Click, click.

The transaction was complete.

The alien shop displayed the items I had placed in my cart in an orderly fashion.

What I decided to purchase were…

 

Alice Picnic Set – ₩11,999,999

※ Sale!※ Silver Serpent – ₩4,999,999

= ₩16,999,998

 

That’s right.

I bought the effect-boosting potion and the discounted item.

The reason was simple.

‘I couldn’t use the others…’

The bloodsucking weapon? Sure, it sounds cool, but there’s a catch.

You’d have to charge at a ghost with a knife…

‘If a coward like me tries something that dumb, I’m dead…’

Shaking hands, panicking, and dying as an extra in a horror movie isn’t a cliché for no reason.

Besides, the weapon would only work if the target had blood, so it wasn’t very versatile.

‘If it were armor, maybe, but in this situation, a weapon’s out of the question.’

Overestimating myself was a surefire way to shorten my lifespan. I’ll leave it at that.

Next, the wide-range walkie-talkie.

Well…

‘Who could convince their boss to carry a toy walkie-talkie?’

Anyone who could… probably wouldn’t need to work under someone in the first place.

Even if I explained that it was more than just a toy, it would still cause problems. The inevitable ‘Where did you get this?’ question would have no good answer.

This was an item that could only be useful if you had a trustworthy companion.

‘So, rejected.’

In the end, the most sensible choices were the ‘Alice Picnic Set’ and the ‘Silver Serpent’—both affordable within my budget.

Both seemed useful.

First, the ‘Alice Picnic Set’ had versatile effects that doubled or halved the power of items, which could be useful in various situations.

‘I could even use it defensively if needed.’

Plus, it was easy to carry around without attracting attention from colleagues. So, I bought it.

Lastly, the discounted item, ‘Silver Serpent’.

‘It’s originally priced at 20 million won?’

That gave me a good feeling.

This was an investment.

‘Judging by the ‘silver’ in its name, it’s probably currency.’

In the <Dark Exploration Records> universe, there were various forms of currency in different ghost stories, and some could even be exchanged for real cash through specific organizations.

‘Buying something worth 20 million for just 5 million is definitely a win.’

Sure, there’s usually a reason when the alien shop offers such massive discounts, but the risk was worth it.

…No, this isn’t like investing in cryptocurrency! It’s a rational decision!

And so, I prepared to transfer the 17 million won.

“Huu.”

The only available payment method was through direct bank transfer.

The account information was displayed with ‘Alien’ as the account holder.

‘I’m not expecting any tax deductions on this…’

Transferring this much in one go felt surreal, like the time I had to put down a deposit for an apartment.

With trembling hands, I transferred exactly ₩16,999,998 through my banking app, which I had already set to allow high-limit transfers.

The moment I hit send:

 

PURCHASE SUCCESSFUL!

Your item is on a rocket!

Arrival in 00:00:08

 

Wait.

 

00:00:07

00:00:06

 

Hold on.

 

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01

 

Ding.

A cheerful sound rang out.

 

ARRIVED!

 

Pop.

“Whoa!”

The air in front of me seemed to ‘open’, and with a puff of smoke, the items tumbled out.

It was a postal box, delivered by ‘rocket’.

“Wow.”

It was literally rocket delivery.

‘This crazy universe—who knew you could be fascinating instead of just terrifying!’

I was even moved.

After a moment of awe, I snapped out of it and opened the package.

First, the ‘Alice Picnic Set’ was a rusty tin case decorated with fairy-tale illustrations.

When I opened it, I found a flat can of soda and a paper-wrapped cookie, each labeled ‘Drink me’ and ‘Eat me’.

“Dang.”

I could carry just one or two of these around like the ‘Smiley Stickers’. I nodded in satisfaction.

Then, as I pulled the tin case from the box, I noticed a round, silver object at the bottom.

I picked it up.

A shiny silver coin.

‘It really is currency.’

A surge of excitement ran through me.

The coin had an engraving of a snake biting its own tail, and it was about the size of a 500-won coin. I flicked it, feeling its metallic weight.

A few possibilities of where I could use this currency flashed through my mind.

‘Wherever I use it, I’ll make sure it counts.’

Even though the 17 million won had vanished like snow melting in the sun…

At the end of the day, it was money that would disappear when I returned to my original world, so there was no need to cling to material desires. I could calm down.

‘Well then… I guess I’m pretty well-prepared now.’

I took stock of the items I currently had.

– Memorial Popsocket

– Smiley Sticker :)

– Alice Picnic Set

– Silver Serpent

From now on, I needed to use these items to clear higher-classed “Darkness” as quickly as possible.

‘Let’s make use of everything.’

Avoiding things out of fear could lead to something even scarier. Don’t forget that, you coward.

Resolving to use everything at my disposal, I tried to sleep.

Instead of counting sheep, the convenience store ghost pranced around in my mind, completely wrecking my quality of life.

Haha.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

And then, the next day.

“We have a few ghost stories we regularly manage, so today we’ll be entering one of those.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

I barely slept for three hours. At this rate, I might actually die.

However, my expression must have been mistaken for worry, because Assistant Manager Eun patted me on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s a D-Class.”

“Yeah! The level of difficulty is about the same as what you went through during your orientation, right?”

Seriously, PTSD from a death survival test, and that’s what you say to a new employee?

But the Field Exploration Team’s staff, whose sensitivity to normal human experiences had long since eroded, just chuckled and offered those words like a pep talk.

“You managed to clear it by going in blind, so there’s no reason you can’t do it now that you have a manual.”

“As long as you don’t do anything crazy, you’ll be fine. Got it?”

“…Yes.”

Well… sure. I got it.

Whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse than playing hide-and-seek with a ghost at a convenience store by myself.

‘Please, let me get some sleep tonight.’

I prayed for an artistic-style ghost story—creepy because of its atmosphere and lack of information but not genuinely terrifying.

“Here are the materials.”

Supervisor Park handed me a tablet.

The ghost story I’d be entering today was…

 

[Tuesday Quiz Show / Dusk (D) Class]

 

“……”

Huh?

“You see it, right, Roe? You’re going to enter as a contestant on a quiz show.”

“Yes.”

“If you get a question wrong, you face a penalty, and the penalties can be pretty horrifying… it’s that kind of ghost story.”

“But don’t worry! We already have all the answers, so we’re good! No need to be too tense!”

Supervisor Park flashed me a grin and gave a thumbs-up.

Well, okay.

‘I have a feeling this will be a lot less scary than seeing ghosts in person…’

But there’s a catch.

‘I don’t know this one.’

Tuesday Quiz Show?

There’s no page for that D-Class ghost story in <Dark Exploration Records>.

I couldn’t check my Memorial Popsocket because of my bosses, but I was sure it wasn’t in the ghost stories I’d read.

Then again, even if I had read all of the ghost stories in <Dark Exploration Records>, there could still be others in this universe.

It was, after all, an internet playground where ghost stories were constantly being added in real time.

I thought I’d know more than most, but here I was about to enter a story I’d never heard of.

‘…Does the company’s list of ‘Darkness’ extend much further than I thought?’

Cold sweat trickled down my neck.

But my superiors were relaxed.

“Our department just happens to get assigned a lot of TV-related ghost stories.”

“Oh, yeah, every team has its specialty.”

Then, Assistant Manager Eun sent me a PDF file, claiming it was the answer sheet for the ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’.

“For now, just memorize that answer sheet and skim through the exploration manual again. When the squad leader arrives in the afternoon, we’ll head out.”

“Got it.”

I obediently nodded.

Supervisor Park kindly added more advice.

“Oh, should I give you a physical copy of the manual too, just in case? You’ll need to take notes.”

“Oh, no need. I’ve memorized it all.”

With my Memorial Popsocket, having a physical copy would just be extra baggage.

“You memorized it all…?”

“Yes.”

“…So, notes!”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Supervisor Park gave me a knowing look, then nodded his head.

“The squad leader is going to like you a lot.”

“……??”

Well, it seemed to be a compliment, so I let it slide.

For the record, the squad leader of Team D was still out on a field assignment but was expected to return this afternoon.

‘I’ll be meeting them soon enough.’

But then, an hour later…

“Hold on a sec. Our squad leader—I mean, the section chief—he’s still out on a field assignment… what? No, that’s ridiculous.”

Assistant Manager Eun, who had been on the phone, frowned deeply as she hung up.

“Are these people out of their minds? Saying we have three people now, so we can make it a trio—what a joke…”

“Really? Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Seems like it…”

Assistant Manager Eun glanced at me.

Oh.

‘Is it because of the convenience store ghost?’

Because I cleared the F-Class Darkness by myself using an unusual method, higher-ups probably thought, ‘Oh, so this one can handle a full load.’

Looks like the consequence of pocketing that 20 million won solo is showing up here.

Not because they’re annoyed I took the money.

“It’s the end of the month.”

“Ahh.”

Watching my two superiors murmur to each other, I started to piece it together.

‘There must be some issue with the department’s performance numbers.’

I wasn’t sure, but it looked like they needed to meet some sort of ‘quota’ by lunchtime, and now they figured the new recruit could pull their weight.

Assistant Manager Eun made a decision after a brief moment of consideration.

“Roe, did you memorize that?”

Ah, the quiz show answers… wait.

‘If I say I memorized everything, does that mean I’m going in?’

Maybe I could feign ignorance…

“Oh, he’s already memorized it, I bet! He just said he’s memorized the entire exploration manual, that thick thing!”

“Oh.”

Assistant Manager Eun nodded.

“Great. Then we’ll handle this ourselves today.”

“……”

And there went my tiny, desperate hope that having more people would make things less scary…

‘The principle is to go in as a trio, but sometimes, if someone takes leave, two people go in. We do get backup support, but scheduling that is tricky, blah blah blah,’ they explained.

Yes, I get it. This company is just full of surprises.

‘…Anyway, I’m ready for this.’

I’ve got my items prepared, and it’s not one of those horrifying ghost stories, right?

Actually, come to think of it, it’s probably better to go now than to wait until the afternoon!

Isn’t it better to just get the beating over with?

The longer I wait, the more my imagination will conjure up horrors. Right now, my courage is at its peak.

It might be best to go in before it dwindles further…!

“Let’s get started.”

As I was mentally hyping myself up, Assistant Manager Eun approached, having received something from another department.

‘This must be the medium to enter the ghost story, right?’

It was a postcard.

However, the recipient field of the old postcard was already filled with strange scribbles.

And in tiny print at the top, the word ‘application’ was repeatedly written, like a curse.

 

– One day, I discovered a strange postcard inside an old magazine.

It contained a flyer recruiting participants for a quiz show, but when I searched for the show, there was no such program. It was probably just a vintage postcard with a quirky theme.

Out of curiosity, I wrote my name under the ‘sender’ field as a joke…

And then, I was dragged into a truly bizarre quiz show.

 

That’s probably the gist of the ghost story.

At a glance, it didn’t seem like much, but the closer you looked, the eerier it got, sending a chill down my spine.

“All you need to do is sign here.”

“……”

“If it feels too weird, just put your animal mask name instead of your real name.”

“…Yes.”

I needed to gather points.

As I watched the others write down ‘Badger’ and ‘Falcon’, I also filled in the ‘Sender’ field on the postcard.

 

– Roe Deer

 

The moment I lifted the pen, my consciousness was sucked into the postcard as if it were being pulled out of my body.

“……!”

[Ah, finally, our contestants have arrived!]

A blinding light from the stage overwhelmed my vision. A bright, cheerful voice echoed in my ears. A hand, dressed in a suit, was extended toward me for a handshake.

[Welcome, welcome… Now, the cameras will start rolling soon. Let’s show them our best smiles!]

Instinctively, I shook hands and looked up.

Where a human head should be, there was an old-fashioned television set.

…With a floating emoji displayed on the screen.

 

[]

 

The TV-headed figure released my hand and joyfully spun around, spreading their arms wide.

 

[Audience!]

 

A roar of applause filled the air, but the glaring lights obscured the audience’s figures, making them hard to see.

Soon, I realized I was standing on a brightly colored podium.

‘This must be the contestant’s spot for the quiz show.’

It wasn’t terrifying enough to make me faint.

Actually, if I just thought of it as a quirky quiz show hosted by someone wearing a TV mask, it gave me a surprising sense of calm.

‘Compared to the horrors of the eye-plucking subway and the convenience store ghost, this feels almost pleasant.’

Yes, I could handle this. I felt like I could calmly think things through.

After adjusting my mask, I surveyed the situation.

[Is it your first time at a talk show, folks? Oho, then don’t forget to cheer! Your excitement is everything to this show!]

The TV-headed host was busy hyping up the audience, trying to raise the energy in the room. They were likely the host of the show.

‘So, this ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’ must be a segment of some larger talk show.’

The set’s vibe, the house band providing background music, the audience setup, and the host’s energetic performance—it all felt like a classic American talk show.

‘A bit old-fashioned, though.’

……

Wait.

‘Think again.’

An old American talk show.

A quiz segment.

The contestant already knowing the answers.

This…

……

……

I recognized these keywords.

 

 

 

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

 

 

※ CAUTION ※

Disclaimer : By reading this document, you accept full responsibility for any fear, hallucinations, ■■, or ■■■■ that may arise. Daydream Inc. (Ltd.) is not liable for any damages.

Please proceed after signing.

 

 

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

 

 

 

This isn’t just D-Class.

This… this ghost story…

 

 

 

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

 

 

Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story

[Chorus of the Sacrificial Lambs]

: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-A-104.
: A-Class Darkness.

The catalyst of the reclassification disaster that led to countless casualties.

Official record of survivors: None.

 

 

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

 

 

 

“……”

[3, 2, 1… And now, the show begins!]

No way.