Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

“……!”

Something’s wrong.

Something’s definitely wrong.

Why did I end up here?

“No.”

Calm down. Calm down. I definitely wished to be returned to where I was the day before I joined, so why am I here. Wait. No, no it’s not.

“This isn’t the same place!”

It’s different!

Yes. The lab had the same structure, but it wasn’t the same. The silhouette was strangely different.

Other machines and documents were visible. Even cassette tapes and empty reagent bottles. And computers, too…

‘There’s no dust on the computers.’

…Strange.

I staggered and turned my head. I needed a hint, any hint.

And then I found it.

An experiment log.

“……”

Soaked in blood and filth, all records meticulously erased, only the phrase ‘We fell for it’ frantically repeated.

It was there, right next to the shattered glass tube of the Dream Incubator.

Just like how I had found it last time in the Dream Incubation Chamber.

“……”

I walked closer.

The old paper wasn’t soaked with blood and filth this time, but was browned as if scorched.

With trembling hands, I turned the pages.

There were charred spots, but I could read them.

From the very first page’s title.

Ireum-nim Invitation Research

I drew in a breath.

Research Objective : Verification for ……’s existence

…incarnation and contract of an external entity into the present world.

The subtitle of this research took the name of a god worshipped by a certain cult group that had recently emerged, stemming from prior research.

This would be Cheerful Research Institute’s final project.

My heart pounded with dread.

I flipped the pages frantically.

Countless experiment records filled the pages.

Because none of this was registered in any database, the format was inconsistent, and there were several experimenters.

All sorts of attempts and preparations.

Failure, Dream Incubator #21 discarded.

Failure, failure.

Horrible materials of unknown nature and extreme methods, half-erased, remained.

Things that were created, summoned, then discarded.

And then.

Success.

Some meaningful result was achieved.

Experiment #316

Essence volume : 1200L

Materials: Qterw-A-4…’s …dragon, ……-…326, human blood, ……, and 13 other synthetic elements.

Successfully awakened Ireum-nim’s mind within the glass tube.

Contract failed. Form collapsed within the essence.

Suspected cause : Insufficient essence. Will adjust variables based on this research.

And then it became more refined.

Experiment #322

Essence volume : 2300L

The awakened Ireum-nim screamed inside the glass tube while and after …… ……… lost all vital signs.

After recognizing the mutation of its own bodily tissue, it rejected the combined materials, resulting in lumped collapse.

A request was made to adjust the material ratios to prepare a medium more closely reflecting Ireum-nim’s exact appearance.

Currently confirming Darknesses related to shapeshifting.

My hands shook.

Ominous speculations swirled through my mind.

The experiments continued, the conditions becoming more and more specific.

The currently confirmed requirements for invitation and contract are as follows :

1- Preservation of Ireum-nim’s original identity.

2- Erasure of previous emotional attachments.

3- Provision of a survival goal.

4- Removal of all sense of incongruity.

It is believed that these requirements can be fulfilled through a powerful binding, and various methods are currently being proposed.

And then…

An existing invention from Cheerful Research Institute is mentioned.

It is now a discontinued invention, designed to partially imbue a doll with the presence of a being from the reverse world, so that it may serve a supportive role to the contractor.

A limited version is currently distributed as a souvenir in a certain board game, and this

That thing.

product is called ‘Good Friend’.

“……”

I barely managed to turn the next page.

The final experiment record.

Experiment #444

Essence volume : 39,999L

Materials : Same as #443.

Result : Success.

Utilizing the ritual used in the discontinued invention, Ireum-nim was successfully and fully invited.

…… have been imbued. Stabilized.

As soon as the subject awakens, it will be separated from the Dream Essence and a simple interview will be conducted.

The page ends there.

But.

“……”

When I turned the last page, I saw a torn sheet of paper wedged in.

It looked like it had been crushed and balled up in a hurry, then someone else had carefully smoothed it out and put it back in the experiment log.

And scrawled over it was more writing.

The previously neat handwriting was now completely destroyed.

Daydream found out. They burst in. It was another trick. Before Ireum-nim could be taken, I spirited them away and hid them in the place with the most humans.

Please

The writing abruptly and unnaturally ends there.

And under the words ‘place with the most humans’, someone had underlined it heavily and, in a different hand, written another note.

New employee orientation?

As if deducing from the note.

“……”

It can’t be.

My mind rejected it.

But the conclusion was already clear.

No. There wasn’t even anything left to guess.

It was too obvious.

In answer to my wish, ‘Please send me back to where I was the day before I joined Daydream Inc.’—

I had awakened inside this shattered Dream Incubator.

So, that means.

I…

I was the research subject of this experiment log.