NoveLight ™
“Oh, the deer’s here!”
“Yeah. Did you get the regeneration potion?”
“Yes.”
I returned to the office after lunch and greeted the managers, who were lounging around after finishing their meals.
However, when they saw the translucent reinforced plastic box in my hands, they stopped what they were doing and immediately stood up.
“…!”
“Wait a second, is that the Darkness you’re in charge of, Deer?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I lifted the transport box to show them the contents.
Inside, there were two black cards clinking together.
The F-grade Darkness I had chosen.
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Records / Urban Legend
[Choose One]
: The urban legend appearing in Darkness Exploration Records, identified by Daydream Inc. with the code Qterw-F-2073.
Two plain black cards, 60mm by 110mm.
However, when the owner flips these cards at midnight, an image appears on the front. The image is randomly selected from the major arcana of the Tarot deck.
The point revealed by the card actually comes to pass in the future.
---------------------=
It’s a small, portable, low-grade Darkness that can be assigned to a single employee to manage, but...
In reality, this was the most dangerous and uncertain urban legend among the three options I had been given.
Because it’s related to the future.
The managers seemed to realize that, and their expressions became serious.
“That’s pretty tough for a rookie.”
“Yeah! They usually give you something easier, right? When I was a rookie, I got a radio. Deer, you saw that one too, right? It even got reset to Twilight-grade.”
Ah, that radio.
So it was Supervisor Park who was managing that.
It always seemed a bit too obvious sitting around the office.
Supervisor Park spoke with a slightly concerned tone.
“Maybe it’s because they have high expectations for Deer... Ah, Team Leader!”
The lizard team leader, who had just entered the office, turned his head at the call.
“You mentioned letting Deer choose their Darkness directly, right? When will that happen… is it still not done?”
“20 minutes ago.”
“…?”
“…??”
“I made my choice 20 minutes ago.”
The managers turned to look at me.
“Deer.”
“Yes?”
“Did you pick that Darkness from the options Team Leader gave you?”
“Yes.”
I nodded expressionlessly.
“They’re giving you overtime pay for it.”
“…….”
“…….”
“It’s because this Darkness needs to be managed regularly at night.”
The two managers’ faces became wistful.
“Aah…”
“Yeah, sounds just like Deer.”
And then, they became calm again.
“……”
Where is my image going…
‘Should I be happy that I’ve nailed the character successfully?’
Sigh.
I held back tears as I powered on my PC.
“Should I register it now?”
“Yes, I’m inputting my employee number right now.”
I found the corresponding Darkness code under the “Unassigned Darkness List” on the intranet, then registered my account…
Done.
Qterw-F-2073: Kim Soleum (Supervisor)
With that, I officially had a Darkness assigned to me.
“Even though it’s F-grade, it’s still supernatural. Be careful when managing it.”
“Yes.”
I read through the management instructions for this Darkness.
The method I already knew for handling this urban legend.
[Flip the cards at midnight / Once a month]
***
A few days later, at midnight.
I came out to the company annex for my night shift.
“Good work.”
The employee sitting at the desk, dressed entirely in black, nodded and opened the corridor door for me.
I followed the path and opened the appropriate door…
“There they are.”
The two black cards I had to “manage” today were visible.
I carefully entered the steel gate and closed the door behind me.
Then I opened the card storage box, took out this Darkness, “Choose One,” and placed it on the round table in the room with the back of the cards facing up.
It felt a bit different.
“I’m not seeing the future.”
“I’m choosing.”
---------------------=
Interpretation
After previewing the two cards, you choose one, and the corresponding event related to its symbol will take place in the near future.
However, the event must be something that could occur in the person’s daily life (no winning the lottery, for example).
---------------------=
That’s right.
These cards let you choose between two possible events in the near future.
Of course, that doesn’t always mean something good.
I reached out and flipped the two cards on the table.
The intricate, almost dazzling illustrations revealed themselves.
The Devil. The Moon.
‘Damn.’
It was like this.
Well, depending on the area of questioning, they’re not necessarily bad, but… when you look at them as a whole, they’re not the best.
In other words, if both choices are bad, it just means you’re adding an unnecessary bad event to your life.
And considering that more than half of tarot cards have ambiguous or negative meanings, there’s at least a 1/4 chance this happens.
But…
“Yeah.”
I was going to do it a little differently.
I moved toward the opposite side of the table where the cards were positioned.
‘This way, naturally…’
From the other side of the table, the cards would be reversed.
If I picked them up like this…
I looked at the reversed card.
‘They always said you should never do this when reading tarot.’
With this F-grade Darkness, it seemed like tricks like these actually worked, as the power wasn’t that strong and there were a lot of loopholes.
‘Maybe even if the trick fails, it’ll just return to being a regular black card.’
So, I gave it a try. It seemed to have been a good choice.
And the card I picked was…
I looked at the pale full moon card that had been reversed.
Originally, the Moon is a symbol of mystery and uncertainty. Where the sun has vanished and the moon rises, vague shapes and doubts grow, and eventually... madness reveals itself.
But if it’s reversed, it would mean the opposite, right?
Hmm.
‘Something might become clear.’
I thought the same.
‘In this crazy urban legend world, it would be nice to have something certain come out.’
“Yeah.”
I returned the cards to the storage box.
The divination was monthly.
So, it meant something from my daily life would happen within this month.
Although it would be a normal event, given that my daily life involves working at a company dealing with urban legends…
I thought it might actually help with survival.
‘Even if not, it’d be good to have at least one positive future fixed.’
Managing an urban legend that was more of an advantage than a burden was rare.
I decided not to get greedy…
Thud.
“…!”
I heard a sound from outside.
This was the annex.
A place where relatively safe Darknesses are kept, mainly Twilight grade, and sometimes F-grade…
But, after all, they were still all urban legends.
Thud.
Sometimes.
Very occasionally, if a mismanagement happens and a sudden situation arises… one or two people could die, no problem.
I stood in front of the steel door.
‘…How far away is that sound?’
Should I wait here or…?
CRASH!!
“…!”
I immediately opened the steel door and ran.
Something had definitely exploded!
‘It’s better to run and get out than to get trapped inside.’
I rushed toward the entrance, but…
The floor was already half-collapsed.
“….”
Various crazy possibilities rushed through my mind.
But right after, I saw a figure with their foot pressed down on something shattered in the middle of the collapsed entrance floor.
“…!”
It was the black-clad employee from the front desk.
And from the looks of things, they had ‘suppressed’ the Darkness…
‘So it was a Security Team employee!’
And it seemed the situation was already resolved.
The sound I had heard must have been from the Security Team dealing with the situation.
‘They don’t just let anyone sit at the annex desk, so this makes sense.’
I hesitated, then asked from about four meters away.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
The black-clad employee shook their head.
Thank you so much…
Let’s get out of here quickly.
“Then I’ll go back inside.”
The employee briefly looked at me, then reached beside the desk and picked something up.
It was a Post-it note.
“Have a good night.”
Surprisingly sociable.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head. The black-clad employee lightly nodded back and then returned to the desk, sitting down.
On the broken entrance floor, a shard of glass from the urban legend's conduit gleamed.
The reflected light strangely twisted the shadow of the employee’s legs, making them look like hooves for a moment… then it returned to a human shape.
‘Ugh…’
Better not look at it.
I decided not to focus on anything and left the annex.
“This is something else.”
It feels like bizarre events are happening every day.
‘Choosing one good, fixed event wasn’t a bad choice after all.’
Living was tough and exhausting, but I felt like I was somehow managing, and it made me feel a little better.
Hmm. Thinking about it, I also remembered communicating with the staff in writing, just like the employee earlier.
[Have a nice day ^^]
That was the one-on-one transaction at the used market where I bought urban legend food for 40 million.
I had even tried to hide my voice and communicated in writing.
It was the churros the blue dragon mascot from the theme park had given me.
‘There’s still one more bag of churros.’
Though I wasn’t planning to sell them in case something happens… hmm.
I realized I had more food-related items than I thought.
The quantity seemed pretty good.
‘Maybe I should sell one or two and convert them into cash.’
If anyone’s still looking for them.
On a whim, I accessed the salmon market and checked.
Surprisingly, there was another post.
[Looking to buy food originating from supernatural phenomena.]
For research purposes.
Strongly favoring powerful supernatural phenomena (Disaster Management Bureau anomaly preference).
40.0
Isn’t he getting tired of this?
LOL, at this point, isn’t it just obvious that he’s being baited?
Hmm.
‘If he’s already used the churros for research…’
I sent a message.
[BlueFriend: Hello, sir ^^ I’ve obtained more food, would you be interested?]
***
And two days later, on the weekend.
I found myself waiting at Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station, just like last time, to meet the person I was trading with.
‘Trust really is important with people.’
After selling something that matched their conditions last time, they didn’t even bother with much conversation and just set a time for this meeting.
This time, they were already waiting by the exit.
As before, they were dressed in dark clothes, with a hat and mask on.
I recognized them by the beverage box in their hand. Well, I couldn’t say anything since I was dressed similarly.
[Hello ^^]
I opened my notebook again and showed them my greeting. They weren’t surprised, probably expecting it.
[Here are the items I’ve prepared.]
Inside the box they handed me were two pieces of Alice picnic set cookies.
Why did I choose this? It’s simple.
‘The expiration date is almost up.’
The cookies had a limited shelf life!
It was an item that, when used, could either diminish or enhance its effects, so it wasn’t something I could use often, and I still had quite a few left.
I didn’t bring out the drinks this time since the ones used in the Tuesday Quiz Show were such a huge save, but I did bring the cookies.
‘The cookie form is harder to use anyway.’
It would be a shame to just leave them until the expiration date passed.
Of course, using expired items? I didn’t want to see what might happen.
Anyway, I presented the item and waited for the buyer’s response.
The buyer, as before, brushed their gloved hand over the top of the box before shaking their head slightly.
“I wasn’t looking for this.”
Hmm. As expected.
‘Definitely not up to the Wave level.’
This was a relatively low-risk, passive item, unlike the strange objects directly acquired from high-grade urban legends. You could tell the difference just by looking at them.
‘It’s a shame, but there’s nothing to be done.’
Still, it was worth negotiating...
“I’ll buy them for half the price each.”
Thanks for the cool transaction.
‘If they knew about the Alien Shop, they might want to kill me out of frustration...’
Just in case, I decided to drop a little hint.
I quickly wrote something in my notebook.
[Thank you. I really need the money.]
“......”
[This one doesn’t seem to be dangerous, but since the expiration date is so close, you might want to study it. I’ll give you a few more.]
I then added a small envelope with one or two more cookies inside.
‘A little bonus.’
This was a trust-building move to keep the trade going. I had brought it for negotiation, but now it was serving a different purpose.
This felt like a genuinely kind second-hand transaction—especially in the context of the urban legend world.
As I was about to leave, holding the beverage box with cash, I heard the buyer’s voice.
“Excuse me.”
Hmm?
“How did you come to possess something like this?”
Hmm.
[I’m sorry, but I can’t say.]
That should be enough.
It was a platform for trading supernatural items, and everyone had their own story. I left it to their imagination.
‘The Alien Shop only shows up as an empty page for those who haven’t seen the ad.’
Just as I was ready to slip away if they probed further...
“......”
The buyer pulled out a pen from their pocket and wrote something in my notebook.
“If a dangerous situation arises, contact me there.”
Huh?
“Goodbye.”
The buyer left, and I checked the note.
1717 8282 42
“…!”
‘That’s a government number.’
It was a direct emergency relief contact number for the Disaster Management Bureau.
In other words, it was the urban legend version of 911.
‘Were they with them?’
No wonder they used those expressions for grading.
I shrugged, neatly storing the cash and notebook.
Daydream Inc., being a malicious corporation, wasn’t on good terms with the government. It seemed strange that someone from there would go through all the trouble of contacting them...
‘But... there was no reason for it.’
Right. There was a reason!
That very evening, when I returned to my staff housing...