“…!!”
A city out of a dream.
Bathed in golden light, a vast blue sky—or rather, waves of aurora light flowed across the void above.
No, not the sky. It was the ocean.
Beneath the dazzling, undulating sea were golden pipes and ivory-brick houses lining elegant, fairy tale-like streets.
Sparkling coral reefs, colorful streamers and decorations. Golden speakers, ornate floral and wave-patterned metalwork shimmered from every streetlamp.
And high above, a beautiful palace adorned with pearls and gold in shimmering hues of blue.
“Ah…!”
Somehow, I was no longer falling.
Drifting.
The two children who had come with me floated beside me.
As we descended, the city’s central white fountain came into view, and a banner rippled above it in gold, blue, and red.
To Our Newest Children Moving In
Welcome To The
Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace!
And then.
“A new friend!”
“Wow, more came!”
More than twenty children came rushing down the beautiful boulevard beneath the banner.
All of them were smiling from ear to ear.
Clean, pretty hair and clothes. Dressed like fairy tale princes and princesses, like the stars of a birthday party.
“Three of them came?”
“I like this one!”
“…!”
When one child grabbed Agent Bronze’s arm, he flinched in alarm, but the child just giggled brightly.
Laughter and glittering euphoria filled the air.
“Where… is this place?”
“This is Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace! It’s sooo much fun! It’s really great!”
The child chattering to me beamed and began leading the way.
Like they had nothing in the world to worry about.
Like their parents had sent them to some amazing camp, and they were making new friends in paradise.
But…
“……”
These children.
They’re all missing persons.
All living entities confirmed within the scope of this supernatural disaster are presumed to be missing children.
Verified age range spans from 5 to 11 years old. The majority display expressions of deep euphoria and contentment.
“Ahahaha!”
The children burst into laughter as they led us, running down the grand street, trying to get us to the palace in one go.
Still, like kids, they were easily distracted, looking around at everything.
“Look at this, look!”
Throughout the street, there were decorative dolls with gears winding inside them, moving slightly.
Golden signs dangled from above.
Children,
Please take your honey!
There was a drinking fountain built into the belly of a colorful toy soldier with a comical expression.
When the faucet was turned, honey actually poured out.
“If you carefully fill a bottle and leave it in front of the Mermaid Princess, she’ll give you a gift!”
In front of the white ivory statue of the Mermaid Princess at the palace gates, children placed their honey. The statue’s base would open and pour out things like amazing toys, clothes, or fairy tale books—the kinds of things they’d always wanted.
Waaaaah!
Children’s cheers and laughter rang out.
“Here, for you.”
“…Thanks.”
A younger-looking child in a blue dress handed me a pair of very nice-looking shoes.
There’s a theory that this supernatural disaster is a manifestation of a folk belief, one that stemmed from stories about pitiful children who disappeared near the sea, said to have gone to the Ocean Palace.
“……”
I deliberately held the child’s hand and spoke quietly, with a worried tone.
“Um… I need to go see my mom now…”
“Mom? She’s coming to get you! Just play here and wait, okay?”
“……”
“You know, my mom’s really cool? She’s super good at sewing too, and when she gets here, I’ll show you first.”
Then, she laughed shyly again and ran off down the street.
“……”
…That child will probably never be able to show her mom anything.
– You’ll feel like you could just grab them all and take them out the moment you see the kids, right? But you can’t get caught up in it. Got it?
I clenched my teeth.
– If you take the wrong one out, the kid dies.
In ‘Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace’, when rescuing a long-term missing child (over 1,000 days), they vanish like a bubble the moment they return to reality.
You must confirm the date of disappearance beforehand.
But it’s reportedly maddeningly difficult.
– …Each time we come, the group of kids we meet changes. But we’ve even had cases where a kid not seen in the previous year showed proof of having been here over three years.
Time flows chaotically here.
Some children who went missing yesterday in the real world may have already been living here for five years.
Conversely, some children are from far in the past or even from alternate timelines where different events occurred.
That’s why you must talk to each child, learn what year they were living in, and confirm whether they’re a recent missing person, and only then can you take them out.
The only saving grace is that agents’ sense of time hasn’t been warped. Likely because, while the ‘dokkaebi trick’ makes them appear as children, they’re still adults inside.
– But we can still be affected by supernatural phenomena just like kids, so staying here too long is dangerous.
Agent Choi, the mission lead, had declared this.
– Two days.
– ……
– We’ll spend exactly two days here and leave on the third. Got it? …Honestly, we could hold out longer, but the Bureau says two days, so…
– Agent.
– Yeah! That’s why I said only two days.
And so, from now on, the three of us in Black Tortoise Team 1 ‘must find a child who’s been missing in the real world for less than three years’…
…and only that child.
“……”
No good. Maybe it’s because I’m in a child’s body, but I’m too easily swayed.
“Stay calm…”
I took a deep breath and got to work.
I had to meet as many children as I could in my assigned area within the time limit, to listen to their stories.
And I can proudly say I did my best for those two days.
I spoke with each of the kids who greeted us, and even found the bedrooms where kids who hadn’t come out to welcome us were staying.
But…
“…This is the end of this rotation’s rescue mission.”
“……”
“……”
……We didn’t find a single child who met the criteria in two days.
Not one.
“Let’s return.”
I lowered my head.
“……”
…There are things in life that don’t work out, no matter how hard you try.
‘I don’t know this ghost story.’
Since I’d never seen it in the <Dark Exploration Records>, I didn’t have any secret tricks or special methods.
It was safest—and right—to follow the rules of the Bureau and the plan laid out by our superior.
‘Besides, it’d be dangerous for me to stand out too much right now.’
So this was just…
“Don’t wanna!”
……
…?!
Wait.
W-Was that me just now?
“I don’t want to! We gotta keep looking!”
…It was me!
“……T-That’s.”
What made it even worse, my superiors were starting to look distressed, too.
…Because we’re in child bodies!