Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 220.1

The mood of the post plunged chillingly, straight down.

<Hot Talk Talk Midyear Special Episode> had been hastily put together after a blackout had erased the footage.

Episode 166.

With the episode patched together from highlight reels of earlier broadcasts, the images attached on the post from that episode showed assorted shots of panelists and audience members.

And…

There was no need now for circles or zoom-ins.

Because by this point, anyone reading the post already remembered the man’s face.

Black eyes.

Smiling mouth.

Amid the cheerful scenes of old talk-show variety programs where everyone else laughed and chattered, the man alone stared at the camera, among dozens of others.

Episodes 157, 158, 160, 162, 164…

All of these episodes were spliced together and aired as episode 166.

Lurking in the corners of lively variety shows.

========================

Back then, this man had never been discovered in those episodes. Otherwise, there would never have been talk of him appearing in episodes with the number 6.

But once they were re-edited and aired as episode 166, he was shown to the forefront.

Before, he definitely wasn’t there, or at least he hadn’t been found… but now, the man was present.

And compare this.

========================

Two photos, side by side.

A red-circled zoom-in of ‘the man in the screen’ captured earlier.

And a zoom-in from episode 166.

When the two identical camera angles were compared…

========================

His expression had changed.

========================

Only in episode 166 did the man start grinning with all his teeth bared.

And the pupils of those black eyes staring into the camera seemed eerily dilated…

The grainy photo exuded an uncanny dread.

========================

They said this was the expression he wore in every highlight shot.

========================

Chills down the spine.

Realizing this was no ordinary matter, the broadcasting station’s staff began to take measures on their own.

========================

They started checking people much more carefully before entry, regardless of whether the set was indoors or outdoors.

Panelists, audience members, anyone.

To see if someone resembled ‘the man in the screen’.

It was the 2000s. Back then, they hadn’t gone to such lengths to verify people’s identities.

So this level of stringency stood out, and rumors spread among celebrities filming and the on-site staff.

It seems that was when the captures of ‘the man in the screen’ also began to circulate.

All sorts of stories spread. That he was a PD who died in a broadcast accident, the son of a former director who took his own life, a construction worker who died during renovations, or that an occult horror special had summoned something strange…

But nothing was ever proven to be true.

Rituals, exorcisms, it didn’t matter. The phenomenon never vanished.

He kept being found…

========================

And so in the end, the production crew changed their method of response.

========================

So how did they handle it after that?

They just kept deleting him.

Once the final edit was ready, the editors would run the footage again and again, searching for the man.

If he was there, they cut him out.

That way, he stopped appearing in the broadcast… And gradually, the ghost story was forgotten. Since the man no longer appeared, interest faded, maybe?

Occasional captures claiming ‘the man in the screen has returned’ turned out to be other people with a similar look, ending up more like explanations than rumors.

And so the uproar came to a close.

That’s how I knew it, up until now…

But recently, I heard a chilling story from a friend who’s a TV writer.

This is too long, so I’ll bring it up in the next part.

========================

And then.

“……And now, that man’s appearing here again.”

Barely swallowing his saliva, the PD spoke with a pale face before Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, who had just finished recalling ‘Reference 1’.

A look of terror.

“You mean ‘the man in the screen’?”

“Yes……”

The bizarre, terrifying phenomenon once seen in the now-defunct station was now reappearing in the Entertainment Department of the modern-day MBS channel.

“We’re doing our best to delete or avoid it… but we realized this isn’t something ordinary, so we agreed to call in professionals.”

The two Field Exploration Team employees had, all at once, become exorcism experts. Yet, true to their naturally steady temperaments, they maintained a calm demeanor.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.

“Whether it’s a ritual or whatever, just please make sure that man stops appearing. If possible, I’d prefer it resolved peacefully…”

“Yes. Don’t worry!”

Once collected by the company, the entity would no longer appear in this broadcasting station anyway.

Lee Seonghae smiled lightly as she recalled it.

Countermeasure for ‘The Man in the Screen’.

The subject Darkness is currently estimated at C to D-class, showing the typical characteristics of a supernatural phenomena manifesting in video media.

If not observed : Appears with increased frequency.

If observed : Appears in more aggressive forms.

– Management procedure (provisional) : Regulate the entity’s anomalous appearance frequency and aggression, endure until the optimal time, then place the video data in a storage medium that does not allow automatic playback, and return it to a proper containment location.

Failure may result in death.

Surprisingly, the proposed countermeasures in the documents were well-prepared.

It was nearly a clear manual in itself. Though, as always, there was the caveat that none of it had yet been verified.

‘If things go well, maybe Mr. Employee can even rest!’

It would be best to call him only at the very end.

“Th, Then, I’ll guide you inside.”

“Yes!”

The PD led them into the editing room.

No Entry

Under Construction

The door opened.

Creaaak.

Contrary to the sign posted, a perfectly intact, empty, and dark editing room lay within.

All screens were off, all equipment powered down.

“The sign’s just to keep others out. As for editing… Only urgent work that absolutely requires the equipment in here is done, and only during the day. Otherwise, we try to do it outside, either in other studios or remotely from home.”

This was a modern solution that hadn’t been possible at the old, defunct broadcasting station.

These days, editing software and equipment specs have become standardized and widely accessible, making it possible.

Inside the editing room, with no one present, the air felt cold, stagnant, as though weighed down…

“Hmmm…”

Then Kang Yihak, studying the room carefully, spoke up again.

“Golly… This isn’t your run-of-the-mill attachment.”

“…!”

She clicked her tongue and said gravely,

“Ah, this is… ha, it seems dangerous.”

“……”

“At this rate, we’ll need more time than originally planned, and far more preparation in advance.”

“H-How long will it take?”

Looking solemnly at the PD, Kang Yihak declared,

“Congratulations.”

“…Pardon?”

“You’re very lucky. The fact that you’re here is thanks to this most sacred artifact we’ve gone to great trouble to bring.”

Tak.

She gestured lightly toward the transport case.

“You’ll be able to skip preparation time entirely. This is… not just an extra fee level, but something we’d normally draft up an entirely new compensation estimate for.”

“Ah,”

She looked at him reassuringly.

“But this time, we’ll just do it for you.”

“…!”

Because you’re busy people. Because you’re people who bring laughter to the nation. Even if we’ll be suffering a loss, we’ll endure it this time…

The dazzling rhetoric hit the PD’s already frayed nerves, shaken by fatigue and fear. His dazed expression slowly settled into a nod.

“Th, Thank you.”

“Haha, please keep making good shows for us. …However.”

Kang Yihak frowned.

“We’ll need to remain in this editing room for three days. No one is allowed to enter.”

“Yes!” 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“And since the schedule has to be extended like this… we’ll unavoidably have to charge for it. There’s no helping it.”

Her patter flowed on with, ‘As you can see, it’s hard for our kind of business to register formally, so payment can only be taken in cash or goods.’ And in the end, the PD ran downstairs to the first floor of the station to withdraw money.

He even removed the gold accessories he was wearing and handed them over. Kang Yihak accepted them gratefully, reassured him not to worry, and sent him off.

“Now, you can rest easy and sleep!”

“Thank you…”

Salt Goblin

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