Gang Yerin's brain briefly froze.
User Terms of Service? Had there ever been such a thing?
"B-but we already have the Terms of Service."
[ That's the customer version. Ask for the user version. ]
Irritation laced Han Yujin's reply.
It was a voice Gang Yerin knew well. The voice that came out when a clueless new hire acted frustratingly. She had used it herself many times. Thanks to that, her blood boiled backward.
I'm a Manager at Yuil Company!
... Ah. I've been abandoned by the company now.
And just as quickly, the urge to cry faded.
Right now, Gang Yerin had neither the strength to argue nor the will to resist left in her.
'As long as I don't die.'
If she could just avoid having her existence slowly eroded away in this ghost story, she could accept any demand. The survival of the prey is inherently abject.
Gang Yerin barely opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
"C-could... could I please have the bank's user... User Terms of Service?"
The bank employee standing before her was still looking down at her with emotionless eyes. The shattered hand had already returned to its original state.
"Apologies, customer. Our loan counter only serves customers. We do not handle user-related affairs, so those terms are outside my scope of work."
The faint hope she had dared to harbor was brutally trampled.
Thud.
It felt like her heart had been shoved down to the pit of her stomach.
Han Yujin.
This crazy bitch acted like she knew!
Gang Yerin screamed into her earphones.
"There's no... they say there isn't any! Why'd you act like you knew! I'm dead, I'm dead now! You rotten, good-for-nothing bitch!"
[ Wow, thought you were Udyr with that stance switch. ]
"What the hell is that, you invalid bastard! Fine, I'm an idiot for trusting you, drop dead! You should go get scammed by a bad contract somewhere and kill yourself too!"
Gang Yerin's venomous vitriol, dripping with malice.
It was nearly impossible to re-enter this ghost story once you left. The entry conditions themselves were almost random. Therefore, if she couldn't resolve things here and now, her remaining life would be nothing but a countdown rushing toward death.
Naturally, she couldn't help but be filled with spite.
[ Loud. This counter only handles 'customers,' it seems. Try the one next to it. ]
Meanwhile, Han Yujin's voice was terrifyingly calm.
To Han Yujin, for whom life itself was a gallery, Gang Yerin's curses were nothing more than ordinary greetings.
"Next to it...?"
Gang Yerin mechanically turned her head.
At the suggestion of a new alternative, her anger subsided in an instant.
[The deposit and trading counter. They handle both 'customers' and 'users' there. Ah, and you'd better mind your manners there? Don't go slapping anyone for no reason again.]
Gang Yerin walked toward the adjacent counter.
Clenching her teeth.
It was hard to suppress the urge to tear Han Yujin's mouth apart. She was the type to mock so well that she flipped people inside out like a spatula.
While someone was going crazy with fear of death, she was endlessly nonchalant.
'Is that crazy bitch not even afraid of the ghost story?'
Come to think of it, the legendary Director of Yuil Company had once said.
That those who performed best in ghost stories weren't naive pushovers who followed the manual, but lunatics with a screw loose somewhere in their heads.
'Fuck.'
In the end, she had no choice but to rely on her.
On that genius who seemed insane.
"Welcome, user. Which product would you like to use?"
The employee at the deposit and trading counter greeted her with a soulless face.
Gang Yerin spoke as politely as possible, yet drenched in desperation.
"Excuse me... might I see the Trading User Terms of Service?"
The employee briefly faltered.
"■■?"
Gang Yerin gulped hard.
Fuck.
The reaction was strange.
Something was off.
The employee's brow began to furrow.
Eyebrows, corners of the eyes, pupils.
This was like.
Like witnessing a cockroach.
And then opening their mouth, filled with loathing—
"■■■■■■■"
Beeeeeeep—
Vomiting blood, she realized.
That she, a mere human, had committed an act far above her station. This was a ■■■ for noble and exalted beings, and she was but a mere piece of livestock, an automaton-like existence, raised to be feed for insects, nothing but high-quality meat—
[ Ma'am. ]
"...?"
[ M-a-'a-m. Stop putting on a show and get a grip.]
The moment Han Yujin's voice was heard.
Gang Yerin spewed black liquid from her mouth.
... It was one of the symptoms of recovering from mental contamination.
Her whole body broke out in goosebumps as her mind snapped into clarity.
What had I just heard from that entity?
And I feel like I heard something incredibly unpleasant from that bitch Han Yujin? Words so absurdly unpleasant that they snapped me out of mental contamination…….
[ Stop spacing out and make a scene already. What kind of attitude is this toward a customer? Why are they talking like that? I can't stand this. No, I won't stand for it. ]
"Wh-what on earth..."
[ Ah, you're so frustrating. Confront them! Hurry! Right now! ]
Confront them?
What did she mean, confront them?
Did this girl Han Yujin understand what the employee was saying?
[ Ask if humans can't use it too! Ask if they can discriminate by species like this! These (beep-) (beep-) (beep-) just (beep-) yank them out and bam bam! Splat! Huh? Question them properly! Shout that humans want to buy things too, that they want to trade! ]
Gang Yerin furrowed her brows without realizing it.
This side had its own massive damage.
She was thankful the earphones couldn't catch the strong consonants or high notes.
Gang Yerin agonized for a moment.
Between the entity that contaminated the mind.
And something in human form that contaminated the ears.
Which words to follow...
[ Aren't you going to hurry?! Are you going to die like this?!!!! ]
There was no choice.
Gang Yerin squeezed her eyes shut and slammed the counter with a bang!
"Hey, can't humans use this too! There was nothing like that in the terms here! Where do you get off discriminating by species like this! Humans too! Humans want to buy things too! We want to trade!"
It was an outcry that even she found absurd.
But surprisingly, it worked. The employee's hollow pupils seemed to waver faintly, then they pulled out an old sheet of paper from under the counter and flicked it onto the surface.
"......."
Gang Yerin took the paper with trembling hands. At that moment, she heard Han Yujin's snickering laughter through the earphones.
[ Wow, crazy, she actually did it. I would've pissed myself and couldn't do it. ]
"You told me to!"
[ Well, the result is good, right? Then everything's fine. Read it. ]
A sob welled up!
Gang Yerin swallowed back the curse she was about to spit out.
There were many watching eyes—no, entities—here.
————
『Trading User Terms of Service』
This bank sells various products for the smooth ■■ of trading users and ■■■. We only handle premium products that comply with ■■ and ■■ procedures. (Omitted)
1. All products at this bank are procured according to humane regulations, and we inform you that we only handle high-quality 'Voluntary Contract-type Products' that have voluntarily agreed to their own value assessment.
1-1) Hereafter, 'product' refers to a 'customer' who has completed an 'Existence Value Collateral Loan' at this bank.
1-2) The current price of a 'product' is defined as [the loan amount received by the product + the total loan interest that must be paid to date].
2. When purchasing a product, only installment contracts of one year or more are possible. This is a measure for the procurement of high-quality products at this bank; your understanding is requested. (*However, immediate receipt is possible if the product's one-year loan interest + early repayment fee + transaction installment fee are paid in a lump sum.)
3. If a 'product' has exhausted all loan funds from this bank, the 'user' may receive transfer of ownership after paying all outstanding installments and remaining loan principal.
4. Only for ■■ and VVIP users, you may utilize this bank's deposit services up to a maximum of 100% of the annual product purchase amount (*when all preferential conditions are met).
5. For other contract brokerage, please inquire at the counter.
————
A shock like being struck in the head.
The terms booklet fell powerlessly from Gang Yerin's hand.
Han Yujin's laughter came through the earphones.
[ Ah, so in the end, the interest paid out at several hundred percent wasn't interest at all, but our 'users'' body prices, huh. ]
Voluntarily... I sold myself?
'Come to think of it, this employee never once said deposit.'
There was a product where approximately up to 365% of the loan amount was deposited in one year. Would you like to trade? That was all they said.
The money that had been deposited into my account in real-time was money paid by unknown beings for my body value?
And I had been happily receiving that money like an idiot.
"Uwaaaeek!"
This meant she had been completely, thoroughly deceived.
She had even completed the transaction herself, so there was no way to nullify it now. Rules and contracts in a ghost story were absolute.
"Ugh... aah...."
Gang Yerin sank to the floor in panic.
Everything was over.
Then, like salvation—or rather, like a devil's whisper—Han Yujin's voice came again.
[ Ah, I think we can get out of this? ]
"Wh-what, r-really?"
[ Yes. But places that handle this kind of business usually do contract brokerage too. Ask if they sell something like a contract. ]
Gang Yerin asked the employee with a heart clutching at its last hope.
"D-do... do you sell contracts?"
The employee nodded.
[ Buy it. ]
Gang Yerin staggered, paid the price, and took an old contract sheet that looked like parchment into her hand.
[ Now then, let's make a contract with me. ]
"...What?"
[ From now on, absolutely obey all my commands. Then, I'll tell you a method with a high probability of getting out of here. ]
What kind of nonsense was that.......
Gang Yerin, who had been about to hurl something back, realized she wasn't in a position to be picky.
This ghost story.
By the standards of the new procedure manual, it was at least B-rank, no, an A-rank or higher ghost story. Transactions with entities carried the risk of having your soul stripped bare, beyond mere death.
"There's... a way?"
[ Why? Can't trust me? If you can't trust me, trust the contract. Contracts in places like this are absolute, aren't they? ]
Gang Yerin hesitated for a moment.
But there was no other choice. She signed the contract with trembling hands.
The moment she finished signing, Han Yujin chuckled softly.
[ What. Haven't you learned anything after all that? You have to be careful with contracts, you know? ]
A chill ran down her spine.
"Wh-what? What did you do...!"
[ Just a joke, kekeke. ]
... This bitch, could she not be human but an entity?
Just as Gang Yerin was about to explode in curses, Han Yujin tossed out a word.
[ Noisy. Be quiet for a bit. ]
As if by magic, Gang Yerin's mouth clamped shut.
No matter how she tried to open her mouth, no voice came out. It was the power of the contract.
[ Oh. This is nice. Well. A contract is a contract. The way for Manager-nim to escape is simple. Buy yourself with money. Ah. And you can talk now. ]
"...Buy what?"
[ Your body price, Manager-nim. You brought money, didn't you? Say you'll buy yourself back with it. It was 1 billion won, right? The weight was about that much. In other words, your value is 300 million won. Looks like you can buy yourself back easily enough. ]
Gang Yerin looked down at the money bag she had brought.
Inside was 1 billion won.
Funds from Yuil Company that she had used as capital whenever entering this ghost story.
Would it be okay to embezzle company funds?
'They abandoned me anyway.'
When she expressed her intent to buy back to the employee, the employee shook their head.
"Products whose sale has already been completed cannot be repurchased."
[ Offer double. And direct trade with the buyer. ]
When Gang Yerin opened her mouth and said 'double' in a trembling voice, the employee stood still as if asking her to wait.
After a moment, the employee opened their mouth again.
"The purchasing user has approved. The brokerage fee is 30%. The purchasing user has agreed to pay it."
[ Wow, a 30% fee, truly money-grubbing thieves. Well, anyway, it worked. Now pay back all the loan too. ]
Gang Yerin, as if entranced, paid back the interest and loan amount as Han Yujin instructed.
In the end, a loss of 600 million won plus interest costs and various fees.
When all transactions were complete, the bank employee extended a hand.
"Will you be using our escort service?"
Gang Yerin blankly stared at that hand for a moment.
... Huh?
Is it over?
It ends this simply?
[ Well, it's because you brought a lot of money, Gang Yerin-sshi. User ghost stories are insane money-grubbing ghost stories; without it, you would've just died. You were lucky. ]
"Ah...?"
I see. Gang Yerin nodded.
Wait a minute.
Then.
Since I had the money anyway, couldn't I have gotten out without this girl Han Yujin's help?
And somehow, I even ended up with an obedience contract to Han Yujin...
[ See, I told you to think carefully before signing contracts. ]
"Y-you're scamming someone who already got scammed... you dog... not even a dog would eat...! "
[ Hey. It's the price of your life. The price of your life. Shouldn't you hurry and follow? The employee opened the door. ]
The moment Gang Yerin hurriedly tried to exit through a door opened in a corner of the bank.
Han Yujin left her final command with a smile.
[ Ah, and. Leave the remaining money bag behind. ]