As if the silence that settled inside the elevator was dragging it down heavily, the space descends.
Downwards.
A distant abyss.
To the 96th basement floor.
"…You pressed it?"
That's right.
Suddenly, I chose the option to head into the distant abyss of ghost stories, into a deep core that couldn't be measured.
…It would be a lie if I said I didn't hesitate.
I'm not yet confident I can face the dream incubator I came from and regain my sanity.
But….
'In other words, I'm not afraid of anything else.'
Right now, I'm in a state where I can't feel fear.
As Brown said, if my emotions, like my reason, will gradually recover, then from then on, I'll tremble with fear every time I explore the Pleasant Research Institute in the Main Building's basement.
'It might be better to grasp what I can before then.'
It's a kind of preventive injection.
[Ah, it's an effect that removes fear through repetition. A classic and proven learning method….]
[However, there's a completely unexpected variable beside you.]
Huwon.
[That too is part of the charm of live broadcasting, but if it's bothersome, why not just leave it be? If you need the host's help, I'll lend a hand!]
....
No, for now, I will take him with me.
[Hmm?]
'I'm bothered by the employee ID card hanging around his neck.'
Huwon's Pleasant Research Institute employee ID card hanging around his neck.
I glanced at it again.
Surprisingly, I had already seen an object of the same form.
It was the key card of the deceased employee in the dream incubator room in the basement where the prototype incubator was located.
Pleasant Researcher
■■■
Where the part labeled 'Pleasant' was roughly erased with a pen. It was used to operate the incubator.
It's probably still inserted in that incubator…. unless someone else took it out.
'…Even so, I don't know if I'll be able to retrieve it.'
In any case, it wouldn't hurt to observe exactly what role him wearing that employee ID card plays in this Pleasant Research Institute ghost story.
Huwon, who met my gaze, lost the look of momentary surprise from me pressing the button without hesitation and is smiling again.
His face is still completely burst open.
"You surprised me. Mr. Noru, you're brave."
....
"With as much courage as you have, you'll explore well, right? I'll diligently follow you."
He's a truly annoying bastard.
I ignored his words.
The elevator, descending at a chilling speed, finally reaches its destination.
Basement 96th floor.
Ding dong, the door opens with the same cheerful notification sound….
And.
A peaceful corridor came into view.
"...."
From the offices, occasional laughter or the cheerful sound of typing can be heard… but that's all.
It's as if we've returned to the 2nd basement floor, a perfectly normal sight.
Which makes it even stranger.
It shouldn't be like this.
"Mr. Noru?"
....
"Mr. Noru, aren't you getting off? It's just a normal office corridor… Surely, you're scared? If you're very scared, cover your eyes. I'll gently push you…."
Warning 1
Reason: Obstruction of Duty (Intentional)
Cumulative Warnings: 1 / Disciplinary Action in: 2
"What? I was only trying to help… I'm truly sad."
Sigh.
"And I'm worried if you can even properly execute disciplinary action. You failed earlier…."
Proof of successful disciplinary action execution
: Confirmation of own left face
Only then did he quiet down.
'Please just shut your mouth….'
Why is he like that even with half his face burst open?
Regardless, I stepped forward, paying attention to the dust on the floor and the presence near the office doors.
Exiting the elevator.
Thump, thump.
I muffled my footsteps as much as possible. Even without fear, I have vigilance.
I enveloped myself in smoke.
'There's definitely something.'
I walked slowly to the end of the corridor.
....
However, on the peaceful corridor of the Pleasant Research Institute, bathed in sunset light… there was nothing unusual.
Just a quiet office corridor.
"It's really strange…. isn't it?"
I grabbed the doorknob of the office with the least presence.
"Ah. Shall we go into that office? But inside, perhaps…."
A music box sound is heard.
Huwon and I turned our heads simultaneously. But no one spoke. Instead, a wide-open door is visible at the far end next to the elevator… An emergency exit. Beneath the emergency light, something is emerging into the corridor from the dark emergency stairs, devoid of windows…. Fire. Flames are pouring from the emergency stairs into the office.
"…!!"
A loud alarm begins to ring in the corridor. And the doors of all the offices open.
"Ah."
I immediately pressed myself against the wall. Huwon followed, pressing his back tightly against the corner.
Numerous presences pour out of the offices. The residents of the Pleasant Research Institute, invisible to explorers.
[Oh dear, the basic safety rule in case of fire is to escape via the stairs. But…]
[This time, that place is a passage to death!]
That's right.
I can feel the vibration of footsteps created by those who can no longer reach the emergency exit. Panic, fear, chaos…. Some seem to be desperately trying to open windows, as the window frames creak, while others bravely rush into the restroom, as if to fetch water, operating the faucets. But the majority make the instinctive choice.
[Oh, they've run for the elevator!]
Ding dong.
The elevator door opens, and the sound of bodies colliding roughly inside the elevator is heard. The elevator's announcement, heard along with the warning chime.
-The capacity has been exceeded. The capacity has been exceeded….
Where will that go, I wonder.
No, it's a scene where I'm not sure if it can even depart safely.
The doors cannot close.
Even without seeing it, I can imagine it. The researchers of the Pleasant Research Institute crowding to get into the elevator, getting caught in the doors, the warning chime sounding due to exceeding the weight. Them slowly suffocating or burning to death in front of it.
And….
Soon, I realize I don't need to imagine.
Thump.
It started with one. But as time passes, it increases exponentially. Two, five, eight, fifteen…. The dead researchers of the Pleasant Research Institute. They begin to appear, filling the elevator and the corridor.
'The dead are…. judged as objects.'
And the bodies of the 'Pleasant Research Institute entities,' which were recorded as objects of fear and dread that caused disappearances upon mere contact and were recorded as unknown entities in the explorer logs…. They looked like ordinary people. Broken fingernails scratching the elevator door, disheveled hair, the sight of them falling in the corridor and burning to death while trying to block the other's airway with their gowns. Until the very last person. Until death.
"Mr. Noru."
....
"Can you see it? You can see it."
Huwon furrowed his brows and smiled with apparent pity.
"It's truly unfortunate. Isn't it?"
....
"But congratulations. You chose a good floor. It will be much easier to navigate the 96th floor now."
I realized I had regained one more emotion. Revulsion. My body, no longer affected by toxic gas and high heat, stood still and endured that revulsion…. Together with the equally unharmed teacher from the Fox Counseling Room.
Sizzle.
The sprinklers activate belatedly. Strangely, black water poured down. The smell of fresh blood's iron and a fishy odor came from within. The flames in the corridor, hit by the black water, subsided slightly, and the burnt office door fell into the corridor. The smoke lessened slightly.
"Cough."
A cough was heard from Huwon. It sounded as if it were meant to be heard, but if you turn your head, you can see that not a single strand of his hair is burnt. Unbelievable normalcy for someone who inhaled toxic gas and was in the flames.
I asked the ghost story.
Question: Sounds made by those evacuating.
"Well. I'm sorry, but my hearing is bad…. And I think they're all dead already."
....
Warning 2
Reason: Lack of Cooperation
Cumulative Warnings: 2 / Disciplinary Action in: 1
"You're too much…."
Do as you please.
I detached myself from the wall and stepped into the Pleasant Research Institute incident.
Squelch.
…A crushing sound is heard from beneath the wet corridor.
[Phew, my friend's foot touching such a dirty floor.]
It doesn't matter. I'm not scared.
'Where should I start?'
I looked at the burning Pleasant Research Institute, its windows shattered, walls burnt, revealing the bare interior of the offices. The view was open, almost like a single space. So, it immediately caught my eye. The locked door over there, the transparent cylindrical device beyond the collapsed and broken right wall…. A dream incubator. There's a dream incubator here. I, I, I, I, I have to check it? I think so, but it's hard because my body is inside the incubator.
"Mr. Noru."
Noru?
"It doesn't seem like the incubator you were cultivated in, Mr. Noru."
....
Ah.
"It's broken."
I staggered and straightened my body. By now, I was almost collapsing onto the floor. Huwon, who was wiping the ash from his hair and tidying his clothes beside me, kindly bowed his head and offered me his hand.
"You've sat down. You seem to have a lot on your mind."
I stood up without taking his hand. Huwon looked at me with a seemingly disappointed expression, but I already knew he didn't feel such emotions. Instead, he looked at the flames remaining in the corridor, which were slowly starting to spread again, and asked.
"Ah. Are you perhaps worried that those flames might spread to other floors via the elevator?"
....
Negation.
No.
I've never worried about that.
Each floor isn't connected in the first place. Because….
Reason: Separate Timelines
"…!"
Yes. Do you remember? The Pleasant Research Institute has completely identical structures on each floor. To the extent that even the marks on the walls match. This is something the Security Chief also mentioned, and there was a conjecture from the Security Chief heard at that time….
-The same office…. The structure and even the scratches are the same, so it's the same place, but… little by little… the timeline… seems different?
"Ah, you knew that much?"
No,
In fact, it didn't stop there….
Based on this testimony, I also formed a hypothesis before entering.
[Indeed!]
If these basement floors are all projecting different timelines of the same space.
And if that space was part of the Pleasant Research Institute.
Then, it's not just that the scenery becomes more bizarre the further down you go….
'The deeper I go, the more crucial moments of the Pleasant Research Institute will appear.'
[Hoho.]
Because a tendency can be seen.
First, the lower floors.
'The Pleasant Research Institute here has few people, or it's a time outside of work hours.'
Lunchtime, vacation season, after work.
'But the further down you go, the more work-related keywords emerge.'
Entering the middle floors, the nuance appears. Congratulations, discussion…. And the number of people shows an increasing trend.
Then, what about deeper down, the core?
Looking at the tendency, the answer is visible.
'More intense moments related to work will appear.'
The core work incidents that occurred at the Pleasant Research Institute.
Then, we can make such a conjecture about this situation as well.
[This fire is a very important incident related to the work of that toy store…]
[Is that what you want to say, friend?]
That's right.
And don't we already know too much about the work of the Pleasant Research Institute?
'Development of playful ghost story products.'
It was strange for such a place to be like this due to a normal fire.
Therefore, this fire might not be natural, but caused by a ghost story itself. An incident so significant that it determined the fate of the Pleasant Research Institute. And recalling the experiment log that summoned me… this is likely to be the Pleasant Research Institute's final research. It's also highly probable that it's related to the reason it summoned me.
'I'll remember this.'
After taking a mental deep breath, I slowly moved my feet towards the broken dream incubator. And I reached out my hand to the location remaining in my memory…. The key card registration location of the incubator.
Click.
As the key card slid out of the slot, an employee ID card in its complete form began to appear….
Pleasant Researcher
Lee Heoun
....
What?
"Huh? The name… it's the same as the employee sent to the Disaster Management Bureau. Jang Heo-un, wasn't it?"
I turned my head.
"And it's the same name as this year's new employee. Right? Kim Heo-un, was it."
Huwon was smiling.
…I realized.
The one who knows the whereabouts of the spy dispatched from the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau better than anyone else and can contact them.
The one who can access the profiles of all the Field Investigation Team members who joined this year… and has no worries about being handed over to Director Cheong.
"What an interesting phenomenon…. Do you have anything you'd like to ask me, Mr. Noru?"
The route to find out about Mr. Jang Heo-un was right in front of me.