Chapter 166 - Chapter 166

Chapter 166

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Translated by Jinmu

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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The very night we escaped from the Mermaid Tomb.

I was able to immediately meet Director Ho at the waiting area of the usual Fox Counseling Room.

And...

“Dear me, you must have gone through a lot of trouble, Sol-eum-nim! Do not worry about the bodily tissues that were sampled. I will retrieve them immediately.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

The conversation was concluding much more smoothly than expected...

‘To this extent?’

Honestly, it was not my fault, but having an emergency meeting with a director when it was not even a regular report was itself a situation that made a lower-ranking employee break out in a cold sweat.

However, Director Ho listened to my story with an extremely intrigued look, and he was even delighted enough to clap his hands.

The only moment he showed his discomfort, albeit indirectly, was just one instant.

“So that's why the Disaster Management Bureau's support team came all the way to the company headquarters.”

Damn it.

“Ah, I'm not complaining to you, Sol-eum-nim! It's just that they are such a hypocritical group whose inside and outside are different... getting close to them is instinctively uncomfortable.”

“…….”

Making such a statement after putting his own employee in there as a spy?

And honestly... wasn't their character on a level that shouldn't even be compared to Daydream Co.?

‘I think our company needs to at least play the hypocrite, though...'

It was bizarre to the point of wonder where that rejection of the Disaster Management Bureau, bordering on absolute disgust, was coming from.

“I'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable due to my personal feelings, Sol-eum-nim.”

“Not at all.”

At any rate, the conversation itself flowed smoothly, and Director Ho wrapped up the topic gently.

“In any case, please do not mind such matters at all and let me know anytime!”

And...

“Is there anything else that is uncomfortable?”

I had been waiting for this.

‘...The atmosphere is good right now.'

And we are alone.

It was right to make my move when I could. I spoke as I poured another cup of hot water into Director Ho's green tea.

“It is not an discomfort, but... there is one point of concern.”

“Please speak comfortably.”

Director Ho nodded with a face that seemed to say, 'It breaks my heart that you are concerned.'

So I explained.

“There is a Dark that I must enter in the near future.”

“…….”

About Pleasant Theme Park.

Although I did not specifically mention the blue mascot there, it was common to be so-called 'marked' by a bizarre entity while exploring ghost stories, so Director Ho would have easily understood the situation.

“I almost died, but it let me go when I promised to 'visit again next time.'”

My subsequent explanation was also reasonable.

I meant that since I was actively employed at the company at the time, I had naturally thought I could enter 'Pleasant Theme Park' again, but as things turned out like this, I was no longer able to enter.

‘You were the one who assigned me this spy duty anyway.'

And judging by Director Ho's personality traits that I had seen so far, a request of this level would...

“Pleasant Theme Park..."

Director Ho smiled beamingly.

“Do not worry. I will arrange a way of entry so that you can visit as quickly as possible, Sol-eum-nim!”

As expected.

“Thank you. I was very worried because if I cannot enter within a month or two, my personal issues might make it difficult to perform my duties..."

I nodded seriously.

“Since the director took measures, I am now able to fully concentrate on performing my duties.”

So give it to me within a month.

If you don't, I might drop dead, spy duty or whatever be damned.

I believed that such an intention was well conveyed.

“Of course. It will be ready soon. Do not worry.”

This kind of aspect was straightforward, which made it comfortable.

Because he was competent.

‘Seriously, is he actually a decent boss as long as I don't press his triggers...?'

Was it just that I had been struggling because I was assigned duties where I had to jump on that madman activation button a lot...?

For the first time, I could relate to the words of the audit team manager who had said, 'Director Ho is a pretty good superior.'

“Thank you.”

Like that, the emergency report was winding down.

Director Ho would probably stand up saying he should be going soon, and it was time for me to quickly prepare to head back after seeing him off.

“Ah, come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask as well..."

Director Ho, who had been about to stand up, stared at me blankly.

“You are not using the Fox Counseling Room?”

“…….”

Argh.

“Once you enter the counseling room, you don't have to worry about bumping into other employees. I would like you to use it actively to heal your pollution and mental trauma.”

As if I would.

‘No matter how much I think about it, this place seems connected to you...!'

Just look at how it is amazingly closed only when I come to report.

I would believe it even if someone said Director Ho was giving the counselor a commission and prying out employees' counseling information.

What was certain was that this space, this ghost story, was definitely within Director Ho's domain.

That was why I had been intentionally avoiding the Fox Counseling Room until now.

‘It's uncomfortable.'

Quite apart from the fact that I had received substantial help during my last counseling session.

Furthermore, since the Elder had completely burned away my traces of infection just now, I wouldn't need to go.

However, since I could not speak of all this honestly, I merely nodded my head.

“Yes. I will try. However, including this space, the Fox Counseling Room is a Dark, and he is not a real counselor either..."

The moment I was about to finish my sentence by saying, 'I will keep that in mind.'

“That is correct.”

“…!”

“A 'real counselor,' indeed.”

The gentleness disappeared from Director Ho's tone.

A voice with a somewhat numb tone came out without any rising inflection.

“Because he is a Dark, he is more firmly bound to the professional discipline of a counselor. He knows exactly what he does, and he also has pride as a professional.”

“…….”

“So, I would like to say that it is fine to trust the teacher in the Fox Counseling Room!”

“…Yes.”

“Also... he is worrying a lot about the condition of client Kim Sol-eum, too.”

“…….”

Tap, tap. Director Ho patted my shoulder as if to encourage me.

“Then I will be heading back now. I will see you again during the regular report. Sol-eum-nim!”

“Yes. Director.”

The emergency report ended like that.

* * *

‘...The Fox Counseling Room and Director Ho.'

And Director Ho was a figure who was not recorded in detail in the Records of the Dark Exploration at all.

...For some reason, it felt like there would be more hidden settings. I wanted to verify a bit more, but...

‘Yeah. Let's just focus on the Wish Ticket.'

Let's not forget. The goal and the means must not be inverted.

Let's just focus on finishing this spy duty quickly, getting the Wish Ticket, and returning home.

...In that sense, even in this 'Twinkling Dragon Palace' ghost story, I felt like I had been overly immersed and tried my absolute best to make all the children escape, but...

“Whew.”

Still, there was an additional harvest.

“The grade of the dreamscape solution went up.”

I looked at the golden liquid filling the elite team collector.

Sparkling dreamscape solution of grade B or higher.

Considering that the Mermaid Tomb was originally grade C, it was an irregular.

‘Did the grade rise because I pulled out the main body of that biological hazard?'

There was a possibility.

And while checking, I pulled out the research team's potion that I had secretly kept inside my wrist tattoo as if squeezing it, and put it in a plastic bottle.

The recovery medicine I had intended to feed separately only to children with severe pollution or heterogeneous elements.

‘If you drink this, you move to the 'somewhere' set by the research team, right?'

I suspected it might be one of the research team's experimental spaces, but just in case, let's keep it without discarding it.

I let out a sigh of relief and stored the potion back into my tattoo along with the plastic bottle.

Then I rummaged through the space again.

‘It is fortunate that the objects put into the space within the tattoo exist separately from each other.'

Otherwise, it would have almost smeared onto this tag card as well, wouldn't it?

I am a Space Shopping Mall VIP!

~Appreciation Cell Enclosed~

I also found the golden card inside the tattoo that I had received a few months ago, which had been directly delivered by a delivery courier's tentacle from the Alien Shop.

The 'VIP card' Manager Lee Ja-heon had mentioned was probably this, right?

‘Hmm.'

I examined the card letter more closely and felt it.

Then, I felt one more thin layer within the somewhat thick card stock.

“…!”

As I carefully peeled off a layer of the card paper, a small, sealed... chip-like object revealed itself inside.

‘...It looks like a USIM chip.'

A sticker printed in Gulim font was attached to it.

Eat cells anywhere!

Healthy and peaceful purchase

※Fast agent connection guaranteed※

“…….”

I seriously hope they hire a professional translator.......

‘Eat...'

For now, this chip is a cell, and it seems like... I'm supposed to eat it, but 'healthy and peaceful purchase'?

‘Oddly, it reminds me of when I conversed with Leader Lizard.'

The way expressions that looked like translation errors came up because they did not know the cultural context of modern humans.

At any rate, I made up my mind to try using this 'cell' in an emergency.

‘...Because Leader Lizard is not the type to put others in danger with lies or tricks.'

It would be more reasonable to worry about my head bursting from pure physical force instead.

“Organization finished.”

I finished the settlement and raised my head.

At any rate, since I had items that were the most convenient to use for now, let's consume those first.

‘The Cheerful Lab's potion.'

Yes.

I was currently visiting the laboratory hidden under the manhole cover again in the dead of night.

‘Seeing it at night makes it even scarier.'

However, it was a bit better because the dreamscape solution stored in the dream incubator was sparkling with enchanting colors.

DE 00128313

I also injected all of the grade B dreamscape solution I had obtained this time into it.

The number filled up.

DE 00143126

‘So grade B is roughly about 15,000.'

One could think of it as roughly one and a half potions, but in fact, there was a blind spot here.

The prices were set differently depending on the buttons.

The first one I drew deducted 10,000 points, but the second one I drew deducted 20,000 points.

‘It seems to differ depending on how many stars it has.'

Since the first 'Detective Syrup' I drew had 3 stars, and the 'Surprise Syrup' I drew next had 4 stars.

These stars were...

‘Definitely a performance difference.'

Because the 4-star potion had actually worked, albeit briefly, even against a biological hazard.

However, in a simple one-to-one conversion with Daydream's welfare points, they were more expensive than Daydream's potions.

‘It might be that this dream incubator has poor efficiency because it is an early model.'

Yet, it also seemed that syrup with better effects than Daydream's potions, being closer to the raw solution, came out.

At any rate.

‘So you don't know how much will be deducted until you actually press the button and draw the potion.'

It was unfriendly.

‘It would be nice to have a research note.'

The security leader had said he would look into it, but there was no particular news yet.

Let's wait a bit more. Perhaps this dream incubator possessed other functions...

In any case, since I had used it usefully even now, I resolved to visit weekly if possible and pack one potion at a time.

Thus, it was time for a choice.

??????

“Hmm."

There was a method to safely draw a potion whose efficacy had been verified, but...

‘It might be better to prepare a bit more before entering the theme park.'

I had to quickly verify what could be verified when timing allowed. Because there might be more useful things.

For now, let's use the means available to me to filter out the most useful one.

‘Association and reasoning.'

In that sense, the button I would check this time was...

‘The one that is the most expensive and has the best efficacy when matched with Daydream Co.'s potions.'

??????

Clack.

“Good.”

Simultaneously with the deduction of 30,000 points, a glass bottle containing a small syrup emerged from the outlet.

I packed the sparkling blue-green liquid.

Children's Disguise Syrup

(Green Grape Flavor)

★★★★★

An expensive potion. The snipe was a success.

* * *

The next day.

I took a whole day off following the agents' message that I could rest fully, and only went to work late on the second day.

“Agent Grape, thank you for your hard work.”

Furthermore, thanks to the agents of Black Tortoise Team 1 who had gratefully completed almost all of the situation report already, I was able to conclude the work related to the 'Twinkling Dragon Palace' with a light answer at the end.

‘I am tearfully grateful.'

I listened to various praises from the agents.

And...

Glad tidings as well.

“They said more than half of the children have found their guardians.”

“……!”

“It seems there were many cases collected in our database because the entry method was so characteristic.”

“There was also no phenomenon of the rescued citizens evaporating. ...The rescue of everyone was confirmed around 7 PM yesterday evening.”

The faces of the Black Tortoise Team 1 agents speaking were unusually bright with joy.

...I was probably not much different.

“And, by the way, shall I tell you one more surprising piece of news? ...In the team next to us, there is someone who took back their younger sibling lost in '89.”

“……!”

“Among the agents who entered here... there are quite a few who applied hoping only for that.”

Finding a missing family member.

“Thanks to you, that person was finally rewarded for the past years and became able to sleep comfortably at night. Together with family.”

“…….”

“How is it?”

How was it?

An agent who had entered this place while searching for his younger sibling for decades.

That person who had finally figured out where his sibling went missing, yet had been unable to rescue them due to distorted time.

Hearing that he had safely retrieved his younger sibling, how did I feel?

‘Oh my god.'

An overwhelming shiver, as if the back of my neck were tingling, swept past.

It was beyond just feeling worthwhile.

‘This is why they do it.'

It was dangerous.

If I were not careful, I felt like I would... actually start working with a true sense of mission for this job.

‘...No.'

I clenched my right hand, which had once disappeared.

I had to return home.

I had to make that my sole objective.

Right now... I couldn't count how many times I had crossed the threshold of death. For me, who used to consume ghost stories only as content in a world without them, living here with a sane mind was impossible.

‘Objective and means. They must not be inverted.'

I took a deep breath and calmed my mind.

However, my elevated heart did not calm down completely.

“Anyway, you really did great.”

Agent Choi, who was listing off things like rewards fitting a successful exploration, smiled beamingly and patted my back.

“Ah, since Grape is still in the rookie period, do you have to go do other work now?”

“Yes. I will guide him to other duties.”

“Right. I kept you for too long. Good luck with your work~!”

I parted ways with Agent Choi, who waved his hand, and moved along behind Agent Bronze.

Fortunately, he did not tell me to come to the Black Tortoise Team again.

Indeed. For the Dispatch Rescue Team... continuing this kind of work seemed too difficult. Mentally as well.

‘Sigh.'

I held back a sigh and walked behind Agent Bronze.

And the place he guided me to was...

[New Investigation Team, White Tiger Team 2]

It was the team where Ms. Go Yeong-eun was.

“Sol-eum!”

As I entered the office, Go Yeong-eun, with a welcoming face, stood up abruptly from her seat upon seeing me.

I reflexively turned back to look at Agent Bronze.

The other party was smiling faintly. It seemed he had purposely assigned me work in this team out of consideration for the fact that we were acquainted from Looky Mart...

“Since there is no field work today, you do not need to move as a pair with me. You can work in this office. ...If any problem arises, please find me in the Black Tortoise Team 1 waiting room.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

I was truly grateful.

Furthermore, I felt more at ease because it was not field work.

‘Today is a timing to take a bit of a breather.'

Of course, I would do my best to show that I was someone suitable for the New Investigation Team, though.

I bowed to greet Agent Bronze as he walked away, and then entered the office with Go Yeong-eun.

The place, which looked like a clean, ordinary office, was still quiet.

“Everyone is out of the office on field duty right now, so it's just me here, but once they return soon, I think we can greet them together.”

“Yes. Understood.”

I added with a bit of wishful thinking.

“Please give me a lot of guidance and instruction. Because perhaps I might also be assigned to this department and work together here.”

“Ah, well..."

…??

For some reason, Go Yeong-eun blurred her answer.

Why such a... ominous reaction?

“…Did I make some mistake?”

“No! It's not a mistake... Sigh.”

Go Yeong-eun wore an ambiguous expression.

“Being too competent is also, well, unavoidable, so..."

Pardon?

“Here, would you like to... take a look?”

I received the smartphone Go Yeong-eun handed to me.

What was displayed on the screen of that phone, which showed little sign of use as if it had been newly opened for work, was...

[Agent TalkTalk Anonymous Room]

An anonymous group chat room with a slightly old name.

“…….”

Wait a minute.

Is there another... group chat room here that only I'm not in...?

“Ah. It seems they usually invite you once the rookie period is over and you are formally assigned a department.”

“I see.”

That was a relief.

‘Hmm.'

I asked Go Yeong-eun for understanding and scrolled up the group chat to gauge the atmosphere.

-A Fortune Vending Machine has appeared in Seocho-dong. Check the duty report officer here as it is urgent.

-What about the Swamp Music Box? Is it fine to just leave it when it doesn't operate?

-Yeah, it's fine. It'll be reflected in the rulebook next month too.

-Recommend some lunch menus.

‘The atmosphere is more free than I thought.'

Judging by it, the room seemed to be used for agents to seek advice from each other when they were in a rush or at a loss while working.

Should I call it an information sharing room that naturally formed due to the nature of the occupation where working alone is frequent and they wait on shift duty?

Since it was not a death survival-style competitive relationship like a certain company, the atmosphere was slightly better and valuable information seemed to flow easily.

‘Come to think of it, I feel like I saw this in the .'

Thinking that way made it feel a bit heartwarming. I nodded inwardly as I scrolled.

It would be fun to be invited here at least once...

-The destruction-king rookie destroyed a disaster again.

“…….”

Wait a minute.

Is this... me?

‘No way.'

I scrolled further down quickly to open the latest conversation.

-They said he rescued all thirty children trapped in a routine rescue disaster and completely smashed the city.

-Is that true??

-Black Tortoise Team 1 must be thrilled, oh my haha.

-Wow, if it's to that extent, it's not a coincidence but pure skill... He doesn't seem like an ordinary person. Isn't this the first time since Team Leader Hong joined?

-I want to get close to him...

-Is he by any chance not interested in Black Tortoise Team 3? We can treat him really well, and honestly, I'm better than a certain Mr. Choi of Black Tortoise Team 1.

-Sister, I am here too ^^

-Yeah, I know.

“…….”

And the conclusion of the group chat was summarized into one...

-A person who will settle down in the Dispatch Rescue Team has appeared haha.

-I.hope.he.becomes.the.youngest.team.leader~^^

Please save me...