Free Web NovelI knew it might sound odd that the Baekilmong Research Team often used darkness for equipment production.
Normally, equipment is something that helps you survive through an urban legend.
So people might wonder, why would this company’s research team need to handle that directly? But if you see it for yourself, you’ll get the general idea.
How the “Toy Maker of the Amusement Lab” could be used by the research team.
And how it could replace Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae’s missing limbs.
“Alright then. Let’s set our route for E07.”
“Y-y-yes, sir!”
And just like that, the first destination for equipment production, located in the annex, was decided.
...Now, it was time to head out.
“Moving.”
“Yep.”
As soon as Section Chief ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Lee Jahaeon made the decision, he set off without hesitation. We followed after him, walking down the dark corridor.
Annex, Basement Level 3. Darkness Isolation Zone.
Strange noises echoed from the firmly sealed iron doors on either side, but ignoring them, we proceeded with caution....
“Stop.”
EXIT
At the dead end.
The emergency exit revealed itself.
Right. This time, we were planning to move to Basement Level 2 directly above, using this emergency staircase.
—Since B2F doesn’t issue us any direct entry permissions, we’ll slip in from either above or below instead.
The annex’s emergency stairs were different from the bizarre ones in the main building’s underground Amusement Lab, plastered with “ABSOLUTE ENTRY FORBIDDEN” warnings.
These ones show up several times in the [Darkness Exploration Records], either as security staff breaking in or people trying to escape.
Of course, this wasn’t a proper access route either, and strange things happened while moving through it.
But it’s not like it can’t be used.
Up ahead, Section Chief Lee Jahaeon raised his hand.
“Opening.”
Normally, this emergency door would go into lockdown during a containment failure, and even under normal circumstances, opening it would trigger an alarm... but this time, by “coincidence,” the alarm was broken, so no alerts would go out.
Even if someone with impossible strength forced it open.
Crunch, ...screee.
Most likely, the emergency door opened with such sounds under Section Chief Lee Jahaeon’s hand.
......
“Roe Deer?”
But none of this was visible to me.
As expected.
I couldn’t perceive any means of leaving the annex. Just like with the elevator.
It wouldn’t allow me to perceive a way to move between floors. Because I was staff, assigned to work here as a floor-level security manager in a special division.
So that’s how it is.
...Losing sight of something I once could see—it felt strange.
The emergency exit appeared to me as nothing but an extension of the wall. A wall lost in smoke and darkness....
But.
Recommendation: Move ahead of 130666
If there were others present, I could still follow them.
“...Yeah.”
Deputy Eunhaje stood right in front of me.
“Be careful.”
“Wah!”
Section Chief Lee Jahaeon, having apparently re-secured the broken door, lightly lifted up the wheelchair.
Then, step by step, people walked straight into the wall.
I too followed, passing through the wall.
From my perspective, it looked like an endless void.
“You okay?”
Affirmative
Even if I couldn’t see the exit, I could see my companions, so it was fine.
Everyone started climbing the emergency stairs.
I blinked in and out using smoke, ignoring my useless legs, reappearing near the group again and again....
In my head, I pictured the shape of the staircase.
Normally, emergency stairs... spiral upward, making a half-circle turn or two before reaching the next floor.
So by rights, after a turn or two, we should’ve reached the upper floor.
“......”
“......”
But everyone just kept walking.
Upward, still upward.
“Uh, the door isn’t showing up.”
“Shut it.”
The space was distorted somehow.
But I gave advice.
Recommendation: Keep walking
It wasn’t a dangerous situation.
There’s a record like this.
Containment Failure: Qterw-E-352.
Field Exploration Team F, 2 members, used annex emergency stairs to escape when the entity took the elevator.
Time elapsed: 1 hour 21 minutes.
Beside me, Baek Saheon muttered something that sounded like a curse as he climbed.
And then, sometime later.
“...There it is.”
Everyone halted.
B2F
“Basement Level 2 emergency door. Time elapsed: 12 minutes 53 seconds.”
And then:
“Restricted Access, Security Team in Control... it says.”
The door was sealed with a security team warning sign.
Of course, the annex’s emergency doors would lock down in a crisis, and B2F was currently in crisis.
But we had already made arrangements with today’s B2F duty officer.
“I’ll knock.”
Knock, knock-knock, knock.
Section Chief Lee Jahaeon tapped out the promised rhythm on the door. A melody from string lessons in the Marriage Class urban legend.
Then—
Click.
The emergency door opened slightly. A pale, faded, bright-yellow beast’s pupil swept over us....
Then it pulled back, and the door opened wide.
“Come in... quietly....”
We held even our breathing as we stepped inside.
My perception ability returned the moment I faced the corridor.
It was B2F of the annex, familiar from several prior visits.
[Oh, just as dull in layout as B3F.]
The only difference....
[They didn’t have to give it character through filth, really!]
Sinister traces sprawled everywhere.
Sticky black fluid dried onto the floor, claw marks on the walls, yellowed talismans half-peeled but stuck in clusters, stardust, torn rags, smiling doodles....
Traces of the security team’s “suppression.”
Inviting grim imagination.
“......”
“......”
J3, the Guard Captain, pulled his cap low.
“Over there... other security team members... are handling ‘containment,’ so... don’t go that way now.”
He had volunteered to open the way for us so we could take a relatively safe route, avoiding the security team.
Alone.
—The Captain’s just so strong, um... so competent that they often assign him solo to handle entire zones. This time too.
—He’s probably patrolling half of B2F all on his own, right?
—Yeah....
“So then, only you’re stationed here, Captain?”
“Yes....”
We reported our destination, and the Guard Captain nodded.
“Follow me.... Don’t turn on any illusions.”
The Captain lowered his gaze.
“Might provoke something....”
“......”
“Just stay quiet.”
Everyone obeyed.
I followed from the rear in silence, scanning for danger.
J3, in his guard uniform, walked slowly with his flashlight, yet his steps never faltered, as if he could sense every presence and threat nearby.
“Wait, hold here....”
When he said to stop, we stopped. When he moved again, we followed.
Time, suffocating, passed in corners and forks until at last we met our destination.
E-07
Urban legend.
“Just a moment....”
The Guard Captain swiped his pass card at the iron door’s panel.
Beep. With the sound, the sealed iron door opened. And then—
“Phew.”
Inside, it looked shockingly like a nighttime street.
A meticulously constructed mock-up alley. Beneath a streetlamp’s glow sat a shabby little shop.
In its dust-coated glass display, a poster read “Special Sale for Birthday Gifts!” but the door bore a “Closed” sign.
And through the glass, all the toys on display were....
“Dolls.”
Yes.
Crocheted dolls modeled after characters from fairy tales and old folk stories.
Hair made of finely knotted yarn, cubic stones for eyes, glittering under the streetlamp.
Darkness Exploration Records / Urban Legend
[Amusement Lab’s Toy Maker]
: An urban legend appearing in the [Darkness Exploration Records], Baekilmong Corporation identification code Qterw-E-07.
Takes the form of an old toy shop.
Specializes in crocheted dolls. When given the recipient’s name, birthday, hair color, and eye color, it produces a birthday gift toy once per day.
To safely utilize it at twilight-class stability, “night” conditions must be maintained; when “day” arrives, ■■ ■■ occurs.
One of the earliest urban legends Baekilmong possessed from its founding, continuously used by the Research Team for darkness-development clinicals.
So, this “Amusement Lab” urban legend had been with Baekilmong since the very beginning.
Did they already have it at the time of founding?
Before, I might’ve dismissed it as just a line to emphasize the Research Team’s connection. But now....
It gave me an odd feeling.
Anyway, equipment production came first.
“Let’s go.”
After firmly closing the iron door, our group walked down the midnight mock-alley toward the shabby shop.
Then knocked.
Knock, knock, knock.
Following the manual, we recited the safe phrase....
“I’m in urgent need of a birthday gift—might you still have any for sale?”
Moments later—
Flicker.
“...!”
A soft light came on in the dusty bulb at the shopfront. The glass door’s lock clicked open.
“...Excuse us.”
We stepped carefully inside.
The shop was thick with dust, as though it had been closed for ages. The musty scent of old wood, mold, and rust lingered.
But one thing alone was lit.
A machine, shaped like a vending machine.
“......”
Behind it stretched a thick, complex set of connections like ventilation ducts, with a conveyor rail at the side for finished products.
At the top, where a bill slot might’ve been, light flashed, displaying text.
*Birthday Gift Making Window*
This was the equipment-making device we were after.
“Want to try it right away?”
“Yes, sir.”
Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae rolled his wheelchair briskly forward.
The slot that looked like it accepted money actually required another kind of paper.
An application form.
Tell us about the child receiving the gift!
Name: Lee Seonghae
Birthday: May 20
Hair color: White
Eye color: Black
Writing his real name and birthday felt uncomfortable, but in the long record of using the “Amusement Lab’s Toy Maker,” there had never once been trouble involving names or birthdays. Inductively, the worry was lessened.
When finished, Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae held up the form.
“Alright, putting it in.”
Yep.
The form disappeared into the Toy Maker’s slot....
...Or should have.
Thud.
Instead, the machine spat it back out.
“...Huh??”
Above the slot, a red light blinked and printed a message....
—Under Maintenance—
For quick repair, please contact a Researcher.
“It says... broken?”
Our group glanced at each other in surprise.
Not unheard of, of course.
Exploration Record #114.
Research Team 1’s Deputy Kwak inserted a forged application form. Machine displayed malfunction.
Left unobserved. Seven weeks later, upon return, machine had auto-repaired and functioned again.
There were records of such breakdowns—sometimes fixed in weeks, sometimes months, only after being left alone....
The problem was, we needed it right now.
“Wait, did we break it?”
“I don’t think so.... We just put in the form. Probably already broken!”
So something had already happened in this corridor?
We glanced instinctively toward J3—but he was standing far off outside the shop, strangely aloof.
I was about to step out to call to him when—
...Wait.
I froze, rereading the text.
For quick repair, please contact a Researcher.
A Researcher.
And then I noticed—at the machine’s base, a strange rectangular marking.
I realized its size matched something I carried almost exactly....
No way.
After a moment of hesitation, I pulled out the item.
Amusement Researcher
Lee Heoun
The employee badge of an Amusement Lab staffer I’d found in the Baekilmong main building underground.
“Roe Deer?”
I pressed the badge to the rectangle at the machine’s base.
At once—
Hello, Researcher!
“...!”
The design at the base, like a schematic in braille, lit up.
Lights scattered chaotically across the diagram.
Self-diagnostic initiated.... Diagnostic complete! Highlighting repair site.
A part of the Toy Maker’s schematic glowed red.
I approached, inspecting the connection.... and found something jammed inside.
...!
Using smoke, I carefully pulled out the tiny object.
An earring?
It was some rusted trinket, like an ancient ornament dug up from ruins or a grave. Entirely out of place, unsettling....
Repair complete. Normal operation resuming.
At least, it was fixed.
“Roe Deer. Just now, that was....”
I showed the earring to the group, but urged them to go ahead with equipment production first. That was urgent.
“Got it. Thank you, Roe Deer!”
Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae’s eyes shone as he submitted the application form again.
This time—
*I’m making a gift!*
The machine worked.
It chimed like a music box, urging him to choose the “desired size.”
“One-to-one scale.”
He pressed the button. Loud machine noises rang out—clanking, cutting, assembling....
Seconds later—
Thunk.
A “birthday gift” slid onto the conveyor rail.
It was—
A crocheted doll the exact size of Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae.
“...!”
As if handmade to replicate him, from hair to eyes to outfit and body measurements. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Black cubic eyes sparkled green under the lights.
It rolled along the conveyor, then dropped off—
<Hello?>
And stood upright.
Facing us, greeting.
<I’m not feeling my best, but being with kind people makes me happy!>
No one answered.
The doll’s glowing eyes fixed on the real Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae in the wheelchair.
<...Huh? Wait. Why do I look like this? That’s strange, and why is there another me sitting right there...?>
<Ah.>
Pluck.
Section Chief Lee Jahaeon, from behind, tore off the tag hanging from the doll’s head.
Immediately, the doll collapsed like a toy.
Motionless.
......
Dolls made by the Toy Maker exhibit speech and behavior extremely similar to the “gift recipient” written on the form.
However, the Dreamcatcher classifies them as non-human. Larger dolls have shorter active time.
For this reason, the Research Team uses them sparingly, only for limited darkness experimentation.
Once produced, the same individual can never be made again.
“Alright, time to dismantle.”
Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae detached the doll’s leg.
I watched in uneasy silence....
It felt wrong.
There are many urban legends that mimic humans. Others might find it uncanny but keep calm.
So why...?
I was deeply shaken.
Was that crocheted doll really just mimicking Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae’s appearance? Or did it perhaps possess genuine self-awareness...?
...Enough.
Pointless.
I only watched as he carefully inserted the doll’s leg into his own motionless one.
And then he stood up from the wheelchair.
“Mm. Works fine!”
Right.
The doll could be controlled however the “gift recipient” wished, so it could be used that way.
Phew.
I let myself feel relieved and glad he’d safely obtained a temporary leg.
It really was fortunate.
“Will you use one too?”
“No!”
“Yes.”
As Baek Saheon recoiled from the dolls in horror, Deputy Eunhaje suggested to me:
“Roe Deer. Maybe you should get a leg here too.”
......
About that.
Use unavailable
Target: 130666
I pointed to the caution note posted beside the machine, half hidden in shadow.
“...!”
※ This toy is
designed for the joy of modern Earth humans.
For safety, non-humans such as aliens, trans-dimensionals,
non-sapient beings, gods, and all other intelligences not human
may not use it. :)
“Damn.”
I’m sorry, but that’s how it is....
So this is a property of Amusement Lab’s products.
The candle I’d used in the “Blind Man’s Mansion” urban legend had similar restrictions. I couldn’t use it, so I’d had to ask Yeong-eun.
...Back then, I’d thought it was just because I came from another world.
“Let’s hurry and find the next one. It’s humiliating, being contaminated like this.”
...Thank you.
I nodded, leaving the shop. Deputy Manager Lee Seonghae walked with regained legs, smiling, and we returned to the Guard Captain, leaning against the iron door.
If it comes to it, let’s just head back.
Even without legs, I could move with smoke. Before entering Se-gwang Special City, there’d be some other way to replace them.
But then....
[Oh dear, something seems wrong here!]
The Guard Captain stood motionless, staring at the floor.
...?
I puffed smoke in front of his eyes.
Concern: J3’s current state
“I’m fine....”
At last, the Guard Captain raised his eyes to me.
But in the next moment, another eye sprouted from his temple, rolling as it turned toward the shop.
The dusty toys in the display. Among them—
A red hood.
...Shit!
I braced myself.
As his gaze bulged, twisted, feral—
“...We’re leaving, right...?”
The Guard Captain turned his head back, resuming the role of a dry, sluggish employee, shuffling toward the iron door.
...Thank god.
Affirmative
I followed, covering his sight with smoke so he wouldn’t look at the shop.
Gradually, the unstable Guard Captain regained composure, opening the iron door....
There's something standing in the hallway.
“......”
“Huh?”
When I lifted my head, a woman stood there draped in countless ornate ornaments.
No—rather, the shape of a woman....
‘Porcelain...?’
A clay doll. A human figure molded and fired from earth.
Far too out of place to be in this corridor, it just stood there vacantly in the filthy hall....
I realized instinctively.
‘A ghost story.’
That was the ghost story said to have breached quarantine.
‘...!!’
I yanked the Guard Captain back and tried to slam the iron door shut again. Before the others arrived from behind, quickly—
“Hhhhmph!”
...A voice.
Rigid, I listened. From inside the ornate woman-shaped clay doll, a muffled sound was coming....
And soon I realized whose voice it was.
“Hmph! Hmph-hmph!”
It was Mr. Kang Ihak.
