Chapter 278

C278

I gulped and shifted my gaze to the side.

The Wolf Leader was casually observing the reverse side of the ancient paper envelope I held, focusing on the characters that had been seared into the material.

And just a moment ago.

“Agent.”

…It appeared he had deduced my true profession, a detail the will-o’-the-wisp had so helpfully unveiled through its hidden message.

“How could such a nonsensical scenario occur—a government official taking a post at a private firm? And an operative from a clandestine agency, no less.”

“…I stepped down from that role.”

“Is that so?”

A cold sensation crept down my spine.

Based on my previous encounters, the way a Daydream elite squad commander would react to discovering I was a former member of the Disaster Management Bureau was typically…

I peered into the dark voids of the Wolf Mask.

Rather than a look of enmity or a sharp interrogation, a thoughtful, distant expression seemed to flicker behind the mask.

And then.

“It sounds like you carry a heavy history.”

“…!”

“Life happens that way.”

The Wolf Leader offered a thin smile and gave a small nod of his head.

The tension in the air evaporated instantly.

“…You don’t find this suspicious?”

“What? Hahaha….”

A soft, muffled chuckle echoed from behind the Wolf Mask.

“It is so blatantly suspicious that it crosses back into being believable. That is why I am fine with it. If this were some spectral trap designed to trick us, it wouldn’t have concocted such an absurdly complicated cover story.”

“…!”

“Furthermore, the fact that the will-o’-the-wisp acknowledged you is the most definitive evidence that you were indeed an operative, isn’t it?”

I understood then.

The heavy, suffocating aura he had been projecting—masked by his polite tone—had softened significantly, beginning with the very cadence of his speech.

“…Do you harbor no ill will toward agents?”

“Ill will? Why should I? They are honorable individuals performing the nation’s necessary labor.”

“…”

“Now then, inquisitive Employee Yong. Cease fretting over my thoughts and let us move. Our surroundings have shifted; we should conduct a fresh sweep, shouldn’t we?”

“…Understood.”

Phew.

‘This is incredibly stressful. Truly.’

Swallowing back the thought that he was the one who seemed like a surreal entity from a ghost story, I turned my attention back to the paper envelope.

The lingering mark of the will-o’-the-wisp remained on the back.

And the true nature of this envelope had been identified by someone from decades past.

“It appears to be a sleeve for a library card, though it looks to have been repurposed.”

Hmm.

Now that I thought about it, I recalled seeing such items during my childhood.

‘The cards used to track borrowed books were stored in pockets exactly like this.’

However, the card itself was missing.

Only the scorched residue from the will-o’-the-wisp marked the envelope’s surface.

“Was it permitted to deface the library card in this manner?”

“…No.”

There was no way.

‘In a library, the fundamental rule is that nothing must be damaged.’

Moreover, when dealing with a supernatural entity that one must ‘bow to’ as the library’s overseer, such an act would surely be a grave sacrilege.

The fact that the agents proceeded despite knowing the risks meant they either deceived the library’s master through a highly intricate scheme, or….

‘The scorch mark itself is a Goblin’s Play.’

I moved my hand as if to brush away the burn on the back of the envelope.

In response, the will-o’-the-wisp shimmered and surged back to life from the scorched mark.

“…!”

It wasn’t a sentient will-o’-the-wisp with its own mind. It was merely a residue left by that specific fire.

‘…An agent was responsible for this.’

Goblin’s Play.

A technique utilized by an operative who wields a magical tool infused with a Goblin, typically after surviving a rigorous ordeal.

As the pulsing blue flame of the will-o’-the-wisp ascended into the air, the mark on the envelope’s reverse side vanished as if it had never existed. The flame then descended to the floor, revealing a new phenomenon.

Another trail left by the will-o’-the-wisp.

Like a spilled liquid, the glowing azure spots—resembling luminescent markers scattered across the ground—formed a path similar to a trail of blood, beckoning us forward….

Toward the premises of Sekwang Technical High School.

Into the heart of the academy.

“…”

“It’s the school. Let us proceed with caution.”

We crossed onto the property of Sekwang Technical High School.

[Ah, so this is the focal point of the tomato graduation ceremony event where this Braun was unable to accompany his comrade!]

I remembered it well.

The version of Sekwang Technical High School from my dreams, where I was pursued by students clad in school uniforms.

When entering the ‘In the Dark Shadow’ urban legend, the traveler would regain consciousness in a classroom, dressed in their former school attire, at the ringing of the school bell.

That was why viewing the school building from this exterior perspective felt so unsettling.

“…”

It was pitch black.

‘Is this… a version of Segwang Metropolitan City that exists outside the timeline?’

The world beyond the high school gates was so shrouded in shadow it was impossible to see, as if all light sources had been extinguished.

Only the courtyard and the school building within the perimeter fence were visible.

We moved in silence toward the primary entrance of the Main Building.

However, the blue path of the will-o’-the-wisp did not lead through the bolted main doors.

Instead, it pointed toward a small window adjacent to the Main Building.

The window, which bore a faint trace of the blue light, was unexpectedly unlatched.

-We can enter through here. I will follow the path left by the Disaster Management Bureau for the time being.

“…”

This was a new experience.

‘Gaining entry to the first floor.’

During my previous explorations of the ‘In the Dark Shadow’ legend, I had never set foot down here. My objective had always been the 5th-floor hall where the graduation was conducted.

If this was indeed the same location, then this was my debut on the ground level.

‘Phew.’

I observed as the Wolf Leader eased the window open without a sound and slipped inside the school with practiced care.

The man, moving with a terrifying sort of grace, stood perfectly still in the corridor, scanned the area, and then signaled for me to follow.

He silently mouthed a warning.

‘Prepare yourself.’

I understood his meaning the instant I pulled myself through the window.

“…!!”

On the floor of the school corridor.

Human forms were laid out, side by side, filling every inch of space.

The motionless pupils of Sekwang Tech were organized in perfect rows and columns, five bodies deep, stretching endlessly down the hall.

They were as still as cadavers.

No, they resembled bodies that had been left in the wake of a massive catastrophe, merely categorized and left where they lay.

But their eyes remained wide open.

Every student, dressed in their school skirts or trousers, was ‘displayed’ in a linear fashion along the ground….

‘Ha.’

I had to bite back a cry of shock.

It was a scene straight out of a horror film. Not the sort defined by mindless gore, but a psychological nightmare dripping with ghosts and dread—a tremor of fear washed over me as if I had physically stepped into the screen.

But.

[Oh, there are openings. Mr. Roe Deer.]

…If one looked closely at the shadowed floor, there were occasional gaps where a student’s form was missing.

As if a specific individual had been extracted from the lineup.

“…”

A heavy sense of mourning replaced my terror, helping me regain my focus.

Yet the tension remained thick.

‘Phew.’

I took a step forward.

I tracked the azure trail of the will-o’-the-wisp.

Doing my best to avoid stepping on a student, I hopped between the vacant spaces on the floor.

This was only possible because the soft blue radiance from the will-o’-the-wisp illuminated their silhouettes just enough to see.

‘Phew.’

The blue trail was etched erratically across the walls and the ceiling without a discernible pattern, before finally angling upward.

To the 3rd floor.

“…”

Here, too, students were spread out like dolls on the hallway floor, but there was a distinct change.

I recognized some of the faces here.

[Kim Sora]

A student who had perished in a previous iteration.

In the midst of the ‘In the Dark Shadow’ legend, I stifled a gasp as I read the name tag of the girl who had been struck down by a Bureau operative.

This confirmed everything.

It was the exact same place.

‘So this is how it appears when it isn’t the final day of the lunar month.’

…What had caused the schools in this version of Segwang Metropolitan City to end up in this state?

What had truly transpired in Segwang Metropolitan City?

Pushing past the inexplicable cold and the rising dread, I looked up.

The will-o’-the-wisp’s path led to a single destination.

The far end of the 3rd floor.

[Infirmary]

….

I gripped the handle and pushed the door open.

A scene I had witnessed once before was recreated in front of me.

*Students who are hurt during physical activity must stay on the cot and wait for the nurse!*

The directive I had once used was still visible.

However, the three infirmary beds were now unoccupied.

“…”

“Someone was resting here. Until very recently.”

The trail of the will-o’-the-wisp shimmered over toward the corner.

The infirmary window.

And below it.

[Flowerbed]

…It overlooked the school’s rear courtyard.

The view of the backyard, choked with the skeletal branches of overgrown azalea bushes in the darkness, was visible through the glass.

And then it clicked.

‘This is the sole route to the backyard.’

If all the main exits of the school were sealed, there would be no conventional way to reach the rear grounds. It was effectively cut off.

The lower floors didn’t provide access, as they were bounded by solid walls rather than windows….

Strangely, only this 3rd-floor infirmary window offered a path to the back.

And the fact that the will-o’-the-wisp’s trail concluded here suggested…

“…”

I hoisted myself over the sill and dropped silently into the courtyard.

“Employee Yong?”

I slid against the brickwork to dampen the sound and the shock of the fall, landing softly on the soil.

I reached toward one of the azalea thickets.

Directly beneath it, there was a patch of earth that appeared ‘less settled than the ground around it.’

I began to claw through the dirt in that spot.

[Oh.]

*Thud.*

Soon enough, my fingers struck a hard object. I gulped and extracted it from beneath the azalea roots. The object that glinted in the dark was….

A fragment of shattered glass.

“…!!”

A glass artifact, cracked in several places, emerged from the mud. Its shape was unmistakable to me….

A will-o’-the-wisp lantern.

“…”

“That is an piece of equipment from the Disaster Management Bureau.”

The Wolf Leader, who had followed me without making a sound, spoke from behind.

It was indeed one of their glass lamps. But it was severely damaged, and the flickering flame that should have been housed inside was gone.

Which meant….

“Hold on.”

“…!”

I instinctively pulled the shattered lantern toward myself.

By the narrowest of margins, the hand of the man in the Wolf Mask grasped at thin air.

“…”

“…”

“First you act without warning, and now you are being uncooperative?”

“I apologize.”

“It appears you are familiar with this location, but if you view me as an ally, the correct protocol is to at least inform me before you take action. Do you understand?”

His voice carried a hint of frustration, but it was more of a lecture than a true rebuke.

‘Phew.’

He was right. Even if I knew this man wasn’t truly from the past but a construct of the ghost story, it wasn’t smart to be so defensive.

…I also felt a pang of guilt for acting that way toward someone who had just shown me kindness.

“…Yes, sir.”

“Excellent. Then perhaps I should try my hand at this?”

What?

In the blink of an eye.

The glass lantern was now in the Wolf Leader’s possession.

“…!”

“Lately, they’ve begun crafting unusual items using the Darkness; I imagine they will be quite common in your era. You should make a point of acquiring such things. They provide an edge.”

In his other hand, he held the pen from his pocket.

“A tool that shifts position.”

*Click.*

The pen’s tip retracted.

The Wolf Leader, gripping the broken lamp, gave it a gentle shake, listening to the internal rattle as if performing a diagnosis….

*Tuk.*

He pried away the base of the lantern.

“Here, this was concealed in the bottom compartment.”

A tattered scrap of paper was pulled from the device.

It was ripped in two, with only a decayed half surviving.

I immediately recognized its origin.

“A library card.”

It was the missing content of the envelope that had been empty—a ledger of citizens who had checked out books.

The front was clearly that list.

But the moment he flipped it over….

“…!”

Upon the aged paper, crimson symbols had been painted in a frantic, hurried hand.

The design was….

“It is a protective talisman.”

“…”

“Does it look familiar? It resembles the charms drafted by the operatives of the Disaster Management Bureau….”

And I had encountered talismans within this school once before.

On the 5th floor.

The charms that had completely carpeted the floor where the auditorium stood.

*I’m sorry I’m sorry for tearing the talisman unearthed from the school backyard I’m sorry I was preparing for the ■■ school student graduation ceremony I’m sorry…no no no! The graduation ceremony is not a ritual not a human sacrifice no no!! Please save me save m*

“…”

Wait.

Just a moment!

So those disturbing whispers I heard on the 5th floor back then… they were this?

‘The Disaster Management Bureau agents buried a protective seal in the school’s backyard.’

And a catastrophe was triggered when that seal was compromised?

“…”

A storm of questions erupted in my mind.

And the realization struck.

The fact that he can decipher this means he is an agent recognized by the will-o’-the-wisp, which implies the mission to save Segwang Metropolitan City has been reinstated.

I pray that at the very least, the students can be brought back.

Do not come looking for us.

We were unsuccessful.

‘They had implemented some kind of safeguard in the school using a talisman…!’

In the hope that the children here could be protected, they must have established a barrier capable of resisting the ‘disaster’ that consumed Segwang Metropolitan City.

‘But everything fell apart when it was ripped?’

Yes.

That logic held up….

The issue was.

*Dispatch Rescue Team Blue Dragon*

Why were they using the name Blue Dragon Team?

Why not the Hyunmu Team?

‘The Emergency Rescue Squad is officially the Hyunmu Team.’

That was my own unit.

This was a concrete fact recorded even in the <Darkness Exploration Record>. So why was this unfamiliar name, Blue Dragon Team, surfacing now?

‘A special task force? Specifically for Segwang Metropolitan City?’

Then, his casual voice broke my train of thought.

“I see. It looks like the Emergency Rescue Squad operatives ran into trouble while attempting to shield the students from the shadows.”

“…”

Wait.

“Are you perhaps very well-acquainted with the Emergency Rescue Squad?”

“I am. Our jurisdictions often overlap, so I am familiar with their work.”

In that second, a truth dawned on me.

If this man in the Wolf Mask truly was the Security Chief from the bygone era….

‘He is a person from the period before Segwang Metropolitan City was erased from memory.’

A man untouched by the collective amnesia.

Yet he accepted the mention of ‘Dispatch Rescue Team Blue Dragon’ without any hesitation…!

What did this mean?

‘Keep your head.’

I fought to maintain my outward calm and spoke.

“Have you perhaps crossed paths with other teams? It seems you have met the Blue Dragon Team.”

“I have.”

He had actually met them?

But the Wolf Leader wasn’t finished.

“We did have some friction with the unit that only deploys to eradicate the Darkness… The group that seeks to permanently seal away legends or cast them out entirely.”

“…”

“Because they have no interest in making deals, from the company’s perspective—since we need to harvest raw materials—they weren’t exactly favored guests, were they? Some of our scientists would practically weep at their interference.”

But within the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.

There was no specific team whose sole mandate was the total termination of disasters.

‘But that is also illogical.’

Because, isn’t that the goal of the entire organization? The Bureau exists to end disasters. So why wouldn’t there be a specialized unit for it?

Could it be.

Could it be….

“Is that team the Hyunmu Team?”

“That’s the one.”

“…”

“Were you a member of the Hyunmu Team by any chance?”

At that exact moment.

Within the Gangwon-do branch of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.

In the classified archives located on the 33rd sub-level.

“…”

A flash of blue light illuminated Agent Choi’s eyes as he finished skimming the document he had been searching for.

“Agent Choi.”

Ryu Jaegwan urged him forward with a sense of urgency.

Beside him, as he stood watch, a massive and radiant will-o’-the-wisp pulsed with light.

*Woong—*

Agent Choi looked up, offered a playful grin, and pressed a finger to his lips.

“Shh, you have to keep our little secret, Mr. Goblin. We made a deal over buckwheat jelly, a pinky promise~”

The will-o’-the-wisp performed a happy little spiral.

The actual Goblin overseeing the secret records on the 33rd floor was a far more terrifying entity, but once a year, during the week preceding the winter solstice, it would leave its post to visit the markets, leaving a substitute in its place.

He had timed his intrusion for the shift of a will-o’-the-wisp he was on friendly terms with, one he could easily manipulate, just to get in here.

To uncover the truth behind the Extinction-class supernatural event.

To find the authentic files on ‘Segwang Metropolitan City.’

“We need to depart, and quickly.”

“Right. I’ve gathered everything I came for.”

*Thak.*

Agent Choi’s playful mask dropped as he shut the file, returned it to its slot, and triggered a basic concealment spell.

“Bronze.”

“…”

“It appears we have forgotten something of monumental importance.”