Baek Saheon.

– You morons. If one eye is all it takes to escape, just do it already!

My coworker, the one who caused that commotion on the subway.

He’s also a notable figure in the <Dark Exploration Records> and will probably keep leaving his mark on his way up to assistant manager…

“What? He’ll die?”

Suddenly, a keychain plushie from a creepypasta just sentenced Baek Saheon to death.

Reflexively, I couldn’t help but ask this question.

“Why?”

But I know a future where he’s promoted up to assistant manager…?

– Ah, it’s a classic. Really classic… Mr. Roe Deer, have you ever seen movies like that?

“…Movies?”

– Yes. The kind with a serial killer in them.”

Ah, please.

– In popular media, there are certain typical targets who end up as victims. Blondes, college students, hitchhikers, or those wearing something like red shoes—these kinds of noticeable symbols.

– And do you know what the most classic and foolproof victim selection is?

The shadow of the plush doll whispered.

– It’s picking up something that belongs to the killer.

“……”

The large black shadow cast on the wall pointed beyond it.

– Your ‘work colleague’ picked up an item, and now he’s going to die in a brutal way!

“……”

Hah, seriously…

“Anyway, thanks for the warning.”

– You’re most welcome!

As politely as possible, I told him that I needed to sleep for work tomorrow, and thankfully, my ‘Good Friend’ gladly understood my situation.

– Goodness, it must have been a tiring day. May you sleep soundly and have sweet dreams!

That seems unlikely.

‘And you contributed to that disaster…’

– Adios!

The flashlight on my phone switched off on its own, and the large shadow on the wall disappeared.

After a moment’s thought, I grabbed a clean towel, made a soft little spot on the desk, and placed the plush doll on it.

‘Hopefully, with this much courtesy, he won’t come after me in a nightmare with a cleaver.’

Of course, I probably need to worry about whether I can even fall asleep and dream at this point.

“Hm.”

I turned the night light to its brightest setting and lay down in bed.

Baek Saheon.

He’s probably asleep next door by now…

‘What exactly did he pick up?’

What sort of horrendous ghost story artifact did he grab for the plush doll next door to sense it through the wall?

Is it the butterfly effect? Or was it something that was already bound to happen?

I thought back to what Baek Saheon had done in the <Dark Exploration Records>, but even after searching through the wiki, I couldn’t find any relevant information.

Maybe that’s not surprising. If it happened outside of work, it might not have been documented.

Huu.

“……”

‘If I go knocking on his door in the middle of the night, he’ll probably have a heart attack, won’t he?’

Besides, I’m not exactly eager to voluntarily approach something scary enough to put me on a serial killer’s target list…

Honestly, he’s not even the type of roommate I’d risk my life to warn.

‘But now that I know, giving him at least a warning is the right thing to do.’

An indirect way to reach out…

‘Got it.’

It also ties into what I was going to do next.

I lay in bed and checked my phone messenger.

[Jang Heo-un : This is the rookie group chat. Please join using this link. Thank you! (Link)]

A colleague from Y-squad had sent it.

With a sigh, I clicked the link.

[Field Exploration Team Batch 17 Chatroom]

It was an open KakaoTalk chat.

The reason for this setup probably had something to do with reducing the emotional impact when news of a death came through, as it wasn’t linked to personal contacts.

In any case, everyone used their names for their profile names, so identifying people wouldn’t be a problem.

‘I’d better set mine to my name and enter.’

[Kim Soleum has joined.]

And as I began to type a greeting…

[whoa]

[dang]

[Is it really you, Kim Soleum-ssi?]

[welcome ^^]

[It’s really you? May I ask who gave the invite?]

“……??”

Even before I could write a greeting, intense reactions poured in.

‘Surely, they’re not wondering who cluelessly invited that person, right?’

On the positive side, maybe my recent performance had been good enough to spark some curiosity or rumors.

I simply posted a short greeting.

[Nice to meet you all. I’ll be in your care.]

As if waiting for it, someone immediately asked.

[Kang Yihak : Is it true you received 40,000 points? haha]

Hmm.

[Yes.]

[Kang Yihak : So jealous! I’m curious about how you managed to get that, haha]

[I just did my best.]

I didn’t respond further and simply sent a bowing emoticon.

‘This place is just like a jungle.’

I wondered if this might be a warm group chat where colleagues share tips, support each other, and enjoy hobbies together, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

‘It’s more like an intern group chat where only 10% will make it to full-time positions.’

In other words, everyone is subtly trying to gain any advantage they can.

‘Well, with people constantly dying and the wish ticket feeling so far out of reach, I guess it’s understandable.’

Getting too attached to this chat could make the news of someone’s death all the more depressing.

It left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, but I could understand it.

[Go Yeongeun : (hwaiting emoji)]

[Go Yeongeun : (clapping emoji)]

Still, there seemed to be some genuinely nice colleagues here.

‘She seems to be doing well…’

I nodded, seeing the clean, supportive emoticons from my med-school-dropout colleague who’d backed me up that time on the death-ridden subway.

‘Alright, let’s do what I came here to do.’

Time to follow the voice of my conscience.

I found Baek Saheon’s profile in the group chat and initiated a one-on-one open chat with him.

And I wrote:

watch out for serial killers –

The number 1 serving as an ‘unread’ mark disappeared in a second.

But no reply came.

Hmm, maybe he feels a bit guilty himself?

‘If he feels guilty, he’ll be careful.’

This should be enough as a warning.

“I’ll send it every morning from now on.”

If I keep this up for about a week, the message’s impact should hold until it wears off.

Satisfied with my efforts, I turned off my phone.

‘…Time to sleep.’

Whether I’ll actually manage to sleep is uncertain, but I should at least try. I have work tomorrow… sob.

‘If only the company would explode.’

I lay there, feeling the weight of the sad reality that, given the company’s nature, I’d still have to show up for work. I ended up staying awake all night…

When I finally dozed off in the early hours, I dreamed of being chased by theme park mascots wielding intestines, then offering churros to the plushie.

‘Save me.’

Just another night of trauma for a regular office worker.

The news I heard the next day, however, was anything but ordinary.