Rejuvenation.
It’s the dream of humankind, but no one has succeeded through science yet, so in reality, no one has truly experienced becoming younger.
But in this ghost story world, I am experiencing it… that very rejuvenation!
…Though my height has been cut in half, mind you.
“Achoo—”
“Hey, be careful. Kids get cold easily, you know.”
I fell into momentary silence as I watched Agent Choi grinning under a blanket.
It was so absurd that I was speechless.
‘This doesn’t feel real.’
Being in the body of a lower-grade elementary schooler felt bizarre.
All those cartoon protagonists who instantly adapted to being kids again were total liars. A child’s senses were magnified several times over, and their stamina surged in strange ways.
I thought I’d waddle clumsily because of the shorter reach, but to my surprise, I didn’t.
“It’s because it’s a dokkaebi trick,” explained Agent Bronze smoothly.
Of course, that’s only a clear explanation if you’re a veteran of the <Dark Exploration Records>. To a rookie like me, it was anything but.
So I responded as expected.
“D-Dokkaebi trick…?”
“You can think of it as a supernatural phenomenon that deceives reality. It’s not a Disaster, and it can’t be used for anything malicious. It’s a ‘trick’, after all.”
Hmm. That was a pretty good explanation.
I glanced at the dokkaebi flame embedded in my arm and recalled the <Dark Exploration Records> entry I was familiar with.
========================
Dokkaebi Trick
A mysterious ability used by some agents of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
Occasionally manifests when an agent is issued a spiritual item tied to dokkaebi lore.
Abilities drawn from traditional dokkaebi myths—like transformation, concealing objects, showing illusions, or conjuring fire from thin air—may appear depending on the compatibility with the agent.
========================
“As you might’ve guessed, the Disaster Management Bureau is quite deeply tied to the dokkaebi. So, you can just assume that the team leader of Black Tortoise Team 1 also uses a dokkaebi trick.”
He’s telling me outright that there’s deeper lore and that I’ll learn it once I’ve put in more time. Much appreciated…
“Oops, Jaekwan-ah, you’re saying too much! What should we do, hoobae-nim? You might get your memory wiped!”
“……”
“Hiing. You didn’t fall for it.”
Agent Bronze pressed a finger to his temple. Seeing a child make such a world-weary expression was incredibly uncanny…
“If Agent Choi… says something not directly related to the mission, you don’t have to respond.”
“Hey! That’s too harsh. Fine, I’ll stick to mission talk!”
Agent Choi’s grumbling was slightly less annoying in child form.
“Anyway, so a dokkaebi trick is, at its core, an illusion~ We’re not really children of the New Nation, so don’t forget that.”
“Yes.”
Okay, I get what you’re saying…
“But senses fool the body, and the body fools the mind.”
Agent Choi leaned in with a sly smile.
Wearing the face of a child but making an adult expression—it was eerie and vaguely unsettling.
“While you’re in this form, your emotions will be harder to control, your fitness will surge, and your strength will be weaker.”
Because you’re a child.
“That’s why it’s a two-person team job. When you’ve got another child-like teammate nearby, it grounds you. You try to take care of each other, and that brings out your adult self a bit more.”
“……”
Makes sense.
“A trick is just a trick. Make sure you don’t get swallowed by it!”
“Yes…! I’ll be careful!”
“Aigoo, our rookie gives such good answers.”
Around then, the Disaster Management Bureau’s transport vehicle stopped.
Due to the constraints of our new physical forms, bicycles weren’t an option. This time, a van was assigned to transport us.
The destination was quite far, after all.
“We’ve arrived.”
Tak.
The door opened, revealing…
Shwaaaaa…
The sea.
On a chilly early spring day, the beach without sunlight felt somber and majestic.
If someone said a ghost story about children going missing happened here, anyone would nod without question…
“Not there. Over here.”
“…?!”
I turned my head to follow Agent Choi’s gesture.
It was… an old, massive seafood restaurant.
‘Holy shit.’
A huge neon sign with a tail-flicking amberjack shimmered boldly overhead. Extremely avant-garde.
But taped to the glass door was a notice.
[Closed Today]
Nevertheless, the three of us children approached the door and placed our hands on the handle.
“We’re about to enter the Ocean Palace.”
Entry location.
A children’s playroom attached to large seafood restaurants or fish markets dealing in marine life.
The playroom must have a floor area exceeding 49㎡ and must contain a red cylindrical slide.
Additionally, murals related to an underwater kingdom must be visibly present on the walls.
(When murals in such playrooms were replaced, distorted and vaguely similar underwater images began appearing irregularly. Complete prevention of entry is presumed to be impossible.)
“Confirmed.”
“Good.”
With his now-shorter arms, Agent Bronze pushed aside some toys, revealing a wallpaper-style poster underneath.
The Mermaid Princess, smiling fish, coral, clams, and a cute shell-shaped castle.
Next to it sat a red slide-like playground structure and a ball pit.
“Whoa, nostalgic. Places like this really never disappear. I guess the demand’s consistent?”
“Enough chit-chat. Let’s get ready.”
“Yessir.”
Even the bickering sounded more endearing in children’s voices.
“Hoobae-nim, you read the instructions, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Let’s do this.”
Following the others, I stood at the base of the red slide.
Entry method.
With eyes closed, climb up the slide from the bottom.
During this process, you must hold a strong desire to enter the underwater kingdom depicted on the wallpaper.
Possessing a related item (e.g., a seashell) increases the likelihood of success.
Then, recite the incantation.
“Twinkle twinkle, Ocean Palace, I’ve moved into the Ocean Palace.”
With eyes shut, we entered the cold, smooth black tunnel of the slide.
The incantation appears irregularly in the form of graffiti on the walls or floor of playrooms that meet the entry conditions.
At times, it is found illustrated in detail under the title ‘How to Go to the Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace’ on bonus pages of comic books placed within the playroom.
“Twinkle twinkle, Ocean Palace, I’ve moved into the Ocean Palace.”
I kept climbing upward.
From in front and behind, high and clear children’s voices echoed as they repeated the chant.
A strange feeling.
It was dark.
We kept chanting.
“Twinkle twinkle, Ocean Palace, I’ve moved into the Ocean Palace.”
The slide wouldn’t end.
Instead, the incline grew steeper and steeper, until I had to cling to it just to keep climbing.
I could hear the kids panting behind me. It felt like I might cry, but I held it in.
If the incline begins to steepen precariously, this indicates that the entry ritual has succeeded.
There are no recorded outcomes for individuals who fail to maintain their grip and slide back down at this stage.
How much time passed?
Eventually, I found myself clinging as if to a cliff.
“Twinkle twinkle, Ocean Palace…!!”
Then, I dropped forward.
“Ack!”
Just like falling off a cliff, or plunging down a rollercoaster.
My small body tumbled downward.
“Hicc!”
When the little body couldn’t take it anymore and let out a scream, the moment I opened my eyes—
I saw a fantastical sight.
T/N: Just so you know, the term used for ‘Ocean Palace’ could also be translated as ‘Dragon Palace’ ¯_(ツ)_/¯