High school student Ryu Jaegwan held his breath.
It had already been several hours since they had started moving through Segwang Metropolitan City, following the researcher named Lee Jaheon, whose features were so perfect they were unsettling.
…It had also been several hours since the agent who had saved him had vanished beneath a pile of concrete rubble.
—Agent!
The shock of that moment still lingered, but another shocking event had just occurred.
"..."
Ryu Jaegwan looked at the subway tracks before him.
Just a moment ago, he had communicated with the agent, who had disappeared, through a piece of paper that had suddenly appeared from that tunnel.
He had no idea how it was possible, but a piece of paper had definitely popped out of thin air….
Relief and confusion washed over him.
"This is some spooky business."
"..."
"Hey, Researcher, are you sure we just have to wait here like this?"
"Yes."
In truth, following the agent's last words, they had intended to take the subway to a station as far from the city center as possible and then escape through a nearby mountain path.
But after many twists and turns, as they approached the edge of Segwang Metropolitan City, beyond the mountain path....
A strange phenomenon occurred.
—Do not gaze.
…When he came to his senses, he and the other person were a good distance away from the mountain path, being carried by the researcher.
All he could remember was a powerful signal that said, 'there is nothing.'
An existential terror.
The memory of his mind nearly being consumed by that place made his heart pound like crazy….
—We will change our destination.
In the end, following the researcher's guidance, they had forged a new route and broken through to this place.
The entrance to a maintenance track.
Though it was relatively near Segwang Station, the place, with only service tracks for an empty station, was desolate.
They had all turned off their smartphones long ago, and the strange 'march' was circling the downtown area, not here, so they could catch their breath.
The researcher had said that this place had the potential to regain its function as an exit to the outside….
That hard-to-understand statement hadn't come true, but a note from the agent had arrived.
But now, a good while had passed since he'd sent the last note, and there was still no reply.
"Hmm."
Ryu Jaegwan watched Reporter Eunhaje, the light in her eyes not yet extinguished, as she went in and out of the subway tunnel, exploring here and there.
But she soon came out, shrugging.
Her eyes, though trying to remain calm, looked confused.
"Doesn't seem to be anything special."
Anxiety crept up his legs.
But at that moment.
…Thump.
Something abruptly appeared out of thin air at the entrance to the subway tunnel.
A dress shoe, then a long leg in a suit pant, slid out.
Supernaturally.
"…!!"
The lower half emerged, followed by the torso above the waist. And then, what was revealed was….
A face.
"Hello."
"..."
"I'm glad to see you're all safe."
It was the agent.
…The man he thought might have died, crushed under a pile of concrete and rebar, turned to the three of them with a faint smile, impeccably dressed and with a clean face.
He was perfectly fine.
For a moment, a wave of relief and gladness surged up, but….
"We don't have much time."
The agent urgently grabbed their shoulders and pushed them into the tunnel.
"You need to be in the safest place possible. Get inside the tracks for now. That is the Subway Domain."
"Ah, okay."
Ryu Jaegwan looked back as he entered the tunnel.
He could hear the conversation between the researcher and the agent next to him.
The content, seemingly hinting at something, fueled his questions.
"Mr. Roe Deer."
"It's alright. …I received help from 'We Help' as well. I am ready."
What kind of preparation is he talking about?
What in the world happened?
If he really went outside like the researcher said, is it okay for him to come back in?
How did he get so clean in just a few hours?
But before all those questions could be answered, the agent was already moving.
As if without a shred of hesitation.
As if he had already finished all his mental preparations.
"I'll be going now."
The agent, after patting the rescued person's shoulder one more time, was already in the distance.
The figure in the suit ran beyond the tracks.
He was now wearing a mask he hadn't had on before. A mask with horns.
His last words remained in his ears.
"Before this day is over, you will be able to get out safely."
* * *
I ran forward.
Towards City Hall.
[It seems the grand finale is approaching once more. Let's get a move on, my friend.]
The surroundings were strangely quiet.
There were no more disaster alerts around Segwang Station.
Only the sound of people marching echoed.
Perhaps, this was the point in time when the 'lump' I had seen when I fell from the train was being created….
'Could that lump be born from the Cocoon at Segwang City Hall?'
I lifted my head and stared at the City Hall.
…The Cocoon was now, absurdlyswellingupwhatisthatabnormalabnormalstrangeit'sswellinginastrangewaybiologicaldisaster[1]!abiodisasterisspreadi[2]
[Action!]
…!
[Here's the alarm you requested, friend! Mr. Roe Deer asked me to let him know immediately if he stared at today's destination. Now, our protagonist is ready to run again.]
'…Thanks.'
[My pleasure!]
I immediately took a candy from my pocket, unwrapped it, and put it in my mouth.
Nostalgia Candy.
My body and mind regained a clean and sharp state.
It melts quickly, but that's fine.
'I just have to keep popping them in.'
My pocket was full of them.
This was what it meant to have the full cooperation of the Daydream Director, Ho Yuwon.
—Mr. Roe Deer. If there's anything you need, I'll prepare it, whatever it is.
The moment I succeeded in persuading Ho Yuwon, I used the Daydream Director's capital to buy up all the necessary items.
Items that could be used in Segwang Metropolitan City, as they weren't borrowed from an external being.
Verified ones.
This didn't mean I had read about other people's use cases and effects in the Darkness Exploration Records.
It meant things I had used myself over time.
All those things I had carefully selected and experienced the side effects and benefits of in this strange and frightening world.
I now know what is effective and what can be used in this situation with minimal side effects.
There are also plenty of people around me to ask.
—Yeah…. The Nostalgia series… should work….
—Right. Miraculous Objects from the same origin don't easily affect each other. Even if one is unilaterally more powerful. It's worth a shot to aim for that gap.
The items I'd prepared rattled in my pocket. Instead of the inventory tattoo, which was packed full with the Potion Maker, my actual pocket was stuffed.
And from my waist, a bell chimed.
…It was Agent Choi's equipment.
After the signing, as if he'd never hindered me, Agent Choi had crammed countless 'pro-tips' into my head. It was a fast-track lesson so persistent and thorough it made my head spin.
And at the end, he handed me this.
An agent-issue item he owned.
—It's a bell I kept in my Goblin Hat. It changed its properties on its own, even though I didn't pray to anyone for it.
—If you wear this, you'll encounter fewer corrupt things. Like how you'd slightly avoid those people on the street shouting 'Do you believe in the Way?'
—Now, you have to wear it from the start. You'll be a goner if you try to save it for later. Got it, Grapes?
I press straight on.
Perhaps thanks to the bell, both the crowd and the bizarre gazes pass me by.
But this bell alone won't be enough to reach the center of an Extinction-class Disaster.
So I take out my next tool.
The most crucial guide.
—I need Yeongeun's cooperation for the termination attempt.
—Just tell me what to do. No, I want to go in myself this time.
That was impossible, as everyone went mad if they heard the music box.
While desperately persuading Yeongeun, I also asked her colleague to create an item.
An object that had lit my path and protected my companions several times when we fell into large-scale Darkness.
—Once more, please.
The Mysterious Candle Kit.
A product made by the Cheerful Research Institute, the same place of origin as this disaster.
Honor, Healing, Meditation, Wound, Lie, Anger, Interference, Protection, Strike, Gaze, Chaos, Dream.
A ritual to create a candle reflecting the properties of three cards drawn from this deck.
The dispositions and desires of the three people making it are strongly reflected.
Therefore, there was no one more suitable than Ms. Go Young-eun.
A person with a strong sense of purpose for termination, an official of Segwang Metropolitan City.
Above all, a proven person.
—Should we do it right away?
This colleague had previously drawn 'Honor' at the Mansion of the Blind and 'Chaos' at Lookie Mart.
And now, at this point, at the final destination of the journey, the card she drew was….
[Gaze]
A firm sense of purpose and a will that seemed to pierce a single point.
I accepted it gratefully.
But it doesn't end here. These word cards are originally meant to be drawn by three people.
And I knew the next suitable person.
To safely reach the rooftop, a sense of purpose that prioritized one's own well-being was also necessary.
—Wh-what is it?
—There's something you need to do. I'm asking you.
Baek Saheon.
That Daydream colleague, with his intense obsession for survival, eventually came to the counseling office and drew a card with us.
[Protection]
I recall that the card he drew the first time was 'Interference.'
It was a strange feeling.
—....
Baek Saheon finished the task with unusual quietness. It felt like he was observing me, but that was all.
And at this point, the final person was already decided.
The person who needed this candle.
Me.
"..."
I drew a card.
What came into my hand, which had previously drawn 'Lie' and 'Protection,' was….
[Meditation]
…A state of mind that seeks to reflect on the world, free from prejudice and pain.
"..."
The three of us, who had been Daydream colleagues, were the same people who had first made this candle.
But it was combined with entirely different keywords.
And thus, it was completed.
[Gaze, Protection, Meditation.]
A strong sense of purpose for termination.
The desire for self-protection.
And the user's own reflection.
These three elements combined, and the well-hardened candle was now in my hand as I ran toward City Hall.
"..."
However, I know.
※This toy was created to relieve the fatigue of modern Earthlings.
For safety, aliens, otherworlders, non-sentient beings, gods, and all other non-human sentient beings cannot use it. :)
…From the beginning, I couldn't light this candle.
If I held it, the flame would go out.
Now I know.
'It's true I didn't have the right to use it.'
Because I thought of myself as an otherworlder, having come from a different world.
…And in the first place, because my body wasn't human.
'And I didn't even know that properly.'
Because I didn't know who I was or how I was here, I couldn't even discuss my right to use it.
But now I can.
Because now I knew.
'I am….'
I am not an otherworlder now.
As Agent Choi confirmed in the ritual, my blood and flesh were born here.
And I am not a non-sentient being, a god, or a non-human sentient being.
Because I am living as a person.
Because exploring the Darkness extracts Dream Essence, and because I define myself as Kim Soleum.
'Therefore.'
By all the truths that I know.
And, despite all those truths.
If I can think of myself as a person....
I was a person.
I held up the candle.
The supplicant must hold this candle and, by the power of Gaze, reveal a protected form toward the object of meditation.
A blessing is granted to the supplicant holding the candle.
Explorer in the Darkness.
The flame ignites.
The light of the burning candle is a warm yellow. A small light burning alone in the darkness.
Following the path illuminated by that light, I was able to move forward.
Towards that destination.
I move my feet.
Now, only what I gaze upon appears correctly. I can ignore the surrounding environment.
The candle burns.
With a clear mind, I began to run again.
City Hall gets closer.
The flame flickers as if it will go out, and the candle melts at an abnormally fast rate.
But it did not go out.
I ran down a narrow path toward my destination.
Following the path lit by the candle, the emergency stairs appeared.
Traces left by the melted Counselor remained on the stairs. But I did not falter and moved my feet, heading for the rooftop just as I had with the Counselor back then.
The small flame burns.
There was no hesitation in the entire process.
I could still faintly hear the music box, but strangely enough, I was able to keep my wits.
And.
Creeak.
Once again, I open the rooftop door.
The rooftop floor was already swollen and didn't look like itself, but I could only see the dream incubator.
I went straight ahead.
My feet hit the unfamiliar surface of the Cocoon, or perhaps kicked a fallen panel of trash, but I don't care.
I run forward, sit in front of the dream incubator, and calmly begin to disconnect it with one hand.
I did not let go of the hand holding the candle.
I had practiced for hours to do it quickly with one hand.
'I can do this.'
I tear off the panel at the bottom.
I cut the power by flipping the switch before tearing out the wires, and then I disconnect the wires one by one.
'Quickly, quickly.'
Tug, tug. With a tough sound, the heavy cables fall away.
'I can't just rip them out…!'
I have to disconnect them so they can be reconnected. Cold sweat forms on my palm.
And the moment I disconnect the last wire.
"..."
The light on the incubator goes out.
"…Hah,"
I gasped for breath.
The real problem started now.
…I had to put the candle down for a moment to safely take the giant Potion Maker out of the tattoo and set it up.
So I had already planned on the assumption that I would have to extinguish it.
"Gasp."
I took a deep breath, quickly put a new Nostalgia Candy in my mouth, and spat out the shrunken one.
And as I set the candle down… I immediately thrust my hand into the tattoo.
The music box sound drills into my head.
The Cocoon lurches, endure it.
I can't hear the bell.
I grit my teeth and pull out the Potion Maker, setting it down.
Thud.
I push the powered-down dream incubator aside....
....
It doesn't move easily.
'No.'
I pushedtheincubatorthemelodytomakeevenalittlespace[3]
Pushed.
Pushed and shoved it, knocking it over to the side....
And then I realized.
[Oh my god.]
The bottom of the dream incubator was connected to the Cocoon.
No, it was as if something that had pierced through the bottom of the dream incubator had become the Cocoon; the inside, visible through the machine's breached bottom, was whitely contaminated and caked with the Cocoon….
'…It's okay.'
This, too, is one of the scenarios I had anticipated. I swallow and stop pushing the half-toppled dream incubator, no, the shell of that Cocoon, and turn my head back to the Potion Maker, Zzzzzzzk.
....
I knew instinctively.
The Cocoon tore.
Perhaps, when the dream incubator stopped… the supply of Dream Essence Liquid from it was cut off.
The weakened Cocoon seems to have torn slightly from the force of my pushing.
Just a little.
A tiny tear.
"..."
I replaced the Nostalgia Candy with a new one. My heart pounded. And I was about to grab the candle and light it, but….
I stopped.
'Is this actually a good thing?'
Hasn't one of the power sources for the Extinction-class Disaster been lost?
I immediately got back to work.
My head is clear.
'No time to hesitate.'
It was time to make a bet. I left the incubator as it was and started pulling the wires to connect them to the Potion Maker.
While doing so, I remained vigilant and perceived it.
The Cocoon that had swelled up to the rooftop was deflating.
The silhouette of its bottom is revealed.
"...!"
The silhouette that had swallowed so many people.
The lump I had seen, underneath it….
The end has come!
Paradise is here!
We have failed!
The candy completely melted.
I shoved another one in my mouth and continued.
The end has come!
Paradise is here!
We have failed!
It's getting closer.
I kept working. As the Cocoon collapsed, beneath my feet, humanswriggledwriggledcan they be called human? What is this….
....
There's something there.
The end has come!
Paradise is here!
We have failed!
I looked again at the toppled dream incubator.
At its base, what was revealed as the swollen Cocoon in the center subsided was….
The silhouette of a person.
Revealed through the tear in the Cocoon.
The thing clutching the music box.
Its entire body is connected to the lump, letting out a bizarre scream. The music box sound rings out. It rings out endlessly.
The end has come!
Paradise is here!
We have failed!
That body, connected to the Cocoon and melting away, is….
It was me.
Kim Soleum.
Invited by the Cheerful Research Institute, I screamed in terror as I faced the existence of a world without ghost stories.
I screamed.
I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed.I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed.I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I screamed.I screamed.I screamed. I screamed. I screamed. I scream
[Action!]
[This is the alarm you requested, Friend.]
[How was it? This encore that I, the Host, added on a whim!]
"Gasp."
I exhale.
From my head, tingling with terror, the Host's cheerful and pleasant tone pops up, clearing my mind.
Fear and questions consume my mind. Why me? I want to know, I want to resolve this! This impulse that feels like I'm going crazy, like something tremendous is about to happen any second, like I'm about to explode!
But, but...
I lowered my head.
And again, with hands drenched in cold sweat, I continued to install the potion-making machine.
Without stopping,
I finished.
[1] absurdly swelling up what is that abnormal abnormal strange it's swelling in a strange way biological disaster
[2] a bio-disaster is spreadi (cuts off)
[3] pushed the incubator the melody to make even a little space