Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 222.1

[Oh, fascinating. That man in the footage from the 2000s, who once had no way of leaving its confines, can now visit home offices thousands of miles away even after closing the editing room…]

[Editors of the 21st century have unintentionally extended him an invitation.]

My blood went cold.

Or rather, if I had a human body, that’s how I’d describe it.

I was in the crate, carried in the hands of the two Field Exploration Team employees who were now sprinting out of the broadcasting station in panic.

One of them was already on the line with the company’s Security Team.

This wasn’t so much a rescue request as it was a report of a catastrophic, uncontrollable incident.

The fatal spread of the ghost story.

[…What?]

The Guard Team sergeant immediately grasped the severity of the situation as soon as they heard.

[Hold on… Stay where you are for a moment.]

Then they ended the call to contact the company in more detail.

Meanwhile, I was thinking.

How could the anomaly be contained, when it now resides in perhaps dozens of personal storage devices, and might even be on the cloud?

But… that was not something a small group could handle.

It would require the power of a large, coordinated force.

However, remaining still and simply waiting for the company’s response is not the duty of a contracted employee…… No, rather, time is too tight to sit idly by and wait solely for the company’s decisive action.

The ‘man in the screen’ had already been provoked once during the isolation procedure in the editing room.

At worst, the stage leading to full catastrophe had now accelerated.

First, immediate action.

Contact the client

“Yes!”

While Lee Seonghae was also reporting to the Field Exploration Team, Kang Yihak snatched up her phone and got the PD on the line.

Hello. Sorry to call so suddenly, but I have something I need to ask you.

“…! Hello. Sorry to call so suddenly, but I have this thing I need to ask you……”

Kang Yihak glanced at the black smoke for confirmation, reading the words obediently.

“Right now, are there any staff members from PBS’s Variety Department currently working from home or in their personal studios on editing sessions? Specifically, episodes ending in 6, the ones where the ‘Man in the Screen’ would appear.”

Especially around this time of the day.

“Anyone working on the episodes right now is a top priority.”

– Of course there’s bound to be someone. But, uh, why do you—

Please get in touch with them.

This is an urgent matter.

– …Ah, yes.

The PD’s voice was reluctant, but soon he seemed to realize the gravity of the situation and what he had hired them for.

He hurriedly started messaging and calling around in a panic.

And soon.

– …Why isn’t she answering?

……

A flustered voice, frantic typing.

– Huh? Wait. Hold on. I mean, I tried calling her but…… …Why won’t she pick up?”

“PD-nim, please listen to me carefully.”

It’s too late.

Sensing the chill in the PD’s voice, Kang Yihak quickly cut in.

“PD-nim, immediately remove every file ending in ‘6’ from the shared cloud storage your department uses. Delete them if possible.”

And.

“Make absolutely sure to pass this on to everyone editing footage in the Variety Department. From this moment on, do not touch any episodes ending in 6. If anyone currently has them open…”

She read the words formed in smoke as if water was flowing, her voice quick.

“Tell them to deliberately avoid looking at the ‘Man in the Screen’, and not to attempt deletion either.”

– …What exactly is going on right now—

“We’ll explain everything later. Even just talking about this puts you at risk. Your department made a grave mistake. A severe miscalculation.”

Though she’d never been instructed to, Kang Yihak smoothly shifted the blame onto the Variety Department.

“…Huu. Still, since you hired us, we’ll try our best to contain this on our end. First, give us the address of the person who’s gone silent.”

The terrified PD immediately gave the address to the Field Exploration Team.

It was an officetel in Seoul, 20 minutes away.

As we sped toward it in a hastily hailed taxi, Lee Seonghae whispered to me through the carrier.

“The chances that she’s already called the police… probably high, right?”

Tap, tap.

A wisp of smoke slipped out of the case.

Difficulty in assessment

Reason : Psychological factors

Humans always want to believe stay optimistic in times like these.

Calling the police meant something far beyond mere supernatural fear. It signified that something truly ‘serious’ had happened.

Because of that, there was a high chance that whoever was involved would wait it out, at least for a while.

And then, after a few minutes, they finally reached their first destination.

As they stepped into the elevator…

Beep.

“…!”

It was the Security Team.

The Field Exploration Team member urgently grabbed the radio, but…

[We’ve already sent a support request… but I don’t know exactly when it’ll come through…]

A response typical of Daydream Inc. came back.

[Upper management… well, they’re delaying the decision…]

“…!”

[Hooh, seems they don’t want to spend the money it would take to clean this up. Crass, but very on-brand for a capitalist corporation.]

Lee Seonghae’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Then… could we at least have the Security Team member assigned to ‘Mr. Employee’ accompany us?”

[The Security Team… can’t leave company grounds during the day on their own. We’d need equipment for that.]

“……”

[However.]

The sergeant’s voice sharpened.

[…Because of my assignment, I’m wearing gear that allows me to leave during the day. So… if the situation calls for it, if deployment is necessary… hmm.]

“…!”

[Hey… that employee you’re carrying in the crate… isn’t he hard to control? He seems like he would be…]

Salt Goblin

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