“I mean, I’m sure it was… huh? Was it left in the dorm room? Or maybe a fellow Security Team newbie gave it to me… Wait, was there even another newbie here? What? Huh? What’s going on?”
Damn it.
“It’s fine! Don’t think about it anymore. Let’s just stay still for now.”
“…Yeah.”
Supervisor Park curled up quietly, lowering his head.
“Let’s just focus on getting out of here. When the door opens, we leave immediately. No looking back.”
“Yes.”
Huu…
‘This is insane…’
With our accounts conflicting like this, I couldn’t tell what was real or fabricated.
I couldn’t discern reality from falsehood, nor did I know what to believe. All I had was the oppressive weight of fear in this situation.
‘Am I… under some kind of spell?’
But no—my silver ring was still on my finger. That should have offered strong resistance against illusions, hallucinations, or brainwashing.
In that case…
‘Let’s think logically.’
I forced myself to focus.
1- My mind is intact.
2- Everything I’m experiencing is real.
3- This is an external phenomenon unrelated to my mental state.
For an objective perspective on this phenomenon…
‘Braun.’
The plushie in my pocket might hold the answer.
‘Braun! I need to ask you something. Can you help?’
……
Silence.
No way.
‘…Braun!’
I frantically searched my pocket. Even when I called again, there was no response—
– Ah! Here I am, my friend!
Relief washed over me as I clutched the soft, plush figure in my hand.
– Apologies for the delay in responding! It took me a moment to catch up, I must admit.
“……”
‘Catch up?’
‘…Why did you need time to catch up with me?’
– Oh, because you jumped straight to the 30th, Mr. Roe Deer!
The cheerful voice made an incomprehensible statement.
– But I’m not blaming you. Finishing the disciplinary work quickly is a valid approach! Avoiding wasted effort and welcoming the new year early—it sounds like a splendid plan, don’t you think?
‘Wait, wait!’
I hastily interrupted.
‘Sorry to cut you off, Braun, but I need clarification.’
– Oh, I get complaints from guests as well, so as a friend, this is nothing! I’m all ears! Ask away, Mr. Roe Deer!
Right, here goes.
‘Are you saying I skipped directly from the 29th to the 30th? How?’
– Hm. You entrusted that part of your story to someone else, didn’t you?
“……!”
No. Wait. What?
‘To someone else?’
– Yes, indeed! Why, that someone is sitting right beside you at this very moment.
‘……’
– They’ve done a marvelous job blending in, haven’t they? Truly a master of disguise, Friend.
Barely managing to move my stiff neck, I turned my head toward the figure Braun had mentioned.
The person sitting right next to me.
“Um… Roe? You’ve gone quiet. I’m starting to feel uneasy. Should we talk?”
Earlier.
When I had fled the isolation corridor, I’d assumed I had called out to Supervisor Park Minseong, prompting him to follow me.
But now that I thought about it, I hadn’t grabbed his hand or even looked back to check.
Which meant.
‘That voice could have lured something other than Supervisor Park out with me.’
If so, then the thing pounding on the door earlier, still inside the corridor, was…
“……”
“Roe, are you okay? Say something.”
And then there was the advice from Security Sergeant J3 over the walkie-talkie.
– Don’t speak to anyone. Stay quiet and hide.
That included the person who’d come into the corridor with me, didn’t it?
“Roe? Roe… Oh, you’ve figured it out again, haven’t you?”
Thud.
In an instant, the face of ‘Supervisor Park Minseong’ dropped to the floor.
Shall I tell you about Ireum-niiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmm
The melting figure’s mouth opened grotesquely, its distorted body leaning closer.
Closer to my face…
[BEEEEEEEEP!!]
The red emergency lights flickered wildly.
Mechanical whirring echoed around us.
The sound of shutters rising.
[Lockdown lifted. Shutters opening.]
Ah.
Thanks! It’s open!
The faceless entity drew nearer, its voice brimming with elation.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The grotesque laughter exploded in my ears, rattling my brain until everything blurred and my mind began to fade.
Reality itself…
…went black.
“……Heuuuuhp!”
I jolted awake.
A dimly lit storage room.
The red emergency lights still flashed, sealing us inside this confined space. Shutters locked tightly in place.
I stood there, clutching discarded cleaning tools, looking as if I had just escaped Isolation B.
The scene before me seemed to rewind slightly to an earlier moment.
In my pocket was another work tip sheet—for Day 3 of my shift.
I immediately crumpled it up and threw it aside.
Crackle.
[Hello? Are you alright?]
The walkie-talkie buzzed, but I ignored it.
This time, I remembered.
‘Ireum-nim, they said.’
My hands trembled as sweat dripped from my brow.
“I understand now.”
The lost story.
The entity that took the form of someone I knew.
The one that cried out about Ireum-nim.
Its true identity was…
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Factions
[Church of the Luminous Unknown]
: One of the three great factions in the <Dark Exploration Records>.
They worship an otherworldly deity referred to as Ireum-nim, and their doctrine centers around becoming a significant existence in this world to survive the end times.
Their practices involve antisocial, supernatural fanaticism, rituals, and laws.
The sect divides into six branches, each devoted to a different divine principle, which results in bizarre paranormal phenomena.
The ultimate truth about them is… [Spoilers].
========================
It’s the Church of the Luminous Unknown.
T/N: By the way, ireum = name. It feels a bit weird to translate it as Name-nim, Lord Name, Almighty Name or some other variation… so I just left it alone. Hope that’s alright~