GDCG c277

Previous chapter

Next chapter 

 

Chapter 277

Right now.

What just happened?

"......."

In the silence, I stared at the ‘someone’ who had appeared behind me.

A black suit. A wolf mask.

The moment I saw that distinctive attire, I recognized the affiliation. Because I wore the same kind of uniform.

‘A Daydream Inc. Field Exploration Team employee.’

But the moment I looked down at my own appearance—

I felt a subtle difference.

The way the hair was styled.

The way the suit was tailored.

An impression, impossible to define—yet clearly… different from now.

A more old-fashioned style than mine.

[Oh my, it’s from a different era.]

That’s right.

The employee standing before me was definitely not from the 2020s.

Someone from decades ago.

That… distinctive wolf mask.

"......"

From the <Dark Exploration Records>, I knew exactly which past “named figure” matched that appearance.

‘…Elite Team B, Team Leader.’

J3.

The security captain’s past.

A fleeting moment I had glimpsed when consuming Nostalgia Candy now stood before me as a continuous, living presence.

I froze as I faced it.

And then…

“You’re not answering. Should I just call you Employee Dragon?”

“...!"

At those words, reality slammed back into me.

Wait.

‘What about the others?’

I reflexively turned toward the opposite corridor where my teammates had been—but no one was there.

Only the silent rows of bookshelves stretching unnaturally onward.

'...!'

I’d lost them.

A chilling premonition crept in.

And in this space, the only sign of another person was the man in the wolf mask before me.

"......"

I could guess what this was.

‘A paranormal phenomenon.’

Even that wolf-masked man—this “Hanbit Library,” shaped by the history of Segwang Special City, had created him from J3.

‘Don’t provoke him.’

For now.

—It’s safer not to make loud noises in this place.

I responded as a Daydream Inc. employee inside the ghost story.

‘Don’t mention J3.’

After a steady breath, I pulled out paper and hastily wrote with a pen.

The wolf-masked man glanced at it.

—This is a library, so I’d prefer we communicate in writing as much as possible.

Then I held out the pen to him.

"......"

"......"

He didn’t take my pen.

Instead, he smoothly pulled one from his own pocket and wrote on the paper I offered.

—A library, huh.

Could it be…

—Did you not know this was a library?

Only the lower half of his face was visible beneath the wolf mask, faintly smiling.

—Where were you just before this?

—Well. I definitely entered a subway station to explore the darkness of a vending machine, and before I knew it, I was turning a corner in this maze of books.

"......."

—You seem quite accustomed to this environment, Employee Dragon. Were you exploring this labyrinth of shelves?

—Yes.

I wrote calmly.

‘No need to correct him and say it’s Roe Deer.’

As long as the security captain was in this state, I needed to maintain a calm, cooperative relationship no matter what…

—Then which team are you from, Employee Dragon?

—D-Team.

Right. I’d say I was a newly assigned recruit.

But the moment I wrote that—

—D-Team

The gaze behind the wolf mask shifted.

‘…Huh?’

And then, at the reply that followed, my mind reeled.

—There is no such team.

“….!!"

In that instant, I realized why things had gone wrong—and a chill ran down my spine.

‘A difference in setting values…!’

Looking back at the version of the Dark Exploration Records from when that Elite Team B leader was “registered”—

‘That was when the setting of Daydream Inc. was still being defined.’

A time before the company’s details were fully established like they were now. Back then, if you searched “Daydream Inc.,” only a single document page appeared.

Do you know how employees were classified?

Daydream Company

A vicious corporation that shoved countless employees into ghost stories like expendable parts, extracting raw materials for drugs from within.

Employees who thought they had joined a major company instead met countless horrific deaths inside ghost stories.

Only those among the supply staff who showed exceptional talent in high-level explorations could belong to Elite Teams labeled A, B, or C—and rise as executives of the company.

That’s right.

Elite Teams.

And everyone else.

In other words, any Daydream Inc. employee not classified under A, B, or C was nothing more than a disposable unit, ground down inside ghost stories.

There were no ranks or promotions for employees to begin with. Everyone was just an “employee”—test subjects assigned code numbers in documents.

It fully embodied the eerie ghost story premise: ‘You thought you joined a corporation, but you were actually a lab rat.’ That was what Daydream’s employees were….

‘And there were already ghost stories created based on that setting.’

To preserve their plausibility…

5.1 Daydream Company (Early Period)

A vicious corporation that shoved countless employees into ghost stories like expendable parts, extracting raw materials for drugs from within.

Everything had been relegated to the past.

‘Daydream before it became an incorporated company.’

Daydream Inc. had evolved—from a vague, purely ghost story-like concept into a fully detailed world entity resembling a massive pharmaceutical corporation.

'......'

I could feel it. 

The gaze of the past Elite Team leader watching me.

A piercing look, as if trying to determine whether I was truly human—or something merely imitating one.

…And I knew.

The specific classification method used by early Elite Teams. 

5.1.4 Team B (Early Period)

An elite team of Daydream Company.

A group composed of employees who possess a keen sense for distinguishing True/False, repeatedly producing exceptional correct answers in binary-choice situations.

And that man was the leader of Team B.

I knew that a clumsy lie wouldn’t work.

So—

—It does exist.

Better to face it head-on.

"...!"

I told the truth.

—And I’ve heard about it before. …That decades ago, there was a Team Leader in the Elite Teams who wore a wolf mask.

I looked directly at him.

—Based on the differences in speech and information, I made a guess… could it be that you are that B-Team leader?

He stared at me in silence.

And just as cold sweat formed on the back of my neck, he picked up his pen again.

—That’s right.

Phew.

—A library is a place where knowledge of the past connects to the future.

—So I wondered if, within this mysterious library ghost story, the timelines of past and future might have intersected.

He leisurely moved his pen.

—That’s quite an interesting guess.

—Or perhaps you’re using a guess as an excuse to indulge in imagination you don't even believe in.

I almost swallowed my breath.

…The wolf leader’s hand patted my back…….

—I’m not sure about that either. We’ll have to find out from here on.

—Let’s work well together, Employee Dragon.

And just like that, a bizarre companionship began.

***

We moved through Hanbit Library—a vast cavern of bookshelves—silencing even the sound of our footsteps.

The wolf leader, having learned and confirmed the “library usage rules” written on the floor, walked quietly beside me.

Every now and then, I could feel his gaze on me.

—Hmm. Just call me Team Leader.

—Yes, Team Leader.

Naturally, I couldn’t ask his name. In a ghost story, asking someone’s real name was the kind of suspicious act that could instantly turn things hostile.

Still, walking alongside the uncorrupted, past version of the security captain—a named figure from the <Dark Exploration Records>—felt stranger than any ghost story.

Tension.

…Pull it together.

‘I need to find the others.’

I looked down at the thread in my hand.

…The wolf leader immediately understood its purpose the moment he saw it.

—Did you tie that at the entrance of the library before coming in? Like Ariadne from Greek mythology.

—That’s right.

—Then keep using it.

…So, at the fork where my team had vanished and I had met the wolf leader, I tied the thread to a groove in a nearby bookshelf and headed down the opposite corridor.

‘If the others see this thread, they’ll be able to follow it.’

And even if the path became confusing, we’d realize it immediately—that thought kept me steady.

But not long after—

I witnessed something shocking.

"......."

"......."

A familiar corridor appeared again.

[Good heavens!] 

<Masterpiece Horror Short Stories of the 2000s>.

We had returned to the very starting point—where the book dropped by the uniformed figure still lay on the floor.

As if it were a lie, only the thread stretched out chaotically into both corridors, now forming two separate lines.

‘Damn it.’

—It seems this maze of books has a physically impossible structure.

I slowly nodded.

—And the trigger point is probably that book.

"...!"

—You keep looking at it. You wanted that book, didn’t you?

Damn it. 

—It seems that way. 

—I see. For now, don’t touch it. Let’s keep walking. Same direction as before. Exactly the same. 

"......"

I stopped. 

—Why did you stop? 

—Is continuing in the exact same direction… meant to provoke the library? 

The eyes behind the wolf mask turned toward me.

A flicker of interest.

—Yes.

Phew.

—There are two kinds of ghost stories.

—Things that are frightening simply because they exist. And… things that are frightening because they are watching you.

—This library seems to be the latter.

"......."

—This library clearly reacts to its users. The more you repeat actions that provoke a response, the more likely it is to reveal itself openly.

A whisper brushed past my ear.

“And you’re quite arrogant.”

"...!"

“That also means you’re clever. But anything you can think of, I can think of as well—so from now on, you don’t need to ask me every time. Smart Employee Dragon.”

"......."

“Then let’s walk.”

The wolf mask turned forward.

Suppressing a groan, I adjusted the thread in my hand and stepped forward again in the direction we had just come from.

My legs felt like they might give out.

‘Think.’

Even in the tension, my mind raced with urgent deductions.

One of the library’s rules:

Leave after obtaining one thing

Do we have to touch that book to leave this library?

Or… maybe we’d be forced out automatically. That might be even worse.

‘What about the others?’

They had all vanished, and the security captain had turned into something else entirely.

And…

Was it really okay to leave him like this?

With my thoughts tangled, I took another step—

“Hm.”

At that moment—

Tap. Tap.

The security captain tapped my back, directing my gaze beyond the fork in the path.

The space we had stepped into earlier was….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“...!"

Chaotic red traces were scattered across the floor.

The thread I had left behind had been bizarrely unraveled, forming strange letters on the ground….

—It’s appeared. A ‘reaction.’

‘Ha.’

It fit too perfectly—but now the horror atmosphere was becoming real.

Holding back a sigh, I crouched down and read the letters.

The worship of one who heads toward a path

/tn. idk man, I tried to do my best with the translation to attempt at an anagram...

"......."

—What could it mean?

This—

—It looks like an anagram.

I broke apart each character and rearranged them into a sentence….

Silently mouthing it to myself—

“…One who heads toward the path of worship?”

“Well done.”

Click.

When I turned my head, I saw the wolf leader pulling a book from a nearby shelf.

The title written on the spine read: <One Who Heads Toward the Path of Worship>

“......!"

The shelf opened.

With a low, grinding sound, the shelf slid aside—revealing a new passage.

But….

It was red.

And dark.

Instead of the warm glow of the mood lights, a dim crimson light illuminated the cavern of shelves in a heavy gloom.

And…

‘…It slopes downward.’

Subtly, my field of vision tilted toward the depths below.

"......."

The Hanbit Library wiki updated.

The next entry read….

Those who faithfully do not fulfill their curiosity may descend deeper. Pass through what is open and come through the closed door toward the light. To the mirror that reflects truth, meet the master of Hanbit Library.

Prostrate yourself

■■■■■■■■■■ (redacted)

Something was wrong.

‘No.’

I hurriedly scribbled a note to the wolf leader. We might have taken the wrong path—

—Wehavethewrongpath

The sentence came out distorted.

‘Shit.’

Suppressing a scream, I tried to snatch the paper back—but—

“Wait.”

The wolf leader grabbed it first.

“Hm. So your voice still works.”

"......."

“From now on, we’ll communicate by voice. Quietly. Never raise your volume.”

“…Yes.”

I nodded immediately.

“Don’t step on the thread. Turn around—we’re leaving slowly. Understood?”

And so we walked, silencing even our footsteps, and exited the corridor marked with the red usage rules.

Even so, the dark path formed by the opened shelf did not disappear.

It remained there—like a hollow, pulling inward, as if it might swallow us whole.

‘Hoo.’ 

What a waste.

"......."

Shuddering, I closed the wiki.

And so, once again, following the thread, we returned to the starting point.

<Masterpiece Horror Short Stories of the 2000s>

“You understand now, right?”

…….

“That not touching the book isn’t the correct answer.”

This is insane.

There’s no backing out now.

‘It’s better to confirm it.’

This has to be the trigger.

In a mysterious library that offers knowledge and information, refusing to check the knowledge given in response to your curiosity—

That’s practically begging for an irregularity.

‘If we keep going like this and the structure twists even further, it’ll be too dangerous.’

It might affect the others too….

Let’s confirm it.

“…I’ll check the book.”

In the end, I carefully approached it and reached out—

And picked it up.

“......"

“Let’s read it together.”

My heart nearly dropped.

But the wolf leader’s arm, holding the other side of the book cover, didn’t move in the slightest—so I gave in to the situation.

‘Maybe this way, we’ll get out faster.’

If we leave, we’ll leave together.

“…Then I’ll turn to the page with the ‘information we want.’”

Flip, flip—the pages turned.

Petty, eerie short horror stories filled with text appeared before me. Trying not to actually read them, I kept flipping—

Until I stopped at a familiar line.

Within the Black Shadow

A ghost story of Segwang Technical High School.

"Hoo."

After taking a deep breath, I began to read.

That familiar sentence I had once seen in a text file.

This all happened on the day of our graduation.

And in the very next moment—

The letters melted, then twisted and swirled before my eyes….

"......."

When I opened them again, I was staring at a schoolyard swallowed in darkness.

Deep in the night.

I was standing on the field just inside the main gate of Segwang Technical High School.

And the one who had read it with me…

“Hmm.”

…was still in the exact same wolf mask.

‘Ha.’

The situation was enough to make my head spin, but before anything else, my eyes dropped to what I was still holding.

The book.

‘Wait.’

Wouldn’t this count as taking it outside?

A chill ran down my spine as I hurriedly checked the book.

Clatter.

"......?"

Something fell out of the book.

Something yellowed, like it had been tucked between the pages.

I grabbed it reflexively.

‘An envelope?’

An old paper envelope, the kind that looked like it should hold cash. It was light—probably empty.

‘What is this?’

I had no intention of opening it. But…

It opened first.

"......!"

What spilled out—was a warm blue flame.

Something familiar to me.

‘Dokkaebi fire.’

The supernatural flame used by the Disaster Management Bureau.

The soft blue light wrapped around the envelope, and then letters—burned into the back as if by fire—began to appear.

---

If you’re reading this, it means the dokkaebi fire recognized you as an agent. Which means the structure of Segwang Special City has resumed operation.

At least… I hope the students can be rescued.

Don’t look for us.

We failed.

Dispatch Rescue Unit, Azure Dragon Team

---

“...!"

[Oh, those people who couldn’t even afford to provide their colleague with a proper workspace. Is this a note left by those civil servants?] 

…Yeah.

The Dispatch Rescue Unit was definitely one of the subordinate organizations of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau. This was clearly a trace left behind by one of their agents.

‘But….’

My eyes stopped at the unfamiliar team name.

‘Azure Dragon Team?’

At that moment—

“Disaster Management Bureau?”

"......!"

…the voice of the wolf-masked man beside me, who had been reading along, spoke up.

“Employee Dragon… are you an agent of the Disaster Management Bureau?”

Damn it.

 

Previous chapter

Next chapter