NoveLight ™
Faster. Faster.
“Supervisor, your previous experience was during the 35th iteration, correct?”
“Y-yeah. That was the only time they tried putting rookies in this Darkness.”
Kim Soleum exchanged a few urgent questions with Supervisor Park Minseong, piecing together the crucial details in his head.
Park Minseong’s detailed observations as an experienced participant...
“This is everything? Is this what you need?”
“I’m assembling it.”
“...”
Wait.
“After that, they never sent rookies again...?”
“Hold on,” Soleum interrupted.
“Hm?”
“Do the Hangman’s bodies remain after death?”
Soleum’s gaze bore into Park Minseong.
“Well... yeah? I mean, I don’t know about decomposition or anything. And I don’t think there’s a head. I didn’t personally attend the funerals or anything...”
“...!!”
A chill shot up Kim Soleum’s spine.
This... this could work.
“W-what is it?!”
Park grabbed Soleum’s shoulder in desperation.
“Did you figure something out? Will it work?!”
“Yes.”
Kim Soleum nodded quickly, though sweat trickled down his neck.
‘I can’t promise this will work.’
It felt insane, but even a sliver of hope was exhilarating.
‘It’s worth a try.’
Soleum hastily combined the scattered pieces of information in his head. The solution was precarious, barely plausible, but...
‘If this works, I won’t break any rules and might just slip through a loophole.’
There was just one issue...
He needed a specific ability, one that wasn’t currently available.
‘...Braun.’
He needed Braun again.
“How long until your disguise ability is usable again?” Soleum asked.
–Hm. Don’t you think I deserve at least half a day to rest, Soleum?
Soleum rephrased the question immediately.
“What if I adjusted the conditions?”
–Conditions?
Soleum explained the “modified conditions” in detail. Braun’s response shifted.
–Under those circumstances... I could do it in about an hour.
–It’s a demanding schedule, but... I’ll manage. I’m a professional!
“Thank you, Braun.”
–Don’t mention it!
One hour.
The conditions were set.
‘I need to buy time.’
In this chaotic scenario, he had to keep Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je from fully ascending the gallows for one hour.
But this wasn’t something he could do alone.
“Supervisor.”
“Hm?”
“If possible, I need you to act as a decoy.”
“...What?”
Soleum swiftly slipped his hand into his pocket and grasped the ‘Silver Heart’ before speaking up, loudly enough to reach the nine employees engrossed in the Hangman game.
“Everyone!”
“...!”
Nine pairs of eyes turned to him.
Soleum swallowed nervously.
What he needed now was...
‘...Aggro!!’
“If you could double your clear points, would you do it?”
***
Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je lifted his head.
Hanging midair, with black ropes wrapped from his neck to his limbs, he surprisingly felt calm despite the death sentence looming over him.
“If I think about it, this isn’t such a bad way to go.”
Except for the part where he’d die just before gathering enough points. Still, compared to the bloody messes that befell his colleagues before him, this wasn’t the worst way to check out.
“Assistant Manager Eun! What’s the mode of transportation?! What was it?!”
“I told you, I don’t remember!”
Even while carrying these trollish lunatics to his metaphorical grave, he couldn’t help but reflect on the irony.
And yet, despite his refusal to cooperate, the guesses eventually landed correctly anyway.
Because that’s how Hangman works.
“Ugh… what was the last thing he rode as a journalist? How the hell should I know? Fine, whatever—A!”
[Correct!]
“It worked! We got it!!”
Even without deciphering the hint, throwing out random letters inevitably led to the correct answer.
_ _ _ _ A _ _ R
“Ugh...”
Eun Ha-je looked down at his now-vanished feet, feeling the icy dread of death creeping up his spine. But he refused to show it.
No way he’d give those trolls the satisfaction.
[Here’s a hint for the 3rd blank!]
[Why can’t Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je board airplanes anymore?]
Meanwhile, the two juniors from Team D were huddled in a corner, feverishly exchanging whispered ideas.
“What the hell are they up to?”
Even as he glared at his missing feet, gritting his teeth, the two continued their desperate brainstorming session.
They seemed to be clinging to the delusion that they could save him.
“Honestly, maybe that’s better.”
At least it would feel like they tried before inevitably realizing there was no way out and giving up. A consolation prize.
...
Then, someone answered the hint.
“Trauma? T!”
_ _ T _ A _ _ R
[Correct!]
His left leg disappeared entirely.
“Damn it…!”
“Woohoo! Nailed it!”
“Ah, I should’ve gone first!”
The trolls cheered as if they were watching a sports match.
Eun Ha-je’s frustration boiled over.
“Maybe I should join in on the trolling,” he thought bitterly.
But then—
“Everyone.”
A voice cut through the commotion.
Beyond the trolls, someone raised their hand.
“If you could double your clear points, would you do it?”
“...Soleum?!”
It was him.
Team D’s rookie—no, now the youngest-ever promoted junior supervisor, Kim Soleum—stood with a calm expression, hand raised.
“What’s he saying?”
“Wait, isn’t that the guy? The one who just got promoted?”
They all recognized him now.
The employee who’d joined the company as the top recruit, rose to supervisor in a record 60 days, and already had his name spread in the rumors.
Maybe it was the stories, but the room’s attention locked onto him. There was an undeniable, natural presence about him.
And the word he’d just spoken—
“Points?”
In the eerie silence of the playroom, Kim Soleum spoke again.
“Would you like to make a bet?”
...??
“If you win, I’ll give you all my clear points.”
“...!!”
“What?”
It was insane aggro.
“Is this guy crazy? What’s he doing?”
But for exploration team members fixated on “points,” the mention of 2,000 points was irresistible.
“Wait, you’re serious? You’ll give us 2,000 points?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, Soleum, you might not know this since you’re new, but points aren’t transferable.”
“I know.”
“You know? Then how—”
“But I can buy 2,000 points’ worth of items from the employee store and hand them over.”
“...!”
“If you win, I’ll let you pick. You can even request gear for custom use, and I’ll cover the cost.”
The mood shifted.
Most of them had already avoided becoming the Hangman, so what harm was there in trying to rake in extra points?
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
He was dead serious.
Though, only if they won.
“What’s the bet?”
Kim Soleum crossed his arms.
“Whoever guesses the most letters in the Hangman word wins.”
“Ah!”
“If you guess more than me, the points are yours. Right now, I’ve only guessed one letter. So, if you guess two, you already beat me.”
“W-wait!”
Park Minseong, the supervisor from Team D, shot to his feet, panicked.
“Soleum, why the hell are you making bets in this situation?!”
“Because B-grade ghost stories that are safe if you follow the manual are rare. Why not see if guessing more letters reveals any unusual phenomena?”
Kim Soleum turned, addressing the employees sincerely.
“If anything unusual happens, please stop immediately. Let’s not put anyone at risk.”
“Hah.”
Some employees snorted, exchanging amused glances. One of them finally smirked and spoke.
“Oh, how noble. Adding details to the manual for future explorers’ safety?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Soleum replied instantly.
“I just thought it’d be good for someone to try. And since I can, I will.”
“...Why?”
“No real reason. It just feels like something worth doing.”
“...”
The employee fell silent.
For some reason, he felt... unsettled.
“Wasn’t this the rookie who found a missing employee?”
The memory surfaced.
“And didn’t he save everyone during a B-grade Darkness last time, which got him promoted?”
Rescuing an unpopular office worker for no reward, risking his life in a high-grade Darkness to save people he didn’t even know...
“What’s with this guy?”
Normally, he’d laugh it off as naive stupidity. But somehow, he couldn’t this time.
TING—
A clear metallic chime rang in his mind.
Strangely, his thoughts felt clearer, as if a fog had lifted.
It was bizarre, but for the first time, those “stupid” choices seemed impressive.
“...”
“...”
Finally, someone spoke.
“Well, sure. Let’s bet.”
“Thank you!”
Kim Soleum bowed politely to the unexpectedly subdued employees, then turned to leave.
“I’ll see you all at the exit.”
He walked over to the stunned Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je, his expression now somber.
“Assistant Manager.”
Eun felt a sharp headache.
“This kid’s too good-hearted—it’s a problem!”
He was clever, but this was his flaw.
“He’s too sincere.”
The type to burn out or break down under the weight of his own ideals.
He’d even fought for ridiculous requests like claiming items were for colleagues, and now he was pulling something like this...
“You—you’re really...”
Before Eun could finish, Kim Soleum leaned in and whispered, his tone quick and quiet.
“It’s a bluff.”
“...”
Ah.
“I just stirred up some aggro to buy us time.”
Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je almost forgot he was about to die, only to snap back to reality and ask, “You’re trying to buy time?”
“Yes.”
Hah.
“Wait. If you’re stalling to try something, don’t. That’s the fastest way to get yourself killed—”
“What if we do it anyway?”
“...!”
“We’re going to do it no matter what. But if you cooperate, the chances of success will be higher.”
This... insubordinate little punk!
Eun gritted his teeth.
“Didn’t I tell you I’d handle it myself?”
“I don’t trust you. You’ve already given up. You’re ready to die.”
“...”
So perceptive, too.
‘This kid...’
“...It’s not like I didn’t think about trying something,” Eun admitted at last.
He’d kept quiet to avoid giving the juniors any false hope, but now he spoke plainly.
“You know how this ghost story traps so-called ‘new teachers’ with all these strict rules, right? But do you know who the one exception is?”
“...That would be—”
“The Hangman.”
Eun Ha-je smiled grimly.
“That’s me.”
The Hangman could curse, bang their head against the wall, or even put a hole in it without incurring penalties.
“The problem is, no matter what I try, it’s hard to move around,” Eun said, gesturing to the ropes binding him.
“But... on the flip side, it means I can do whatever I want with my head and neck.”
“...!”
Of course, the odds of anything working were abysmally low.
Eun shrugged and continued nonchalantly, “Did you get that? I can keep exploiting that loophole. Meanwhile, you two penalty-prone rookies should just sit tight and—”
Kim Soleum’s eyes glinted.
“I’ll use that loophole to maximize our survival chances.”
“What?”
“Please listen carefully and remember everything I say.”
Kim Soleum quickly laid out his plan to Eun, explaining the steps with crystal-clear precision.
It was simple, logical, and ambitious.
“...!”
“...That’s it.”
By the time Soleum finished, Eun felt as though he’d been doused in ice water.
‘They’re seriously going to try that?’
“We’ll head out and get things ready. See you in a bit.”
“Hey!”
Wait.
“Soleum! Badger! You little punks!”
But the two were already walking out of the playroom.
“Hey! Get back here!”
***
Hoo.
Buying time. It seemed to have worked.
I walked with Supervisor Park Minseong down the unnervingly clean, colorful, and eerily quiet kindergarten hallway.
“Let’s move faster.”
With Park’s and Eun’s testimonies fresh in my mind, the plan became clearer, though a mix of nervousness and hope kept surging back and forth within me.
The ghost story’s setting was still terrifying, no matter how focused I tried to stay.
But Supervisor Park, who apparently lacked any sense of fear, kept looking at me with concern before finally speaking up.
“S-Soleum. Are you sure about this? Two thousand points isn’t kid stuff. What if someone guesses two letters and wins?”
Ah.
Well.
“They won’t.”
“...!”
I flashed a confident grin.
“Their personalities are too selfish. They’ll never let it happen.”
“Huh?”
“Every time someone tries to guess, the others will interfere.”
“...!!”
According to the records, each round had a time limit set at the ghost story’s whim, ranging between seven and ten minutes.
Assuming the worst-case scenario, they’d take the full time for all nine rounds.
So what was the best strategy in such a situation?
“By the time they’ve bickered and argued through every letter, they’ll be reluctant to pile up penalties. Eventually, they’ll set terms to cooperate, but it’ll take forever to agree.”
And the likelihood of that yielding the correct answer was slim.
“They’ll rack up contamination penalties one by one, delaying things further as they hesitate to take more risks.”
All of this bought us time.
“It’ll take at least an hour.”
I spoke with certainty.
“And the prize isn’t the 2,000 points themselves but the goods bought with it. Splitting it fairly would be complicated, and trusting each other on verbal agreements? Even less likely.”
The only reason I had earned their trust with words alone was probably because of the Silver Heart.
Best not to let that slip. I consciously avoided thinking about the item in my pocket as I continued.
“Don’t worry about it. For now, let’s focus on saving the Assistant Manager.”
“...”
Under his mask, I noticed a flicker of emotion cross Park’s face before he quickly regained composure, realizing how little time we had.
“You’re right. Let’s do it. Ah, we’re here.”
“Yeah.”
It was time to get started.
Hoo.
I sat down with Park in the middle of the largest room in the kindergarten.
[Playroom]
I tried my best not to look directly at the scene in front of us.
Brightly colored decorations of flowers and butterflies adorned a ball pit and a stage.
But atop that cheerful stage sat two grotesque chunks of flesh.
A left leg. A right foot.
They belonged to Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je.
Hah.
I couldn’t tell if it was fear, revulsion, or a sense of urgency that made my hair stand on end.
The gallows.
We would only have one chance.
Here, we had to make it count.