Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 250.1

When the Daydream folks suddenly recommended ‘Section Chief Lizard’ from another company, the civil servant agents who were busy grilling prime beef were so dumbfounded they couldn’t even chew.

“Bronze, are we… being told to bring in an employee of Daydream Inc. as someone it’d be good for us to work with?”

Naturally, Daydream Inc’s D-squad alums were resolute.

Affirmative

“C’mon, more than half the current party already came from Daydream. What’s so shocking? It’s a normal workplace like any other.”

Granted, what I’m recommending isn’t a human being but an alien reptile…

“Our section chief really is a solid guy. Strong and straightforward, perfect to work with.”

“To have a strong personality yet coming from that company…”

“No, that’s not it, Sir Highborn Geezer.”

“…?”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje solemnly waved a hand.

“I mean literally strong. Just plain strong.”

Confirmed

Agent Bronze looked even more confused, but both I and Assistant Manager Eun Haje nodded as if on cue.

Then the assistant manager’s gaze shifted.

“But this guy isn’t surprised.”

“Eyy, I was surprised too.”

Still, Agent Choi didn’t seem all that shocked, just bantering. And I think I know why.

The other identity Agent Choi used.

‘Lee Kangheon.’

– K.LEE : ur not a cousin of section chief lee jaheon are you?;; uve got the same attitude…

I distinctly remembered him sending that message while recommending Salmon Market.

‘Which means Agent Choi already knew what kind of person Section Chief Lee Jaheon is.’

No, more than that. It implies he’s mapped Daydream employees’ messenger profiles and has a rough read on their personalities and movements.

…There was nothing about that in the wiki.

‘No way he infiltrated Daydream, right.’

Agent Choi can’t be in two places at once. He couldn’t be doing the grueling agent job and also clocking in at Daydream. And inside the company there is no C-squad Assistant Manager ‘Lee Kangheon’.

So I extended smoke under the table and subtly caught Agent Choi’s eye.

“Hm?”

Then I asked.

Question : Lee Kangheon’s identity

“……”

I immediately erased the letters before anyone else at the table could see.

Agent Choi smiled.

“Hey now, you can’t be prying into a sunbae’s trade secrets.”

……

Fair enough.

If that identity exists to siphon Daydream intel, he can’t exactly disclose it to someone who still technically works there…

– Still, want me to tell you if you’re that curious?

……!

Agent Choi traced quick letters with a finger into the little cloud of smoke pooled under the table.

– But you have to keep it secret haha i can trust you right grapes?

I formed the word ‘Affirmative’.

Grinning, Agent Choi continued.

– Lee kangheon is a real person.

– A Daydream retiree.

…!

– And, well now one day a certain ace agent at the bureau happened to acquire lee kangheon’s messenger account haha

He didn’t say how he got it.

He did add a note about the account.

– He had tons of group chats he never left.

Batch chats, short-term project rooms, anonymous info-sharing rooms, and even in-house gambling chats.

All excellent places to harvest intel. And with Agent Choi’s skill, he surely slipped into the various new spinoff chats too.

By scraping profiles one by one… he would even have kept up with the newly hired rookies’ profiles.

I recalled Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s testimony that ‘Assistant Manager Lee Kangheon of the C-squad’ had introduced her to Salmon Market. And then…

– I also heard all the rumors about one kim soleum, the elite top rookie who doesn’t bat an eye at exploring ghost stories lolololol

……

So he knew from the very beginning…

– That’s about it.

Request : More detail

– Grapes-ie really has no shame……

– Still, if our youngest wants it, i should share more! come ask me the day you cut ties with Daydream and I’ll just spill everything lolol

In other words, he wouldn’t tell me.

With that, Agent Choi turned his attention back to the table as if there had never been any under-the-table scribbling.

I swallowed a sigh.

‘…Is this why he believed even less in Wish Tickets?’

There are so-called retirees who vanish leaving only an account behind, and he’s personally used one such account.

In any case, I hadn’t expected my curiosity to be satisfied like this. I was a bit stunned.

‘I didn’t think he’d answer.’

Of course, the ‘I trust you’ line was obviously a lie. He’d cut off the details from the start.

After years of use, the ‘Lee Kangheon’ name was probably getting such a reputation that it was no longer being invited into new group chats, so he likely planned to retire it anyway.

He surely has other intel-gathering routes.

‘Still, I’m grateful…’

While I was collecting my thoughts, light jokes popped around the table.

“Ee-yah. Section Chief Lizard, huh. Makes me wonder how strong he is. Does he, like, chew rebar?”

“If he had to, he seems like the type who would, yeah.”

“…??”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje shrugged as she asked a part-timer to swap our grill.

“Anyway, much as Roe says it’d be great if our section chief helped too, but… it’s tough to arrange while still working a day job.”

……

And in truth, that wasn’t the only problem.

News I heard from the Space Shopping Mall when I bought the evil-warding pollock talisman.

– That entity is currently at a boarding school.

Which was, in effect, saying that Section Chief Lee Jaheon couldn’t get out of some Darkness.

‘He said it was a boarding-school ghost story.’

So since I’d already decided I was going to look for Section Chief Lee Jaheon anyway, I really did want to confirm it somehow. It didn’t sound like anything simple.

After Agent Haegeum got me back to my senses, I even started feeling a bit anxious.

‘I was going to ask Baek Saheon so I could pin down exactly which Darkness it is.’

But there’s a bigger obstacle right here.

Namely… my condition.

Concern :

Daydream Inc. (Ltd.) summons for 130666’s return to duty

“……!”

In truth, the announcement ordering me to return was still blaring in my head.

Thanks to that great jade bell, which was the likely source of the small jade bells, I managed to come back to my senses, but I had no idea how long I could keep putting off the summons order on my own…

And that wasn’t all.

‘…Re-entering Sekwang City is the same problem.’

I don’t know how.

If I try the well again, there’s a high chance the Disaster Management Bureau will realize something’s off. Once might pass as recklessness during a dispatch mission, but if it’s repeated, the intent becomes obvious.

And even if I use that route…

‘…Can I take these people with me?’

No matter how many times you go through it, dying never gets easier, and this time it came with severe contamination. On top of that, most of the group must have had their near-death trauma from other ghost stories freshly triggered…

…So yeah.

‘Maybe I should do this alone.’

I’m not in a human state. I’ll surely suffer fewer post-contamination aftereffects than the others…

I was the one who shoved Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae into the train to begin with. If she still can’t get out, the question of who bore the decisive responsibility is pretty clear.

So… right.

That would be better.

“…Yeah. In a lot of ways, this is the company’s fault.”

Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who couldn’t know what I was thinking, patted my back as she said this.

Then, noticing the part-timer coming over to change the grill, she leaned back and muttered jokingly,

“Man, maybe I should just tell Director Ho.”

“I think I can help with that.”

“…!”

At some point.

The part-timer who’d been serving our table smiled and sat down at our spot.

Only then did the face come into focus. A pleasant-looking young man, smiling.

…Director Ho.

Salt Goblin 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

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