It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 014

The newbie at Daydream Corporation on the third day.

“Phew.”

Ko Yeong-eun cautiously sat down at her desk just as the lunch break was ending.

This unguided DIY medical practitioner thought she was adapting well to the situation…

Her superiors in R Team weren’t the warmest types, but they weren’t overly territorial either, and they didn’t force her into death-defying situations.

Above all, she’d successfully cleared two F-grade horror stories so far…!

“I think I heard the average for newbies is one or two a week?”

Clearing two in three days would be quite decent for a newbie, even if the horror was the lowest tier!

She was doing everything she could to adapt to this insane company…

Though she nearly fainted when she saw her wish point total.

“I cleared two and just got 66 points, so when on earth will I get to five hundred thousand….”

“……”

But she couldn’t give up.

“Let’s do this.”

Ko Yeong-eun steeled herself.

“…I wonder if the other colleagues feel the same way?”

She absentmindedly glanced at her phone.

At the top of the messenger, there was one group chat pinned.

[Daydream Corporation Colleague Group Chat]

It was the group chat for new hires.

Except, only one person hadn’t been invited.

Not because they were ostracizing her, but because no one had her contact information.

That person was the top of the class, Kim Sol-eum.

“I should probably invite them.”

Even that Baek Sa-heon was in this group chat, yet strangely, they had never crossed paths with Kim Sol-eum in the company to have a chance to inform her.

It was baffling considering how intense those first two days had been for Kim Sol-eum!

“Should I try reaching out through the company messenger?”

She logged into the intranet and searched for Kim Sol-eum to contact her…

And then—

Beep, beep, beep, beep beep,

Suddenly, the group chat exploded with notifications.

-Did you see the announcement that just came out?

-Is there anyone close to Kim Sol-eum…?

-That’s her, the top of the class, right?

-What does being a major contributor to the A grade clear mean…?

-Kim Sol-eum, the one wearing that strange horned mask…?

“…?!”

*

“Wow, Deer, they say you should instantly get promoted to chief! Who in upper management is saying that?”

“Cough.”

I almost choked on my medication.

“But I heard from another department that it was unprecedented, and they’re opposing it like mad, so it got shut down immediately.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Should I be disappointed? But honestly, it wasn’t like I felt a shred of regret, so that was my limit.

I placed the empty pill bottle down and rubbed my stomach.

We had barely escaped the A-grade horror “Tuesday Quiz Show” and were immediately transported to the infirmary, where we were taking emergency medication.

Because blood was pouring from all our facial features.

“Feeling better now, right?”

“Yes.”

Well, it seemed the drugs worked well.

The medicines from Daydream Corporation seemed suspicious, but standard over-the-counter meds usually just worked well.

-It’s for recovering from supernatural damage inflicted by those bizarre creatures that came out of urban legends.

In other words, it was a health potion for horror stories.

‘I think I definitely saw this for sale as cherry aid flavor at a pop-up store collaboration café…’

In reality, it tasted like cold medicine.

‘Anyway, it feels surreal to be alive and drinking potions.’

Once we escaped, everything just felt great.

Living in broad daylight truly was wonderful…

But the superiors seemed to have something else on their minds rather than this relief.

How the heck was this incident reported and dealt with by upper management!

They were busy trying to figure out the situation using all their connections.

“Honestly, this was an unprecedented special situation. I wish our team leader had pushed harder, but he’s not the type to do that….”

“Let the assistant manager handle it later when he gets promoted.”

“Oh, I’m going to quit before that.”

“Me too.”

I wanted that as well.

In this strange camaraderie, we all sprawled out on the infirmary beds.

Chief Park Min-seong stretched his arms and sighed deeply.

A sigh of long-awaited relief.

“…I really thought we were goners, but living feels good! Deer, thank you.”

“No, I just did my best.”

To be honest, the Dark Exploration Records wiki really did help out.

Any further excuses would just lead to the conversation shifting in an awkward direction, so I just stayed silent.

“We’re not that incompetent, but we let our guard down because it was D grade.”

“Assistant Manager, that excuse sounds pretty lame.”

“Well then, we’ll prove it in the next horror.”

‘I just hope there’s no next horror….’

Such peaceful bonus vacation time flowed momentarily.

“The manager just finished the meeting.”

“…!”

“He’s coming to the infirmary.”

The assistant manager, holding his smartphone, jumped up immediately. The chief followed suit, and I stood up unintentionally with them.

‘Is this finally the real deal?’

Manager Lee Ja-heon.

Employee D, nicknamed Lizard!

One of the most famous Daydream Corporation employees from the Dark Exploration Records. It was rumored that the company was planning to create character designs for him due to his popularity.

Honestly, I was curious.

What kind of person was he?

‘Thinking about the conversation when the call button was pressed, he didn’t seem to have an ordinary personality….’

But thinking about the AAA battery shot superplay he pulled, everything was looking good.

Knock, knock, knock.

“The door is open. Please come in, Team Leader!”

The infirmary door opened.

Standing beyond it was a tall figure.

Dressed in a well-fitted black suit, wearing an employee badge, he looked like a rather typical, archetypical office worker.

Finally, Manager Lee Ja-heon, a well-known employee D from Dark Exploration Records…

“Hello.”

“…!? …!!”

It’s, it’s a Lizard.

Wait, I mean, no, it’s really…

‘He really has a lizard head.’

“……”

Wait a moment.

No… that can’t be right.

With the residual image of that TV-headed host still lingering, I must be exhibiting symptoms of mental confusion from the excessive stress.

Right? I must be mistaking the mask for a real lizard head…

‘Wait, looking again, he has a mask hanging on his waist.’

“……”

This is madness.

“It’s really nice to see you.”

“Please come in, Team Leader!”

Why is everyone acting so calm?

If a lizard appears in a suit, shouldn’t there at least be a warning for the newbies like ‘don’t be surprised’?

What kind of natural introduction vibe is this?

“Oh, this is Deer. Here’s Manager Lee Ja-heon. Say hello.”

“Wow, looks like Deer is surprised by how handsome the manager is! Haha! Doesn’t look like he’s of the same species as us!”

Could someone please clarify if that’s socializing or hinting… please…

The white lizard head turned impassively towards me.

The shiny, red reptilian vertical eyes gleam.

“Deer.”

“……”

“Do you see?”

X, X damn it.

“What do you mean… ah, my eyes are fine. My vision is normal.”

I admired my reflexes.

“……”

Excuse me?

“I see.”

The white reptilian head turned with a slight chuckle.

I was almost about to faint.

‘Please just stop with this.’

This world, even after getting out of the horror stories, still made me suffer—it feels so unreasonable….

‘What the hell is going on?’

But I wouldn’t say a word.

The atmosphere clearly indicated I shouldn’t look at the lizard head!

‘Everyone must have seen him with normal human faces.’

I won’t stand out.

I’ll absolutely not show any suspicious aura to that walking human… no, lizard excavator.

I succeeded in managing my expression, and thankfully, due to the other team members, the conversation flowed smoothly.

Getting to the point.

“Manager, can you explain how this situation came to be?”

“Yes.”

The white reptilian, no, Manager Lee Ja-heon nodded.

First, the cause of this situation.

The intervening employees were….

“We’ve been informed that due to human error, the ‘Tuesday Talk Show’ was assigned to both D Team and L Team simultaneously.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Geez….”

I just knew something was hastily assigned; it seems there was a mistake.

Manager Lee Ja-heon’s briefing continued.

-The starting point for writing the medium (postcard) to enter L Team’s ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’ was similar to that of D Team, but there was a time difference of about 50 minutes due to stepping out of the company building momentarily while writing.

“…Did they at least buy coffee for the newbie?”

“They were a team that particularly looked after each other.”

Thinking of L Team, which was completely wiped out, two members became slightly despondent but quickly hid their expressions.

“Anyway, that’s why it seems it was sent at a strange timing. Our team happened to proceed first.”

“Yes.”

Lee Ja-heon simply responded and continued with the briefing.

The bombshell was next.

“And the reassignment of the ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’ to A grade was not recognized.”

“…?!”

“Yes, yes?”

-Due to the absence of other groups that could mutually verify the situation and the relatively high initial survival rate (43%), it’s not been proven that it’s suitable for the dark (A) grade.

“What do you mean L Team was wiped out, and this is the response?”

“Collector! The liquid in the Dream Collection Device was golden! Didn’t I mention a million times that’s an A-grade color…?”

-The liquid in the Dream Collection Device has a concentration comparable to A grades, but the possibility of a low-rated darkness yielding high-quality liquid cannot be excluded.

“Therefore, in the company’s official classification, ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’ was originally rated D grade, so exceptions are not approved.”

“……”

So the company’s stance is….

‘What, did you accidentally let a mess happen? So just keep it quiet and handle it…’

Hmm, typical management.

They really drive employees mad.

“This won’t do. I need to go see them directly…”

“Assistant Manager, wait a moment.”

The chief asked incredulously.

“Didn’t the upper management say they collected all A-grade liquids? So, is it really going to end as a D-grade result?”

“No.”

“…!”

“There will be separate compensation.”

To be honest, that didn’t surprise me.

‘Basically, they’ll throw us a bone to keep us quiet…’

Unless the company was full of fools, they’d at least prepare some kind of appeasement.

The real question was how significant that appeasement would be.

I averted my gaze from the lizard and focused intently on Manager Lee Ja-heon’s mouth… no, his speech.

“They will acknowledge the special nature of the situation and the color of the Dream Collection Device’s liquid as a sufficient exploration equivalent to A grade.”

“Then…?”

“Additional points will be awarded.”

-For the clear of ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’, additional points equivalent to A grade will be awarded as a one-time deal.

The amount was….

“30,000 points per person.”

“…!!”

The chief and assistant manager froze as if struck by lightning.

“30,000??”

“Yes.”

“Waaaaah!”

The base points for A grade were 100,000.

Assuming the number of people entering for the assault is divided among participants and figuring for just two teams surviving, it would roughly be expected to be less than 17,000 per person.

‘But just now, we nearly doubled that.’

And it didn’t stop there.

“And an incentive has been awarded to the employees who played a decisive role in the clear.”

The lizard’s head turned towards me.

“Kim Sol-eum.”

-To the top contributor, an additional 10,000 points will be awarded.

“40,000 points will be credited.”

“……”

In one shot, that filled 8% of my wish tokens.

‘Wow.’

It left me somewhat speechless.

So, would I feel disappointed that the A grade clear wouldn’t officially remain?

No, it’s actually better!

‘In this world, standing out and getting fast-tracked is nothing good.’

What could happen if expectations rise beyond specifications?

I’d be forced into even harder horror stories, plus the more I stand out, the harder it becomes to use ‘goods.’

Sure, there are unique spaces or items that can be accessed upon promotion, but one must never confuse priorities.

This is a world where a minor mistake can mean death!

‘And when I think about how close I was to death… I really don’t want to go near A grade again.’

Looking at the points, it doesn’t seem like it was in vain.

And it seems the other two also felt the same.

“…Did I just hear that my resignation would be three years earlier?”

“Me too.”

But soon they snapped back to reality and said to me, “The points can’t be transferred… this is a bit embarrassing.”

“Yeah, it’s essentially Deer getting it all.”

“No, it’s fine.”

To be honest, even if it was transferrable, I doubt they would’ve given me any points, no matter the excuse.

It’s a matter that’s unrelated to character.

‘People who applied for jobs in the death-defying circumstances are intent on getting their wish points?’

For most Field Exploration Team employees, their points are something they absolutely can’t part with.

Hmm. I’ll definitely make a mental note of this.

“Waaaah!”

“Seriously, it’s happening.”

We returned to the office and registered our points.

[Kim Sol-eum / Earned Points: 40,100p]

‘Wow.’

I looked at the monitor.

A figure in the ten thousand range.

Honestly, I had feelings of nostalgia.

“Yay! I’m alive, and I got a huge amount of points….”

The assistant manager smiled widely.

“Isn’t it time to go celebrate with company funds?”

“Oooooo!”

“Let’s go, Deer!”

I simply and happily replied.

“Yes!”

And now.

I’m witnessing the rare spectacle of a lizard feasting on Korean beef…

Chsss.

The perfectly cooked beef slices vanish into the lizard’s mouth; I try my best to overlook how natural it all looks.

“Manager has a bit of a unique personality, but his capabilities are certainly undeniable.”

“Yeah. You really lucked out joining our team.”

“……Yes.”

It seems confirmed that I’m the only one seeing him with a lizard face.

If I had seen Manager Lee Ja-heon smashing horror with pure physical strength a few times, I could understand the other team members’ favorable attitude.

In any case, the beef, horror or not, tasted great, and I surprisingly enjoyed the company dinner more than I expected.

‘It’s not too uncomfortable.’

Having some drinks definitely helps alleviate the fear, I could feel that for sure.

‘I’ll go home and watch about ten kids’ cartoons, leave the lights on, and sleep.’

While I was contemplating this extreme sleeping method, Lee Ja-heon suddenly asked while munching on some vegetable salad.

“Are you going to save those 40,000 points?”

“Yes?”

It was a totally reasonable question.

“Oh, yes. Because I need to buy wish tokens.”

“I see.”

“……”

Wait a moment. This pattern of conversation feels familiar.

I retraced our earlier conversation.

So…

“Is there another useful way to potentially use the points?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Right. I should have approached it this way…

Now I finally get how to handle Lizard Manager. It’s a bit refreshing. I question him more comfortably.

“What for?”

“Custom Equipment.”

“…!”

I didn’t expect that to be mentioned here…

‘Finally, it’s coming up.’

One of the key characteristics of Daydream Corporation employees.

‘Dedicated Equipment!’