Chapter 374 — Got Dropped in a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work — Part 3

Chapter 374

Kim Soleum awakens in a state of extreme physical weakness and hunger in front of a ritual table at the Daydream Inc. Namhae Branch. He realizes he has been transferred to a branch location that was never detailed in the <Dark Exploration Records> wiki, speculating that his previous assimilation into the world caused him to forget these details. The branch is a grim, prison-like environment characterized by an unsettling, loan-shark-style atmosphere. The facility houses a "Cleanup Team," which he recognizes as a term for disposable employees used as human shields. While navigating a hallway of workers dressed in ochre uniforms with red identification stickers, Kim Soleum is warned by a speaker that touching his sticker is a rule violation. He eventually reaches his assigned room, Z 999, which is a dilapidated, filthy cell resembling an abandoned prison. Inside, he discovers the corpse of his roommate, Worker Z 993, who appears to have died of a heart attack caused by a ghost story. Desperate for energy, Kim Soleum loots the corpse's pockets, finding chocolate that provides a necessary sugar spike to restore his clarity. He finds a notebook belonging to the deceased worker. The journal reveals a horrific pattern: the branch recruits desperate people (debtors, addicts) with promises of high pay, only to force them into dangerous tasks like burning wooden dolls, eventually leading to death and a loss of identity (as seen when the worker's number changed from 5/16 to 5/35472). Kim Soleum concludes that the Namhae Branch serves as a high-turnover factory for grinding people up to facilitate early-era Daydream ghost stories. After an announcement for lights out, he realizes he is likely the sole survivor of his room. Calculating based on the notebook's logic, he determines he must endure 14 more days of service to complete a month and gain freedom of movement. He resolves to survive the next two weeks to regain his autonomy and search for others.

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aae96ueuky

Chapter number

374

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17:54

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