I recalled the work tips I had received on the first day.
Ireum-nim? Anyway, 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.
If you don’t want to curse, just tell it to get lost.
Weird.
Even if the second sheet of tips had been corrupted, the hints it provided were accurate.
Because.
“Get lost.”
The way to banish it is to ‘completely reject it after realizing its identity’.
Does it need implicit agreement and acquiescence to steal my time?
So…
“Um, what’s wrong…?”
“Get lost.”
I declared again, still with my back to it.
……
Kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke
Seriously? For real?
After giving permission twice already?
“Get lost.”
“Roe, what’s with your tone? Even if something’s wrong, why are you speaking like that to a superior…?”
“Get lost.”
“Huuh? Hey, wait, Roe. Isn’t that too harsh? I’m just trying to help you finish cleaning…”
“Get lost.”
“I don’t want to… But, well, I’ll just stay here quietly… I mean… it’s not like I said anything bad to you…”
“Get lost.”
“……”
Kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke
What a shaaaaaaaaame
The voice behind me warped, growing twisted.
To reject the blessing granted to us pitiful beings who can’t leave even a single letter’s worth of impact on the foundation of this world. What a shame.
If you had handed over your meager story, we could have filled it with IREUM-nim’s luminous grace. IREUM-nim would have acknowledged us. How unfortunate.
“Get lost.”
Pity…
I clenched my teeth.
“Get lost.”
The bizarre murmurs behind me began to fade.
And then…
It went quiet.
“……”
It seems to have given up targeting me.
‘Phew…’
I almost collapsed from the release of tension but managed to hold myself together. Instead, I began to think critically.
I couldn’t hear any footsteps yet, so as soon as it moved somewhere else, I planned to run out of here and report everything to the Security Team.
That was the plan…
Bee-bee-beep.
“……!”
The radio in my pocket crackled to life.
A familiar voice came through.
[I’ve arrived… Um.]
“I’ve arrived… Um.”
But then, I heard a voice nearby.
“……”
I slowly turned my head toward the entrance of the storage room.
Standing just outside the door was Security Sergeant J3, his face devoid of expression as he looked in my direction.
‘Is that really him?’
No, it had to be him!
I quickly opened my mouth to explain the situation—
“……! Jay-ssi.”
—when I heard a voice behind me.
It sounded perplexed.
I turned my head further to look over my shoulder.
The Story Usurper from Church of the Luminous Unknown, now wearing a bright orange cleaning uniform, stood there.
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
It was a young man in his mid-to-late twenties, with black hair and a pale, shocked expression. He alternated his gaze between the Security Sergeant and me, his face etched with confusion.
Kim Soleum.
It was perfectly mimicking my current appearance, staring at me with a bewildered tone.
“What is this…? Could something like this really happen while cleaning?”
It was imitating me.
‘Fucking hell…!’
A chill ran down my spine.
I quickly turned to the Security Sergeant and spoke calmly but urgently.
“Jay-ssi, that’s a Church of the Luminous Unknown cultist.”
“Church of the… what? What do you mean? Jay-ssi, do you know what’s going on here? This seems like some kind of Darkness…”
“Jay-ssi! Do not respond. Just listen and assess the situation silently. If you reply, you’ll get caught up in it.”
“……”
“If you need to test anything, speak to the wall by yourself—or better yet, just yell at both of us to get lost. That’s the safest option.”
The Security Sergeant stared at me, his face unreadable.
Beside me, ‘Kim Soleum’ trembled slightly and spoke in a frail voice.
“I… I don’t understand what that means.”
What?
“Think about it, Jay-ssi. I’m just… here to clean for three days. I only realized this was some kind of Darkness because… something next to me pointed it out.”
“……!”
“It’s more natural that I wouldn’t know what’s in the Security Team’s isolation area. Jay-ssi, please think logically. Isn’t it more likely… that I’m the real one?”
– Oh, quite convincing.
Right? Damn it…!
“And… I feel relieved that you came. I’m sorry you’ve been caught up in this mess…”
“……”
‘It’s disturbingly good at talking.’
Very fitting for a cultist. I gritted my teeth.
Come to think of it, I almost fell for it on the first day when it showed up as Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
‘How did Supervisor Park Minseong realize it wasn’t actually Assistant Manager Eun Haje?’
I tried desperately to recall that moment.
What gave it away?
‘There weren’t any logical inconsistencies back then either…’
What was it?
A sense of unease only someone familiar with the real person would notice?
A nuance in the way they spoke?
‘Or…’
As I frantically analyzed and pondered, another soft and composed voice came from beside me.
“Jay-ssi, please don’t feel guilty. Just act on your judgment. I’ll accept it.”
……
Ah.
‘I understand now.’
So that’s what it was.
I pressed my fingers against my temples and spoke.
“Jay-ssi, please pay attention to the purpose behind their words. Who’s trying to engage you in friendly conversation and draw you into the situation?”
Back then, when it appeared as Assistant Manager Eun Haje…
It was excessively friendly, considering the circumstances.
Someone who had just escaped confinement and was trying to avoid detection wouldn’t behave like that.
‘If it really had been Assistant Manager Eun Haje, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to reveal herself and convince us. She would’ve hidden until she could escape.’
Especially since she said she had an escape item and just needed to wait for the lockdown to lift.
Taking the risk to talk to us immediately didn’t make sense.
An odd, situationally inappropriate response.
So…
“Who is unnecessarily making sociable remarks in this strange, dangerous situation? Who seems to have an ulterior motive?”
I spoke calmly.
“There’s no need to trust me entirely. Just shout at that guy to leave and ignore him—that’s enough to banish this ghost story. Or you can call for another Security Team unit…”
“Hmm.”
The Security Sergeant rose from his position.
And then.
“It’s this one.”
A massive, wolf-like creature’s black claw came crashing down toward my head like a guillotine.
‘Fuck…!’
In the split second before I could even close my eyes—
Thud.
It wasn’t my head that flew off.
It was the doppelgänger’s.
“……!!”
Squelch.
The grotesque shadowy claw, dripping with the crushed remains of the doppelgänger, rose back up with a sickening squelch and returned to the arm of the Security Sergeant.
“Um.”
“……”
“Are you okay…?”
I looked down at my orange cleaning uniform, now drenched in the doppelgänger’s blood, and collapsed to the ground.
“……!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I survived.