He heard voices everywhere, but he didn't have time to sit still and listen.
He recognized the team's company name as familiar.
Baekilmong Corporation.
Field Exploration Team.
...Like being struck by lightning, a page from the wiki flashed in his mind.
[Field Exploration Team] (Baekilmong Corporation)
It forms one of five groups in the development department of Baekilmong Corporation, a large conglomerate in
Also known as the "Redshirt Brigade". They were ill-fated, but fun for horror story creators.
Wait a minute.
…This is the same horror story as the pop-up store he just visited.
Then what happens next…
A team of people insane enough to screen new employees with death-survival examinations at orientation.
It is a popular wiki material showing what happens when average folk encounter darkness.
"…!"
"Wha-what are you doing…."
He jumped up from the chair and ran outside.
But it was too late.
[Before you're hired, there's a short probation. Not long! We judge practical aptitude by absolute evaluation.
[Active participation is mandatory. Free riders will be caught!]
Bang, bangbangbang.
The doors to the auditorium slammed one after another.
Damn it!
The new hires, however, are still under the impression that Baekilmong Corporation is a regular pharmaceutical company.
And as the host was cheerfully addressing the more than a hundred new employees at the time,
[Let's begin!]
That voice, and then the lights went out.
"…?"
"Huh?"
The new hires wondered if a video would play.
Understandable.
No one expected this kind of crazy stuff to happen after getting a job.
For example.
Suddenly, the scene looked like a desolate subway train.
[Passengers, thank you for using the Abyss Transit Corp. today. Our train never stops.]
[Please listen to the announcements to ensure a pleasant journey to the final destination.].
Other announcements were played with different names.
"…!?"
"What is this!?"
The new people in the suits, all still on the subway seats as if the auditorium had moved there, jumped up.
Understandably startled.
"Excuse me?"
"Is this VR? Did we really move?"
Still, the huge majority of those who had been in the auditorium seemed to be around.
They searched for any signs of company presence, and slowly began gathering information.
"Other people are in the front car! Doors… uh, don't open, what is this?"
"Some kind of new tech?"
He closed his eyes and opened them.
Because in his mind, he already realized what kind of horror story this was.
[Welcome to Abyss Transit Corporation]
A horror tale featured in Record of Darkness Exploration.
One D-class Darkness, supposedly impossible to escape from, as well as the Field Exploration Team that is forever subjected to it.
By then, the exploration was recorded to the point of ■■.
You can tell when you see the book that it's a horror novel based on the Korean subway.
You fall asleep, and wake up in a subway train. The train looks like your regular commute back home, but the names of stations change.
This was the introduction.
This meant that the "prey" were anyone who had ridden the subway to work, which made the concept more chilling to the readers.
"...."
And this story was under the jurisdiction of Baekilmong Corporation's Darkness.
It seemed that what we had become was something Baekilmong Corporation had used to "filter out" new employees. Damn it!
"Is this like an escape room?"
"No way… a pharmaceutical company making hair loss medicine has new sales recruits doing an escape room…."
Then it happened.
[Next station: Sorrow, Sorrow Station.]
"…!"
"So…rrow?"
The first announcement came.
He held his breath and turned his head.
[Exit doors are on the right.]
The train came to a standstill.
[Screen doors opening.]
The doors slid open.
It looked like it was routine.
[Doors will close in 30 seconds. There's no going back.]
[All passenger traffic for Sorrow Station is advised that this is your stop.]
The familiar voice interspersed the nonsense with the polite instructions.
But people would always try to rationalize anything that would make them comfortable.
"Look outside! It's just a subway station!"
And literally, it was. You could see the platform. It is dark and damp, but an otherwise unremarkable subway station.
Two or three people moved toward the doors, relieved.
Ah, damn.
"You'd better not go out."
"Excuse me?"
He stifled a sigh and said.
"Did you hear them say Sorrow Station? There's no such station in Korea. Anyone would know this is abnormal."
"Ah…."
"This person is right. Maybe observe the situation a bit more…."
One of the sharper new hires sitting next to him agreed with him.
As a result, others going toward the door stalled.
"But still…."
"Hey, the doors are closing!"
Except for those who ran out, it was over.
[Doors are closing.]
"Ah!"
"I couldn't get off. Ah, damn it."
Those who had failed to get through the doors waved goodbye to those who had disembarked from the platform, and sighed.
Some even glanced at him, muttering small curses.
Sure. In strange and grotesque circumstances, the normal reaction is to run first, think afterwards.
But then.
"Uh…?"
"Th-that's…"
A grotesque scene unfolded.
As those who had stepped on the platform turned to leave,
Just then, a rain of silver beads from a ceiling and the pillars of the station poured down on top of them.
Plink plink plink plink.
Like enormous tears.
The drops fell on top of the humans like molten iron and sounded like an explosion.
Screams. Screams. Convulsions.
Silence.
Blood and the silver liquid spattered onto the glass.
[The train leaves Sorrow Station.]
The last sight outside.
"...."
All that was in front of the screen doors was the flattened area on the floor, caked with the mud and blood of the new hires.
Squirming.
"Aaah!"
"Ugh!"
What happened to this wrong answer?
[Please listen to the announcement for a comfortable journey to your destination.]
The cries and shouts of the terrified new employees echoed in the air.
It's started.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
He had entered a horror story.
How he ended up like this was unknown, but he was undeniably a new employee of the company team inside the horror story.
And a team with a dangerously high death rate.
Is this real?
Yes. Honestly, he was at a slightly more helpful position than the other new guys.
He had read the entire horror wiki, after all.
3.2 Exploration Record (up to ■■ sessions)
All this he could remember quite well.
From this perspective, he was just another "munchkin" with a mathematical talent.
Could he imagine himself in the world he loved, taking advantage of absolute knowledge to heroically escape?
Could he feel a little confident in monopolizing lucky events and items?
Perhaps.
But there was one problem.
An important problem.
...I can't handle scary stuff!
Yes.
He was… a coward.
He was fine enough with the text.
However, once it was visualized, he was unable to control it.
A coward, yes. But not just a coward. One that friends tease because he was too scared!
In reality, Kim Soleum turned down her date's request to watch a horror film, as she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Lmao
"Soleum, your name means goosebumps, and you can't even watch a horror movie? LOL"
Even the date would have fled lol
lol-
Wanna die?-
Sorry.
Sorry.
Even reading horror at work during the day, she would turn off the data, walking away from scary backgrounds or music, only reading the text.
Although she had been too cowardly to submit even one picture with a story, she had long been a resident of Coward Shelter.
"...."
She had both hands pressed to her eyes.
She was already doomed.