Creaaak.
We opened the door to the isolation zone and quickly closed it behind us.
A gray corridor stretched out before us, flanked by rows of steel doors leading to isolation rooms.
‘This is insane.’
The fact that we couldn’t leave the door open for ventilation made it even more unnerving.
I swallowed hard and kept scrubbing the floor.
…The sounds I had heard when leaving this area last time echoed faintly through the silent hallway.
Heeheeheeheehee.
Helpmehelpmepleasehelpme
I’m notsupposedtobehereI’mnotsupposedtobehereI’mnothuman.
Heeheeheeheehee.
IfIleaveImustdie
‘Seriously.’
This was maddening.
I deliberately made loud noises as I rinsed the mop, hoping to drown out the unsettling sounds.
Then, it happened.
Supervisor Park Minseong stopped mopping, suddenly lifting his head.
He stared blankly… at one of the tightly shut isolation room doors.
[Isolation Room B14]
“Roe.”
Damn it.
“Roe, I hear the Section Chief’s voice from over there.”
“No, you don’t.”
“But… I hear it.”
“No, you don’t. Let’s keep cleaning, Supervisor Badger.”
“Ah… okay.”
--------------------
5- If your partner starts saying crazy things, leave them and run. Got it? Don’t try to help them, or you’ll die too. Security Team rookies, take this seriously!
--------------------
Is this really the right thing to do?
Squish, squish.
As I mopped the floor, an odd feeling crept over me.
‘…Unease?’
This was different from the other Darkness explorations I’d been through.
There were no manuals, wiki entries, or escape pattern analyses to rely on—just the advice of an anonymous veteran. Here I was, cleaning through the night in an eerie location without any concrete information.
I really felt like I was doing some odd part-time job in a creepy place without adequate preparation.
What the hell am I even doing here…
Step, step.
“Roe, be careful.”
“……!”
I quickly stepped aside.
At the end of the gray isolation corridor, someone was approaching…
Step, step.
A person wearing a black facility staff uniform.
They gave us a slight nod as they passed us and then spoke.
“Oh, you’re the cleaning staff for tonight.”
Their tone was casual. What a relief.
As the Supervisor and I nodded back, the staff member quickly added in a slightly awkward tone,
“I’m the night patrol officer tonight. …Sometimes, the cleaning staff gets startled, so I wanted to let you know.”
Ah.
--------------------
7- Occasionally, you might run into a night patrol officer. They’ll appreciate it if you give them a bottle of water. If you have one, share it. It’s always better to maintain a good atmosphere when working together at night.
--------------------
“Hello. Would you like a bottle of water?”
“Oh, I’d really appreciate that.”
At Supervisor Park Minseong’s subtle signal, I handed one of the bottled waters we’d been supplied to the patrol officer. The officer took it and gulped it down on the spot.
“Well then, see you around.”
With the bottle still to his lips, the officer headed back down the isolation corridor toward the storage room…
--------------------
By the way.
The Security Team in this company doesn’t have positions like ‘patrol officer’.
Remember, don’t ask unnecessary questions.
--------------------
“My throat just keeps getting dry…”
From a distance, I could see the words ‘■■ Lab’ faintly stamped on the back of the so-called ‘patrol officer’s’ uniform.
Step, step… gulp.
The sound of footsteps and swallowing disappeared, as if swallowed by the darkness, the moment the officer turned the corner of the corridor.
“……”
Ha.
‘I really feel like I’ve stepped into a horror movie.’
Swish.
I resumed mopping, trying to distract myself by chatting with Braun or talking casually with Supervisor Park Minseong, all while doing my best to ignore the eerie noises coming from the isolation rooms.
Finally, we were almost done cleaning the corridor.
‘Huu.’
Exchanging relieved glances, the Supervisor and I smiled at each other.
“Let’s wrap things up and head out.”
“Sounds good! I think we finished pretty quickly… oh, wait.”
Suddenly remembering something, Supervisor Park Minseong rummaged through his pocket and pulled out another piece of paper.
“This is supposed to be a tip for later in the night. They told me to read it a bit after the shift started, so I thought you should have it, too.”
“Oh, thank you…”
What else could possibly happen?
‘Good thing we’re almost done.’
I stifled a mental scream as I hurriedly read the tip.
But then…
--------------------
11- Ah… it’s time to tell you this. By now, it’s probably been about three hours since you started cleaning, right?
…Around this time, you’ll start hearing a crazy voice coming from Isolation Room B14.
--------------------
Wait a second.
“Supervisor, it’s… around 3 a.m. now, right?”
“Yeah, it’s about that time…”
Is someone there?Is someone there?Is someone there?Is someone there?Is someone there?Is someone there?Is someone there?
We both turned our heads.
[Isolation Room B14]
Do you want me to tell you how to get out of here? How to survive? How to bring the dead back to life? Do you want to know this company’s secrets? Just come closer—come a little closer, and I’ll tell you the truth about the world.
I wanted to run.
I wanted to fling the door open and sprint to the storage room, leave this place behind, tell the Security Team Leader ‘I quit,’ hand the remaining Nostalgia Candy to Supervisor Park, and never come back here…
But I couldn’t. So instead, I focused on reading the tip…
--------------------
Ireum-nim? It’ll start calling you by something weird and babbling about happiness and some nonsense like that. Just yell back at it, curse if you have to—it’ll shut up.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
If you don’t want to curse, just tell it to get lost.
--------------------
I really didn’t want to.
But to tell it to get lost, I opened my mouth…
“……”
Wait a second.
“Roe?”
“Just a moment.”
I pulled out the first sheet of tips I’d been given earlier.
There, it clearly said:
--------------------
4- Let me emphasize again: ignore any sounds coming from the isolation rooms. Don’t respond.
--------------------
“……”
Tips 4 and 11 directly contradicted each other.
‘Which one am I supposed to follow?’
Contradictory rules often show up in these kinds of workplace ghost stories, but there’s usually no definitive answer about which one is correct…
Was it that the rules changed as time passed? Or was the second sheet itself faulty? Or maybe…
“Roe.”
“……!”
Supervisor Park Minseong pushed me back.
“Something’s not ri
SCREEEECH