GSGW c222
announcement: I'll start posting a new chapter every other day, and when it lands on a weekend, I'll post 2-4 chapters
Chapter 222
note: i'm changing back from them calling soleum Mr. Employee to Employee
[Oh, indeed! The man from that 2000s video, who had no way to come out into the world the moment the editing room was closed, can now visit homes thousands of miles away….]
[To think the editors of the 21st century have unintentionally invited him.]
My blood runs cold.
If I still possessed a human body, it would be the kind of situation where that expression would naturally apply.
I am inside a carrier, being held in the hands of two Field Exploraiton Team members who are sprinting out of the broadcasting station like mad.
One of them is already contacting the company’s Security Team.
This isn’t a rescue request. It is closer to reporting an uncontrollable disaster.
The fatal spread of a creepypasta.
“...What?”
The moment the call connects, the guard team leader understands the seriousness of the situation.
[Wait… just a moment.]
Then he cuts the radio to contact the company directly for further details.
Meanwhile, I am thinking.
A way to isolate the edited video files that have likely already been shared across at least several people’s data storage—perhaps even dozens—and possibly uploaded to cloud storage.
But that… is not something a small number of people can handle.
It requires the power of a large organization.
However, simply waiting quietly for the company’s response is not the duty of someone bound by a work contract… no, rather, there isn’t enough time to wait for the company to begin acting in earnest.
The 'Man in the Screen' is already stimulated after having undergone a containment process once in the editing room.
In the worst case, the progression toward the worst possible outcome may have accelerated.
So we must do what can be done immediately.
Contact the client
“Yes!”
Standing beside Lee Seonghae, who is already reporting to the Field Explroation Team, Kang Yihak quickly picks up a phone and connects to the PD.
Hello. We’re contacting you because there’s something urgent we need to ask.
“…! Hello. We’re calling because there’s something urgent we need to ask…”
Kang Yihak reads the black smoke letters perceptively.
“Is there anyone in the PBS entertainment department currently editing videos at home or in a personal studio? Episodes that end with the number 6—ones where the ‘Man in the Screen’ might appear.”
Especially around this time.
“If someone is working right now, it’s even more urgent.”
—Of course there would be. Um… why do you ask…?
Please contact them.
It’s urgent.
—Ah, yes.
The PD sounds slightly uneasy at first, but soon realizes what he himself had commissioned and grasps the atmosphere and situation.
He seems to start contacting people here and there through messenger apps.
And soon—
—…Why isn’t he answering?
……
A panicked voice. The sound of typing.
—Huh? Wait a second. No, this call… why isn’t he picking up?
“PD, listen carefully.”
Too late.
Seeing the PD freeze with a chilling sense of dread, Kang Yihak speaks quickly.
“Right now, go into the cloud storage your team shares and take down every file that ends with episode 6. It would be even better if you delete them.”
And then—
“Please tell everyone in your entertainment department who edits videos that from this moment on, do not touch any episode that ends with the number 6. …If anyone happens to have one open...”
Kang Yihak’s voice comes quickly as she reads the smoke letters like flowing script.
“Tell them not to intentionally try to watch the ‘Man in the Screen,’ and not to try deleting it either.”
—…What on earth is happening right now—
“I’ll explain the details later. Even telling you this much could bring bad luck. Someone on your side made a serious misjudgment… a misunderstanding.”
Even though it had never been written down, Kang Yihak naturally shifts the blame toward the entertainment department as she continues speaking.
“Whew… but since we’ve already received payment, we’ll try to clean things up as best we can. For now, give us the address of the person who stopped responding.”
The frightened PD immediately sends the address to the Field Exoploration Team.
An officetel in Seoul, twenty minutes away.
While riding in a taxi they flagged down in a frenzy, Lee Seonghae whispers to the carrier holding me.
“Isn’t it pretty likely they called the police?”
Tap. Tap.
I release a small amount of smoke outside the carrier.
Difficult to estimate
Reason: Psychological factors
In situations like this, people want to believe in the better possibility.
Calling the police means acknowledging that something truly serious has happened—beyond a simple supernatural fear—so there is a high chance they will wait for a certain amount of time first.
And soon after, they reach the first destination.
The moment they step into the elevator…
Beep.
“...!”
It’s the Security Team.
The Field Exploration Team hurriedly picks up the radio. But—
[We did request backup… but we don’t know exactly when it’ll come…]
A response very typical of Daydream Inc. comes back.
[The higher-ups are… well, delaying the decision….]“...!"
[Oh? It seems they’ve started to feel the cleanup costs are too expensive. Crude, but a very fitting response for a capitalist company.]
/tn. this, I believe, is Braun speaking
Lee Seonghae’s face stiffens slightly.
“Then at least the Security Team members responsible for our 'employee’ could move together with us, right?”
[The Security Team… can’t leave the company during the day on their own…. They need equipment.]
"......"
[But.]
The guard team leader’s voice becomes somewhat clearer.
[I happen to be wearing equipment that allows daytime outings for my assigned duties. So if this is a situation where deployment is required for my duties… well.]
“...!"
[Excuse me, that employee in the carrier… isn’t it hard to control them? It seems like it would be….]
/tn. I was confused at first but he's asking Dolphin and Pony whether or not they are able to control Soleum, using the excuse of Soleum's unstable state to come help
All eyes turn toward me.
Affirmative
“…That’s right!”
“It’s incredibly difficult! We really, really need help controlling them!”
While grabbing the elevator heading toward the destination, the Field Exploraiton Team members shout.
[…I see.]
There is a faint hint of approval.
For a brief moment, a small trace of laughter colors the guard team leader’s voice before disappearing.
[I’ll head out….]
And the moment Lee Seonghae and Kang Yihak step into the elevator—
Beep.
From within the shadow of the radio in his hand, a black figure rises.
“...!"
The guard team leader.
The uniform covering his entire body is different from the one he normally wears during deployments; a strange, deeply hooded cloak with patterns drawn across it covers him.
Click.
The elevator’s CCTV turns off. And a heavy pressure and unease fill the elevator.
"......"
The guard team leader reaches out and takes the carrier.
“Another employee is… continuing reporting to the company… so don’t worry.”
“Okay.”
Ding.
Soon the elevator arrives at the floor. The three of them quickly head toward the assistant director’s unit number that the PD gave them….
The front door is open.
"..…."
From inside, laughter can be heard.
The sound of a variety show.
Tension settles over the Field Exploration Team’s shoulders.
“I’ll go in….”
The guard team leader opens the door.
From inside the carrier in his hand, I see the scene spread out beyond the already-open entrance….
The assistant director was lying on the floor with both of his eyes gouged out.
“...!!"
A narrow living room soaked in blood. A chair, a desk, and on top of it…
A computer monitor.
The screen flickers.
On the monitor running the editing program, a close-up of a man’s distorted expression appears. Black eyes, a toothy grin, an open mouth. His gaze directed this way…
Crunch.
The monitor and the computer tower are crushed at once.
The enormous black beast’s paw is pulled back roughly onto the guard team leader’s shoulder.
“…..!!"
“I already… put it on a USB, so… if we just destroy everything else like this… that should work, right?”
That was the correct answer.
But the dead do not return.
…It was already too late.
And one more thing.
“About the door… being open.”
The guard team leader presses his mask down slightly while using his sense of smell, tilting his head.
“I think… there was one more person here… and they ran away.”
“...!"
“Someone… who was in another room….”
There had been a witness.
How much they were involved in this supernatural event—whether they properly understood what happened—is unknown.
" ...... "
Bzzzzz.
Just then, news arrives from the PD as well.
—Four people aren’t answering their phones, and they haven’t read messages either.
It has already been confirmed that four of the PBS entertainment department’s editing staff have gone completely out of contact. And one of them even left a strange message in the group chat.
-L; I'm seeing it I'm seeing it I'm seeing it please I won't do it again I'm really sorry
-You're all going to die
Even the screenshot alone sends chills down the spine.
—Please answer the phone.
Fear seeps through the PD’s messages asking what happened and whether the assistant director at this apartment is okay. He also desperately sends the addresses of the people who have gone silent.
Everyone at the scene realizes it.
The situation is expanding more and more in a direction that individuals cannot contain.
“First I’ll report the witness to the company. Then we’ll move to the house of one of the remaining people who stopped responding….”
“Hey, Assistant Manager.”
Kang Yihak interrupts.
“Shouldn’t we just leave here before the police arrive?”
“......”
Lee Seonghae looks at Kang Yihak.
Kang Yihak doesn’t seem particularly interested in the corpse.
Instead, she simply scans the house as if checking whether anything valuable is here, or what the property might be worth.
“Haven’t we done enough? There’s no guarantee we won’t be too late even if we chase those addresses, and it’s not like we’ll get special pay for it… honestly, I think our job ended back at the editing room!”
“Oh.”
“We’ve already reported everything to the company, so let them handle the rest. Assistant Manager, you should get some rest too. Haha, we’ve already provided plenty of value for what we were paid.”
“And if someone dies because we were too late?”
Kang Yihak raises her thumb.
“That’s the company’s problem!”
"Aha."
Lee Seonghae smiles faintly and looks at Kang Yihak.
Meanwhile, the guard team leader stands there blankly, as if detached from the scene entirely.
……
[My, Roe Deer. You seem impatient.]
Am I feeling impatient?
[Indeed. Of course, uninvited guests who ruin the mood of a show are unpleasant noise! Especially if they lack wit or charm—then it’s the worst. Oh dear.]
Braun seems to be recalling the 'Man in the Screen' he once saw.
I recall it as well.
The reaction of the late-night talk show host to the face of the 'Man in the Screen' covering the monitor in the editing room.
—Just look at that pathetic appearance! Unable to accept that he has no qualifications to appear, he’s trying to appeal his pitiful existence even if it’s only inside a video frame!
—Ah, naturally. Since it’s obvious he’d be kicked out of the studio. That must be the only way he could appear. How pathetic.
Mockery.
Contempt.
Not the dull and vague fear I felt, but vivid verbal expression.
[However.]
A generous offer is presented.
[If my friend is truly concerned about the whereabouts of that pathetic third-rate uninvited guest, I’ll invite him as a member of the audience to my splendid talk show.]
[Even a shabby little seat in the corner would make him faint with gratitude. Three days—no, two would be enough for the glory to overwhelm him until he burns up and disappears….]
[What do you say?]
……
No.
I cannot make such a decision.
[Hm? …Ah, I see.]
[You can’t send him to the talk show because he must be delivered to the company, is that it? Oh, it must be written that way in that employment contract that holds your time and judgment as collateral, Roe Deer.]
That is correct.
I cannot perform actions that would clearly cause losses to the company.
Even more so if it concerns something directly ordered as part of my duties.
Even if I created a loophole, if that loophole were discovered, stronger restrictions would surely follow….
……
[My, that’s alright, my friend! Cheer up.]
[After all, constraints are an essential element of interesting content, aren’t they? The important thing is that we have met like this and are once again having such an entertaining experience!]
It isn’t interesting.
[Oh dear! Doubting your own feelings again, are we? It’s alright. Your pillar of support, your companion on this adventure, the entertainer who comforts your soul, is right here beside you!]
……
Let’s assume that’s true.
For now, there is something else that must be done. After taking my gaze away from the corpse with no eyes, I suppress the strange resonance echoing within my heart.
And just as I was about to communicate with smoke—
Beep.
"...!"
The Security Team.
A voice comes through the radio the guard team leader immediately presses.
[Team Leader.]
Badger, Assistant Manager Park Minseong’s voice.
[Is Roe—…, 130666 doing well there?]
“…Mhm.”
[Whew… that’s a relief.]
His tone soon returns to the professional, courteous voice typical of the Security Team.
[The company has finished agreeing on a response plan. I’ll connect you now.]
“...!"
The Field Exploration Team members all turn their eyes to the radio at once.
The crackling radio, accompanied by the faint noise of a call connecting somewhere…
Turns into a phone line.
Not Kwak Jaekwang, but someone else.
—Hello.
……!
—It’s been a while since we spoke like this—since you signed the contract. The news reached all the way up here.
…A calm, deep woman’s voice.
Director Cheong.
—I’ve heard about your recent work performance. It seems you’ve adapted quite well… hmm. Aside from this irregularity, today’s work was quite clean.
“Who—.”
“…Director Cheong.”
“Ghk.”
—The other employees did quite well too.
“Hahaha, thank you!”
Kang Yihak immediately responds politely, but Director Cheong simply continues what she wants to say.
—I heard the report that this could cause massive casualties. It seems it has become quite a powerful Darkness.
And the choice of words confirms my suspicion.
'......'
“Employee?”
Then.
I formed words with smoke and showed them to the guard team leader.
"......"
The guard team leader’s eyes narrow.
He likely already knew, given his circumstances.
“…Hm.”
Tap, tap. As if patting the carrier, the guard team leader taps it lightly and reads my words aloud to Director Cheong over the phone.
“130666 is asking…”
Question:
Whether the 'Man in the Darkness'
was previously registered as a Darkness
“He’s asking if… this creepypasta wasn’t originally owned by the company in the first place….”
“ ...!! "
Do you remember?
The conversation I had with the guard team leader in the dream-cultivation room of the Cheerful Research Institute.
—What does it mean to dispose of a Darkness?
—Well… if someone clears it but no more solution can be extracted… then we throw it away….
The company manual that had been strangely explicit.
The creepypasta that had suddenly vanished in the 2000s.
And now, this phenomenon that has suddenly resurfaced.
When a Darkness loses its supernatural presence, dream essence solution can no longer be extracted.
In such cases, after the registration number is deleted, it is disposed of. Some Darknesses are then reused through processes such as research and recharging.
One word points to the answer.
Reuse.
“So… they deliberately released it back into the civilian world… to restore its ‘supernatural presence’? So it could produce dream essence again…?”
The guard team leader probably knew.
After all, he was in the Field Exploration Team when this creepypasta was registered as a Darkness.
And once you know that fact, the censored sections of the documents given when today’s assignment was issued suddenly become readable again….
Refer to ■■ record #C16548 for details.
Refer to disposal record #C16548 for details.
Daydream Inc. deliberately released this disposed creepypasta back into a broadcasting station.
So that it would spread again. Until dream essence could be extracted from it once more. Until it could be reused.
"......"
—You understand quite well.
"..…!”
—After all, it was merely a creepypasta that had been there before. We simply managed it for a while and returned it.
—No one really loses anything, do they? Of course, since it’s production know-how, it shouldn’t leave the company. So everyone who heard this should watch what they say.
Lee Seonghae’s quiet breathing can be heard.
Director Cheong’s composed voice continues.
—Then we’ll end the conversation here.
…….
“Yes?”
—Return.
“You mean the Security Team is coming?”
—As if.
What?
—Why should my company use valuable personnel and capital for a disturbance among civilians?
Director Cheong says calmly.
—When killing a chicken, there’s no need to use a tiger-slaying sword. It’s troublesome, wasteful… and I absolutely hate that.
—The cleanup will be handled by the organization responsible for cleanup.
……An organization?
—Yes. The place that collects taxes to deal with such matters. If we’re paying them, we should use them.
—Being swayed by emotions and dragging personal opinions into company affairs is something only a foolish brat like Ho Yuwon would do.
Director Ho.
The organization Director Ho held resentment toward…
—Besides, it works out perfectly.
—That foolish organization will resolve the supernatural disaster based on the report… without realizing that the company still holds the one original source of the creepypasta.
……
—Then you’d better hurry back.
I lift my head.
—It’s been some time since the report was filed with the Disaster Management Bureau… so they should appear soon.
From somewhere,
the sound of bells begins to ring.
Ok i don't like her
ReplyDeleteAre we gonna see agent choi and bronze?! 😳
ReplyDelete