Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 229.1

Excavating Darkness.

Entering the endlessly repeating scenes of the Cheerful Research Institute deep beneath the main building to extract the Darkness hidden within.

Acquiring new ghost stories to harvest Dream Essence is one of the core operational processes of Daydream Inc.

However, by now, most of the Darkness from the Surface Levels of the Cheerful Research Institute has already been excavated.

So it has reached the stage where employees must be dispatched into the deep levels, which were dangerous, poorly understood, and riddled with anomalies…

“And so here you are, Mr. Employee! Hahaha, Special Division’s very own 130666!”

Yes, that’s right.

The employees of the Special Division were ghost stories bound to Daydream Inc. as employees, and they were the ones best suited for this task.

As of today, I am one of them.

A week of dutiful annex work had finally paid off.

“Though I hear you won’t have to go that deep today!”

Right.

This is my assignment for today.

Excavation of new Darknesses within the Surface Levels, at or below Basement Floor 30.

Kwak Jekang lowered his voice.

“Of course, if you’d like to go deeper, I’d welcome it wholeheartedly, Mr. Employee.”

“……”

If I kept descending, maybe I could even find the ruins of that strange Dream Incubation Chamber where I woke up…

Just the thought of it made my stomach churn, but I held it in.

‘After all, today I intend to show them I can work diligently.’

I need to lay the groundwork, mentally and environmentally.

Naturally, this is a solo assignment given only to Special Division employees, so there’s no need for the carrier crate either.

“Um, maybe I should… tag along……”

“Hmm? Who said you’d get that chance? This is a solo mission for Mr. Employee! Really now, a mere Guard Team grunt who’s barely even done a few underground expeditions…”

Request : Silence

“……”

Kwak Jekang shut his mouth.

The sergeant, as always, looked completely indifferent to that guy.

He seemed to only pick fights with Jay-ssi in particular.

‘Does he have some kind of personal beef with him?’

Now that I was clear-headed, I felt it even more strongly.

But… if the sergeant really was the same man recorded in the wiki, the one who was the B-squad leader…

‘Shouldn’t he be the one holding a grudge against the Research Team?’

What a peculiar power dynamic.

“Hm.”

But the sergeant was focused mainly on today’s expedition rather than Kwak Jekang, and he seemed deep in thought, as if debating a course of action.

Beside him, Supervisor Park Minseong was also watching me with a worried expression.

Both of them were probably wondering if someone like me who’s in this abnormal state should really be entering such a dangerous level of Darkness alone.

‘……’

I secretly drew words in smoke where Kwak Jekang couldn’t see.

In the same tone that Kim Soleum would speak.

I’m clear-headed now.

“…!”

Don’t worry. I’ll be careful and return safely, Jay-ssi.

And.

Supervisor Badger.

“……”

The smoke dispersed, but Supervisor Park Minseong stayed silent for a moment.

Then his voice came, soft and heavy.

“…Um. Alright, be safe.”

“Take care…”

Still bound, I was escorted out of the isolation room to be transferred to the main building.

To the elevator.

* * *

Ding-dong.

I boarded the elevator.

It wasn’t the ground-level elevator in the main building I’d used to escape the isolation room.

This was an elevator that descended deep underground.

The same one I’d taken once before, dressed in Guard Team gear, when the sergeant and I entered the ghost story of Sangun-nim.

But unlike back then, there were no supplies.

Only the well-organized briefing in my head, compiled by Kwak Jekang and handed to me in a folder…

Like the <Dark Exploration Records> wiki.

Main Building Underground Exploration Log : Cheerful Research Institute

This particular Darkness is classified as a Special Management Type and can only be accessed via a dedicated elevator leading underground from the main building.

Its appearance and ■■ have been confirmed to almost exactly match the interior of a certain facility once called the Cheerful Research Institute, and it has been designated by the same name.

Though standard-sized emergency stairwells can be found inside, there are no records of anyone returning to the surface through those passages. Keep this in mind during exploration.

The appearance of the Cheerful Research Institute on each underground floor is nearly identical in structure, but displays increasingly bizarre anomalies the deeper one goes.

Basement Floor 1~29 are considered the Surface Levels; Basement Floor 30~59 are the Middle Levels; Basement Floor 60 and below are the Deep Levels.

And so, it begins.

Basement Floor 2~9 – The Office in Vacation Season

Ding-dong.

The elevator doors opened on Basement Floor 9, revealing the sight of the ‘Cheerful Research Institute’…

A brightly lit hallway with a calm atmosphere.

It looked like an ordinary office space, nothing you’d expect in an underground facility.

From behind the frosted office windows came occasional sounds of scribbling or quiet conversation, but for the most part, silence. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

In the corresponding Surface Levels, the Cheerful Research Institute maintains a typically quiet and composed atmosphere.

A significant number of office personnel are presumed absent from their workstations, and there is little to no observable activity.

Risk Level : Minimal

Most of the Darkness here had already been excavated.

This wasn’t my destination today.

Instead of stepping out to walk the office hallways, I turned around inside the elevator.

And pressed it.

The call button for the elevator was located immediately to the left.

On the dedicated elevator in the company’s main building, floors are labeled only until Basement Floor 9. Levels numbered with two digits or higher may occasionally be displayed, but pressing those buttons is not recommended.

The official exploration procedure is to exit at the lowest floor normally displayed on the elevator panel and then transfer to the elevator on the left.

On this left-hand elevator, buttons leading further underground from that level are highly likely to appear. In most cases, ten levels are displayed.

Press the appropriate button to proceed with the exploration.

[Let’s go. Downward-ho! To strike gold, oh, I feel like singing a miner’s song! Like Snow White’s dwarves…]

Salt Goblin

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