"A New Piece of Merchandise?"
And if it was unlocking usage rights, it seemed like I'd be able to use one of the goods I'd bought before.
'Based on what?'
I wanted to click the memo pad floating unrealistically in midair right away, but then I realized I was still sitting in the middle of the lecture hall.
On top of that, since the host had called me out as the top recruit or whatever, there were still people glancing my way.
'Let's leave first and check.'
The event seemed to be over, so I should head home… wait.
I just realized something critically important.
"..."
Do I… even have a home here…?
I hurriedly opened my smartphone and started checking the records.
As if it were a lie, every trace of me getting hired and working had completely vanished.
Even my family contacts were wiped out.
'Wow, please.'
The only things left were records from my college days, and since those were similar to what I remembered, I felt relieved for a moment.
The problem was… I had lived in a dorm back in college.
'That's why everything got so tangled up when I was trying to find a place after graduation.'
Sure enough, the most recent records were text messages arranging appointments to look at rooms with a realtor, and KakaoTalk messages with a friend who was staying at a motel because his studio apartment contract had fallen through….
"..."
I absentmindedly lifted my gaze and looked up at the lecture hall screen that was still on.
More precisely, at just one line of text near the bottom, enlarged in my vision.
[Employee Benefits – Other]Company Housing Support
Benefits… I should make the most of them, right?
And this "Company Housing Support" was processed with astonishing speed.
"Oh, hello!"
"Hello."
Only an hour after I asked at the desk, I was assigned a room number, given the key and address, and sent over. Even the location was decent.
Of course, that probably wasn't out of any good intention to make things convenient for employees.
'If they want to work people like live-out slaves around the clock with a 24-hour on-call schedule, I guess we have to live nearby….'
Still, the building itself was a fairly nice-looking officetel. Maybe it had been remodeled recently, because it was clean and the security looked solid.
Considering that "company housing support" was usually the kind of benefit you got when working in another region, it was an absurdly generous perk, but….
'The company literally just put us through a death survival game. Like hell I'd feel good moving in.'
But that sarcasm ended up becoming reality.
When I greeted Go Youngeun in front of the officetel, she said this to me.
"Did you hear? Apparently seven people got company housing support."
"...?"
Wasn't that more than half?
Come to think of it, Ms. Go Youngeun looked like she was moving in here too.
Maybe she noticed my glance, because she made an awkward expression.
"It is kind of scary, but, well, I already joined the company, and turning down a free officetel right by the station is also kind of…."
"...Right."
Yeah. In capitalism, money was the scariest thing of all.
'You'd be saving something like 1.2 million won a month. I can see why someone would move in while pretending they'd lost their mind.'
Of course, there was an even more fatal reason than that.
"I guess the people who came up from other regions were informed as soon as they passed and registered right away."
"I see."
Now I finally understood the situation. The new hires who'd cheered and said okay hadn't been able to back out.
I'd wondered how they'd managed to free up a room for me so quickly, and now I could guess why.
'Was the room I got just now the one that belonged to a new hire who failed that death survival game…?'
Thinking that way, the fact that it sent a chill down my spine was what embarrassed me.
Anyway, after finishing my greetings with Go Youngeun, I came up to the twelfth floor, where my room was.
Up to that point, everything was fine.
The problem was that the officetel was a two-room unit.
And that my company housing roommate was Baek Saheon.
"..."
"..."
Baek Saheon was sitting in the living room.
Judging by the medical eye patch over one eye, it looked like he'd gotten some kind of treatment. Given the timing, it was probably some procedure the company had done rather than a hospital.
I gave him a silent nod instead of speaking and was about to head into my room when….
"Hey."
What?
"Hey?"
I stopped walking.
Baek Saheon flinched when I actually answered him, but maybe his anger was stronger, because he rolled his eye fiercely and said without hesitation,
"You must've had a real good time watching them rip out a perfectly fine eye just because I left the lost item behind, huh?"
It seemed he'd decided that I'd obviously known about the lost item and had deliberately left him there just to watch his eye get gouged out.
'No, what the hell. You were the one who ran out on your own.'
Where exactly had he gotten the novel idea that after punching someone else in the eye, other people were supposed to make sure his own eye was taken care of?
But at the same time, I realized something.
If I went in with a weak attitude, saying things like, 'That's not what happened, you suddenly left…' or 'Why are you suddenly talking down to me, sir…,' he'd probably just get even more aggressive and start spouting nonsense.
There was a term, in the system for identifying nightmare clients I'd cultivated over years of dealing with customers, for the Baek Saheon type.
The so-called Genesis-type problem customer.
The kind who imagines the whole situation however he wants and stubbornly insists on it.
Explanations don't work on people like that.
Better to….
"Yeah. It was fun."
"…!"
Go at him hard.
I strode straight up to Baek Saheon and clamped a hand down hard on his shoulder.
"Thanks. I really enjoyed it. Is this what they call dopamine?"
"Wh…."
"Bring me more good news in the future. No, actually, I hope we get assigned to work together."
"..."
"Working here is going to be fun."
There.
'At this point, he'll probably just think I'm insane.'
Judging by the way he'd acted up until now, along with the role he played in
'Baek Saheon seems like exactly the type who'd shove me into deadly situations the moment he realized I'm a coward, doesn't he?'
If that was the case, then it would be better to plant the impression of, 'Ah, I'd better not get involved with this bastard!'
'Partly as a bluff, partly for convenience.'
After patting Baek Saheon on the shoulder a couple of times now that he'd gone silent, I stood up and headed straight for my room without looking back.
'As long as I don't get stabbed in my sleep, that's good enough.'
Honestly, I'd bluffed a little just now.
At this stage, the odds of working with someone from the same recruitment class were extremely low.
What kind of workplace would bundle new hires together and make them work as a team? They split everyone apart and assign them separately.
And on top of that, more or less like in some ninja manga, they balanced the teams out by distributing people according to their scores.
And whatever the case, I'd been called first, and Baek Saheon second, hadn't I?
'If they judged him as one of the better performers too, then the chances of us getting stuck on the same team are even lower.'
So there'd be no reason for us to work together for a while.
Let's just treat each other like we don't exist.
Click.
With a lighter heart, I went into the room assigned to me.
"Hoo."
Inside the clean room were what looked like newly replaced bedding, a desk, and even a door leading to a private bathroom.
There was even an information booklet hanging on that door.
"If I apply, they'll even send bedding replacement and a cleaning service every week for 100,000 won a month?"
Looking at benefits so good they were basically at the level of "Has the company gone insane?", I could start to feel their intention of dazing new hires with a shower of carrots.
Quite a lot of new hires would probably get confused by how neat and friendly everything looked, as though the death survival from before had all been a lie.
From the perspective of someone who knew why the company was doing this, it was so transparent it was ridiculous….
'Right. It must be hard to fill the Field Operations Team with people who are actually usable.'
These were new hires who'd been judged capable of "working," so naturally the company wanted to make sure nobody ran off.
'Well, if they're giving it, I should use it.'
I'd already decided to stick it out, after all.
There was even a small welcome gift package on the desk. Expensive snacks and office supplies stamped with the company logo.
And inside a half-open drawer, there was a diary too.
Since the company logo was on the cover of the diary as well, it seemed like an issued item.
'But this was made with last year's dates.'
Did the person who lived in this company housing before me leave it behind? I flipped it open.
And on the first page, in huge letters….
-Run away
'Oh boy.'
Thank you for the invaluable advice bought with blood and flesh, senior, but I'm already screwed.
It wasn't even that scary.
'It's just… a corporate worker horror story, isn't it.'
My faith in humanity rose a little. I quietly closed the diary and put it back into the drawer.
It looked like I'd checked everything worth seeing, so should I start doing what I actually needed to do now?
[Darkness Exploration Record Real Goods Box]
-Unlocked the right to use a new piece of merchandise! (!)
Now that I was alone, I could check it!
'Hoo.'
With a trembling heart, I sat down on the bed, settled into a comfortable position, and reached my hand toward the memo pad.
Thud.
Just like when it had spat out the GripTok, the memo pad opened, and something fell out of it.
An OPP clear plastic sleeve.
Inside the kind of bag commonly used to package stationery items was a thick stack of stickers.
"This is…."
I lifted the plastic.
A sticker with a typical smiling emoticon drawn inside a yellow circle.
The so-called bribe item.
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Baekilmong Co., Ltd.
/ Item
Smile Sticker
A friend to those in sales! :)
When attached to a sentient being, it causes that being to feel a mild sense of friendliness toward the user.
Item usage condition: Employee rank of full-time staff member or above at Baekilmong Co., Ltd.
(ps. Improper personal use such as hitting on people will result in disciplinary action.)
---------------------=
"Huh."
This poorly packaged sticker set with its cheap finishing was, unexpectedly, one of the most iconic items used in several entries of
It inspires friendliness? It practically manipulates affinity.
'Was it when they were persuading people from other organizations to cooperate?'
And I also understood exactly why this had been unlocked.
Item usage condition: Employee rank of full-time staff member or above at Baekilmong Co., Ltd.
"Is it because I succeeded in joining as a full-time employee?"
In
From an in-world plausibility standpoint, that was to prevent indiscriminate leakage.
'And from the perspective of the people making Ghost Stories, it was to stop excited beginners from barging into every Ghost Story and using every tool in sight like some Mary Sue-style nuisance.'
Anyway, if I now fulfilled those conditions, that meant….
'Whenever I get promoted or my affiliation changes, this
It definitely seemed like it would help me survive.
Still, it would've been nice if it hadn't dragged me into this world in the first place. Thinking that way, this thing itself felt like a Ghost Story.
'Ugh.'
For no reason, I felt unsettled, and looked up at the glowing memo pad a few times before finally forcing myself to think about something else.
"Well, at least I got something."
Smile Sticker. The fact that I had to attach it directly to the other person was a little burdensome, but the ability to gain someone's favor in a real emergency was definitely an advantage.
There was just one problem.
'…This definitely only showed up a few times before the whole stock got scrapped.'
After the writers nearly killed each other fighting over the sticker's power and staged a full verbal colosseum with their tongues, this item itself had ultimately disappeared into the back pages of history….
I didn't know exactly at what point that happened, but it was possible that the one in my hand was the only sticker set left in this world.
I looked down again at the packaged Smile Sticker.
Hmm.
I absolutely cannot let anyone find out about this.
Still, just in case, I slipped five sheets separately into the front pocket of my suit jacket.
That way, I'd be sure to bring them with me on my first day at work.
'...Going to work.'
My feelings threatened to turn unsettled, but first, I had to sleep.
After going through something so spectacular and absurd, both my body and my mind were utterly exhausted.
'I need to recover.'
I changed into the robe that had been provided for now, locked the door, and went to bed.
It was my first rest since falling into a Ghost Story.
Honestly, I didn't sleep well.
The sight of a person exploding apart alive and the image of that subway station grotesquely transformed used my imagination as fuel and replayed in my brain in full surround sound.
I seriously thought I'd bought some kind of home theater surround speakers.
Still, after about two days, I recovered enough to at least sleep while being tormented by nightmares, so that was something.
A few days passed like that.
I checked the small amount of money in my bank account and somehow split it up to buy clothes and daily necessities, getting my life in order.
Of course, I didn't forget the most important thing either.
'I need to memorize all of it.'
Through the "Memorial GripTok," I kept reading every
Because this was my lifeline.
And then Monday came.
The very first day I had to report to
"..."
Monday morning.
I headed toward the headquarters building of
It was bad enough that even Ms. Go Youngeun, whom I ran into on the way down from the officetel, looked startled.
"Oh, Mr. Soleum, are you okay? D-did you not sleep well?"
"…A little, yes. I'm fine."
"Oh dear…."
The two new employees walked the fifteen minutes to headquarters, making brief small talk on the way.
We ran into several other new hires from the Field Operations Team too, all looking extremely tense, but only exchanged nods.
Then we scanned our employee badges and got into the elevator.
"I heard the Field Operations Team uses the tenth through fifteenth floors…. Ah, I'll get off here. Mr. Soleum, let's do our best…."
"Yes. Let's do our best."
Seeing Go Youngeun off on the tenth floor, I looked at the number of the floor button I had pressed.
'Even the number feels like it's foreshadowing the future….'
I could only hope it was just my imagination.
I checked the assignment text message that had come the other day one more time.
[New Hire (Field Operations)_Assignment.pdf]
Kim Soleum / Group D
Ding.
When the elevator doors opened on the thirteenth floor, I saw a corridor divided into sections marked with letters of the alphabet.
Among them, I found the automatic door labeled "D," pressed the button, and spoke at the same time.
"Hello."
"Oh!"
"He's here, he's here."
Several adult men and women sitting in the fairly spacious office looked up and welcomed me.
One of the men stood up and held out his hand to me.
"Welcome to Group D, fifteenth class."
The short-haired woman standing behind him, her face expressionless, nodded and added,
"For the record, they say Group D stands for Dead Rookies because all the new ones die."
"..."
"I'm joking."
Should I resign right now?