GSGW c250
Chapter 250
When the name of someone else’s company, Section Chief Lizard, was suddenly suggested as a colleague recommendation, the government officials who had been diligently grilling beef froze in disbelief. They couldn’t even chew the meat in their mouths as they replied.
“Bronze… did we just get recommended a Daydream Inc. employee as someone we should work with?”
Of course, the former members of Daydream’s Team D remained completely unfazed.
Affirmative.
“Come on, more than half the people here were already from Daydream Inc. this time around. Why are you so surprised? It’s a place where people live and work just like anywhere else.”
Of course, the one I was recommending wasn’t a person. It was an extraterrestrial reptile…
“Our section chief really is a great guy. Strong and straightforward—perfect to work with.”
“Someone from that company and with a strong personality…”
“No, that’s not what I meant, old man.”
“…?”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje solemnly waved her hand.
“I mean he’s literally strong. Just strong.”
Agreement.
Agent Bronze looked even more confused, but both Eun Haje and I nodded in unison.
Then the assistant manager turned her gaze.
“But this guy isn’t surprised.”
“Hey, I was surprised too.”
However, Agent Choi didn’t actually look very surprised at all. He was simply joking around.
And I had a feeling I knew why.
Another identity Agent Choi had used.
'Lee Kangheon.'
—K.LEE: Wait, is Section Chief Lee Jaheon your cousin or something?;; Your personalities are identical
He had definitely sent a message like that once while recommending the Salmon Market.
'Which meant Agent Choi already knew what kind of person Section Chief Lee Jaheon was.'
No—more than that. It meant he had already figured out the messenger profiles of many Daydream Inc. employees, and even had a rough idea of their personalities and activities.
…But there had been no such record on the wiki.
'It’s not like he infiltrated Daydream.'
Agent Choi didn’t have two bodies. There was no way he could be doing his busy field agent work while secretly working at Daydream. Besides, there was no one named Assistant Manager Lee Kangheon in Team C.
Eventually, I extended a strand of smoke under the table and quietly drew Agent Choi’s attention.
“Hm?”
Then I asked.
Question: The identity of Lee Kangheon
"......"
The letters I had formed quickly vanished before the others at the table could see them.
Agent Choi smiled faintly.
“Oh ho. Trying to pry into a senior’s trade secrets?”
……
Well, that made sense.
If it was an identity used to extract information from Daydream Inc., he couldn’t easily reveal it to someone who still worked there…
—Still curious? Want me to tell you?
……!
Agent Choi casually traced letters into the smoke gathered beneath the table with his finger.
—But you have to keep it secret hehe I trust you, Grapes.
I formed the word affirmative.
Agent Choi grinned and continued writing.
—Lee Kangheon is a real person.
—A former Daydream employee.
…!
—And one day, a very cool ace agent from the Bureau happened to get access to Lee Kangheon’s messenger account hehe
He didn’t explain how he obtained it.
But he added one more detail.
—Turns out he was still in a lot of group chats.
New employee chats. Short-term project chats. Anonymous information-sharing rooms. Even internal gambling chats.
Places full of useful information. With Agent Choi’s skills, he likely infiltrated many spin-off chats that branched out from those.
By digging through employee profiles one by one… He must have even kept track of newly hired rookies.
I remembered Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae saying she had been introduced to Salmon Market by someone named Assistant Manager Lee Kangheon from Team C. And then—
—I also heard plenty of rumors about Kim Soleum, the elite rookie who explores urban legends without blinking lol
……
So he had known from the very beginning.
—Well, something like that.
Request: More detailed explanation
—Grapes, you really have no conscience at all….
—Still, if our youngest wants to know, I should tell him more! Come ask me the day you cut ties with Daydream Inc. and I’ll tell you everything, hahaha.
Which meant he had no intention of telling me.
With that final line, Agent Choi returned his attention to the table as if there had never been any written conversation beneath it in the first place.
I swallowed the groan that tried to escape me.
'…Maybe this is why he never trusted Wish Tickets that much.'
After all, there were employees who quit and vanished while leaving only their accounts behind—and he had personally used one of those accounts himself.
Still, I felt strangely dazed. I hadn’t expected my curiosity to be resolved like this.
'I didn’t think he’d actually answer me.'
Of course, the part about trusting me was obviously a lie. He had cut off the detailed explanation from the start.
Since the name “Lee Kangheon” had been used for years, word must have spread by now—enough that the account probably wasn’t getting invited into new group chats anymore. Maybe he had already been planning to abandon it anyway.
He probably had other information-gathering routes.
'Still, gratitude is gratitude….'
While I sorted out my thoughts, casual jokes were being tossed around across the table.
“Wow. Section Chief Lizard, huh? I’m curious how strong he is. Does he chew through steel rebar or something?”
“He seems like the type who could if he wanted.”
“…??”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje shrugged as she asked the part-timer to replace the grill.
“Anyway, like Roe Deer said, it’d obviously be great if our section chief helped… but realistically, that’s a hard thing to ask when someone’s working a regular job.”
……
In truth, that wasn’t the only problem.
There was also the information I had heard from the Space Shopping Mall when I purchased the exorcism pollock.
—The individual is currently at a boarding school.
Which meant that Section Chief Lee Jaheon was essentially trapped somewhere in some kind of darkness.
'They said it was a boarding school ghost story.'
I had already planned to find him eventually, so I wanted to confirm things somehow. It didn’t seem like a normal situation.
After regaining my senses thanks to Agent Haegum, I had even begun to feel a little impatient.
'I was planning to ask Baek Saheon to find out exactly what kind of darkness it was.'
But there was an even bigger obstacle here.
My condition.
Concern:
Request for 130666 to return to Daydream Inc. for duty
“......!"
In fact, the broadcast ordering me to return was still echoing inside my head.
The massive jade bell—like the primordial source of jade chimes—had helped me regain my senses, but I had no idea how long I could keep postponing this recall request….
And that wasn’t all.
'…Re-entering Segwang Special City is the same problem.'
I didn’t know how.
If I tried using the well again, there was a high chance the Disaster Management Bureau would notice something strange. Once could be explained away as reckless behavior during an operation, but repeated attempts would reveal clear intent.
And even if I used it…
'…Can I bring these people with me?'
No matter how many times you experienced death, you never got used to it. And this time it came with massive contamination as well. Some of them had already nearly died inside a ghost story—the trauma must still linger.
…In the end.
'Maybe I should do it alone.'
I wasn’t exactly human anymore. The aftereffects of contamination would probably affect me less than others….
Besides, I had been the one who shoved Assistant Manager Lee Songhae onto that train in the first place. If she couldn’t come back, the responsibility for the decisive cause would clearly fall on me.
So… yes.
That would be better.
“…Yeah. The company really is the problem in many ways.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who had no way of knowing my thoughts, patted my back as she spoke.
Then she leaned away to make room for the part-timer approaching to change the grill and muttered jokingly,
“Maybe I should just tell Director Ho about this.”
“Then I think I could help with that.”
“….!”
At some point—
The part-timer who had been serving our table smiled and sat down in the empty seat.
Only then did we see his face. A friendly-looking young man with a pleasant smile.
…It was Ho Yuwon.
'How…'
He had blended into the scene so subtly that none of us could tell when he had arrived.
The young man’s bright eyes swept across our table.
“Everyone. Congratulations.”
“...…"
“You went there, didn’t you?”
Segwang Special City.
Though he mouthed the words silently, his expression was perfectly calm. Yet in his eyes, a bizarre madness shimmered.
“How was it? You entered a special hidden place that others can’t even perceive. Was it fun? Or were you tense? Or perhaps it was painful because you couldn’t tell your organization anything about it?”
"......"
“I’d appreciate it if you spoke freely.”
I realized the agents looked frozen with tension—but in reality they were scanning the surroundings and checking their equipment.
This was a restaurant full of civilians….
“Don’t worry. The other people here will be safe.”
“...!"
“I don’t like causing a disturbance. And I don’t casually harbor malice toward others.”
“Oh…”
Agent Choi bared his teeth in a grin.
“And someone like that throws people into a supernatural disaster where they suffer and die?”
“That’s something I already explained.”
Ho Yuwon replied gently.
“The Disaster Management Bureau is different.”
The madness hidden behind that rational tone was chilling.
Holding individuals responsible for a group’s flaws: illogical
“Hm? That’s a strange thing to say. Emotions aren’t logical, Mr. 130666.”
Hooo.
Recommendation: Alternative address for 130666
▶ Roe Deer
▶ Grapes
Grapes.
Something flickered in Ho Yuwon’s eyes—anger, perhaps, or something twisted—but it vanished without a trace.
“Haha, you prefer unofficial nicknames, Mr. Roe Deer.”
And from that moment, I sensed something strange.
Impatience.
He was suppressing his anger because he wanted the conversation to move forward quickly.
“Wait a moment.”
Agent Bronze spoke.
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That the well could connect to a specific region. Was that your goal from the beginning?”
“And if it was?”
"......"
“Then wouldn’t that be a good thing? It means our goals align.”
Clap.
Ho Yuwon smiled and clapped his hands.
“I’ll spare no support to help you rescue Assistant Manager Lee Songhae.”
“…!”
“Think about it.”
His voice was dangerously sweet.
“Would the Disaster Management Bureau really spend that much time and resources? Pulling busy field agents away from their duties?”
"......"
“But I could help you no matter what happens….”
The air around the table seemed to ripple.
“And I’m not asking for much in return. Just a small request—find one thing for me in Segwang Special City….”
“Oh~ then why don’t you do it yourself?”
"......"
“You already know the passage. If it’s such a small job, why are you sitting here talking instead of going in yourself?”
There was anger hidden beneath the amusement in Agent Choi’s voice.
“Don’t tell me… you can’t get in?”
"......"
“Thought so.”
The silence made the answer clear.
That had to be it.
For some reason, Ho Yuwon likely couldn’t enter Segwang Special City.
That was why he kept drawing employees into projects—and why he was currently using Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
“That’s right. Unfortunately, I can’t enter that place.”
Yet Ho Yuwon simply made a sad face, as if he were genuinely disappointed.
“Doesn’t that make me more trustworthy? Since I can’t enter myself, I’m supporting every attempt to explore Segwang Special City. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?”
If that was the case—
Proposal:
Binding restriction for trust (Target: Ho Yuwon)
“......!"
“Oh, Grapes has a good idea.”
Ho Yuwon’s eyes turned toward me.
“Yeah. You wouldn’t try to bind others while refusing to bind yourself, right?”
A thick silence settled over the table.
And then—
“Sounds good.”
“…!"
“How about mutual restrictions? Until the exploration of Segwang Special City ends, neither of us can betray the other.”
Ho Yuwon smiled and placed his hand on the table.
“Shall we do it now?”
"......"
“Looks like you need time to prepare. That’s fine—I can wait….”
He rose from his seat.
“But considering the person you’re trying to rescue, it might be better to hurry. No one knows how long she can hold out.”
"......"
“Assistant Manager Eun Haje has my contact method. Well then.”
And when we looked again—
It was no longer Ho Yuwon. Just an ordinary part-timer carrying the grill back toward the kitchen.
“......”
“…Whew.”
“Ruining the taste of premium Korean beef is hard, but he managed it. That’s why bosses shouldn’t join company dinners.”
“Haha….”
That night,
The dinner ended with everyone sitting around the table, lost in their own thoughts.
Now that we had gained an unbelievable potential backer.
***
'Whew….'
After the dinner ended,
As everyone returned to their respective living spaces, I too was sent back to the secured area in the main building designated for supernatural entities.
'I’m still surprised they even let me go out….'
They probably assigned agents to keep things safe and used it as a test of my stability.
And this time, I had passed.
'That’s a relief.'
Since regaining my sanity thanks to Agent Haegum, the extreme isolation had been significantly relaxed.
Even this place—rather than a simple room—it felt more like a small containment space projecting the image of an outdoor wooden veranda. Probably a facility meant to stabilize supernatural beings mentally.
'I haven’t even paid proper taxes yet….'
For some reason, it made me feel guilty, like I was draining public resources.
And after breaking several bells, I even felt like I owed them the cost of my meals.
[To feel guilty over receiving such a trivial space… my friend is far too humble.]
Of course, someone had said something absurd like that once….
But now…
'……'
No one.
'Has it already been about two weeks?'
Since I last heard Braun’s voice.
Just like when I worked on the 13th basement floor of the annex at Daydream Inc., I couldn’t perceive Braun’s voice while in the 130666 state.
'But I thought I’d hear it again quickly once I regained my senses.'
For some reason, I still couldn’t hear it.
And the merchandise—well, the substitute doll—had been confiscated by the Disaster Management Bureau and still hadn’t been returned.
'…Maybe it’ll come back if I wait.'
Last time, there had been a delay before Braun’s voice returned after I recovered my senses, so for now I was simply waiting.
Or maybe Braun only spoke when the merchandise was nearby, having gotten too immersed.
'Honestly, I hope it’s the first option.'
And just as that thought crossed my mind—
Clink, clink….
'...!'
The sound of wind chimes.
It meant someone was visiting this containment space.
From what I’d experienced over the past few days, it was usually the agent on duty speaking safely from beyond the paper door while recording my condition.
But today, there was an unusual guest.
“Someone from Black Tortoise Team 1 requested this… would you like to see?”
Inside the small lantern the agent was holding—
A tiny dokkaebi fire poked its head out.
'...!'
Once part of my arm, that little dokkaebi flame flickered brightly.
Ohh cutie your back🫶
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