Chapter 221: Ch 221: Man in the Screen
A dark, cramped editing room.
The massive editing monitors.
Only one of them lit.
On the sole light source glowed a blue desktop background.
And on it, several video file icons.
Variety show footage.
Having already discussed their plan beforehand, the two Field Exploration
Team employees moved without hesitation.
Verification process.
The hand gripping the mouse moved, and the pointer slid across the
desktop...
Click.
– First, let’s check if it’s really a Darkness. – Yes!
The selected icon spat out footage.
It was raw video intended for MBS’s ’Kind Karaoke’, Episode 26.
[Hahahahaha!]
[Wow, you really sing well!]
[You flatter me.]
On the brightly colored karaoke set, two guests and the MC laughed across
a table.
It was a format currently popular as a broadcast content strategy against
YouTube, a small-scale music talk show featuring glamorous guests and a
witty but not overly aggressive host.
The bright and cheerful set design, laughter, and even the production staff’s
cheers gave the room a buoyant air.
"...There."
The video was paused.
A passing cut of the karaoke room interior.
On the dark little window in the karaoke door.
The man’s face.
Staring straight at the camera.
"Huu."
Visible even in the dark. More twisted, more blatant than in the attached
screenshot of Episode 36 from the forum post.
As if straining to be noticed by someone beyond the camera’s lens.
A sight that would have frozen anyone in terror at their desk or sent them
screaming if they stumbled on it by chance.
"Okay."
But the two Field Exploration Team members quickly closed the video and
clicked on another.
Because they were used to it.
Click, click. Their hands moved quickly, selecting other variety show files
and episodes ending in ’6’.
...And then they realized.
"..."
"..."
Recent trends in variety formats meant large, boisterous crowds were
uncommon.
Especially shows with audience participation or mass reaction shots. They
were almost nonexistent.
Which meant, no crowds.
The ’man in the screen’ could no longer sit hidden among a sea of people,
pretending to be just one of them.
So instead...
He appeared in stranger, more unnatural ways.
In a rooftop-room variety show where guests sat on cushions chatting, the
man stood outside the veranda, staring into the camera. In a fishing variety
show on the river, the man pressed his face close beside the cast
concentrating on their rods, staring into the camera. In a talk show with an
emcee and actor guest seated at a table, the man stood behind them,
unmoving, staring into the camera.
His expressions grew more grotesque.
His postures too.
Sometimes mimicking the gestures of the emcee or guest.
Almost like mockery, yet with such stiffness and wrongness that chills
crawled down the spine...
"..."
By this point, even the most money-obsessed opportunist began to feel a
rising dread.
Kang Yihak swallowed hard and shut off the footage.
But she didn’t hesitate.
"I’ll put it in."
"Yes."
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae inserted the prepared USB into the editing
machine connected to the monitor.
Executing the simple disposal method the company had provided.
Given the Darkness’s patterns, it was a rational attempt.
If watching videos in the editing room where ’the man in the screen’
appeared led to death, then the solution was simple. Store the footage
separately, seal the editing room, and be done with it.
If the videos couldn’t be played, the phenomenon couldn’t occur.
Regrettably, the production crew would be told to rely only on the
untouched raw data outside the editing room.
Click.
As soon as the USB connected, Kang Yihak swiftly opened the removable
disk. With practiced ease, she selected every file ending in ’6’ on the
desktop, along with the in-progress editing folder, and dragged them all in
at once.
It was a motion she’d done so often it carried no hesitation.
’Huu.’
Place the video data in a storage medium that does not allow automatic
playback, and return it to a proper containment location. (provisional)
So we just don’t provoke it, and load everything into the USB as it is! Exactly.
And then, as expected of massive files, a loading popup appeared.
The footage began transferring into the removable disk.
If they could just endure this part...
Copying...
"..."
"..."
Huh?
"Excuse me."
Lee Seonghae spoke.
"Why is your hand there?"
Kang Yihak lowered her gaze to her hand.
Instinctively resting on the keyboard, her finger was pressing the Ctrl key.
...A habit.
When you drag files or folders directly into a USB storage, the system
treats it as a move.
It’s a ’cut’.
But if you hold Ctrl while doing it...
It becomes a ’copy’.
A natural instinct developed in any senior student juggling endless
extracurricular work and assignments.
A backup.
"..."
Kang Yihak looked at the files still transferring into the USB storage.
And at the files still remaining on the desktop.
The ones containing the ’man in the screen’.
At this rate, the originals would remain in the editing room.
But files being copied couldn’t be deleted.
’No.’
Cold dread trickled through her veins as she stared at the ’Copying’ popup,
waiting for completion.
The numbers climbed steeply. Please. 90%, 92%, 95%, 97%, 99%...
Complete.
In that instant, Kang Yihak slammed the delete shortcut.
Are you sure you want to
permanently delete these 6 items?
Now!
It had to be quick. Her hand mustn’t slip. No, her hand didn’t slip but
strangely, unnaturally, the mouse double-clicked and instead of deleting the
footage it played and
You locked eyes with the man in the screen.
Do not delete
OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNEEEEEUUUUUEEEEEEEE
ETUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOIII
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
On the desktop, dozens of video files all played at once. Audio overlapped,
lagging, stuttering. Strange noises burst out. Playback positions scrambled,
skipping, shutting off and relaunching, switching randomly. The screens
flickered. From the screens
Something was coming out.
OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOUUUOOOOOOOEEEEEEE
EEIIIIIIIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIUUUIUUIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOUOOOU
The footage stuttered and blinked. Each second switched to another variety
show clip, zooming in. And in every one, edited into the scene, was the
same presence.
The man in the screen
His face
The man’s mouth, hideously round, gaping wide, moved.
Anyone standing before the editing monitor could only see it.
Kang Yihak’s gaze locked.
Lee Seonghae’s gaze locked.
They could not look away.
They were ready to listen.
He was angry.
After he spoke, they would die.
He was...
Tap
"..."
A sound.
Taptaptap
Smoke.
Taptaptaptap
The transport case.
The Employee.
"...!"
Kang Yihak bit her tongue, drawing blood, and snapped back to her senses.
She quickly reached out. Her hand brushed against the lock on the transport
case beside her.
It unlocked.
Clang.
The sound of iron bars opening.
But the ’Employee’ did not emerge.
Instead, thick, black smoke poured out like mist...
And veiled the Field Exploration Team members’ vision.
"...!"
Through the smoke, dozens of yellow lamp-like lights gleamed, scrambling
the monitor’s light and shapes. The man in the screen was no longer visible.
For only the lights shone in the smoke.
"...Ha!"
In that moment, freed from the Darkness, a Field Exploration Team
employee inhaled deeply and straightened.
...Kang Yihak realized her face had been so close to the editing monitor,
she had nearly pressed her nose against it.
A chill prickled down her back.
The distorted audio of six separate variety recordings echoed like screams
in the cramped editing room, caught in a lag loop.
Kang Yihak still saw the dense, heavy black smoke flowing from the
transport case, and the yellow eyes within it...
Lee Seonghae seemed almost completely enveloped.
"Mr. Employee!"
Kang Yihak made the rational choice.
"Could you please just tightly wrap up that monitor, restrain it just once?
Then we’ll get back to work immediately!"
That was the Security Team’s very role!
But the black smoke did not touch the monitor.
No, she realized now... It was actively avoiding the monitor and editing
equipment.
’...Huh?’
The smoke drew out words.
Concerns upon contact :
► Deletion of Darkness
► Increased risk of death for two accompanying employees (Dolphin,
Pony)
"...!!"
Reason : Non-physical entity anomaly. Insufficient data.
Wait.
So, does that mean that just by coming into contact with it, that editing
room ghost would be ’affected’, and he’s holding himself back out of
concern that some insane variable might occur... That’s what he’s saying?
And one of those variables is that the Darkness itself could disappear?
’How strong is this thing?’
A shiver of exhilaration ran down her spine.
But her mouth spoke rationally.
"Then... to resume the task..."
And the instructions given by ’Mr. Employee’ were very simple.
Do not look at the Darkness.
"...Of course! That’s entirely reasonable."
But when a person cannot see, their accuracy and efficiency drop
drastically...
All the more so when it comes to the delicate task of repeatedly closing the
frenzied flood of playback popups, finding the files on the desktop, and
permanently deleting them!
"Still, someone has to be watching, I think."
And Mr. Employee kindly answered that question as well.
Observer : Me
At that moment.
Dozens of yellow eyes blossomed above the black fog, all fixed upon the
monitor.
"...!"
...Yellow eyes on a black background.
"...Huh?"
Kang Yihak was about to connect something in her mind.
"Yes."
And simultaneously, Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae began to move.
Her quiet dialogue with the black smoke, leaning close, had just concluded.
Expected results If start is delayed :
► Darkness collection fails
► Casualties occur
Because she had received the signal.
Tap.
The elite team slid into the fog, taking cover under the desk with the
monitor.
The smoke receded slightly, as if clearing space, and she snatched the
mouse from the desk with her right hand, pulling it down to the floor where
she sat.
"...!"
Right.
’The mouse works even when brought under the desk...!’
Thanks to modern devices, most equipment now uses strong Bluetooth
connections.
Lee Seonghae set the mouse flat on the floor for balance.
Then, gripping it tight, she dragged it sharply down to the lower right.
’...! That’ll always force it to the bottom-right corner.’
She had aligned the unseen cursor on the hidden monitor.
From there, nudging slightly upward... landed exactly on the ’Show
Desktop’ button at the bottom.
Click.
"...!"
"Did it work?"
Tap.
But only for a moment.
OOOOOUUEEIIAAAAAAAUUUAANUAAUNAAUNUUUDOONIIIIIIIIIII
UUUUJUUUUAAAADOAAAAADEELEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUEEIII
IIEEEEEEEEEEUURREEEEEUEAAAAAAAA
"Ugh!"
Again the recordings burst open, grotesque sounds echoing through the dim
editing room.
The man in the screen was still there.
’Hah.’
For once, Kang Yihak actually felt cold sweat trickle down her neck. She
forced a smile.
And one of the yellow eyes in the smoke turned to her.
Input devices
► Mouse (Dolphin)
► Keyboard (Pony)
Damn.
"Yep!"
As expected, earnings come with labor!
So, Kang Yihak scrambled to grab the keyboard, dragging it down under the
desk, crouching low until nearly prone.
The Bluetooth keyboard worked smoothly as well.
"I’ll pull up the desktop, so please designate the deletes, Dolphin-nim!"
Kang Yihak began hammering the Windows key + D.
She repeated it like crazy.
Sometimes a video opened first, diverting the icon click. Sometimes, just
before completion, hitting the desktop key closed the deletion popup.
And the sound grew clearer.
EEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOODDDDOOOOOOOOOONTE
EUEEEIIIIIIDEEEEEEEEEEEELEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEE
AAUUAAAUUUUUUU
Sweat slicked their hands.
Yet Lee Seonghae stayed calm.
Relying only on touch, she adjusted the pointer, carefully learning Mr.
Employee’s signals to reduce error.
They could not simply select all icons with the keyboard to delete because
the Recycle Bin was among them.
They had to precisely designate the proper files with the mouse, excluding
the bin.
Then, Kang Yihak would hit the ’Permanent Delete’ key.
The timing had to be right.
Before it was too late.
Repeat.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIDOOOOOOOOONTIIIIIIIIEEEEUUUEEAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIAA
AUUAAAUUUDDDEEEEEEELLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUAAEEE
EEEEEEAAEUUUAAUEUUU
To catch exactly the files Kang Yihak had grabbed before.
So that, in that instant, the permanent delete shortcut could be triggered.
And in a single moment.
Tap.
"...!"
Lee Seonghae realized.
"...Ah."
Kang Yihak’s delete key had struck at the perfect timing.
And she remembered.
The popup on the unseen monitor Mr. Employee was watching but she
could not see.
Are you sure you want to
permanently delete these 6 items?
Was it correct?
Tap.
Yes.
Lee Seonghae immediately set her hand on the keyboard Kang Yihak held,
mashing Enter.
And the mouse she held in her own hand, she slammed it against the floor,
smashing it.
So it could never ’accidentally’ double-click and play a video.
Then she smashed the keyboard too.
Crunch.
The sound of ragged breathing and silence filled the editing room.
...
...
"Is... it done?"
But Mr. Employee was still surrounding them in black smoke.
The monitor was hidden.
Something else had to be done...
Tap.
At that moment, a hand in a black glove extended from the smoke, pointing
lightly toward the editing machine’s main unit.
Ah, the USB!
"...!"
Nearly collapsing forward, Kang Yihak rushed to the unit and yanked the
USB out.
Only then did the black smoke surrounding them finally recede.
"...Huu."
With vision restored, they straightened. The editing monitor now showed...
only the blue desktop background.
No recording, no man, no bizarre lag or voice.
It was over.
The ’Man in the Screen’ phenomenon was successfully contained inside the
USB.
"Ha!"
Kang Yihak dropped to the floor.
Alive, and with money earned.
Dopamine shot through her brain’s reward center, pounding her heart. This
was happiness...
But the next instant, she jolted up so hard her head struck something.
"Aahh, my apologies. I left the original files on this computer midway,
that’s why it dragged out the time!"
At times like these, it was best to admit it up front. That way it passed
lightly, without bigger losses or expenses later.
’Still, I cleaned it up well enough.’
She rolled the small magnet still held in her left hand.
It was her custom equipment, which she obtained as a free perk with her
promotion to supervisor. It was a tool with the ability of ’Once per day, a
50% chance of instant unlock’.
Its flaw was that no matter how much time you poured in, if you yourself
could never break the lock, this tool wouldn’t either.
But overall, it was a satisfying item.
And this time, too, it had performed!
’If I hadn’t been able to open the case right then, I might have died, huh?’
Huuu! High risk truly does mean high return!
"And to think it ended so quickly regardless. It must be thanks to working
with such capable people... and we even made extra earnings, what a
blessing! I’m glad it wrapped up well!"
It was at that moment...
Mr. Employee, silent in the transport case until now, responded.
Tap, tap.
That’s a ’no’.
Kang Yihak swallowed.
"...You don’t mean you’re displeased with the extra earnings, do you?"
Tap, tap.
"..."
"..."
Then.
What the Security Team Special Division’s Employee was denying...
"...The task isn’t finished."
...
"We misunderstood something, didn’t we?"
Lee Seonghae’s calm voice sent a chill up Kang Yihak’s spine.
"There’s something we missed. Right?"
Tap.
"...!"
Before she could even ask what that meant—
"...Could it have been film, back then?"
"...Pardon?"
"The variety show recordings. Even into the mid-2000s, they sometimes
still used film, right?"
Suddenly, Lee Seonghae spoke as she gazed into the USB.
Or rather, into the data stored within it.
"Even if it wasn’t film... the footage would never have left this place, right?
Since proper editing couldn’t be done outside the editing room."
"...Yes. That would make sense."
Lee Seonghae raised her head.
"But now, it has left."
"..."
Kang Yihak understood the meaning.
She had just experienced it firsthand.
The ’man in the screen’ reacted to the act of deletion itself.
If so, if the trigger wasn’t the editing room as a place, but the act of ’editing
recorded footage’ itself, then...
– As for editing... Only urgent work that absolutely requires the equipment
in here is done, and only during the day. Otherwise, we try to do it outside,
either in other studios or remotely from home.
Then, every personal computer of the PBS Variety Department’s production
staff that had ever handled editing.
The ’man in the screen’ was in all those places.
As they left the broadcasting station, they began frantically calling for the
Security Team.