GDCG c297

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Chapter 297

I remembered.

The basement beneath Daydream Inc.'s headquarters, where layer upon layer of the Cheerful Research Institute's past had accumulated.

The shadows and corpses of researchers who had died in the burning institute.

The moment Ho Yuwon and I escaped from an office dozens of floors underground, engulfed in flames, while wondering with horror what kind of disaster could have set the institute ablaze.

'...So the Cheerful Research Institute really was underground.'

Though I had never imagined that the underground facility was part of the subway system.

I looked once more at the Cheerful Research Institute office spread out inside the machine room connected to the outbound platform of Midnight Station.

...Could this be another projected ghost story?

"Agent, do you sense any sort of sinister energy?"

"...At the moment, no."

I turned toward Baek Saheon. He had secretly lifted his eyepatch and was peering inside, but he hurriedly shook his head as well.

'...It's not a ghost story? It's a real place?'

And none of the others seemed to recognize where they were.

I realized something.

'No one here has ever been to Daydream Inc.'s basement.'

It was an area mainly accessible only to the Security Team.

"Roe Deer. Do you want to go inside?"

I slowly nodded.

"...It seems to be a place I know."

"...!"

"But it's completely burned down. It could be dangerous if too many people enter at once. So I and—"

"Can I come too?"

Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae immediately raised her hand.

"...I'd appreciate that."

And so Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae and I entered the burned hallway.

Splash.

The black water pooled beneath our feet clung briefly to our shoes before peeling away.

"Roe Deer, how do you know this place?"

I hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to tell the truth.

Now that she was part of Ho Yuwon's project, hiding it would have felt deceptive.

"...It was beneath Daydream Inc."

And I explained everything as briefly as possible.

That the Cheerful Research Institute seemed to be the source of Daydream's dream essence technology.

That some sort of accident had occurred there, causing the institute to burn down. And that the past of the destroyed institute had been turned into Darkness and bound beneath Daydream Inc.'s headquarters.

"Oh."

Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae appeared deep in thought and had this as her first response.

"So originally, Wish Tickets were developed by the Cheerful Research Institute?"

Huh?

"...I don't know about that."

I recalled the prototype machine from the dream cultivation chamber.

🥰🥸🤯🧐🤪🥱

◎

The potion-production buttons represented by emojis.

And the empty space where the bottom button should have been.

"I found prototype versions of the other potions, but I never found one corresponding to Wish Tickets."

"Ahh."

After a brief silence as we walked through the burned hallway, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae spoke again.

"To be honest, Wish Tickets have always felt a little strange."

"In what way?"

"If something like that exists, why don't the company executives use it?"

"...From what I've heard, only full-time employees are allowed to take them."

I remembered Ho Yuwon's gleaming eyes.

If Wish Tickets could have allowed entry into Segwang Special City, he would have entered long ago.

And if secretly drinking one would have produced results, he would have done that too.

Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae shook her head.

"That part feels strange, too. It doesn't seem like they're sold anywhere. If that's the case, why bother producing them at all?"

"…....!"

'She's right...'

...Something didn't add up.

Wish Tickets clearly contained an enormous concentration of dream essence. Anyone could see they represented the culmination of Daydream Inc.'s entire potion series. 

The company's crown jewel.

During recruitment, and throughout employment, they were constantly emphasized. To anyone associated with the company, they felt like the ultimate goal. 

'Of course they do.'

This was the world of <Dark Exploration Records>. And in that setting, employees' ghost story explorations were the most important thing. Wish Tickets served as the driving force behind those explorations. 

A potion capable of granting any wish.

Wasn't that exactly the sort of thing that belonged in a ghost story?

But...

Thinking about it realistically...

'Why does the company produce Wish Tickets at all?'

They required massive amounts of dream essence. Even more strangely, executives and high-ranking personnel apparently couldn't use them themselves. So why manufacture them and sell them through the welfare mall? 

Producing them merely as employee incentives or bait didn't make sense. They were treated as far too important. 

'Who is actually using them?'

Come to think of it, aside from the employee point-based welfare mall...

There was no known distribution route for Wish Tickets.

…….

Perhaps. 

"Are you saying that the company's goal might actually be for someone suitable to use a Wish Ticket?"

For example.

Perhaps the entrance exam itself filtered applicants for people who were suitable users of Wish Tickets. 

"Oh." 

Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae slapped her palm. 

"I never thought that far ahead, but it actually makes sense." 

Hoo.

"Do you think it's for some evil purpose?"

"Hm?"

"Like, maybe if the right person uses a Wish Ticket, environmental pollution accelerates or something!"

"...I don't think it has anything to do with environmental pollution. But I also don't think our company pursues particularly ethical goals."

As I spoke, I realized something.

"Most likely... it benefits the people at the top who run this company."

The act of someone using a Wish Ticket. 

That "someone" would possess an incredibly desperate wish. Someone who was compatible with ghost stories. Someone who had survived countless Dark Explorations. 

"Aha."

Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae ended the conversation there.

The green pupils illuminated by the flashlight glimmered briefly before disappearing back into darkness.

[What an interesting new idea, Roe Deer! Let's make sure to record it. It might prove useful someday!]

'...Yeah.'

With mixed feelings, I continued down the hallway.

And began checking the doors around us.

Creeeak.

Some opened. Others remained shut.

But even the sealed rooms could be viewed through windows shattered by the heat.

The flashlight once again illuminated spaces devoid of any light source and I suppressed a groan.

Everything had burned completely black.

'...What about the dream cultivation chamber?'

Recalling the underground hallway of the Cheerful Research Institute that Ho Yuwon and I had once explored, I headed toward the corresponding office.

But the moment I opened the door—

"......."

The dream cultivation machine wasn't there.

What remained inside the burned office was, strangely enough, a single desk in the center, a single chair, and one computer.

...An entirely different arrangement.

"...!"

And then I realized something.

[What realization have you reached, my friend?]

'This is a different location.'

The Cheerful Research Institute I had seen beneath Daydream Inc.'s headquarters had been arranged in layers according to different points in time.

Basement Floors 10–19 — Office during lunch hours

Basement Floors 20–29 — Office at midnight

What I saw were different times belonging to 'a certain floor' of the Cheerful Research Institute.

The farther downward one traveled, the more dynamic the time period became. Until eventually…

One reached the day the institute was consumed by flames dozens of floors below. 

'But the office here is different from the one beneath headquarters.'

This wasn't a difference in time.

...And yet the hallways and office layouts were exactly the same.

[Oh? Then do you have a theory about what kind of place this might be, Mr. Roe Deer?]

"...I'm going outside for a moment."

I stepped out of the office and headed toward the end of the hallway.

And there it was.

'Found it.'

The doors of a completely burned elevator.

"It doesn't seem to work."

Naturally, the charred-black elevator was nonfunctional, but.

'...There's something else I can check.'

Things displayed around elevators. For example... 

'Safety guides and building diagrams.'

Even a trace would be enough.

I wiped away the soot near the elevator doors, on the upper section where the eye could easily reach.

And then something emerged from beneath the grime...

 

 

The thing that appeared was an engraved plaque made of the same material as the wall beside the elevator.

Rather than peeling away, it seemed not to have burned at all. The red paint that had once coated it had mostly been consumed, with only traces remaining here and there along the edges…

And I had seen a similar kind of "guide" before.

The format was a little different, but it had been inside the subway train here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Segwang Special City Subway route map

"...!"

'A subway route map in front of an elevator?'

Of course, this was still part of the subway system, so it wasn't completely strange. But normally, maps like this were displayed inside trains.

They showed passengers exactly where they were while traveling between stations.

But if there was one in front of an elevator…

'They used the elevator like a train...!'

Everything connected in my mind like a lightning strike.

"It seems this elevator could take people to similar facilities located in other stations."

"Huh?"

Each subway station contained a hidden floor of the Cheerful Research Institute.

That's right. This facility at Midnight Station couldn't possibly be the same one I had visited beneath Daydream Inc.'s headquarters.

'Because it's a different station...!'

The place I had seen was probably hidden beneath another station.

And even if people moved between them using a supernatural elevator, the structure would fundamentally remain the same.

'Because an elevator is meant for moving between floors.'

In the end, the different floors of the building called the Cheerful Research Institute were scattered among the subway stations of Segwang Special City. And originally, they had been connected through elevators.

It was exactly the sort of structure one would expect from a supernatural institute that was itself a ghost story.

'So the Cheerful Research Institute was hidden beneath Segwang Special City?'

…...Wait.

Then could the fire I saw back then also be connected to the disaster that struck Segwang Special City?

'And...'

Ho Yuwon.

—What I'm looking for is in a facility connected to one of Segwang Special City's subway stations.

The place Director Ho had been searching for...

'Could it be another branch of the Cheerful Research Institute...?'

"Roe Deer."

"...!"

I jumped and snapped back to reality.

I'd become so absorbed in my thoughts that I'd forgotten I was standing inside a completely burned underground facility.

"That looks like an emergency exit over there, but it's totally collapsed."

"......Yes."

Trying to get through there seemed impossible.

Section Chief Lee Jaheon might be able to attempt clearing it away, but if the structure collapsed in the process, it would be meaningless.

'Whew.'

"Agent Grapes, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine!"

The people at the entrance had begun checking on us. But I couldn't leave yet. 

"I'll look around a little longer."

I began searching the hallway more thoroughly.

'If this is a different floor, there might be different clues.'

I started examining beneath the furniture and debris scattered throughout the burned offices.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought places where furniture sits flush against the floor might have been protected from the fire entirely."

"Ahh."

In fact, when furniture was moved aside, patches of clean floor occasionally appeared beneath. Without oxygen, the flames hadn't spread there, and the heat hadn't directly reached them.

Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, who had been watching, suddenly moved.

"Then how about taking a look at this?"

"…!"

It was the very first room we had inspected.

"For some reason, this room feels suspicious." 

The room containing nothing but a desk, a chair, and a single computer monitor. Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae lifted the monitor. 

Then, something slipped out from beneath it.

'...A document?'

It had been folded. It looked either like something someone frequently took out to review, or a note hastily written down and shoved away. 

The reverse side was a document almost entirely blacked out and awaiting destruction. On the other side, a few printed words remained visible.

For this invitation research,

Use Children's Paradise Syrup

→ My opinion!

The term 'children's syrup'...

'That's the original Cheerful Research Institute name for Daydream Inc.'s potions.'

But Paradise Syrup was unfamiliar. Even recalling the emoji buttons on the prototype machine, none of them felt particularly connected to the concept of paradise.

However, one Daydream potion came to mind.

'...Wish Ticket.'

It might be pure speculation. But a sharp chill ran down the back of my neck. 

And then.

Then…..

'Invitation research.'

Ireum-nim Invitation Research

I froze.

Research Objective: Verification of the target......

...Manifestation of an external entity in the present world and execution of a contract.

Taking the name of the deity worshipped by a cult that recently gained popularity through derivative work from a previous study, we have adopted it as the subtitle of this research.

This will be the Cheerful Research Institute's final research project.

Those unforgettable words.

The research that had summoned me here.

'The names match.'

Then could it be...

Derived from a previous study

Were traces of that previous study still left behind in this Cheerful Research Institute?

'Wait.'

Could the disaster of Segwang Special City itself have been caused by that research?

While researching a method to summon me here...

'Why?'

My heart felt as though it were boiling.

I needed answers.

What exactly was I? Why had I come here? Was it possible that... 

That I could return?

"Mr. Roe Deer."

"...!!"

"Breathing issues may occur. Please come out."

"......Yes."

I hurriedly pocketed the note. Then Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae and I slowly walked back through the corridor and exited the Cheerful Research Institute.

For now...

'I think this is everything we can find in Midnight Station's facility.'

The other offices had burned so completely that nothing remained. This clue had probably only been found so quickly thanks to Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae. 

But facilities at other stations might contain more important clues.

'And at some stations...'

I might even be able to directly examine the floor that existed beneath Daydream Inc.'s headquarters as a ghost story.

Sparks seemed to fly through my mind.

'What if, whenever we arrive at a station, we immediately cross the tracks and explore the opposite platform?'

Would it work?

We had never tried anything like that before.

If it worked, it would be incredible. But if it didn't... 

'Then we'd have to resolve the station's ghost story before we could explore.'

Hadn't the station only returned to normal after the Hanbit Library closed?

Then similarly, the Snare Forest, the Body Casino... 

'Good grief.'

...Could we do it?

Could we actually pull it off?

My mind churned furiously. Then— 

A train is now arriving.

"Ah, looks like a train's coming to the opposite platform."

I instinctively looked across the tracks.

On the information screen over there, an arriving train was displayed.

Along with its train number.

G1572

"…!!"

—It's that train. Train G1572.

"Wait, that number..."

"Yes."

The number Yeongeun had mentioned.

Passengers are requested to observe proper etiquette and board safely.

"What are you waiting for?! Move!"

We ran like mad toward the opposite side.

Behind me, it sounded like Baek Saheon swallowed a curse, but nobody fell behind.

And just as we stepped onto the stairs leading down to the opposite platform—

The platform screen doors are opening.

Wait. Wait…

"Ms. Goral!"

I shouted.

Just in case we missed each other.

"Are you there?!"

I sprinted down the stairs and charged toward the open doors.

And then...

"...Mr. Roe Deer??"

In front of Train Door 1-3.

Beyond the opened screen doors. There she was.

Go Yeongeun stood there, breathing heavily, staring at me and the others with trembling eyes.

"...!!"

'Thank goodness.'

We found her.

An overwhelming wave of relief surged through me.

…I noticed the figures standing behind Yeongeun. 

[Oh, new extras have arrived!] 

"...!!"

A padded jacket, a dress, a school uniform, and a cardigan.

People dressed in ordinary clothes.

And—

"Who are they?"

"Business suits?"

They spoke normally.

...The survivors of Segwang Special City were standing inside the train, staring at us.

 

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