191 Chapter
191 Chapter
So let me get this straight.
I opened the door to the motel room and found Gwak Jegang tied up on the floor, with the Security Captain sitting on top of him?
And Assistant Manager Park Minseong was just… there?
I mean, I was glad to see him after so long, but what the hell was this combination?
“Mmgh!”
Right then, Gwak Jegang started struggling again.
Nope.
If he turned his head and caught a glimpse of my face, we’d be in real trouble.
I snapped out of it and immediately tried to back out and shut the door.
But the Security Captain must’ve sensed what was about to happen.
“Ah.”
He raised a fist and cracked Gwak Jegang across the head.
Gwak Jegang slumped. Unconscious again.
“…….”
–An absolute mess! My goodness! What glorious chaos! And yet, I must admit, there’s a strange charm in entropy.
Please shut up….
“What… the hell is going on?”
“Ah… I, uh, followed you secretly…”
“…??”
The Security Captain’s explanation, in summary, went like this:
He’d been nosing around different parts of the company to collect stories related to Yuquae Research—as he’d promised.
And as part of that, today he decided to explore…
“…The special research team zone. In the annex.”
“…Hold on. Isn’t that off-limits to all non-personnel staff?”
“Ah… security team’s… allowed for work. Like… patrols…”
Oh. Right.
“So you waited until you were assigned a patrol rotation there?”
“No… I just covered for another guard…”
“…….”
“You said… you needed intel…”
God, now I feel bad…
The Security Captain wore such a proud expression I was at a loss for words.
Anyway, with all this overlap, it was clear that the "security team" mentioned by Baek Saheon earlier really was this guy.
Wait—speaking of which…
“I heard you… had a fight with Gwak Jegang. Is this related to that?”
“I didn’t fight him. He just… kept picking fights…”
“Oh. So you got dragged into something.”
“No. I ignored him…”
“…….”
“He tripped on his own. Anyway.”
The Captain scratched his head and got back on topic.
While patrolling the special research zone today, he’d seen some equipment, some documents—and then noticed something strange.
“It felt like… someone was tailing me.”
“…!”
At some point, a persistent gaze had locked onto him.
He said it felt like there was a trace of malice in it, too.
“So I left the building entirely, but… they kept following me.”
And so he subdued them—just like that.
“Well… no one was around…”
I clutched my head, but nodded.
“So… you didn’t realize it was Manager Gwak?”
“No, I knew…”
“…….”
AAAUUUGH.
“I mean… it didn’t really matter… I just didn’t expect him to call security…”
My eyes slid toward Assistant Manager Park Minseong.
His pupils trembled.
“Yeah, I was the one dispatched…”
“…….”
“When I got here… well… yeah.”
And thus, this bizarre little reunion came to be.
–Ahahaha! My stars! It’s like a sitcom!
They say tragedy from afar is comedy.
The problem is, I’m the one standing at the center of it.
Kill me.
I resisted the urge to press my fingers into my temples and finally asked:
“If we let him go like this, will Manager Gwak… report Mr. J? Or at least exaggerate what happened and make trouble?”
“…Probably.”
Park Minseong and I exchanged sweaty glances, then turned to the Security Captain.
He looked supremely unbothered.
As if to say: Whatever happens, happens.
“…….”
“…….”
Excuse me. We’re talking about your legal safety here?
“Then… Assistant Manager Park, technically, you’re supposed to… arrest the Security Captain, right?”
“In principle, yes, but… mmm. If we just quietly send him off, I’ll handle it on my end… We’ll say Gwak Jegang was found here alone.”
Park Minseong gave an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his head.
“He’s known for pulling all kinds of stunts. I think I can work with that—”
“That’s not gonna work.”
“……!”
The Captain stared at Park Minseong.
“You just joined the security team… so your geumje is at full strength.”
Geumje?
“You haven’t even… been on active duty for a hundred days, right? That means… lying to the company’s gonna be really hard…”
“…….”
“You hear it? The ticking?”
Park Minseong’s face stiffened.
But then a picturesque smile suddenly rose to his lips.
And, seemingly unconsciously, his hand drifted to his wrist.
Through the security uniform, the shape of something like a watch could be seen.
Right. The wristwatch.
…The geumje placed on security staff.
It all came rushing back.
Daydream Inc. had decided that once a rescued staffer had recovered enough of their humanity, instead of investing further treatment, they’d just… repurpose them.
In Exploration Logs, the geumje isn’t described in detail—it was considered more eerie to leave it ambiguous.
But there were hints scattered throughout.
For example…
“The wristwatch.”
Yeah, yeah, security team members all wore wristwatches. Why? No clue.
But when they did something weird, like trying to leave the building in the middle of the day,
You’d hear it.
The sound of ticking.
But when they did something weird, like trying to leave the building in the middle of the day,
You’d hear it.
The sound of ticking.
Which was weird, because they were digital watches—why would you hear ticking?
And then it would speed up…
And then it would speed up…
And then you’d hear a chime.
And then—
They were just… gone.
Not the watch.
The person.
—Interrogation 26, Glass Cell Inmate G56 (Origin: Daydream Inc.)
“…Assistant Manager.”
“Ah! Yeah.”
Park Minseong blinked and lowered his hand from his wrist.
The mood in the room dipped a few degrees colder.
But the Captain, unfazed, said:
“Don’t worry… at worst, it’s just a disciplinary warning… It’s not like I killed anyone…”
“…?!”
“Just… go report it. But… wait a second.”
The Captain looked down at the researcher he’d tied up and murmured quietly.
“…Kinda a waste, isn’t it…”
…??
“This guy… he knows a lot… so like, since we’re already here… maybe we could get some info out of him…”
“No. That won’t be necessary.”
Suspicious as hell.
Why is he trying to increase the scale of the disciplinary action he's going to receive?
“Let’s just wrap this up clean.”
It wouldn’t matter if he hadn’t seen me—but wait.
Even if Gwak Jegang didn’t, someone else did.
“Assistant Manager Park Minseong.”
“Yeah?”
“If you can’t lie to the company right now… does that mean you’ll have to include that you saw me in your report?”
“……!!”
Park Minseong’s face went pale again.
“I mean… if they press me for it. Maybe…”
Damn it.
At that point, it’s not just about them realizing I’m still alive.
“That’ll lead straight to Director Ho’s ears—no way around it.”
If they ask why I was with the Security Captain… the dream incubator room might get exposed too.
“We have to avoid that at all costs—”
“Excuse me.”
The Security Captain raised a hand.
“Um… honestly, I don’t want to… and it’s a hassle but…”
He pointed at Gwak Jegang.
“Should I just… kill him?”
“!?”
Authorized Lethal Force?!
Oh, right. Security does technically have authorization to use deadly force!
“If I kill him… and the security team just reports ‘no subject present at the scene’… that’s not a lie. We could slide it through. Buys us time too…”
“No.”
“P-please calm down, sir!”
No, the lethal force authorization isn’t for the security team!
“It’s so the company doesn’t have to pay out when someone dies during ghost suppression.”
And it basically means “don’t get in the security team’s way and jack up costs.”
Besides—
“That authorization only covers security during operations when other employees obstruct them. This doesn’t count!”
If it were that easy to kill people, Gwak Jegang would’ve been reduced to a puddle of blood by some other security team ages ago.
“Well, yeah, but… hmm.”
“L-let’s think of another way.”
“Yeah! We’ll figure something out!”
“…Okay…”
I was drenched in cold sweat.
“T-thank god the Security Captain has no motivation…”
It made perfect sense how he’d once been captain of the elite unit—his decisiveness was terrifying.
Honestly, the scariest part wasn’t even that he remembered the authorization—it was that he seemed to be considering it from a purely pragmatic angle, like evidence disposal.
Only because he was a decent person at heart did this situation not end with blood on the floor.
I wiped my sweat.
This was all my fault anyway.
I’d gotten too greedy when he offered to dig up info on Yuquae Research.
–A choice presents itself, my friend! Will ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) you pursue a daring, risk-free conclusion? Or take a slight loss for safety’s sake?
–If you’d like my advice, this ever-generous host is prepared to tip you off.
“You mean your advice is to just kill him and cover it up, right?”
–Correct!
Goddamn it.
I pressed my fingers to my brow… and then suddenly—
An idea struck.
“Wait.”
–Hm?
“There’s another way to erase the evidence!”
“I’ll handle it.”
I opened my inventory and pulled something out.
Kids' Disguise Syrup (Green Grape Flavor)
★★★★★
★★★★★
***
A short while later.
“…Mmh?”
Gwak Jegang began to stir.
Or more accurately, he probably opened his eyes—but we’d blindfolded him.
“Ohh? Did I fall into a ghost story—wait, no. I’m just blindfolded, huh.”
The excitement in his voice instantly dulled into a flat tone.
But then, as he seemed to recall what happened—getting knocked out after tailing the Security Captain—his voice changed again.
“Ha! What, you think I’ll forget what I saw just from being blindfolded? Please! My god. What the hell are you gonna tell the company when they ask why you pulled this stunt?”
“…….”
“You’re not in the elite unit anymore, man~ You still think the company gives you special treatment?”
He casually dropped veiled threats and grim predictions, in that smug tone unique to people who think their irreplaceability makes them bulletproof.
But then—
“Or maybe… this whole thing is desperate because you had to go this far.”
“…….”
“Were you looking for something in the Special Research Lab in the annex? Maybe…”
His voice grew ominous.
“…maybe something related to the ghost story you got lost in?”
“…….”
“I mean, that access route collapsed. Even if you’re curious what state the employees still trapped in there are in…”
Okay. That’s enough out of you.
I yanked the blindfold off.
Gwak Jegang looked ready to keep going—but then—
“…!”
There was no former elite team captain in front of him.
Instead—
It was me, in full security team gear.
“…….”
As his expression froze, I raised a pager and gave it a small wave.
“…Ah-ha, so you’re the one who responded to the call? This is… uh, security team territory?”
Silence.
“Was there… a security guard at my location earlier?”
Silence.
“…Very quiet, aren’t you. ……Wait a second.”
Gwak Jegang squinted.
“That’s a special suit.”
He recognized the outfit.
The special operations uniform used by the Security Team’s Special Division.
“What the hell is this? A special unit operative responding to a research team manager’s little stunt? This sort of cleanup work isn’t your department! Hahaha… So you’ve got some other agenda.”
Then his expression changed.
He’d figured it out.
“There has to be another reason.”
Without a word, I reached out and placed something on the office desk in front of him.
[Let’s play a fun truth game!]
[Shall we give it a try?]
[Shall we give it a try?]
“……!”
A carrot-shaped plastic toy with a bright, peppy recording.
Completely childish and cheap-looking—but Gwak Jegang’s expression hardened.
“Knew it.”
One of the most iconic interrogation tools of Daydream Inc.’s security team.
Exploration Log / Ghost Story
[All That Carrot Can Do]
Code: Qterw-E-2525 (Daydream Inc.)
Code: Qterw-E-2525 (Daydream Inc.)
A children’s toy that facilitates “truth games.”
If a participant lies, it immediately detects it and imposes a brutal challenge or penalty.
Failure to complete the task allows the other participant to punish the liar.
Failure to complete the task allows the other participant to punish the liar.
Where’d I get it?
Truth is—it’s fake.
I used the Kids’ Disguise Syrup on my smartphone to make this knockoff.
That’s why it’s got five stars.
The syrup doesn’t transform people—it disguises objects to perfectly resemble what you picture.
Which is why it has unmatched versatility.
Even a counterfeit works, as long as the target believes it’s real.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered in Gwak Jegang’s eyes.
“…What the hell? No, wait—there’s no need to go this far, right? I…”
Perfect.
He’s already rattled.
All that’s left is to push him along—wrapping this situation up nice and clean.
And if I can get a little extra out of it while I’m at it…
[If everyone’s ready, let’s begin!]
[Here’s your first question!]
[Here’s your first question!]
As the carrot chirped, I stepped aside slightly so Gwak Jegang’s view cleared.
Behind me—revealed in full—
Was the prototype dream incubator from Yuquae Research.
“…!”
His pupils dilated.
But the carrot continued, cheerful and oblivious:
[What do you know about the machine in front of you?]
Thus began… the most cost-effective cleanup method in company history.