly.
Soleum nervously smiled and said, "That's okay. I'm… I'm not sure what answer I was expecting, honestly."
So why did he ask it? Seoyeon judged him heavily. Maybe more than she needed to, but really, why was he asking about this in an elevator? What was he hoping to pry out of her?
Whatever. Her floor was the first stop, and she exited the elevator quickly, not once turning around.
"I am being called in?" Seoyeon asked, almost wondering if she had heard it incorrectly.
Today was her day off. She planned on watching a movie with Yeongeun after going out for breakfast. They had picked out the restaurant last week. Seoyeon was really looking forward to it.
Seoyeon got an affirmative, and with no other information, she had to get ready for work.
After dressing in her suit, not even bothering to put on a tie, Seoyeon exited her room to find Yeongeun also rushing to get ready. Seoyeon was going to apologize for missing their breakfast, but apparently that was unnecessary.
"Did you get called in as well?" Seoyeon asked.
Yeongeun looked up from where she was putting on her shoes, and confirmed, "I did. A little strange, wouldn't you say?"
"It is," Seoyeon agreed.
But… It was good too. If they were calling in people, it meant that it was dangerous and the Darkness needed to be explored. It meant that the possibility of earning a high amount of points was basically guaranteed.
They walked to Baekilmong together, neither of them talking much. They were both stressed, and on Seoyeon's part, excited. She thought about how much progress she could make toward her goal of the Wish Potion.
This was at least a 3,000-point assignment, 5,000 Points if she were lucky. F-squad went on a good number of missions, but they entered Darknesses too frequently—it was about the quantity of Darknesses rather than quality.
The briefing for the Darkness was blunt and abrupt. Yeongeun gave her a nervous glance, and Seoyeon couldn't offer much in return. The Darkness—Manor of the Blind—didn't have an assigned class level, just that it was difficult and possible A-Class.
Seoyeon read the manual, falling into the ghost story willingly, with a smile. If she managed to survive this, she was going to be just that much closer to earning her wish.
Actually being in the Darkness was a different matter. She thought she'd enter it with Yeongeun beside her, but instead, she was alone. Seoyeon readjusted the mask across her face, and analyzed her surroundings.
She heard screams. She ignored them.
She stepped quietly, turning around corners only after scouting them out. She was careful, not going toward any sounds. She went in the opposite direction, following silence instead.
That's when Seoyeon entered a room that had a display of a human spine. Well, not just a single one. There were multiple human spines, and they were connected, as if assembling one large structure.
Seoyeon had seen death in the face before—sometimes, she wondered if she was in the afterlife, atoning for her sins and failures before moving on to a higher place—but this was somehow worse.
It was needlessly cruel, and she'd soon come to find out that the cruelty wasn't on purpose.
She saw her first fellow agent when a hand snatched her ankle. Seoyeon didn't scream, but she did kick the arm that grabbed her. The man who touched her yelled, and then he sobbed.
Whale was from a lower squad, apparently, and had been sent into the Darkness three hours ago. He didn't have an ear any longer, and was hiding because these large mechanical machines were hunting him down to take more body parts from him.
Seoyeon left Whale behind, not appreciating his bemoaning, but accepted his intel.
At some point in time, these machines would come for her. That must be what the screams were from. Other agents had infiltrated this museum and were being divvied up for parts.
If Seoyeon was being honest, she didn't take the threat upon her life seriously. She browned the Employee Shop constantly, trying to get a feel for how much a Point was worth. If 500,000 Points were needed for a Wish Potion, then a single Point wasn't much, yet at the same time, it was.
Seoyeon knew that there were regeneration potions available from the shop, too. She could buy one—it'd set her back at least two weeks' worth of grinding Darknesses—but this Darkness would be worth it as long as this was an A-Class.
She continued through the Darkness. She saw one of the machines up close, and with one moment in their presence, she understood why everyone was so afraid.
The machines were large yet quiet, not making much noise. It was only in this silent manor that they were able to be heard. The small whirl of their parts wasn't much.
The first time she passed by a machine, it went smoothly. Its camera lens looked at her for a long time, but then it moved on after a quick assessment. Seoyeon then recalled that the manual had said that the first hour of exploration was free.
So it meant she didn't have a long time until the machines would expect her to pay to view the museum, just as other agents did with their ears or eyes or worse.
Seoyeon was spotted 25 minutes later. Her free time had been up, and every moment that passed without her knowing how to escape, the more she felt an itch. She wanted to yell. She didn't completely recall the manual despite reading it thoroughly.
As she glanced around, she spotted an elevator, but then she heard that small whirl. The buzz of a machine.
There weren't many hiding places in the hallway, but Seoyeon had just passed through a vent. She didn't even second-think it as she quickly forced herself into the nook, folding down to hug her knees.
The machine passed by, no camera lens landing on her. She breathed out, relieved.
And then a minute later, she saw a familiar face suddenly appear in the hallway, as if he was also called in on his day off.
Soleum arrived, and since Seoyeon needed to survive, she pulled him inside the vent with her.