'It's been a productive day.'
Forty million won in additional income—truly an excellent decision.
'It feels like I've set up a discreet but regular side hustle.'
Various ideas on how to spend today's forty million won floated through my mind, especially considering the newly opened areas in the company following my promotion.
And, of course, the plush doll who had keenly noticed my gains was subtly making its own desires known.
– Phew, after all these outings, I feel so stiff. I'd like a bath… Not happening. I can't exactly swipe a blood pack from a hospital, can I?
– Of course, I can endure it. I'm a very good friend, after all… Hmm, while a blood bath might be impossible, maybe I could at least handwash the plushie, I guess.
That was the kind of idle chatter I planned to engage in with Braun to pass the evening—until someone burst into my room.
"You!!"
"...!"
It's Baek Saheon.
Wait, the guy who never even left his own room had just barged into mine without so much as a knock?
Before I could even call him out on his rudeness, I realized something. He was practically in a state of panic.
"What does this mean…! What kind of mess have you dragged me into?"
In his hand was his smartphone, and on the screen was my message.
[Kim Soleum: watch out for serial killers]
I had sent it earlier today as a warning.
But seriously—
"I didn't drag you into anything."
"..."
"You must have made the wrong choice."
– Mr. Roe Deer, your 'work colleague' picked up an item, and now he's going to die in a brutal way!
Baek Saheon's face turned pale.
'Looks like something just went down, coinciding with my message.' He's not dead yet, so he could contact the company and handle it himself, right?
As I started to head outside, not wanting to get dragged into this mess—
– Oh dear, can you hear that?
– It seems your coworker's time is almost up, Mr. Roe Deer.
"..."
What?
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
A soft humming began to fill the air.
Its source was unmistakably Baek Saheon.
But his lips weren't moving at all.
…Which could only mean one thing.
"You've picked up something you shouldn't have, didn't you?"
"..."
Pale-faced, Baek Saheon reached into his pocket and pulled something out. A cassette player.
Its aged, ivory body was grimy, and traces of a label hastily scratched off with a pen were visible.
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The humming grew louder, emanating from the tape.
An unmistakable, ominous… signal.
– The time has come.
Time to run.
I immediately stood up and bolted out of the dorm.
The problem was that Baek Saheon scrambled to follow me!
"Throw away the tape first!"
"I already threw it! Out the window!"
Then stop following me!
– It's too late.
– Oh dear, Mr. Roe Deer… You've seen the item too. You're part of the story now. You've become part of the sacrifice selection process.
– But as a talented and entertaining guest, you were bound to be involved sooner or later!
Hah.
'Why can't this idiot take care of his own mess without dragging me into it…!'
I even gave him several warnings! Isn't he supposed to be a named employee in a ghost story company?!
Frustration boiled in my chest, but there wasn't time to vent. I just ran faster.
'First, let's put some physical distance between us.'
As long as I hadn't fully fallen into the creepypasta's grasp, creating some space might help.
I sprinted as far from the company dorm as I could, heading toward the bus stop.
As soon as a bus arrived, I hopped on.
Beep.
The sound of my transportation card being scanned was followed by another beep from behind me.
Baek Saheon.
'Why is this lunatic following me?'
Doesn't he have even a shred of conscience to let the person who warned him avoid being dragged into this?
Actually, no. He's a complete sociopath.
Anyway, the bus doors closed, and we departed without incident.
"Ha."
"Ha…"
The humming was no longer audible.
I moved to the very back of the bus and sat next to the emergency hammer for breaking the window—just in case.
Baek Saheon hesitated before sitting nearby.
"..."
"..."
It wasn't rush hour, nor was it lunchtime, so there were only a few passengers—two or three seated at the front.
After glancing around nervously, Baek Saheon lowered his voice and asked, clearly unsettled, "Hey, you… how did you even know to send those messages—"
"'You'?"
"…We agreed to drop formaliti… No, I mean… Right, Supervisor. How on earth did you know, sir?"
"How I know isn't the issue here."
Holding back my frustration, I replied while watching Baek Saheon's nervous expression.
"What matters is how you ended up with that thing."
"..."
If he kept his mouth shut, I was planning to get off at the next stop, grab a taxi, and ditch him. Maybe even throw him out of the cab to make sure he couldn't follow me.
But as if he could sense my irritation, Baek Saheon finally opened his mouth.
"…It was just something lying around at home."
At home?
"I inherited it from a relative. They told me to use it if I ever wanted to reverse a dire situation, so I've been carrying it around…"
– Ah, a classic trick! An heirloom thought to symbolize protection turns out to be a cursed item… Truly a horror movie cliché, isn't it? Exactly.
I wasn't even trying to criticize him—just genuinely curious.
"You work at a company that assigns grades to ghost stories, and it never crossed your mind to have it inspected?"
"…If the company found it useful, they might take it and not give it back! I did think it through, sir."
"No, you didn't."
"..."
"Next time, think before you act, why don't you."
"…Ah, yes, sir."
Baek Saheon's face turned red, and his lips twitched into a forced smile, barely suppressing his frustration.
This guy was an open book—acting like a sociopath one moment, then flipping into desperate politeness when scared.
I sighed and tried to make sense of the situation.
This was a textbook example of how people get caught up in ghost stories.
"For now, let's ride to the last stop and contact the company's Security Team from there—"
"..."
"..."
"…W-Why are you looking at me like that, Supervisor?"
Something felt off.
City bus stops are usually no more than three minutes apart. But this bus…
Why was it still driving nonstop?
– Goodness, it's caught up to us.
I looked out the window.
…Fog was rolling in.
The clean, four-lane streets of Seoul we had been traveling on were shifting into winding, unpaved roads.
"...!"
I stood up from my seat.
The passengers in the front rows had disappeared.
The only other person still present was the bus driver.
"..."
The driver was now wearing a worn, old-fashioned cap.
The kind that might've been used when buses operated with a more formal air decades ago.
With gloved hands, the driver casually hummed as they reached for the radio.
Click.
And what came through the speakers was…
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The same humming from the cassette tape.
"...!"
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The humming filled the bus.
The modern low-floor bus that had been driving through Seoul had transformed into an old, rickety bus with rows of single-file seats.
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
"Don't look back."
It was already too late.
Baek Saheon, his face pale, gripped the handrail and stared straight ahead.
I tried not to focus too closely on the fog clearing outside and fixed my gaze forward.
The narrow trail was becoming an aged, paved road.
The rickety old bus that had been rattling down a rough country path began to slow.
[This stop is 'Horizon Mountain Lodge'.]
"..."
The destination came into view.
Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.
The humming now flowed through the radio with an unmistakable melody. It was a minor-key, upbeat pop tune from the 1980s or '90s. As the bus doors opened, I looked outside.
[Horizon Mountain Lodge]
A grand mountain villa with a sign in elegant, antique lettering stood before us.
"..."
Ha.
"…You're getting off?"
Yeah.
As much as I wanted to curse out loud, I held back.
I stood up and stepped toward the open door.
From behind, I could hear Baek Saheon muttering something that sounded suspiciously like cussing as he hurriedly followed me off the bus. The bus doors closed behind us and drove away, carrying the humming melody with it.
"..."
"..."
Baek Saheon mumbled, sounding slightly relieved.
"At least the song's gone, and the tape isn't here, so the situation's better than befo—"
"Check your pocket."
"What?"
"Put your hand in your pocket and check."
"..."
Baek Saheon looked at me with a dazed expression, then quickly shoved his hand into his coat pocket.
What he pulled out was…
The old cassette tape he claimed to have thrown away earlier.
"...!!"
Baek Saheon moved to toss the cassette again, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"It's too late. You might as well get ready to go in."
"Go in whe—"
"Over there."
I pointed toward Horizon Mountain Lodge.
Now that we'd come this far, running away was useless.
All it would do was waste energy and leave us crawling back to this 'story's focal location' after a series of needless struggles.
'We might as well go in and try to figure out the situation early.'
– Mr. Roe Deer, you move as if you already know what's going to happen! Could it be that you recognize this story?
Braun, picking up on how much I knew about paranormal phenomena, prattled on.
And… he was right.
'…Yeah.'
The keywords were all there.
Serial killer.
A lure involving a mode of transportation.
An object cursed to return to its owner's pocket no matter what. And…
I lifted my head to look at the destination.
'…Horizon Mountain Lodge.'
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story [And Then There Was One]
: A ghost story featured in
: Disaster Management Bureau identification code – 1489PSYA.1991.라 84
A tale of individuals being murdered one by one by a serial killer in an isolated, suspicious location. A variation of the classic closed-circle mystery novel and B-grade slasher movie.
It is a Crutch-sanctioned disaster, which can be sealed with the presence of nine people.
Every four years, the Disaster Management Bureau recruits or drafts participants to contain it.
========================
This ghost story's identity was something I inferred through the same process I'd used countless times in my recent work experience. But this time, there was a critical difference.
'The affiliation…!'
This wasn't a Darkness from Daydream Inc.
It was a ghost story isolated by the government—or one to be isolated in the future.
A so-called 'disaster'!
What's the difference, you ask?
Unlike the corporation's Darknesses, which were exploited as raw materials for profit, the government operated under a completely different set of rules.
The Disaster Management Bureau existed solely to prevent loss of life or significant property damage.
At least, that was the official justification.
Thus, the Bureau prioritized isolating anything that absolutely should not exist in the civilian world.
In other words…
Someone had to die.
Whether it was cleared, someone got trapped, or the attempt ended in failure or success— Every outcome involved a guaranteed casualty.
'Once you're involved, it's a confirmed kill.'
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
This was something the government had deemed impossible to resolve without at least one death.
And now I was about to walk straight into the middle of it. I won't even get any points from this!
'Baek Saheon, this hopeless little shit!'
I wanted to curse him out and punch his last remaining eye, but…
'It'd just waste time.'
"Excuse me, Supervisor!"
Ignoring Baek Saheon, I sighed and walked toward the lodge's front door. Just as I took a deep breath and prepared to knock—
Drring—
The sound of a bicycle bell came from behind me.
Turning around, I saw a bicycle pulling up to this secluded house in the woods, with someone riding it.
– Oh, look, another arrival! Someone else who picked up the item! No kidding.
Another poor soul caught in this cursed ghost story.
I held back a sigh and looked over, only to freeze in shock.
"...!"
I recognized the figure getting off the bike.
More precisely, I didn't know his face, but his outfit was unmistakable.
Dark clothes, a hat pulled low, and a mask covering his face.
'…Salmon Market!'
It was the same person I had sold cursed food to earlier today near Gwanghwamun Station.