-Friend, your boss is an unimaginative and boring pencil pusher...

'Y-Yeah.'

I thanked Lee Jaheon and went to find Braun.

What I felt a bit sorry for both sides was that, since it got late, the Lizard team leader took this stuffed animal all the way to the company housing when he went home.

Thanks to that, Braun, who had visited the boss's house that I've never seen before (and don't particularly want to see in the future), was quite intrigued, or so I thought.

-Ah, I'd rather be sitting alone on the cold tile floor of the studio backstage. 

'...Yeah.'

It seems he was very bored...

I broke out in a cold sweat as I watched Braun complain things like "There's nothing in that guy's house, time passed in silence without even humming or talking to himself."

"But it was such a messy place. I felt like I shouldn't leave it in that abandoned building as a friend."

-Friend...!

Now I'm starting to get it. 'Good Friend' is most mild in its reactions when I treat it as a friend too...

'Well, it's true.'

Anyway, I recalled the conversation I had with Team Leader Lee Jaheon when I received Braun just before.

-Thank you.

I said that and bowed my head.

-And I'm sorry. I caused trouble for you too, Team Leader, by doing something deserving of disciplinary action.

Honestly, in a normal company, this would've gotten me hit with a folder by my direct superior.

But even after hearing the whole story, the Lizard Manager remained calm.

-Yes.

-...I couldn't push a colleague into a position where they would clearly die for no reason...

-I see.

Then he stared at me and said this:

-Take responsibility for your choices.

-...Yes!

It was a bit scary, but it seemed he let it slide anyway.

'Thank goodness.'

I apologized and thanked Team Leader Lee Jaheon a few more times, and handed over the snack set I had prepared as a gift.

And now I'm on my way down the stairs of the company housing.

-Ah, so are we going back to Roe's modest and cozy room to rest now?

"No, that's not it."

I walked right out of the company housing building.

"There's one more thing left to do."

Today was the day I would draw the tarot cards for the F-grade darkness 'Choose One' that I'm managing.

It's been about two months since I last visited the annex to see the tarot cards.

Someone else had covered for me once while I was on sick leave, and now it was my turn again.

"Hello."

I greeted the security team employee, a black silhouette working at the desk, received the key, and moved down the hallway.

'Last time I drew the Moon card upside down.'

-Ah, are you going to use that trick again this time? Drawing the card upside down, I mean!

Hmm. About that.

"I'll use it if I have to... but I'd rather not if possible."

-Oh?

Because something related to that has been bothering me.

'When I drew the Moon card upside down, it was said to resolve uncertainty.'

-That's right. Is there a problem with that?

There's no problem with that itself.

After drawing that card, there were several instances over the month where uncertainty was resolved or things became clearer.

For example... my affiliation.

'It was confirmed that I'll stay in Team D.'

...As two team members disappeared.

"..."

But there's a premise to all of this.

'For uncertainty to be resolved, you have to experience an uncertain situation in the first place.'

In other words, drawing a bad card upside down...

'Assumes that you have to experience the bad state anyway.'

Because to recover from or escape that state, you need to be in that state once to begin with.

-Aha, an interesting approach. Quite convincing!

Yeah.

Moreover, no matter how much you recover, falling into a 'bad state' itself was an enormous risk in the ghost story world...

I had to remember the contamination incident.

'It seems safer to draw good cards right-side up if possible.'

So I really hope a situation doesn't arise where both cards are bad, leaving me with no choice.

'Phew.'

I entered the containment area, released the containment on 'Choose One', and took out two black tarot cards face down, placing them on the table.

Then I took a deep breath and flipped over the two cards.

The first card.

The Devil.

Damn it.

'That damn Devil card keeps coming up.'

What's surprising is that this time it's upside down from the start.

-Ah, the Devil reversed!

-It's a card of 'liberation from the Devil.' It signifies future decisions to overcome addiction or obsession, or to conquer fears.

-It suits Roe quite well, who shows remarkable willpower and creativity.

I appreciated the explanation.

But my gaze immediately fixed on the second card.

...The Sun!

A red and yellow sun blazing upright, coloring the card illustration with brilliant hues.

This is...

'Definitely good, right?!'

-Oh, the Sun!

-Joy and blessings enjoyed under the clear light of the sun! It's a sign of career success, improved relationships, and utmost positivity. It guarantees happiness in the near future.

-Some even consider it the best card in the tarot deck, but well... isn't unconditional success and happiness a bit boring?

I'm sorry, but that boredom is exactly what I need right now, Mr. Host...!

'There's no need to even think about this.'

I reached out and picked up the Sun card.

Thus confirming a stable, good future with an upright card.

-A bit of an uninteresting choice! But I'll respect that decision too, Roe!

'Thanks.'

And I wrapped up the ritual.

'Success and joy, huh.'

Well, there's absolutely no downside to having this.

For now, let's try to feel some relief at the prophecy that this will happen within the next month...

'Time to head back to the dorm.'

-Sounds good, friend!

And so I ended a long and eventful day, returning home late at night. For the record, I had to walk up since I couldn't take the elevator.

'Walking up the stairs at night is surprisingly scary, even without ghost stories...'

I felt a bit pitiful.

But that was truly the last eventful incident of this year.

Surprisingly, the remainder of this year flowed peacefully.

The remaining month of December.

After this incident, Gwak Jegang didn't call me unnecessarily. There were even hardly any strange research team projects assigned.

'Looks like my MZ power worked well...'

I was worried the research team might call Jang Heo-un again, but that didn't happen either.

[Jang Heo-un: Sol-eum! I don't have any special changes in affiliation either. I'm still in Team F.]

It seems Jang Heo-un has settled officially into Team F without incident in the year-end personnel announcement.

'That's something to celebrate.'

Although his teammate is Baek Saheon... well, from what I saw at New Light Technical High School, they don't seem to use Jang Heo-un recklessly as bait.

Other than that, things were ordinary.

'I diligently entered ghost stories.'

There were no high-grade ghost stories of C-grade or above.

Thanks to that, it ended with just internal screaming and fear, and an increase in my viewing record of children's animations that prevent my insomnia...

Manager Lee Byungjin from the audit department, whom I met in the hallway, casually tipped me off that "the company is damn busy with year-end specials like accounting and audits."

He still rambles on about Director Ho sometimes which is uncomfortable, but I'm grateful for this kind of information...

"Hey, Kim Supervisor must be clearing high-grade darkness left and right and racking up points without worry? You must be really disappointed there's no high-grade darkness, huh? Haha!"

"..."

Not disappointed at all...

Anyway, points accumulated even by calmly clearing low-grade darkness, and I was able to catch my breath and gather my thoughts.

However, throughout this time, there was one thing that oddly remained undetermined.

"Excuse me, Team Leader. Is my disciplinary action still under discussion?"

"Yes."

My disciplinary action, that is.

-Oh. This is interesting... Didn't you expect the results to come out right away, Roe?

That's right.

Honestly, I didn't expect it to be dismissed, but I didn't think it would take this long either.

I thought a disciplinary action just enough to knock down the arrogant and capable new hire's attitude and make them behave would fall right on my feet.

'...Why is the higher-ups being so complicated about this?'

It seemed like some rumors had even spread within the Field Exploration Team itself, which was a bit odd.

[Kang Yihak: Supervisor! I heard the news haha. I heard you decided not to do inefficient work that's not included in your salary! Wow! I respect you!]

"..."

The rumor spread... like that?

'I was trying to build a character with clear moral lines, could that have gone wrong too...?'

Fortunately, it didn't seem to go that far, and it looked like even the Development Department was pondering how to deal with me, whether to treat me as an exception or handle it according to regulations.

And in late December.

"The date for disciplinary action has been set."

"..."

Phew.

Finally, the official notice came down.

------

Disciplinary Action Notice

Content: Performing night cleaning duties for the Security Team.

Duration: 3 days.

This disciplinary measure is intended to improve the work attitude of the person in question, and caution is advised to prevent similar incidents in the future.

------

A truly ghost company-like kind came out.

'Where did the usual private company disciplinary actions like training, pay cut, suspension, removal from position go?'

So you might say, isn't three days okay? Didn't I do well?

That's true. However...

"The schedule is from December 29th to December 31st."

"..."

Who is it?

'I can really feel the desire to screw me over as much as possible in the date selection...!'

I can sense the malice of making me stay up all night at the company to welcome the new year throughout the end of the year. I was really curious who it could be.

But having pushed back once already, this time I should just do as I'm told.

'Sigh...'

Finally, at midnight on December 29th, I went down to the security team area on the first basement floor of the company.

And I met a familiar face.

"Hello, J."

"Wow... long time..."

It's Security Captain J3.

From the Mountain Lord ghost story to after escaping the Hungry Hangman ghost story and the containment incident, the slim-built employee I've met a few times raised his hand towards me with a fairly welcoming face.

Of course, he looked more annoyed than anything, so I quickly pulled out the bribe I had prepared.

"I'm sorry. I'll be in your care for the next three days."

"You don't have to be sorry..."

The security captain, J's face brightened as he received two boxes of large 12-pack sugar and cream donuts.

"It was worth volunteering... Thank you... I'll eat these well as my snacks..."

"..."

'I brought two boxes so you could share with the other security team members...'

But he seemed to firmly believe these 24 donuts were just for himself, so I kept my mouth shut. I think it was a wise decision.

"Um, this way please..."

The security captain started guiding me further in than the CCTV room.

'This is an area only the security team can enter.'

I'm here again, huh.

I swallowed hard and started following his footsteps down the corridor.

Somewhere here is where I have to clean, right?

"May I ask... where exactly I'll be cleaning for the next three days?"

"Yes... Well, it's somewhere you've been before, so... it might be a bit better? Maybe... Um."

Somewhere I've been before?

"The area you'll be cleaning today is Containment B corridor... You know... over there, where we pulled out the contaminated employee..."

"...!"

Damn it.

He's talking about that containment area attached next to the security team's rental warehouse.

The corridor lined with sealed rooms where I was briefly confined after coming out of Hungry Hangman and being rescued...!

'That place... was no ordinary place.'

I swallowed hard, recalling all sorts of murmurings and strange phenomena I had heard while walking out of the containment corridor.

'...Cleaning the security team area.'

The almost certain premonition that I would encounter abnormal phenomena made my heart race.

"This way... the changing room."

I swallowed and followed the security captain's guidance to the changing room.

And in the process, I also got an inadvertent glimpse of the security team's dormitory through an open door.

[Bedroom]

Visible through the crack in the door.

They were cramped rooms equipped with gray-issued curtains and bedding, metal desks and cabinets, with signs of habitation.

...Strangely, it felt like a prison staff dormitory.

'It seems... worse than the company housing.'

For one thing, being underground seemed bad for health.

"Do all the security team members live here?"

"No. Just the security team... Um."

The security captain frowned slightly as if gauging how much he could say.

But soon he answered carelessly with an expression of being tired of everything.

"The security team... actually branches off from the higher Security Management Department... This is mainly where the security team is..."

"I see."

Anyway, we soon arrived at the changing room, and I quickly changed into the provided clothes.

It wasn't the security team uniform I wore last time, but clothes with an eye-catching orange color. It oddly looked like an engineer's work clothes too.

"The cleaning uniform... not bad... The color is pretty too..."

"..."

Is he... serious?

Anyway, it was time to move to the cleaning location after changing completely.

'Phew.'

I looked at the security captain with a feeling of being dragged to a slaughterhouse, but that person stopped his feet without leaving the changing room, as if waiting for someone.

"Cleaning... is usually done in pairs of two."

Huh?

Surely the security captain wouldn't be joining... Is it another employee?

At that moment, the security captain looked outside the changing room and gestured to me.

"There he comes... Today's partner."

I looked outside the changing room too.

Someone was walking from the corridor where the bedrooms were earlier.

...A familiar face.

"Roe."

"...!!"

In the corridor, Supervisor Park Minseong raised his hand and smiled awkwardly at me.

"Good to see you. Have you been well?"