Ho Yuwon.
The director who knows more about Jang Heo-un than anyone else at this company.
"I imagine you have many questions."
But an untrustworthy individual is smiling at me.
In a hallway from a ghost story, where corpses are piled high, reduced to a skeletal ruin of fire and smoke.
He asks me, 'Do you have anything to ask?'
'…If so.'
This is how I can approach it.
I conjured smoke.
>Proposal: One-on-One Q&A Ritual
"Hmm?"
>Conditions: 2 people
▶ Questions and answers will alternate in order.
▶ You must answer the other party's questions truthfully.
▶ If a question cannot be answered, state 'Cannot answer' in words and then receive the next question.
▶ Answers cannot be delayed for more than 96 seconds.
[Ah, this is interesting. Setting such specific conditions for no reason. The structure has a slightly shamanistic feel…]
I did it on purpose.
Because I'm dealing with a non-human entity.
And…
'This side definitely has questions for me too.'
If it's in a ritualistic format like this, exchanging questions formally, they'd be hooked.
And.
▶ Intentionally concealing the truth during the ritual will result in punishment.
"…Haha! Are you imitating me?"
Yes. Let's see how it feels to be on the other side.
Ho Yuwon chuckled a few times and answered refreshingly.
"But it's good."
Yet, a flicker of something danced in his eyes.
"It's fair, isn't it? I could even place a restriction on you to receive punishment… but I won't. I want to believe in you, Mr. Noru."
Lies.
He's saying that because he can't easily place one anyway.
'He tried to place a restriction but got hit by me.'
But it doesn't matter.
>Agreement
>: One-on-One Q&A Ritual
From now on.
>Ritual Start
Clap.
"Alright. Then… I'll let you, Mr. Noru, ask the first question as you proposed."
And so, on the 96th basement floor, at the site of the Cheerful Research Institute's bizarre fire, the two ghost stories began their exchange of questions and answers.
[Friend, what fact do you wish to know first?]
From the most crucial point.
>Question:
>Everything Ho Yuwon knows about Jang Heo-un.
"That's a very comprehensive question, Mr. Noru."
Ho Yuwon replied.
"What I know is this. Male, 20s, no family, raised in a religious social welfare facility in the countryside. Three years ago, based on his year of entry, the facility was completely consumed by a fire, and he was the sole survivor."
....
This information matches the testimony I once heard from the contaminated Jang Heo-un.
"So, his wish is probably related to that fire… perhaps to bring back the dead, or to make the fire as if it never happened."
>Accurate.
'Did he investigate more closely while selecting me as a spy?'
"Then it's my turn to ask a question now, Mr. Noru."
Ho Yuwon looked at me.
"If you already knew what I just told you, who did you hear it from?"
…!
"Precisely, from what kind of entity?"
....
>Answer:
>A Flower Golden Resort employee – Bison
"Ah, I see."
The rekindling flames cast a shadow on Ho Yuwon's face in the backlight.
"I saw the report from the Field Investigation Team about someone who died at a theme park and then came back to life as a resort employee… but to hear it directly from them."
....
"You didn't just help revive him… he's your subordinate, isn't he?"
Hoo.
"Ah, this isn't a question. It was a certainty… As expected, Mr. Noru, you are quite human. Making choices you'll regret."
It was an ominous remark, yet it seemed to carry a hint of faint regret.
Instead of getting angry, I just looked at Ho Yuwon.
"In any case, you're curious about the three 'Heo-uns' with different surnames, right? I'm curious too, so perhaps we could deduce things through our Q&A… Shall we continue?"
Without faltering, to the next.
>Question:
>What is known about the new employee, Kim Heo-un.
"…This is where it gets a bit interesting."
Interesting?
"His background is identical to Jang Heo-un's."
"…!!"
Male, 20s, no family, raised in a religious social welfare facility in the countryside. Fire trauma.
"For someone who grew up in a similar environment, the keywords are too identical, aren't they? As if they were playing the same role in a game."
....
The puzzle pieces are gathering in my mind.
"Then it's my turn to ask a question. …Did Mr. Noru distribute the Wish Tickets he received to the Daydream employees who infiltrated the Disaster Management Bureau? Precisely who received how many?"
>Answer: 2 tokens to employee Sanyang
>Request to deliver to employee Bison later.
"Ah… as expected."
Wait. 'As expected'?
That sounds like… you already knew that.
>Question: Whether the usage of the three Wish Tickets has been tracked.
"Ah. It's not tracking, I just know."
…!
"The Wish Tickets I gave you were my personal possessions. So, I applied a slight treatment to the bottles… I can tell if they've been used or not."
Ho Yuwon smiled.
"And the three Wish Tickets I gave to you, Mr. Noru, have all been used. …You used one, didn't you?"
That means…
The two that went to Ms. Go Young-eun have also been used.
A chilling sensation ran down my spine.
'Ms. Go Young-eun used both of them?'
Unless they were taken from her… No, the probability of them being taken is low.
Ms. Go Young-eun is the type of person who carefully manages risks.
And she's also someone with the character who wouldn't carelessly use Jang Heo-un's Wish Ticket.
So, the probability that she used them for Jang Heo-un is high.
'But….'
Why is Jang Heo-un the way I saw him?
"Then we can make an interesting speculation here. …Did someone make a wish incorrectly?"
Ho Yuwon said with a sympathetic laugh.
"After half a year, the pitiful employee Bison shows no sign of recovering from his contamination and returning to human form, so perhaps out of impatience… he used it arbitrarily."
....
"But due to some error, instead of 'Jang Heo-un,' 'Kim Heo-un' appeared in this world, and the wish was granted, wasn't it?"
It was a chilling speculation.
[Hmm. Is that so? Then let's speculate more concretely.]
So, what it means is.
If Ms. Go Young-eun made a wish like 'Please let Heo-un live as a human in this world.'
'Instead of the contaminated Jang Heo-un returning to human form, a person that Ms. Go Young-eun could accept as 'Heo-un' might have appeared in the world…!'
Wish Tickets are personally omnipotent. So, it's a plausible, ghost-story-like situation, but…
>Skeptical: Judgment suspended
"Huh?"
If that were the case, there's a puzzle piece that doesn't fit.
'This person from the Cheerful Research Institute employee ID card.'
Cheerful Researcher
Lee Heoun
This researcher, Lee Heoun, is left alone.
This person existed in the past Cheerful Research Institute, seemingly unrelated to the Wish Tickets used now.
'…There's definitely something else.'
Heo-un, Heo-un, Heo-un…
It feels strange.
'The keyword 'fire' also overlaps.'
Someone whose acquaintances all died in a fire at the facility where they lived.
Looking at the situation on the 96th basement floor, isn't it the same for the Cheerful Research Institute employees? Why do they have such similar backgrounds to Jang Heo-un… Wait a minute.
'No, it's the opposite.'
If we think chronologically…
'Jang Heo-un and Kim Heo-un have backgrounds similar to this Cheerful Research Institute employee…'
Rustle.
....
Rustle.
"Mr. Noru."
....
"Did you see it?"
I saw it.
Just now.
The pile of corpses seemed to move.
No, it looked like the piles of corpses in front of the elevator moved.
Because something buried beneath them moved.
-Who's there?
"There was still a living individual. Haha…"
A Cheerful Research Institute employee recognized us.
The unseen, unheard entity pushes through the corpses, rises, and sees intruders who don't belong in this space… The hallway distorts.
Flickering, the space beyond the office is glimpsed chaotically in my vision…
Through the flickering vision, the twisted lower half of someone wearing a gown, unseen before, seems to appear.
(( I'm really sorry but the translation tool I used kinda broke here and I had to use another so the translation might be worse for the rest of the chapter))
Who's there, who-who-who-who-who-who-who-who's there who who who who who who are you-
Help me help help me help me is someone there? You're there, right? You're here, here, you who are here—you are here.
My senses are being sucked in.
A pull toward some time-space projected onto the 96th underground floor.
I realize-
"If you're caught, you'll go missing."
[Quite a rough invitation. Doesn't look like we need to decline politely, friend.]
I put Lee Heo-woon's employee ID into my uniform pocket.
And while confirming, through the reaction of the corpse pile, the invisible being's movement approaching from the far end of the corridor—
I used the black smoke and rushed toward the elevator. Then I grabbed Ho Yu-won by the back of the neck and threw him upward.
"…!"
His body drew a parabola and landed on top of the corpses piled in the right elevator.
At the same time, I reached the elevator.
—Securing space between the doors—
Yu-won and I pushed the corpses stuck between the doors out as much as possible, just enough for the doors to close.
Quickly.
Luckily, because the elevator had already been beeping from being forced open too long, the moment there was a gap, the doors closed automatically without pressing the button.
Ding-dong.
Through the closing gap, I saw the still-living entity collapse…
Having used up the last of its strength, it became another corpse.
"..."
Inside the elevator, only Yu-won and I remained-
…along with over a dozen researcher corpses.
"Actually there was no need for you to help me like this… but I'll take the sentiment gracefully,.Thank you, Noru."
>If not helped: Situation immediately re-enactable
"..."
Please, just shut up before I throw you back out…
Phew.
Finally quiet.
I looked at the elevator panel.
The reason the Cheerful Research Institute could still be explored by multiple security teams lies here:
When boarding the elevator on the right, you can go to the main basement floor from any floor.
I pressed the button to the first basement floor.
Ding dong.
The elevator goes up with a cheerful and old-fashioned sound.
Back to reality.
And the bodies that filled the elevator also began to crumble and vanish, as if time were passing rapidly.
"...Looks like you can't take the body?Ah, must be because this isn't a darkness."
Ho Yu-won, who is casually stepping on the shoulder blade of a dead researcher, checks whether his shoes had gotten dirty.
...My head feels like it's pounding. Still, I have to check something.
>Question: Whether to report to the researcher whether Onr(I think he means Ho Yuwon) is an expedition companion.
"Are you asking whether we should disclose our joint exploration to the company or not? Let's just say we did, but leave out the part about reaching the 96th floor."
I agreed.
Then Hoyuwon smiled brightly and said. "Then it's my turn to ask a question"
What?
"You just asked a question too. Right?"
...
From his tone, i could tell — 'he's not just trying to provoke me'
I had a strange feeling. The feeling that everything so far was to reach this next question.
'...'
I could refuse, but… I nodded.
"Yes, then I'll ask"
Hoyuwon smiled like a picture, but spoke quickly, as if afraid I would interrupt.
"What kind of place is Segwang Special City."
...!
" Please tell me what you know."
A ghost story that he previously asked me to steal from the Disaster Management Bureau. I met Hoyuwons gaze.
I can see a strangely subdued look inside his eyes.
...I sent the smoke.
>Response: Sekwang Special City is a deleted region of Korea.
"...!"
A group whose existence has been censored.
>The location is approximately 552km2 of land adjacent to Chungcheong-do and Gyeonggi-do, and at this time, no one can perceive the area through natural means.
This...In a way, it is a space that can be considered a cliche in the theme of wikis that manage ghost stories.
The so-called 'Last resort'.
Some ghost stories are so virulent and deadly that countless people die, making peaceful containment or closure impossible.
Thus, the government chose an extreme way...
>After a certain extinction-level supernatural disaster causes mass casualties, the entire area is sealed off to prevent further harm.
>Nationwide permission is granted for memory incineration and manipulation, rendering the region cognitively unrecognizable.
Yet still…
>Conclusion: Segwang Special City exists in Korea.
"..." Hoyuwon's mouth opens.
"how do you kno-",
>Cannot answer
"...!"
>order of questions: B (Basically means "my turn")
"ask me."
Then.
>Question:Why are you interested in Sekwang Special City.
"..."
The silence stretches out. I expected the response would be 'I can't answer'.
But instead-
"I left something behind at Sekwang Special City."
Left something?
'that...It means he was once there.' Is the director from Segwang Special City?
That may be why they were so persistent in trying to deploy personnel to Segwang Special City from Daydream.
'So that's it…'
Hearing such a personal story not recorded on the wiki felt strangely intimate.
Ding dong
[ah, you've arrived!]
At that moment, the elevator reached its destination, the first basement floor.
Beyond the elevator door, which broke away from ghost stories and became a real space, I could feel various noises coming from the daydream main building.
...But.
"Roe deer, if you heard, now it's my turn,"
>Recommendation: Suspension of conversation
"..."
I looked at the door.
Someone was standing in front of the elevator door. The doors open. What I saw was...
"Hello, employee."
This is the new hire, Kim Heo-un.
"I've come back."