Chapter 5

What do you usually do when a new employee successfully completes their probationary period?

Normally, you hold a small celebration and give them a gift.

I never expected a conglomerate inside a horror story to do the same.

[Let’s see… Oh my! We have a whopping twenty-two employees completing their probation this time, everyone! Wow, I wonder what the HR department will think about this.]

I couldn’t care less.

And the new employees sitting beside me probably felt the same way.

[No, this really is an incredible record. Unless this is the result of a failure to adjust the difficulty, you people are an elite class. An elite class.]

Silence settled over the lecture hall.

The host cheerfully continued without a care.

[Then shall we pick the very best among our elite employees?]

[The top performer of this year’s new Field Exploration Team recruits! One of the people who completed the evaluation and escaped in the shortest time, and the person who received the highest overall evaluation score.]

The host raised a hand.

[Congratulations, Mr. Kim Sol-eum!]

Me?

[Mr. Kim Sol-eum?]

[The ceremony can’t end if you don’t come up to receive your gift~ So come on up!]

Was this for real?

‘Why….’

Either way, I stood up.

After all, I’d been trapped inside a horror story where failing to listen to the announcements meant death.

It would be stupid to hear an instruction like that and just sit there.

[Ah, it’s really reassuring to see you come right up. Someone who’s so quick at assessing the situation would probably be an incredibly capable employee in our department too, which makes me sad. So sad.]

He must have been a superior from another department.

For some reason, that made him seem even more irritating and ridiculous.

I walked up onto the stage and stood in front of the host.

[Now, go ahead and take your gift!]

What the host held out was an angular paper bag.

Inside the silver shopping bag bearing the logo of , I could briefly see what looked like a certificate of appointment and some kind of object before they disappeared from view.

[Don’t be too disappointed that we didn’t give you a special gift just because you’re the top performer.]

I wasn’t happy in the slightest.

I took the shopping bag, nodded my head, and was about to go back down without glaring at the host—

“Make sure you look carefully inside.”

What?

“What….”

[All right, let’s call up the next new employee!]

The host had already grabbed the microphone and was calling the next person.

As though we hadn’t exchanged a single private word.

“…….”

Hmm.

I didn’t waste any more time and went back down.

After that, Go Yeong-eun and the others from my train car also went up and received their gifts.

It didn’t mean much, but Baek Sa-heon was called after me.

“…….”

“…….”

He was still sitting beside me, but we didn’t exchange a single word.

More precisely, we didn’t even make eye contact.

Judging by the fact that he was still pressing his left eye, it seemed certain that he’d handed over the “lost item.”

‘He’ll go to a hospital on his own.’

[Next up. Kim Ji-won!]

The farther down the list they went, the more people appeared with strange clothing, odd gaits, or peculiar looks in their eyes before receiving their gifts.

‘Were they trapped inside the horror story for a long time…?’

At first glance, it seemed as though everyone had regained consciousness in the lecture hall at the same time.

But there had clearly been differences in how long each person took to escape from the horror story.

Then, when I imagined just how long some of them might have been trapped inside, a chill ran down my spine.

Still, at least they had escaped.

In that respect, they might have been better off than the other seventy-eight people.

[Everyone received their gifts, right?]

Eventually, the ceremony ended.

No one answered, but a strange mixture of tension and anticipation quietly filled the lecture hall.

The expectation that they might finally let us leave.

To be honest, I was waiting a little too.

I thought maybe this would finally be over.

But then—

[However… this company doesn’t hire every single person who completes their probation.]

“…?!”

[You see, people who happen to pass purely by luck do show up from time to time.]

No way.

[But Daydream Inc. is a company that never forgets the great social value of fairness.]

[Employees like that receive a major deduction in their absolute evaluation.]

The host didn’t do anything.

No clichéd snapping of his fingers.

No dramatic stare.

Not even something as simple as turning off the lights in the lecture hall.

And yet….

[As I said, we catch every single freeloader.]

People began to melt.

“……!”

Here and there, several people began to dissolve, their silhouettes seeming to collapse in on themselves.

There were no screams.

No movement.

‘Fuck!’

The person in front of me covered their mouth, desperately trying to suppress a scream.

I hurriedly turned my head away.

But I’d already seen it.

‘They’re gone.’

Half of the people who had been in our train car had disappeared.

Only me, Go Yeong-eun, Baek Sa-heon, and the new employee Baek Sa-heon had attacked remained.

“…….”

[Congratulations to the thirteen new employees who remain! You have all become permanent employees with excellent results!]

Not a single person applauded in celebration.

In the icy silence, one person could only stammer in panic.

“I quit. I quit… I’m resigning.”

But the host remained relaxed.

[Huh? You’re giving up such a great job? Come on, at least hear about the benefits before you decide.]

From behind me, Go Yeong-eun shouted as though she were about to vomit.

“Then if we hear about the benefits, can we resign afterward? Without any penalties?”

[Of course. Every single one of you can resign without even so much as a hair being harmed~]

The host’s words were smooth and overflowing with confidence.

And that’s when I realized.

‘Here it comes.’

The stick had already passed.

Now came the carrot.

…The benefits I knew about.

[Now, let me introduce our company’s representative employee benefit!]

The reason employees continued working for the Field Exploration Team even after going through something this insane immediately after joining the company.

[Employee Benefits]

Wish Ticket

Something appeared on the giant screen in the lecture hall.

A beautiful, elegantly curved crystal bottle.

Inside the bottle, a strange liquid shimmering in five different colors rippled gently.

Ripple.

Every color, every texture—even the ripples created by the liquid—was so beautiful and bizarre that it gave me an uncanny sense of wrongness.

Silence fell.

[Shall we take a closer look?]

The host pressed a button.

The projector screen rose, revealing a table hidden behind it.

And on the black table was the same multicolored bottle we’d seen on the screen.

“…!”

The liquid inside the bottle moved on its own, scattering beautiful light bright enough to illuminate the entire lecture hall.

That strange object, so beautiful that it made me wonder whether something like this could really exist in reality, was—

[You all joined our company knowing that it’s famous for being a pharmaceutical company with incredible results, right? Just imagine how advanced our technology must be if we can even make hair-loss medication.]

[But in reality, we have another flagship product… and this is it.]

The host steadied his trembling hands and put on a pair of white gloves.

Then he carefully picked up the crystal bottle from the table and held it out so the employees could see it more clearly.

[The name of this medicine is the ‘Wish Ticket.’]

[And its effect is… exactly what it sounds like. If you drink this medicine, any wish will come true.]

“……!”

[You don’t believe me? Well, there are enough of your seniors and superiors who took this medicine and had their wishes granted to fill an entire truck.]

[Let me give you a demonstration.]

The host tore open the package containing the medicine and… poured it straight into his mouth!

[Today happens to be the day I received my Wish Ticket. Haha!]

And at that moment, everyone in the lecture hall immediately understood what the host’s “wish” had been.

The instant he swallowed the Wish Ticket—

The host’s face, which had looked to be in his mid-to-late forties, rapidly became taut and youthful.

A rosy color returned to his complexion.

His body became firm, and his hair regained its luster and thickness.

Yes.

It came back.

The appearance he’d had in his youth, when he was at his strongest and still growing!

[Yippee!]

The host, now looking like a high school student, excitedly raised his fist into the air.

[How about that? Ahem. Simply put, rejuvenation!]

Even his voice had become younger and more youthful.

A stunned silence fell over the lecture hall for an entirely different reason than before.

It was the silence of agitation.

The host pointed toward the new employees in the lecture hall.

[Your department, the Field Exploration Team, always receives excellent performance evaluations. On average, you take that Wish Ticket in less than half the time employees in other departments do….]

[In fact, all ten people who received their Wish Tickets in the shortest periods were members of the Field Exploration Team!]

Gulp.

Somewhere in the room, I heard someone swallow.

Of course, it was all wordplay.

In reality, it was basically hazard pay.

‘Before those ten people who got it the fastest, dozens—hundreds—must have died on the job.’

It was a lure.

Something shiny and attractive on the outside, but ultimately worthless.

But….

‘People really have received it.’

It wasn’t a scam.

[Now, shall we take some questions… Oh, an employee!]

Someone among the new employees quietly raised a hand and asked in a rough voice.

“Can it bring a dead person back to life?”

It was a tall man with brown hair.

[Ah. You know how in stories like this, there’s always someone who says, ‘It’s the one wish that’s theoretically impossible’….]

[…Well, I bet that’s what you thought I was going to say!]

The host suddenly raised his hand high.

[The Wish Ticket will grant the user’s wish, no matter what.]

“…!”

[Of course, as long as you use the correct method. For detailed instructions, please refer to the Employee Mall.]

“…….”

The questioner fell silent again.

But the agitation among the new employees began to spread even more intensely.

The host didn’t miss the opportunity.

[As for the rest of the benefits, please check the information displayed on the screen and the guide included in your gift bag… So, shall we make our decisions now?]

Whoosh.

With a short sound, the back doors of the lecture hall suddenly swung open.

[Those who wish to decline employment may leave and collect the necessary paperwork from the desk.]

[But those of you who think, ‘Well, I got the job, so I might as well give it a try’….]

The host gestured.

[Put on the mask inside your gift bag.]

A mask?

Ah.

‘So this is when they hand them out.’

[People these days call it customization, don’t they? They say it lets you express your individuality perfectly.]

[Well… the ones you’re receiving now don’t have any special functions. That’s all there is to them.]

I gripped my smartphone.

There were too many eyes on me to check it right now, but if I could see the pages of Dark Exploration Records reconstructed by the ‘Memorial Grip,’ it would surely say something like this:

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

Dark Exploration Records / Daydream Inc.

/ Department

Trivia

Employees belonging to the Field Exploration Team wear masks while working outside the office, and these masks are apparently distributed after the new employee orientation.

According to Employee D, the mask theme is determined by the year the employee joined the company.

For example, an agent wearing an ant mask and an agent wearing a mantis mask are highly likely to have joined the company in the same year.

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

In other words, it was basically a symbol of the Field Exploration Team at Daydream Inc.

‘I can’t believe the day has come when I’m receiving one of these.’

I had complicated feelings about it, for many reasons.

Of course, about ninety percent of me wanted to run out of here right now, throw the mask on the floor, and scream that I was declining the job.

Please, just let me live.

‘But… even if I quit, this entire world is still a sewer.’

Those damn “Dark Phenomena” were already scattered everywhere.

I could easily become an extra in a horror story and have the rare experience of watching my life come to an abrupt end.

‘Ha…….’

So perhaps it would actually be safer to keep working as an employee—with company-issued equipment, a salary, and a final reward—while looking for a way to transfer to another department.

‘Besides, if I want to return to my original world, that “Wish Ticket” seems like the most promising method I have.’

There was no way a coward like me could survive indefinitely in this world.

I needed to find a way to escape from the world itself.

So if I were to choose the answer with the highest probability of success, as rationally and logically as possible….

‘I have to join the company.’

This was driving me insane, but there was no other option.

Damn it.

In the end, I swallowed my tears and opened the bag.

I reached inside to take out the mask.

But—

“……?”

Something came out along with it.

───

If necessary

010-0153-24865

───

A business card?

It looked as though the name and position had been whited out, with the message scribbled over them.

‘Did the host put this in?’

I looked around, but no one else seemed to have a business card attached to their mask.

‘I’ll deal with it later.’

I pulled the card off and put it inside the bag, then took out only the mask.

It had a smooth texture and a basic shape that looked like it would only cover the area above the nose.

The surprising thing was that everyone around me was already trying to put on their respective masks.

Every single one of them.

‘…After everything they’ve been through, not a single person is running away?’

There was only one possible variable.

The Wish Ticket.

‘Did they deliberately select only people who would be willing to stake their lives on the Wish Ticket?’

As I looked around the lecture hall, watching everyone silently put on their masks without a single person saying they wanted to quit, I felt an indescribable emotion.

Because I was going to join them too.

‘Can’t be helped.’

I brought my mask up to my face.

And then the shape of the mask really did change.

I felt it stretching and becoming more uneven against my cheeks and forehead….

“…….”

I ran my hands over it.

It was a vivid mask with horns sticking out of it and a strange pattern resembling the grain of wood.

Wait.

Wooden-looking horns?

‘…Antlers? A deer?’

It looked too strange to be a deer.

I looked around awkwardly while wearing the mask.

Go Yeong-eun, wearing a sheep-like mask, met my eyes and gave me an awkward expression.

There were also new employees in suits wearing all kinds of masks, from elephants to goats.

The sight was bizarre and eerie.

Appropriate, considering they were employees of a company that managed horror stories.

[Once again, congratulations on joining the company!]

Clap, clap, clap.

The PPT advanced, accompanied by a recording of applause.

[EMPLOYMENT CONFIRMED]

‘So this is how it turned out….’

Just as I was about to feel dizzy thinking about the work ahead, masks and everything else forgotten—

Suddenly, the notebook appeared in midair again.

“…!”

The same notebook that had previously spat out the ‘Memorial Grip’ merchandise for me.

[Dark Exploration Records Real Goods Box]

**—New merchandise usage permission unlocked! (!) **

Huh?