GSGW c263
Chapter 263
We found our missing companion, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, at the casino station after boarding the train.
We could have celebrated the success of the search.
If only she hadn’t been working as a dealer in this ghost story—missing one eye.
“Dolphin…”
“Shh.”
Agent Choi gripped my shoulder tightly. I reflexively shut my mouth.
"......."
“Yes, Dealer. Please guide us~”
“Yesss!”
And so, we quietly began to follow the dealer—the “resident” of this ghost story wearing Lee Seonghae’s face—as she walked ahead.
Agent Choi whispered low.
“Making a scene and trying to snap her out of it won’t work. We need to catch the timing and bring her back, even if only for a moment. Got it?”
I nodded.
The dealer led us past the deteriorated casino entrance area and further inside.
We entered while quietly observing our surroundings.
…If this had been recorded in the <Dark Exploration Records>, it would have appeared exactly like this…
Upon passing through the entrance zone under the dealer’s guidance, a space appears—three iron doors lined up side by side, as if a subway maintenance area had been repurposed.
The areas accessible through each door are described below.
1. Left - Red Door
“Slot Machine Zone!”
As the door opened, a square room appeared, filled with fast-tempo, low-quality music, worn brass decorations, and rows upon endless rows of slot machines.
Compared to the machines at the entrance, this place felt more systematic—more obsessive.
“You can enjoy a simple game by pulling the lever, and with just 1 coin, you can challenge the jackpot! It’s very popular!”
Most of the slot machines were already broken, but countless visitors with vacant eyes still pulled the levers of the few shabby machines that remained operational.
If they had no hands, they used their feet. If they had no feet, they used their mouths.
I even saw someone desperately snatch up something from a winning machine and flee to a corner.
And the addicts chasing after that winner like madmen.
It was a chilling sight.
“Now, I’ll guide you to the next area!”
2. Right - Blue Door
“Dealer Zone. This is where various table games are played. Only parties holding 50 coins or more may enter.”
Compared to the slot machine zone, this area looked more like a proper casino.
However, more than half of the game tables were broken or shattered.
At the few tables still intact, “dealers” dressed similarly to Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae stood idly or conducted games.
But their number was drastically small, and there were barely any seated visitors…
[It feels isolated. Like a run-down casino in a tourist spot no one visits anymore.]
[Look at them. What pitiful appearances…]
The visitors seated in front of the dealers were missing both legs, or more than half of their facial features, or had their entire bodies covered in tattered hoodies and padding.
"......."
“What do you think?”
“Ah, I guess it’s just a quiet day today.”
“It’s usually busier on weekends than weekdays!”
That clearly wasn’t the issue, but it was only natural that meaningful conversation with the contaminated was impossible.
I smoothly changed the subject.
“To be honest, I was surprised to see a dealer. I thought this was an unmanned facility.”
“Ah, understandable. With subway usage decreasing lately, I heard that the ■■ City Royal Casino is innovating its management policies.”
It was a suggestive remark.
The dealer wearing Lee Seonghae’s face smiled faintly and guided us to the next room.
“But there’s also a special game you can only enjoy here!”
The final room.
2. Center - Golden Door
A gold-colored iron door, rusted and stripped of its paint.
Above it hung a velvet plaque, still intact.
VIP ACCESS
“Only guests with 999 coins or more may enter this room!”
As she said, the iron door was firmly shut.
As if we were not allowed inside.
“It’s a zone I highly recommend—you can see the true nature of the Royal Casino.”
“What kind of games are played there?”
“That’s something I can only tell guests who meet the entry requirements!”
“How many people are inside right now?”
“That’s something I can only tell guests who meet the entry requirements!”
In other words, if we wanted to know anything about that VIP room, we needed 999 coins.
“What I can say for certain is—you can earn an enormous amount of coins!”
“…I see.”
[Hmm. Curious, aren’t you, my friend?]
Of course, it felt ominous—but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“……Thank you for the explanation.”
“You’re very welcome!”
The dealer with Lee Seonghae’s face smiled brightly again.
I returned the greeting with a slight bow, but I couldn’t shake a certain thought.
A single question lingered in my mind…
Had Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae
always been that tall?
“Now, I’ll help you enter the dealer room first!”
She used to be at least 10 centimeters shorter than Assistant Manager Eun Haje, but now she was clearly taller at a glance.
And she wasn’t even wearing her usual cushioned sneakers—just flat shoes.
How was that possible?
“Would you like to play a game?”
Back in the second area—the dealer room—the dealer moved to the opposite side of a worn table and spoke cheerfully.
“It’s a simple card game! Just guess the identity of the card I’m holding! You can bet a minimum of 3 coins, and win up to 36 times your bet!”
Her hands moved skillfully as she presented a deck of cards.
And then I realized something else.
“Will you place a bet?”
The one-eyed dealer met eyes with me—also one-eyed.
“If you bet all 35 coins you have, theoretically, you could gain access to the VIP room in a single round.”
……
“I’m fine.”
I smiled and stepped slightly back from the table.
“It’s our first time here. We’ll try the slot machines first, and if possible, enjoy ourselves a bit before coming back to bet. Thank you.”
“…Yes! Thank you!”
Only after the dealer’s persistent gaze finally left did I exit the dealer room with the group.
We returned to the entrance area, and only after confirming that the dealer wasn’t following us did I speak.
“Grapes, did you see it?”
“Yes.”
We had both seen the dealer’s hands while she shuffled the cards.
“The ring finger and middle finger were shaped differently.”
“Right… And the wrist and hand were unnaturally connected too.”
And her height—strangely larger than Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s.
All of it pointed to one fact.
……
“Only the head is Assistant Manager Dolphin.”
The dealer’s body was crudely stitched together from mismatched parts.
With Lee Seonghae’s head attached.
“She must have gambled here, sold most of her body parts, and kept buying them back.”
Or—
“She could have gone into debt, lost everything to the casino, and been reassembled as a dealer.”
Either way, one question remained.
So—
“…Is she in a state that can be rescued?”
……
“She must be terminated.”
“Wait.”
Agent Bronze spoke again, firmly.
“If we kill her, she’ll wake up in reality. Aim for the head.”
“Hold on!”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje cut him off.
“Easy there. Let’s think about this. …Can something that’s just a head still be considered the person?”
“Well~ I’d say the side with the brain is the person. After all, dreams happen in the head.”
“No.”
Agent Choi and Section Chief Lee Jaheon disagreed.
They looked at each other.
“Sir, could you explain why you think that?”
“Yes. In the darkness, classification isn’t always based on medical standards—it can follow symbolic or conceptual criteria.”
“…For example, the heart could be considered the defining part instead of the head? Since some cultures view the heart as the more fundamental human element?”
“Yes.”
“Hoo…”
Agent Choi fell into thought.
If “Lee Seonghae reduced to just a head” was not recognized as the person—then even if we killed her, she might not wake up in reality…
‘Her consciousness might simply die as is.’
And moreover—
“Just like the last station, there’s no guarantee that dying here means waking up in reality.”
“…Even so, leaving her in a fully contaminated state within an unrecognized Catastrophe-Level supernatural disaster is less humane.”
“Bronze.”
Agent Choi’s voice was low.
“I told you not to state the Bureau’s manual like it’s your personal opinion.”
"......"
“Our junior is a bit rigid, but he didn’t mean any harm.”
“I know. He’s generalizing a bit, but he’s not entirely wrong either.”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje softened the tension.
“Besides, we brought euthanasia pills ourselves, expecting we might have to die to get out anyway.”
That was true.
‘I didn’t expect things to be all that different.’
And besides—
“I agree. …Seeing that I still have a human form, this is likely a dream, not reality.”
“…Roe Deer.”
“So if there’s truly no other option, we may have to follow Agent Bronze’s suggestion… but for now, I think we should look for another way.”
“......"
Agent Bronze nodded heavily. It seemed the others had reached a tentative agreement as well.
Our first objective was simple: gather as much information as possible in the Midnight Station Body Casino.
That was the plan.
Though not everyone agreed with it.
Baek Saheon, for one, wore a face that practically said “not interested.”
It made sense—he had no real connection to Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, and the one offering the reward was Ho Yuwon. Rescue wasn’t his goal.
‘He’s probably more interested in the reward.’
And Ho Yuwon had made an unusually generous request this time.
—For now, I’d like you to gather information about Segwang Special City outside the subway.
Rather than rushing out blindly, thoroughly exploring the station might yield useful clues.
And even if it didn’t, a casino was the perfect place to obtain items.
‘His mind’s probably already elsewhere.’
Noticing his lack of cooperation, Agent Bronze shot Baek Saheon a look of contempt from behind his mask.
That wasn’t how you handled someone like him.
I grabbed Baek Saheon by the shoulder.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes?”
He flinched—good. But this time, it wasn’t the stick. It was the carrot.
I spoke as gently as possible.
“If this is a casino, then the dealer would know the most about how it works and what it offers, right?”
“So?”
“If we rescue her and bring her out, we could get some pretty useful information.”
"......."
It seemed he had already gathered information on Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s personality—his expression shifted slightly.
Right. He knew she wasn’t the type to take help and run.
“Think it over.”
I let him go.
‘That should at least keep him from interfering.’
People began to disperse.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje went to observe other casino visitors. Section Chief Lee Jaheon and Baek Saheon headed toward the slot machines. The agents split off to examine the body pawnshop and the exchange counter.
And I…
“Welcome back!”
Entered the dealer room.
—Assistant Manager, could you lend me 20 coins for a moment? I won’t spend them—I just want to get into the dealer room.
—Okay. I’ll be there soon, so come meet me.
Carefully borrowing what she called “blood-like” coins, I met the 50-coin requirement and earned the right to play with the dealer.
“Yes. We meet again.”
I sat across the table.
The dealer wearing Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s face smiled brightly.
“Will you place a bet?”
“…Yes.”
“Great!”
With a cheerful expression, she stood across from me and began arranging the cards again.
“I’ll let you know in advance! If you’re caught using ‘tricks,’ a penalty fee will be applied!”
“Understood. I’ll be careful.”
Watching her movements closely, I spoke as if in passing.
“Have you ever worked somewhere else before?”
“…Pardon?”
“I feel like I saw you at a resort.”
Her hands paused briefly.
And then—
“Ah, I worked at the Flower Golden Resort for a short time. It was a really nice place!”
“…I see. Sounds wonderful.”
“Thank you!”
So she did remember that.
To dig deeper—to bring back more personal memories, and to understand what she had gone through—I decided to proceed with the game.
At that moment—
“Then let’s begin the game—oh!”
Someone else sat down at the table.
‘Who is that?’
I turned, thinking it might be Assistant Manager Eun Haje joining us—
“...!"
But instead, it was a resident of Segwang Special City, wrapped head to toe in a worn-out padded jacket.
"......"
"......"
‘What is this?’
A bad feeling crept in.
I considered getting up, but stayed seated for now.
Cold sweat gathered in my palms.
“Will you place a bet?”
The person beside me slowly nodded without a sound and placed three coins on the table.
Old, stained coins.
"......"
I placed three coins of my own.
In contrast, mine gleamed faintly under the light…
“Yes! Then let’s begin!”
Collecting the coins, the dealer spread the deck face-down across the table.
“Which card will you choose?”
I waited.
But the person beside me didn’t choose a card.
A suffocating silence.
“…This one.”
"네넹!"
“Got it!”
The moment I picked a card, the person next to me immediately pointed to the one beside it—as if they had been waiting.
‘…What is this?’
Something felt off.
“Now then! You just need to guess the suit or the number! If you guess the suit, you get 3x. The number, 8x. Both correct—36x!”
She added helpful explanations—face cards excluded, Ace counted as 1.
[Ah, a payout structure that benefits only the casino. How transparent!!]
Yeah.
But instead of fairness, a strange tension filled the air as I spoke quietly.
“So it’s a probability game. The number has a higher multiplier than the suit—almost like a higher grade. Like a rare solution.”
“That’s an interesting comparison, sir!”
So small talk was allowed, at least to this extent. I pressed further.
“Then have you ever played as a guest yourself? What’s the most you’ve ever bet?”
“Me?”
Her voice remained flat.
“I’ve bet up to 990 coins.”
…!
But before I could ask more, the game continued.
“Then I’ll ask the guest who placed their coins first. How will you bet?”
……
“Sir?”
The person beside me slowly raised their index finger.
Their hand was wrapped tightly in bandages, hiding the other fingers.
“Alright! You’ve bet on 1!”
Hoo.
Now it was my turn.
‘For now…’
“I’ll guess the suit. Diamond.”
“Confirmed!”
The dealer turned to the person beside me again—and my gaze followed.
And I realized.
At some point, the person next to me had turned almost completely toward me.
Even while the dealer was addressing them.
“We’ll reveal the number guess first—”
The dealer flipped the card.
“Spade 3.”
"......"
“Unfortunately, that’s incorrect!”
The person beside me didn’t move.
And then—
“Now, for the next—”
The card I had chosen was flipped.
Diamond 8.
“Congratulations! You got it right! Here are your winnings!”
The dealer handed me nine coins. Mixed among them were the dirty, worn coins taken from the person beside me.
I swept them up and put them in my pocket.
"......."
“Congratulations! Would you like to play again?”
I could feel a gaze.
The resident of Segwang Special City beside me—who had lost their coins—was staring at me.
Even if I couldn’t see it, I knew.
"......"
I quietly gathered my coins and stood up.
‘Let’s avoid this.’
I’d go meet Assistant Manager Eun Haje first, then come back.
“Ah, are you leaving already?”
“I’m going to look around a bit more—”
And the moment I turned—
The casino visitor who had been sitting beside me was now standing right in front of me.
"......"
"......"
They lifted their head.
The lower half of their face emerged from beneath the padding.
And—
“Roe Deer.”
A familiar face.
A familiar voice.
[Good heavens!]
“Why… are you here?”
It was Go Yeongeun.
My colleague, eyes filled with anxiety, spoke the words I had been about to say.
GO YEONGEUN??!! OMG
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