Free Web Novel“Hawk’s Eye.”
“Yes?”
“A note came into Car 7... They asked me to pass it to you.”
“...!”
Deputy Eun Haje took the slip the Station Attendant quietly held out, shielding it from others.
And with the Attendant’s eye signal, they understood at once.
Who had written this note.
Soleum, that punk.
Face blanched blue, he’d barely managed a greeting before whipping off to Car 8, then got off alone at another station—and left a note?
“Are they in Car 7 by any chance?”
“No. They didn’t board the train—left only that and got off again. I’ll be going now.”
What is going on?
Eun Haje watched the Station Attendant leave the car, then quickly pinged Ryu Jaegwan.
“What’s wrong?”
Pulled for heavy labor and just back, Ryu Jaegwan was, surprisingly, adapting decently to this Train Shelter.
They weren’t showing that blatant, shady itch to pry out how this shelter operates or its secrets either.
Only, as if sometimes thinking of teammates or family left outside, their eyes would now and then dim.
Looks like a bit of flexibility is starting to grow.
Eun Haje judged that a good change. At this rate, they’d develop well.
...If only they could make it out of here alive.
Damn.
Ah, a cigarette would kill right now.
Never thought I’d crave one with a dead body.
In any case, Deputy Eun lightly bumped Ryu Jaegwan and whispered small.
“......It’s from Noru.”
“...!”
“Please, sit like this a moment.”
“Yes.”
Eun Haje used Ryu Jaegwan’s large, hastily turning body as a makeshift screen to hide the note and checked the contents together.
I’ve got something urgent to check, so I’m going back to the company for a bit.
If you need to reach me, please leave word at the popup shop in Afternoon Station.
p.s. Noon Station was completely destroyed by fire. It’s in a concluded state, so visiting should be relatively safe.
I’ve sent company researchers to Afternoon Station for the details. You can hear it when you meet them.
“...Concluded?”
“Shh.”
Eun Haje quickly patted Ryu Jaegwan’s back to hush them.
They were pretending otherwise, but gazes could be felt from all over the car. The two were, for all intents and purposes, still treated as outsiders.
And in this tedious space, one of the few things to do was watch and observe others.
Honestly, though, the note’s contents were so outrageous they left one speechless.
And in the middle of all that, he drove the darkness all the way to a conclusion?
Had it even been a full day since he moved alone?
And what about “researchers.” What did that even mean. Why would those lunatics be here?
What have you been doing, Noru.
It was the sort of performance that made you want to ask what kind of bastard he thought he was, but every time Eun Haje pictured their capable junior, a bitter taste rose.
Being capable was fine, but lately he seemed to be pushing himself too far.
Soft-hearted, barely able to take care of himself, yet constantly acting like he felt guilty toward others.
There’s absolutely no need for that.
...And all the while, it leaked through that he felt helpless about his own contaminated state; that made him all the more pitiable.
Their heart grew a little impatient.
...We need to squeeze every last scrap of information out of this Train Shelter.
Only then could they be of use to that Noru brat who hadn’t retired alone yet.
First chance I get, I need to head to Afternoon Station.
Smacking their lips at the bitterness, Eun Haje started to fold the note back...
Hm?
“There’s one more line at the bottom.”
At Ryu Jaegwan’s words, they slid the edge of the note open.
...Strangely, a sentence crammed into the margin, as if scrawled on in a rush.
As if added at the last moment.
If you find any information anywhere about a device called a “Dream Cultivator,” please contact the popup shop in Afternoon Station as fast as possible.
Unlike above, even the tone had turned urgent.
...Dream Cultivator?
It’s the prototype device for Daydream’s potion machine.
“.......”
“...Is that something you know about?”
“No.”
Eun Haje hummed low.
It was a random line, and because of that, they knew by sheer instinct.
He found out something.
Then what on earth did Kim Soleum find out?
***
I’m running.
Out of Se-gwang Special City, to meet the person I have to meet.
To confirm what I have to confirm.
“...Hup.”
My head is a mess.
YuKwae Research Laboratory’s goal, the facts newly found....
The identity of the egg inside the Dream Cultivator.
—The goal of that Dream Cultivator is... to produce a new world.
—...was the hypothesis we tried. Hahaha!
If that new world is... a world without ghost stories?
If YuKwae tried to make a world without ghost stories, and succeeded?
If that’s the world I came from?
...What does that make me?
No.
It’s a ridiculous leap.
How many jumps and links would have to align to make that possible. There are plenty of cases and probabilities where it isn’t....
Then why does it feel so gut-cold?
Like recognizing it instinctively.
A sense that the front and back click into place with eerie precision.
Motive and outcome meshing like puzzle pieces, flashing through my head almost like inspiration.
So even while I deny it in my heart, I’m acting right now on the basis of that hypothesis....
But still.
It’s strange.
This place was literally the world inside the Ghost Story Wiki.
Darkness Exploration Record.
From a world without ghost stories, they made a ghost-story world.
But if, within the ghost-story world, they made a world without ghost stories... doesn’t the order fail to line up?
[Oh. The chicken first, or the egg first. Time to pull out that musty but wise metaphor!]
I’m going mad.
I want to grab anyone and spill every last bit of this and demand an answer to what is going on.
Having made the hypothesis, I can’t stand not confirming it, so my legs carry me to my destination.
...To the person I wanted to avoid, but cannot possibly avoid.
“.......”
I stopped.
I was in Jisan Village.
Someone stood at the well on the outskirts of that abandoned rural village.
“Agent.”
Agent Choi was looking at me.
Their eyes sunk, they’d been gazing down into the well; sensing my presence, they turned this way and stood.
Watching for a long time while I came closer.
I swallowed.
...Agent Choi was just about to enter Se-gwang Special City alone.
And I knew why.
Because I was the one who’d delivered the news that a fellow agent from the same team was dead and trapped inside that annihilation-grade disaster.
“......You.”
Agent Choi steadied their breath, then spoke again.
“You left that as a letter....”
“I’m sorry.”
I dipped my head first.
“I’m not asking for an apology....”
“I’m truly sorry. I’ll resolve it somehow—”
“Soleum.”
“.......”
“What you should apologize for is that you left just a single note and decided you’d handle it alone. You get that?”
A thousand rebuttals rose, but I blurted fast.
“Yes. I’m sorry. But....”
“But?”
“...I just found something inside the Special City. There’s something I have to confirm, right now.”
Shame and guilt at saying this at a time like this tried to rise, then vanished under the urgency. So I finally said it.
“Where is the Dream Cultivator?”
“.......”
“The underground lab covered with a manhole lid that you saw too. The Dream Cultivation Room.”
Expression drained from their face.
This person had certainly, after I vanished, either taken some action regarding that cultivation room, or handed it to the Bureau.
I had to learn where it went.
“What for.”
“I need it immediately. When I told you last time—”
“What are you going to use it for?”
“.......”
Agent Choi scrubbed their face with dry hands.
“Hoo, what a....”
“.......”
I swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. I’m not asking you to apologize... Podo.”
Agent Choi’s tone softened.
“Go get some rest.”
“...Sorry?”
“Tell me what you’re going to use it for, and I’ll go snap it up. This is when you pass the baton.”
Wait, hold on.
“You said Dream Cultivator, right? What do you want to use it for?”
I steadied my breath first, then pulled a paper from my coat.
A letter that had been rolled like a screw and hidden in a nook of the Train Shelter.
“...That is?”
“I found it in the Special City.”
Oh~ You recognized this?
Then you deserve to read this pro tip lol
So began the story.
A hidden letter left by “Lee Kangheon.”
“.......”
“Would you like to see who wrote it?”
Agent Choi’s eyes skimmed the paper fast. With no change of expression, they devoured all of it, lifted their gaze, and looked at me.
And—
“No idea.”
“.......”
“You brought it to me because of the name Lee Kangheon. But I don’t actually know who the real Lee Kangheon is. I don’t even have a guess, so I use it. Anyway, why do you need a Dream Cultivator....”
“Agent Choi.”
I spoke quietly.
“I’d like you not to lie.”
“......!”
“If you truly didn’t know, our conversation would have flowed to ‘I’ll find out who wrote it.’ Because confirming who’s behind it is something you consider important.”
Agent Choi froze.
“Switching the subject like you just did means there’s already someone you suspect is behind it.”
“.......”
“...Did you write the note, Agent?”
A small sigh slipped from Agent Choi’s lips.
Then, peering again at the note, they said,
“Maybe I did.”
“......!!”
“...There are a few of my habits when I leave writing... I can see them. Word choice, cadence, consonant size....”
Their eyes scanned the note fast and mechanically. A gaze picking out contexts that raised doubts, like a scan.
“As for the handwriting, that’s just a matter of using the other hand.”
“.......”
“Of course I don’t remember it.”
Agent Choi lifted their head.
“But since it was found in a region where cognition is blocked, it’s possible I can’t remember it.”
Then, still looking at the note, they folded it and pocketed it.
“Wait—”
“But it’s not certain, either.”
They shook their head at me.
“From the outset it’s odd to assume I know this content. And, Podo. Just because there’s a chance—should you believe a single note blindly?”
“.......”
“Do you believe this content?”
Then somehow, spirit away the Dream Cultivator that Daydream Inc. copied,
install it in the YuKwae Research Laboratory facility that still remains,
and try it there
“Do you want to try something when you don’t even know what intent is behind it?”
“Agent.”
I raised my head.
“You only learn the intent by trying.”
“...!”
“I’m not saying we’ll do everything blindly. I’m saying I want to go only up to the moment right before we do it.”
“Right before?”
“Yes.”
I pointed at the contents of the note.
“If you look, what’s meant here actually isn’t just any Dream Cultivator.”
It’s—
“They’re asking for the version Daydream copied. In other words, it’s like saying steal the potion machine at the company....”
I swallowed.
“In exchange, first install a Dream Cultivator identical to the original one that was in the YuKwae lab in Se-gwang Special City, and observe it running properly once.”
“.......”
“From there we can infer the mechanism.”
And if, by chance, something shows and it succeeds—
“If this note is truly a hint, then at least we might pull out the people trapped inside... there’s even a chance the supernatural disaster ends.”
“.......”
“Agent Choi.”
I put strength in my voice.
“I’ll do it. No—at minimum, I have to accompany you and try this.”
Agent Choi looked at me, looked again at the note, then fell silent as if dropping into fierce deliberation.
By the time the left hand kneading the handle of the ceremonial blade stilled—
“Hoo.”
A long sigh slipped from Agent Choi.
Then, with a bitter smile, they turned to me.
With a blue gleam in their eyes.
“Fine. So we take the Dream Cultivator and test it?”
“......! Yes.”
Agent Choi stepped back from the well.
In the slight flutter of their jacket in the wind, I glimpsed something like serious ritual gear flash and vanish.
A chill ran through my chest, and at the same time I felt relief.
That I wasn’t too late before that person went down into the well alone.
“...Follow me.” freewebnσvel.cøm
“...!”
I followed Agent Choi away from the well.
***
[Hard to understand, Mr. Cat. That underground lab was originally your friend’s find—so why is that civil servant taking the credit?]
Because I got caught playing spy there....
Hoo.
“Here.”
Anyway, instead of hauling me off somewhere for enforced rest, Agent Choi escorted me to the Dream Cultivation Room.
It was... shockingly, right where the manhole had been.
Only, it seemed veiled from civilian perception by some ritual act.
“I thought you’d have handed it to the Bureau....”
“I was going to. After I poked around a bit.”
Agent Choi spoke casually and opened the door.
“With this kind of thing, the moment you hand it over, the folks upstairs usually slap a field-agent ban and try to control it themselves.”
“.......”
“Here.”
Inside the door, sacred rope was strung across.
Traces that Agent Choi had inspected and purified the space.
We carefully stepped over the rope and went in.
And at last, I faced it.
A Dream Cultivator running normally.
...There it is.
In that same huge dream-solution tank, a faint silhouette was visible. Something golden, rounded, egg-shaped.
An egg.
“......I’ll move it.”
“Right. It’s going to be some work. Heave-ho.”
I detached the cables connected to the device one by one, slowly; drained the dream-solution into the collector; then lifted the powered-down machine.
Thanks to being in the lizard body, moving something heavy wasn’t a problem, but in the end storage was—and I had to switch bodies.
To 130666, the collapsed shape.
“...So you weren’t recovered.”
I nodded quietly.
And though it took hours more to get back to the well, Agent Choi spent that whole time grilling me about my exploration.
By the time I’d poured out the news that the Bronze Agent and Deputy Eun Haje were in the Train Shelter and everything I’d experienced at each station, I was about spent.
Even so, it ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) felt cleansing in some way.
But in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to say my guess about the Dream Cultivator.
A world without ghost stories.
I only said this:
Question:
Agent Choi’s thought
“Hm?”
YuKwae Research Laboratory’s goal (inference):
To create a world where no one suffers from supernatural disasters
▶ On the assumption that such a world actually exists, Agent Choi’s opinion
“...Mm. Sounds fancy enough.”
Agent Choi asked evenly.
“Cults lure people with the exact same pitch.”
.......
“But Podo. Why did you think that? That such a world really exists.”
...Because I came from there.
Simple approach:
Proceed from traces left in YuKwae Research Laboratory
“Okay.”
Agent Choi looked at me with a peculiar expression.
“Agent Podo, if someone on the street says your fortunes are bright thanks to your ancestors, don’t strike up a convo. You know that, right?”
.......
“Why no answer. You do, right?”
Affirmative
It must have sounded different because I used to be from a Bureau-certified cult-adjacent company....
Hoo.
That wrapped the conversation.
And when we reached the well and reentered Se-gwang Special City, it was already midnight.
The platform of Se-gwang Special City, when my eyes opened, was an underground where you couldn’t gauge the passage of time, and so I could move all the more unhesitatingly.
To the YuKwae Research Laboratory facility on the opposite platform.
“I’ll clear it.”
Back in the corridor of burned-out offices.
I shoved out the half-broken, barely running Dream Cultivator that had been there, together with Agent Choi, and slid the machine I’d brought into its place.
“...You said you’d hook it up?”
I nodded.
This was the same cultivator model as the half-broken one. So nothing should suddenly go wrong.
“But if anything goes wrong, please yank it immediately.”
“Of course.”
I connected cables and pipes to the Dream Cultivator.
And when I tapped my staff badge....
Flash.
...The device came to life, lights blooming.
“.......”
Nothing else happened.
I stared at the Dream Cultivator, running quietly just like before I moved it, and fell into thought.
🥰🥸🤯🧐🤪🥱
Children’s syrup.
Buttons that produce the base liquid for Daydream Inc.’s potions.
And, beneath those, the trace of one button.
Only one.
◎
A leftover part like a component pried out by force.
...I’d thought this was the wish-voucher slot.
And as I explored Se-gwang Special City, I think I learned the name of the potion made by this button.
For this invited study,
use Children’s Paradise Syrup
-> My opinion!
Children’s Paradise Syrup.
Paradise.
If so....
Is this... the button that’s the true, original purpose of the Dream Cultivator?
The button related to the “egg.”
I peered at it, as if examining it.
The place where the button had been pulled.
Where exactly did this button sit?
Only this being damaged was plainly unnatural. Someone had pulled it.
And if this were the device’s core function, rather than make it unusable, they would have made it so only the permitted could use it.
For instance, hide the button, and make it so only someone qualified could find it.
...Hidden, huh.
A recent case comes to mind where I found a hidden object.
That “Lee Kangheon” note.
A sense of wrongness, hidden close to a living space.
A screw made by repurposing a Daydream potion cap.
The cap, used in an unexpected way, was cunningly hidden in the place of a screw.
As if it had been made that way.
...Could the button on this cultivator have been hidden in the same way?
In a place no one would think of, as if nothing were odd.
...It might be best to scour that underground Dream Cultivation Room again. Or I should search every facility related to YuKwae Research Laboratory.
Maybe there’s something in the Darkness Exploration Record that could serve as a hint?
Regarding the Dream Cultivation Room.
Before I asked Agent Choi that question, I pulled out my smartphone to use the broadest source of information I know.
A round component....
And I checked that....
[Friend?]
A round component.
A hidden use.
In a place no one would think of.
As if nothing were odd.
“.......”
I flipped the smartphone over.
There was a circle on top of it.
The device that had been bringing up the Wiki for me.
A phone grip.
“Podo?”
I looked at the Dream Cultivator.
Then I raised my smartphone and, with a trembling hand, detached the phone grip.
Tock.
From the fallen grip, I separated the adhesive base and the decorative part. Being a modular part, it came off easily with a squeeze on the sides.
And I brought that piece of the phone grip to the Dream Cultivator’s missing button.
Click.
