Kim Soleum frowned slightly but quickly smoothed his expression.
“To be honest, even if I die here, it wouldn’t cause any major issues with my job at the company. They’d still be satisfied with this much…”
“That damn company!”
The agent clenched his fists tightly.
“Why on earth do you people trust such an absurd, disgusting organization!”
It seemed to strike a nerve.
“You really think that a company that treats human lives so lightly will actually grant your wishes?”
“……!”
Jang Heo-un turned to the agent in surprise.
The agent gritted his teeth and continued.
“I know you’re all working there for those wish-granting rights. Do you honestly believe in that nonsense? That some magical potion will grant any wish?”
Kim Soleum looked up at the agent, his expression calm.
“They do grant them.”
“……”
“If the wish ticket was a lie, this structure wouldn’t hold. Once you’ve onboarded, any wish can be granted.”
“……Hah.”
The agent let out an exasperated sigh, as though his frustration had reached its peak, and repeated an argument that sounded well-worn.
“Think about it. Let’s say someone wishes for world peace, while another wishes for the extinction of humanity. How do they grant both contradictory wishes?”
Jang Heo-un, wearing the buffalo mask, flinched.
But Kim Soleum remained unperturbed.
“For the person making the wish, yes. It comes true.”
“What does that even mean—”
“A wish ticket isn’t meant to change the world. It’s an omnipotent tool to fulfill personal desires.”
What does that even mean? fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
It sounded like some cultish doctrine of salvation.
But Kim Soleum’s demeanor wasn’t that of a religious fanatic—it was more like someone who had repeatedly and empirically tested the circumstances and resigned themselves to reality.
The agent stared at him in bewilderment, but Kim Soleum simply shrugged.
“Well, I guess this is the end for me.”
“……!”
Blood surged out from beneath the hand clutching his stomach.
The bleeding wasn’t stopping at all.
Kim Soleum handed the blood-stained nametag back to Agent Bronze.
The agent gritted his teeth.
“Even if you keep sacrificing your nametag every time you’re dragged here on a new moon, that company will never save you.”
“Maybe not.”
Kim Soleum shrugged again, though his expression tightened slightly from the pain. Even so, he managed a faint smile.
“But the Disaster Management Bureau will eventually put an end to this Darkness… or rather, this Disaster. When that happens, I’ll finally be free too.”
“……!!”
The agent looked at Kim Soleum as if he’d been struck.
“Go now, both of you. Staying here while looking back is dangerous.”
Kim Soleum lifted his still-functioning emergency flashlight and shone it outside the classroom.
“I’ll keep an eye ahead while you go.”
“……”
“And… Mr. Buffalo, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re just a rookie. Please, if possible, stick together for a while and stay safe.”
“Mr. Roe Deer…”
The agent hesitated, but he ultimately gritted his teeth, turned around, and started walking with his flashlight.
“Follow me.”
“Ah…”
Jang Heo-un wavered but eventually made his decision.
‘I can’t do anything for him by staying here…’
Leaving quickly might actually be easier for Kim Soleum.
But he couldn’t leave without doing something. So, as he followed the agent, he secretly slipped something into Kim Soleum’s pocket.
“Mr. Roe Deer, here… this is my spare nametag.”
“……!”
“I survived longer thanks to you… and I don’t have anyone else to save. It’s not much, but at least take one… thank you.”
Without waiting for a response, Jang Heo-un left with the agent, unable to look back.
“……”
Kim Soleum watched them leave as promised, keeping an eye on them until they disappeared around the corner.
And then…
‘Finally!’
As soon as they were out of sight, Kim Soleum swiftly retrieved something he had prepared from his pocket.
A piece of candy, individually wrapped in plastic.
A nostalgic relic from a warmer time,
Magic candy!
A large, old-fashioned eyeball candy in cheerful red, yellow, and white, nestled in its quaint wrapper.
Nostalgia Candy
The emergency recovery item Kim Soleum had purchased.
With blood-streaked hands, he unwrapped it and popped the candy into his mouth.
And then, a transformation began.
“……!”
The wounds on his body began to close.
Spilled blood was reabsorbed, and fractured bones seamlessly reconnected, as though time itself was rewinding.
When rolling the candy in his mouth,
Rediscover cherished memories!
While the candy melted, it fixed the consumer’s body and mind to their healthiest state from the past ten years.
‘Since this is a dream anyway, temporary measures like this are more than enough.’
His condition surged to peak form, and his mind grew razor-sharp.
His thoughts spun at lightning speed.
‘It worked…!’
Kim Soleum exhaled a sigh of relief.
His gamble had paid off—this was the most effective strategy in such a scenario.
‘Faking my own death is still the best play.’
He had seized the opportunity to both secure freedom for exploration and repair his image.
‘I was so nervous the flashlight would die before I could time it right.’
He dusted himself off, took another deep breath, and let out a long sigh of relief.
His heart pounded.
Relief mingled with lingering fear.
‘…Alright.’
Now he knew exactly what to do next.
After standing, he double-checked the re-emerged tattoos on his body and retrieved a spare heavy-duty flashlight from the depths of one wrist tattoo.
With a steadying breath, Kim Soleum stepped out of the classroom and into the dark, eerie hallway of the fourth floor.