I Became a Professional Horror Story Cleaner

“So there really was a horror story.”

I picked up a stone lying on the ground and threw it outside.

It disappeared without a trace.

It was a ‘boundary,’ just like a window or a door.

But then why had we ended up at the East Gate instead of the West Gate?

The scenery visible from the entrance also looked very similar to what we had seen from the East Gate.

Except the vegetation had grown excessively.

It looked like no one had taken care of the place for a long time. The weeds had grown up to our ankles, and the path was barely distinguishable.

Farther inside was a pond.

Bzzz—

The application updated with a new objective.

[Completion Condition: Clean ■ ■■ of the horror story, Chodam Park.]

The exit is located at the West Gate.
If an anomalous phenomenon is discovered, you must use the “Gomyut” exit. If none is discovered, you must use the West Gate.
■■■ ■■■■■■, ■■■■ ■■■■■.
■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■.

Reward: 2 questions

There were hidden parts this time as well.

They would probably be revealed once certain conditions were met.

And the same was likely true for the Achievements.

“Hmm……”

“What is it?”

The rules seemed too clear and, at the same time, too ambiguous.

I couldn’t deduce much just by reading them.

It seemed that the key was discovering some kind of anomalous phenomenon, but it was still too early to be certain without having explored the place.

“It’s nothing. I guess we’ll understand once we move forward.”

Creeak, creeak.

Amid the sound of the wind rustling the leaves, a metal sign swayed back and forth.

Written on the thin sheet of metal was.

[Map of Chodam Park]

“The pond is in the center, and the path goes around it?”

“I think this is where we are.”

Myeong Haebin pointed to an inverted teardrop-shaped marker that seemed to indicate our current location.

“This looks more like a walking trail than a park.”

The pond drawn on the map was shaped like a snowman.

A path marked with arrows ran around it, almost completely encircling it.

There were also several symbols, but none of them had any text.

Only drawings.

‘If I interpret it roughly……’

This place, marked as the starting point, was the East Gate.

Following the path, there was a circular area off to one side.

Then there were some stepping stones for crossing the pond.

And farther ahead was something square-shaped.

“That’s strange.”

“What is?”

“The gate on the west side should be the West Gate, right? But there’s only one gate shown here. This one, the East Gate.”

“Huh? You’re right. There isn’t any other gate.”

We couldn’t know everything from the drawings alone.

There was also no guarantee that the map perfectly matched the actual park.

[Current Status of Our Pond]

[Dry]…[Insufficient]…[Average]…[High]…[Abundant]…[Perfect]

“Is that referring to the pond in front of us?”

“It doesn’t look that dry. Is it broken?”

There was also a moss-covered, rusted gauge that didn’t inspire much confidence.

The needle was clearly pointing to the section marked [Dry].

“If it’s here, there must be a reason. Let’s remember it for now.”

We began walking slowly along the only path in Chodam Park.

Weeds grew through the dirt path, and the grass along the sides encroached beyond its boundaries.

Even so, as though the park were still fulfilling its function to a minimal degree, benches and streetlights had been placed here and there.

“Do you think there might be something in there too?”

On the opposite side of the pond, meaning to our right, was an especially dense area of completely black trees.

“We already have a path. I don’t see any reason to go in there. It doesn’t look like a trail meant for people either.”

“That’s true. On the map, the arrows were only on the path too.”

I looked up for a moment at the sun shining intensely overhead.

“What kind of horror stories usually appear in places like this?”

“In parks? Tons of them. Since there’s water here, there could be a water ghost. Or a runner.”

“A runner?”

“You know. Someone runs ahead of you, and then you discover they were actually a faceless ghost. That kind of thing.”

I thought I had heard a similar urban legend before.

But I couldn’t forget that going in with preconceived notions could make the blow even worse.

“I think that’s the exercise area.”

It was probably the point represented as a circular space off to one side of the path.

It looked like a small clearing among the trees and contained several pieces of exercise equipment commonly found in parks.

Air walkers, waist-twisting discs, sit-up benches, and other similar equipment.

“Then what’s that booth?”

In front of the exercise area was a makeshift structure.

One of those things built with hollow pipes as a frame and covered with a tarp or banner so that it barely managed to stay standing.

There was someone inside.

No.

I should correct myself.

It was a paranormal creature.

Its face was barely distinguishable, as though someone had forcibly covered it with a layer of interference.

Then it spoke to us.

“Hello. Do you love the environment?”

All of a sudden?

The voice wasn’t completely unfamiliar to me.

It was calm and friendly, like those volunteers who offer you stickers when you walk through a busy station or along a crowded street.

If not for what it was saying, it would have seemed perfectly normal.

“Haebin.”

I lightly took her by the arm, signaling that we should keep walking.

There was no need to get involved voluntarily.

Our feet weren’t immobilized, and none of the rules mentioned anything related to this.

For now, the best thing to do was pretend we hadn’t seen it and keep walking.

That was what I intended to do.

Until it spoke again.

“Are you trash?”

A chill ran down the back of my neck.

I had an intense feeling that I shouldn’t ignore it.

No.

It was more like intuition.

[Responsible Environmental Guardians Campaign]

(Let’s Keep Our Park Clean)

(If You Regret Littering Yesterday, It Will Already Be Too Late)

I read the phrases written on the banner of the makeshift booth and finally turned around.

“What do you need?”

The paranormal creature smiled broadly when it saw me return.

It was a strange sensation.

Its face still couldn’t be seen clearly, but somehow I could perfectly perceive the corners of its lips rising and even its straight, white teeth.

“Do you love the environment?”

What environment was a paranormal creature talking about? This place wasn’t even part of reality.

I almost let out an incredulous laugh, but I didn’t let it show on my face.

Should I answer no? But when we tried to walk past, it asked if we were trash. What would happen if a paranormal creature classified me as trash?

“……I think I love it.”

“What an ambiguous answer. Are you trash?”

So it wouldn’t accept ambiguous answers either. Damn it!

I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted out the answer as if saying, Fine, there you go.

“I love it. I love the environment so much that I even work as a cleaner.”

“And you?”

The paranormal creature turned toward Myeong Haebin with an enormous smile.

“I love it sooo much too! The environment is the best! Long live the environment!”

Myeong Haebin, who was breaking out in a cold sweat as she watched my reaction, quickly raised both thumbs.

“I see. Then what about these?”

The paranormal creature’s gaze dropped below Myeong Haebin’s face.

Where the hell was it looking?

Only Myeong Haebin and I had entered this place.

The paranormal creature asked the question but didn’t wait for an answer.

“They’re trash.”

I had no idea what it was looking at to say something like that.

It twirled the pen between its fingers and, like a real volunteer, signed some documents it had pulled out from beneath the booth.

The instant it lifted the pen from the paper.

I felt a sudden burning sensation in my shoulder, and the next moment, it became lighter.

“Ugh…….”

Apparently, the heat hadn’t just been a sensation. The clothes on my shoulder were scorched, and it looked like I had even suffered a minor burn underneath.

That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that the bag of cleaning tools I always carried with me as if it were part of my body had disappeared.

In its place, a small pile of pitch-black ash I had never seen before remained on the dirt path.

‘Don’t tell me what that paranormal creature just asked about was…….’

Our bags of cleaning tools?

They weren’t even living things to begin with.

“Thank you for participating in the campaign. Chodam Park prohibits unnecessary trash from entering.”

I was dumbfounded.

My things.

Not only the tools I hadn’t even gotten the chance to use yet, but all kinds of detergents and even the regulation garbage bags I had gone to the trouble of bringing had disappeared without a trace.

All of that cost money.

Calm down.

Persuade it!

Right. Let’s try to persuade it.

“That wasn’t unnecessary trash. They were just cleaning tools and brand-new products that hadn’t even been opened.”

“But that wasn’t all that was inside, was it?”

How did it know?

There hadn’t only been tools.

After what had happened at Hwaae High School, I had learned my lesson and packed quite a few snacks and other supplies as well.

“Then couldn’t you have just gotten rid of the actual trash?”

Myeong Haebin also tried her hardest to protest, but the paranormal creature merely repeated the same thing like a parrot.

“It is an unavoidable measure to protect the environment of our park.”

‘There’s no reasoning with this thing.’

I wanted to grab it by the collar and demand that it at least give my equipment back, but completely ignoring whatever was going through my head, the paranormal creature continued speaking calmly.

“As part of the campaign, we would like to ask you a question to verify whether you truly love the environment. Do you agree?”

“What happens if we don’t agree?”

“You will be considered trash.”

The burn on my shoulder stung.

Trash and burning.

Judging by those two things, the bag had been incinerated.

It didn’t matter that there had been liquids and other things inside. Everything had been reduced to ash in an instant.

If it considered us trash too, would it incinerate us the same way?

“Fine. Ask the question.”

“Me too! I’m ready!”

I gave Myeong Haebin a small nudge with my elbow, and she quickly pulled one of the hands she had behind her back and waved it to get its attention.

The paranormal creature reached one hand beneath the booth again and pulled out a cylindrical object wrapped in paper.

“How should this be properly disposed of for recycling?”

The damn paranormal creature that had just solved the problem of my bag by incinerating the entire thing was now asking me about waste sorting?

It was an appropriate question for an environmental booth, but the contradiction was so typical of a horror story that even the back of my neck tensed up.

“Can I take it to examine it?”

“Of course. However, you have a two-minute time limit. You said you were a cleaner, so that should be enough time, right?”

“Hmm, hmm, hmmmm…….”

After taking a look at the object, Myeong Haebin began groaning beside me as though her head hurt.

“Boss, we…….”

She looked at me as though asking with her eyes whether she should say it or not.

I gave a slight nod to indicate that she could speak, and only then did she open her mouth.

“We’re not exactly meticulous about sorting recyclables, are we?”

“……No.”

You could call it a stereotype about cleaners.

Because cleaning was our job, people assumed we also had to be experts at sorting waste for recycling.

“I mean, normally, when we finish a job, we put the trash into sacks, right? Then we send it to the appropriate company and forget about it.”

“We do some general sorting, but we’re not that thorough either. Besides, the current regulations are pretty strict.”

In other words, waste sorting wasn’t exactly our specialty.

But we couldn’t get this wrong.

If we failed, it would incinerate us.

“First, let’s see what it is.”

Though, in reality, we didn’t have any other choice.

I lifted the long white object and began examining it.

It had a white cylindrical body, dirty with dust and stains, probably because of its age. A plastic rod that seemed to be about three times the length of the body was attached to the bottom, and a red fuse protruded from the base.

“It’s a firework.”

We didn’t have a lighter to test it, but from the crinkling of the wrapper, I was sure it was a firework.

“Do we have to light it before throwing it away? No. It said we had to sort the waste, so should we remove the plastic rod?”

Myeong Haebin nervously rummaged through her pockets, unable to reach a conclusion.

But I continued examining the firework carefully.

If this really was a firework, then there had to be……

“30 seconds remaining.”

Found it.

“You have to soak it in water and dispose of it as general waste.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s expired.”

Normally, the outer wrapper of fireworks displays the manufacturer, precautions, expiration date, and other information.

However, on the one the paranormal creature had handed us, that information was printed on an inner rolled-up section of the paper, making it practically impossible to see.

The manufacturing date was 1991.

Fireworks that haven’t expired yet should be ignited before disposal, while expired ones should be soaked in water before being thrown away.

I couldn’t think of any explanation other than that it had deliberately hidden that information.

“Correct. It seems the two of you really do love the environment.”

The paranormal creature smiled broadly and took our hands.

“I’ll give you a gift as thanks for participating in the campaign.”

We didn’t get a chance to refuse.

Click.

Green rubber bracelets appeared around Myeong Haebin’s wrist and mine, with the words printed on them.

Responsible Environmental Guardians of Chodam Park.