Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 222.3

……

No.

I cannot make that decision.

[Hm? …Ah, I see.]

[You mean you can’t send him to a talk show because he’s company property, correct? The employment contract that mortgages your time and judgment must state that quite clearly.]

That’s right.

I cannot take any action that would clearly cause loss to the company.

Even more so if the task was explicitly ordered as work.

Even if I found a loophole, getting caught would only lead to harsher restrictions…

……

[Oh, it’s fine, Friend! Cheer up.]

[Constraints are essential for good content, don’t you think? What matters is that we’ve met like this and are experiencing something fun once again!]

It isn’t fun.

[Oh my! Doubting yourself again. No worries. Your mental pillar, your companion in adventure, your soul’s entertainer is right beside you!]

……

Let’s go with that.

For now, I had to focus on the next task.

I tore my gaze from the eyeless corpse and pressed down the strange throb in my heart.

Then, the moment I began to communicate through smoke.

Beep.

“…!”

The Security Team.

The voice came through immediately from the radio pressed by the sergeant.

[Sergeant.]

It was Badger. Supervisor Park Minseong’s voice.

[Over there, Ro… 130666, is safe, right?]

“Yeah…”

[Huu… Thank goodness.]

His tone quickly shifted back into the professional, courteous voice typical of the Security Team.

[The company has finalized a response plan. I’ll connect you now.]

“…!”

All eyes from the Field Exploration Team turned to the radio.

The crackling static gave way to the sound of a phone being connected somewhere…

And then, a voice came through.

It wasn’t Kwak Jekang’s.

—Hello.

……!

—It’s been a long time since we last spoke like this, hasn’t it? Not since you signed that contract. The news has reached all the way up here, you see.

…A woman’s calm, deep voice.

Director Cheong.

—I’ve been hearing good things about your recent work. Seems you’ve adjusted quite well… Hm. Aside from that anomaly, this case was clean.

“Who…”

“…Director Cheong.”

Gasp.

—The other employees also did their part quite well.

“Hahaha, thank you!”

Kang Yihak quickly replied politely, but Director Cheong continued speaking as if she hadn’t heard.

—I read the report that this could lead to large-scale civilian casualties. Seems it’s become quite a powerful Darkness.

The choice of words confirmed my suspicion.

‘……’

“Mr. Employee?”

Then.

I formed words with smoke and showed them to the sergeant.

“……”

His eyes narrowed.

Perhaps because he already knew, given his position.

“…Hmm.”

Tap, tap. The sergeant tapped the carrier lightly as if patting it, then read my words to Director Cheong over the phone.

“130666 is asking…”

Question :

‘The Man in the Screen’

Registration status as a Darkness in the past

“If this phenomenon wasn’t originally one the company already had in its possession…”

“…!!”

The memories, have they returned?

The conversation I’d had with the sergeant in the Dream Incubation Chamber of the Cheerful Research Institute.

– What do you mean by disposing of Darknesses?

– I mean… even if someone clears it, if Essence can’t be extracted from it anymore… they throw it out…

The company manual was unnervingly clear.

This was a phenomenon that had abruptly vanished in the 2000s.

Yet now, it reappeared suddenly.

When a Darkness loses its supernatural presence, Dream Essence can no longer be harvested from it.

In such cases, after the deletion procedure of its registration number, it’s discarded, although some are recycled through research or recharge processes.

One keyword stands out.

Recycling.

“They… deliberately released this into the civilian sector again… to ‘restore its supernatural presence’. So it could start producing Dream Essence again…”

The sergeant likely knew.

He would have been in the Field Exploration Team when this ghost story was first registered as a Darkness.

And with that knowledge, the redacted portions of today’s work documents took on new meaning.

Refer to ■■Record #C16548.

Refer to Disposal Record #C16548.

Daydream Inc. had intentionally reintroduced this disposed ghost story into the broadcasting station.

To let it thrive until it could once again be harvested.

“……”

—You’re well-informed.

“……!”

—We merely took the phenomenon already in place, managed it for a time, and returned it.

—No one’s lost anything. Of course, this is production know-how that must never leave the company, so everyone who’s heard this, keep it to yourselves.

Lee Seonghae’s tense breathing was audible.

Director Cheong’s calm voice continued.

—That will be all for now.

……

“Huh?”

—I’m telling you to return.

“Will the Security Team be dispatched?”

—Of course not.

What?

—Why should my company waste valuable manpower and resources on a civilian disturbance?

Director Cheong spoke calmly.

—Why use a tiger-hunting blade to butcher a chicken? It’s cumbersome, wasteful, and… I detest that.

—The cleanup will be handled by the organization meant to handle cleanup.

……Organization?

—Yes. The very one funded by taxes for that purpose. And if you pay taxes, you should make use of what you’ve paid for.

—Being swayed by emotion and spouting personal opinions on company matters is something only a fledgling like Director Ho would do.

Director Ho.

The agency that Director Ho held a grudge against…

—Conveniently, this works out perfectly.

—That foolish bureau will follow the report trail and resolve the supernatural disaster. All the while unaware that our company has secured the only original copy of the ghost story.

……

—You should hurry back.

I lifted my head.

—It’s been a while since the report was filed with the Disaster Management Bureau… They’ll be showing up any moment.

From somewhere…

A bell began to ring.

Salt Goblin

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