Chapter 1.2


    <b>[1st ce]</b>


    <b>: Dark Exploration Records Real Merch Box</b>


    “……!”


    “Oh my gosh! Congrattions!”


    Is this… for real?


    “Wow, no way!”


    “So lucky, I’m so jealous.”


    Voices of astonishment, screams, and envy rose behind me.


    “Wow, finally, on the second-tost day of the popup, someone hit first ce!” The staff, even more excited than me, ran behind the roulette and came back with arge, stic-wrapped box.


    The ck box, with a huge silver symbol embossed on it, looked like it had been carefully crafted.


    I barely managed to keep my hands from trembling as I epted the box.


    “…Thank you.”


    I needed to leave immediately and p my face to make sure this was real.


    As I was about to leave the popup store, the staff stopped me.


    “Oh! We’re giving out custom-made merch here, so all I need is your name!”


    My name? My personal information has long since be public property, leaked all over portal sites. The only thing that matters is getting this safely home…!


    “It’s Kim Soleum.”


    “Got it! Mr. Soleum, just a moment.”


    The staff started operating a ck machine next to the roulette, which looked like a 3D printer.


    There was even an exnatory note above it, made for the popup store.


    <b>[Dark Exploration Records Character Maker]</b>


    Ah, so that’s the thing they mentioned during the roulette event.


    The ‘Create Your Own Dark Exploration Records Character’ event.


    How perfectly tailored to a teenager’s tastes…


    “Please input your name here.”


    “…Okay.”


    Holding the merch box tightly with one hand, I quickly entered my name on the machine’s pad.


    The ck machine made a loud, eerie music box sound, putting on a show as gears turned.


    And then, it spat out a small object.


    <i>nk.</i>


    I picked up the familiar-looking item.


    It was… an employee ID card.


    <b>[Daydream Inc.]</b>


    <b>Employee Kim Soleum</b>


    <b>Field Exploration Team</b>


    “Wow! Daydream Inc. It’s one of the most famous factions in our <Dark Exploration Records> universe!”


    “……”


    Yes, I know.


    To sum it up, it’s the cliché of a big corporation that profits from paranormal phenomena.


    And the Field Exploration Team…


    “That’s the department where everyone dies, like the redshirts in that one sci-fi show.”


    It’s the team that always gets sent to investigate the paranormal, only to meet their end.


    Because of that, a lot of the named characters seemed to belong to the Field Exploration Team.


    “Wow! An employee ID from the Field Exploration Team! I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of adventures Employee Kim Soleum will have in the <Dark Exploration Records> universe!”


    “Yes, thank you…”


    I was about to cringe hard but managed to hold it in.


    ‘At least it’s not an ID from a government agency or a shady religious cult.’


    Thank goodness it was a corporate employee ID.


    Although it was a little embarrassing, the staff had clearly said this so many times that they had built up immunity to it, handling it all with professional poise.


    With that, the roulette event seemed to be over after I received the employee ID card.


    “Thank you.”


    I looked down at the employee ID card with my name printed on it and sighed inwardly.


    ‘This… this needs to be hidden somewhere no one will ever find it.’


    No matter what, my tolerance for embarrassment couldn’t handle this any longer.


    Meanwhile, the staff cheerfully asked again.


    “Do you like it? You’ll treasure it, right?”


    “Yes.”


    “Liar.”


    …?


    I looked up, thinking I misheard.


    <i>Smirk.</i>


    The staff was suddenly smiling at me with an unnaturally wide grin.


    Their mouth stretched upward unnaturally, almost reaching their ears…


    “……?”


    In that instant.


    A wave of dizziness overwhelmed me.


    “……!”


    The noise of the popup store vanished.


    Everything in front of me blurred as if covered by ck paint, flickering in red and blue.


    And by the time the dizziness passed.


    I had no idea the world would havepletely changed… not even in my wildest dreams.


    <b>[Wee to Daydream Inc., everyone!]</b>


    “……?!”


    Before I knew it, I was standing in a corner of arge auditorium, looking at the central podium.


    And.


    <i>Boom!</i>


    With a burst of apuse, fireworks exploded from the PPT projected onto the screen at the podium.


    <b>[New Employee Orientation]</b>


    As the apuse and cheers echoed, a person who seemed to be the host smiled brightly and advanced the PPT.


    It was clearly a new employee orientation event for a major corporation.


    The new recruits, dressed in suits, pped and cheered with both excitement and nervous pride. They looked thrilled, having finally secured employment.


    <b>[Our new employees, who have sessfully passed a 145:1petition, should be proud of themselves! Haha! Now, let’s begin the new employee orientation!]</b>


    “……”


    What is this?


    I tried to step back in hesitation.


    But I realized I was sitting in a chair.


    I was dressed in a suit. I had worn it because I had to meet with a client in the evening, but coincidentally, I looked simr to the ‘new employees’ filling this auditorium.


    Meanwhile, the merch box I received from the roulette event was quietly resting on myp.


    “Excuse me, did you get that somewhere? Is thepany giving those out?”


    “……”


    I couldn’t respond to the question from the new employee sitting next to me.


    <b>[You are the chosen candidates!]</b>


    <b>[In fact, only a select few of those who applied through this job posting have been gathered in Orientation Room A for this special session!]</b>


    <b>[Congrattions! You have passed the aptitude test and have been assigned to the special team, the <Field Exploration Team>.]</b>


    “They’ve already made the assignments?”


    “Field Exploration Team? Does Daydream Inc. have a department like that?”


    “Field exploration… for a pharmaceuticalpany?”


    “Uh, it sounds like we’re being exiled somewhere? Not the headquarters but a branch office? Are they trying to lure us in with fancy words…?”


    I could hear the murmured conversations of the new employees around me, but I didn’t have time to focus on them.


    I recognized thepany’s name and the team’s name.


    <i>Daydream Inc.</i>


    <i>Field Exploration Team.</i>


    …Like a bolt of lightning, a page from the wiki shed in my mind.


    <b>--------------------</b>


    <b>[Field Exploration Team] (Daydream Inc.)</b>


    <b>: One of the five teams under the Development Department of the massive organization, Daydream Inc., as featured in <Dark Exploration Records>.</b>


    <b>Commonly referred to as the ‘death squad’. A tragic team, but one that is fun for ghost story writers.</b>


    <b>--------------------</b>


    ‘Wait a sec.’


    …This is the ghost story from the popup store event I just participated in.


    So, what happens next is…


    <b>--------------------</b>


    <b>At the very new employee orientation, they’re thrown into a deadly survival game to determine who gets full-time employment.</b>


    <b>It’s a consistently popr topic for wiki entries because it shows what happens when ordinary people try to explore the dark.</b>


    <b>--------------------</b>


    “……!”


    “Uh, wh-what are you doing…?”


    I immediately stood up from the chair.


    I didn’t care about understanding the situation—my only thought was to run outside.


    But it was already toote.


    <b>[Before official employment, there will be a brief probationary period, but don’t worry, it won’t be long! We will assess your practical abilities through an absolute evaluation.]</b>


    <b>[Of course, full participation is necessary for a proper evaluation! Freeloading will </b><b><i>not</i></b><b> be tolerated!]</b>