MFCLE 1

Chapter 1

Scritch… scritch.

It wasn’t a sound coming from my mouth.

My index finger repeatedly swiped up and down across the small screen, moving as if it were desperately searching for something.

[★☆$WE’RE HIRING NEW EMPLOYEES$☆★]

……What was this?

A pop-up window that practically radiated the aura of “DO NOT CLICK.”

Was this really a job advertisement for recruiting new employees in this day and age?

“…….”

But perhaps it was precisely because of those blatant attention-grabbing words.

As though drawn in by something, my curious index finger, which had been staring at the obviously scam-like advertisement—

Tap.

With a light touch,

the screen switched to the job advertisement.

[[We’re Hiring New Employees!] (Everyone Welcome!)

Experience: None required. (The younger, the better.)

Education: None required.

Preferred: Healthy body. Diligent and hardworking.

Employment Type: Full-time.

Salary: Varies according to performance.

Location: Worldwide.]

……No experience, no educational requirements.

And the preferred qualifications were young people with all four limbs intact.

This was practically a golden opportunity to make the front page of tomorrow morning’s news.

It might be more straightforward to change the title to “Wanted: People Who Want to Say Goodbye to Life Early.”

Normally, the correct thing to do would be to ignore an advertisement that looked this deeply entangled with crime.

Actually, there was no need to even call it the “correct” thing to do.

There was no way anyone would apply after seeing this recruitment notice.

If someone did apply, they had to be either illiterate and unable to read the post, or an incredibly curious idiot.

“……Two people have already applied.”

Seriously?

There really were a lot of incomprehensible people in this world.

But my index finger remained suspended over the application button, seemingly lost in deep thought.

Just when one might wonder what exactly it was thinking so hard about—

Tap!

A sound rang out.

[Application submitted.]

Hmm. Now there were three.

My index finger had just tapped the button, which had been at the very center of my grand criticism until moments ago.

Our index finger has gone mad!

I didn’t do it. My index finger acted entirely on its own!

Actually, my right hand was covered in black flames—

And so went the absurd performance of Park Yeonjeong, an unemployed job seeker lying on his bed.

Oh, and by the way, I’m a man.

I’ve often been told that my name sounds like a woman’s name.

To give you an example of a little incident that happened because of it, whenever I went to a job interview, the interviewer would always look back and forth between my résumé and my face about twice before asking,

‘……You’ve probably been told your name sounds rather feminine, haven’t you?’

And my answer would be,

‘Ah…… yes. I hear that quite often.’

I’d heard it so many times that the response had become almost automatic, like something that would come out reflexively if someone tapped me on the shoulder.

So I didn’t really care about it anymore.

But there was something more important to address right now than the trivial matter of my feminine-sounding name.

The issue at hand was—

‘Why did Park Yeonjeong submit an application to that ridiculous job advertisement?’

Was it because I had grown tired of life?

└ Yes. (That’s why I’m planning to order fried chicken for dinner.)

Did I need money to care for sick parents?

└ They’re apparently perfectly healthy?

……Surely! Did you stand as someone’s guarantor?

└ No. (And who would be stupid enough to guarantee someone’s debt these days? Even elementary school kids know that’s common sense.)

……Then why?

└ Obviously, I did it for fun. Is there really any deeper reason?

Exactly.

I did it purely for fun.

And besides.

I think you’re misunderstanding something.

I’m a job seeker with two perfectly functioning eyes, too.

I’ve already established my own standards and thrown myself into the job market countless times, so don’t underestimate me!

I’m not stupid enough to get tempted by ridiculous clauses like these.

The recruitment site I was currently viewing on my smartphone wasn’t an ordinary job-search website.

It was a wiki site for fictional creations.

And even among those sites—

It was an anonymously created collaborative horror-fiction website that had become extremely popular with countless people on the internet.

The name of the site that had kept someone like me, who had always loved genres such as urban fantasy, hopelessly immersed in it for years was—

Just as its name suggested, it was a concept website documenting all sorts of horror stories, incorporating countless bizarre phenomena that might or might not exist in the real world into tales of the supernatural.

An organization that managed these horrors.

Countless bizarre supernatural phenomena.

And even all sorts of stylish weapons designed to suppress them.

had now developed such a surprisingly solid worldbuilding that it had amassed a large fanbase, and its IP was even on an upward trajectory, selling merchandise through various crowdfunding campaigns.

I was so deeply invested in the site that I’d even purchased the most expensive product available through one of those campaigns.

If so—

You should have a pretty good idea what that ‘new employee recruitment notice’ from earlier was about.

It was a brand-new horror story that had just been uploaded after passing the scrutiny of countless veteran fans.

[Horror Log

[New Employees Are Always Welcome!]

Identification Code: Cd-F-1129.

F-Rank.

A horror first recorded on 20XX.01.01. Classified as an F-Rank horror. Little is known about it, and continued investigation is required.

The confirmed anomaly takes the form of a large library, but there is not a single book on any of its shelves.]

Our little horror friend was like a newborn baby, freshly classified as F-Rank.

From here on, countless horror enthusiasts would breathe life into it with all sorts of different settings and theories.

“……What am I even doing right now?”

A deep sigh escaped me as I looked at myself wasting time with nothing but my smartphone.

I’d entered my twenties normally enough and thrown myself into the job market.

It had already been a little over two years.

I knew.

I knew that companies these days didn’t exactly look favorably upon people in their twenties.

I’d learned firsthand, while preparing for employment, that the majority of companies were like that.

You see, that’s the thing about people.

After getting rejected from the employment front over and over again, sometimes a sense of helplessness just creeps in.

Yeah.

I was at exactly that point right now.

After failing several interviews, I’d ended up lying on my bed and submitting an application to a silly little ‘new employee recruitment notice’ that someone had created just for fun.

I’d completely lost my motivation.

It felt as though rain had fallen throughout the entire room, leaving the air damp and oppressive.

“……Ah! I should get some fresh air!”

At this rate, I felt like mold was going to start growing on my body.

I might even sprout mushrooms.

I needed to move.

There was nothing to be gained from letting my anxiety grow.

I stuffed all the books lying on my desk into my bag and hurried out of my damp studio apartment, which had already absorbed the smell of mold.

The bright morning sunlight was shining down.

I breathed in the refreshing morning air beneath the warm sunlight.

It was freezing.

Come to think of it, the temperature outside was—

Minus eight degrees Celsius.

As I hurriedly buried my face in my clothes and shivered, regretting having left the warmth of my blankets, I felt a vibration in my right pocket.

Come to think of it, today was New Year’s Day, the beginning of a new year.

Was it a congratulatory message from my friends?

Shivering in the bitter cold, I pulled out my smartphone with trembling hands and checked what had caused the vibration.

[[International Call]

You still haven’t found a job, and of course you don’t have a girlfriend, right? Don’t spend the New Year alone and lonely. How about having dinner with me? It’s not like you’re busy anyway. LNe: 12ce]

“…….”

[Block Caller.]

Somehow, the cold I’d been feeling just moments ago disappeared, replaced by a wave of heat spreading throughout my entire body.

And I felt like I could concentrate on studying even more intensely today than on any other day.

‘I’ll succeed no matter what, if only to prove them wrong!’

Sometimes you found motivation in the most unexpected places.

With what could perhaps be called my most energetic stride yet, I headed toward the library I visited every day.

A library I’d frequently used ever since I was in high school.

As usual, I reached for the doorknob to open the library entrance.

That’s when I noticed a single sheet of paper fluttering against the glass entrance doors.

Normally, I would have assumed it was simply a notice for some small event and walked right past it.

But for some reason, that day, my eyes were drawn to the paper.

Even now, I don’t know why.

[★☆$WE’RE HIRING NEW EMPLOYEES$☆★]

An inexplicable sense of familiarity.

And then the contents of the horror story I’d read that morning flashed through my mind.

[

: If you see a ‘New Employee Recruitment’ poster posted at the entrance of the aforementioned library, do not look back. Run. (Unless you want to die a dog’s death…….)]

……Okay, they did a pretty good job.

I figured it was probably the work of some fan who enjoyed just like I did.

They’d really put some effort into it.

Just how devoted was whoever had put up this piece of paper to that horror site?

The [New Employees Are Always Welcome!] horror story hadn’t even been uploaded to the site for more than a few days, yet someone had already gone to this much trouble.

The bewilderment I’d felt just moments ago quickly transformed into admiration.

It didn’t take long at all.

That was pretty fun, buddy!

I grabbed the slightly loose entrance handle again and…… swallowed.

Damn it! Why would you put something like this up here?

Okay, buddy. I take back what I said about it being fun!

Now this is freaking creepy, and I can’t even go into the library!

“……Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“……Aren’t you going inside?”

“Ah…….”

A woman wearing thick-rimmed glasses, with bangs hanging down almost to her eyebrows.

While I was standing there in front of the library door, pointlessly agonizing over the situation, a woman who looked about my age was staring at me strangely.

She was even clutching her smartphone tightly in one hand.

If I’d spent just a little longer acting like an idiot in front of the door, I might have ended up studying at a police station instead of a library.

“……I’m sorry.”

I lowered my head and stepped away from the library entrance, while the woman opened the door and hurried inside as though she were diving through it.

Our eyes met once more through the glass.

Under her increasingly suspicious gaze and icy glare, I made a resolution.

Maybe I really needed to quit for a while.

“……Let’s just study.”

Creeeeak.

I opened the library door and stepped inside.

—Ding dong dang dong~♪

Along with a familiar melody ringing throughout the library, an announcement played.

—Applications for additional children’s books for January will be accepted soon. Anyone wishing to apply in advance may do so at the ‘House of the Forest’ information desk on the first floor.

—We look forward to receiving many applications.

It was an ordinary announcement.

Honestly, I’d been a little scared.

The scrap of paper visible through the door had still been bothering me a little, but I figured it had all just been my imagination after all and continued walking.

Crackle—crackle!

I flinched.

Another announcement followed.

But this time, the voice that entered my ears was filled with heavy static and sounded horribly distorted.

—January ■■■■■ ■■ new■■ ■■ emp■■■■. All ■■■■■ who ■■■ to ■■■ may ■■■ at the ‘■■ House’ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.

And yet, the final voice that followed was strangely clear.

—We look forward to receiving many applications.