After the incident concluded, I simply collapsed onto the plush bed in my room.
Lying sprawled, I scrolled through the screen with just my fingers, watching a stream of new posts flash before my eyes.
A faint smile spread across my lips.
[Is this for real? The motive behind an entire city-level region nearly being wiped out] (+89)
[One-line summary] (+121)
[So, an actual demon was almost summoned just now?] (+151)
[100 Reasons Why I Don’t Watch TV] (+51)
[I was ordinary until yesterday, but it turns out I’m a Revelator?] (+111)
[Newbie120053. When did you change your nickname?] (+67)
[Wastewater treatment costs, lolllllll] (+141)
[…So how did they deal with the Doppelganger Stage 3? Coin sword.] (+512)
I hadn’t specifically aimed for it, yet the Ghastly Gallery’s reaction was fervent.
At first, I had merely posted for public benefit, thinking, ‘Prepare for other timelines, just in case.’
Ultimately, my post ascended to the gallery’s Hall of Fame,
What’s commonly known as a ‘Best Post’ (TL Note: A Korean internet slang term, ‘nyeomgeul,’ for popular or ‘best’ posts on a forum).
Despite nothing having truly changed, seeing the ‘Best’ sticker affixed to the screen
Filled me with a surge of exhilaration, as if I had become something important.
Was this what people called platonic love?
[Gyeonggi Underground Waterway Ghastly Aftermath & Unanswered Questions Discovered][Photo attached+2] (+3511)
As I skimmed through the comments on my post, my gaze momentarily halted at the section with attached photos.
While I had indeed taken those pictures, I never truly expected an email to reach me.
After escaping the underground waterway ghastly,
When I conveyed my questions and thoughts to the approaching agents, the atmosphere hadn’t exactly been welcoming.
Black suits and an impassive gaze.
‘We will report this to our superiors.’
‘We will inform you once the results are available.’
Those two phrases were the entirety of their response to my words.
Consequently, instead of feeling relieved after speaking, I grew even more anxious.
‘Are my statements being disregarded, like a protagonist in a movie? Or are dark dealings, like a conspiracy theory, unfolding among the higher-ups?’
All sorts of thoughts had plagued me for the past few days.
Then, a few days later, a letter from the Ghastly Management Bureau arrived via email, confirming that all my worries had been utterly baseless.
Further investigation initiated.
Official approval procedures outlined.
And even a thank you.
Moreover, receiving a report of “processing” from Kang Suji solidified it.
“So, then… they really did say that because they needed to report it to their superiors, and since they couldn’t know the results until they came out, they said, ‘We will inform you once the results are available’? And their intimidating appearance was just how they naturally looked?”
In the end, it turned out they were merely diligent public servants who quietly performed their duties.
I offered a small, silent apology internally.
Meanwhile, confirming that this matter was being handled well, Kang Suji’s expression that day suddenly came to mind.
Her face had been quite something when I finished speaking.
She looked ready to grab a dagger and charge into City Hall like a bulldozer at any moment.
Had Kim Sera not been there, perhaps the next day’s news headline would have read [Ghastly Management Bureau Agent Occupies City Hall].
Kang Suji splitting City Hall in half, I mused.
Dismissing the image with a chuckle, I picked up my phone.
Fiddling with it, I navigated to my call history.
I remembered that, caught up in the ghastly incident, I had put off important calls.
[Missed Call Mom] X7
I immediately pressed the call button.
The ringing tone sounded briefly before connecting.
[Mom]
—What’s gotten into you? You’re calling me first?
I took a deep breath and spoke.
“I got a job.”
My tone was calm, yet my voice carried a hint of confidence.
“So don’t worry. When I go home next week, I’ll bring you a full course of gold rings and beef, so just know that.”
Softly ending the call, I rose from my spot and put on my coat.
I finally got a job.
One is a residential security professional consultant.
They prevent external intrusions day and night and meticulously manage the living environment.
In other words, a home security guard.
The other is a global market trend analyst.
They keenly observe fluctuating markets and seek strategies for wealth accumulation.
In other words, an ant.
Of course, it was all pretense, grandly packaged.
But there was a reason I could confidently tell my mom, “I got a job.”
I just hadn’t known it, but I had a talent for stocks.
A short period of three days.
Charts I had pored over, rubbing my eyes all night.
And I confirmed through a news article that the stock I had fully bought then was indeed soaring.
[Breaking News][NobelPia, 100 Billion Won Settlement Payment Expanded]
[NobelPia][+52.5%]
Feeling my heart pound, I opened the stock bank app.
The thrill of checking how much my assets had grown tingled at my fingertips.
Just how much had I earned?
My seed money was 100 million won.
With familiar motions, I entered my ID and password.
[The ID you entered does not exist.]
[Please check and re-enter.]
“…?”
What was this?
I entered it again.
[The ID you entered does not exist.]
“What is this… where did it go?”
A greater terror than realizing the black engine in the underground waterway’s hall was an illusion crept up my spine.
“…No, right? Don’t joke around.”
Frantically, I tried to register again and refreshed the screen.
The stock transaction history was empty.
‘Where did it go… the stock I bought?’
I denied reality.
My fingers trembled.
I had clearly poured all my assets, a bullet of 100 million won, into a full purchase.
And, befitting a true man’s challenge, the reward had been sweet.
50% increase.
But there was no purchase record.
A question swirled in my rapidly cooling mind.
‘When did I… buy that stock?’
The memory of purchasing it was distinct.
Even after completing the purchase and logging into the Ghastly Gallery out of boredom—…?!’
An epiphany struck me like lightning.
The first timeline, when a black sun had risen in the sky.
“Ah…!”
Then, my 50 million won…?
The balance still showed 100 million won.
But the number that had felt so reassuring just a few days ago now looked utterly hollow.
I hadn’t actually lost money, yet it felt as if I had.
Roughly 50 million, by my estimation?
Naturally, my gaze returned to the chart.
‘If I invest now… would it be too late?’
Upward trend. A graph endlessly climbing.
Just then, my phone vibrated.
[Deposit: 100,000,000 won]
[Depositor: Ghastly Management Corporation]
A moment later, another notification arrived.
[Kang Suji]: I spoke to the foundation and asked them to deposit it as quickly as possible! Haha
I stared blankly at my phone.
100 million won. The price I paid with my life.
One might call it paltry for risking one’s life, but I had no complaints about the amount itself.
After all, it was the contract fee agreed upon in advance when I was first hired as a ghastly incident handler.
It seemed that because this incident was a layered ghastly, they had doubled the contract fee to account for it.
I was the only one who knew that ghastly would progress to a Stage 3 ghastly.
And even the fact that it would eventually transform into a ‘demon.’
The agency had classified it as Stage 2 — Dangerous.
In their eyes, it was merely a layered phenomenon involving a doppelganger.
According to Kim Sera, there had been no proper observation records of demons prior to this.
Therefore, when I reported, I intentionally omitted that information.
After all, even if I claimed it was a demon, there was no way to prove it.
But that wasn’t what was important right now.
It was the funds in my hand.
My capital had now doubled.
But simultaneously, my profit and loss stood at -50 million won.
That was, astonishingly, the cost of one round of the Gyeonggi Gwangju Station Ghastly.
I stood at a crossroads, debating whether to invest now or not.
I refreshed the chart.
The value climbed another notch before my eyes.
‘If I had just invested… 4.7%.’
A calculator whirred in my head.
200 million × 0.047 = 9.4 million won.
Rounded up.
“…10 million won?!”
Why does anyone even work?
I could just sit here and click a mouse once, and money would be duplicated?
“I’ll just recover my principal, then stop. Really.”
[Buy]
Click—
****
The bus came to a stop.
A dull ache reverberated through my body, sharp and stinging with each step down the bus stairs.
While I had overexerted myself writing the letter a few days ago, the decisive factor was catching Kang Suji when she fell.
‘..She was quite heavy, wasn’t she..’
A large hospital stood before my eyes.
Its white exterior gleamed, and the glass doors automatically slid open and shut.
People streamed in and out of the entrance.
Patients in hospital gowns with IV lines attached to their arms, elderly individuals supported by family members, nurses hurrying inside.
I quickly scanned the scene.
‘No anomalies. OK.’
Cars lined the parking lot, ambulances painted white and green, a large red cross.
A banner hanging on the wall fluttered in the wind with words like ‘Free Health Checkup Information.’
‘Still OK, I see.’
I nodded.
“Excuse me.”
The final verification step.
I stopped a middle-aged man passing in front of the hospital.
“This place… how long has it been here, by any chance?”
“Hmm. This place… probably about six years, I’d say?”
He replied nonchalantly before continuing on his way.
I looked up at the hospital building again.
Truth be told, I had been to this hospital many times; it was near my house.
Still, I checked just in case.
This much… was reassuring.
My footsteps carried me directly…
Turning to the right side of the hospital.
“Still, let’s grab some food before we go.”
