Chapter 1: Welcome to the Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts

It’s not common for everything in life to go exactly according to plan.

From the very beginning, isn’t life fun precisely because it’s full of variables?

Every morning we take a step toward heading somewhere.

We check the subway schedule, set alarms, and walk out the door mentally organizing our tasks.

But the place we end up arriving at always turns out to be different.

The crowded streets, the sudden rain, an unexpected message from someone all those little detours change the scenery of the day.

Variables always arrive with two faces.

One is the face of chaos, and the other is the face of opportunity.

Because of that, even after hesitating in front of a street full of people, there are moments when we end up pressing the accept button with excited hearts in response to an unexpected proposal.

Maybe our lives shine more precisely because of that instant ingenuity that ruins plans, more than because of the plans themselves.

And so, even when the plan collapses, something new grows in its place.

Sometimes it even becomes a better path.

We call that “coincidence,” and those who are a little more poetic call it “destiny.”

That’s life.

The more you try to control it, the more it slips through your fingers, and the more you let it flow, the more unexpected places end up welcoming you.

In the end, what matters is continuing forward despite staggering.

So today as well, let’s silently welcome the unexpected variables.

Perhaps they are the ones that make our lives more beautiful.

‘Fuck off, you sons of bitches. All of that is complete bullshit.’

Variables are the charm of life?

Unexpected things enrich existence?

That’s complete crap that only some useless bastards could say.

Yeah, I suppose phrases like that could sound pretty elegant to someone who, like me last night, was about to start his first day at work.

But the current me wants to kick those phrases and throw them straight into the trash.

‘…What is this?’

When I adjusted the collar of my clothes and opened the front door while suppressing that strange agitation inside me.

What I was supposed to see was clearly the normal hallway of a villa.

Under the familiar fluorescent lights, there should have been a few delivery boxes lying around, the usual everyday scenery.

But what appeared in front of me was the scenery of an office.

And moreover, one pretty far removed from the idea of a normal office.

The first thing I saw was a hairy arm suddenly sticking out.

Hanging from that arm were ten thin columns of flesh resembling fingers, and those columns struck the wall alternately as if playing a piano.

A creature with a bunch of purple tentacles instead of a head held a cup beneath a vending machine.

And on one side of the hallway someone dressed in a suit was running in a hurry, but his entire body except for the lower part was folded like paper.

As if the image itself of a human being had been printed onto a thin sheet.

“…….”

I remained motionless in front of the door.

The monsters disguised as ordinary employees went to work as if nothing was wrong.

No stench, no rotting flesh, no blood.

It was an office that was far too normal.

Except for the fact that, aside from me, there didn’t seem to be a single human being.

“…Am I dreaming?”

The groan that weakly escaped my mouth was instantly swallowed when the eyeballs of the employee passing beside me blinked at the same time.

***

How did I end up entering a company infested with monsters like these?

Honestly, I don’t even know myself.

First, to tell this story, I have to go back a little.

Originally, my life plan was simple.

Study reasonably well, get into university, graduate without problems, and get a decent job to earn money.

Looking back now, up until the moment I entered university, I believed I was following that ordinary path pretty well.

Even when I ended up becoming a noncommissioned officer, I thought it was just one of many coincidences.

And then everything broke apart. Literally, in an instant.

I saw something I never should have seen.

I heard words I didn’t want to hear.

And I was incapable of saying anything.

Yeah, it was simply something like that.

I have no intention of going around revealing the real reason.

What matters is that I ended up leaving school, was discharged from the military, and returned to civilian life with the title of “job seeker.”

The problem was that being unemployed turned out to be much more combative than expected.

Document rejection, interview rejection, endless revisions of cover letters…

A bank account that showed the bottom in proportion to the passing of time.

Even while looking for work, if I fell behind on rent I got kicked out, and if the money to survive ran out, I had to go hungry.

One day, while walking after yet another interview I can’t even remember anymore.

A rectangular card lying on the ground caught my attention.

It was black, dull, with warped edges as if they were full of mold.

The biggest mistake of my life was not ignoring it at that moment.

The company website address written on the card that I picked up out of curiosity.

And as soon as I entered, the huge text that appeared before me said.

Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts

Recruitment Process Ongoing

Starting salary of 68 million won / 100% Interview Acceptance

More than five million a month.

The moment I saw that phrase, I had already taken the bait.

Was it a scam? A kidnapping?

At that moment I didn’t even have the room to distinguish it.

Rather, even if it was a scam, I only wished that some productive amount would appear deposited into my account.

I emailed the cover letter I always kept prepared and called the contact number written on the card.

After asking me if I could comfortably have an interview today, they told me the interview location was on the fourth floor of a run-down building.

A place without an intercom or sign, with the smell of mold escaping from a half-open door.

At first glance, the atmosphere screamed that something was terribly wrong.

But humans are truly miserable.

Once even the slightest sunk cost exists, it becomes difficult to turn back.

‘I’ll just go in and take a look once.’

With that thought, I stepped inside.

Now that I think about it, maybe the me from that moment was truly insane.

Or perhaps, from that instant onward, it was no longer me making the decisions.

A small interview room.

The fluorescent light flickered and in the air there mixed a sticky smell that I couldn’t tell whether it was oil or mold.

Sitting in the center of that room was someone dressed in a suit.

No, something resembling a person.

At first it was clearly a single person, but for some reason, every time it turned its head, more faces appeared.

One head beside another head, and another one more.

Beneath a smiling face there was a sleeping one, and beside it a crying one.

Pale faces with completely different expressions and breathing.

“Mr. Jeong Haeil? You came for the interview, correct?”

One of those many faces spoke.

Someone definitely spoke, but I couldn’t explain exactly where I had heard the voice from.

“I’m Manager Myeon, head of Extraction Team 1.”

One of the countless faces licked its lips while speaking.

After that, my memories become blurry.

I think I reviewed documents while listening to the grotesque voices of those grotesque faces, and it also seems that I signed some kind of consent form.

Why didn’t I refuse to do it?

“Very well. We will contact you in a few days, so you will be able to begin working immediately. We look forward to working with you, employee Jeong Haeil.”

At the final instant, when the monster showed its seven faces and smiled kindly, I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in my small apartment.

And the moment I looked beside me, I discovered that I was holding not only the card I had picked up from the street, but also an employee ID badge I had never seen before.

Employee Jeong Haeil

Welcome to the Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts | Extraction Team 1

Both the unpleasant ID badge that remained in my hand and the mold-smelling card.

I wanted to believe that everything had been nothing more than a grotesquely vivid and horrible nightmare, an illusion created by an extremely exhausted brain.

But then, a few days later, a message notification rang.

And the instant I saw the words on the phone screen, I had to face reality.

[Hidden Number]

You may come to work starting tomorrow. We will pick you up in the morning.

Pick me up in the morning?

I couldn’t remember where the company was located.

Even after searching again for the website from the card, not a single trace remained.

So in the end, I had no choice but to believe.

Believe in that unknown promise that they would come for me.

And pray that this casual incident wouldn’t end up ruining my life.

***

And now, this is what stands before me.

First, I took a deep breath.

An unfamiliar hallway, and an indifferent line of “employees” dressed in suits who were definitely not human.

‘Ah, so this is a dream.’

I gripped the doorknob.

Wishing that when I opened it again the narrow corridor of my apartment
and the familiar villa stairs would appear, I carefully closed the door and opened it once more.

But when I opened it again, the only thing I saw was the back of a coworker walking while countless eyeballs blinked across him.

The scenery before me had not changed.

“Employee Jeong Haeil.”

At that moment, a chilling voice echoed beside me.

Pretending to remain calm as much as I could, I slowly turned my head.

First I checked my expression reflected in the glass wall and recomposed my blank face before daring to look fully.

Pale, bloodless skin, like a plaster statue swollen with water.

Seven faces grotesquely attached over a trembling mass of flesh where there were only deep black holes without eyes or tongues.

One face screaming, one gasping, one crying, one chuckling.

And among all of them, a kind-looking face spoke to me with the smile of an ordinary office boss.

“Is it your first day at work? Is something wrong?”

It was the monster from my memories.

The seven-faced monster that interviewed me in that grotesque building and made me sign.

At that instant, I forcibly suppressed the scream that was about to rise through my throat and bit my tongue.

The groan threatening to escape was swallowed together with the taste of blood.

‘If I scream now, it’s over.’

I felt it instinctively.

If I drew attention here or provoked the displeasure of those monsters, a good ending would never await me.

I swallowed saliva with a metallic taste.

As naturally as possible.

As expressionlessly as possible.

The absurd appearance of the seven-faced monster made the little remaining sense of normalcy inside me creak even more.

“Yes. Since it’s my first day… I’m a little nervous.”

One of the seven faces let out a giggle, while another nodded with a tearful expression.

But the most human-looking face, placed at the front, continued smiling kindly.

“That happens to everyone. Everyone gets nervous on their first day.”

He pulled something resembling an access card from his pocket, spun it between his fingers, and passed by me before motioning for me to follow.

“Alright, employee Jeong. Do you remember my name?”

“Ah, yes. You were Manager Myeon…”

“Perfect. Today I’ll show you around the company briefly. You can learn the details little by little starting tomorrow. Ah, could you give me your cellphone so I can install the security application?”

I nodded and handed my phone to Manager Myeon before following him.

My heart was still beating as if it were about to explode, though fortunately my legs only trembled enough that it didn’t show.

We crossed a hallway filled with monsters, took an elevator, and descended for quite a while until the doors opened…

The first thing that came out was the stench.

The smell of fish, mold, iron and burned rubber, perfume, raw egg…

Odors that should never mix combined together and tore through my nostrils.

Manager Myeon returned my phone without concern and continued walking.

The inner corridor twisted like damp flesh, and even the lights flickered like eyeballs that seemed to stare directly at me.

“The core of our Extraction Team 1 is the management of dimensional entities.”

Manager Myeon’s voice echoed.

“We safely store dimensional entities as company assets, and we use only the necessary amount when needed. That is our internal work.”

“…Dimensional entities?”

“You’ll meet them soon enough.”

He stopped in front of a thick hermetically sealed metal door.

Clearly engraved across the surface was.

Extraction Room — Sector D

When Manager Myeon held the access card against the excessively large panel, the mechanism unlocked and the heavy door slowly began to open.

What seeped through the opening was not a human presence.

Wet breathing, unfamiliar crying, and incomprehensible murmurs suddenly mixed together and churned my ears.

Even the air that entered my lungs felt like rotten water, and the moment I inhaled it my throat closed up.

I unconsciously stepped back, but my body froze.

I couldn’t move my legs.

It was as if something on the other side had stretched out a hand and nailed my ankles to the floor.

When the door fully opened, endless transparent isolation chambers stretched before me, and inside them were packed monsters whose forms were impossible to identify.

Some were only arms.

Others were nothing but faces floating in the air.

There were also shadows that slid along following the fluorescent lights.

All those monsters raised their heads at the same time to stare at me, the strange newcomer.

I suppressed the shiver running through my entire body and bit my lips.

I couldn’t even breathe.

It felt as though the countless eyes behind the isolation chambers blinked simultaneously while pronouncing my name.

And then, beside me, Manager Myeon’s voice whispered softly.

“We sincerely welcome you to the Limited Company Where the Dead End Up with Ghosts, employee Jeong.”

The seven faces burst into laughter all at once.

And as if the monsters inside the isolation chambers were imitating them, deafening screams exploded in waves simultaneously.

Something that was neither crying, nor screaming, nor laughter.

As if every sound impossible for a human being to imitate had been mixed together and suddenly spilled out.

And within that whirlpool of chaos, only one thought appeared clearly.

My life……

I think it’s completely and utterly gone to shit.