219 Chapter
219 Chapter
One of the many offices inside Baekilmong Corporation’s headquarters.
A small-framed employee with long curly hair sat at the meeting desk of the tidy space.
“Hm-hmm-hmm.”
Already wearing a dolphin mask on her head was a field exploration team elite staffer.
The materials placed on the table she was reading through were the details of today’s special assignment, distributed just yesterday.
She had been specifically designated.
And then—
“Hello, Deputy!”
Deputy Lee Seonghae lifted her head.
As the office door opened, an employee entered and greeted her with cheerful familiarity, bowing.
“I’m Kang Ihak! Oh, but you can just call me Pony!”
“Yep. Hello~.”
They were acquainted.
If you survive about a year after joining the company, you start remembering more and more coworkers.
There was even an event that served as proof of that.
Promotion to section chief.
“Oh, you just got promoted to section chief?”
“Yes, yes, yes. We all got promoted together. Haha, it’s great not having to treat everyone!”
Kang Ihak chuckled and thumped his chest.
Indeed.
Roughly half the field exploration team rookies who survived without dying or retiring were promoted in bulk to section chief just before this year’s new employee recruitment period.
Of course, a few high performers had been promoted two or three months earlier… but that was a path Kang Ihak had no desire to follow.
He had recently realized:
“No reason to create unnecessary spending!”
If it looks like you’re doing well, people start expecting you to give something. That’s just how shameless people are by nature!
This place didn’t exactly shower early-promoted staff with riches or drop generous darkness rewards into their mouths.
Of course, if a significant bonus was on the table—say, something shiny and golden, or glittering and green—that might be a different story!
But a modest pay bump? From a grand perspective, that was actually a loss.
Thanks to that, he had successfully resisted the dopamine craving for short-term rewards….
“Some people just like being a boss first, I guess.”
Kang Ihak recalled a colleague who had been promoted ahead of him.
The staffer who always wore an eye patch beneath a goat mask—Baek Saheon.
That one had been obsessed with information and items from the start, buttering up higher-ups left and right, and eventually got promoted first.
“He really invested boldly in extracting intel from senior staff early on!”
He’d gone quiet lately for some reason. Likely discovered the eternal truth—that investing in darkness pays better.
And now that his thoughts had reached that far, he recalled other colleagues too.
Those no longer with the HQ’s field exploration team.
“Ah~ There was someone who got promoted real fast, and one who was seriously by-the-book… ah, do you remember them?”
Kim Soleum. Ko Yeongeun.
The two of them exchanged nods, remembering their fellow employees.
“Yeah, they were good people. Such a shame…”
Lee Seonghae furrowed her brow with a look of genuine regret.
Sensing the mood, Kang Ihak smoothly shifted the topic with a pleasant smile. No need to dampen a boss’s mood over something that won’t bring in a single won!
“Congratulations to you too, Deputy~ I heard you got reassigned to Team B along with the promotion!”
“Oh, right~.”
Lee Seonghae nodded.
“Haha, how’s Team B treating you?”
“Mm. Work’s the same wherever you go!”
But intel from the elite team was always valuable.
Kang Ihak sweetened his tone, aiming to curry a bit more favor.
“Oh come on, even if the job’s the same, the people you work with changed. If there’s anything you want to share—just between us…”
“Eh? Me?”
“There’s no need, of course. Yep!”
Don’t poke the boss! Again: there’s no need to sour your boss’s mood!
Especially when the person in question is rumored to have been transferred to Team B after helping dunk two of her Team C superiors into the darkness!
Long-term strategy, long-term strategy…
After a quick tactical adjustment, Kang Ihak sat down politely.
“Then I’ll get right to studying the materials too!”
“Yep, yep.”
Just as they finished their pre-work small talk and were wrapping up reading the documents on the table—
“Greetings!”
A research team staffer arrived.
The person who would be briefing them on today’s operation.
Section Chief Kwak Jaegang of Research Team 1. As he entered from a different department, the two stood up respectfully.
“Have you both gone through the materials?”
“Yes, we have!”
“Wow~ I expected that from our elite Deputy Lee, but Section Chief Kang, you’re pretty fast too. Must be the promotion kicking in!”
“Haha, thank you!”
Nope. It’s because I was looking for a way to squeeze out a side profit from this mission.
And Kwak Jaegang knew that too—but he laughed anyway as he looked between the two, before performing the most important task of the day.
Introducing the shadow holding the power of life and death over him.
“Well then… This is the person you’ll be working under today!”
The office door opened.
And the one who emerged with black smoke—
A figure with massive bone-like horns rising like a crown, eyes glowing like yellow lanterns, and an eerie light shining through the security team’s black uniform.
At the familiar sight, Lee Seonghae’s eyes widened in astonishment.
The owner of the Flower Golden Resort!
“Masco… I mean, Security Team Staffer!”
To think they’d meet again!
Wearing a beaming smile, Lee Seonghae stood up and approached.
“It’s really great to see you again! Have you been well?”
The black-uniformed special division staffer of the security team didn’t so much as flinch and merely looked down at her.
One eye seemed to glance at the researcher momentarily, but then turned toward Lee Seonghae and lowered their head, raising a hand—
Question: Current health condition
“Oh, I’m always in great health!”
Still the same polite and kind employee as ever!
“As expected from our elite Team Dolphin Deputy! You’ve even worked with someone as powerful-looking as this security team staffer!”
Now understanding the situation, Kang Ihak quickly jumped in and seized the chance.
“It’s truly an honor. Please feel free to call me Pony, staffer!”
He even extended a handshake.
“……”
“……”
Ah.
He messed up.
The moment that chilling realization ran through his head, a gloved hand emerged from the black smoke and took the offered hand.
“…!”
To his surprise, the other party accepted the handshake.
But a strange, overwhelming sense of danger climbed up Kang Ihak’s neck.
It was cold.
A shiver ran down his spine.
An instinctual alarm—warning of danger, power, and greatness.
…And yet, there was something vaguely familiar about it?
As if they’d crossed paths before, somewhere deep within the darkness….
“Alright then. This staffer can’t exactly walk into a broadcast station, so we’ve called on you two from the field exploration team.”
But before Kang Ihak could piece it together, the handshake ended and the mission briefing resumed.
Smiling, Kwak Jaegang explained why these two had been summoned.
They needed two people who were familiar with the darkness but not heavily contaminated by it.
“The ones who usually assist this staffer are also security team members—they can’t enter the station during the day. Ha-ha!”
Exactly.
This particular urban legend had surfaced in a broadcast station—a civilian location under public scrutiny—so proper confirmation required cooperation from station personnel.
Supernatural entities that drew too much attention, or security team members who couldn’t go out during the day, weren’t suitable for the task.
When the researcher explained they’d already secured a producer’s cooperation, Lee Seonghae smiled.
“So we’re going to fetch some dangerous darkness from a broadcast station!”
“That’s right!”
“Mm, sounds good!”
If Baekilmong successfully contained this darkness, ordinary people would no longer be at risk from the rumor.
Rarely did the premise begin with something so clearly good, so Lee Seonghae gladly welcomed the assignment.
Soon, the method of transporting the “staffer” was revealed.
“Here, the staffer will stay inside this case. You two will just carry it.”
The staffer was somehow “stored” in a black transport case as if it were the most natural thing in the world—and the two field team members felt that eerie sense of the uncanny they’d come to associate with the darkness.
And as a precaution, they were issued communication devices.
A pair of miniature radios.
“These link directly to security team handlers… Just press the button in case of an emergency.”
The researcher laughed, saying a rookie might be nervous even just from that.
A brief test call was made.
Click.
[Mmm… Can you hear me….]
“Yes, loud and clear!”
“Yep! This is Team I’s Pony Section Chief, and I’m the Dolphin from Team B! Looking forward to working with you!”
Silence.
[…Team B?]
“Yes.”
[…I see.]
[Mm… Carry it carefully… Don’t drop it…]
[Mm… Carry it carefully… Don’t drop it…]
The languid male voice slowly explained:
How to contact the security team—including himself—should any problems arise.
And even how to communicate simply with the “staffer” inside the transport case.
[If they agree… they’ll knock once. If they don’t… they’ll knock twice.]
“Oh, got it.”
Kang Ihak picked up on it immediately.
That the conversation between Deputy Lee Seonghae and the security team voice was being watched by Section Chief Kwak Jaegang, who was barely suppressing his amused smile.
But that had nothing to do with him!
Realizing there wasn’t a scent of money in that direction, Kang Ihak quickly turned his attention elsewhere.
To where the money was.
To the transport case that held the staffer.
That dark, black, icy object sat alone on the floor, exuding an eerie presence….
“Haha… So, shall I carry it? Seems like the kind of task that should go to the junior, right?”
Just for a second.
If I could somehow lift this transport case and sneak it away somewhere?
There’s supposedly a section in the annex where, if you offer something entertaining, it gets weighed and returned in gold—what if I offered this case?
Kang Ihak approached the transport case….
“……”
The dolphin who had been silently watching spoke up.
“Hey.”
“…Yes?”
“I’ll carry it. The case.”
“…Understood!”
And so, Deputy Lee Seonghae picked up the transport case.
It was cold and light.
There was deep darkness within, yet without hesitation, Lee Seonghae stroked the iron bars and asked:
“You comfy in there?”
Tap.
“That’s a relief!”
She hummed a little tune and hugged the transport case close with care.
Then headed off with Pony toward the site—
The broadcast station.
***
“Um, excuse me, are you the folks the company introduced? Dreamwalking?”
“Yes, yes.”
They were guided to the variety department editing room through a pre-arranged staff-only entrance.
There, a PD with dark circles under his eyes greeted them alone, looking visibly anxious.
Trusting the sophisticated identity Baekilmong Corporation used when conducting unavoidable supernatural operations among civilians, he took a deep breath and continued speaking.
“To think I’d actually meet people who specialize in this kind of thing… Is it really true you can, like, exorcise something?”
“Of course.”
Perhaps because the two wore suits and masks—looking bizarre enough to inspire confidence—the PD regained a bit of calm.
But his face was still pale. The skin on his face had sunken; he was gaunt with anxiety and fear.
And it wasn’t just the PD. On the way here, everyone they passed—the head writer, the assistant writers, even the lighting director—looked equally unwell.
Clearly, this was something everyone knew about.
“So, uh… you’ve heard the story, right? About the current situation…?”
Deputy Lee Seonghae recalled something.
An internet post that had been attached to the documents on the table.
A spooky urban legend circulating among civilians.
[Has anyone seen this man on PBS shows? (Image Warning)]
======================
You remember PBS, right?
Even kids in school now have probably heard of it.
It was an old broadcasting station from about 20 years ago—long since defunct.
Back in the early 2000s, a lot of trending variety shows aired on PBS. Stuff like “Community Sports Day,” “The Family Appears,” “Hot Talk Talk,” “Happy Saturday Night,” that kind of thing.
======================
There were various images attached.
Big, colorful captions. Low-resolution quality. Exaggerated audience reactions and sound effects.
It all looked a bit tacky now—but oddly nostalgic. Snapshots from variety shows of the 2000s.
And they all had one thing in common.
Lots of people on screen.
======================
You know those variety shows where there’s just a flood of people?
Loads of panelists, or a special episode with dozens of contestants, or at least hundreds of audience members whose reactions get picked up on screen.
Those kinds of shows used to dominate, before observation reality shows or YouTube content took off. Some people still miss them. Others say they were too chaotic and outdated… but anyway, that format basically ruled back then.
And during that era, a certain rumor quietly spread among PDs and editing staff.
Check this out.
(Image)
======================
It was a photo that looked like a screencap from a segment of “Community Sports Day,” taken on a traditional paper-mat set.
A show just described from PBS.
But the photos didn’t stop there.
They continued—seemingly random screencaps from various other shows.
“The Family Appears,” “Hot Talk Talk,” “Happy Saturday Night”… and finally—
======================
Notice anything?
======================
The same images were shown again, this time with red circles highlighting something.
One person.
======================
It’s the same man every time.
======================
A man with dark eyes staring into the camera.
Wearing a cap. Smiling faintly without showing his teeth.
======================
Apparently, in most PBS variety shows, this guy was spotted among the cast, the audience, or just somewhere in the crowd.
One of the editors noticed something weird, looked into it, and yep—he was really there.
And as people kept talking about it…
They realized something else.
This man only ever shows up…
In episode six.
======================
A caption followed the last photo.
======================
To be exact, there’s a rumor he only appears in episodes where the number ends in 6.
Creepy, right?
Well, there are lots of urban legends in the TV industry. Ghost sightings, strange noises… stuff like that.
So back then, staff just gossiped about it, and it even made it into some horror zines. Maybe a few viewers caught on too.
Honestly, though, it could just be coincidence. It’s not impossible for the same guy to keep popping up as a panelist or audience member.
But then something changed.
======================
A newspaper clipping was attached.
It was about a power outage at the broadcast station that wiped editing data.
======================
Due to the blackout, saved editing footage was lost. This affected both documentary and news departments… but here’s the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) important part.
Apparently, the final cut of “Hot Talk Talk” Episode 166 was among the affected files.
In the end, Episode 166 aired as a highlight compilation from previous episodes.
And—
That’s when things started getting truly strange.
Because…
In every single highlight clip—
That man was visible.