One day, a strange rumor began to circulate.

"There's a ghost," a coworker mentioned just as a curator was about to head to the basement.

"…Excuse me?"

"The gallery on the fifth basement level."

"Oh, yes. I know."

It was well known.

"I've just been assigned a new piece there."

The collector's gallery allowed entry only to about 300 curators and guests who came to purchase artworks, including the guild leader Bisa-beol.

The gallery was spread over five levels. Each level housed different types of collected works, with the last floor, the fifth, containing pieces Bisa-beol cherished most.

Naturally, Bisa-beol's affection for these works was directly proportional to their peril. Being assigned a piece on the fifth floor had its implications.

"What's been happening on the fifth floor? It's supposed to be a well-managed level given its high risk."

The coworker responded, "I told you, there’s a ghost."

"I've heard that rumor before. What I mean is, did any particular incident spark it?"

The curator, a bit uncomfortable, naturally touched his neck as if it were a habit.

"We’ve had several ghost disturbances in this gallery over the years."

Bisa-beol's gallery, a repository of the world's most exotic and beautiful works, was notoriously accident-prone.

Bisa-beol collected anything considered 'art', not minding if its true nature was monstrous.

So far, most ghostly disturbances in the gallery had been due to monsters.

"Which piece's monster are we talking about? Given it's called a ghost, it must be humanoid."

"They say it's human."

"That makes even less sense. Are you saying a humanoid monster has entered our gallery?"

In such cases, it could only be a humanoid monster.

"Why would such a dangerous monster not be in a dungeon, especially if it's intelligent and proud as a humanoid?"

Humanoid monsters weren’t just rare; they typically possessed intelligence greater than humans and harbored intense hatred for the outside world.

Humanoids with both intelligence and strength usually dominated their dungeons, toying with any hunters who ventured within.

"If that were true, why is the guild building so quiet? It would have stormed out and killed everyone by now..."

"That's what's so strange. Every aspect we can monitor is contradictory."

The coworker continued.

"We've had 17 complaints already."

"Seventeen?"

Curator Yoo Seong-woon had first heard about the 'ghost' two weeks ago.

If there had been 17 complaints in just two weeks, it was hard to dismiss as merely a rumor.

"That's frequent. It seems it didn't stop at just rumors."

"The HR department is controlling the information. As you know, it wouldn't be good if rumors of trouble at the guild leader's gallery spread outside."

"That makes sense. Problems with a collector controlling South Korea's funds would be enough to alert the president."

"I can’t even laugh because that doesn’t sound like a joke. Fortunately, the incident itself was minor, so it was easy to control."

The HR staff sighed.

"But if it’s gotten to the point where formal complaints are filed, it's not something we can just ignore."

"The curators are not the type to easily file complaints unless…"

"They judged it as something they couldn't handle on their own."

"This is a bit troublesome."

Unlike regular curators, those with hunter licenses were erudite beings. Though not exceptionally strong, their ability to appraise monsters and items far surpassed that of ordinary hunters.

Bisa-beol employed some of the world's top talents. If such talents resorted to complaining to an HR associate, it indicated the severity of the incident.

"…Well…"

By now, Yoo Seong-woon felt he understood why HR had summoned him.

"What should I do?"

"I'm sorry to bother you when you’re busy."

"No, it's my duty to respond if there’s an incident."

He was a curator directly hired by Bisa-beol, recognized for his abilities. Already an A-grade hunter, he also held countless certifications in alchemy and warding.

Such was Yoo Seong-woon, frequently called upon when additional duties arose. He was accustomed to being burdened in this way.

"Reliable as ever."

The HR coworker continued with a characteristic cool expression.

"We’d be grateful if Mr. Yoo Seong-woon could take charge of the administration."

"It’s flattering, but…"

Yoo Seong-woon shook his head.

"Isn’t it odd for a former association researcher to also handle general affairs?"

"I remember you were not just a researcher but the head of research."

"Yes, and you remember the scorn I faced when I left the association. I prefer not to stand out."

"If you insist, I won’t force you further."

"Yes, I’d appreciate that."

Yoo Seong-woon cleared his throat and asked,

"Anyway, if there have been 17 complaints, it seems the monster isn’t trying to hide its presence, right?"

"……"

"If it was a monster capable of evading our guild’s checks and being safely displayed in the gallery, it could have easily concealed itself."

The HR associate nodded as if waiting for this point.

"I was just about to tell you about this ghost."

"Good news, then."

"It’s a phenomenon witnessed 17 times, so we couldn’t neglect gathering information."

The associate continued,

"Thanks to the competence of the other curators, although not as much as Mr. Yoo, we managed to gather several accounts about the ghost."

The HR staff handed Yoo Seong-woon a document.

"If you read this…"

"Are there illustrations too?"

"Based on eyewitness accounts, we added illustrations."

"Hmm."

As Yoo Seong-woon inspected an illustration, the HR staff explained,

"In all 17 sightings, the ghost's attire didn’t change. It wore a large black cloak that covered its face and body, and underneath were a black shirt and suit, as described. It was about 188 cm tall, quite tall for a humanoid."

"Is it then on the sturdier side?"

"Due to the large cloak, detailed confirmation was impossible, but it was generally assessed not to be skinny. No reports described it as overly muscular."

"If it’s that hard to see inside, nobody really knows if it’s truly humanoid. It

could be undead. What led to the humanoid determination?"

"One curator saw its face."

"Oh."

"Described as…"

The HR staff continued,

"Handsome. The curator who saw it had high standards."

"……"

"…It might sound ridiculous, but if someone who scrutinizes appearances closely says it’s handsome, it surely must have very distinct and well-defined features. We thus classified it as human."

"Handsome or not, what about features?"

Yoo Seong-woon asked with a grim expression.

"Like hair color, eye shape, skin condition, any moles… Those kinds of features. I don’t see a face illustration, were there no testimonials on this?"

"Regrettably, it was only seen briefly, so the curator couldn’t note detailed features. However, the thought that it was 'handsome' came later, after they had regained their composure from the escape. So, we have no information on external features."

The associate added,

"For some reason, it's difficult for everyone to meet its gaze. That’s why it’s hard to describe its facial appearance. If you can’t see the face, you naturally wouldn’t know what it looks like."

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"Perhaps it has a skill related to the eyes, or that might be its main body. What about other body parts like hands or feet?"

"Fortunately, I can tell you about that."

The HR associate nodded.

"The skin was reported to be very pale, like someone who has never been exposed to sunlight, very noticeable amidst the all-black attire."

"Is that so? Maybe it's a story-driven monster... Might have drifted in from some dungeon."

"Plus, it was barefoot."

"Was it to avoid making noise?"

Yoo Seong-woon murmured, and the HR associate firmly denied,

"That's not it."

"Why are you so sure?"

"'The ghost walked without making any sound,' all 17 curators consistently testified. Even if it were barefoot, there would be noise, so there was no need to take off its shoes."

"Then the lack of walking noise must just be a characteristic of the monster."

In this case, it’s usually one of two things.

"Either it has a skill to hide sound, or it's light enough not to make any... Given it's determined to be humanoid, it's probably the former."

"……"

Yoo Seong-woon furrowed his brows.

"Have you reported this to the guild leader? If it's really a humanoid monster, it’s not just a curiosity but a research subject."

"I’ve already reported it, but the instruction was to check internally as much as possible without notifying outsiders. The guild leader said he doesn’t want the Hunters Association to snatch it for research."

"…I see. That makes sense if it’s the guild leader."

Yoo Seong-woon nodded. He didn’t say out loud, ‘What if it kills someone?’

In a world like today, the life of a person who dies at work is treated no better than a roadside pebble.

'At least Bisa-beol cares deeply about his employees, so I guess he has taken measures in that regard. He isn’t the type to recklessly endanger his staff….'

Then the HR staff spoke.

"Starting next week, we are planning to enhance safety training for curators. All participants will receive an artifact, so make sure to get yours, Mr. Yoo Seong-woon."

"Aha."

That made sense.

"As expected, our guild really works hard. Knows how to save people's lives."

"Thank you for your kind words. It’s all per the guild leader’s instructions."

The HR staff continued to explain,

"The first sighting of the ghost was 15 days ago, at 4:32 AM."

"4 AM is when there are few people around. Our gallery is no different; it’s a quiet time when there’s hardly anyone."

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"Exactly. One characteristic of this ghost seems to be its awareness of people’s gazes, or perhaps it prefers those conditions, but it consistently chooses early morning when employees rarely visit."

"Either it’s shy or cunning…"

Yoo Seong-woon flipped through the documents, tilting his head as something seemed to be missing. It didn’t appear to be a mistake.

"…And there has been no loss of life."

Not typical of a humanoid monster.

"……"

No, not typical of any monster.

'…Even if humanoid monsters are adept at strategizing, just looking at people for two weeks is definitely unusual. Even if it’s using some kind of mental skill for a delayed attack, it’s unlikely the security at this guild wouldn’t notice.'

If that’s really what this ‘ghost’ has been doing for the past two weeks, it means it has just been observing people.

"Monsters don’t exist without malice, do they?"

Yoo Seong-woon, once a researcher at the association, knew how much enmity monsters harbored against Earth's lifeforms. No matter how intelligent, no humanoid monster could withstand it.

Even if that were possible, monsters lacked knowledge and understanding of humans. Even if they approached humans with good intentions, it couldn't possibly have a positive impact.

'Is that why it was judged to be a ghost?'

At least a ghost would have

a high degree of understanding of humans.

Yoo Seong-woon thought to himself as he listened to the employee's explanation.

"The locations where it’s been seen are increasingly closer to the ground."

"…Hmm…"

"From the initial sighting, it wandered around the fifth basement level seven times, then the fourth floor four times, the third floor twice, the second floor twice, and the first floor once. It moved up one floor at a time."

"…Isn’t that somewhat dangerous?"

"But the last sighting, the 17th, took place again on the fifth basement level."

"Oh, it went back?"

"Since then, there have been no sightings for five days."

"Then…"

"It seems to have finished its exploration."

"That’s troublesome."

Finding a monster that has retreated back to its hiding place is a much more difficult task.

"Any other peculiarities? Typical of this kind of monster, it would have set its own rules and tried to force other humans into them. Especially if it’s a humanoid, it’s likely to have its own personal rules."

The employee nodded.

"That’s exactly right. There is a peculiarity."

"What is it?"

"It gives gifts."

"……"

It wasn’t something Yoo Seong-woon had heard before in his life: a monster offering gifts.

'…While the gallery’s artworks do sometimes show such behavior, if you consider it that way, it’s a bit hard to simply classify this one as a plain monster.'

Yoo Seong-woon clarified his thoughts and asked,

"…Gifts, you said?"

"……"

With disbelief evident in his voice, the employee empathized and made a subtle expression, then cleared his ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) throat and returned to a neutral face.

"The employee explains that when you first encounter the ghost, it pretends to be human and approaches you."

"Who would believe that…"

"Maybe it really believes it’s human. Anyway, after that, it requests a conversation. What is your name? How old are you? What do you do? Where is this place? Why are you here?"

"……"

"The questions are mostly mundane and nothing special. It doesn’t ask deeply personal information, and even this is only if you don’t hesitate to share your details; it doesn’t pry further. If you successfully carry on the conversation until the end, the ghost gives you a gift."

The HR staff motioned for Yoo Seong-woon to turn the page. He flipped the document with a skeptical face, and there were photos of the ‘gifts’ that employees had received.

"…This is…"

"Yes, as you can see, it’s food."

"What kind of homey monster is this?"

In the photos were cookies, chocolates, candies – the kind of snacks that are good for a single bite.

Seeing the neat and modest packaging, it seemed undoubtedly homemade. The idea of a monster making homemade snacks was something that, if published in an article, would likely receive comments like, 'Stop lying so much.'

"Did you conduct a component analysis?"

"The guild leader ordered it, and the test results came back a week ago."

"Like poison or…"

"No, on the contrary, it was medicine. Iron supplements, digestive aids, pain relievers, fever reducers, antidiarrheal types."

"……"

"How plain cookies or chocolates could exhibit such medicinal properties, the research team hasn’t figured out yet. The taste and components were all ordinary snacks."

Yoo Seong-woon flicked through the document and asked,

"So how were the effects of the ingredients detected?"

"As you know, with the full support of the guild leader…"

"They brought them from the prison again. That’s the cleanest way."

"Plenty of suitable test subjects there."

"Right. But considering it’s help from a prison, wasn’t the research unusually fast?"

"Somehow, the guild leader had prepared some prisoners ready."

The rights of criminals were virtually non-existent in a world where even a regular employee’s life was treated as little more than a pebble.

The collector's guild leader made excellent use of such circumstances, and it was likely that this experiment also involved such criminals.

The HR staff continued,

"What’s more astonishing is that the gifts were exactly the right medicine for the employees."

"…You mean, digestive ingredients for an employee with indigestion, and fever-reducing ingredients for an employee with a fever?"

"That’s correct."

"……"

Yoo Seong-woon rubbed his face.

"There must be some emotional skill involved if it can deal with living creatures like that, then it must be quite a high grade."

"It’s a troublesome opponent because it’s showing us goodwill."

"I’d rather deal with a rampaging monster; this one, we can neither subdue nor persuade."

With a long sigh, Yoo Seong-woon seemed to accept the fate of taking on additional duties.

"I'll take it. It’s my specialty, after all."

"Thank you. And there’s one more thing I need to tell you…"

"What is it?"

"About the day the incident started."

"Sounds ominous."

"It started after the guild leader had ‘Geo’s Portrait’ displayed in the gallery."

"…Ah…"

A sigh escaped Yoo Seong-

woon as the HR staff looked at him sympathetically.

"……"

"……"

Indeed, 'Geo’s Portrait' was the new piece Yoo Seong-woon had just been assigned.

"…Looks like overtime again."

A hollow laugh escaped him.

"Good luck."

"Yeah, I’ll need it."

He was already tired.