I nearly forgot to shake his hand for a moment.
Baek Saheon?
'He's a named character.'
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Daydream Inc.
/ Characters
Baek Saheon
: An employee of Daydream Inc. in <
Dark Exploration Records
>
Final rank – Section Chief
Total number of Exploration Records – 106
Of these,
17
are special cases recorded in the wiki.
Nickname : Viper.
========================
He was an employee who had appeared multiple times in <Dark Exploration Records>.
I looked up and stared at the man with the somewhat timid-looking curly hair, letting out a small sigh.
'This guy… is Baek Saheon?'
He doesn't really match the image in my head.
Still, it felt strange to meet someone in real life who I had only seen as a text-based character in a ghost story universe.
Meanwhile, the short-haired woman who had first mentioned ghost stories extended her hand as well.
"Given the situation, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Go Yeongeun."
It was a name I'd never heard before. And if I don't know a character's real name, it means one of two things:
Either she left early after handling the ghost stories relatively easily…
Or she died right away.
'Damn it…'
Sometimes, named employees only appear with nicknames or code names, but in those cases, their personalities are so distinct that you can identify them immediately.
This feels unsettling. I quickly pushed those thoughts aside and hid my discomfort.
"I'm Kim Soleum."
The handshakes were brief, and we naturally sat down in the subway seats to continue our conversation.
In the meantime, it felt like the people around us had started to split into groups.
"Ah, those people… it looks like they're trying to communicate with the front car somehow?"
"Seems so."
In this ghost story, moving between subway cars is prohibited.
As expected, they soon gave up trying to communicate and returned, using hand gestures to signal their failure.
"What should we do? We can't communicate with the front car at all. And it looks like there's a fight breaking out up there…"
As the tension and anxiety among the passengers grew, another station announcement played.
But this time, the atmosphere of the keyword was different.
[This stop is Euphoria, Euphoria Station.]
"Huh?"
The murmuring crowd suddenly fell silent.
"Euphoria?"
"Doesn't 'euphoria' sound kind of… positive? Maybe…"
No.
'You can't make such a simple judgment here…!'
I gritted my teeth as I recalled the Exploration Records I had just read.
In this ghost story, the station names change every time it appears.
That's why it's impossible to find a specific phrase or station like 'get off at this station' or 'this station is the answer' in the previous cases to guarantee an escape.
'But you can identify trends.'
Like this.
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
/ Welcome to Abyss Transpo
3.2 Exploration Records
(up to 56 entries)
1- Stations named after
colors
like red, yellow, blue.
: Two-person escape success (Attempt : Blue Station)
2- Stations named after
body parts
like left arm, cornea, heart.
: No recorded escape success (Attempt : Cochlea Station)
3- Stations named after
serial killers
like ■■, ■■■■, ■■■.
: Twelve-person escape success (Attempt : ■■■■ Station)
4- Stations named after
years
like 2008, 2012, 2016.
: No recorded escape success (Attempt : 2024 Station)
5- Stations named after
illnesses
like asthma, stroke, glaucoma.
: Three-person escape success (Attempt : Cold Station)
[Read More]
========================
See?
Even after 56 cases, there's no connection between the station's positive name and the likelihood of escape.
But people were about to get off en masse at Euphoria Station.
[The doors are on your left…]
The scenery of the platform that greeted us was bright and pleasant, adding to the problem.
'Damn it.'
The platform looked clean and bright, like a brand-new station in a newly developed city.
I could feel the mood of the people shifting in that direction.
"Ah…!"
"Sh-should we get off and look for help? This place actually looks fine…"
The excited crowd started to gather near the doors, peeking out.
No way!
'The number of people in my group!'
And my mental state after witnessing this!
'Damn it.'
In the end, I ran and blocked the doors again.
"……!"
"W-what's going on?"
"Please wait."
[The doors are opening.]
"Are you certain?"
"What…?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I mean, are
you
sure this place is safe? Or at least have a solid theory?"
I deliberately averted my gaze.
"I think most of us can agree that this situation feels like a ghost story."
Go Yeongeun, who had caught everyone's attention with my words, looked startled but didn't retract her statement.
[The doors will close in 30 seconds. Once closed, they will never open again.]
"But whether in ghost stories or horror movies, have you ever seen good things happen when you rely solely on luck or a hunch?"
"…Well, no, but—"
"Can you really risk your life without a solid deduction or theory?"
The anxious people paused for a moment, then someone shouted in frustration.
"Well, do
you
have some amazing deductions?"
"This guy's been spouting nonsense since the start…"
"Oh, just move already! What deduction? What is this, some kind of quiz show? Did someone give you a hint or something?"
"Yes."
"……?"
"I am giving you a hint."
I took a breath.
Then I raised my hand, pointing upward.
At the subway's electronic display, where the speaker was located.
"I'm talking about the announcements."
– Please pay attention to the announcements for a pleasant journey to your destination.
From the beginning, the subway announcements had kindly informed us of this.
"Haven't they been telling us to listen to and follow the announcements all along? They're being very obvious."
With that in mind, I added as I heard the next announcement.
[Passengers whose destination is Euphoria Station should disembark according to the announcement.]
"Is there anyone here whose destination is Euphoria Station?"
"……"
"……"
The people froze.
"Well, it sounds like a good thing, right?"
"Euphoria, like, living life to the fullest, that's the goal of life, right…"
"So, is your
destination
Euphoria Station?"
"……"
"……"
It seemed like most of them sensed something was off.
But a few people started to get angry with me.
"Hey, do we have any real 'destination' right now? Why are you butting in like you know everything, when you don't either?"
"If we can't get off and escape because of you, are you going to take responsibility? Will you take responsibility?"
Take responsibility?
"Yes."
"……!"
"Wh-what…?"
"I will take responsibility."
That's an easy question.
'I was planning to escape together with them anyway.'
If they get off here, it's a guaranteed wrong answer, after all. So, there's no way my answer could be worse than that.
But since they didn't expect my response, they stood there with their mouths open, frozen in their places.
