I am currently walking up the stairs in a nightmare school with a Disaster Management Bureau agent.

…...While dragging him like a prisoner after restraining him.

For reference, I used the item he handed me to backstab him and restrain him.

“…….”

This is a mess.

'This won’t do.'

I think I might have crossed a line here.

By tomorrow, I might end up on the Disaster Management Bureau's blacklist and could even be requisitioned by the Scale of Evil.

The company might protect me, but I don’t want to deal with the insane situation of owing a debt to Daydream Inc.…!

'I have to somehow improve my image.'

The cold sweat on my back hasn’t dried in days….

I spoke seriously for now.

"If you swear not to scream, I’ll remove the gag. Just nod your head."

The agent’s eyes, which had been glaring as if to kill, softened.

And then, very calmly, he gave a slight nod.

'...He’s lying, isn’t he.'

If he’s going to lie, at least make it less obvious…!

In the end, I sighed and spoke.

"I have no intention of harming you, deceiving you, or stealing the Bureau’s information to report it to my company."

"……."

"And… while making that statement, I didn’t feel any pain."

“…!”

"I know that the caramel you gave me is a truth serum used for torture."

The agent’s pupils trembled.

"Of course, I don’t think you had any malicious intent. It’s just…"

I gazed into the air with a slightly melancholy expression.

"Even though I didn’t go out of my way to tell you I work for Daydream Inc., I want to convey that I had no intention of lying…."

Strictly speaking, that’s a lie.

If it came to that, I planned to inject painkillers rocket-delivered from the alien shop and spout survival lies.

As expected, an uncomfortable pain started rising from within.

'Ugh.'

It felt like my insides were twisting painfully, as if I had a stomach ulcer.

But here, maintaining my composure was key.

'I can endure this much without showing it now.'

The stronger the malice or intent behind a lie, the more intense the pain.

What I just said was closer to evasion, so it probably wouldn’t even reach Level 1.

Endure it.

'Next….'

Trust.

At the same time, I discreetly removed a small silver badge from my pocket with one hand and slightly hid my expression.

Then, I blatantly showed the item, 'Silver Heart,' to the agent.

"I’m saying this without relying on effects like this."

“…….”

"I’ll say it again… If you swear not to scream, I’ll remove the gag. Just nod your head."

A trace of indescribable conflict lingered in the agent’s gaze.

And by the time we reached the stair landing.

He gave a very slight nod.

“…….”

Without a word, I removed the gag.

The agent, as promised, didn’t cause a commotion.

'Hmm.'

Good. Next step.

I returned the confiscated flashlight and pistol to his hands.

And I loosened the restraints on his arms.

"This is…"

"In a situation this urgent, you’ll need to protect yourself."

'That pistol is nearly useless against anything other than ghosts or supernatural phenomena anyway.'

If the target is a villain, the bullets might work, but no matter how I thought about it, neither I nor Jang Heo-un seemed to fit that standard of evil.

'Jang Heo-un… There haven’t been any rumors of him doing anything crazy over the past three months.'

However, I didn’t release the restraints, as the agent couldn’t be allowed to escape before my charm offensive was complete.

I added a plausible excuse to that.

"This place is too dangerous for you to escape alone, so I’ll keep you restrained until your rational judgment returns."

“…….”

By the time we cautiously reached the top of the stairs, carefully watching all directions.

Suddenly, the agent asked.

"Is Roe Deer your alias?"

“…….”

"You operate in teams, don’t you? And call each other by nicknames based on your masks."

"…That’s correct."

"Are you the team leader?"

"No, I’m just a rookie. And this guy… he’s my colleague."

I smiled somewhat bitterly, took out my half-mask from my pocket, and put it on my face.

Then, a familiar texture, like bark with protruding horns, covered my skin.

The agent looked at me with a somewhat shocked expression.

And then, Jang Heo-un’s subdued voice was heard.

"…I’m sorry, Mr. Roe Deer. For trying to help me……."

"It’s fine. You must have been very startled."

Compared to Baek Saheon, who was trying to screw me over, honestly, I’d already prepared for situations like this ever since I started pretending to be a temporary agent….

Moreover, Jang Heo-un even went as far as to make excuses for me to the agent.

"Mr. Roe  is truly kind and a good person. Even when we first met, he risked his life to save me from the darkness……."

"I-it’s not to that extent."

Nice shot!

"It’s just… we helped each other. Trying to survive together in the darkness."

"Mr. Roe Deer……."

“…….”

The agent kept silent, his expression growing more complex.

But let’s take comfort in the fact that he didn’t try to bash my head in with the handle of the small pistol.

"…Entering the 4th floor."

And then, we climbed up to the floor.

[4F]

“…….”

We arrived, but….

'This is nerve-wracking.'

This ghost story starts to become even more twisted from the 4th floor onward.

First, even if a student dies, there’s no announcement.

It’s incredibly dark.

Sizzle…

Most of the lights were already broken, and of the few remaining ones, most were flickering.

And the bigger problem is….

“…!!”

"Huff,"

Dozens of students were standing in the hallway.

And they were already staring straight at us.

'Ha.'

Those students, lined up on either side of the dark school hallway like mannequins.

The entities on the 4th floor were all 3rd-year students, and in every exploration round on this floor, over 100 entities had been confirmed.

Just hearing that makes you think, ‘So we’re just meant to die, huh?’

But.

"…It’s fine."

The agent gave us information in a stiff voice.

"They cannot leave their positions."

Right.

The 4th floor is truly bizarre. We can’t actually witness those 'students' moving, but we can still see that their positions change, right?

But the students on the 4th floor can’t move.

It feels like their feet are stuck to the classroom floor.

-Recorded during the 9th exploration record

Since they don’t lunge and just stand still, you’re fine as long as you don’t enter the radius of a student’s territory.

If you need to approach, you have to keep staring at them to freeze their movements.

'The problem is that it’s so dark, it’s easy to lose sight of them.'

And they were very… very cunning.

They often tried to catch you off guard with psychological tactics.

'...Hmm.'

So that’s how it is.

After confirming that Jang Heo-un had attached a name tag he acquired from a student at this school to his blazer, I spoke seriously.

"Then let’s investigate the 4th floor very carefully and slowly."

There were no objections.

We entered through the gaps between the students.

***

'Phew.'

Jang Heo-un swallowed his saliva.

The feeling was truly strange.

Passing so close that the sleeves of the 'students’ uniforms nearly brushed against him, trembling all the while.

But he gritted his teeth.

'I have to be helpful.'

It was because he felt like he had ruined this exploration for his grateful colleague, Kim Sol-eum.

What was he trying to achieve by accompanying the agent?

'He must have been aiming for a high score… a clear, right?'

But according to the manual, the longer you survive here and the more name tags you collect, the higher the concentration of the liquid in the Dream Collector tends to become….

Was it because it was too dangerous? Kim Sol-eum didn’t even glance at the name tags on the students on the 4th floor.

'…I don’t know.'

Jang Heo-un decided not to judge unnecessarily.

Relying on his intellect wasn’t a good habit, after all.

He just focused intently on the approaching students.

Especially when entering areas where the lights were broken or flickering, he persistently shone his flashlight.

Step, step.

"Mr. Bison, please watch the rear."

"Yes."

His voice trembled slightly.

Jang Heo-un walked backward, keeping an eye on the rear.

From the spot they had passed, dozens of students were seen turning their heads this way, reaching out their hands….

"I see the music room over there. Let’s push on just to there."

He moves his feet.

Soon, they came to an area with no lights at all.

'Phew.'

In the suffocating darkness, a few students stood still, eerily staring at them.

It was the moment they pushed forward, shining their flashlights through the gaps.

Blink.

Somewhere, a light blinked. It seemed like a blackout….

'Huh?'

Wait a minute.

Something was off.

'How could a light blink when there are no lamps?'

And Jang Heo-un realized it a step too late.

It wasn’t a blackout.

The blinking was….

Someone’s flashlight ahead of them.

Just now, someone failed to maintain visibility.

“…!”

Jang Heo-un almost turned around, but a calm voice stopped him first.

"Don’t look back."

"You…!"

"First, we have to… keep walking."

Kim Sol-eum’s voice was mixed with panting.

And then….

The smell of iron.

Drip, drip….

In Jang Heo-un’s backward-stepping view, at some point, red liquid began dripping onto the floor.

He couldn’t see properly while watching the students, but his shoes felt slippery underneath.

And then,

Jang Heo-un saw a student’s hand extending from the middle of the hallway, almost brushing against his waist.

It was stained red, dripping with blood.

Jang Heo-un held back his nausea.

"R-Roe Deer…!"

When he barely managed to get through the students and looked back.

Kim Sol-eum was clutching his stomach with a face as pale as a sheet.

And the flashlight in his hand flickered once more.

He smiled with his pale face.

"…The battery,"

-Effective lighting time: 60 minutes

That’s right.

Emergency flashlights didn’t have very long usage times.

'Ah…!'

Both had brought emergency flashlights as spares for emergencies but hadn’t thought to check the usage time of the other’s flashlight…!

"Hold on a moment… ugh."

"D-don’t speak!"

While holding back his nausea, Jang Heo-un tried to support Kim Sol-eum somehow. The agent reflexively joined in.

In this way, the Daydream Inc. employee and the Disaster Management Bureau agent urgently carried one person into the classroom.

Even there, a few students were peeking in. They carefully placed the person down in an area out of the students’ reach.

And Kim Sol-eum, sitting down, pressed on his wound and spoke.

"You two."

“…….”

"Leave me behind."

The man wearing the horned mask covered his wound and forced a faint smile.

"Ah, wait a moment."

Kim Sol-eum stretched out the hand not holding his stomach and completely removed the agent’s restraints.

"I almost forgot. Now, if you leave…"

The agent ignored him, rummaged through his pocket, and stuffed a spare name tag into Kim Sol-eum’s pocket.

But….

"You don’t need to give it to me. Don’t you have a use for it?"

"……."

"Go on. There must be others on this floor. If you join them, ugh, you’ll be fine."

Kim Sol-eum slightly frowned but quickly relaxed his expression.

"Honestly, even if I die like this, it won’t be a big problem for me working at the company. The company would probably be satisfied with this much…."

"That damned company!"

The agent clenched his fist tightly.

"Why do you people believe in such a ridiculous and disgusting organization?!"

It was as if his reverse scale had been touched.

"Do you really think that a company that values human lives so little will truly grant your wishes?"

“…!”

Jang Heo-un looked at the agent in shock.

The agent gritted his teeth and spoke.

"I know you’re working for the wish token. Do you really believe in that absurd illusion? That a magical potion can grant any wish?"

Kim Sol-eum quietly looked up at the agent.

"It grants them."

“…….”

"If the wish token were a lie, this system couldn’t be sustained. Once you obtain it, any wish is granted."

"…Hah."

The agent sighed as if exasperated to the point of madness, then spoke as though reciting a long-held argument.

"Think about it. Let’s say someone wishes for world peace, and another for the extinction of humanity. How can both contradictory wishes be granted?"

Jang Heo-un, wearing the bison mask, flinched.

However, Kim Sol-eum remained calm.

"From the perspective of the one making the wish, yes. It gets fulfilled."

"What… does that…"

"The wish token isn’t used to change the world; it’s an item that omnipotently fulfills personal wishes."

What on earth does that mean?

It sounded like a cultish theory of salvation.

However, Kim Sol-eum’s demeanor wasn’t that of religious fanaticism but rather the resignation of someone who had inductively verified the situation multiple times….

The agent looked at him with a confused expression, but Kim Sol-eum simply shrugged.

"Anyway, it seems this is as far as I go."

“…!”

Underneath the hand pressing his stomach, blood gushed out.

The bleeding wasn’t stopping at all.

Kim Sol-eum handed the name tag back to the Agent Bronze.

The agent gritted his teeth.

"Even if you keep being dragged here every new moon and giving up name tags, that company will never help you."

"Maybe so."

Kim Sol-eum tried to shrug again, but perhaps due to the pain, he slightly winced while smiling.

"Still, the Disaster Management Bureau will eventually end this darkness… I mean, this calamity. And then I’ll finally be free."

“……!!”

The agent looked at Kim Sol-eum as if he had been struck.

"You two should go. If you keep looking back like this, it could be dangerous."

Kim Sol-eum lifted his head and shone his emergency flashlight, which was still working, outside the classroom.

"While you’re leaving, I’ll watch ahead as much as I can."

“…….”

"And, Mr. Bison is just a rookie and hasn’t done anything wrong, so I’d appreciate it if you could stay with him safely for a while."

"Mr. Roe Deer…."

The agent hesitated.

But in the end, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and walked away with his flashlight.

"Follow me."

Jang Heo-un hesitated but eventually made up his mind.

'Even if I stay by his side, there’s nothing I can do for him….'

Perhaps disappearing quickly would be easier for Kim Sol-eum.

But he couldn’t just leave, so he secretly slipped something into Kim Sol-eum’s pocket.

"Mr. Roe Deer, this… is my spare name tag."

“…!”

"Thanks to you, I’ve lived a bit longer… I have no one else to save. It’s not much, but even just one… thank you."

And without waiting for a response, he followed the agent.

Unable to bring himself to look back.

“…….”

As promised, Kim Sol-eum briefly watched as the agent and Jang Heo-un left.

And then….

'It’s done!'

As soon as they turned the corner and disappeared, he quickly took out an item he had prepared from his pocket.

A single piece of candy wrapped in plastic.

The warmth of those days,

Magical candy!

A red, yellow, and white old-fashioned candy, nestled inside its nostalgic wrapper.

Nostalgia Candy

An emergency recovery item purchased by Kim Sol-eum.

With bloodied hands, he unwrapped it and put it in his mouth, rolling it around.

Then, changes began to occur.

“…!”

The wounds on his body began to close.

The spilled blood was reabsorbed, and broken bones naturally reconnected to their original form.

As if time were rewinding.

When rolling the candy in his mouth.

The revival of old memories!

While the candy melts in the mouth, it fixes the user’s body and mind to their healthiest state from the past ten years.

'Since it’s just a dream, this temporary measure is more than enough.'

His condition improved drastically, and his mind became clear.

His thoughts spun rapidly.

'It worked…!'

Kim Sol-eum let out a sigh of relief.

His gamble had paid off perfectly.

The most effective method to use in this situation.

'As expected, a death-retirement.'

He had barely managed to seize the opportunity to pursue both exploration freedom and image renewal simultaneously.

'I was so nervous about missing the timing for the emergency flashlight to go out.'

He dusted himself off, stood up, and let out another deep sigh of relief.

His heart was pounding.

A mix of relief and fear.

'…Alright.'

Now he knew what to do.

Kim Sol-eum got up, checked the newly formed tattoo, and retrieved a spare powerful flashlight from it, gripping it in his hand.

After taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the classroom and onto the dark 4th-floor hallway alone.