I had to spit out the stamp. Something’s wrong—
……
No.
‘That’s… not it.’
This was the shock of falling from paradise into a nightmare.
I wasn’t contaminated.
“Hhu.”
I caught my breath.
The panic faded as I adjusted to my environment. Then, shivering, I looked around with a cold, adult mind.
I recognized this.
Yes. ‘Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace’ wasn’t a ghost story I didn’t know, nor was it an unrecorded one left out of the <Dark Exploration Records>.
It simply didn’t look the way I remembered.
The one I knew was…
…a horrifying ghost story from Daydream Inc.
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Mermaid Grave]
: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-C-1642
A story of wandering a strange city submerged deep into the sea.
Victims are chased by swarms of grotesque lifeforms and, when caught, have all blood and mucus drained from them to death.
That one.
The city is already in a ruined state, and remaining records suggest that it fell due to infection from a biological disaster.
Traces of what was once a beautiful city now contrast starkly with the current apocalyptic state brought on by a tragic and horrific biological outbreak.
As the records within the city refer to the biological disaster as ‘merfolk’, the site has been registered in the database under the designation ‘Mermaid Grave’.
So… the children of Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace—
At the city’s heart lies a grotesque mass, the central cluster of infection for the ‘biohazard-merfolk’, from which infected fluids endlessly pursue any explorer.
If caught, one becomes infected. A host of the merfolk.
I staggered forward on all fours, walking along a shattered street.
Scattered throughout the dark deep-sea city, I saw bodies frozen in strange positions—half-alive, half-dead—drawn along by ulcer-like lumps.
They moved stiffly, like dolls, swaying as they walked.
‘Those decorative figurines on the fountains.’
Children,
Please take your honey!
Those colorful soldier figurines, elephant-shaped ones too.
‘They were once human.’
People infected after being drawn into this cursed ghost story.
Then the faucet sticking out of their stomachs that spewed honey…
That was actually blood, extracted from the bellies of those people by those ulcerous growths.
‘…Ugh.’
I ran.
Kicking off with four legs, I sprinted through the sunken ruins of this once-seaside city, now crawling with twitching, corrupted biomechanical filth.
And finally, I reached the heart of the city.
…What had once looked like a beautiful Ocean Palace—
Was a mass of festering ulcerous clusters.
Thump, thump.
The pulsing of the vile mass could be felt even here. A sprawling, pus-colored flesh conglomerate, in dirty red, green, and pale pink hues, clung to crumbled buildings like some grotesque art installation.
And at the forefront, an oozing sac, covered in tentacles, like a deformed egg nest.
To anyone who’s seen it before, its silhouette is unmistakable.
It resembles the statue of the Mermaid Princess.
The infectious fluids extract the blood and mucous membranes of explorers who have become hosts, delivering them to the central cluster at the heart of the city. The cluster then expels infectious mucus and residue.
Residue has been identified as indigestible materials such as fibrous matter and plastic.
Right.
…The toys, clothes, picture books that were gifted to children when they offered ‘honey’ to the statue at ‘Twinkle Twinkle Ocean Palace’.
They were the worn belongings of those who had gone missing here.
It only appeared beautiful to the children, a seductive illusion.
That’s what this ghost story does.
And it was infecting the children. Those horrific infected fluids, called ‘mer-children’ in the <Dark Exploration Records>, were, in the end…
In the end…
“……”
No.
‘This is… this is…’
I have to leave. I can’t make contact with the children like this. I turned around, staggering.
But at that moment.
Wrrggghhhgh!
With a repulsive sound, one of the ulcerous growths on the floor shot mucus at me.
“…!”
Contagious fluid.
If that sticks, I’ll end up with a faucet on my belly too…!
‘Damn it.’
Thank god cats can run fast.
Moving on instinct, I dashed between rusted alleyways and rotting ruins, fully adapted now to this feline body. Maybe this was why Agent Choi had recommended it after all.
‘Anyway!’
So the question is.
What the hell do I do about this?
Should I report this to the other agents? And if I do, how much do I say?
How do we even rescue the children now? Should the agents even remain in child form in this situation?
Is being in a child’s body… really safe anymore?
Is it really better to let these kids keep ‘living’ here rather than turning into bubbles?
“This area’s clear. No mer-children.”
…!
“Let’s move on.”
“Yes, Assistant Manager!”
I froze.
Three figures had entered the alley.
Calm voices. Phrases I recognized from the <Dark Exploration Records>. People addressing each other by job positions.
…Daydream Inc.
‘So a squad of the Field Investigation Team really was dispatched…!’
Of course. Most of the long entries in the Dark Exploration Records had been written by employees of the company. So it only made sense I’d run into them here.
…Which meant.
Maybe I could use this.
‘If they’re Daydream Inc. employees, they’ve gotta have at least one or two special equipment, right?’
Something that could help resolve this. Even just an idea…!
Even if not, it was better to have more cards to play.
‘Let’s go.’
I held my breath and crept toward the alley the masks and suits had passed through.
“…is what I heard.”
“Oh. This thing here.”
Their conversation filtered through my sensitive feline ears.
And when I rounded the corner, finally seeing the three figures clearly—
……
Familiar masks.
“…Hmm. Doesn’t look useful.”
“Huh? Looks valuable to me. I’m taking it.”
Goat, Baek Saheon. Pony, Kang Yihak.
And.
“Pipe down.”
Butterfly, Assistant Manager Jin Nasol of the A-squad.
“……”
‘Goddamn.’
An absolute nightmare lineup.