In the frozen air.
A voice from outside the steel door, the only entrance to the narrow space where the ghost story was quarantined.
Teacher?
....
Teacher?
I brought some educational materials I prepared!
"Wh—."
I clamped a hand over Baek Saheon's mouth. He reflexively tried to struggle before freezing solid.
Because both the Security Chief and I were staring at the steel door, completely still.
"...."
"...."
The sound stopped.
The voice of the ■■ Affiliated Kindergarten teacher, as if it had been a lie, was no longer heard from outside the steel door.
But I could already guess its identity.
'…Supervisor Park Minseong.'
The person who had been working at the Annex front desk was now here, having deserted his post, standing right behind the quarantine door on the second basement level.
Completely Contaminated.
'....'
A chilling premonition sent a shiver down my spine. Inside my uniform, through the fragments of a body I didn't even know the location of.
'What has Director Cheong done?'
I cautiously took a step toward the steel quarantine door….
Beep-boop.
"…!"
The door unlocked.
The steel door had been opened via the Security Team's authentication procedure. I sensed the Security Chief beside me pull down his cap and make to step forward. Creeak, the steel door opened. And through the gap….
A hand shot in.
Teacher, look at this!
Wearing a Hand Puppet.
It's for today's storytelling. It's….
At the kindergarten teacher's finger movements, the puppet waved its arms and head in a cute, cheerful dance. With braided brown pigtails and rosy cheeks….
Red Riding Hood.
The child wearing a little red hood.
Once upon a time, there lived a cute and brave little girl. She always wore a red riding hood that her grandmother had made for her.
From the side.
A strange sound was heard.
One day, on her way to her grandmother's house with cake and butter….
She met a Giant Hungry Wolf.
I tried to approach the door to stop the storytelling.
But strangely, my body wouldn't move.
As if under someone's command.
Just like that.
The hungry wolf spoke to Red Riding Hood.
'Little girl, where are you going?'
Another arm, its dress shirt sleeve neatly rolled up, appeared through the crack in the door. A Deformed wolf Hand Puppet, full of schemes, conversed with Red Riding Hood.
The wolf found out that Red Riding Hood was visiting her grandmother's house, and after getting ahead of the child, he went to the grandmother's house first and….
Ate the grandmother!
A Black Figure flickered.
You have no idea how deliciously he swallowed her in one bite. Our ■■ Affiliated Kindergarten students should also eat well without being picky, right?
And this wolf's appetite was endless, so he prepared another delicious meal as planned….
Red Riding Hood herself.
The sound of lips being licked.
Was heard.
The wolf, in a Grandmother Disguise, lay in bed and greeted Red Riding Hood!
Red Riding Hood tilted her head and asked.
'Grandmother, why are your arms and legs so big?'
The wolf replied.
'All the better to hug you with, my dear.'
'Grandmother, why are your ears so big?'
'All the better to hear you with, my dear.'
'Grandmother, why are your eyes so big?'
'All the better to see you with, my dear.'
And Red Riding Hood asked again.
'Grandmother, why are your teeth so big?'
'That's….'
"All the better to eat you with."
A black form engulfed the space.
The sound of the Stone Altar shattering, the sound of tree branches being greedily chewed in a snout, and everything was swallowed into giant teeth.
The Security Chief was no longer there.
"■■ child."
A Black Silhouette boiled up, and from within it, countless bulging eyes and fanged maws erupted, covering the floor, and huge, sharp claws rolled their eyes, choosing their prey.It swallows the puppet that slipped through the crack in the door, hand and all■■■■ack■■■k-kill■■th■■■■■a perfect teacher doesn't scream.Chaos, dust, pain, the beast's viscous, tar-like bodily fluids swallowing the space, a nauseating sound, and countless eyeballs.
The massive body of a Quadrupedal Beast, haphazardly and improperly stitched together, burst out of the narrow quarantine room as if exploding.
A giant wolf, as if soaked in tar, dripping sticky, burnt-black bodily fluids.
Its snout opens.
From both sides of its head.
"■delicious■ ■■■■."
"Run■quick■■."
Censored plosives echoed through the space.
It rolls its eyes.
A giant forepaw with claws bent to snatch the blindfolded man trying to escape into a narrow corner. A melting head trying to wedge the tip of its snout through the crack in the door to get into the hallway beyond the half-open steel door….
The moment I witnessed that sight.
My body began to move.
'…!'
I immediately shot forward like a blast of Black Smoke and clamped down on the giant beast's snout.It's difficult. There are two snouts.
At the same time, with another stream, I tried to block the vision of the numerous eyes on its claws.The eyeballs try to push and pop out of the smoke. I can feel the drooling snout within the smoke. The dizzying sensation that the moment I let go means ruin, I have to hold on somehow until the Security Chief comes to his senses….
Gulp.
...?
Crunch, crunch.
A chewing sound. A swallowing sound, a sound like it was inhaling, a sound of forcing dregs down its throat….
It came from within the smoke.
One of the wolf's snouts
was swallowing my Black Smoke.
!!
I clamped down on that snout again. This filthy, outdated, disgusting beast is eating me! How dare a third-rate piece of trash like this do this to ■■, but the overwhelming sense of violence and appetite….
'Shut up!'
What was that? What was that feeling of revulsion just now? What am I saying? I need to get a grip. Again, again…, no! To stop the Security Chief somehow….
Ah.
I'll read the wiki and erase it.
Yes, in the end, that's all there is. This giant, bizarre beast might soon 'chew me up,' slip through the gap, and swallow Supervisor Park Minseong and Baek Saheon whole. There's not much time left. I can't hold on either! Before that, to calm it down somehow, I have to risk the side effects and read….
....
...!!!
I realized.
'If it's Director Cheong.'
She would have aimed for this, too.
'Using my ability…!'
The reason why I was suddenly unable to move my body 'as if under someone's command,' and then suddenly able to move in a desperate and urgent situation.
'So that I'd move in a panic and rashly use my wiki ability…!'
Then I would return to the state of 130666.
Having lost Kim Soleum's emotions and human judgment, I would revert to a hollow state where I could only make decisions as a Special Division employee based on my employment contract.
Then, automatically, I would….
-Director Cheong has noticed.
…be stripped of my reason again by the one who orchestrated this situation from just outside, and serve as a good pawn.
It's an excellent way to make 130666 leave Director Ho's project of his own accord, in one fell swoop.
'No.'
I had to avoid that helpless situation. But what if Supervisor Park Minseong or Baek Saheon dies in the meantime? Even if not, the Security Team on the same floor would surely be dispatched, and the situation would spiral completely out of control.
I was cornered in a single move.
'Damn it.'
Besides....
The final, unresolved question.
'How on earth does Director Cheong know about my condition…?'
How does she know that if I try to suppress and neutralize a Ghost Story Entity, I lose Kim Soleum's identity?
I don't know. But there's no time.
Dread and urgency tangled together as all those thoughts flashed by in an instant.
But another way to subdue it….
"Ugh!"
Baek Saheon, who had been quickly moving again to a place with as little of the black beast and smoke as possible, dropped a Nostalgia Candy.
I picked it up.
-While the Eyeball Candy is melting in the mouth, it fixes the user in the state of the time in the past 10 years when their body and mind were healthiest.
The candy felt strangely larger in my hand than before.
"Wait! Don't use it! There's no way it'll work! That thing's a complete monster!"
I know.
I remember when the Nostalgia Kitty that had been around my neck as 130666 couldn't withstand the moment and snapped.
But….
That alone is enough.
Just enough time to use the other method that worked on me.
'Just an opening!'
I barely managed to toss the Nostalgia Candy into the snout of the beast that was chewing and swallowing me.
Snatch.
...Gulp.
The Nostalgia Candy, which should have been rolled around in the mouth for a while, melted on the beast's tongue like a slug doused in salt, but….
In that moment, it flickered and was revealed.
A human form.
'…!'
But it was gone the next moment.
I took out another Nostalgia Candy and threw it between the giant beast's teeth.
And this time, in sync with the flickering human form….
Jingle.
I took out a spare Jade Drop I had and stuck it into its flesh.
The Disaster Management Bureau's precious object, which restores reason, rang the bell with a clear sound.
"■■! Stop■■■!"
If it was a state of Contamination so severe that its very essence had changed, like mine.
'I just have to use the same method that worked on me…!'
I had to make it regain its sanity.
The giant Quadrupedal Beast, with its two snouts, countless eyes, and black teeth dripping tar, shook its body… then froze as if electrocuted.
And I took out another bell and embedded it in the wolf's torso. And I kept shaking it, making sure the sound was heard. Again, the next bell….
"Don't."
It grabbed my hand.
A human arm with giant claws.
"Any, more, will backfire…."
And the wolf phenomenon melted away.
The form that had been sticking its snout out of the doorway melted into a sticky black liquid, and the burnt and stitched-up beast's form wavered….
The Security Chief appeared.
"...."
The eyeballs on his temples still rolled around as if searching for prey, and the sharp claws that had gouged the steel door left violent marks.
But at the same time, the Security Chief took something out from his coat and stabbed it into his own stomach.
Like a tranquilizer.
But it wasn't a liquid….
'…A stone?'
Soon, the strength gradually drained from the Security Chief's body.
He slowly shrank back to his familiar, listless, and unmotivated appearance, finding his original impression….
But I remembered.
The form that had been revealed by the Nostalgia Candy just now.
'It seemed different from the Security Chief's current appearance….'
A man in a suit wearing a Wolf Mask.
I thought I had seen him.
"...."
In the middle of the completely destroyed Stone Altar quarantine room.
The Security Chief stopped, his eyes open, as if sinking into silence.
…Subjugation, successful.
Thud.
"Heok."
Beside me, I heard Baek Saheon gasping for breath, and from the crack in the door, the Contaminated voice of Supervisor Park Minseong, endlessly bleeding from the stumps of his severed arms as he recited the educational manual.
Barely, I pushed myself up and approached Supervisor Park Minseong….
"What a filthy mess."
The broken steel door opened completely.
The one walking out from beside Sprout Class's ■■■, who was curled up trying to wipe away the blood.
Along with the sound of dress shoes, that voice echoed….
"What is all this commotion?"
Director Cheongdalrae.
The eyes of one whose age was impossible to guess swept over the surroundings and landed on me.
"Are you aware that an unreported intrusion like this is grounds for disciplinary action? To go so far as to damage a front desk employee who came to you."
....
"You won't be able to avoid disciplinary action for this. A shame, but you'll have to withdraw from that preposterous project team. You."
I'm screwed.
A sense of doom shot up to the top of my head. I tried to step back, but my feet wouldn't move. Director Cheongdalrae's hand reached out and came toward my head….
Knock, knock.
"…!"
Beyond the open door, the door of the quarantine room across the hall.
A polite knock was heard from there, and then, like a lie, the door opened.
It was the Fox Counseling Room.
Backlit by what looked like pouring sunlight, Ho Yuwon walked out from there.
"My, speak of the devil. Did you start mistaking your own station from all that bluffing?"
"Executive Director Cheong Dallae."
Director Ho approached.
"What is all this? I'm truly perplexed."
And he stood next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"130666 was just on patrol for a moment at my request, and it seems an unfortunate accident suddenly occurred, which he then subdued. I wonder who caused such an accident. Really, it seems a front desk employee appeared in a state of extreme Contamination, all of a sudden."
"...."
"Come to think of it, I heard you prefer methods that utilize the Contamination of the Security Team, Director Cheong."
"And you arbitrarily transferred a Special Division employee to your project team."
"That's a completely different case!"
Director Ho's voice turned gentle, as if in pity.
"Recruiting a Daydream Inc. employee for a Project is within my authority as an executive. It might be an uncomfortable statement if you were trying to use someone who has a contract with the company for your own private use, as if he were your personal servant…."
"Private use, you say."
I heard Director Cheong laugh.
"I don't think that's something you should be saying to me. Director Ho."
"...."
"Lately…."
Her eyes looked at the door of the quarantine room that Director Ho had used as a passage.
"I've been hearing reports that the Fox Counseling Room is often empty."
Director Ho's expression didn't change.
"Ah, of course, you and the Fox Counseling Room have no special connection. It's just that talk is starting to spread that your movements this year are incomprehensible…."
"...."
"I'm looking forward to your performance this year. I'm curious as to how long we'll be able to use the title of fellow Development Division director."
Director Cheong's gaze returned to me.
"And how long you'll be keeping my employee."
If I had saliva, I would have swallowed.
"Even a raised beast knows not to bite its master. I never thought an employee who barely clung to life thanks to the contract I offered would do something like this…."
"...."
"Well, I'll help with the cleanup, nonetheless. Since that would also be for the good of my company."
Director Cheong reached out her hand and….
Grabbed Supervisor Park Minseong's head.
The Sprout Class Teacher who was still reciting the educational manual in a fit.
"Now, shall we call the Security Team and move this area to the Security Team's training zone?"
Wait.
"Seeing how he's been consumed by Contamination, it'll be difficult for him to work for a while, so won't he need retraining? Of course, the educational services will be provided at a special rate for employees, but given the depth…."
Director Cheong said, looking at the arms I had tried to staunch the bleeding from.
"I think he'll probably rack up quite a bit more debt…."
"...."
"This is where I feel I should offer some generous terms."
From her tone, I realized.
Director Cheong knows exactly.
That Supervisor Park Minseong had cooperated with me, with Director Ho.
That I care about him.
"For this 'unlucky' Annex front desk employee, I'll have to prepare a new employment contract specially…."
"Just like the one you received."