Right—being treated as official would definitely put my mind more at ease.
"Since you handled an emergency ghost story today, there won't be any ghost story assignments for a while. So just do office standby."
"You mean the standby team, correct?"
"That's right. There's a designated standby person tomorrow, but you never know when an emergency will hit. And it can overlap with flight hours, so more is better. You do ghost story standby and finish this business with him, and you're done."
The First Officer searched for something on his phone and showed me the screen.
[Preventing Ghost Stories in Advance for Safe Gliding Campaign☆]
It was a poster of the Cheonsu Airlines mascot—a blue bird—facing forward with a wing raised in a thumbs-up.
I'd wondered where I'd seen this slogan before, and it turned out to be one of the bizarre posters from the written-exam waiting room.
And right below it sat a prominent ☞[Apply Here].
Office Standby.
Refers to the "standby team" that waits near the company or airport during designated hours, prepared for sudden flight assignments.
You get contacted by a scheduler and deployed. I had one this week too, but what I'd be taking on was "GSBY."
A combination of GS (Ghost Story) and STBY.
GSBY could be volunteered for whenever you had no other schedule, but it had a distinctive quirk.
Cheonsu Airlines paid regular standby workers a certain allowance just for showing up, even if they didn't fly that day. But for these volunteer cases, no allowance was paid unless a ghost story actually occurred.
It was essentially volunteer work, so most people who signed up either had too few results to show or lacked ghost story experience and wanted to build it up.
'Which is exactly what I need to do.'
DING—
[The first step toward becoming a better airline. Thank you for your application!♥]
[09:00 - 18:00 GSBY
(G, Office Standby)]
The new schedule appeared the moment I applied.
"Give it your all. I'm on your side, Yuja-cheong, so if you've got concerns, tell me right away like this."
"Thank you as always, First Officer."
"Ah-ah, just words?"
"Next time I'll buy you a meal—"
"Hahaha, just bring Naviq and a lighter."
The First Officer put his sunglasses back on and hailed a taxi, apparently actually having somewhere to be.
"He's endlessly generous with you."
"You... so, ghost? What should I even call you?"
"Just call me Athit (อาทิตย์). It's my name."
"...Athit, if you want even a little freedom to move around, cooperate properly."
"Sure, whatever."
And so the next morning.
I came in to headquarters early for ghost story standby duty.
This time I'd worn proper sneakers.
Always full of excitement and anticipation, I'd wondered whether an emergency would drop the moment I set out to fly—like Osaka and Chiang Mai—and whether today would be the same....
"Good work today."
"Good work, Cheongho. Doing this tomorrow too?"
"Yes, my flight's in three days, so I'll probably keep doing it on the open days."
Peaceful days passed without a single ghost story, and I ended up clocking out having accomplished nothing.
'No ghost stories is a good thing, but....'
"You said you had to prove your worth. When can I actually do that?"
"Be quiet."
Just then, another employee walking past looked at Athit and spoke.
"Is that the... ghost?"
"Possessing a figurine.... Bizarre. Keep a close watch on it."
"How did it end up in something like that?"
I'd reported Athit's confinement in the figurine to the higher-ups in advance.
From what I heard, cases like this weren't unheard of, but they almost always cooperated briefly and then disappeared.
'Disappeared definitely means annihilated.'
"This is stifling—take this thing off me!"
"Like that'll happen. Absolutely not."
Athit said, throwing a tantrum.
On the bottom of the figurine, I'd attached a sticker-form talisman identical to the headquarters wards.
It served as a precaution against it getting out as it pleased, and it was also what allowed Athit to enter headquarters at all.
"Good morning."
"Sawatdee ton-chao~ (Good morning.)"
"...Could you please act with some manners?"
"And here I greeted you with Korean pronunciation just for you."
'What does that have to do with anything?'
Day three of volunteering for GSBY.
After coming in, checking in for show-up, and completing the breathalyzer test, the rest was endless waiting—that had been the routine from two days ago through today.
'Three days already... and there isn't much time left on the deadline for proving its worth.'
The condition handed down from above was that to officially become a Cheonsu Airlines ghost story, the worth had to be proven within one week.
Past one week, it was simply over—that was the final line.
"Your impatience is written all over you."
"Senior Kwon Hoyeong...!"
I grabbed Athit tightly without thinking. Athit, too, clamped shut the mouth he ran so freely in front of Kwon Hoyeong.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Completely fine. So, this is it?"
"The Thai ghost from the Chiang Mai flight."
"Well, I'm the one who volunteered to be possessed. You don't need to walk on eggshells."
"Ahem......."
"That said, I'm not exactly friendly toward it either."
"...I know."
After the possessee ghost story, Senior Kwon Hoyeong seemed to have grown more comfortable with me and had started speaking casually.
Kwon Hoyeong picked up Athit and examined it from every angle.
He laughed heartily, seemingly incredulous, wondering what possessed it to go into a figurine like this.
"Do you have a flight today, Senior?"
"One tonight. And I wanted to see your face after a while, plus I have a gift for you."
Kwon Hoyeong pulled a bundle of papers from his briefcase.
"This is... a medical report?"
"Apparently strange incidents keep happening at Doseong Airport right now. In the men's restroom on the second floor of Terminal 2—mild cases show anemia symptoms, severe ones result in fainting. Of course, they're moved straight to the infirmary, so it hasn't made the news."
I flipped through the medical reports Kwon Hoyeong had given me.
[Medical Report_121■8■]
Male A, 25, fainted in Restroom 2 on the second floor of Doseong International Airport Terminal 2.
⇒Recovered strength 10 minutes after being moved to the infirmary.
Statement: I saw "something" in the mirror. It was white and horrifying. I don't know what it was. I felt dizzy for a moment and then had a nightmare. It felt like I couldn't let it catch me, so I just kept running. "It" made an unidentifiable sound.
[Medical Report_1■190■]
Male B, 31, fainted in Restroom 2 on the second floor of Doseong International Airport Terminal 2.
⇒Recovered strength 20 minutes after being moved to the infirmary, but suffered chills and panic-induced seizures.
Statement: I looked in the mirror to wash my hands. I don't remember well, but after fainting I was tormented by a nightmare. During the nightmare it felt like motion sickness was setting in. "That thing" charging at me was so real it gave me chills. It chased me while making a strange wailing sound, so I ran endlessly.
[Medical Report_1220■■]
Male C, 33, fainted in Restroom 2 on the second floor of Doseong International Airport Terminal 2.
⇒Recovered strength 25 minutes after being moved to the infirmary, but continued to hyperventilate.
Statement: I happened to look in the mirror while on a call. Something hideous, white, and enormous was standing behind me. My mind went hazy before I could even scream. After that I had a nightmare. It kept chasing me and shouting something.
There were three more statements, but all shared the same commonalities: "saw something horrifying and had a nightmare" and "kept running away," all in the same location.
"The nightmare here refers to the secondary space—Type 2, to us."
Kwon Hoyeong tapped the statements as he explained.
"Ordinary people entering Type 2... is that even possible?"
"We always handle things before people get caught up in it, but yes, it's possible. In Type 2, they keep running from 'something,' falling and getting hurt, and when they come to, they're back in reality and perfectly fine. We just pass it off as a nightmare."
Kwon Hoyeong shrugged.
Looking closely, all of them had reported motion sickness and dizziness before the nightmare.
Those were the textbook symptoms of entering Type 2.
"This isn't mere coincidence—it's definitely a ghost story. Has a briefing report come out?"
"Not yet. Which is why we need someone to go check the site."
"And that's my job. ...Did you bring this specifically because you knew I was looking for ghost stories?"
"I said it was a gift~ Normally it would've gone to someone else. How about that manager authority?"
Kwon Hoyeong asked with a proud smile.
"Haha, thank you so much, Senior."
Kwon Hoyeong double-checked the talisman sticker attached to Athit before setting it down.
"Even in Type 2, it won't easily escape the figurine. And if it proves its worth and word gets out that it's useful to us, that's all the better. Good luck out there."
"Thank you. Let's meet again before you transfer."
I took the statements Kwon Hoyeong had given me and Athit and headed straight for Doseong International Airport.
Riding the airport bus, I read the statements again and again.
Restroom 2, second floor, Doseong International Airport Terminal 2.
'A conspicuous repeating number—is this a coincidence?'
'The statements were similar too. "Something" must mean they saw the ghost story.'
"I came here before too, but this airport really is magnificent."
"Stay quiet until we arrive. You'll draw suspicion."
"If anyone asks, just say I'm a state-of-the-art talking figurine. I need to see things properly to help you assess them. You're not the only one who's serious about this—I am too."
Athit, who had been rambling endlessly, thought for a moment and then asked.
"What do you want to use my abilities for, anyway? You mentioned wanting to find a lead on 'that case' before. What is that case, exactly?"
"There's just something I want to look into. And it'll be advantageous for handling ghost stories."
"Hm, is that so? Well, it's mutually beneficial. Let's make it work."
As Athit finished speaking, the bus arrived at the airport.
When I headed to the problematic Restroom 2, a [Cleaning in Progress] sign was propped in front of it.
CLICK.
FLASH, FLASH FLASH.
When I pressed the switch in the men's restroom, the ceiling LEDs lit up in sequence, brightening the space.
The atmosphere was upscale, with black and white in harmony, and quiet classical music playing.
White sinks and spotless, gleaming tiles.
'And this is the mirror in question.'
[It was horrifying.]
[It was so real it gave me chills.]
[Something hideous and enormous was standing behind me.]
Just reading the sentences was enough to unsettle me.
I positioned Athit facing the mirror and stared intently into it myself.
"Well? Feel anything?"
"Not yet, I can't tell."
Not a single fingerprint, spotlessly clean, nothing cracked.
Five minutes, ten minutes passed with no change, so I opened each restroom stall one by one—but again, no suspicious marks or traces.
In the end, I circled back to the mirror.
'There isn't even a report out yet—'
[The※re _isn't ¿even a ≠rep■ort out yet¿]
!?
Inside the mirror, letters were carved into the air. Wavy, undulating characters floated suspended in the void.
'I only thought that.'
[I♠on☆ly _thoug＄ht that¿]
SSSSS—
And then, behind me as I faced forward, a stark white silhouette appeared, materializing just like the letters.
"What the!?"
Startled, I whipped my head around.
"It's not behind you, it's in front, in front!"
Athit shouted urgently.
From inside the mirror, palms burst out like whips.
The palms seized my shoulder and shirt and dragged me straight in.
'...They're transparent.'
The hands pulling me were neither horrifying nor hideous. They were reflective, glittering, transparent—mirrors.
"Urp!?"
My stomach churned twice as violently as it normally did entering Type 2.
The reflective mirror hands never let go of my body, pulling relentlessly.
The surroundings were blindingly bright. Pure white, nothing but white, with nothing whatsoever in existence—a void.
My body floated as though I were flying, pulled along solely by those unidentifiable hands.
[B¿ri_efi ⟰ng Re■port¿]
Just then, black letters rose into the air against the white backdrop for the first time.
Ghost Story Briefing Report
[Cheonsu Airlines / no. 461]
1. GN: Mirror World Escape
2. T / H: Type 2 / 1 person
—Multiple abnormal sighting phenomena occurring in the mirror of Restroom 2, second floor, Doseong International Airport Terminal 2.
—Escape the mirror world.
3. TL: 1 hour
4. Item: Screen, voice recognition device
Report Supervisor: [ Yoo Cheongho ]
"A report's appearing!?"
My eyes closed involuntarily from the dizziness, but I fought to keep them open to check the report.
"Urgh, mmph—"
"Close your eyes and cover your mouth!"
When I was sucked into the mirror, I'd pulled Athit in with me from where I'd set him on the sink.
If I opened my mouth even for an instant, I was definitely going to throw up.
Now I was breaking into a cold sweat, and it felt like I'd lose consciousness if I let my strength go.
'So this is what everyone experienced and mistook for a dream.'
[So th☞is☜ is what everyo◈ne exper_ienc⁂ed and mistook for a dream¡]
Just as I hung my head in agony, wondering how long I'd have to endure this, an overwhelmingly powerful light enveloped my surroundings.
"Cough, cough cough, urp, cough!"
As my eyes adjusted to the new light, my surroundings gradually came into view.
This was the first floor of Doseong International Airport—the place I always went for flights and ghost story assignments.
But something was different from the place I knew.
DING DONG.
[.srewgnessap raed ruo ot tnemecnuonna na si sihT]
[.rehtaew esrevda ot eud deyaled si ujeJ rof thgilf eht taht ecnuonna ot ekil dluow eW]
[.ecneinevnocni eht rof ezigolopa ylpeed eW]
"...Is that supposed to be an announcement?"
Everything was completely inverted.
Every single thing about the airport I knew was its "reverse."
The check-in guide boards and the airport display signs were all shown backward.
[NI-KCEHC→]
Unless you concentrated hard on reading it, you couldn't tell what any of it said.
"So this is the mirror world from the report."
"Wh-whoa... there isn't a single person here...."
Athit, too, was entering a ghost story for the first time, and the tension in him was obvious.
The ceiling, which should have been solid, was entirely mirror. Enormous, uneven mirrors glittered like glasswork.
By checking the ceiling, I could make out the true form of the inverted letters.
Even the leaves in the mini garden meant for airport decoration were mirror, and the chairs and floor tiles had glittering mirror fragments scattered throughout.
Completely warped, yet somehow beautiful—a strange landscape.
"No people in sight, and no sign of the transparent hands that dragged me here either."
"Quite the spectacle."
"You sense anything?"
"Over there. The 'Busan Airport' check-in counter. Something's clustered up."
Not far from where I'd come to.
Just as I moved to conceal myself and approach slowly—
THUD...
THUD...
THUD...
A tremendous vibration rumbled through, strong enough to shake my body.