I Became a Professional Horror Story Cleaner

“Because I think you need to eat to have strength.”

This man’s name was…… Jeong Dohan. Jeong Dohyeon’s older twin brother.

“Don’t you wear glasses at all?”

“Contact lenses are more comfortable. Besides, glasses can break.”

Jeong Dohan smiled playfully, the corners of his lips lifting.

Now that I was seeing him again, they gave off such different impressions that it was strange I could have mistaken him for Jeong Dohyeon.

Jeong Dohyeon wore thick-framed glasses and let his permed bangs fall over his forehead.

Jeong Dohan, on the other hand, didn’t wear glasses and blow-dried his bangs back, revealing a glimpse of an irregular scar on his forehead.

Jeong Dohan naturally sat down across from me and began talking.

“I heard you had a pretty rough time cleaning a Grade 5 Horror Story this time. Haebin told me.”

“Is Haebin okay? She hit her head pretty hard.”

“She’s always had a hard head, so she’s fine. She woke up before you and even stopped by our office because she said she was bored.”

Jeong Dohan replied indistinctly as he dipped a piece of grilled salmon into a cream-colored sauce and brought it to his mouth.

So she had woken up before me.

“Are there normally individual differences in how long someone sleeps after returning from a Horror Story?”

“Yes. It depends on things like the severity of the injuries. And you’ve been constantly busy ever since you joined the company, so I suppose all that exhaustion just kept piling up.”

That made sense.

In fact, these past few days had been the most exhausting of my entire life.

“As for how it felt, it was harder than Hwaae High School.”

“Hahaha, you mean that orientation, right? Team Leader Yong couldn’t stop praising you. Honestly, I’m curious too. I wonder exactly what you did to make our Team Leader take such an interest in you.”

“Well, in the end, a cleaner only does what any―”

Before I could finish the sentence and maintain a cordial conversation out of simple professional courtesy, someone passing behind me shoved me with the corner of their tray.

“Ah, shit. What bad luck.”

“Come on. We’ll have to throw this tray away and get another one.”

What the hell is wrong with these rude bastards?

Modern people usually try to avoid conflict and let things go peacefully.

Even more so when it involves coworkers you’ll continue running into constantly.

“Aren’t you going to apologize?”

Of course, I was the type to say what needed to be said.

They weren’t my clients or my superiors, so why would I keep quiet?

“Huh? Me? What did I do?”

“What? Why are you picking fights with people passing by?”

This wasn’t a school, much less a kindergarten. After starting the provocation by childishly hitting me with a tray, they were now pretending they had nothing to do with it.

At that moment, Jeong Dohan, who had a fork between his lips, gestured toward the duo with his chin.

“Hey, this man isn’t a Dog. Control yourselves.”

Those words, which didn’t seem like they had any chance of working, surprisingly had an immediate effect.

“Ahem. I thought he was one of those Dogs~.”

“We’re sooo sorry. We got confused.”

One of them pulled out some napkins and began diligently wiping my back, while the other bowed their head in apology.

Why did their attitude change so easily?

“Are you talking about me?”

“Yes. Since you’re not wearing a uniform…… You’re a Tiger, right?”

Were they seriously being this careful because they thought I was a Tiger?

Remembering Kang Dochae’s arrogance, it seemed fairly likely.

What ridiculous people.

“No. I’m a cleaner.”

“Ah, from the Support Team?”

“The Cleaning Team.”

I handed them the identification card I had tucked away in my pocket.

After examining it, the two tilted their heads slightly.

“It’s true. Then what does the Cleaning Team do?”

“Clean. It’s written right there in the name.”

“Ah~. Right. Cleaning is necessary too.”

The man in the pair let out a mocking chuckle and returned my identification card by practically tossing it onto the table.

“Well, it suits you. Cleaning Team, Dog.”

“Hey, can’t you see me?”

What a way to treat someone right to his face.

Jeong Dohan tried to make his presence known, but the short-haired man didn’t even glance at him.

Instead, he brazenly looked down at me.

“If you made it this far, I suppose you also have some goal you desperately want to achieve, but even if you cling to that group, none of their leftovers are going to fall into your lap.”

“What do you mean?”

“Playing family inside the company isn’t going to get you anything.”

“Have fun with the Dogs. See you tomorrow morning? That is, if you’re still able to.”

With a wink from the woman, who had her long, straight, light-brown hair tied back, the two left the cafeteria.

On the backs of their uniforms, I could see the emblem of a rat with its head held high.

“Just ignore them. Those people are always like that.”

“I’m fine. My job required me to deal with plenty of difficult customers.”

“What did you do outside?”

“I was a cleaner.”

I gave him the answer, which I had no reason to hide, and started eating.

Compared to what I’d had to put up with before, this wasn’t a big deal.

That didn’t mean it didn’t bother me, but I had no reason to play along with them either.

Besides, for now, they weren’t people I could do anything about anyway.

Jeong Dohan watched my calm expression for a few moments before vigorously scratching his head.

“Sorry. I just wanted to eat something before going to work, and I ended up making you run into those people.”

“Looks like the Dogs and the Rats don’t get along very well.”

“Yeah. We get similar results. They’re always competing with us. And we’re not exactly the type to sit back and take it either.”

The typical kind who submits to the strong and bullies the weak?

Now that I thought about it, I seemed to remember running into a Rat in the hallway before. I think that one had been pretty unpleasant too.

“They’re just like that with every team except the Tigers. They get even worse when they consider someone beneath them, and on top of that, the Cleaning Team was only just created.”

“……So it wasn’t because I’m a cleaner.”

“Well, I suppose that has a little to do with it too. Hahaha.”

As expected, working life could never be a bed of roses.

Fortunately, I wasn’t part of the same Disassembly Team. It would have been a pain to constantly get dragged into this kind of trouble.

“By the way, Dohan, what have you been watching so closely?”

“I’m going to show you something fun. Ah, here they come.”

“JEONG DOHAN!”

Hearing that shout filled with something close to hostility, I turned my head and saw the duo who had just left coming back.

And both of their faces were completely red.

“You already knew, didn’t you?!”

“Knew what? I don’t know what you’re talking about~. Ah, do you mean that one of the Horror Stories under your responsibility went up a grade? From Grade 4 to Grade 3.”

So Horror Stories could go up in grade too.

By the way, he really knew how to provoke them.

As I watched Jeong Dohan smile with complete composure, I took a huge bite of a piece of sweet-and-sour fried chicken instead of popcorn.

Perhaps my attitude irritated her, because the woman glared at me.

The man, however, didn’t care and continued venting at Jeong Dohan.

“I heard they asked you guys for support! Don’t you know we’d already done practically all the work?”

“And what do you want me to do if the order came from above? All of this happened because you screwed up. You should’ve done your job better.”

“That’s our business! If you had any conscience, you’d withdraw!”

“What do I care? The mistake was serving us the food on a platter. Would you have turned it down?”

Let me see if I understood.

The Rats and Dogs of the Disassembly Team were rivals.

However, a problem had arisen in a Horror Story assigned to the Rats, so they had requested support from the Dogs.

And since the Rats had already done a large portion of the work, they were furious about it.

‘So it’s a fight over their livelihood.’

I should have stayed in my room.

Why the hell had I chosen to come out now just because I wanted something to eat?

With absolutely no intention of getting crushed in someone else’s fight, I continued stuffing my face.

“We’d rather get help from the Cleaning Team than get help from you!”

The woman’s index finger abruptly swung toward me.

“Cough.”

Why the hell was I getting dragged into this?

“Ah, right. The Cleaning Team works in the field too, doesn’t it? I didn’t know that before.”

“That’s too much. Don’t you know the Cleaning Team was only just created? He hasn’t even been with the company for a month.”

I felt like getting behind Jeong Dohan and waving glow sticks to cheer him on.

Good, good.

That’s it.

I’m a rookie.

“True. But I heard he’s such a valuable talent that he was even personally recruited. That means he’s at least on the level of a Tiger, doesn’t it?”

Me?

Can you really overestimate me that much?

Well, half of it was true, but it wasn’t that impressive.

“We don’t trust you guys. If we’re going to enter a Horror Story again only for another ‘accident’ to happen, wouldn’t it be better to take the Cleaning Team?”

At the man’s words, spoken as though that were the most obvious thing in the world, Jeong Dohan slammed his fist onto the table.

Bang!

“How petty. You really are petty. Can’t a rookie have an accident? Can’t he die?”

“Jeong Dohan, you’re hilarious. Didn’t everyone here join this company prepared for something like that?”

The woman’s cold response immediately killed the atmosphere.

Her gaze bore into me, as if challenging me to answer if I had something to say.

I wasn’t prepared to that extent.

If anything, I had joined because they told me they’d kill me if I didn’t.

Bzzz―.

Yeah.

This damn……

[Completion Condition: Help the Rats clean a Grade 3 Horror Story.]

[In Case of Failure: Death]

Fuck.

We haven’t been getting along lately, have we?

Haven’t we?

Was I the only one who thought that?

No matter how much I cursed it, that bastard that craved the residue produced by my cleanings wasn’t going to change its mind.

Damn pig.

I took a deep breath inwardly, set my utensils down on the table with a sharp clatter, and looked the woman directly in the eyes.

“I’ll do it.”

“Of course. I’ll speak to our Team Leader myself. Let’s go, Seo Gitae.”

When the Rat duo left, Jeong Dohan grabbed me by the shoulders and began shaking me.

“Hanmu. Are you okay? Is someone threatening you?”

Threatened……

Yes, I am.

But how the hell was I supposed to explain that?

Holding back my tears internally, I decided to at least preserve my image.

“I’m curious about what it’ll be like to clean a Grade 3 Horror Story. I think I can handle it.”

Even as I said it, I thought I sounded like a lunatic.

“Wow, Hanmu. You really aren’t right in the head.”

It seemed Jeong Dohan thought the same.

***

Myeong Haebin let out a shout.

“So what?! You’re suddenly going to support another team?!”

“……Yes.”

“Those people just changed targets because they think we’re easy prey!”

“I know.”

We had returned to the empty lot……

No, to the Cleaning Team’s office.

In the meantime, some furniture had appeared.

A round table and two chairs.

Myeong Haebin said she had looted them from the neighboring team, so they had most likely come from the Dogs’ office.

“A Grade 3 is already bad enough, but the Rats are even worse!”

“Are they that bad?”

“They’re horribly selfish! They’re completely obsessed with results! As soon as the Rabbit disappeared last year, they took a spot on the Disassembly Team and―.”

“Hmm…….”

The achievement record allowed wishes to be fulfilled.

To fill it faster, it was advantageous to accumulate as much contribution as possible.

In other words, as many results as possible.

That was probably also why they had chosen me instead of the Dogs.

When it came to protecting their own results, the newly created Cleaning Team must have seemed like a safer option than the Dogs.

“And that’s not all! Even within the Disassembly Team, they’re the team where the most people die! If you become a nuisance to them, Boss, they’d be capable of killing you just to keep the results for themselves!”

“Well, it hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

Bang!

The door to our office flew open violently.

“Is our man among men, Hanmu, here~?!”

“Hyung, please. Stop causing a scene in other people’s office.”

Jeong Dohan hadn’t come alone.

Jeong Dohyeon was with him too.

He had the expression of someone looking at an incredibly embarrassing family member.

I would probably make the same face.

“What is it?”

“We came to tell you that it’s true. Hanmu will be coming with us as support.”

“Boss, you said it hadn’t been confirmed yet!”

“It was just confirmed.”

Myeong Haebin shouted indignantly, but inwardly, I was even gloomier.

From the moment the app had updated the completion condition, I was screwed whether it was confirmed or not.

“There’s nothing we can do. Since you’re going anyway, let’s show them what our team is made of! They’re in for a big surprise. Looks like they underestimated us because we’re the Cleaning Team…… They’ll regret it!”

As always, she adapted quickly.

The phrase ‘if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it’ suited her perfectly.

And she didn’t stop there.

Myeong Haebin began packing equipment into a new cleaning bag.

However, Jeong Dohyeon cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Ah, Haebin, about that…….”

With an awkward smile, Jeong Dohyeon handed a pamphlet to Myeong Haebin and me.

“Haebin and I won’t be able to go this time.”

“Why?!”

“Because the capacity is already full with the two Rats, my brother, and Hanmu.”

It was a pitch-black pamphlet folded in half.

Despite being made of paper, it was unpleasantly cold and thick, with a texture similar to leather.

There were words printed on the cover.

[Human Exhibition: On the Infinitude of the Human Body]

[Permitted Number of Visitors: 2–4 People]

Don’t tell me this was the Horror Story I’d have to enter this time.

What the hell was with that name?