“To be honest, the hints you’re offering probably aren’t worth much. But hey, as your roommate and coworker, I figured I’d share this intel as a goodwill gesture,” Baek Saheon said.
Wow. He’s really trying to undersell me while posturing as helpful.
I purposely put on a serious face as I nodded.
“You’re right. My hints probably aren’t worth much.”
“So you don’t need them, right? Let’s just forget about it. I’ve learned a lot from what you shared.”
“......!! Hey, this fu—”
I looked at Baek Saheon calmly. He swallowed his curse, then quickly plastered on a strained smile.
“...Mr. Supervisor, if an employee living in the same dorm is caught extorting a poor junior staffer’s salary and personal information, wouldn’t a complaint to HR be in order?”
Good grief.
I gave him a look of pity.
“You really think this company cares about that?”
“Well, belief is a personal choice.”
Baek Saheon seemed trapped between frustration and despair.
I suppose this was a good place to draw the line.
“Fine. I’ll give you something.”
His eyes lit up as I finally spoke up.
“Put a photo of yourself from high school under your pillow.”
“On the back, write your grade and class, and maybe add a short profile. Like a yearbook entry.”
I kindly grabbed a post-it from his desk and even wrote out an example.
Name:
Message to your friends:
“Then, see what happens.”
Baek Saheon looked skeptical and asked if I’d put a photo of my high school self under my pillow.
Without hesitation, I went back to my room and returned with the photo from under my pillow.
It was one of my high school pictures, printed from a saved image on my smartphone.
Baek Saheon stared at it, his disbelief turning into silence.
“You thought I was lying, didn’t you?”
“I mean, usually! You speak so smoothly all the time, so you give off that impression, Supervisor.”
“Really? I’ve never lied in my whole entire life.”
“Think about it.”
Baek Saheon looked stunned, so I took the opportunity to usher him out.
“Anyway, I need to finish preparing with Braun, so you can go now.”
– Best of luck with your entry, Mr. Normal Coworker!
Baek Saheon retreated, looking either exasperated or unsettled, and quickly returned to his own room.
Bang—
‘Done.’
Having to keep him in check every time was exhausting, but it couldn’t be helped.
Consider the new addition to the D-squad. Workplace survival is all about these little battles.
“Huu.”
I returned to my bed and approached the pillow.
First of all, the tip I gave Baek Saheon was true.
Exploration Record #15
They were civilians who had been dragged into this place by chance.
“Is this some kind of event? Huh.”
“Wait, why am I wearing a uniform...? Oh, no—why do I look like a high schooler?!”
“This has to be a dream.”
“Hey, did you look outside? This looks like the second floor...”
‘Feels like being back in that subway ghost story.’
Watching them waver between panic, fear, curiosity, and amusement, I felt a tightness in my chest.
And... an overwhelming sense of tension.
“Huh?”
One of the wandering individuals noticed something in the corner of the room.
It was a student, sitting completely still.
“Why isn’t this person moving?”
The sight was eerie.
In the dim classroom, where people in various uniforms were noisily moving about, one figure sat frozen as if carved from stone.
He didn’t even blink.
The boy, who resembled an intricately crafted wax figure, wore a name tag that was perfectly intact.
[Sekwang Technical High School]
“Is this a mannequin? Eh, let’s see.”
Poke, poke.
“Ack!”
The person who poked him flinched and withdrew their hand.
“He’s warm??”
“Holy crap, seriously?”
I got up from my seat.
Without taking my eyes off him, I slowly approached the classroom door.
‘I need to open the door in advance.’
Thud, thud.
As I moved nervously, something nearly fell out of the front pocket of my uniform—a small plush keychain.
Startled, I caught it just in time.
Whew.
‘That was a close call, Braun.’
Silence.
“...Braun?”
I held up the plush doll.
It hung limply.
Panicked, I pressed its belly.
The Silver Serpent Coin, the item I used for summoning my ‘Good Friend’, was...
Gone.
This was just a plush doll.
My good friend hadn’t followed me into my dream.
“Out the window... u, uuuhh, AAAAHHHHH!!!”
I’m fucking screwed.