I never thought there’d be a lunatic who could identify people just by the veins between their gloves and sleeves.

‘Agent Choi.’

And I never thought I would be the one to fall victim to it.

‘This is insane.’

This wasn’t just eerie—it was a situation that could freeze a person in place.

But I must not freeze up.

I have to act just the right amount of flustered—not too much, not too little—to avoid suspicion.

So…

“Huh?”

I should turn the suspicion back on him instead.

I pretended to be flustered, then deliberately swallowed hard while looking at him.

And I took a step back, as if I had been caught by a street cultist.

“Uh, sorry, sorry, but… I have company waiting for me.”

“Huh??”

“I’ll be going now.”

Pretend I didn’t recognize that he was Agent Choi.

If a rookie agent who lost an arm is mentally shaken, it’s totally possible they wouldn’t recognize a senior who only visited them once…!

If they were timid but had gathered the courage to enter a crazy place like this, even more so.

‘If I do this, maybe he’ll be the one scrambling for an excuse instead….’

“Oh, alright. Take care~ See you at work.”

“…….”

Wow, f***

‘I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.’

In the end, I spoke up.

As if I were unsure after hearing the word ‘work’.

“…Wait, are you, um, my superior from the hospital…?”

“Oh~ Now you recognize me. Good.”

Agent Choi patted my shoulder and casually tried to lead me away from the area.

“Uh, I was trying to buy that….”

 “Come on, that thing’s been sitting there for five years unsold. Let’s just talk.”

“…I heard I might be able to find something here to temporarily replace my arm.”

“Aha~ Who told you that? Jaegwan?”

“I can’t tell you.”

It’s a trap!

If I blurt out a name here, it would be clear that I’m lying just to escape the situation.

At the very least, it doesn’t match the character I’ve been building in the Bureau. That would be pathetic!

“Wow, you’re loyal.”

As expected, Agent Choi laughed and patted my shoulder.

Looks like I chose the right approach….

“Or maybe you thought I’d see through a lie right away.”

“…….”

“Is that it? Hahaha!”

Aaargh!!

“It’s fine. Every agent has their own circumstances, right? There are things you just can’t talk about.”

“…….”

“Let’s see… You were trying to buy that? Maybe we should take a closer look?”

Agent Choi turned his attention to the arm I was about to trade with.

A crumpled, blood-stained piece of paper clutched tightly in a hand missing its pinky finger.

“But that doesn’t look like something related to an arm at all.”

“…….”

“Why were you trying to buy it? I don’t get it.”

F***

Then!

“…Because…”

“Huh?”

I lowered my head deeply.

“…Because it looked desperate.”

“…….”

“It was clutching onto a mere piece of paper so tightly, and there was blood on it… I thought maybe it was holding onto a distress message.”

That’s actually true.

Not now, but it was my guess when I first read about this arm in the <Chronicles of Darkness Exploration>.

Anyway, Agent Choi remained silent for a moment.

N-Now’s my chance. Time to make an excuse…!

“I didn’t know it had been left here for five years….”

“Let’s think about this together, junior.”

Agent Choi grabbed my shoulder and turned me slightly.

So that I could see the countless writhing arms on the chamber wall right in front of me.

“Do you think there’s anyone here who would be asking for help?”

“…….”

“Everyone here came voluntarily to sell their goods in this bizarre place. The chances of someone actually needing rescue seem pretty low, don’t you think?”

That’s….

“Seems like we can just move on, don’t you think?”

That’s not something Agent Choi would normally say.

At least, not based on the Agent Choi I knew from <Chronicles of Darkness Exploration>.

‘This guy… was an agent who would do anything to save even one more person.’

Agent Choi was an early named figure.

And in the early days of <Chronicles of Darkness Exploration>, when only the Paranormal Disaster Management Agency existed, the records were written with a strong emphasis on ‘saving civilians’ as a government mandate.

But as realism and narrative depth became a priority, the settings were adjusted.

The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau now prioritizes the lives of its agents above all else.

It also values resolving paranormal incidents over rescuing civilians, meaning that civilian casualties are sometimes accepted as inevitable.

But Agent Choi was a named character from before these policies were in place.

Naturally, this meant he was the type of agent who would go to extreme lengths to save every last civilian.

In that process, he resorted to cunning or creative tactics, gaining various skills and items, but his core nature never changed.

Until he was presumed dead or missing at Lucky Mart.

“…….”

As expected.

Then I guess this should be fine.

“Still, I’d like to give it a try.”

“…?!”

I immediately grabbed the item I had prepared and reached out.

Toward the hand missing its pinky finger.

“Wait, that hand doesn’t trade, though….”

Whoosh.

The arm lunged forward violently.

“…!”

And the hand, missing its pinky finger, clenched my item with a crunching sound and swallowed it whole.

Flop, the crumpled piece of paper it had been holding fell onto the dirty ground, and I barely managed to snatch it up.

In the meantime, Agent Choi’s eyes narrowed as he observed the object I had handed over.

“…A coin?”

“Ah, it’s not just an ordinary coin… I got it from another ghost story.”

That was technically true.

But the fact that the ghost story it came from was a custom-made twilight-grade equipment tale from Daydream Corporation, called ‘The Kind Seed Kit,’ was a secret.

Yeah.

That was the first exclusive equipment I created for the field exploration team.

‘The Third Hand…!’

Considering what this hand was, the type of item it needed was blatantly obvious.

An item created from a paranormal tale that Daydream Corporation had isolated and utilized in its early days.

It had to be this.

However, since Daydream Corporation’s employees were practically blacklisted from this marketplace, the transaction had remained incomplete and abandoned for five years….

‘Got it.’

Holding the paper in my hand, I felt a small but thrilling sense of accomplishment.

Of course, it wasn’t like I had recklessly spent a piece of custom equipment that I wouldn’t even use immediately—I had a plan to retrieve it later.

For now, the priority was Agent Choi.

I quickly came up with an excuse.

“I thought currency might be immediately useful in a paranormal setting… It reminded me of what happened at the mart.”

For reference, the Lucky Mart gift card balance disappeared the moment I left the store.

That place was truly a scammer’s den in the form of a paranormal mart.

Anyway, I thought that response sounded suitably rookie-like.

It would look like I just didn’t know that different paranormal tales had different currencies and handed it over blindly.

And luckily, it worked.

I’ll stick to that narrative.

“Hmm… Junior, that hand has been left alone for five years. Don’t you think whatever help it needed is long over?”

“But… the hand is still there.”

I finally managed a small smile.

“If a trade was possible, it meant that someone was still there to receive it… Um, of course, it’s just a guess, and I could be wrong.”

“…….”

Agent Choi stared at me intently…

“Ah~ I really like this!”

“…?!”

“Ahh, yes, this is it! It’s rare to find someone who actually thinks and imagines things in a logical way!”

Agent Choi ruffled my hat-covered head. Ugh!!

Then, lowering his voice so no one else could hear, he spoke in a hushed tone.

“As expected…”

As expected, what?

“Joining our Hyunmu Team.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmph.”

I was beyond fed up…

‘Still, at least I seem to have dodged suspicion for now…’

“You said you were too scared to join the Deployment Rescue Unit, yet you had the guts to come here alone.”

“…….”

“Then… doesn’t that mean you could survive in Hyunmu Team too?”

Damn it.

Is this a threat? Like, ‘Join us if you don’t want to be suspected’?!

My mind was a mess.

But the moment he spoke again…

“Honestly, your fear might just be an illusion from overworking yourself on your first mission….”

I exploded.

“No, I’m scared to death! It’s seriously terrifying!!”

“…?!”

“But I have to endure it, don’t I?! I can’t just say I won’t do anything because I’m scared, I’m a rookie!”

If I don’t, I’ll die!!

“How could missing an arm NOT be terrifying?! I was scared something would go wrong, but I still pushed myself to come here!”

I practically spat out my words like I was coughing up blood.

Part of it was intentional, but all the pent-up frustration from working in this insane horror-infested pharmaceutical company suddenly erupted, and I genuinely felt wronged.

…Agent Choi had his mouth slightly open, staring at me.

“…S-Sorry?”

“…….”

“Alright, alright. Rookie, congratulations on your first trade, um… Right, the note! You should check the note. What do you think?”

“…Yes.”

I took a deep breath.

Still, it had been so long since I could speak this honestly, and in that sense… it felt a little refreshing.

After all this, he wouldn’t still try to drag me into the Deployment Rescue Unit, right…? Please.

“I’m sorry for yelling.”

“Nah, it’s fine. There’s no shortage of crazy people here. It’s nice to get some attention for three seconds.”

So it looked like I was doing something crazy. Got it….

I sighed.

“I don’t even remember the last time I yelled like this.”

“Oh dear, your place must have bad soundproofing.”

“No. I… don’t have a home right now.”

“…….”

“But I do want to go back.”

“I see.”

Whew.

I finally steadied my breath and unfolded the note in my hand.

‘For some reason, Agent Choi suddenly got quiet.’

Well, at least he’s not provoking me anymore, so that’s something.

I turned my attention back to the note.

The bloodstained scrap of paper I carefully unfolded with one hand…

had hastily scrawled writing in dried blood.

Look here

Something that empathy and draws attention

A toy exists

The paper was covered in dried blood, as if the letters themselves had bled out….

‘Ha.’

This is like something straight out of a horror movie. I wanted to just throw the note away, but then someone lent a hand.

“Hold on.”

Agent Choi smoothly took the note from my hand.

I deliberately didn’t stop him.

Agent Choi placed a strange dowsing-like tool on the paper and began his inspection.

‘That’s also an equipment issue from the Disaster Management Bureau.’

Locator Rod

A curved rod made of glass and brass.

It spins wildly when placed over an object originating from a horror phenomenon or something that acts as a catalyst for supernatural events.

But the Locator Rod showed no reaction to the bloodstained note I had bought.

“Hmm, no supernatural traces. Just an ordinary piece of paper. The message, though….”

Agent Choi chuckled lightly.

“It seems like it's luring people in through a ghost story.”

“Maybe.”

But I took the note from Agent Choi’s hand and carefully kept it.

“Oh~ But you’re keeping it?”

“Yes.”

I lowered my head slightly as if feeling embarrassed.

“There might really be a hidden distress call… so I wanted to take it and check it myself.”

“…….”

Agent Choi also didn’t ask why I wasn’t reporting this to the higher-ups.

The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau wasn’t the kind of organization that had the luxury to analyze a random note left behind by a suspicious individual who had been missing for five years.

There were countless horror cases causing deaths right now.

Even a newly recruited agent would know that ambiguous cases like this would be pushed down the priority list.

‘Agent Choi himself just said as much.’

However… I’ll try to steer this in another direction.

I hesitated for a moment before holding out the note.

“Uh, if you have the time, could you check it one more time…?”

“…!”

Honestly, once I memorized the content, I didn’t need the note itself.

And given its nature, there was no problem handing it over to an agent from the Disaster Management Bureau who could analyze supernatural phenomena.

“Alright. I’ll take a look at it too.”

“Ah, thank you…!”

I quickly handed over the paper. Hopefully, this would get me off the suspect list even a little.

After that, the atmosphere became a little more relaxed.

“It’s alright, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Thank you….”

Under Agent Choi’s watchful eye, I barely managed to get the item I wanted.

‘That was tough.’

Not just because I was being watched, but also because choosing an item itself was hard.

Because the items available here were mostly typical horror-world artifacts.

Which means they weren’t refined by corporations or filtered to ensure customer safety like the ones sold by aliens.

There were horrifying side effects.

That was the premise.

The surprising thing was that Agent Choi wasn’t just watching me, he was actually trying to help.

“This place is like Hanyang*. If you’re not careful, you’ll get robbed blind. Just watch and follow what your senior does….”

*TLN: Hanyang is the old name for Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Saying "This place is like Hanyang." basically means it's a chaotic, scheming, and cutthroat place—like, if you let your guard down for even a second, you'll get scammed right away.

…It didn’t always work out smoothly.

“…Someone already bought it.”

“…….”

“W-Well, it’s fine. The next one should be good too! On to the next hand~”

Still, as expected of a veteran, he knew the origins and specific side effects of items I didn’t, so I was able to make a more careful 'purchase.'

Yeah. That was all good, but…

‘He made me buy something he knew.’

In the end, he put my actions under his control.

Whether this was a sign of deep suspicion or genuine care… Even after following all of Choi's records in <Chronicles of Darkness Exploration>, I still couldn’t tell.

‘Of course, I did want to buy that item in the first place, so it was more like I let myself be guided….’

The scary part was that I probably would’ve bought it anyway, even if I had to grit my teeth and force myself.

I sighed, feeling the item in my pocket.

‘Phew.’

And just like that, Choi accompanied me until just before his time ran out, even seeing me off.

While shaking the scrap of paper I bought.

“So, I’ll check this note one more time and return it to you later?”

“Yes. Thank you….”

Honestly, there was no need to return it. I had already memorized it.

And in reality, there was no point in Choi checking it either.

Because….

That note wasn’t even related to a ghost story in the first place.

‘It’s a psychological trap.’

Since this was a market where supernatural entities traded, naturally, people would assume the note contained something supernatural.

But that wasn’t the case.

If I had to categorize it… yeah.

It was a ‘legacy.’

***

Let’s take another look at the note.

Look here

This refers to an actual, physical "here."

In other words, it’s indicating a specific location.

And if I read the next lines…

Something that empathy and draws attention

A toy exists

The grammar feels odd, and the context is missing.

It’s because this sentence was forcefully put together.

‘So, I need to break it down.’

That leaves me with…

Empathy and attention.

A toy exists.

Three words.

And if I have three words and a ‘place,’ that’s a perfect clue for deduction.

There’s a system called ‘what3words’ that uses three words to specify a 3m x 3m location.

‘If I input these words into it and search…’

A small location in Seoul’s old downtown immediately comes up.

And now, I’m standing right there.

“…….”

A set of words marks a slightly off-center spot between small commercial buildings.

And what’s there…

…is a manhole.

More precisely, an old manhole cover is propped up carelessly against the wall of an empty commercial space.

As if someone had deliberately leaned it there.

As if hinting at something.

“…….”

I pushed the manhole cover.

Creeeak.

Surprisingly, it moves more easily than I expected. And behind it…

There’s a staircase leading down into a semi-basement.

“…….”

A hidden place.

Why did the fingerless hand lead me here?

And why did it only accept items from the early days of Daydream Corporation as payment?

The answer was simple.

Because it was connected to Daydream Corporation.

"Haa…"

I descended the stairs completely and lifted my head.

[Dream Incubation Room]

Daydream Corporation’s Dream Essence Collector.

A long-forgotten prototype laboratory had now revealed itself before my eyes.