GSGW c259
Chapter 259
The day after I escaped from the groom story, I met Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
It was a meeting arranged by the agents, who had secured permission for a short outing nearby to stabilize my condition (Condition: no people in the vicinity), as well as to discuss future plans.
At the pavilion in an old park—the destination—we found someone already there.
Ho Yuwon.
“Welcome, Roe Deer!”
The director had somehow anticipated that we would be discussing the Segwang Special City exploration and had taken the initiative to arrive first and secure the spot.
And seated upright right next to Ho Yuwon—
“I heard you needed additional personnel for the exploration project. It seemed you had been looking forward to meeting Roe Deer, so I brought him along immediately.”
A familiar lizard turned its vertical pupils toward me.
“Roe Deer.”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
Greetings and confirmation of well-being
“Yes. I returned to the company.”
Judging by the situation, it seemed he had looked for me on the very day I was rescued, but considering my condition, he appeared to have chosen a timing where we could meet more gently.
‘As expected of a superior in this era….’
He was someone with a completely different character from a certain director.
Even upon seeing me in the security team’s state—one that should have looked quite grotesque—Section Chief Lee Jaheon did not show a hint of agitation.
He had already seen this appearance back when we entered the resort of the Cheerful Theme Park, but even then, Section Chief Lizard had recognized me and treated me exactly the same as before.
Just like now.
“After your return, has any other unusual condition occurred to you, Roe Deer?”
No unusual conditions
“Understood.”
And then Assistant Manager Eun Haje began speaking as if nothing were wrong.
“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and your face is positively glowing, Section Chief. Ah, a figure of speech. A figure of speech.”
“? Yes.”
At this level, it was an exceptionally warm and friendly lizard-style conversation.
However, to the agents, the scene seemed to come across as bizarre in an uncanny way….
Agent Choi barely managed to join the conversation.
“Whew, seriously. You’re quite tall and handsome, sir.”
“Yes.”
“…Haha, you remember us, right? We’re the agents who suddenly dropped into your headquarters~ Thanks for taking those rescued civilian kids to the restroom.”
“Yes.”
"......"
"......"
“Grapes. Does this person actually have the intention to participate in the exploration?”
This was less a question and more an expression of unease, but the lizard answered honestly.
“Yes.”
"......"
"......"
Agent Bronze barely opened his mouth.
“Um, do you even know exactly what this is about before answering?”
The lizard replied matter-of-factly.
“No.”
“...!?”
Aha ha….
Before Agent Bronze could grow any more confused, I formed letters out of smoke.
Request: More detailed explanation
“Yes. Since I received assistance in my rescue from Roe Deer, I judged that accompanying a similar rescue operation would be ethically appropriate in terms of relational conduct. As for what exact role I must perform in this process, I will determine that at a later time.”
In short, it meant he was doing this to repay my help.
‘Section Chief…!’
From my standpoint—having already received compensation for the escape from the extraterrestrial reptiles including himself—it was both something to be grateful for and deeply moving.
And it seemed the agents also managed to grasp this nuance despite the lizard’s manner of speech.
“…Tsk.”
“See?”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje lightly jabbed Agent Choi, who had a ‘Not bad?’ expression.
And I added to it as well.
Additional good deed by Section Chief Lizard:
Paid rent on behalf during 130666’s missing period
Section Chief Lee Jaheon had been paying my rent for me as well!
“Oh? Paying your rent?”
Yes!
I desperately expressed in smoke: ‘When I received the Wish Ticket, I entrusted all my remaining items to Section Chief Lee Jaheon and, if possible, asked him to use them to cover my rent.’
‘Well, it’s basically like renting storage space, so calling it rent isn’t wrong.’
“Wow, I knew you were rich, Section Chief, but you went that far for Roe Deer? Now that Roe Deer’s back, you’re not even charging them?”
That’s right, Assistant Manager Eun Haje. That part is truly admirable—
“I see. I will proceed now.”
……
……?!
“The converted value of the items Roe Deer entrusted for disposal has all been deducted as of last month. The currently accumulated debt is 2.3 million won.”
Ah.
"......"
Everyone’s gaze turned to me.
I desperately formed smoke again.
Request: Extension of deadline
Please.
Debt to be repaid after this exploration
Project performance bonus scheduled
Payer: Director Ho Yuwon
Please just wait a little until I can squeeze money out of Ho Yuwon.
And also.
Recipients of project allowance:
Includes Section Chief Lizard
You’ll be receiving it too, so please.
“Yes.”
Thank you!
And as he watched all of this unfold, Ho Yuwon spoke with a smile.
“It really is nice to see. If you faithfully carry out the exploration, then of course you should be compensated.”
“Oh~ as expected, a Daydream Inc. director is different. That personality of only taking care of your own company’s people. Ha!”
“For a public official prohibited from holding side jobs to covet additional compensation—how shameless, and very much like the Disaster Management Bureau… what a dual attitude.”
“Hey now, don’t say things like ‘side job.’ Earning money from supernatural disasters is originally agent-style legal, you know… Tsk. Well, let’s just say we’re helping citizens in trouble.”
Though he said that, Agent Choi didn’t seem to actually intend to receive money, and instead appeared to be trying to prevent Ho Yuwon from requesting supplies or equipment from the Disaster Management Bureau in advance.
‘Is he trying to settle things once before moving on?’
Before re-entering Segwang Special City.
[Hmm, it feels like the moment a new story is about to begin.]
That’s right.
We had recruited Section Chief Lizard as an additional member, and the situation had been organized enough to somewhat conceal the sharp hostility toward Ho Yuwon.
The explanation about Segwang Special City had also been properly completed for Section Chief Lee Jaheon. So now, at the very moment the rescue operation was truly about to launch—
That ‘statement’ came from Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who had fully grasped the situation.
“…An additional member?”
“Yes.”
Recommendation for additional personnel.
And that person was….
“Baek Saheon?”
“Yes.”
“…Roe Deer’s colleague? That slick, slippery guy.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly is he like?”
At Agent Bronze’s question, Assistant Manager Eun Haje rested her chin.
“Hm, old man., when you think a ‘Daydream Inc. employee,’ don’t biased representative keywords just start popping into your head?”
Terrible personality, self-preservation, selfishness, slyness….
Even without saying it out loud, it was obvious what words had already passed through Agent Bronze’s mind….
And then.
“That’s exactly it.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s that kind of guy.”
A death-like silence flowed over the table.
‘And you’re recommending someone that crazy?’
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the lizard with that exact expression.
“?"
But the lizard did not react.
Because they were thinking of it wrong….
Question: Reason for recommending Supervisor Goat
“Because he possesses the abilities required for the exploration.”
“Hm, could you elaborate a bit more?”
“Yes.”
“……”
“……”
“Um… please do explain?”
“Yes.”
Only then did Section Chief Lee Jaheon begin his explanation. For some reason, Agent Choi looked slightly more worn out and tired….
[Roe Deer. Sometimes, sharing pain can also create a sense of camaraderie.]
Yeah. Well, I guess it’s good if it at least has that effect….
“I understood that the exploration site consists of nooses that induce strangulation, the corpses of suicides, trees, and a dense fog that is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.”
“That’s correct.”
Inside that strange fog of Segwang Station, the faces of the explorers who had met their deaths side by side while being chased by nooses stiffened slightly.
“In that case, if we recruit someone who has secured a suitable field of vision capable of distinguishing those elements within the fog, I predicted that the movement of multiple personnel would become significantly easier.”
“…!”
“Then does this Baek Saheon possess such a suitable vision?”
“Yes.”
I immediately recalled it.
Baek Saheon’s trait.
A semi-permanent device equipped in place of his lost left eye
: A vision that discerns danger
“…!!”
“Since I judged that extracting only the eyeball and implanting it into one of the exploration members would be difficult, I propose recruiting the individual himself.”
People’s expressions changed.
They had realized it sounded quite plausible.
“Hmm. Certainly… most equipment of that kind in the Bureau borrows the vision or senses of someone spiritually attuned.”
“Yes. If an entirely new body part has been inserted, there is a high probability the system will recognize it as belonging to the individual himself.”
However, Agent Choi shrugged.
“But would someone with that kind of personality really join a rescue operation?”
Well, the thing is.
Method: A superior’s order
“Oh.”
Receiving everyone’s gaze, Ho Yuwon smiled faintly.
…It was the same expression Assistant Manager Eun Haje had once expected from this fox when requesting the recruitment of Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
‘You need him for the Segwang Special City exploration? Then of course—I'll go kidnap him right away.’
Yeah.
That exact expression.
***
‘Fuck!’
Baek Saheon was cursing inwardly.
No—he could only curse inwardly.
He was being moved somewhere with a gag in his mouth and cloth covering his head!
—Supervisor Goat, Director Ho is calling for you.
After going up to the director’s office at that request, he had ended up like this.
‘…Am I screwed?’
The instincts of someone who had worked at a deranged ghost story company were screaming.
For a few minutes, he had been breaking out in a cold sweat, desperately searching for a chance to escape in case he was being dragged off to the research team.
Then the movement stopped, and the cloth over his head was removed.
“….!!"
And what he saw before him—
‘W-what is this.’
It was the Fox Counseling Room.
More precisely, in the waiting room of the Fox Counseling Room, people wearing masks were seated at a table.
Two of them were familiar.
A lizard mask and a falcon mask.
‘W-wait a second.’
One had gone missing and returned just yesterday, and the other had already left the company long ago.
At that point, a thought crossed Baek Saheon’s mind.
‘Director Ho’s project team?!’
The existence of a “project” that had spread quietly by word of mouth only among those on Director Ho’s line. Baek Saheon had heard of it after becoming a Supervisor.
‘Are they trying to pull me into that project?’
But in the next moment—
Baek Saheon noticed the attire of the two sitting in the shadows of the table.
‘…Disaster Bureau!’
They were government agents. However…
The agents were wearing masks.
‘What the hell is that.’
—We cannot expose the identities of agents to someone this dangerously untrustworthy.
—Then perhaps you should wear masks as well?
—Oh.
Thus, they had hastily procured them.
The two wearing traditional Hahoe masks—one a nobleman, the other a butcher—looked extremely suspicious, but in another sense, they also strongly gave off the impression of agents from the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
/tn. Hahoe masks (Hahoetal) are traditional Korean wooden masks historically performed to pray for communal peace, good harvests, and to ward off evil spirits
In any case, the mere fact that agents were sitting calmly and amicably together with Daydream Inc. was enough to leave a shocking impression on Baek Saheon.
But.
“Supervisor Goat.”
“…Yes.”
The one Baek Saheon was most conscious of in this place was Director Ho, seated at the table.
As always, he sat smiling with a youthful face, yet strangely, his eyes seemed filled with a kind of ecstasy.
Baek Saheon recognized those eyes.
The eyes of a fanatic with their goal right in front of them.
“Today, we’ve gathered to offer you a good proposal, Supervisor.”
“…If you mean a proposal.”
“I happen to be running a small project, and I’m selecting people to join it.”
As expected.
“Congratulations. From now on, Saheon, you’ll be working as part of the project team.”
Suspicious.
‘You’re introducing it like this instead of making it an official appointment?’
Wasn’t this like some kind of cult?
His guard rose even higher, but he forced a smile anyway.
Because he had to deceive them.
“Thank you for thinking highly of me, Director!”
“Not at all. Then shall you greet your team members?”
Greeting, my ass, you bastard.
Baek Saheon felt both the urge to spit on that face that looked like it had never suffered a day in its life and a surge of fear at the same time, as he turned his head to look at the others.
They were all wearing masks anyway, but among them, he looked at the two agents he didn’t recognize rather than the two he did.
"......"
Then suddenly, he realized something.
Under the table, one of the masked agents had clenched their fist tightly while looking at him.
As if they recognized him.
But that gesture didn’t feel like one directed at a Daydream Inc. employee—rather, it felt like that of someone who had encountered someone unexpectedly….
……!
“You.”
Baek Saheon whipped his head toward that agent.
“You’re the agent who was at Jisan Village back then, aren’t you??”
"......"
The one wearing the butcher mask looked at Baek Saheon.
There was a clear sense of displeasure emanating from their entire body, but it didn’t matter.
Without realizing it, Baek Saheon suddenly asked the question that had been bothering him.
“Where is the other agent who came with you back then?”
"......"
“The one who drew the golden rod back then.”
“There is no reason to tell you.”
Bastard.
Well, of course—he was the agent who had tried to leave him behind in that village. It was obvious. The kind of bastard who only cared about their own business, broke promises, and changed their words.
He couldn’t believe there could be such a difference even among agents.
That is, compared to that agent—the one he communicated with through paper boats.
"......"
That agent would never get involved in something this suspicious.
‘Though it looks like they’re cooperating with Director Ho.’
No matter how you looked at it, something about this stank.
Thus, Baek Saheon roughly finished assessing the situation. Or at least, he thought he had.
“Ah, the last person is arriving.”
Creeeak.
Until the counseling room door opened and that appeared.
“……!!"
Black smoke, a gas mask, countless branching horns, a yellow gas lantern. Black boots, a full-body uniform.
/tn. absolute aura farmer, holy
It was the monster of the Security Team.
‘S-shit.’
Was it some kind of watchdog to keep employees from escaping?
“Mr. Goat?”
“Y-yes.”
Pretending to wipe sweat, Baek Saheon lowered his head and slightly tilted his eyepatch. It was an attempt to gauge the danger level of the opponent…….
……
It was Kim Soleum.
“...!!”
Just like at the mermaid grave—again.
Once again, he was facing him in a bizarre form whose identity he couldn’t grasp.
Goosebumps spread across his entire body.
‘So he really wasn’t human.’
After appearing as a cat, then a child, and now as a strange being of the Security Team, Kim Soleum approached the table.
Flinch.
Baek Saheon almost sprang up from his seat, but barely managed to calm himself, lowering his gaze beneath the table without meeting his eyes.
‘Fucking bastard.’
This was definitely another attempt to keep his identity hidden, to silence him….
“Ah, Mr. Goat, you’re familiar with this person as well, right? This is the employee you knew as Supervisor Roe Deer.”
“...?!"
“You’re colleagues, aren’t you? Have a chat.”
W-wait.
“You two will now be on the same team, exploring the same darkness together.”
Baek Saheon let out a silent scream.
“Now then, shall we begin the exploration?”
Second attempt to enter Segwang Special City.
30 minutes before commencement.
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