GSGW c227

 Previous chapter

Next chapter

 

Chapter 227

/tn. I need help. Should I use D-Team, Team D, D-squad, or Group D?

Let’s think this through.

Baek Saheon left this paper boat behind in Jisan Village. Most likely, it was meant for the “Agent Grapes” he met there.

Of course, he wouldn’t know the agent’s codename was Grapes.

'If he had known that, he would have already realized I’m Kim Soleum.'

Since he didn’t know, he left behind a communication item.

So in this situation, it would be better to respond like an agent if I wanted the conversation to continue.

I wrote as neatly as possible.

Because my melted body was stuffed into the suit, the distribution of force was uneven, and my handwriting trembled slightly.

/tn. before this conversation pans out, I want to preface that I purposely didn't add punctuation on some of Saheon's lines cause that's how he wrote it

You are the civilian I met in Jisan Village,

correct?

If I am, what are you going to do about it

I’m relieved

to hear that you evacuated safely.

Baek Saheon didn’t reply.

But the letters I had written disappeared after a while, as if he had read them. So I continued writing.

Sorry for the late reply.

I discovered it late.

I didn’t know the paper boat had to be

unfolded to use it.

Are you stupid? How do you not know that

Right. Just as expected.

'That viper’s personality hasn’t gone anywhere….'

For a moment, I wondered how an agent should handle someone like this to keep the conversation productive. Then—

Well… I guess you might not know

……?

You didn't seem very experienced with this sort of thing

You couldn't even guess something that basic

You haven't been an agent for long, right?

Yes. That’s correct.

But I still believe I handled

the situation fairly well at the time.

Silence again.

'What now?'

Anyway, since you left this

communication paper behind

did you perhaps have something to report?

Report, my ass

I left it because I had something to ask

The writing that had been appearing so boldly now paused for a moment before updating.

What happened to the village

You mean Jisan Village?

Do you think I"m asking about some

other village here? Of course that one

What happened after that

[Good heavens. To bother my friend about something from half a year ago. If you became angry at such laziness, Mr. Roe Deer, it would be entirely understandable!]

Hmm… rather than laziness—

'It’s probably closer to “he was too scared to check.”'

It seemed Baek Saheon hadn’t gone anywhere near Jisan Village since fleeing that day.

While escaping, he probably sensed what was happening in the village through sound or pressure.

'And afterward… the contact he used to receive from the village probably stopped entirely.'

It was already October. With Chuseok approaching, he might be feeling more anxious. Maybe he was wondering whether he should go back. Whether the Disaster Management Bureau had failed and the village had become something even worse.

I wrote a concise statement.

The supernatural disaster you were worried about

has disappeared.

There will be no more drawings, and no more festival.

The centipede spirit that the villagers had brewed into alcohol and sealed beneath the village shrine had vanished, and would now fall under the jurisdiction of the Disaster Management Bureau.

You are free.

For a long time, Baek Saheon didn’t respond.

I continued.

However, I cannot confirm

the village's current condition,

so if you plant ot visit, please exercise caution.

Since then, I have been assigned

continuously to toher supernatural disasters,

so I have not been able to obtain detailed updates.

By coincidence, that was true.

I almost felt a little depressed, but as an agent I finished with the information I was obligated to provide.

Since you are a survivor of that supernatural disaster,

the Disaster Management Bureau

may contact you officially as well.

Of course, you probably won’t do that.

Fine then.

Just as I expected.

Your handwriting is really terrible.

'Why the sudden personal attack…?'

Well, sorry about that. If your body ever gets mashed from brain to limbs, you’ll learn how difficult delicate force control becomes.

Honestly, the fact that I hadn’t crumpled this paper was already impressive.

Sorry.

I injured my hand.

The replies stopped again.

Then the topic changed.

Hey

Are you contacting me from the Darkness right now?

More or less.

But about the term “Darkness”

that you used—

Why are you pretending to ask when you already know where I work

The agent who was with you seemed to recognized me.

Trying to threaten me with this won’t work.

Why does this guy fly off the handle so easily? He was already like this during new employee orientation.

I have no need to threaten you,

nor do I want to.

And when you’re talking to someone,

if they really are trying to threaten you,

don’t respond like that.

Just leave. That’s safer.

Silence again.

I held back a sigh and continued.

I simply had something

I wanted to ask you personally.

About Daydream.

Are you insane? Why would I answer something like that

and give the company leverage 

against me for free lol

Stop messing around.

Understood.

I expected that response. Just as I was selecting which bait to use to hook him, new text quietly appeared.

So what are you curious about

What exactly was he trying to do?

Still, I decided to throw out the question I had prepared.

I wanted to ask whether there are any recruits

who rejoined after working there before,

and whether you might have recognized

any familiar faces among them.

First, confirmation about Jang Heoun.

I could ask Kwak Jaekwang, but I didn’t want to give that mad scientist the impression that I was paying too much special attention to Jang Heoun.

'That would only spark his curiosity.'

Even if I had restrained him with the Red Finger, giving that lunatic motivation to find a workaround was not desirable. Especially if the target was someone around me rather than the person who made the promise himself.

'For the same reason, I haven’t asked about Go Yeongeun or Assistant Manager Eun Haje either.'

Of course, things wouldn’t work with Baek Saheon without some kind of leverage either, so I was in the middle of deciding again between carrot or stick when—

Wait a bit

I’ll check tomorrow when I go to work

'...??'

Did he… eat something weird?

Seriously, what kind of situation was this?

Well, if he was going to do it, that was good for me.

Thank you.

Don’t forget a sign of sincerity

Prepare a decent item

And don’t send something like

a coffee gift coupon

Hey. I’m not even in a position to buy a coffee gift coupon…

Then that might be difficult.

I’m sorry. I’m not currently in a position

to obtain items.

You won’t even promise to get one later

You really have no sense and no flexibility

How did someone like you manage

to work as an agent this long

[What a complete Grinch.]

/tn. right?? this shallow mf

Exactly.

In that case, I will pay

once I obtain one later. Thank you.

'Hmm.'

It seemed the “Agent Grapes” had gained some kind of trust from Baek Saheon during the Jisan Village incident.

'How did that happen?'

I had no idea. It was completely unexpected.

'…Especially since I’m not even an agent anymore.'

The fact that I was still communicating as if I were one felt strange.

Anyway, I decided to wait for Baek Saheon’s reply to the first question.

After all, this was also a period where I had to quietly continue working at the annex for the next step.

[Now it is time to get plenty of rest and prepare for tomorrow’s shift, my friend!]

Right.

Several days passed like that.

I continued working quietly at the annex front desk, while also applying silent pressure on the company that they absolutely must pay my salary on payday.

For the record, during that time, I also went out one more time to collect Darkness and safely captured it.

It was a Darkness listed in the <Darkness Exploration Records> wiki, so once I analyzed the manual properly, it wasn’t particularly dangerous or difficult. My dulled fear and emotions helped as well.

Other than that, things were fairly peaceful. Surprisingly, Assistant Manager Lee Songhae came by several times during our annex shifts with snacks.

'If I find and reassemble a digestive system someday, maybe I’ll actually be able to eat them.'

For now, I handed them all over to the Security Team Leader.

Baek Saheon’s paper boat still hadn’t responded. He probably hadn’t finished checking all the new recruits yet.

And so, time passed until today, when the work arrangement changed slightly.

[Working alone! Do not worry about boredom, my friend. This witty conversationalist shall remain by your side!]

That’s right.

A solo night shift.

After I worked quietly for over a week, the company seemed to think, Let’s test things this far, and assigned me alone to the front desk.

'If it were me, I wouldn’t try something like this….'

But then again, that’s exactly why this place is a crazy company in a horror-story world.

The Security Team Leader and Supervisor Park Minseong were each handling their usual duties, ready to respond if a security call came from my side.

So I was left alone at the front desk in the form of an open transport cage.

As a result—

"......"

"....."

About seven out of every ten people approaching the front desk hesitated.

'Sigh….'

At least they had seen the cage for several days already. Otherwise security would have been called long ago.

“Um… Transport Cage sir? Employee? I’d like to access the Twilight-grade ‘DIY Cookie.’”

Access badge distribution

Using smoke, I formed letters, and at the same time extended part of my body—only my left hand—out of the cage, registered the badge, and tossed it to the person.

“Th-thank you…?”

Please use safely

As the employees hurried into the corridor almost as if fleeing, I could hear whispers saying that I was surprisingly good at the job.

Please don’t make those evaluations loud enough for the Darkness-like transport cage in front of you to hear…

'New recruits.'

There were quite a lot of them.

Several days had passed since the entrance exam, so it was about time to introduce the new recruits to the annex and let them try using things themselves.

I had gone through the same thing.

'…Was this around the time I made my personal equipment?'

It reminded me of when I had received various help from the superiors in Team D.

'......'

Just as I was quietly passing time with the drifting smoke—

The annex entrance door opened, and another person in a suit cautiously walked inside.

“Um, hello…”

Another new recruit, it seemed. A tall man.

But as he walked in and saw me at the front desk, he froze.

'Hmm. That’s understandable.'

Question: Necessity of an access badge

“…!"

At the sentence I created, the new employee quickened his steps and hurried almost frantically toward the front desk.

'…Huh?'

More precisely, he was staring at the black smoke and yellow light coming out of the open transport cage.

As if he recognized it…

……

.……!

I hurriedly displayed another sentence.

Question: Situation at the time of hiring

Whether you visited Annex Basement Floor 13

“…..!!"

The sound of footsteps approaching the front desk grew louder.

“Do you… remember me?”

That tone of speech.

The build, probably a polite expression, relatively long hair…

“I thought perhaps you wouldn’t recognize my face… that you might not be able to identify me…”

Question: Name

……

Slowly, the mouth opened on the melted, mosaic-like face.

“Heoun…”

……

Just as I thought.

“…Employee.”

I faced the colleague I had met again.

Countless questions raced through my mind.

Reason for joining the company

“…There’s something I need to find.”

The hand resting on the front desk tightened slightly, then relaxed again.

Since there were CCTV cameras, we couldn’t have a more detailed conversation.

'…Was my guess correct after all?'

It seemed that Jang Heoun, who had become human through a wish ticket, had rejoined Daydream Inc. in order to fulfill his wish.

“Um… Employee.”

I wanted to talk more, but it didn’t seem possible in such an open place.

'At least we’ve both recognized each other.'

Access badge distribution

“…Thank you.”

I granted him access permission to the Twilight-grade Darkness he mentioned.

But Mr. Jang Heoun glanced into the annex for a moment, then soon returned the badge to me and walked back outside.

“I’ll come again.”

Leaving those words behind.

……

'…Did he come here after hearing rumors from the start?'

That there was a security employee who used fog at the annex front desk.

In other words, that I was here.

It was possible.

'…Sigh.'

Still, it was a relief to confirm that he was safe as a human.

If he had remained contaminated as a resort employee, he wouldn’t have been able to extract dream essence and wouldn’t have passed the Field Exploration Team exam.

'Maybe I shouldn’t have asked Baek Saheon.'

Perhaps I should have looked for other information instead. But I hadn’t expected we would meet this soon.

Since no one else was around, I took out Baek Saheon’s paper boat, which I had hidden within the smoke of the transport cage, and unfolded it in a CCTV blind spot beneath the shadow of the bars.

'Ah.'

In the meantime, a reply had arrived.

In other words, Baek Saheon’s response to my question about whether any new recruits were former employees who had rejoined, or whether he had recognized any familiar faces, was…

No.

……

What?

There are no new recruits who rejoined Daydream,

and I didn’t see any familiar faces either

No one who looked like a celebrity or anything.

Was that what you wanted to know?

……

Wait a second.

Then…

Who was the Jang Heoun who just left the annex?

……

Hello?

I checked like you asked. Why no reply?

Thank you. I will contact you again later.

I folded the paper boat again and returned it to the smoke.

All sorts of possibilities rushed through my mind.

The possibility that one of them was lying. The possibility that both were lying. The possibility that both were telling the truth but there was some misunderstanding.

At the same time, the most primitive method also came to mind…

The simplest approach that I hadn’t thought of until now.

……

'Braun.'

[Oh, what is it, my friend?]

Amid the clarity provided by the bell and the dull shock that had passed by hazily, my reason asked something.

To the kind friend beside me who could recognize human faces.

'Was that person earlier truly the Jang Heoun I knew… the Daydream Inc. employee who wore the bison mask?'

And the answer was—

[My, my. Surely Mr. Roe Deer would know that better than anyone.]

Me?

[Of course! But since it seems you have forgotten, allow this host to offer a small hint…]

In a pleasant, classical announcer’s voice, he spoke three words.

[Flower Golden Resort.]

…!!

'Ah.'

I was no longer in the shape of a human, yet there was one identity I had not lost.

The mascot of Flower Golden Resort.

Because that identity had been created through contract and performance.

Which meant—

'I could summon Mr. Jang Heoun, who was a servant of the mascot and an employee of the resort, whenever I wanted…!'

[Correct!]

[After all, you personally hired him as a full-time employee at the resort, so naturally you can know anything about him and command him however you wish.]

'That’s right.'

That was why I had been able to transfer his custody to the Disaster Management Bureau in the first place.

However, since he had been transferred to the bureau, they were likely taking measures to restore the contaminated Jang Heoun back into a human, so I had left things alone.

'But in a situation like this…'

It would be better to try calling him once.

If he did not respond to the call—if I couldn’t sense his existence—then that would mean he had returned fully to being human, and I could rest easy.

'......'

I took a deep breath.

And then I called.

Jang Heoun.

“Yes! Mascot!”

I froze.

Under the front desk where my transport cage was placed—

Someone was crouching there.

“Good early morning, Mascot! My current location is beneath the front desk on the first floor of the annex of Daydream Inc., located in Seoul.”

Contaminated Jang Heoun.

The servant of Flower Golden Resort, whose custody had been handed over to the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, had appeared in response to the Mascot’s call.

 

Previous chapter

Next chapter