"Ms. Falcon."
"Yes?"
"This note came in for car 7… They asked me to deliver it to you."
"…!"
Eun Haje accepted the note the station attendant had quietly handed her, avoiding the eyes of others.
And from the attendant's glance, she quickly realized who had written this note.
'It has to be Soleum-ie.'
He'd scurried off to car 8 without even a proper goodbye, his face pale as a sheet, and then got off at a different station by himself, and now he's left a note?
"Is he in car 7, by any chance?"
"No. He didn't board the train, just left that and got off again. Well then..."
What's going on?
Eun Haje watched the station attendant leave the car, then quickly called for Ryu Jaegwan.
"What is it?"
Ryu Jaegwan, who had just returned from being drafted for manual labor, was, surprisingly, adapting quite well to this Train Shelter.
He wasn't even showing any of the blatant suspiciousness of someone determined to uncover the operating principles and secrets of this Train Shelter.
However, his eyes would occasionally darken, as if he were thinking of his teammates or family left outside.
'Seems like he's becoming a bit more flexible.'
Eun Haje judged it to be a good change. At this rate, he would grow well.
…If only they could make it out of here alive.
'Damn it.'
Ah, she was desperate for a cigarette.
She never knew she'd crave a cigarette even in a dead body.
In any case, Assistant Manager Eun Haje tapped Ryu Jaegwan and whispered softly.
"...It's a message from Roe Deer."
"…!"
"Come sit like this for a moment."
"Yes."
Eun Haje used Ryu Jaegwan's large frame, which she had turned in a hurry, as a sort of screen to hide the note, and they checked the contents together.
Something urgent came up that I need to check, so I'm going to the company for a bit.
If you need to contact me, please leave a message at the pop-up shop in Afternoon Station.
p.s. Midday Station was completely destroyed by fire. It's been concluded, so it should be relatively safe to visit.
I've sent company researchers to Afternoon Station for the details, so you can hear about it when you meet them.
"…Concluded?"
"Shhhh."
Eun Haje urgently slapped Ryu Jaegwan's back to quiet him.
Though they pretended not to notice, she could feel eyes on them from all over the car. Because they were, for all intents and purposes, still being treated as outsiders.
And because one of the few things to do in this tedious space was to stare at and observe others.
But honestly, the note's contents were so dumbfounding it was beyond belief.
'He even concluded a Darkness in the meantime?'
Hasn't it been less than a full day since he started acting alone?
And what's this about researchers? Why are those crazy bastards here?
'What the hell have you been up to, Roe.'
It was a performance that made her wonder what kind of person he was, but Eun Haje's mouth turned bitter whenever she thought of her competent junior.
Being competent was good, but lately, he seemed to be overdoing it.
He was so soft-hearted that he seemed to keep feeling guilty towards others, even when he could barely take care of himself.
'There's no need for that at all.'
…And in the midst of it all, she could subliminally feel his helplessness regarding his own contaminated state, which made her feel even more sorry for him.
Her heart grew a little impatient.
'…I need to squeeze out every bit of information I can from this Train Shelter.'
Wouldn't that help the Roe Deer kid, [1]who hasn't managed to retire on his own yet?
'First, I'll have to go to Afternoon Station as soon as I get the chance.'
Eun Haje smacked her lips bitterly and was about to fold the note back up when….
'Hm?'
"There's one more line at the bottom."
At Ryu Jaegwan's words, she pushed the end of the note to unfold it.
…Strangely, a sentence that seemed to have been hastily scribbled and added was squeezed in without any margin.
As if it had been urgently written at the last moment.
If you happen to find any information related to a machine called the 'dream incubator' anywhere, please contact the pop-up shop at Afternoon Station as quickly as possible.
Unlike the part before, even the tone was urgent.
'…dream incubator?'
It is the machine that is the prototype for the Daydream Potion maker.
"..."
"…Do you know something about it?"
"No."
Eun Haje fell silent.
It was a random sentence, but because of that, she knew instinctively.
'He found something out.'
If so, what on earth did Kim Soleum find out?
* * *
I'm running.
Out of Segwang Metropolitan City, toward the person I must meet.
To confirm what I must confirm.
"…Hah."
My mind is in chaos.
The goal of the Cheerful Research Institute, the newly discovered facts….
The identity of the egg inside the dream incubator.
-The goal of that dream incubator is… to create a new world.
-…is the deduction I've made, Hahaha!
What if that new world… is a 'world without ghost stories'?
What if the Cheerful Research Institute tried to create a world without ghost stories, and succeeded?
What if that's the world I came from?
…What happens to me?
'No.'
It's a ridiculous guess.
Just how many leaps of logic and connections have to be right for that to be possible? There are more than enough possibilities and cases where it's not true….
'But why do I have such a bad feeling about this?'
A feeling of instinctual realization.
The sense that the before and after fit together exquisitely.
The motive and the result all interlock like a puzzle, flashing through my mind almost like an inspiration.
That's why, even while denying it in my heart, I am now acting based on this deduction….
But still.
'It's strange.'
This place was the world inside the Ghost Story Wiki.
The Darkness Exploration Record.
'In a world without ghost stories, they created a ghost story world.'
But if they say they created a world without ghost stories from within a ghost story world… doesn't the order not make sense?
[Oh. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It seems the time has come to bring out that overused but wise metaphor!]
I'm going crazy.
I want to grab anyone and confess everything about what's happening and ask for an answer.
Now that a deduction has been made, I can't stand it unless I confirm it, so my legs carry me toward my destination.
…To the person I wanted to avoid, but absolutely could not.
"..."
I stopped walking.
The place I'm in is Jisan Village.
Someone is standing in front of the well on the outskirts of that abandoned country village.
"Agent."
Agent Choi is looking at me.
The man, who had been looking down into the well with sunken eyes, had sensed my presence and stood there, turned towards me.
Watching me intently for a long time until I approached.
I swallowed.
…Agent Choi was on the verge of entering Segwang Metropolitan City alone.
And I knew why.
Because I was the one who delivered the news that his teammate had died and was trapped inside that Extinction-class Disaster.
"...You."
Agent Choi caught his breath, then opened his mouth again.
"You call that a 'letter' you left…?"
"I'm sorry."
I bowed my head first.
"I wasn't asking for an apology…"
"I'm truly sorry. I'll resolve it somehow…"
"Soleum."
"..."
"What you should be apologizing for is leaving just a single note and not coming out, thinking you'd solve it all by yourself. You get that?"
Countless rebuttals came to mind, but I spoke urgently.
"Yes. I'm sorry. But…"
"But?"
"…I just discovered something inside the special city. There's something I absolutely have to confirm right now."
The shame and guilt of saying such a thing in this situation threatened to rise, but they vanished in my urgency. So I finally said it.
"The dream incubator… where is it?"
"..."
"The Underground Laboratory hidden by a manhole cover, the one you saw too, Agent. The Dream Incubation Room."
The expression vanished from the other's face.
This person must have taken some measures regarding that incubation room after I disappeared, or handed it over to the Management Bureau.
I have to find out where it went.
"Why that, now?"
"I need it right away. I– when I told you about it last time…"
"What are you going to use it for?"
"..."
Agent Choi rubbed his face with his hands.
"Hoo, what is this…"
"..."
I swallowed.
"I'm sorry."
"No. I'm not asking for an apology… Grapes-ie."
Agent Choi's tone softened.
"Go get some rest."
"...Yes?"
"If you tell me what you're going to use it for, I'll go take care of it. This is when you should pass the baton."
Wait, just a minute.
"You said dream incubator, right? What do you want to use it for?"
I first caught my breath, then took a piece of paper out from my clothes.
A letter that had been hidden in a corner of the Train Shelter, rolled up like a screw.
"…What's that?"
"I found it in the special city."
Oh~ You figured this out?
Then you're qualified to read this hot tip lol
The story that begins like that.
It was a hidden letter left behind by 'Lee Kangheon'.
"..."
"That letter, can you tell who wrote it, by any chance?"
Agent Choi's eyes move as if quickly scanning the paper. After reading all the contents without expression, he takes his eyes off it and looks at me.
And.
"I don't know."
"..."
"You brought it to me because of the name Lee Kangheon. But I don't know who the real Lee Kangheon is either. I don't even have a guess, which is why I use it. Anyway, why do you need the dream incubator–"
"Agent Choi."
I said quietly.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't lie."
"...!"
"If you really didn't know, the conversation would have flowed towards 'I'll find out who wrote it.' Because you consider it important to confirm who is behind things."
Agent Choi froze.
"Changing the subject like this means you already have someone in mind as the mastermind."
"..."
"…That note, did you write it, Agent?"
A small sigh escaped Agent Choi's lips.
And he spoke, looking back at the note.
"I might have."
"...!!"
"…A few things, habits I have when I leave notes… are quite visible. Word choice, tone, consonant size…"
His eyes scanning the note are fast and mechanical. A gaze that catches contexts that raise suspicion as if scanning them.
"As for the handwriting, it could be disguised by writing with a different hand."
"..."
"Of course, I have no memory of it."
Agent Choi raised his head.
"But since it was found in an area where cognition is blocked, there's a possibility that I wrote it but don't remember."
And, still looking at the note, he folded it and put it away himself.
"Wai–"
"But I'm not saying I'm certain, you hear?"
And he shook his head, looking at me.
"The very assumption that I would know this kind of information is strange in the first place. And Grapes-ie, just because there's a possibility, should you blindly trust a single note?"
"..."
"Do you believe this?"
Then somehow get your hands on the dream incubator that Daydream Inc. copied and try installing it in the still-remaining Cheerful Research Institute facility
"You want to try something when you don't even know the intention behind it?"
"Agent."
I raised my head.
"We have to try it to find out what the intention is."
"…!"
"I'm not saying I'll just do anything blindly. I'm saying I want to go right up to the point just before doing it."
"Just before doing it?"
"Yes."
I pointed to the contents of the note.
"If you look, what it's referring to here isn't just any dream incubator."
That is…
"It's asking for the version that Daydream copied. In other words, it seems to be telling me to steal the potion machine from the company…"
I swallowed.
"Instead of that, I'm proposing we first install a dream incubator identical to the one originally in the Cheerful Research Institute in Segwang Metropolitan City, and observe it operating normally."
"..."
"We can guess the mechanism from there."
Then, if by some chance something is revealed and it succeeds.
"If this note is really a hint, isn't there a possibility that we could at least get the people trapped inside out… or that the Supernatural Disaster could be concluded?"
"..."
"Agent Choi."
I said with force.
"I will do it. No, at the very least, I have to accompany you and try this."
Agent Choi looked at me, then at the note again, and fell silent as if lost in fierce contemplation.
By the time his left hand, which had been kneading the handle of the Executioner's Sword, stopped.
"Hoo."
A long sigh came from Agent Choi.
And he turned to look at me with a bitter smile.
Along with a blue glow in his eyes.
"Fine. So you want to take the dream incubator and test it?"
"...! Yes."
Agent Choi took a step back from the well.
Through the agent's jacket, which fluttered slightly in the wind, I saw some sort of unusual ritual equipment briefly reveal itself before disappearing.
A chill ran down my spine, but at the same time, I felt a sense of relief.
That I wasn't too late, before that man went into the well alone.
"…Follow me."
"…!"
I followed Agent Choi as he moved away from the well.
* * *
[This is difficult to understand, Mr. Roe Deer. That Underground Laboratory was a place my friend discovered in the first place, so why is that public servant taking credit for it?]
I suppose it's because I was discovered there while spying….
'Hoo.'
"Here."
In any case, instead of hauling me off somewhere and recommending forced rest, Agent Choi guided me to the Dream Incubation Room.
It was… surprisingly, still in the same spot by the manhole.
However, it seemed to be concealed by some sort of shamanistic act, making it unrecognizable to civilians.
"I thought you would have handed it over to the Management Bureau…"
"I was going to. After I investigated it a bit."
Agent Choi says nonchalantly as he opens the door.
"The moment you hand something like this over, the higher-ups usually bar field agents from accessing it and try to control it themselves."
"..."
"Here."
Inside the door, a golden rope was stretched across.
It must be a sign that Agent Choi had inspected and purified the space.
We carefully stepped over the golden rope and went inside.
And I finally faced it.
A normally functioning dream incubator.
'…It's here.'
A faint silhouette is visible inside the still-huge Dream Essence Liquid tank. Something golden, round, and egg-shaped.
An egg.
"...I'll[2] move it."
"Right. It'll take some effort. Heave-ho."
I slowly removed the wires connected to the device one by one, drained the Dream Essence Liquid that filled it into a collector, and then lifted out the powered-down machine.
Thanks to being in Lizard's body, moving heavy things wasn't a problem, but storage was ultimately an issue, so I had to switch bodies.
To the collapsed form of 130666.
"…You hadn't recovered."
I quietly nodded.
And while it took several more hours to return to the well, this time, Agent Choi persistently questioned me about my exploration during that entire time.
I was exhausted by the time I had confessed everything, from the news that Agent Bronze and Deputy Manager Eun Haje were in the Train Shelter, to all the things I had experienced at each station.
Still, I felt a sense of relief somewhere inside.
But in the end, I couldn't bring myself to talk about my guess regarding the dream incubator.
A world without ghost stories.
I just said this.
>Question:
>Agent Choi's idea
"Huh?"
>Cheerful Research Institute's goal (deduction):
>To create a world where no one suffers from Supernatural Disasters
▶ Agent Choi's opinion on the assumption that said world actually exists
"…Hm. Sounds wonderful."
Agent Choi asked matter-of-factly.
"Cults lure people in with the exact same story, you know?"
....
"But Grapes-ie. Why did you think of that? That such a world would actually exist."
…Because I came from there.
>Simple deduction:
>Based on the traces left in the Cheerful Research Institute
"Okay."
Agent Choi looked at me with a strange expression.
"Agent Grapes, if someone on the street ever tells you that you have a fine aura thanks to your ancestors, you're not to engage with them. Got it?"
....
"Why no answer. You got it?"
>Positive
It seems that because I was from a Disaster Management Bureau-certified cult-like company, my words were taken in a different sense….
'Hoo...'
And so the conversation ended.
And by the time we arrived at the well and re-entered Segwang Metropolitan City, it was already the middle of the night.
The platform of Segwang Metropolitan City where I opened my eyes was an underground space where the flow of time couldn't be gauged, but because of that, we could move more freely.
To the Cheerful Research Institute facility on the opposite platform.
"I'll clear it out."
Back again, to the burnt-out office corridor.
Together with Agent Choi, I pushed away the half-broken dream incubator that was barely functioning, and put the machine I brought in its place.
"…You said you'd connect it?"
I nodded my head.
This is an incubator identical to the half-broken machine. So a problem shouldn't suddenly arise.
"But if a problem does arise, please pull the plug immediately."
"Of course."
I connected the wires and pipes to the dream incubator.
And when I held up my employee ID card….
Flash.
…The device activates, and the lights come on.
"..."
Nothing else happened.
I looked at the dream incubator, which was operating quietly just as it had before I moved it, and was lost in thought.
??????
Children's syrup.
The buttons that make the original liquid for Daydream Inc.'s potions.
And the trace of a button below them.
Just one.
◎
Something like a leftover part from where a button was forcibly gouged out.
'…I thought this was where the Wish Ticket was.'
And while exploring Segwang Metropolitan City, I think I figured out the name of the potion made with this button.
For this invitational research
Use Children's Paradise Syrup
-> My opinion!
Children's Paradise Syrup.
Paradise.
If that's the case….
'Is this… the button for the true purpose of the dream incubator?'
The button related to the 'egg'.
I looked at it, observing it closely.
The spot where a button had been pulled out.
'Where on earth could this button have been?'
The fact that only this part was damaged was clearly unnatural. Someone had pulled it out.
And if this was a core function of the device, it was likely made so that only authorized people could use it, rather than being made completely unusable.
For instance, in a way where the button was hidden, and only a qualified person could find it.
'…Hidden.'
A recent case where I found something someone had hidden comes to mind.
Lee Kangheon's note.
An incongruity hidden close to the living space.
A screw made by recycling a Daydream Potion cap.
The cap, used in an unexpected way, was cleverly hidden in the place of the screw.
As if it had always been that way.
'…Could the button for this incubator have been hidden in a similar way?'
In an unexpected place, nonchalantly.
…It might be a good idea to search that underground Dream Incubation Room again. Or I might have to search all the facilities related to the Cheerful Research Institute.
'Could there be a hint in the Darkness Exploration Record?'
Regarding the Dream Incubation Room.
Before asking Agent Choi that question, I picked up my Smartphone to utilize the broadest source of information I knew.
'A round part….'
And as I looked over the contents….
....
[Friend?]
A round part.
A hidden use.
In an unexpected place.
Nonchalantly.
"..."
I flipped over my Smartphone.
There was a circle on it.
The device that displayed Wiki for me.
The pop-socket.
"Grapes-ie?"
I looked at the dream incubator.
Then I lifted my Smartphone and, with a trembling hand, detached the pop-socket.
Tuk.
I separated the adhesive part from the decorative part of the fallen pop-socket. Being a modular type, the part came off easily just by pressing the sides.
And I brought that piece of the pop-socket to the spot on the dream incubator where the button had been pulled out.
Click.
[1] might be translated as Roe Deer-ie but I have no clue
[2] might be “let’s move it”