GSGW c216

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Chapter 216

A dull mind stared into the darkness before it and began to think…

A ghost story of the Church of the Luminous Unknown that had been deleted from the wiki.

And yet it exists here. That must mean…

“…Because it still exists, at least as a deletion record.”

Stories that had once met the recommendation threshold and were temporarily registered on the wiki, but were later removed for failing the listing criteria, could still be found under “Deleted Ghost Stories.”

If that is the case…

Is this ghost story truly a power created by the Church of the Luminous Unknown?

Or is it unrelated, since it was deleted for “insufficient connection to the Church of the Luminous Unknown”?

…What kind of world is this place that summoned me into such a grotesque body…?

Confusion slowly spreads through the crumbling brain.

The smoke trembles.

“…Are you alright?”

A voice is heard.

It belongs to the one wearing the badger mask.

I can feel their gaze peering into the bathroom from outside the door.

They seem to want a conversation.

Stand by.

But I must make a judgment.

If a ghost story that might belong to the Church of the Luminous Unknown falls into the hands of Daydream Inc., what kind of effects or side effects would that—

……

…….

Does that even matter?

It does not.

For me to ponder the origins, foundations, and contradictions of this ghost story is meaningless.The only task given to me is to carry out my work.

That is the purpose of my employment contract. Nothing else is required.

There is only one thing I must do.

Verification in progress.

Determine whether this is darkness suitable for Dream-Thread production at Daydream Inc.

There are three criteria.

1. It must allow the collection of Dream-Threads through clearing the scenario.

2. Survival and successful return must be improvable through a manual.

A deduction can be made.

The meaningful clearing method is probably “enduring without making contact with the rainwater until the rain stops.”

A haunting on rainy days.

Since this ghost story originates more from luring victims than direct slaughter or violence, maintaining one’s sanity and simply locking the door should already increase survival chances.

If exploration records accumulate, its behavioral patterns could be inferred.

“Conditions 1 and 2 satisfied.”

And finally, the third condition.

3. It must be easy to contain or store.

….

I looked down at the bathtub filled with rainwater and slowly tapped my chin with a finger.

Estimating.

And then I reached a conclusion.

Conditions satisfied.

: Suitable darkness.

And then—

Subjugation in progress for transferable containment.

I began my work.

“Roe Deer? Right now—”

I covered the rainwater in the bathtub with mist.

What is concealed within the fog will now regain its original form.

By deleting unnecessary descriptions and records.

Returning it to what it truly is.

==

[Rainwater Echo]

: On rainy days, it targets victims who approach puddles of rainwater. During the process, it mimics the appearance and voices of previous victims in order to lure people.

It can also “speak” in a wide variety of forms—letters, notes, drawings—stretching the meaning of communication into something unsettling.

It imitates the format of a binary-choice ghost story, forcing the victim to agonize over whom to trust. But in truth, every option leads to the same end—misery.

It toys with its victims. A twist that exploits the human belief that choosing the correct person will allow them to survive.

==

[Rainwater Echo]

: On rainy days, it targets victims who approach puddles of rainwater. During the process, it mimics the appearance and voices of previous victims in order to lure people.

It can also “speak” in a wide variety of forms—letters, notes, drawings—stretching the meaning of communication into something unsettling.

It imitates the format of a binary-choice ghost story, forcing the victim to agonize over whom to trust. But in truth, every option leads to the same end—misery.

It toys with its victims. A twist that exploits the human belief that choosing the correct person will allow them to survive.

==

“AAAAAAAH—!”

From the bathtub comes a dying scream and desperate pleas, echoing through the bathroom.

The scream of something being erased from existence.

It sounds very much like the cry of a victim.

Having spent so long learning how to lure prey, its method has grown far more elaborate than the wandering superstitions it originated from.

'So it learned deception.'

The dead victims become new bait, mixing truth and lies to craft convincing choices that lure the next sacrifice.

It disguises. It imitates.

It deceives from both sides.

Listen to one voice and doubt it. Listen to the other and doubt that as well.

By the time that happens, it is already too late.

Each time the prey senses something wrong and grasps a piece of the truth, their mind grows weaker. Eventually they choose one side and follow it.

Whichever option they choose, the end awaits in this rainwater.

This time, the bait simply happened to be the couple and the child’s writing in the sketchbook.

But that too is finished.

==

[Rainwater Echo]

: On rainy days, it targets victims who approach puddles of rainwater. During the process, it mimics the appearance and voices of previous victims in order to lure people.

It can also “speak” in a wide variety of forms—letters, notes, drawings—stretching the meaning of communication into something unsettling.

It imitates the format of a binary-choice ghost story, forcing the victim to agonize over whom to trust. But in truth, every option leads to the same end—misery.

It toys with its victims. A twist that exploits the human belief that choosing the correct person will allow them to survive.

==

The rainwater shrouded in smoke now began to vomit out the corpses it had consumed without end.

“Aaaaah!”

Thud.

Thud-thud.

The sound of a corpse pushed out from the bathtub striking the floor echoed through the bathroom. The tiled floor slowly filled with bodies.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

The corpses piled up.

I covered it with smoke, withdrew it, then covered it again—repeating the process as I watched its end unfold.

After expelling the very last corpse, the rainwater pit began to boil as it evaporated.

Delete it.

'More.'

Until it loses its identity and collapses into nothing.

'More.'

Just like me.

'More.'

I can feel my body spreading across the bathroom, collapsing further and further. Until the point of no return. Until the razor-thin edge. Until everything is lost…

"Roe Deer!"

!

"Roe Deer, stop!"

……

……

Improper form of address

Reason: Informal

I withdrew the smoke.

Behind me, I heard the one wearing the badger mask panting for breath.

“…Sorry.”

There was no need to apologize.

'Right.'

If I erased even its identity as a ghost story, it could no longer be used as darkness…

I exhaled smoke through the gas mask, then inhaled it again. My collapsed body slowly began to restore itself.

….

I could feel the badger-masked man’s eyes trembling as he looked at the pile of corpses.

“…How did you end up being able to do something like this?”

I don’t know.

I don’t want to know.

What matters is the next step of the task.

Prepare containment cage.

“……”

Without a word, the man in the badger mask brought over the cage I had originally been kept in.

I checked that there was still sufficient space inside the cage—beyond the volume that would be occupied by me.

Then…

Crunch.

I tore the bathtub itself from the floor. In my grasp, I could feel the rainwater shrinking in fear.

Without hesitation, I shoved the bathtub filled with rainwater into the cage.

Clunk.

The sound of the metal door closing rang out.

“…Confirmed.”

Done.

Carrying the cage, I stepped out of the bathroom.

…..

A gentle silence settled over the house.

Outside the window, the rain was still falling. But instead of that bleak unease and strange dread, there was now only a calm darkness.

The sound of rain was quiet.

Ordinary.

“Ah…”

The caller from the Sales Team, who had been under the Security Team leader’s watch, seemed to notice it as well.

Hope spread across his face.

“I-Is it… over?”

Affirmative.

“Ha…”

The employee sank down again.

But this time it was not from fear. It was from relief.

Soon, the lights in the house flickered back on.

Click.

With the interior bright again, everything looked as though nothing had ever happened.

“We will return.”

The other Security Team members reported the current situation—having returned to reality after escaping the ghost story.

Amid them, the relieved Sales employee finally managed to stand, forcing a smile.

“Th-thank you…”

There is nothing to thank.

Remaining step:

Cost settlement

“…E-excuse me?”

Everything has a price.

[Settlement complete]

[The estimated cost will now be executed.]

“……”

Hearing the voice come from his dead superior’s radio, the Sales employee blinked and slowly raised his head.

“…H-how much will it be?”

[An agent will be assigned shortly.]

[Remaining time: 30 seconds…]

“H-hey, wait! Ah…!”

Suddenly—

A thought slowly passed through my mind.

Anyone who had regularly visited this place on rainy days would have already been entranced from the moment they entered the house.

Just like that employee’s dead superior.

But then…

Did Daydream Inc. truly not know?

That the couple who regularly purchased special potions had become victims of the ghost story and been replaced. Or that they had perhaps already been receiving potions while in the state of ghost-story residents.

That Sales Team employees might become entangled in such a situation.

As long as the payment could be made, did it not matter what direction things went? Or perhaps… the opposite.

……

……

That is not a matter for the Security Team to judge.

“…Let’s go back.”

“Excuse me…? Hey! Wait…!”

The Security Team returned to the company. The shadow from the radio swallowed them once more.

I too was stored inside the containment cage and transported to the isolation chamber beneath the main building.

Yet something lingered in my mind.

The expression on the caller’s face—One that had seemed to say “I survived.” Slowly being covered over by growing anxiety. Like a mosaic beginning to collapse.

***

[Well now. Truly the kind of talent our company wants… no, should I call you divine talent instead? Haha!]

[To capture it so quickly!]

Excited chatter.

The researcher in charge of this work report, Kwak Jaekwang, sounded thrilled as the pages of his papers flipped rapidly.

[Its rank—ah, what rank will it be… It should be at least D. If it comes out as C, that would be really interesting— I mean, it could produce a wide variety of exploration records… quite the darkness.]

[Whispers on a rainy day!]

“…….”

[Well, the two Security Team members assisting you probably ought to thank you, wouldn’t you say?]

[Must’ve been nostalgic—pretending to be an old field exploration team and all. Sounds like it was great fun!]

The man in the badger mask clenched his fist tightly, then slowly loosened it like someone giving up.

……

I raised the accumulated counter for the researcher by one.

And then—

Question

[Ah, of course, you may ask any question you like…]

Question:

Specific cost charged to the caller.

At that moment—

[… … …]

[That’s… what you’re curious about?]

The researcher’s voice suddenly became very gentle.

As if he wanted to sound friendly.

[Of course I should answer. But… this is the first time you’ve asked about something unrelated to your duties. Is there perhaps anything else you’re curious about?]

[Anything is fine…]

As if there was something he wanted to find out.

[Why not ask whatever comes to mind? It doesn’t have to be related to work!]

……

I wrote with smoke.

Cost inquiry: relevant to duties

▶ Efficiency issue

[…Huh?]

Changes in operational behavior depending on cost

: Possibility of provoking aggression or impulsive actions from the caller

[What?]

I kindly attached an example.

Example phrase: “Make it worth the money.”

After a moment of silence—

[…Ah.]

[Well… yes, I suppose that could… happen.]

The researcher’s drained voice came through the speaker, sounding slightly embarrassed.

[Hmm… most callers from the Sales Team don’t really know about the cost, so it likely won’t go that far.]

[And the cost usually isn’t money. …It’s labor.]

……

[This caller will probably be assigned to work at a branch office for a few years.]

A branch office?

A branch of Daydream Inc.—a setting that wasn’t described in detail on the wiki.

[Well, that’s not so bad, right? They’ll even get remote-duty allowances.]

For a moment, something that could have been called worry—or curiosity—flashed through my mind. But it soon sank beneath the sludge of my thoughts.

Inside my head, a notification was already ringing.

—Your working hours have ended. Your working hours have ended. Your working hours have ended.

[…Oh dear. It’s already this late. Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Employee!]

The speaker cut off.

And just like that, the sealed room where I sat fell silent.

……

I sat down on the bed.

The training videos no longer played.

The space imitating a company dorm room was quiet. There were a few books on the shelf and a laptop on the desk, but they were all just props.

They did not function.

I could not interact with them. Here, until the next working hours arrived…I could not work.

Quietly…

Knock knock.

…!

“Um… is it okay if we come in…?”

I turned toward the iron door.

Someone was standing outside.

Not only standing there—soon I heard the door open gently.

…The Security Team.

The one wearing the badger mask. And the Security Team leader.

My teammates.

“Sorry we’re late. We went to wash up.”

Outside, other Security Team members closed the iron door.

But these two did not leave.

“…Um, you see.”

The one in the badger mask held something out to me.

A thick, heavy rectangular object.

“We got permission to bring this in! The leader said this much would probably be okay, and it really worked.”

A book.

Twelve Must-Read Classics for Young Readers.

“…Thought you might get bored.”

……

I accepted it.

….The people sitting across from me seemed to smile happily.

“And… um.”

His voice sounded slightly nervous.

“I was thinking… even if it’s just when we’re alone… could we call you Roe Deer?”

……

“T-the leader said it would be okay…”

“Yeah… as long as it’s not during work hours, we can use informal names…”

……

Affirmative

“…! Right.”

Laughter came from behind the mask.

Then he sat down beside me.

“…Good work on your first Security Team mission, Roe Deer.”

……

The hand that had habitually moved toward my head suddenly dropped to the floor.

There was no hair to ruffle.

/tn. omg i'm crying

……

I raised both hands.

“Roe Deer?”

A dull desire.

A desire I had not felt since signing the employment contract slowly rose from the depths—heavy, blunt, faint…

I want to take on a similar shape.

I want to interact the same way.

Perhaps that was the closest way to express it.

“H-hold on. Wait…!”

I covered my form with smoke.

But I didn’t know how to shape it.

Just as one cannot learn how to breathe, something once done naturally cannot easily be recreated artificially. I felt around my face. Bones. Rubber. A silhouette. And an esophagus that no longer existed. The Nostalgia Candy that could never be consumed.

……

Nostalgia.

Request

“Huh?”

“…What kind?”

I completed the sentence.

Request:

Nostalgia Kitty

“…!!”

Both Security Team members jumped to their feet at the same time.

Because they understood what that request meant.

“T-then… wait, ah—Leader?”

The Security Team leader had already gone outside the iron door.

Despite the incredibly long distance to the loan storage and the inspection procedures required, he returned in an astonishingly short time.

Holding the requested item.

“…Here.”

Into my outstretched hand dropped a thin red strand from his pale, bony fingers.

An item shaped like red yarn.

Nostalgia Kitty

The same item previously used after rescuing Supervisor Park Minseong from contamination during the Hungry Hangman ghost story.

Its effect was…

When worn, it fixes the wearer’s appearance to the time within the past ten years when both body and mind were at their healthiest.

The more severe the mutation, the faster it breaks.

I accepted the Nostalgia Kitty.

And wrapped it around my neck.

 

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