My studio apartment in Segwang Metropolitan City.
I stare blankly as a human hand suddenly juts out from under a white lizard-patterned blanket.
Witnessing a situation that is realistically impossible, I feel a deep sense of shock and relief.
Without even knowing why I feel it.
"Mr. Roe Deer."
Someone under the blanket speaks to me.
I don't know why I'm being called Roe Deer.
But my mouth opens.
"Do you… know me?"
"Yes."
"You… what kind of Manager are you? Why am I calling you Manager?"
"It is not important."
The hand, clad in a black glove, that has emerged from the blanket, speaks.
I gulp.
"…Why am I trapped on May 4th? What… what is this situation?"
"It is the situation you wished for."
What?
"No, that can't be…. It can't be!"
What in the world is he talking about? When I think about how many times, just how many times I've repeated May 4th, I feel like I'm going to lose my mind!
It's a wonder I haven't gone mad. The only thing that lets me endure is that May 4th is a truly peaceful and good day….
....
A good day.
A good daily life.
"Is May 4th a good day that holds special meaning for me?"
"I do not know."
"Am I obsessed with May 4th, unable to escape?"
"No."
"Then, what in the world is this situation?"
"Do you wish for a deduction?"
"…Yes."
A dry, calm male voice is heard from under the blanket.
"This place is a projection of your wish to return home."
...!!
"I don't know what you mean,"
Why am I so shocked?
"Mr. Roe Deer's wish is to return home, so I surmise that this wish has been projected."
....
What does that mean?
I want to go home? Then I should be returning to my family's house in Bundang.
Right, shouldn't I have returned to a weekend like that, one where I sometimes help out at my younger sibling's dessert cafe? Why would I have wished to return to today, living alone in a different region?
That, that is….
....
"…In reality."
I swallowed.
"What state am I in?"
There is no answer.
"What kind of state am I in that this state… that I would wish for this day, May 4th, to repeat forever…?"
"Mr. Roe Deer."
"Why am I Roe Deer?"
He calls me by an unfamiliar title. For the first time, I feel a sense of fear from it.
What state am I in?
I am….
"Calm yourself."
"..."
"Do you wish for my deduction?"
"…Yes,"
"Wishing for May 4th to repeat is another mechanism."
The fear subsides at the calmness of the voice.
"It is a day specially recreated, your wish having been influenced by the Segwang Metropolitan City disaster."
Disaster.
At that word, I grow strangely anxious, and a cold sweat beads on my temples.
"I deduced that this phenomenon occurred due to its interaction with your wish."
Wish.
At that moment, a word flashes through my mind.
Children's Paradise Syrup.
The prototype of the Wish Ticket, the 'Wish-Granting Potion'.
And the research institute that tried to use it for Segwang Metropolitan City's project, and the result of the horrific disaster that seemed to have occurred there.
....
What does that mean.
What is this knowledge?
Where did it come from?
"Ugh."
I held back the bile rising in my throat.
My head, pickled in the tranquility of 612 repetitions, spins with a bizarre noise.
And, and....
"Manager."
I panted, looking at the blanket.
"…It seems your arm has come out further from the blanket."
"Yes."
It was getting longer and longer.
Now it was out from under the blanket enough to almost show the shoulder.
It had been sticking out motionlessly, but at some point.
There shouldn't be any space between the nightstand and the blanket, yet it was as if someone was hiding in the gap of the blanket and was now emerging.
Or as if the blanket itself was mutating.
"Is that… good?"
"No."
The impassive voice echoes from within the blanket.
"It means the time you have to leave this place, by using the blanket as a point of alien dissonance, is decreasing."
…!!
"Then, then I'll leave right now! Since it must be dangerous…,"
But.
"No."
"…No?"
"Yes."
I stare blankly at the right arm that has almost completely emerged from the blanket.
"What does that mean?"
"Considering the traumatic situation you will soon experience in reality, there is a probability that it is safer to remain here."
"..."
"If you choose to remain, leave the blanket as it is. There are 10 minutes and 32 seconds left."
I stared blankly at the hand that had emerged from the blanket.
"It might be safer here?"
"Yes."
I looked behind me.
A pleasant spring day. The scenery of Segwang Metropolitan City on May 4th, a day with yesterday and tomorrow off, unfolded beyond the living room's picture window….
Forever.
"…Can you tell me exactly what is happening in reality?"
"Impossible."
"…Can you tell me what situation you are in right now? The situation we are in, I mean."
"Impossible."
...In that case.
My mouth slowly opens….
"I'll leave anyway."
It wasn't just for the simple, certain reason that I felt like I'd go crazy if I stayed here any longer.
"I want to know what in the world this situation is."
Frustration.
A desire to investigate the truth of the situation and its solution.
That motivation, powerful to a slightly eccentric degree, sets a firm direction within me.
And one last thing.
I grinned, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"And it seems like it'd be even scarier to just stay like this, not knowing anything."
....
"Understood."
The voice that answered was just as impassive.
But for some reason, I had the feeling that the snout of the white lizard character on the blanket had curved into a smile.
"Then prepare yourself."
Prepare?
"What should I do?"
"Pack the things you will take with you."
I shot up from my seat. I looked around the familiar studio apartment, then spotted the Rabbit Doll I'd left on the bed.
The one that had been in my pocket for hundreds of repetitions.
"Um, is it okay if I take this with me?"
"Not recommended."
For some reason, I reflexively glanced at the Rabbit Doll.
"7 minutes and 24 seconds remaining."
Damn it. I thought for a brief moment, then picked up the Rabbit Doll and spoke.
Even if it's not recommended, there must be a reason this doll has been with me all this time.
And also.
"Um, by any chance… does the Rabbit Doll originally talk?"
"No."
...Phew.
What was I expecting. As I thought, talking to a rabbit doll is a stupid thing to do….
"A stuffed doll cannot speak."
"No, I mean, I'm not talking about a normal doll… I meant specifically this Rabbit Doll… can this doll speak….?"
"I see."
And a plain answer comes.
"Yes."
...!
I looked at the Rabbit Doll.
At its two eyes, black as pebbles.
"Is it by any chance… talking right now?"
"Yes."
"Why can't I hear it?"
"I surmise it is because that is a necessary precondition to realize Mr. Roe Deer's wish."
"..."
I don't know what that means.
But I ask in a trembling voice.
"What… is it saying? If you can hear it, can you relay it to me?"
"Yes."
"Friend, this Braun is okay."
Braun.
"…Braun."
I carefully called out to the Rabbit Doll.
No answer came back. But I took good care of the Rabbit Doll… and this time, I put it in my front pocket, not my side pocket.
I feel a sense of stability.
"Excuse me, does this coin have any meaning? It's been turning blacker and blacker each time I repeat May 4th. It stings, too."
"I do not know. Do you wish for a deduction?"
"…Yes."
"Discoloration is a common sign when a Protection Talisman takes on Contamination in your stead."
A Protection Talisman?
"Also, the stinging is presumed to be a stimulus to give you a sense of dissonance. It is possible another is sending you a signal through the coin."
"..."
Another?
But it's only me here, isn't it? I've experienced today alone dozens, no, maybe hundreds of times....
....
I feel a sense of unease. A restlessness, like I need to check something, quickly.
What am I forgetting?
"5 minutes and 14 seconds remaining."
"I'm ready!"
I immediately went to the front of the blanket.
The dissonance I had noticed, the human arm, had now emerged from within the blanket past the shoulder, almost revealing the entire upper body.
Finally, the faint outline of a head could be seen under the single blanket….
....
It's a human jawline.
Did it… originally look like that? I feel like it looked more avant-garde.
"Grab it."
After a deep breath, I grabbed the arm without delay.
Then, I began to be pulled into the blanket with a terrifying force.
"...!"
Thud, as my head slammed into the blanket, the fabric billowed and then covered my facial features.
As if I were pinned down by sleep paralysis.
Hup!
The unique soft texture wrapped around my head, but the sensation was brief; it soon covered every opening on my face without a gap.
'Wai—'
Wait.
I can't breathe. In my frustration, I reached for the blanket but couldn't grab it. Just as I was about to struggle in the pressure and blocked vision.
All of those sensations disappear.
"..."
There is no smell, no sight, no sound.
Inside the blanket.
The beautiful day of May 4th that I had experienced vanished from my senses, unreachable even if I stretched out my hand or struggled.
It's gone now.
At that fact, a strange surge of emotion wells up, more than just liberation.
But I was still there, and I soon realize.
My consciousness, my emotions.
And pouring back in, a self-awareness like a sense.
'Ah.'
I realized why I was called Roe Deer.
It was a nickname I got when I worked at Daydream Inc.
And Daydream Inc. was a ghost story company that appeared in the
One day, I was sucked into this Ghost Story Worldview. I met various characters, people who appeared on the Wiki and people who didn't.
All that pain and happiness.
A sense of purpose.
And after all that, my wish… is still to go home.
Right.
'…I remember telling Section Chief Lizard that story.'
I knew the identity of the hand that came out of the blanket.
The leader of Field Investigation Team D.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
"..."
I opened my eyes.
Pain, agony, and the familiar head of a white lizard come into view.
That Reptilian Alien was holding my body, as if pulling me out from somewhere.
'What the?'
Even in the pain, I feel like laughing.
I was saved again, thanks to him. Phew. It seems I was trapped in a looping ghost story where the day repeated.
How many times did it repeat? …612? 613? Wait, just thinking about it makes my head spin. I tried my best to dismiss it all as a dream. I can't let my mind get sucked into that again.
'Get a grip.'
And I shook my head. Now, I just need to coordinate with Section Chief Lee Jaheon to get out. Then I can figure out the situation.
I looked at Section Chief Lee Jaheon's movements….
....
He isn't moving.
"…Manager?"
I lowered my head.
He's not there.
There is nothing below Section Chief Lee Jaheon's waist.
"Uh."
I twisted my body.
The hand that was holding me let go.
The torso of Section Chief Lee Jaheon, only his upper body remaining, fell downwards.
Thud.
With a short, cruel sound.
....
Huh?
Huh??
'Just now.'
What just happened?
This is weird? Section Chief Lee Jaheon, Employee D, he's not supposed to die like this? He, he becomes a Team Leader?
Huh?
What is this? What just happened I reached out my hand to retrieve that upper body and stood up
But I realize it's impossiblebecauseIbarely have any limbs either.My body is attached to a giant sphere, screaming. Along with other mouths making the same sound
The end has come!
There is a paradise!
We have failed!
What
Whatwhatwhatisthiswhatisthis
What state am I in right now?
I look at the empty air
A train is coming from far away
A train! The train is rushing over, passing above us, passing over our heads and going far away
To the outside
Why?
The end has come!
There is a paradise!
We have failed!
My body is being sucked into the sphere. Pulled in further.
No! No!
I twisted my body. As my body rolls, my remaining lower half is crushed underneath and momentarily separates, falling off. Splat, my body falls to the floor.
I began to crawl through the ruins.
The bleeding becomes severe. My consciousness grows faint. The pain becomes dull. There's something behindbehindbehindmeI have to get awayI can't get stuck to that againI don't want toI'm not yet
Not yet
[Mr. Roe Deer.]
[This is as far as you go.]
Died.
* * *
"Hk, heok!"
I raised my head.
The familiar sight of the department store lobby came into view, no, no! No!
I'm back! To May 4th! I wish it were a dream, no, I staggered up from the chair and tried to run to my studio apartment….
[My, my, friend! Are you alright?]
....
Ah.
[Now, now, I am here. Hurry and check your front pocket!]
I lowered my head.
I searched my pockets. My hand, which had reflexively gone into my pants pocket, moves to my front pocket. And then….
"Braun…."
A soft Rabbit Doll is in my front pocket.
Along with the pleasant voice of a show host.
[Your friend Braun is right here!]
[Your Good Friend, the Entertainer of the age who has endured a boring and obvious, repetitive scene spanning 613 days without skipping, is with you!]
"..."
Right.
Right....
I caught my breath.
I have to get a grip.
'The situation I'm in.'
I barely manage to pull out the experience from what feels like hundreds of days ago from my mind.
I fell from the train.
From the subway train that was crossing Segwang Metropolitan City and heading outside, the door next to the conductor's seat suddenly opened, and I fell to the city below.
Completely exposed to an Extinction-class Disaster, and now, in the midst of it....
"Did I, did I return to May 4th again?"
[First, it would be good to check the differences and similarities, Mr. Roe Deer!]
I immediately began to check my condition.
'My clothes….'
It's not a suit.
It's the outfit I wore on the train to pose as Agent Grapes. I'm wearing glasses.
'It's different.'
My mind calms down.
But there is also a difference that sends a chill down my spine.
…The silver coin was gone.
The Coin Avatar, imbued with the Counselor's ego.
'…It had turned black.'
I had a bad feeling.
But there was no time to think about it for long.
Vvvvvvvvvvt!!
My Smartphone began to ring.
To be precise, the smartphones of everyone in the department store lobby who had been glancing at my crazy antics all ring in unison.
Goosebumps ran down my spine.
Feeling a premonition, I opened my Smartphone.
[Segwang Metropolitan City] Alert issued. An explosion suspected to be a terrorist attack has occurred near City Hall. Believed to be a biochemical weapon lethal to the human body.
As a chain of explosions is suspected, all civilians are to prepare for evacuation according to instructions and must not go outside under any circumstances.
"..."
And so I realized.
This is May 4th.
But it's not the peaceful, beautiful May 4th I had experienced.
-It was May. The day right before Children's Day.
-First period was starting when a disaster alert suddenly came. Said there was a terrorist attack at City Hall.
The Day of Disaster.
This is the day the Extinction-class Disaster occurred in Segwang Metropolitan City.
But how?
I definitely died falling from the train. And this should be a day from several years ago, so how….
...!
-Wishing for May 4th to repeat is another mechanism.
-It is a day specially recreated, your wish having been influenced by the Segwang Metropolitan City disaster.
My wish must have been for 'my peaceful home without ghost stories'. If so, for the repeating May 4th I experienced to have been influenced by the Segwang Metropolitan City disaster means….
'…The repetition of a day.'
And so I figure out a new proposition.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
"What is that?"
Faint screams began to be heard from somewhere outside the department store. But I, frozen in place, verbalize my realization.
Segwang Metropolitan City.
Inside this sealed-off city, this one day had been repeating endlessly.
The Day of Disaster, for hundreds, thousands of times.
Eternally.
And now I am trapped inside it.
"..."
A shiver runs through my entire body.
'No.'
What should I do in this situation?
Wait, just a moment….
'The tattoos!'
Right. I got tattoos when I returned to my original body. I have to get those two out first. I urgently stuck my hand into the tattoo.
Surely the two of them haven't been stuck in here for 612 days straight, right? Surely....
....
They're not there.
Neither Agent Bronze, nor Deputy Manager Eun Haje.
They're not there.
The space inside the tattoo, enough for two people, was completely empty.
"..."
I feel like my mind is going hazy....
'No!'
I have to get a grip. Let's get a grip….
'I, I too just died and then came to my senses.'
Here, in this department store, this morning.
Let's assume other people are in a similar situation. Perhaps the people who were in the tattoo have also been appropriately placed within this Day of Disaster.
Bronze, too, and Deputy Manager Eun Haje….
Manager Lee Jaheon, too.
In that case, what I have to do now is….
'Find them.'
"Aaaaaah!"
I looked outside the department store doors, where things were starting to get chaotic.
And I ran out.
Into May 4th of Segwang Metropolitan City, where the Extinction-class Disaster had just begun.