I opened my eyes.
A dark, clean platform. But the opposite platform, visible beyond the platform screen doors, was in a terrible state.
'...The scenery of Segwang Station.'
Entry successful.
Looking down at me, who had returned to human form, I took a breath.
'This time, everyone will succeed.'
And I repeated to myself.
The plans I had made.
-Ah, right. When you all wake up again, you'll be able to open your eyes somewhere else, not the Disaster Management Bureau Main Building.
-Huh?
-I pulled out a passage and brought it here. You'll wake up in a very safe place...
This means that agents and Daydream employees who suddenly lost consciousness will no longer be falling into the Disaster Management Bureau Main Building in droves.
Even though it's closed, it's astonishing how Ho Yuwon managed to find a way to extract it from the Disaster Management Bureau's exclusive passage.
'...Considering his persistence, it might not be so surprising.In any case, since my disappearance would likely cause considerable controversy at the Disaster Management Bureau, I left the phrase 'Scheduled to return after a brief stroll in the dream' on the floor of the main hall, considering the exoneration of the responsible staff.
And finally.
The emergency escape method from Segwang Metropolitan City within the dream.
-This is the Euthanasia Pill that Mr. Noru requested.
-...!
-It guarantees a peaceful death. Isn't it the most compassionate product from Daydream Inc.?
Agent Bronze looked as if he would bite his own tongue rather than take it, but he eventually accepted it.
After all, looking at the Noose incident, one couldn't ignore the risk of falling into a coma due to complete contamination and never escaping.
'It's here.'
I confirmed that the said pill was safely in my pocket and checked that the items I had brought were also in their proper places.
At the same time, I checked the headcount visually.
Two agents wearing Hahoe Masks, who, like me, were now getting up from the platform floor.
'...There was some disagreement about the agents agreeing to infiltrate Segwang City.'
-It would be best for the public officials to stay out of this exploration. We don't know how long it will take.
-Hey, hey, I used all my vacation days to come. Citizen.
It seemed they had managed to make time for this exploration until Assistant Manager Lee Seong-hae was rescued.
-And... if there's someone to be rescued, can we leave the agents behind?
A deep sense of responsibility could be felt from Agent Choi, who smiled wryly, and Agent Bronze, with his stern expression.
However, since Team Hyumoo 1 couldn't embark on an exploration that might take days, it would likely be difficult to take this much time again if there were a next time.
At any rate, the fact that they agreed to accompany me this time is significant.
"Ugh. Grape, are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm perfectly fine."
The blue eyes shining beneath the Hahoe Mask looked at me and nodded slightly.
And the next lineup is...
"Is everyone awake?"
"Yes."
Those in suits, wearing animal masks.
Former and current Field Investigation Team members of Daydream Inc.
Manager Lee Jaheon.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
Supervisor Baek Saheon.
And...
"Chief Noru."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje grinned and patted my back.
The former title, which felt almost nostalgic.
Here I am, in a suit, in my complete human form.
[Oh. Of course, I'm here too. Friend.]
Headcount complete.
"We have successfully entered Segwang Metropolitan City."
It was a perfect start.
"Let's go."
I nodded.
First...
Segwang Transit Corporation
Segwang Station
The platform we stood on was as cold and clean as if it were a lie that it had been the place where our necks were caught by the Noose. As if it had been reset.
"Noruya, I think you were right. Our customer count seems to have been reset."
"Yes. Fortunately."
Normally, subway systems shut down after operating hours. This means that once a day passes, the boarding date registered on a disposable transit card expires and it becomes unusable.
Naturally, this meant we were no longer being tracked by the strange Nooses in the concourse.
"..."
However, just above the stairs.
"...The fog seems to have expanded."
The fog in the concourse was visibly encroaching towards the platform.
'...Did it catch us on the platform?'
It felt decidedly more threatening and ominous than when we first arrived.
And I could see something shaking, about to emerge from the end of the stairs.
The hanged ones.
The same form as when we died last time.
"..."
"Do you think there will be bodies left?"
"It's probably best not to confirm."
"Oh. Old Man. I agree."
Baek Saheon's face, hearing this grim conversation right beside him, was pale.
He seemed to have grasped the severity of this Extinction-class Disaster, as if he had suddenly changed his mind at the Well and said, 'I should think about it one more time,' only to be pushed by Ho Yuwon and fall.
"Well then, let's prepare. Supervisor Goat. Are your eyes okay?"
"...Yes."
He even fumbled with his blindfold and answered obediently.
'He must have calculated it.'
Causing trouble here wouldn't help survival, and the reward for completion was too sweet.
Ho Yuwon had also put a Wish Token on Baek Saheon as a project reward.
...Even using me as a witness to prove it.
-Those who successfully completed the task last time all took the potion, right, Mr. Noru?
-Positive.
...Even so, I don't know how he'll react to my words.
"Then, for entering the fog... the three of us, myself, Manager Lizard, and Supervisor Goat, should be enough."
"Wait."
"Others, please give us a signal within the range where you won't touch the fog, so we can find the stairs."
"Just a moment."
As expected.
"Then the reward distribution should be different. This is problematic. Only three people work, and the rest just give a signal? We need to renegotiate the agreement."
"Wow. It feels like coming home."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje nodded, saying it was very characteristic of a Field Investigation Team.
Baek Saheon seemed to be assessing whether anyone would step forward to give up their share of items or rewards to resolve this.
'Considering they urgently recruited him, they must have identified him as a necessary presence.'
Indeed, his calculations were quick in this regard too.
'Assistant Manager will make judgments and give instructions while looking for an escape route, and the agents need to wait for rear support. He's not the type to be appeased by common sense.'
If that were the case, his nickname would be Owl, not Viper.
Hmm. It seems like an issue that arose because we entered too hastily and didn't set the mood properly.
It seems like this will be necessary at least once.
I smiled and said softly to Baek Saheon.
"Don't you like it? Then someone else can do it. We already have a method."
And lowering my voice further, I grinned.
"We just need to take out one eyeball from a 20-something Type A male."
"...!"
"Someone else will receive the transplant. Don't worry. You'll wake up in reality again even if you die from excessive bleeding."
Baek Saheon instinctively pressed his eye.
"Do you want to do it?"
"..."
"Think about it. If you intentionally make a mistake during the exploration, it's a loss for the project, so we can do that for you."
"...Ah, no."
"Hmm?"
"I'll just go."
"What if you give us incorrect visual information out of spite? I'm worried. Speak comfortably."
"I won't do that."
"Hmm... I suppose. If you survive alone, you'll have to see these people's faces again when you get out, so why would you do something like that? Right?"
"..."
"But it might actually be fun if you lied."
"No,"
"Yeah. It would be fun."
"It's not."
"It would be fun."
"I said no...!"
"Alright. Then do well."
Tap, tap.
I patted Baek Saheon's shoulder.
"Oh~ What kind of conversation were you having so harmoniously for so long?"
"Ah. I was encouraging him."
"~~!"
"He says he'll work hard."
"Ugh, thank you, Citizen."
Baek Saheon looked like he wanted to curse, but he eventually took off his blindfold and peered into the fog.
Phew, good.
'I prevented trolling.'
This nerve-wracking process felt almost nostalgic.
I turned away from Agent Choi, who seemed to be grinning.
"I'll go."
And the one who can ensure all of this proceeds smoothly...
"Please cover our rear, Manager."
"Yes."
Is all thanks to Manager Lee Jaheon.
I took another step into the fog of the concourse.
Just now, I found the information board, wrote down all the rules, and memorized them.
And just like when I came to the information board, I used the suncatchers the agents gave me to pierce through the fog, this time faintly identifying the location of the 'Transit Card Charging and Vending Machine' to set my direction.
"That way."
Up to this point, it's similar to before...
But the approach is different.
We can choose the safest path.
"Just follow the path Supervisor Goat took, Manager."
"Yes."
Baek Saheon, through his vision, was looking for the route with the least 'danger'.
And in this process, the Amulet Dried Pollack is not used.
'It was also difficult to obtain.'
It's not needed for the escape method we're attempting this time.
Instead, two items were used to adhere to the rule 'Do not separate from your companions'.
They are simple items that prevent people from straying too far from each other.
Cuffless Handcuffs
The invisible chain of the handcuffs prevents them from straying from each other's radius.
This item, born from Daydream's friendly seed kit, belonged to Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
And as we walk...
"We've arrived."
I pulled out a card from the disposable transit card vending machine we arrived at.
Seven cards in total.
"There are six people, so why..."
"Shh."
I took all the cards. And...
This is where it gets important.
"..."
I carefully checked the ticket gate and passed through towards the entrance.
Alone.
And.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep beep...
I tagged six of the cards I was holding, sequentially.
And as I tagged the sixth card, I passed through the ticket gate.
"...Done."
I put five of them into one pocket. And this time, instead of running, I moved at a brisk pace.
Into the thicker fog.
...Along with the news that began to be heard from somewhere.
-Another body has been discovered in the ■■■ Forest of Segwang Metropolitan City.
[Oh. It's starting again.]
Cold sweat ran down my back reflexively.
I moved my feet with all my might, ringing like a bell, to avoid being mesmerized by the news. I could hear Baek Saheon, who was guiding the direction beside me, gritting his teeth.
"What is this, this..."
To the eyes that sense danger, it must look like a minefield.
And one that is approaching this way.
To be precise...
-Don't you want to give up too?
Towards me.
"..."
Baek Saheon seemed to be desperately moving in the least dangerous direction.
And once sufficiently far from the ticket gate, I quickened my pace.
"Hooook."
Something soft and hard, 'thump, thump, tap', hit above my head. A corpse's foot. It wasn't far. To avoid succumbing to fear, I thought.
'I did my best.'
I just need to go fast.
This is a place where the more people there are, the harder it is to respond. The key is for a small number of people to look after each other and move without separating.
'That's why three is optimal.'
Someone to secure vision.
Someone to lead the movement.
And...
Someone to physically destroy.
-Don't you want to give up too
Came...
"Duck!"
Manager Lee Jaheon reached out.
The Noose that was falling above my head was caught in his hand. At the moment his arm muscles tensed with taut tension, the tough rope was torn apart strand by strand.
Lee Jaheon's hand, moving without hesitation, was crushing the Noose that had tried to grab my neck.
No,
It wasn't just one.
Whoosh.
Manager Lee Jaheon continued to mercilessly crush everything he touched, whether it was a corpse, a tree, or a Noose, as he moved faster.
A crazy act that completely disregards the rules.
'He's insane.'
Is this the power of a physical specialist agent?
It was so overwhelming, like a horror novel turned into pulp fiction, that for a moment, I forgot my fear and felt catharsis.
The pleasure of a successful recruitment was short-lived.
Swish.
[My goodness, that was close this time!]
While running towards the stairs, I was almost hanged three times, but Manager Lee Jaheon narrowly avoided it.
'Ha,'
And finally...
The stairs are visible.
The blade of the Executioner's Sword, shining green in the fog.
'Done.'
Just before stepping onto it.
....
I stopped.
"Are you crazy? Hurry..."
"Take off the handcuffs and go down."
Baek Saheon, without asking twice, unfastened the handcuffs and ran down the stairs.
However...
The fog did not follow Baek Saheon.
'As expected.'
The reason it chased us down to the platform last time was because it recognized us as passengers at that time.
Conversely, that means...
'If you're identified as a passenger, don't go down to the platform, just wait until the train arrives.'
In other words, I, alone, would hold onto all the cards.
Simply put, I'm drawing the aggro of the Noose.
Of course, dying like this is easy.
Even if Manager Lee Jaheon blocks them, he will also become a target of the Noose by breaking numerous usage rules, so as time passes, his limits will approach, and the danger will increase exponentially...
"You worked hard, Grape."
From here on, others will join.
A forbidden rope that repels the fog unfolds beneath my feet on the platform stairs, untouched by the fog, and they begin to shoot Perm Bullets.
The equipment from the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, modified for this exploration.
"Hold on!"
As I, who became a 'Forest of Demise' visitor, experience all sorts of strange phenomena, others are doing their best to clear them away.
While holding on like that...
The train is approaching.
"It's coming!"
The roar of the approaching train could be heard. I stood precariously at the edge of the stairs, doing my best to avoid the Noose.
Passengers, please observe etiquette and board safely.
Hold on.
Again.
Hold on.
And...
The platform screen doors open.
"Noruya, now!"
I turned around.
And rummaging in my pocket, I threw five cards onto the platform floor.
"...!"
The cards, thrown as neatly as possible, landed on the platform floor near the open platform screen doors.
"Pick them up and get on!"
That's right.
'No matter who tags the ticket gate, if you have a ticket, you're a passenger...!'
So, if you postpone being a passenger until the very last moment and only hand it over right before boarding.
'We can use the platform as safely as possible...!'
"Now!"
We moved simultaneously.
As people ran down the stairs to grab the cards, they sprinted towards the train doors.
I also started running, a step behind. To delay the fog's spread as much as possible. Manager Lee Jaheon ran beside me, grabbing ropes and branches. Wood fragments, straw, and dried flesh scattered.
"Manager!"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who grabbed the cards on the floor, threw them. As Manager Lee Jaheon shook off the Noose fragments, he grabbed the card and pushed me into the train as he jumped in.
Finally, Agent Choi grabbed the card...
The platform screen doors close.
Manager Lee Jaheon pulled back the Noose falling onto Agent Choi.
I grabbed Agent Choi's arm and threw him.
Into the train.
Thump.
"..."
"..."
"Ha."
Agent Choi, sprawled on the train floor, let out a breath.
"We're alive."
[The train is departing.]
With a roar, we began to leave Segwang Station.