It wasn't long after the call connected that Naviq's pitiful voice came through.
[Cheongho-o-o, I'm really really really really sorry to bother you on your day off.... I need to move some stuff from the archive room, but we don't have the manpower. I've got a few colleagues helping, but it's nowhere near enough.]
"Oh, it's fine. I didn't have any particular plans anyway. Should I head over now?"
[Yeah yeah, I'll buy you a good meal. Thank you so so much!]
Good timing, actually. The muscle aches had mostly worked themselves out with movement.
Beats sitting around at home by far.
After a short deep breath to shake off the tangled thoughts, I headed back to the hospital room.
"Dad, something came up at work and I need to head to headquarters. I'll come visit again next time."
"At least eat with me before you go—what a shame. I was just about to tell the story of when you got first place in your entire school in middle school."
The man next to Dad sent a desperate "save me" signal with his haggard face, clearly meaning something entirely different.
Good grief, his son-bragging was going to be the death of that poor man.
"It's almost time for your rehab session, Dad. You should get ready too."
"Oh, it's already that time! You take care too. And..."
"Yeah?"
"If you hear anything at all about your uncle, let me know right away. Have a safe trip."
The arm I'd been extending to hand the neighboring man a drink froze mid-motion.
Dad said it with an effortfully wide smile. His mouth curved up, but his eyes were steeped in worry.
"...Of course. Don't worry about it. Focus on your rehab."
"Haha, sure, sure."
"And don't skip meals just because the food's bad."
"Here, a present for my good son."
Dad grinned and reached over to stick a yellow smiley sticker on my T-shirt.
A perky grinning face on a plain black tee—it stood out like crazy.
"I'm not nine years old."
"Hahahaha."
Seeing him laugh so heartily finally put me a little at ease.
BUZZ—
[Naviq (Cheonsu Airlines): It's Archive Room 3 on the 18th floor of headquarters. Only authorized personnel can get in, so call me when you arrive! See you soon!]
I checked Naviq's message, thought for a moment, then typed a reply.
—Got it. But instead of a meal, could you answer a question I have?
[Naviq (Cheonsu Airlines): If Yuja-cheong's curious, anything at all!!]
I confirmed the reply and hailed a taxi right away.
***
"Hm? Cheongho?"
"Hyena?"
A familiar voice—bright and bubbly, belonging to a girl with a bob cut—reached me in the lobby of Cheonsu Airlines headquarters.
Instead of her uniform, So Hyena was dressed casually in jeans. She walked over with a delighted wave.
"Are you feeling okay? Siun told me the Chinese ghost story was really rough."
"I recovered right away thanks to the medicine they prescribed at the infirmary. I heard you came by the infirmary too—I appreciate the concern."
"Haha, of course I came!"
So Hyena grinned playfully, proclaiming her love for her fellow classmates.
"Oh right, I thought your schedule was empty for eight days, Cheongho. What brings you to headquarters?"
"Naviq asked for help."
So Hyena said she was here for the same reason.
Her schedule had a flight tomorrow evening, so she'd come to lend a hand as well.
"Haha, by the way, your T-shirt is adorable. A smiley face."
"Oh."
Embarrassed, I carefully peeled off the sticker and tucked it into my pocket.
So Hyena and I took the elevator to the eighteenth floor.
Cheonsu Airlines headquarters had Building A and Building B, the Cabin Building.
According to the floor directory inside the elevator, the sixteenth through eighteenth floors were all labeled simply as "Archive Rooms."
DING—
The elevator doors for the eighteenth floor opened slowly.
What unfolded was a corridor that was the polar opposite of Cheonsu Airlines' characteristically bright and clean image.
Dim white lighting, achromatic wallpaper, smooth floor tiles—it felt like a completely different building.
Along the walls at regular intervals, signs read "NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY" and "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" in enormous letters.
"What is this place... it's eerie. Like an escape room hallway...."
"...Yeah."
The atmosphere exuded solemnity and radiated intimidation.
Rounding the short corridor, a massive steel door labeled "Archive Room 3" came into view, surrounded by numerous CCTV cameras.
"Ahem."
Two burly security guards in black masks stood in silence, watching us, batons in hand. Only their sharp eyes were barely visible, but their presence was no joke.
'Feels like a VIP bank vault. What kind of records are they keeping in here to warrant this level of security?'
It naturally piqued my curiosity about what was inside.
Tense from the airtight security, I called Naviq.
From behind the steel door came a faint ringtone and a clattering racket.
"Cheongho-o-o! Hyena, you made it too! My saviors!"
Naviq, cheerful as ever, peeked his face out through the gap in the steel door.
He was slightly out of breath, apparently already in the middle of moving things, but as always, the mask and balaclava made his features impossible to discern.
Honestly, by this point I wanted to ask why he dressed like that, but everyone has their reasons. I decided to let it go for now.
"I called in support for moving items. These are Cheonsu Airlines 32nd-class cabin crew members, Yoo Cheongho and So Hyena."
When Naviq spoke to the security guards, one of them pulled out a small tablet and typed something in.
Then he gave a short nod and stepped aside to let us through.
CREEEAK.
Past the thick steel door, another world opened up.
"Wow."
"It's like a foreign library...! Or a movie set!"
So Hyena and I gasped in admiration at the archive room.
It was utterly different from both the dim corridor a moment ago and the Cheonsu Airlines lobby—it felt like stepping into an entirely separate space, much like entering a Type 2 ghost story.
Archive Room 3 had ceilings as high as the first-floor hall, with semicircular arched windows that were exquisitely detailed.
Soft yellow pendant lights illuminated the interior, and just as So Hyena said, tall wooden bookshelves were lined up at precise intervals, evoking the image of a grand foreign library.
'I bet this is what Hogwarts feels like.'
"The other colleagues are already working in Archive Rooms 1 and 2, so we just need to handle this one."
"What kind of archive room is this?"
"When you guys come back from a ghost story, the people in charge write processing reports, right? They're all collected here."
Instead of books, the wooden shelves were packed tightly with boxes.
Each box was labeled with a year and date, suggesting that records dating back ages were being meticulously preserved.
"Is this a viola? And there's a grand piano, an old typewriter, and even a hanbok...."
Looking where So Hyena was, one side of the archive room held not just boxes of reports but a bizarre collection of objects.
"From porcelain dolls to parasols, toy cars... all sorts of odds and ends?"
"Those are the items that were provided when entering ghost stories over the years. They're leftovers after use, so calling them odds and ends is pretty accurate."
"There's really such a variety."
"The UV lamp you used, Cheongho, should be in Archive Room 2. The items are stored randomly, so it's really inefficient."
Naviq said, lifting an old dresser.
"And that's today's job too! All these items need to be incinerated."
"Incinerated? You're getting rid of them entirely?"
So Hyena looked at the sheer volume of objects and asked again, eyes wide.
"We can't just keep stockpiling them forever, and once something's been used in a ghost story, it never gets used again."
Oh boy, is this even going to be finished today?
The pile of objects rivaled the length of ten bookshelves lined up end to end.
"Whew, let's knock this out before rush hour traffic!"
So Hyena rolled up her sleeves with determination.
"The incinerator is on basement level 3, so we just need to move everything to the freight elevator and they'll handle the rest!"
"But does a maintenance technician usually do this kind of work?"
"Hmm, well, you guys don't only fly either, right?"
"Ah, fair point."
That made immediate sense.
Naviq laughed and declared excitedly that he'd treat us to a full-course meal once we finished.
The three of us began hauling objects from the spacious archive room to the freight elevator in the corridor.
'A keyboard and computer, this is... a swimsuit? Why on earth would this be used as an item?'
The objects ranged from mundane to truly outlandish, and there was an enormous variety.
Manga volumes, power strips, bluetooth speakers, electronic cigarettes, laundry baskets, carry-on suitcases, and more...
'I can't even imagine what kind of ghost story these were for.'
The items had absolutely zero consistency, but oddly, nearly all of them shared a common trait of being purple or violet.
"There's quite a volume of records here too."
I remarked while hauling an enormous carpet.
No matter how I looked at it, the archive room was the size of a public library, and since this was "Archive Room 3," there had to be two more.
"Everything from the partnership agreement between Cheonsu Airlines and Doseong International Airport to jointly handle ghost stories is collected here. Of course, most of the volume comes from failed ghost stories that required reattempts."
"Reattempted ghost stories?"
"You have to keep retrying until you clear it, and even a failure produces a processing report, so this is how much accumulates."
Hmm....
"You said all the records are here. Then, is 'that' here too?"
"Hm? Which one?"
"The cold case files."
Naviq's hands, which had been loading items onto the freight elevator, stopped dead.
No matter how much I thought about it, one thing kept nagging me.
The cold case—the "Partner Company Disappearance Incident."
Not just the airport-related aspects, but the way everyone seemed intent on hushing it up.
'Why does everyone try to brush it aside?'
Whether by coincidence or not, when I'd filed a police report to search for my uncle and pounded the pavement asking around, nothing had turned up.
Truly nothing at all.
My uncle, who worked at the airport. His disappearance. The timing of the Cheonsu Airlines partner company's disappearances.
'Is it really just coincidence?'
Naviq bent forward deeply and let out a heavy sigh.
He was clearly broadcasting his discomfort with every fiber of his body, but today of all days, I had to ask.
"You do keep the cold case reports here, right?"
I suppressed my tension through sheer force of acting and waited for Naviq to say something.
'If you hear anything at all about your uncle, let me know right away. Have a safe trip.'
I didn't know for certain whether it was connected to my uncle. There was simple curiosity, and a one-in-a-million hope.
"Why the sudden interest in that~?"
Naviq dusted off his hands and turned toward me.
"I think you showed interest before too. Is it just curiosity?"
At Naviq's words, I slowly opened my mouth.
"Senior Gam Doyeong told me before that the incident was less about Cheonsu Airlines and more about the partner company disappearances. That Cheonsu Airlines' missing personnel at the time were just Cabin Manager Kang and a handful of flight attendants, and the real losses were suffered by the partner company."
At my words, Naviq clutched his head and groaned "good grief" repeatedly.
"That guy doesn't have a single redeeming quality! Why does he go around spreading this stuff?"
"You texted earlier that I could ask you anything I was curious about. ...Is this really too much to talk about? If it's uncomfortable for you, Naviq, you really don't have to tell me."
"Since when is using a cheat code on me fair play!?"
When I said it in my most earnest, pleading tone, Naviq protested that it was unfair and threw an arm over my shoulder.
"The partner company is a place called 'Cheongong Logistics Service (天空).' Have you heard of it?"
"No, this is my first time hearing about it."
Naviq pulled a small card from his vest pocket and showed it to me.
[Cheongong Logistics Service!
The Fastest, Optimal Logistics Service]
The logo featured a purple swallow in swift flight, with the company name printed large. It was a business card.
"They don't just handle regular cargo—they also transport the items Cheonsu Airlines needs for ghost stories. When a ghost story briefing report comes in, this is where the items are made."
Naviq said, tapping the card.
So the purple carry-on case that delivered the UV lamp during the Duty-Free Luxury Hall Ghost Story came from here.
"About five or six years ago, when ghost stories were rampant, a lot of Cheonsu Airlines staff were entering ghost stories. Naturally, just as many items were needed. So there was heavy interaction with Cheongong."
"But then how did it...."
Naviq traced back through the incident, speaking slowly.
"On 'that day,' the item was unusually massive. Nobody—myself included—knows what was inside it; that's only written in the report. Time was tight, the crate was taller than a grown man, so the Cheongong employees personally entering the ghost story became the first case of its kind."
They went in themselves....
"Ten minutes passed. An hour. A whole day. Nobody came out of the ghost story, and they were officially declared missing."
When the time limit listed in the report expires after entering a ghost story, you get automatically ejected.
And yet none of them made it out.
'Instead, the failed ghost story can only be re-entered by the same people who got kicked out, and they have to keep going in until they clear it—no other assignments until it's resolved. Same as dying in a game and respawning.'
I recalled what Gam Doyeong had told me during the Chinese Talisman Ghost Story.
Since those people themselves had vanished, nobody could even enter that ghost story.
"...Then there's no way to rescue them?"
"Hey, don't say things like that. The cold case Special Task Force is doing their best to 'attempt' a solution."
Naviq held up one finger as he spoke.
"Attempt? That seems contradictory."
"It is contradictory. But there's a special exception."
'An exception?'
"Guess what was found at the site where the Cheongong and our employees entered and never returned?"
Naviq pulled out his phone, scrolled through his gallery, and showed me a photo.
『τοτε ο ιησους ανηχθη εις την ερημον υπο του πνευματος πειρασθηναι υπο του διαβολου』
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The yellowed paper was blackened in spots as if scorched, and blotchy all over. The letters were sharp and slanted, as though scrawled with an ink pen.
I blinked and stared blankly at the photo.
What was written there was neither English nor French....
"...The Gospel of Matthew? And in the original Greek, no less."
This was the Koine Greek original of Matthew Chapter 4, Verse 1 from the New Testament.
"Is this the only clue?"
What was written on that paper was so unexpected that I was simply dumbfounded.