Chapter 345

The moment the rooftop access door opened, stabbing sunlight poured into my eyes.

And the instant my vision adjusted, I saw the Se-gwang City Hall rooftop beneath a chillingly clear blue sky.

...The floor was covered in a strange grayish-white substance, like a membrane.

Like the shell of a cocoon.

But it shimmered with iridescent colors.

...An egg.

I remembered the footage Reporter Eun Haje’s group had taken.

That bizarre shape, swelling atop the very top of city hall.

It looked like it had “swollen” all the way down onto the rooftop floor.

"......"

Straining not to let my hands shake, I slid my hand into my pocket and carefully pulled out a bundle of convenience store receipts.

Then I threw them.

Tap.

The receipts rolled across the cocoon-like surface of the rooftop floor, bumped into the railing, and fell over the edge.

And naturally, the city spread out beyond that....

"Don’t look."

"......"

Forcing down the tension that bristled up my spine, I turned my head back toward the rooftop.

...In the center of the rooftop, all by itself, there was a single machine.

The dream incubator.

Around the base of that massive machine, toy fragments and a researcher’s lab coat, glasses, and clothes were strewn like trash.

And in front of it, something stood upright.

A silhouette about the size of a person.

Covered in cloth.

"......"

I stepped forward carefully.

I felt a strangely soft give underfoot, and....

I walked forward.

[Bold, aren’t you, friend!]

When I reached the dream incubator—

I reached out... and yanked the cloth off the silhouette.

"......!"

I met eyes drawn in a retro cartoon style.

It wasn’t a person.

A Daydream Inc. character.

It was a life-size standee panel of a yellow dragon character.

That flat panel, printed with a retro comic-style yellow dragon, stood grotesquely beside the dream incubator, and in the blank space next to it, a single blue button was attached with an explanation.

CLICK

-> A congratulatory message from Yongyong has been recorded.

(You’ll get different content every time you press it!)

"......"

A sense of wrongness swelled into dread.

"Should I press it?"

"...No."

Swallowing, I raised my hand and pressed the button myself.

A cheerful voice spilled out through a low-quality recording.

"Hello, Pleasant Research Institute researchers!

I’m a commemorative panel produced by Director Cheongdallae of Daydream Inc. to celebrate the Pleasant Research Institute’s experiment this time.

It’s a great honor for me, Yongyong, to be present at the key experiment site for achieving your research goal.

You must be waiting for the results, so I hope I can help ease your boredom for a moment!

...But to be honest, I also came for company promotion. Daydream Inc. is launching a new product line, so please support us!"

That childlike voice, distorted and crackling, echoed across the empty rooftop.

If a researcher had pressed it while waiting for the results, they would’ve burst out laughing....

Now, only this panel remained, standing alone.

"......"

I pressed the button again.

"Daydream Inc. and the Pleasant Research Institute have been in an active cooperative relationship from the start.

Under Director Cheong’s direction, Daydream has worked hard—rah-rah!—to supply the dreamscape solution needed for the Pleasant Research Institute’s experiments.

Because Director Cheong was deeply moved by the Pleasant Research Institute’s meaningful research goal.

‘A safe world without anomalous phenomena’! What an amazing catchphrase.

Did you know?

If that catchphrase comes true, it means Daydream Inc. goes bankrupt."

"...!"

The recording ended.

With trembling fingers, I pressed the button again.

"Ha ha ha! Just kidding!

Daydream Inc. has respected the Pleasant Research Institute’s catchphrase and cooperated up to now.

And this cooperation will continue going forward... won’t it?

It might change direction a little, though!

So, for today’s memorable and decisive experiment, Director Cheong prepared a surprise gift for a very long time....

A gift that will reduce your workload.

Curious?

......

Look at the dream incubator."

My head turned reflexively. My eyes began raking over the rooftop dream incubator.

On the incubator’s surface... there were bloodstains like claw marks.

"Director Cheong put a small music box inside the incubator tank.

As a commemoration.

The moment your invitation succeeds, the arriving existence will hear the music box.

The problem is, if you hear this music box melody three times, you go insane."

"...!"

"Ah, it’s about time the invitation would have succeeded.

I set the music box to autoplay, so in five minutes, it’ll all be over.

The timer is running!

In just five minutes, your grand plan to cultivate a resident inside the tank will end in an unfortunate accident—oh? You’re going to open the incubator?

Oh dear. Yesterday I changed the screw-lock system. It’s in a state where you can’t open it with the method you normally use.

If you don’t plan to give up, still... hmm, maybe you could force it open?"

The incubator was covered in countless desperate traces.

Traces so blatant and chilling, like they’d struggled to tear it open until the very end.

"Right now, you’re probably trying your hardest to open it. Good luck! You must be sprinting up and down the stairs, working hard to bring strong toys.

But....

Huh?

Something feels... kind of weird, doesn’t it?"

"......"

"Huh? Wait a second, something weird is happening at the rooftop experiment site, isn’t it?

All of a sudden, the researchers’ bodies are turning into toy parts here and there, right? The mysterious toys you brought to open the tank aren’t working, right?

If you’re curious why... ah, the recording length is up! Press the button again."

Thud!

I slammed the button, almost like I was striking it.

"You pressed it again.

First, congratulations!

You’ve achieved your goal right now.

A ‘world without anomalous phenomena’ is arriving centered on this city hall!"

"...!!"

"How is that possible?

I forgot to tell you the music box’s name! It’s....

It’s called the ‘Angel’s Sigh’ music box."

"......"

Wait.

I’d heard that name somewhere.

That was, that was....

...Mermaid Grave!

The conch-shell item you could find in the glittering underwater palace’s underside—where everything had been wiped out by a biological disaster.

That item’s name was Angel’s Sigh.

And I’d heard that melody in the Se-gwang Special City subway, too.

-‘Angel’s Sigh’ tape recording. ‘Listen to heaven’s auspicious melody at a reasonable price.’

From a slot machine prize at Body Casino Station.

"......"

Something I couldn’t tell was shivers or shock crawled up my spine, icy and sharp.

Don’t tell me the humming from the people who got the disaster alerts....

Was it... that melody...?

"Don’t worry. The function of that music box melody has already been thoroughly verified in a deep-sea city!

This melody parasitizes people and gives them vitality and regenerative power, but if you overuse it, the parasite eventually eats the person. Because it wasn’t a melody meant for humans.

And it spreads in every direction—mentally and physically!

A perfect function for making a world, right?"

I clenched my fist tight.

"What a wonderful thing!

Your research goal has been achieved, right? ‘The arrival of a world without anomalous phenomena’!

Of course, one urban legend spread widely in the process... but anyway, since there are no other urban legends, we can call it a remarkable accomplishment.

You needed an attempt with this kind of drive.

Because compared to your grand goal, this experiment was far too passive and sluggish!

Summoning just one ‘resident of a place without anomalous phenomena.’

Studying ‘worldbuilding using that resident as material.’

Too slow.

Too vague.

Director Cheong dislikes both directions.

So Director Cheong personally put other measures in place.

He says he’ll accept your thanks later!

He’ll probably say something like this."

I heard Director Cheong’s voice....

“Something to be grateful for. I accomplished your slogan for you.”

“However, Daydream Inc. is a company that pursues profit, so it’s only right that our company has a stake in that slogan.”

"And that’s what will happen.

To the catchphrase ‘a safe world without anomalous phenomena,’ I’ll efficiently add just one short phrase.

......

‘Except me.’"

"......!"

"‘A safe world without anomalous phenomena, except me!’

Eliminating competitors is the most preferred monopoly market in corporate life."

Insane.

This is insane....

"Unfortunately, the Pleasant Research Institute may disappear from the world now.

But our cooperation will continue. Your dream incubator will be faithfully utilized in producing Daydream Inc.’s new product line, and it will generate enormous profit.

Think of it as Daydream Inc. cleaning up after you—after your lack of drive and your unrealistic mess!

And....

Do you know why I’m explaining all this to you?"

"...!"

I got up.

Creak.

A sound came from the rooftop door on the opposite side.

"That you spent all your time listening to this and came all the way here means it’s already too late.

You’ve either already turned into useless toys, or you’re inside me. In the flames.

Ahahahahahah....."

I smashed the panel.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...."

With a few loud bangs, the panel crumpled—and the laughter crumpled with it, crackling and warping into a twisted, eerie sound... then cut out.

"...Huff."

The moment I sucked in a breath—

Creeeeak.

"......"

The rooftop door on the opposite side twisted as it opened.

Ah.

The swollen cocoon floor had forced its way through the door gap until the door finally warped and opened....

Beyond it, I couldn’t see a person.

But....

I could hear the clear sound of a music box.

"......!!"

Gloomy yet pure, and somehow warm....

Damn it.

I clapped my hands over my ears and staggered back.

But it didn’t block it properlythe music box sound coming through the gap of that open rooftop door was pleasantit grew louderI walked closer....

Someone grabbed my shoulder.

"Agent."

"...!"

"Let’s go back."

I turned and ran like I’d lost my mind.

The moment I cleared the rooftop, I heard the silhouette behind me slam the emergency stairwell door shut.

Thud!

The music box sound vanished.

As I ran like I was fleeing, I shoved the berries Hoyuwon had given me into my mouth and chewed them.

It’s fine.

I wasn’t ensnared yet. I—I barely managed not to bite my tongue as I forced my mouth open.

"The fox marble you were looking for, huff—"

"It... wasn’t there."

There wasn’t even time to feel despair. No—after that, there wasn’t even time to speak.

We just sprinted like maniacs, trying to get off the surface.

Down,

Further down!

[We’re almost there. We’ll reach the institute soon, Mr. Noru!]

Yeah. First, we just had to get out of this insane building where a “world without anomalous phenomena” had arrived in a twisted way....

......

Brown.

[Friend?]

My feet couldn’t stop.

But I couldn’t stop this question from surging up inside me, either.

So I thought as I ran.

This was a place where urban legends were disappearing.

Then how was Brown....

How are you... still talking?

[Oh my, of course I can stay by your side and offer advice here and there, friend. A one-sided trial of the environment can no longer separate us.]

[Isn’t it truly moving?]

There was an exaggerated sound, like wiping the screen with a handkerchief through tears....

That cheerful sound made my heart sink instead.

Creak, creak.

Th-this sound... how is it even audible?

In a place where an urban legend can’t exist...?

[Oh, but this Brown happened to have a similar question as well. Shall I ask it? You are affirming it! Excellent, then... one question.]

[How is Mr. Noru still sane.]

......

What?

[Of course, ‘sane’ is not by Brown’s standard but by the friend’s standard. Shall we go one layer deeper with the same meaning?]

[You’ve already heard quite a lot of that music box sound, haven’t you? Yet my friend asserts that he is not contaminated!]

That’s... that’s because I have a countermeasure.

Because I kept eating the berries the Counseling Teacher—Hoyuwon—gave me.

[Hm. I see. Then tell me.]

[How do those berries have any effect?]

......

......!!

[Isn’t that, too, an ‘anomalous phenomenon’ as defined by the group Mr. Noru belongs to?]

[The one who made them is barely keeping up appearances by relying on the identity of ‘counselor’ that my friend bestowed—yet you expect such things to have efficacy?]

It was a precise point.

......

What is this?

Why am I...

Able to resist?

"Agent!"

"...!"

I snapped to a stop and came back to myself.

[B3]

We’d arrived. The Pleasant Research Institute door was right in front of me.

I grabbed the handle at once.

No time to sink into thoughts. We had to get out to the subway—

Ah.

The handle was hot.

"......Counselor."

I spoke quietly.

"The fire has probably spread inside."

"......"

"Get on my back."

"I’m fin—"

"Now!"

We had to go.

I took off my jacket and, over that—and over the normal sleeves I was wearing—I splashed almost all the remaining water from the backpack.

Then I tossed it behind me.

"Cover your head with it. Make sure the wet cloth covers your airway! I won’t look back."

"......"

Thankfully, I heard the sound of cloth being pulled into place. Letting out a breath of relief, I hoisted him onto my back.

The strangely weightless feeling was gone, but he was still light for an adult man.

As if there were places missing.

"...I’m opening it."

Trying hard not to focus on that sensation, I opened the door.

Heat blasted into my nose.

"......"

Flames were burning in places all over the Pleasant Research Institute core floor.

But I could see the route.

I can make it.

With my water-soaked sleeve covering {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} my mouth, I sprinted inside before the smoke thickened.

Huff—short breaths sounded from above my shoulder and from my own mouth. As fast as I could—careful of the ceiling and walls, especially—I ran, avoiding smoke.

I can do it.

We can get out.

The office, stripped of its mystery, wasn’t that long. I ran the distance.

Four meters,

Three meters,

Two meters,

One meter....

My hand grabbed the doorknob.

I yanked it open hard.

Whoosh—the musty air of the subway hit my nose. Corpse stench or not, the important thing was we’d escaped the inferno together....