Chapter 271.2 |
“Just a moment……”
The sergeant placed his access card beside the metal door.
Beep. With the sound, the closed metal door opened. And…
“Huu.”
Inside, astonishingly, was something like a nighttime street.
A meticulously constructed model alleyway. Under the streetlight stood an old shop.
On the dusty glass display window was a poster reading ‘Special Sale for Birthday Gifts!’ but on the door hung a ‘Closed’ sign.
And the toys displayed behind the glass were all…
“They’re dolls.”
Knitted dolls modeled after characters from fairy tales and old stories were on display.
Carefully bundled yarn stood in for hair, and gem-like beads in place of eyes gleamed under the streetlight.
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Toy Maker of the Cheerful Institute]
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-E-07.
A ghost story in the form of an old toy shop.
Specializes in knitted dolls. If you provide the recipient’s name, birthday, and hair and eye color, it can create one birthday gift toy per day.
To utilize this ghost story stably at a level befitting its Twilight grade, the ‘night’ state must be maintained at all times, and if ‘day’ arrives, ■■ ■■ shall proceed.
A ghost story owned by Daydream Inc. since the company’s founding, and the Research Team continues to use it regularly for Darkness development trials.
========================
…A ghost story of the ‘Cheerful Institute’ that Daydream has owned since its early days.
‘Did they already have it when the company was founded?’
Before, I would have thought that line was just emphasizing its connection to the Research Team, but now…
It gives me a strange feeling.
In any case, equipment crafting comes first for now.
“Let’s go.”
After properly closing the metal door and securing it, the group walked down the midnight model alley and approached the old shop.
Then, someone knocked on the door.
Knock-knock-knock.
Following the established manual, a safe phrase was recited…
“I’m urgently looking for a birthday gift. May I ask if you’re still selling?”
After a moment.
Flicker.
“…!”
A gentle light came on in the dusty bulb in front of the shop, and the glass door’s lock released.
“…Excuse us.”
We stepped inside carefully.
The shop looked like it had been closed for a long time, and it was covered in dust. There was the worn smell unique to an old wooden space, mixed with mold and the scent of rusted iron.
But there was exactly one thing with a light on.
A machine that looked like a vending machine.
“……”
Behind the machine, thick and complex connections like ventilation ducts were visible, and beside it was a rail for dispensing finished items.
On the operating slot that looked like where bills would be inserted, a light was blinking at the very top, displaying text.
This was the equipment crafting device we had been looking for.
“Want to try it right away?”
“Yessir.”
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae rolled her wheelchair forward in one smooth motion.
The device that looked like a bill slot actually required a different kind of paper.
An application form.
Please tell us about the child receiving the gift!
Name : Lee Seonghae
Birthday : May 20
Hair color : White
Eye color : Black
Writing down her real name and even her birthday felt unsettling, but despite the long history of use of this ‘Toy Maker of the Cheerful Institute’, there had never been an incident involving real names or birthdays, so inductively, my worries eased.
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae finished filling it out and lifted the application form.
“Then I’ll put it in.”
Yup.
And the application form disappeared straight into the Toy Maker’s slot…
…No, rather.
It should have disappeared.
Tuk.
The machine spat the application form back out.
“…Huh??”
Above the slot, a red light blinked as a guidance message appeared…
– Under Repair –
If you would like a quick repair, please contact a researcher.
“It’s… broken?”
The group exchanged glances in momentary confusion.
Of course, it wasn’t unprecedented.
Exploration Log #114
Assistant Manager Kwak of Research Team 1 had inserted a forged application. Device malfunction message displayed.
The Darkness was left unobserved, and when visited again after 7 weeks, repairs were completed automatically and operations resumed.
I had seen records like this before, descriptions where if it wasn’t visited for a few weeks at minimum, or a few months at most, it would recover on its own…
The problem was that we needed to use it right now.
“Wait, did we break it?”
“I don’t think so… We only put the application in. It seems like it was already broken to begin with!”
Then had something else already happened in this corridor?
We reflexively turned to look at J3, but strangely, he was standing outside, far away from the shop.
Just as I was about to step out to speak to him.
‘…Wait.’
I paused and reread the message.
If you would like a quick repair, please contact a researcher.
A researcher.
And looking closely, there was a strange rectangular marking at the bottom of the machine.
I realized that the size of that rectangle was almost identical to something I was carrying…
‘…No way.’
After a brief hesitation, I took it out.
Cheerful Researcher
Lee Heowoon
An employee ID belonging to a Cheerful Institute staff member, which I had found in the basement of Daydream’s main building.
“Roe?”
I brought the ID card up to the rectangular marking at the bottom of the machine.
At that moment.
Hello, Researcher!
“…!”
Just like that, lights came on across a diagram at the bottom of the machine that looked like a Braille-style blueprint.
The lights moved chaotically, running all over the schematic.
Self-diagnostic in progress…
Diagnostic complete!
Marking areas requiring repair.
A red light lit up on one part of the ‘Toy Maker’ schematic.
I approached that section and carefully examined the connection point… Then something strange caught my eye.
Something was stuck inside the machine.
‘…!’
Comments 1