Let's get this straight.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon is trapped in a boarding school ghost story conducting mad Groom Training.
Apparently, he's been selected as a Groom Candidate.
And to prepare for the wedding ceremony, he's been having a ladle of blood drawn each night, and is scheduled to collapse in four days.
Lastly…
-...The wedding is in four days too?
"That's correct."
This is insane.
'Why are you so calm!'
He should know that in ghost stories of this kind, a wedding ceremony is usually a euphemism for the ending, right!
I suppressed the feeling that was crawling up my the back of my neck.
No, I don't even need to suppress it. I exist as a consciousness connected to Section Chief Lee Ja-heon's mind, so I don't have a body. …Not to mention, it's not a human body to begin with.
Anyway, let's deal with the urgent matters first.
Blood.
-Can't you get items from the Cosmic shopping mall, or rather, from 'us,' to replenish the insufficient blood?
"Yes."
Why!
…Of course, there was a rational and logical reason, fitting for Section Chief Lizard.
"If the effectiveness of the current method of bloodletting is deemed insufficient, there's a high probability that actions with a greater risk of death will be ordered."
In other words, from the ghost story's perspective, it would be like, 'Why isn't this working? Let's try another method,' and it might suddenly decide to drain all of his blood overnight…
'Makes sense.'
Though I can't help but sigh.
[To think my friend has to waste time for such a passive and uncreative blade grunt!]
...?
'Braun!?'
Why is he… Wait. Even in Segwang Metropolitan City, Braun was identified as part of my consciousness structure and accompanied me on VIP shopping at the Cosmic shopping mall.
And this time too, I've entered Section Chief Lee Ja-heon's body with only my consciousness, using an item created by the alien reptiles who operate the Cosmic shopping mall.
The mechanism is likely similar.
In that case… did he get the same classification?
[Oh, correct. Mr. Roe Deer! A very wise deduction.]
Y-yeah…
The problem is…
"Mr. Roe Deer."
Section Chief Lee Ja-heon knows Braun very well…
He was the alien reptile who, in response to my item usage, half-destroyed Braun's studio.
"Is that statement from the host of the Late Night Talk Show Darkness?"
-Y…es, technically.
"I see. Do you need advice?"
-…Uh, well. Are you going to advise me to get rid of him?
"Yes."
[Oh, I'm hardly surprised. The discernment and rhetoric of a rude blade grunt who terrorizes studios and kidnaps crews!]
I feel like I'm getting an upset stomach…
'Seriously, we're in a crazy ghost story where they're about to tear apart a trainee's soles to make soundproofing because the footsteps are too loud, and now this is happening….'
-...For now, the more urgent matter is Section Chief Lee Jaheon's current situation, so I'd like to discuss that later.
"Yes."
Because, literally, he's set to die in four days.
This is maddening…
After appeasing Braun's mood, I suppressed a groan and thought.
'It seems Manager Lee Jaheon has no intention of handing over control of his body.'
The situation is too different from what I prepared for anyway.
I came to take a proxy exam to pass the Groom Training experience, but he's already passed and become a Groom Candidate, so now needs to escape as a formal trainee.
'That changes everything.'
It would be more effective to exploit the structural loopholes behind the answer key, rather than just choosing the correct answers for this Groom Training ghost story.
I immediately checked.
First… the Darkness Exploration Record only stated that one cannot leave the dormitory rooms due to school policy.
-Is it difficult for you to leave your room at night? If so, please explain why.
"Yes. Structural anomalies are observed in the building at night, and there are watchers in sections without anomalies."
In other words, the dormitory at night is a labyrinth of twisting structures, and there are also supervisors patrolling. It's a nightmare.
-Have you tried leaving yourself? If so, please tell me your objective and destination.
"Yes."
And Section Chief Lee Ja-heon did not open his mouth.
'…What is it?'
But the next moment.
Lee Ja-heon 'told' me.
'…!'
A shared chunk of information.
No… should I call it memories, sensations? Unrefined visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory. These were sensory data values poured directly into my thought system.
Like my own memories.
I move silently through the dark dormitory corridors.
The curtains move, and just as a patrolling supervisor is about to appear, my body is inverted and hangs from the ceiling, evading their gaze.
Controlling my body's strength to avoid damaging the ceiling light, I move again, placing my hand in a brick groove.
Destination: the main gate.
I knew.
If I were to fail the experience training in this dormitory ghost story, I could use escaping through the main gate as a last resort.
If successful, which is rare, one wakes up near their registered address… a fact that can be found in the
It can also be found in the Daydream Inc. database, so it's reasonable to infer that Manager Lee Jaheon tried this method based on that.
However.
It wasn't necessary.
'…I just knew.'
I naturally knew that Manager Lee Jaheon, 'we,' had made a judgment based on similar background knowledge.
Because it was shared.
A shocking sense of unity.
-…Do 'we' share information like this?
"Yes."
Is this process constantly happening for the reptilian aliens?
That is certainly not a method of information transfer that modern humans can comprehend. No, rather than transfer, it's an integration of experience…
Even so, my memories are being re-established.
After a long, suffocating game of hide-and-seek, combined with the appropriate use of force… I…
I reached the location of the main gate.
It took 2 hours and 48 minutes and 14 seconds from the bedroom to this location. Retries are possible if sleep is forgone.
But we knew there was no need.
Because where the main gate had been…
I suppressed a curse.
There was only a wall.
Night exploration ended. Returning to the bedroom.
This damned dormitory had sealed all official entrances and exits.
No one could enter or leave.
'Feels like the final chapter of a horror game.'
It seems they've received all the Groom Candidates and entered some kind of ritualistic phase.
'Is the experience training ending because of this?'
Furthermore, even if I break down the doors or escape through windows…
The dormitory is surrounded by fog, cliffs, and a forest where the sound of the sea can be heard from somewhere. Explorers who attempted to escape to this location have all disappeared.
This is the ending.
In short, it's a high-grade ghost story that doesn't suit Section Chief Lee Jaheon's usual specialty of physical exorcism.
But there's a bigger problem here.
'…This never happened before.'
The fact that Manager Lee Jaheon, Employee D, is in this situation is a record I've never read in the
Is it the butterfly effect?
Did my arrival cause changes in the composition of D squad, leading to a new risk of Section Chief Lee Jaheon's death?
…I have a bad feeling.
So I must cooperate more actively in escaping this ghost story.
-Thank you for kindly telling me.
"Yes."
Then, Lee Ja-heon began to draw blood.
It's better to draw it now and get some sleep than to draw it in the morning, but still, it made me uneasy.
'The amount is too much.'
…Truly, his hands, as I see them, seem to have become paler.
A sense of crisis about survival.
Sharing the same body made it all the more vivid.
'I need to create an exit as quickly as possible.'
As Lee Jaheon lay down to sleep and my consciousness blurred along with his, I resolved to gather more information tomorrow.
And the next day.
[What a dated menu.]
Served at breakfast were lily of the valley, apples, and… boiled brains.
A whole brain, covered in apricot-colored sauce, was clearly visible.
'Please, no.'
Fortunately, it seems smaller than a human head. Haah…
I felt like crying as I tried to avert my mind from the taste of the brain. It's fortunate that I don't have to slice and eat it myself…
'Focus….'
I tried to gather other information that Section Chief Lee Ja-heon's vision captured.
Primarily… the trainees.
The figures seated around the long table numbered over twenty, but they could be distinguished by their attire.
About a dozen were wearing rougher, more modest shirts and pants, unlike the clean and simple uniforms worn by Groom Candidates.
'Are those the Experience Trainees?'
People caught up in the ghost story.
Since they don't accept new trainees, they are likely those who failed the previous round and are continuing their experience training life.
…I also learned that more than seven of them were in a state of physical mutilation, akin to torture, and that some were even in a state where they had to inflict such damage themselves.
In the calm and static setting of the dining hall, grotesque scenes were casually interspersed.
'…Hoo.'
The scene was eerily calm, making it even more chilling.
'....'
Stay calm.
Imagining myself taking a deep breath, I shifted my focus to other visual information.
This time, the other side.
'Groom Candidates.'
Those wearing uniforms identical to Section Chief Lee Ja-heon's sat at the head of the table, conversing softly…
…Strangely, their faces appeared blurry.
No, not just their faces; my brain seemed to reject any information beyond their uniforms, making them difficult to interpret.
As if filtered.
[Oh, Mr. Roe Deer, isn't that a trait of this blade grunt?]
Trait?
[Here, we find the very reason this reptilian creature lacks understanding of art and aesthetics.]
[They possess a sensory system that interprets only what they deem necessary. Oh, what an arrogant and primitive method!]
Wait.
So, the reptilian aliens from the Cosmic shopping mall… don't perceive sensory information they don't need.
'Isn't that a contamination prevention measure?'
Filtering out and accepting only what is not harmful.
Come to think of it, I've never witnessed Section Chief Lee Ja-heon suffering from contamination or even being influenced by the ghost story.
It must have been a trait of 'us'.
'No wonder!'
As one mystery was resolved, I shifted my gaze away from the Groom Candidates.
'They aren't human, are they….'
Indeed, many facility ghost stories of this kind are not operated for humans in the first place. Like the 'Mansion of the Blind' or that exhibition ghost story.
'…Is that why there have never been cases of passing the experience training, let alone being selected as a formal Groom Candidate?'
Perhaps Manager Lee Ja-heon, being not fully human but a reptilian alien, managed to pass the selection.
'....'
Okay, for now. I'll remember that.
Next, I focused on the tall, slender figure seated at the head of the table.
The housemaster.
The educator of this dormitory.
-Section Chief, is it relatively safe to ask the educational supervisor non-insistent questions about the wedding ceremony? Blink once for positive, twice for negative.
Lee Ja-heon's vision slowly closed and reopened.
Positive.
-Then please ask this question.
The education housemaster looked at me kindly.
I filtered out any questions that might sound like traps.
First, direct questions about the bride were excluded.
-Um… I guess they think it's rude… The person who went in with me… had their mouth sewn shut with a crochet needle… as a form of discipline…[1]
Questions probing the school were also excluded.
-Ah, there was someone who got expelled for prying too much into who runs the boarding school. They were reported missing in the forest… There were even rumors that they were paid extra by a research team to ask questions.
Therefore, I chose a more personal question that a trainee might ask.
-Is it possible for Groom Candidates to fail and not be able to stand at the wedding ceremony?
Lee Ja-heon voiced my question.
And the educational housemaster kindly but sternly gave an answer.
However, I cannot express it in plain words.
The housemaster was clearly responding to me through auditory means, but the thoughts and descriptions were presented as lengthy recollections, like entries in an old diary.
It was a truly bizarre compulsion, much like the scene where I, trying to communicate through smoke, couldn't form proper sentences.
However, fitting the theme of Groom Training, the supervisor's words were received in my mind in this elegant and fluent manner.
It was…
A gentle explanation that all Groom Candidates except one would fail.
'…!'
-Then what happens to the Groom Candidates who fail?
The educational housemaster answered kindly. As if to soothe the anxiety of a trainee worried about failing to become a groom, the supervisor once again emphasized the generous motto of St. Anticus Boarding School.
Encouragement and help.
As they teach the Groom's Virtues to the best of their ability, even to applicants for experience training who are not formal trainees.
Even now, despite the Groom Candidate spots being full, they are waiting for the experience training applicants to complete their courses.
They will all attend the wedding ceremony.
The same applied to the failed Groom Candidates.
No, the housemaster said that candidates would take on even more important and glorious roles at the wedding.
-May I ask what that is?
The supervisor kindly described it.
They become souvenirs of the wedding ceremony.
It is a beautiful work of art representing the groom's growth, and as part of that art, it will be an important component of the ceremony throughout the wedding.
And after the ceremony, it can be distributed to guests as return gifts.
As an eternal memento to recall the wedding.
....
....
-Thank you.
The supervisor praised my polite thanks and asked me to offer well wishes to the Groom Candidates.
Amidst the eloquent well wishes offered by the Groom Candidates who had just finished breakfast, I thought.
'I'm screwed.'
If I fail, I become a souvenir; if I pass, I become the groom.
Becoming the groom would be better, but I feel like the common sentiment would be, 'Becoming a souvenir would have been less painful.'
No, no matter what I choose, it's a mess…
'Damn it!'
During the break after the morning classes, I urgently asked Manager Lee Ja-heon to go to the restroom alone and then asked.
-If we can't escape by the wedding day, do you have any intention of using Holy Fire Bombardment?
It seemed like the clearest answer.
Looking at it now, everyone is going to die anyway. It would be better to cause chaos with Holy Fire Bombardment, and a few people might survive.
'And then can't we go to a Safe House?'
But…
"Yes."
…?!
-Is there any other reason besides the possibility of casualties?
"Yes."
-Please explain.
"Yes. It is more economical for us to abandon the Lee Ja-heon entity."
-....
Wait a minute.
-What do you mean by 'economical'?
"The location where Section Chief Lee Ja-heon is currently isolated has its connection to reality closed, making energy input difficult."
....
"In this situation, tracking the location and proceeding with Holy Fire Bombardment is predicted to cost more than Manager Lee Ja-heon's identity and body."
So.
It seems like this place, having lost all entry methods, costs more to access than when I escaped from the Late Night Talk Show.
But if so,
-Don't you earn enough money from Daydreams, Section Chief Lee Ja-heon? Considering future value.
"We can substitute it with a lower cost than Holy Fire Bombardment."
-....
It was a bizarre judgment.
These alien reptiles, who collectively call themselves'we', seem to treat Lee Ja-heon, an individual that's one of their own, merely a small part of their collective body…
Even Lee Ja-heon himself seems to think that way.
Like a single bee in a giant hive or a cell in a giant organism.
Is it because they share all experiences and information?
[It's a concept known as a Hive Mind, Mr. Roe Deer! Of course, it's a concept born from twentieth-century science fiction, doesn't it fit rather well?]
[Of course, someone as fascinating and multifaceted as you can't be blamed for falling to understand such creatures, friend!]
....
I don't know.
But.
-Section Chief.
The one I want to rescue is you, Section Chief Lee Jaheon of D-squad.
-You want to live, don't you? I'm basking about your will, not 'ours'.
A moment of silence.
Then.
"Yes."
Good.
-Then let's do our best.
I desperately racked my brain.
Combining the information I gained today. Trainees, Groom Candidates, housemaster, questions, wedding, and 'us'…
'Us'.
The filtered vision that looked at the Groom Candidates.
-…Manager. Are you sure you're in a state that isn't easily contaminated? More so than ordinary Daydream Field Investigation Teams.
"Yes."
…If that's the case.
'An idea has occurred.'
[Oh!]
This might be a truly crazy idea, but…
-If you are reluctant to hand over control of your body to me, is it possible for you to carry out as requested?
"Yes."
-Thank you.
- Then first of all, starting tonight, don't draw any more blood. And after that…
And then…
I continued, feeling the urge to swallow.
-Do you perhaps have any intention of handing over control of your body to someone else, not me?
"Who is 'someone else'?"
Well.
That is to say…
-…It's the Late Night Talk Show Host, Braun.
[Oh?]
It might sound like madness, but this is the best option.
[1] *past/ recalling a memory