I almost forgot to shake his hand.

Baek Saheon?

He is a named character.

 

========================

Dark Exploration Records / Daydream Inc.
/ Characters

Baek Saheon

: An employee of Daydream Inc. in <Dark Exploration Records
Current rank - Section Chief
Total number of discovery records - 106
Of these, 17 are special cases recorded in the wiki.

Nickname : Viper.

========================

 

He was an employee who had appeared several times in <Dark Records of Investigation>.

I looked up and stared at the man with the shy-looking curly hair and let out a small sigh.

This guy... is Baek Saheon?

He didn't really match the picture I had in my head.

Still, it felt strange to meet someone in real life who I only knew as a text-based character in a ghost story universe.

Meanwhile, the short-haired woman who had first mentioned ghost stories also extended her hand.

"Given the situation, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Go Yeongeun."

It was a name I'd never heard before. And when I don't know a character's real name, it means one of two things:

Either she left early, having dealt with the ghost stories relatively easily...

Or she died right away.

Damn...

Sometimes named staff members appear only by nickname or code name, but in these cases their personalities are so distinct that you can identify them immediately.

It feels unsettling. I quickly pushed these thoughts aside and hid my discomfort.

"I'm Kim Soleum."

The handshake was brief, and of course we sat down on the subway seats to continue our conversation.

Meanwhile, it felt like the people around us had started to split into groups.

"Ah, those people... it looks like they're trying to communicate with the front car somehow?"

"It seems so."

In this ghost story, moving between subway cars is forbidden.

As expected, they soon gave up trying to communicate and returned, using hand gestures to signal their failure.

"What are we going to do? We can't communicate with the front car at all. And it looks like there's a fight up there..."

As the tension and anxiety grew among the passengers, another station announcement was played.

But this time the mood of the keyword was different.

[This stop is Euphoria, Euphoria Station].

"Huh?"

The murmuring crowd suddenly fell silent.

"Euphoria?"

"Doesn't 'euphoria' sound somehow... positive? Maybe..."

No.

You can't make such a simple judgement here...!

I gritted my teeth as I remembered the Exploration Records I had just read.

In this ghost story, the names of the stations change every time they appear.

That's why it's impossible to find a specific phrase or station like 'get off at this station' or 'this station is the answer' in the previous cases to guarantee an escape.

But you can see trends.

Like this.

 

========================

Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
/ Welcome to Abyss Transpo

3.2 Exploration records (up to 56 entries)

1- Stations named after colours like red, yellow, blue.
: Successful two-person escape (attempt: blue station)

2- Stations named after parts of the body like left arm, cornea, heart, etc.
: No escape success recorded (Attempt: Cochlea station)

3- Stations named after serial killers like ■■, ■■■■, ■■■.
: Twelve-person successful escape (attempt: ■■■■ station)

4- Stations named after years such as 2008, 2012, 2016.
: No recorded escape (Attempt: 2024 station)

5- Stations named after diseases like asthma, stroke, glaucoma.
: Three-person escape (Attempt: Cold Station)

[Read more]

========================

 

You see?

Even after 56 cases, there's no correlation between the positive name of the station and the likelihood of escape.

But at Euphoria Station, people were about to leave en masse.

[The doors are on the left...]

The platform scenery that greeted us was bright and pleasant, adding to the problem.

Damn.

The platform looked clean and bright, like a brand new station in a newly developed city.

I could feel the mood of the people shifting in this direction.

"Ah...!"

"Shall we get off and look for help? This place actually looks good..."

The excited crowd began to gather near the doors, peering out.

No way!

The number of people in my group!

And my state of mind after seeing this!

Damn.

I finally ran and blocked the doors again.

"......!"

"W-what's going on?"

"Please wait."

[The doors open]

"Are you sure?"

"What...?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I mean, are you sure that this place is safe? Or do you at least have a solid theory?"

I deliberately looked away.

"I think most of us can agree that this situation feels like a ghost story."

Go Yeongeun, who had caught everyone's attention with my words, looked startled but did not retract her statement.

[The doors will close in 30 seconds. Once closed, they will never open again].

"But whether in ghost stories or horror films, have you ever seen good things happen when you rely solely on luck or a hunch?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Can you really risk your life without a solid deduction or theory?"

The anxious people paused for a moment, then someone shouted in frustration.

"Well, do you have any amazing deductions?"

"This guy's been spouting nonsense since the beginning..."

"Oh, just get on with it! What deduction? What is this, a quiz show? Did someone give you a clue or something?"

"Yes."

"......?"

"I'll give you a clue."

I took a breath.

Then I raised my hand and pointed upwards.

At the electronic display on the Tube, where the loudspeaker was.

"I'm talking about the announcements."

 

- Please listen to the announcements for a pleasant journey to your destination.

 

From the beginning, the subway announcements had kindly informed us of this.

"Haven't they been telling us all along to listen to the announcements and follow them? They're very clear".

With that in mind, I added when I heard the next announcement.

[Passengers whose destination is Euphoria Station should disembark according to the announcement].

"Is there anyone here whose destination is Euphoria Station?"

"......"

"......"

The people froze.

"Well, that sounds like a good thing, right?"

"Euphoria, like living life to the fullest, that's the goal of life, right..."

"So your destination is Euphoria Station?"

"......"

"......"

It seemed that most of them sensed that something was wrong.

But a few people started to get angry with me.

"Hey, do we have a real 'destination' right now? Why are you jumping in like you know everything when you don't?"

"If we can't get off and escape because of you, will you take responsibility? Will you take responsibility?"

Take responsibility?

"Yes."

"......!"

"Wh-what...?"

"I will take responsibility."

It's an easy question.

I was planning to escape with them anyway.

If they get off here, it's a guaranteed wrong answer. So my answer couldn't be worse.

But since they weren't expecting my answer, they stood there with their mouths agape, frozen.