I Became a Professional Horror Story Cleaner

“I could easily believe this is a storage room someone abandoned in the middle of the night.”

“No, it’s just that our company is a liiiittle slow when it comes to taking care of these things. The higher-ups are a bit… Well, if we urgently need something, we can buy it with our own money.”

Who buys furniture for the company with their own money?

No matter how positively I tried to look at it, I wouldn’t be surprised to find people online saying this was a shitty company you should run away from the moment you got hired.

“What cleaning company doesn’t use vacuum cleaners these days? Even if they can’t give us a 30-liter one, we should at least have one.”

“But there’s no electricity in horror stories. Even if we had one, we wouldn’t be able to use it, right?”

“They didn’t rip this locker out of somewhere it was already being used, did they?”

“Not that! I don’t think… they did?”

Unable to wipe the suspicious look from my face, I opened the locker door with my name on it.

Contrary to my fears, it only seemed to have been left unused for a while. The inside was clean, and the locker was in good condition.

“This is a uniform jacket. But why are there two?”

One was a short jacket identical to the one I had worn yesterday, while the other was a jumpsuit.

Both were the same completely colorless black.

“Because we’re the Cleaning Team. The uniforms vary a little depending on the department. I heard the Support Team gets lab coats.”

Well, the jumpsuit was a little more comfortable for me.

Whenever I had to enter dirty places, at least I wouldn’t need to worry about my pants.

I was about to close the locker since there was nothing else to see when I noticed a sheet of paper attached to the inside of the door.

[Kim Hanmu’s Achievement Chart]

Although the name sounded like something out of an elementary school or kindergarten, it was a sticker board with a somewhat more polished design.

It was divided into one hundred spaces, and one of them already had a round sticker attached to it.

“Achievement Chart?”

“Ah, you already saw it! Didn’t I explain it to you?”

“This is literally the first time I’ve seen it.”

“That’s strange. They normally explain all this when you start working here……”

Myeong Haebin muttered to herself until she seemed to realize something and let out a small exclamation.

“Ah, right. Boss had no reason to know about this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Weren’t you ever curious? Why do you think everyone here risks their lives going in and out of horror stories?”

“Because if we leave the horror stories alone, they’ll eventually devour other people.”

Even as I said it, something felt strange.

Did all these people really risk their lives for complete strangers they had never even seen before?

“Boss really is naive. That’s nothing more than a pretty ideal. This is the real reason. Almost every employee’s goal is to completely fill this board.”

Myeong Haebin’s hand pointed at my Achievement Chart and slowly moved down it.

There were far too many empty spaces.

One hundred was an excessively long and distant number.

However, what she said next was even harder to believe.

“When you completely fill the Achievement Chart, they grant you one wish. It doesn’t matter what you wish for. You can ask to become a billionaire, go back to the past, bring someone who died back to life… anything.”

If you really could obtain anything you wished for, perhaps it was even possible to put the word ‘only’ in front of the number one hundred.

But this company was deeply connected to horror stories.

“Can you trust that?”

“Does it matter? The people here are so desperate that they’re willing to bet their lives for a single sticker.”

Her voice was dry and cold, completely devoid of human emotion.

A chill ran through my body.

So that was why I had no reason to know about it.

Because I didn’t have any wish desperate enough to drive me to such extremes.

“Then do you also have something you want that desperately, Haebin?”

As though someone had suddenly switched on a light, Myeong Haebin regained her cheerful expression and pouted slightly.

“Who knows. Maybe a little?”

“What does being ‘a little’ desperate even mean?”

“I don’t have any memories from before I joined this company. When I complete the entire Achievement Chart, maybe I’ll ask to recover the memories I lost.”

Was she acting, or was she serious?

Her expression gave me no way to tell what she was really thinking.

“Anyway! These stickers are given when you complete a month of work, and also to the person who contributed the most to completing a horror story. That’s why Boss should already have one stuck on there.”

Had they counted what happened at Hwaae High School?

Without even intending to, I had ended up entering a horror story during my orientation and coming out of it with an achievement on my record.

‘What would I wish for if I got all the stickers?’

She had said they could grant any wish.

That was precisely why it was even harder to decide.

I was still a very long way from reaching one hundred, so I could think about it at my leisure.

“And over here… the Cleaning Team work manual should be……”

“There was only clothing inside.”

“Looks like this hasn’t arrived yet either. I’m going out to look for it. Can you stay here for a moment?”

After rummaging through my locker, Myeong Haebin repeated herself several times before hurriedly running out.

There was absolutely nothing here.

At this rate, I should be grateful that we at least had cleaning supplies.

‘They don’t seem to have a very good opinion of the Cleaning Team either. Is it because it was only just created?’

What could I do?

All I could do was take care of what was within my control.

So it was finally time to check the phone that had been silently vibrating in my pocket from time to time, as though reminding me not to forget about it.

“I get it. You’re doing this because you want me to ask the questions, right? I didn’t forget.”

[There are 2 answers available.]

[You may check ??]

However, as soon as I opened the application, it once again merely displayed the text calmly.

What a strange thing.

I was curious about what ?? was, but I would ask the questions first.

“How long do I have to remain at this company?”

One of the reasons I had joined this company was the problem I had with my arm at the time, but the main reason had been this application.

It probably wanted me to keep cleaning horror stories, but I couldn’t shake the thought that if I kept living like this, the long and peaceful life I had always wanted would end up becoming a short and intense one.

If I at least had a concrete goal, it would be easier to endure.

The application flickered for a few moments and began displaying letters as though someone were typing them in real time.

[The current estimate is 999 years, 99 days, and 99 hours.]

“Am I seeing this wrong?”

I closed my eyes, turned the screen off and back on, but the text was still there.

No.

Now it was even displayed in thicker letters.

[999 years, 99 days, and 99 hours]

To begin with, that wasn’t even a goal a human being could achieve.

I’d decided.

When I completed my Achievement Chart, I would wish for this application to be removed.

‘Although getting all one hundred stickers is still a long way off too.’

But what else could I do?

For now, this was my only option.

After thinking about it for a few moments, I asked my final question.

“Explain why you need me.”

Why me, out of so many people?

The application began displaying text without the slightest hesitation.

[Kim Hanmu has ■■ with [ ].]

I couldn’t read it because part of the text was hidden.

When I touched the section covered in black, a message different from the ones I had seen until now appeared.

[That word cannot be revealed to Kim Hanmu.]

……What the hell was this?

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a chill, but I tried to calm myself as much as possible.

“I don’t think that answers my question at all. Can you really consider that an answer? Explain it in a way I can understand.”

Thinking it might tell me again that I had already used up all my questions, I carefully added.

“I thought you and I were cooperating, but if you’re going to resort to tricks like this, then I won’t continue either. Are you going to kill me? Then I’ll die. A human being can’t live for 999 years anyway.”

This application needed me.

[Kim Hanmu does not die.]

However, that sentence began to distort with interference, as though it were an error, and in an instant, it was replaced by another.

[Kim Hanmu can clean horror stories. [ ] desires the resulting residue. The more [ ] grows, the closer Kim Hanmu will be to his dream.]

Hadn’t the text just changed?

Had I seen it wrong?

Either way, this time there were no hidden sections, and I could understand what it said.

Thanks to that, I learned two things.

Every time I cleaned, the filth disappeared because this application took it away.

The application grew in exchange for that residue. I could probably consider the unlocking of features such as Achievements to be part of that growth as well.

“Can I interpret that to mean that if I keep helping you, you’ll eventually set me free?”

[A proposal is available. Would you like to view it?]

[Y] [N]

A proposal?

And what was that supposed to be now?

I decided to tap Y.

[Turn your body to the right.]

I didn’t understand why a supposed proposal began by giving me instructions like these, but I decided to follow them.

[Approach your bag.]

It must have meant the bag containing my cleaning tools.

The bag still bore all the traces of the previous day, and I hadn’t even had time to organize the equipment.

[Bend down.]

[Open the bag.]

[Put your hand inside.]

The instructions continued appearing one after another in an excessively detailed and helpful manner.

As I followed those suspicious directions, my fingertips brushed against something that crinkled.

[Take out the plastic bag you are touching with your index finger.]

It felt like there was something inside, but I didn’t remember putting anything in there.

Had this always been here?

When I pulled it out, I had to make an enormous effort not to throw it away immediately.

It was the kidney that had been ripped out of me at the school.

A firm piece of flesh, completely cold and covered in sticky, dried blood.

[Would you like to give this to [ ]?]

Had my kidney grown back?

I no longer felt that emptiness or the deep discomfort in my abdomen that had accompanied me throughout the entire day at school, so it probably had.

But my kidney growing back was one thing, and having to give the old one to this strange thing was something else entirely.

“I’d rather throw it away than give it to you. Why the hell should I give you my kidney?”

[It will contribute to the growth of [ ].]

……Disgusting.

Throwing my kidney in the trash or feeding it to the application.

Both options were unpleasant.

But in the end, it meant that I would benefit from it too.

“Yeah, yeah. Take it. Get rid of it.”

The moment I finished speaking, the plastic bag I was holding disappeared completely.

Ugh.

At that moment, the door opened.

Apparently, Myeong Haebin had finally returned.

“I’m back! What were you doing?”

“……Organizing my bag.”

Well, technically, that counted as organizing too.

“And that… did you bring the manual?”

“Well, it turns out the Cleaning Team doesn’t have a manual yet.”

I expected nothing less.

“But they gave me work!”

You didn’t need to bring that.

A company that didn’t have a manual to teach you the job, but did have work to give you.

What had happened to all that talk about me being specially recruited talent?

That was why you always had to think very carefully before joining a company.

“Another cleaning job?”

“Yes. But this time it’s really easy. It’s Rank 5!”

“There are ranks too?”

“Yes. From Rank 5 to Rank 1. The lower the number, the more dangerous and difficult it is. Yesterday’s was Rank 4.”

Hwaae High School had been Rank 4……

Something as deadly as that was only Rank 4?

Then what were the higher ranks like?

“So, where are we going this time?”

Instead of answering, Myeong Haebin showed me a wooden plaque.

[West Gate of Chodam Park]

The first part was the name of a place.

But what exactly did the rest mean?

“They don’t tell us what kind of horror story it is?”

“I asked too, but they said this horror story appeared recently, so there are no records from the Exploration Team. Besides, it’s small.”

The same Exploration Team whose members I had only ever seen as corpses.

“All right. Fine. Let’s go.”

After all, it was Rank 5.

It should be better than a Professor with scissor-like hands or a teddy bear walking around with a box cutter.

Taking the opportunity to test the tool that had been upgraded as well, I packed a good number of garbage bags, prepared my bag again for outdoor cleaning, and changed into the jumpsuit-style uniform.

“Did you pack a capsule?”

The capsule she was talking about was that blue pill that recorded the cause of death after someone died.

There was a plastic container full of them in the locker.

“Yes.”

I lied.

I hadn’t brought one.

It made me feel as though I were specifically preparing to die.

I saw no need to tell her that I had an instinctive aversion to it.

“Then I’ll open the door!”

Myeong Haebin announced energetically, inserted the plaque into the door, and turned the handle.

Whooosh—

A gust of fresh air rushed violently through the door, carrying dry leaves with it.

The sound of passing cars, distant voices, and even music drifting out from some establishment could be heard clearly.

“This…… doesn’t look like a horror story.”

We had come out in front of the [East Gate of Chodam Park].

However, it wasn’t a horror story.

It was a completely normal street.

A yellow bus drove along the paved road behind us.

And not only that.

There were people inside Chodam Park.

Not paranormal creatures.

Real people.

“Huh? You’re right. But the mission plaque can’t be wrong! Do you want to go all the way to the West Gate?”

“Yes. Let’s go around.”

We walked around the outside of the park until we had covered approximately half of its perimeter and finally found the West Gate.

There was hardly anyone around, but it didn’t feel any different from the East Gate either.

“If there isn’t a horror story here either, I’m seriously going to complain to them. And I’ll do it in Boss’s name!”

“Why are you going to use my name?”

I was nothing more than a new employee.

She had probably only said it for the sake of saying it.

Even so, thanks to that, I relaxed a little, and my steps grew lighter as we entered the park.

‘The mission plaque said West Gate, so there has to be something here…….’

My foot came to an abrupt stop on the dirt path.

Six characters engraved into a huge stone placed directly in front of us captured all my attention.

“We entered through the West Gate, right?”

[East Gate of Chodam Park]

At some point, the sound of vehicle engines behind us had disappeared.

There were no people to be heard anymore.

Not even the singing of birds.