Episode 6. Cd-A-11 (1)
This bastard…
This bastard knew right from the very beginning.
If he knew all along… why has he kept me alive until now?
Crack-crackle—
A ear-splitting squeal tore through the air like an attack.
—…Ahem. Dear me, showing such an unseemly display unfitting of a superior. —My apologies.
The deafening noise subsided, and with the sound of someone clearing their throat, the floating white gloves moved.
Rumble.
With refined courtesy, the white gloves pulled out a chair set before a lavishly set dining table.
Simultaneously, the announcer’s voice echoed through the room.
—Our conversation promises to be a lengthy one. Please, take a seat and let us converse at ease. —After all, we must engage in a candid, yet radical discussion regarding the future of our company. —^^.
“…”
At ease?
About the company’s future?
When I couldn’t even see my own immediate future, he expected me to worry about someone else’s company?
Especially now that my true identity was exposed, with no telling what horrifying fate awaited me?
I’d have to be insane to—!
“…Yes. Understood.”
Suppressing the desperate scream howling deep within my chest, I sat down in the chair they had offered.
Stay calm.
Think logically, Park Yeon-jung.
It’s too early to give up. Opportunities still remain.
The mere fact that this monster hadn’t killed me yet and was keeping me alive served as undeniable proof.
—Please, feel free to partake of the food before you.
As if I’d eat that!
I wasn’t nearly hungry enough to ingest food made God-knows-how or from God-knows-what.
Even if I were to starve to death, I would never lay a finger on this meal.
Besides, wasn’t there a far more urgent issue that needed addressing before worrying about food?
“…What do you intend to do with me?”
To my bluntly direct question, the announcer answered with casual composure.
—Intent? Why, you shall work alongside us for the prosperity of the company, of course! —And have you forgotten? Employee Park Yeon-jung is now a member of our firm! You no longer need to be so tense!
Telling me not to be tense only makes me more terrified!
I had personally witnessed people dying horrfying deaths right before my eyes multiple times.
Was telling me not to be tense really appropriate in a situation like this?
The bastard was utterly shameless.
Yet, he simply continued droning on about future corporate duties.
—As long as Employee Park Yeon-jung performs your assigned duties well, there will be no severe penalties. —Surely you don’t think I would go as far as to kill you? Hahaha! Ah, it’s a joke, a joke!
“…”
It didn’t sound like a joke in the slightest.
Having reached a state where I had essentially surrendered to fate, an odd, detached calm washed over me, allowing me to view the present situation through a strangely rational lens.
“What… am I supposed to do?”
—!! My, overflowing with enthusiasm on your very first day! —Splendid… absolutely splendid!
I’m not enthusiastic, I just want you to spare my life.
Why on earth did I catch the eye of a ghost story like this? I lamented my life choices in silent agony.
Clink.
…?
An employee ID card?
Before I knew it, the white gloves drifted toward me, holding out an ID badge that looked like something used in a standard corporate office.
—This is Employee Park Yeon-jung’s ID badge. Please treasure it carefully.
“…Thank you.”
It looked like an ordinary employee ID on the surface.
No… more importantly, this photo on the badge…
Is this actually my ID picture?
The face printed on the ID badge was the exact same photograph I had been using for my job applications.
I didn’t bother asking how he possessed my portrait photo.
I simply didn’t want to feel any more unnerved than I already was.
The announcer continued his tedious orientation about the company.
—Employee Park Yeon-jung. The task you will be handling for our company is quite simple! —And that task is…
Drumroll—
Out came that tacky, outdated sound effect over the speakers once more. After hearing it a few times, I was actually getting used to it.
—To procure ‘merchandise’ that will serve as our company’s unique specialty to sell to our customers! —From now on, Employee Park Yeon-jung will handle the procurement of these items. It won’t be as difficult as you think.
…
“And… what exactly are these ‘items’ you speak of?”
Obviously, they wouldn’t be normal items. Since a ghost story was seeking them out, there was no chance they were mundane goods.
And considering I was the one who had to personally procure them…
‘It shouldn’t hurt to ask what they actually are.‘
Fortunately, the announcer made no attempt to conceal the nature of the merchandise from me.
—The merchandise our company intends to sell is… ‘stories’! —I believe Employee Park Yeon-jung is well acquainted with this concept. Just as you were acquainted with me.
The phrase sounded cryptic and bizarre.
Yet, frustratingly enough, I understood its underlying meaning instantly.
“Don’t tell me… ghost stories.”
Ta-da!
—Correct! That is correct! —As expected, you are quick on the uptake! We intend to capture and sell the stories of other ‘ghost stories’! —Of course, I am not suggesting we sell mundane documentaries or their personal résumés.
Clack!
Once again, all the lights in the room extinguished.
When they flickered back on…
Dozens of white gloves were clapping in unison around a single, eye-catching banner that demanded immediate attention:
< My Little Ghost Story Has Changed?! >
…?
What kind of reaction was I supposed to give to that?
When I failed to process what I was looking at, the voice over the speaker kindly offered an explanation, as if picking up on my utterly blank expression.
—Dear me, it seems you have yet to grasp the essence of our product. Let me explain it simply so Employee Park Yeon-jung can easily understand.
And the explanation was indeed brutally simple.
—It means we capture ghost stories, turn them into books, and sell them.
!?!?!?!
—Ingenious, isn’t it!
A ghost story… capturing other ghost stories?
Granted, it wasn’t an entirely unheard-of concept.
I had read records stating that the Agency had captured and managed a few safe-class entities before.
But a ghost story hunting other ghost stories?
—This product will surely find a massive consumer base. I am certain of it! Whether those consumers be other ghost stories, or humans like yourself. —Of course, that hinges entirely on how many goods Employee Park Yeon-jung manages to secure.
…Madness. Completely and utterly insane.
What are you telling me to do right now?!
Capture ghost stories?
I can’t. No, there’s no way in hell I can do that!!
Just kill me right here instead!
He was asking me to capture entities that toyed with human lives as casually as breathing.
And without any anti-anomaly suppression items provided by the Association!
Which meant…
He was telling me to catch an elephant with my bare hands.
‘This bastard…‘
He intended to get me killed from the very start.
Otherwise, he never would have made such a ridiculous proposal. He was nothing more than an exploitative anomaly that viewed humans as disposable tools.
—There is no need to be so nervous.
Talk is cheap!
—I, too, have no desire to lose a talented individual like Employee Park Yeon-jung so easily. —Our company… happens to have excellent employee benefits.
Swoosh.
A cluster of white gloves flew toward me, handing over two items.
Could it be… anti-anomaly suppression items?
“…Glasses?”
I have 2.0 vision in both eyes, though.
I had let myself get my hopes up again.
I actually thought he was giving me something capable of suppressing an anomaly.
Right. I should just resign myself to my fate.
This entity was a sadist who took pleasure in watching me get sliced to pieces by other anomalies.
Crackle—
—I feel as though you were just having a remarkably rude thought.
…Does this guy have mind-reading abilities, too?
—More importantly, try them on. —I’m sure they will suit you well.
“…”
I stared at the pair of glasses resting on the palm of the white gloves for a long time. Not wanting to die at the hands of the broadcast host right then and there, I swallowed my tears and picked up the frame.
Slide.
The glasses fit perfectly, as if custom-tailored for me.
However, the moment I put them on—
THROB!
Ah… I’m dying.
“Aaargh!!”
A agony as if thousands of white-hot needles were piercing my brain burst forth.
An indescribable, agonizing pain.
Writhing on the floor as my consciousness teetered on the brink of blacking out, I surrendered to the agony—
Fortunately, the pain did not last very long.
By the time the agony subsided, my face and body were drenched in sweat and saliva.
—Employee Park Yeon-jung… As expected, glasses suit you remarkably well!
Is that really what you’re spouting right now…?
Haah, forget it.
I won’t even bother arguing.
It was a pain I never wanted to experience ever again.
On one hand, I felt like calling it a miracle that I hadn’t died from traumatic shock right then and there.
However…
My silent complaints didn’t last long.
The moment I looked at the white gloves before me, a flood of information flashed rapidly through my mind.
[Anomaly Log]
[The White Librarian] Identification Code: Cd-F-1129-1 Class: F Another variant entity observed alongside Cd-F-1129.
Commonly known as the ‘White Librarian.’ Appears to handle all miscellaneous tasks throughout the library. (Its specialty is snapping necks.) Though formless, it exhibits extreme sensitivity to the emotional shifts of ‘Cd-F-1129.’ It is strongly advised not to displease its mood—unless you possess a death wish.
It was an extraordinary phenomenon; information regarding the white gloves before me rushed into my mind like a surging tide.
In that instant…
I understood that the glasses I had just put on were no ordinary eyewear.
‘Don’t tell me… these are those glasses?‘
I knew about these glasses. They were an item that had appeared extremely rarely in the records of the Ghost Story Records Archive.
[Item List] Glasses of the Top Student (Perfect for last-minute crammers.)
The wearer gains the ability to recall everything they have ever seen in their lifetime. (Active only while worn.) Instills an extreme obsession with academic pursuit. The wearer becomes completely immune to other temptations. Side Effects upon Use: Causes severe migraines / Loss of interpersonal relationships. Note: Do not worry if your relationships with others grow distant. They weren’t your real friends anyway.
An item featured in the Ghost Story Records Archive.
Though its appearance in the original work was sparse, I knew it functioned as an item that provided a certain degree of mental damage mitigation.
More importantly, how did this anomaly possess such an item?
Sticky.
?
A tacky feeling between my fingers where I had touched the frames.
I checked the residue left on my skin.
Coating my thumb and index finger was… a dark red substance.
“…”
I just figured out where he got these glasses.
Let’s stop thinking about it.
I hurriedly brushed away the useless thoughts and checked the remaining item.
The second item was a quill pen, looking like something straight out of a Western medieval period film.
Staring at the quill for a moment, I reached a conclusion…
‘This… is something I’ve genuinely never seen before.‘
It was an item completely foreign to me.
Even though I had consistently read through the Ghost Story Records Archive, I had zero memory of this item’s existence.
And as if waiting for me to express my confusion, the host over the speaker finally made his presence known again.
—It seems the existence of this quill pen has yet to be recorded in your world. —Allow me to explain that item to you.
A brief pause ensued, as if building dramatic tension. The explanation for the quill followed:
—That quill is intended for capturing ghost stories. As for its usage, it will activate automatically once you neutralize an anomaly, so please keep it on your person whenever you enter a story.
“This quill… is for capturing ghost stories…?”
Such a tiny quill?
How on earth are you supposed to seal an anomaly into this tiny thing?
I felt a mixture of anticipation and dread in equal measure.
—That should wrap up the basic explanation. —Do you have any questions?
Plenty.
A ridiculous number of them, in fact.
Questions about the capture process, or how and to whom we were going to sell these caught anomalies…
I had a mountain of questions!
…But putting all of that aside for now.
There was something I had been wanting to ask from the very start.
“…If I fulfill all the conditions you mentioned… will you send me back to where I originally belong?”
—…Of course. Though, from the company’s perspective, it is quite regrettable that a capable employee is expressing a desire to resign so soon.
After a brief silence, came his playful reply.
“…Understood. I will cooperate.”
—You are far more understanding than I anticipated. Haha, excellent! The more I see of you, Employee Park Yeon-jung, the more charming of a human you become.
Spout whatever nonsense you want.
I might be playing along in the palm of this monster’s hand for now, but the moment an opportunity to escape presented itself…
I would take it and run.
I had zero intention of staying long at an unethical company like this. No, not even in my next life.
—Now then, shall we evaluate our enthusiastic new hire, Employee Park Yeon-jung’s performance on his first assignment? —Since it is your first assignment, I shall give you a simple task.
Clack-clack!
Two sharp claps resonated over the speakers.
Immediately after, a door suddenly materialized right in front of me.
Don’t tell me…
‘An Anywhere Door?‘
It was a door that immediately called to mind a certain gadget from a famous children’s anime.
Creak.
The white glove politely grabbed the handle and opened the door, revealing a pitch-black, desolate void beyond.
I don’t want to go in there even if it kills me.
It looked like an ominous space where, once entered, one might never step foot on solid ground again.
Yet, as if rushing my footsteps, the announcer cheered over the speaker:
—Do your best, Employee Park Yeon-jung!
…
Surprisingly, that didn’t motivate me at all.
Still, I had to step inside now.
If I ever wanted to break free from this absurd nightmare.
Step.
Thus began new hire Park Yeon-jung’s very first assignment.
Step… step.
Just how much further do I have to walk?
How many minutes had passed since I stepped through the door in the library? For some reason, no matter how far I walked, the destination remained out of sight.
Just as anxiety began to creep in—fearful that I might end up stranded in the dark and suffer a fatal accident instead of an honorable discharge—
Crunch.
The texture under my feet shifted.
I raised my eyes.
What appeared before me…
Under the pitch-black night sky, standing imposing amidst dense, sprawling trees, was a massive mansion.
There were quite a few ghost stories centered around mansions.
Especially the concept of a solitary mansion built deep in the mountains—it served as perfect material for a mysterious yet terrifying horror plot.
‘I want to turn back already.‘
Genuinely.
Footsteps that would normally have fled in the opposite direction now moved slowly toward the mansion.
Since it had come to this, I desperately hoped it would be an easy anomaly to deal with.
As I pushed open the mansion’s front door with my palm—
An eerie voice echoed right next to my ear, as if someone were whispering right beside me.
—Did you know?
The story had begun.
—They say it only appears in houses where a child is left all alone without their parents.
An opening straight out of a horror film.
—When all the lights go out, it watches the child trembling alone in the dark. Isn’t that terrifying?
It was only after listening up to this point that I realized exactly what kind of ghost story I had dropped into.
[Anomaly Log]
[I Hate the Dark!] Identification Code: Cd-A-11 Class: A Unauthorized entry is a crime!
Physical suppression impossible. (There’s a reason you’re told not to.) Mental damage: Extremely High. Total Recorded Casualties: 443
…Yep, let’s go back.
On his very first day, new hire Park Yeon-jung desperately wanted to resign.
