Baekilmong Co., Ltd. is a creepy company that shoves Field Operations Team employees into horrific Ghost Stories and extracts raw potion concentrate from them.
That raises a question.
-If they just keep throwing employees into extremely dangerous high-grade Ghost Stories, wouldn't everyone die and no raw concentrate get extracted?
To address that question while also preserving the convenience of Ghost Story progression, the setting introduces the idea that "employees possess special equipment that can be strengthened as they get promoted."
But it is not too specific.
If they started dividing every piece of equipment into grades and charts one by one, then it would no longer be an internet Ghost Story but the setting of a massive game.
So, to make it easier for anyone to participate in the creation, an even more convenient setting was attached.
-Customized personal equipment.
Once an employee has their usefulness recognized to some degree, they are given their own supernatural equipment with company support.
Of course, it's not as though an ordinary employee starts using cartoon-like powers, just a slight boost in special abilities.
You could say it creates a more convenient situation.
'Still, having it at all is better than nothing.'
Without realizing it, I looked at Group Leader Lee Jaheon with eyes full of expectation, then ended up meeting the lizard's gaze and quietly lowered my head.
I really was not adapting to this.
"Ah, so I can make custom equipment?"
"Yes."
"...Could you explain it to me?"
"Yes."
Only after asking three times did a detailed explanation finally follow.
Still, it was interesting.
'This is something even I only knew in bits and pieces.'
Things that had only ever been mentioned here and there in passing throughout Darkness Exploration Record were now being neatly organized and spoken through the manager's mouth.
"Custom equipment can be produced through certain Darknesses the company possesses."
Right. They'd be using Ghost Stories.
[The Toy Maker of the Cheerful Laboratory / Qterw-E-07]
[The Kind Seed Kit / Qterw-E-99]
[We Offer the Rite / Qterw-E-404]
As far as I remembered, these were the three Ghost Stories in which Baekilmong Co., Ltd. employees were described as making equipment.
And the one the Field Operations Team mainly used was....
"...that one."
Oh!
"It just so happens to be a Darkness that can only be used on moonlit nights!"
With my teammates happily coming along out of curiosity, I headed with the manager to the annex building next to the company.
My superiors had urged me on, saying that if I was going to do it, I might as well do it while the iron was hot.
"Ah... this is where they isolate and keep comparatively safe and useful Ghost Stories."
The assistant manager's explanation followed behind us.
"In the company, these are usually called 'Twilight-grade.'"
I knew.
Officially, they corresponded to E-grade Ghost Stories.
But the classification was a bit different from simply calling them E-grade.
'Because they've already been filtered down to only the useful ones.'
There were Ghost Stories far more powerful than D-grade and others even less dangerous than F-grade, so this was also a category of Darknesses for which everyone more often used the unique label "Twilight."
"Roe Deer, on your first day, remember that... radio? That thing's useful because it tells you your fortune for the day. It's like that."
Once we scanned our employee badges and entered the first floor of the annex, I saw stairs leading underground.
And when we went down the stairs... someone was sitting at the dimly lit reception desk.
It was a strange figure dressed entirely in black, wearing a mask, sunglasses, and even a hat.
An employee?
The senior staffer immediately stepped forward.
"Hello! We're Group D from the Field Operations Unit, here as part of new employee training."
"...."
"Ah, the one we were authorized to access is Twilight-grade Darkness number 99."
The black-clad figure looked at the senior staffer briefly, as though verifying him.
Then nodded.
After inclining their head, the figure pressed a button on the desk, and one of the emergency doors behind them opened.
Creak.
Beyond it was a hallway lined with countless doors.
"You mustn't open the other rooms even by mistake. Actually, they'll probably all be locked anyway, but let's not even touch the handles."
That was extremely sound advice.
I nodded without complaint and kept walking.
Soon, we stopped in front of a door marked 99, and the assistant manager placed his employee badge against the reader.
Clunk.
"Let's go in."
I lifted my head.
Moonlight was pouring into a greenhouse overgrown with weeds.
And standing in the center of it, bathed in that moonlight, was a rusted machine.
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Ghost Story
[The Kind Seed Kit]
: A Ghost Story appearing in Darkness Exploration Record. Baekilmong Co., Ltd.'s identification code for it is Qterw-E-99.
A Ghost Story that treats objects as plants, extracts genetic information from them, and crossbreeds and sows them. It operates using moonlight as its energy source.
---------------------=
That's right.
'A Ghost Story where if you put in two objects, it mixes the two traits and creates a new object.'
The Darkness most heavily used by the Field Operations Team for creating custom equipment was this fairly atmospheric Ghost Story.
"This is one our department practically uses exclusively!"
Standing in front of the rusted machine, I asked,
"Does using this cost points?"
"Yeah. The Twilight-grade Darknesses kept in the annex only operate if you pay a usage fee."
"Ah...."
"For reference, this one costs 1000 points per use."
Wait a second.
But wasn't that a little odd?
"If it's equipment needed for Darkness exploration, shouldn't the company be supporting the cost instead of charging for it?"
No matter how hopeless this company was, they should at least do that if they wanted anything to function at al—
"Ah, but once you become a senior staffer, you can use it for free twice a year."
"...."
Promotion... maybe I really should have gotten it after all.
"So everyone usually waits until they become senior staffer before using it. Most people can hang on for a year at the latest."
Hmm.
I thought about it.
'If Manager Lee Jaheon judged that using points on this was still "worth it," then there must be a reason.'
The lizard— in other words, Employee D— might be known as someone who only specialized in brute force, but that surely included instinct-level intuition.
If a high-survival-rate employee had given specialized advice....
'It still feels like I should accept it.'
If I could raise my early survival rate by investing 1000 points, then that was probably the right answer.
...Even if my hands were trembling a bit!
"I'd like to use it now."
"Okay!"
The senior staffer responded cheerfully, then seemed to realize something and lowered his voice.
"...But you know you need existing equipment to put into it first, right? Something with some kind of useful ability that can serve as a trait donor."
"Ah... right."
I had already checked all of that in the Ghost Story exploration records.
---------------------=
Exploration Record #05
Employee N inserted a tumbler* and a backpack.
The tumbler* in question was special equipment (any liquid placed inside it after sunrise does not show the bottom until sunset. Owned by Manager Choi■■), while the backpack had no special characteristics.
Seed result: Backpack.
(Special note: Possesses a similar special ability to the tumbler. However, if more than 87L of liquid is taken out, the bottom becomes visible.)
---------------------=
"Don't worry! There's a custom in the group that when a team member gets their first custom equipment, someone in the group lends out their own equipment for free once."
"Yeah. Not both items, just one. For the other one, you either put in your own object or pay to borrow one."
The assistant manager glanced at the group leader.
"And Group Leader... well, your equipment is the best among us."
I had expected that. He was a superior, after all.
"If it's alright, I'd like to see your equipment, Group Leader."
"Yes."
The lizard pulled something from his pocket.
It was a small knife glinting gray.
"It is a butter knife. If I cut the medium used to enter a Darkness, it can slice space and transport small objects."
Oh.
"So this is the equipment you used when you threw over that AAA battery."
"Yes."
I looked at the butter knife with renewed interest.
'I was hoping it would be something related to defense, but I guess it wouldn't work out that easily.'
It was a shame, but the other superiors' equipment wasn't related to defense either.
One was connected to deception, another to communication.
'If push came to shove, I feel like I could probably get something with a similar effect from the alien shop anyway....'
I made up my mind.
"So then, you're going to put in Group Leader's equipment?"
"Yes."
For the sake of social courtesy, I bowed my head.
"Thank you, Group Leader."
Manager Lee Jaheon gave a slight nod, then stepped toward the machine.
On the old LCD screen, I could see archaic-looking text.
[Please give me plants 0/2]
I watched as the manager held his equipment up to the machine and scanned its "genetic information."
[Plant information saved successfully]
[Please give me plants 1/2]
"Now next, you just need to put in the item you want to add. ...Ah, wait a second."
The assistant manager said it hurriedly.
"If this machine isn't completely insane, then honestly it's fine to put in almost anything? But there's exactly one thing you absolutely can't put in."
The assistant manager tapped the sign posted on the front of the machine.
※Absolutely no plants may be inserted
"You absolutely cannot put in an actual plant just because it asks for one."
"...."
"The detection sensor at the entrance filters out all plants anyway, but I'm telling you just in case."
Now that my eyes were more accustomed to Darknesses, I could tell what the overgrown weeds around us really were.
They were all fake. Artificial plants.
...One particular exploration record came to mind on its own.
---------------------=
Exploration Record #14 (Irregular)
Employee R tore off wild weeds growing around the Darkness (estimated to be dandelions) and inserted them into the machine twice.
The result that burst out, together with a [censored] shriek, was [censored][censored]
-It took the Security Team 7 days to complete suppression.
All 3 people present on site, including Employee R, confirmed dead. All plant matter confirmed removed.
※Notice: If this recurs, disciplinary action and termination will follow.
---------------------=
Mm. I definitely needed to memorize that.
"Yes. Thank you for telling me."
"It's nothing worth thanking us for."
In the meantime, the manager had finished registering the equipment, retrieved the knife back into his suit pocket, and straightened up.
"In the other slot, employees generally insert ordinary objects that are easy to use. However, in those cases, the equipment's supernatural traits may be inherited only weakly, or in rare cases may fail to be inherited altogether."
I already knew that, but I nodded seriously in response anyway.
"It can't be helped. Even if that happens, I'll accept it."
I reached into my pocket and pulled something out.
"Oho~ you said you stopped by the company housing earlier, so I guess there was something you wanted to put in?"
"Yes."
What I held in my hand was a silver coin.
-The Silver Snake
The very item that had been sold at a huge discount in the alien shop.
"I plan to put this in."
I could just put an item into the other slot.
I had quite a few supernatural items on hand!
In truth, that was why I had been delighted when I learned that the Ghost Story the Field Operations Team used was The Kind Seed Kit.
'Because I have more sources for item acquisition than other people.'
From the black notepad in empty air that gave me merch to the alien shop.
From the moment I entered this place, I had been mentally running through my lineup of items.
'And the one among them that's probably the highest-grade....'
It had to be this.
I rolled the round coin engraved with a snake in my palm.
'Because at full price, it had been the most expensive.'
And since Manager Lee Jaheon's butter knife was apparently meant for "supply delivery," I also had some hope that it would produce an interesting synergy with this coin, which seemed to function as "currency."
I held the coin up to the machine.
At the sight of the silver, the lizard's pupils widened.
"What is that?"
"A commemorative coin. I bought it as a souvenir while traveling... but somehow it just gives off a good feeling."
"...I see."
...Did he realize it was an item?
Still, that was fine. In a world where people could encounter Ghost Stories so easily, there was enough plausibility in me naturally carrying around a supernatural object without knowing it....
'And since it's a coin, it doesn't look that suspicious.'
It was a small, everyday object.
"It looks easy to carry. The compatibility seems decent."
"Thank you."
Listening to the superiors' well-wishes, I finished the scan.
[Plant information saved successfully]
[Please give me plants 2/2]
"Ah, now this is the last step."
[Please provide the gardener's information]
That was why it was called "custom equipment."
I didn't know exactly what kind of process it was, but it clearly demanded the genetic information of the guardian who would care for this plant.
'This ends up affecting a lot of variables.'
Even while conflicted, I completed the scan.
[Confirmation complete]
It's coming.
[Combining genetic information]
[Generating kit....]
Five-colored smoke poured out of the machine, gears turned with a creaking noise....
[Sowing complete]
Hiss.
The small drawer at the very front of the machine opened, and a tiny object appeared inside.
A gray coin.
More precisely, it was a toy coin like the kind you'd use in an arcade. On its shiny front face, there was an embossed image of a glove.
"Oh, it came out."
"Congratulations, Roe Deer."
Carefully, I reached out and picked up the item.
It was my first custom equipment.
I returned straight to the company housing.
My superiors parted ways with me too, telling me to get some good sleep and see them tomorrow.
They probably didn't want me doing something as idiotic as testing the equipment's abilities while still inside a Darkness.
"...Alright."
Sitting on the bed, I took out the two coins.
One was the Silver Snake that I had bought at the alien shop and used as the "parent plant."
The other was the gray coin born from mixing the Silver Snake with the genetic information of the department head's butter knife.
Everything was great. But.
"...How am I supposed to activate this?"
There wasn't the slightest reaction.
'Come to think of it, the Silver Snake wasn't exactly the sort of item whose supernatural effect was explicitly stated either.'
Surely it hadn't really produced a toy coin that was supposed to be used like actual money and called that equipment... cold sweat broke out on me.
Fortunately, that fear was soon put to rest.
"As expected, with a coin it's this, huh."
I tried one typical action.
Flipping the coin with my thumb.
The moment I did, the embossed glove image on the front of the coin popped out for real.
"...!"
A translucent silver glove appeared in midair.
The glove moved like it was doing mime and traced letters through the air.
[Insert coin]
...It wanted me to put in a coin?
I searched through my wallet, pulled out a 100-won coin, and held it out to the glove.
But the glove refused it.
"What?"
Did it want a different kind of currency? Or....
"What about this?"
I held out a 500-won coin.
The hand gladly accepted the coin, pinched it between its fingers, and made it vanish with a magician-like motion.
'So it was about the amount.'
This equipment was thoroughly faithful to the logic of capitalism.
As I stared at it, dumbfounded, the translucent glove came toward my hand and merged with it as though being worn.
"...!"
A bizarre sensation ran through me.
'A third... hand?'
A shape like the shadow of my own hand floated before my eyes.
It moved according to my will.
I could push against the wall, open the bathroom door, even write with it.
'Its strength and delicacy are... about the same as mine.'
To sum it up, if I fed it a coin, it became a third telekinetic hand that could move for a few seconds.
Its range was roughly... a radius of about three meters.
"If it's 500 won for 5 seconds, that's not bad."
Soon, the shadow-hand shape in the air disappeared, and the translucent glove naturally slipped off my hand.
Then, moving as though waving goodbye, it sank back into being embossed on the front of the coin.
"Mm."
This was pretty good.
It wasn't a method of overcoming the spatial limitations between Ghost Stories and reality like the group leader's butter knife.
But in exchange, it felt like it would have a broader operational range inside Ghost Stories, so it actually seemed more versatile.
Of course, there was still the issue of ammunition limits, since there was a spatial constraint on how many 500-won coins I could carry around in my suit....
'At this level, I'd call the draw a success.'
And the fact that the coin item had not been revealed and everything passed naturally was excellent.
"Work hard enough to justify the 1000 points I invested in you."
I tucked the coin into my pocket along with my other items.
While I was at it, I also refilled my used-up Smile Stickers and packed one more can bottle.
'Humans really are creatures of adaptation.'
I lay down on the bed.
Surprisingly, I felt pretty good.
If I closed my eyes, that horrific talk show still came back vividly, but with the lights on, it was manageable enough that I could sleep.
Maybe it was because the ending had turned out alright.
'...At least my bad luck had been good, in a way.'
I'd been lucky with my group assignment too.
'Maybe because I earned so many points in one go, the whole situation somehow feels more hopeful....'
Sleepiness washed over me, and I blinked slowly.
Even so, the points I still had left to earn before I could get a Wish Ticket were still a mountain, and I had no idea how many more Ghost Stories I would have to clear.
But unexpectedly, for the first time, I found myself thinking that maybe I really could make it through that period....
'Maybe I can quietly endure it.'
...That absurd little circuit of happiness lasted only until the next day, when I went to work and learned the insane fact that an official notice had gone up saying, "A rookie on his second day after joining clears an A-grade catastrophe!"
"Roe Deer, sit down for a moment. We... ah, it looks like your position may be changing a bit."
"Yes?"
I'm on my third day after joining, though.