One part that seizes my eyes.
====================
......Given phenomena such as the above, the true nature of Manggok Station is a station that dead souls pass through before proceeding to the next world.
It is conjectured to be a space similar in concept to what certain religions call purgatory.
====================
"You did know what purgatory means when you wrote this, right?"
"That isn't something I said either. Like I told you earlier, I copied down Sister's conjecture as it was."
So those passengers earlier are actual vengeful spirits?
Gu Se-min lies straight down on the dust-covered floor.
"I'm going to sleep a while, so read on your own. And wake me if by any chance it looks like a train's coming."
"No, if you're going to do that, go sleep in the restroom."
He grins at me.
"Read the precautions in there carefully. Then you'll understand why I can't sleep in the restroom."
"......."
"Right, I'm sleeping!"
The moment he says it he's even snoring.
Has he really fallen asleep, or is he playing a joke.......?
'Judging by how soundly he's snoring he really does seem to be asleep, but.......'
As expected, his nerve is no ordinary nerve.
I brushed off the dust, got up, and sat on the chair.
I might as well read the rest of the precautions, as Yellow Head said.
After all, I have to have them perfectly memorized before the next train comes.
Skipping over the conjectures about Manggok Station and the similar cases.......
When I turn one page, the precautions finally begin.
====================
1. Do not look down at the tracks.
Beings presumed to be passengers are occasionally observed on the Manggok Station tracks outside of train operating hours.
In particular, the following symptoms have been confirmed in agents whose eyes meet those of such a being.
• Continuous auditory hallucinations
• Repeated behavior of attempting to descend onto the tracks
• Extreme panic immediately before the appearance of a train
Actual case.
After Agent A's eyes met those of a passenger walking on the tracks, a case occurred in which A attempted to converse with Agent B using a regional dialect unrelated to A's place of birth.
The content of said conversation was mostly related to train times and boarding.
This incident was judged to be a possession phenomenon and exorcism procedures were carried out immediately.
Following the exorcism procedures, Agent A returned to a normal state.
Inferring from this case, it is judged that the passenger forms observed on the tracks may be capable of possessing agents.
====================
Exorcism, is it.......
I went blank for a moment at a word so utterly unfamiliar, but this is no time for that.
I have to get used to the situation I'm in now.
For now, let's keep reading.
====================
2. When train time arrives, do not reveal your presence.
At Manggok Station, a phenomenon is observed in which the atmosphere inside the platform changes abruptly from approximately one to two minutes before a train's arrival.
Representative changes are as follows.
• Deteriorated station facilities are temporarily restored to normal condition
• A large number of beings presumed to be passengers appear on the platform
• The closed kiosk opens in normal operating condition
This phenomenon is confirmed to continue until the train departs the platform.
By default, passengers do not perceive an agent's presence, but if said agent makes a sound or contact occurs with the passengers, the passengers begin to perceive the agent's presence.
Most passengers show favorable behavior, such as offering greetings kindly or handing over food, but the more the agent responds to that goodwill, the more the passengers gradually begin to doubt the agent's identity.
Actual case.
After the passengers appeared on the platform, a situation occurred in which Agent A's mobile phone alarm sounded.
The alarm sound continued for approximately 2 seconds, and immediately afterward every passenger on the platform stopped moving simultaneously.
Subsequently, for approximately 5 seconds, all passengers inside the platform turned their heads in the same direction.
Said direction was the structure behind the kiosk where Agent A was hiding.
Shortly after, one passenger approached the direction in which Agent A was located and repeated the following utterance.
[Are you waiting for the train?]
When the agent moved away from the spot, the surrounding passengers began to join in.
Initially they showed favorable behavior, such as offering greetings or handing over a paper bag presumed to contain foodstuffs.
However, when Agent A refused all of it, the following changes were observed in the passengers' behavior.
• Increase in the frequency of questions
• Proposal of the hypothesis that Agent A may be a ghost
At the moment Agent B, who had been observing, moved to subdue the passengers, a train approached.
Immediately upon that, all passenger behavior ceased.
The passengers showed no further interest in A, and the situation concluded as it was.
====================
'So in the worst case I only have to hold out until the train comes in.'
I understand why they assessed Manggok Station as Grade D.
Even if the passengers catch you, nothing happens right away.
I have no intention of letting my guard down, of course, but the fact that in the worst case I only have to hold out until the train comes is a great comfort.
Let's keep reading.
====================
3. Do not board the train.
The longer the period of stay at Manggok Station, the more a phenomenon occurs in which the agent is induced to board the train.
Initially it is perceived at the level of simple hallucination or auditory hallucination, but the intensity gradually worsens the longer the stay continues.
Commonly observed cases are as follows.
• The train's dwell time at the station lengthens.
• Simultaneously with the train stopping, an announcement inducing boarding is heard.
• The driver disembarks from the train and induces boarding.
If the period of stay exceeds 5 days, said method of inducement gradually changes into a form that stimulates the agent's personal trauma.
Actual case.
On the day Agent A's stay at Manggok Station reached day 4, he claimed to have heard the voice of his deceased grandfather.
After the train entered the platform, A strongly demanded that he had to board the train. When B restrained him, A displayed aggression.
When B blocked A, who continued to insist he had to board the train, A displayed aggression.
B subdued A immediately.
49 seconds after being subdued, A returned to his right mind.
====================
Hallucinations and auditory hallucinations?
What's written in precaution 3 is a bit rougher than 1 and 2.
And Agent A and Agent B, who keep appearing in the actual cases.
The two of them probably mean Ryu Do-ha and Gu Se-min.
The A who appears in every case must be Gu Se-min, that is, Yellow Head.
I found myself looking at the sleeping Yellow Head.
'He really was the problem child.'
Still, seeing how the precautions are recorded more meticulously than I expected, maybe he has some head for work after all?
I hurried to turn to the next page.
====================
4. Precautions when using the kiosk
A location presumed to be a kiosk exists beneath the right-hand stairs leading to the concourse, taking the platform front as the reference.
A figure presumed to be a vendor exists inside the kiosk, but cannot be clearly identified due to the mist filling the space beyond the glass.
Cases observed in the course of using the kiosk are as follows.
• An attempt was made to identify the vendor's features, but the moment the agent looked beyond the clouded glass, a phenomenon occurred in which the surrounding temperature dropped sharply.
• Most goods sold at the kiosk are confirmed to have passed their expiration dates long ago, but no abnormal bodily reactions occur upon actual consumption.
• Some goods exist without price tags attached, and cases have occurred in which the vendor showed displeasure when such goods were picked up.
• One instance occurred in which the vendor showed extreme rage when new-series rather than old-series notes were presented at payment.
Accordingly, observe the following when using the kiosk.
• Where possible, do not pick up goods without price tags attached.
• Always use old-series notes at payment.
• If the vendor shows a displeased reaction, immediately return the goods to their original position and leave the kiosk.
• Do not gaze beyond the glass where the vendor is located.
====================
'Let's just starve.'
I won't die from not eating for five days anyway.
And then, finally, the last page.
The moment I turned the page I doubted my own eyes.
====================
5. Beware the hanged man inside the men's restroom.
====================
.............
A hanged man?
Out of nowhere?
After steadying my breathing for a moment I started reading the last page again.
====================
5. Beware the hanged man inside the men's restroom.
A location presumed to be a public restroom exists beneath the left-hand stairs leading to the concourse, taking the platform front as the reference.
Internal power supply is cut off, and power is not restored even when a train comes in.
The internal structure of the restroom is as follows.
The women's restroom consists of four toilet stalls arranged in a row, one sink, and one storage closet for cleaning implements.
The men's restroom consists of two toilet stalls arranged in a row, two standing urinals, and one sink.
The point of note was discovered in the corner stall of the men's restroom.
The corpse of a man who had hanged himself was discovered in said stall.
Viewed from beneath the partition, the feet are in a suspended state, and through the space between the partition and the ceiling, only the upper portion of the head is visible.
The man's corpse maintains an identical state in the absence of external stimulus.
However, changes are observed under the following circumstances.
• When an attempt is made to open the door of said stall
• When the corpse is gazed at for a prolonged period
• When a sound is made inside the restroom
When external stimulus occurs, a phenomenon is confirmed in which the position of the suspended man gradually lowers.
Actual cases.
1.
At the moment Agent A ran water at the sink, he witnessed, in the mirror, the rope from which the man hung swaying faintly.
After the water was shut off, the rope swayed for 8 seconds before coming to a complete stop.
2.
Agent A attempted to photograph the man with a mobile phone camera.
From the moment the camera was aimed at the man, the rope began to sway.
The swaying grew progressively stronger the closer he approached, and the sound of a liquid of unknown nature falling to the floor began to be heard.
At the moment the mobile phone was brought close to the man, said man opened his eyes.
Observation was terminated immediately, but following said observation the height at which the man was suspended lowered slightly.
3.
Agent B attempted visual confirmation of the upper area of the corner stall in order to check the restroom interior.
At the time of observation the man's head was, identically to the previous record, in a state of protruding slightly above the partition.
However, while observation was continued for 28 seconds, a phenomenon occurred in which the rope wound around the man's neck gradually loosened.
Agent B left the restroom immediately.
Afterward, when Agent B re-entered and compared the current state against the footage recorded in case 2, it was confirmed that the position of the man's head had descended approximately 4cm further than in the record in the footage.
====================
.......
Can a human hold out five days without going to the restroom?
No, absolutely not.
I found myself looking at the snoring Yellow Head.
He may have said Manggok Station's danger level is Grade D, but looking at precautions 3 through 5, it's by no means easy.
Hold out five whole days in a place like this?
.......
Only now did I realize the gravity of the situation.
The problem isn't whether I can hold out five days here safely.
The real problem is just what kind of disposition the Formless Special Division handed down on me, such that she had no choice but to smuggle me off to a place like this.
These are bastards who, from the very start, fed me a vicious curse called Gu poison for no reason but that I'm my mother's son.
And in that situation, the great massacre at the pool.
With me at the center of it.
On top of that, I went to the pool of my own accord after listening to the Pond Snail.
Ryu Do-ha knew.
What terrible disposition I'd receive if I were taken in by the Formless Special Division.
So she had no choice but to hide me even in a place like this.
.......
The leather glove covering my left hand.
The compass-shaped tattoo beneath it.
And the being called Woo-heon.
Something is certainly happening around me.
But.......
'Haa, f*ck, this is so f*cking unfair.'
Did I do any of this because I wanted to?
'Why on earth does every last one of them have it in for me.......?'
No, strictly speaking this isn't a matter of resenting the Formless Special Division alone.
After all, their methods are certainly heavy-handed, but the root of all evil lies elsewhere.
None other than my mother.
Right, all of it is because of my mother.
I shake with rage until my teeth rattle.
The self who trembled at a mere few lines written in a notebook feels laughable to me.
The self who wondered, coming out of the pool, whether to ignore it all and run feels truly foolish.
There is nothing I can do to escape.
In that case.......
'Right, let's do this.'
Mother, I'll do exactly the opposite of what you want.
It will never go the way you want.
Because I'll stop it whatever it takes.
And for that there's one thing I need.
I need power.
Whether for revenge or for complete freedom.
Ryu Do-ha, and that Yellow Head.
The Formless Special Division the two of them belong to.
The Formless Special Division is the agency standing at the opposite pole from my mother.
Let's join the Formless Special Division.
They may be chasing me now, but I'm told Ryu Do-ha said to hold out just five days.
Once she clears up the misunderstanding, I'll get on my knees and beg, I'll bang my head on the floor, I'll do whatever it takes to get into the Formless Special Division.
Just watch what happens from here.