The Good Moon Friend by yuvzim
Fandom: Got Dropped Into a Ghost Story; Debut or Die
Kim Soleum sat down in the water parkâs locker room and ran through his interaction with the Blue Dragon. Shortly after the Blue Dragon blocked him from escaping, he ran from the eyes of all the mascots to collect his thoughts. The items he currently had, that being the remaining Smiley Stickers or Alice Set, were all useless for his current situation.
The Smiley Sticker would be ineffective since the Blue Dragon already took a liking to him, and it simply didnât make sense to use the potion or cookie. So, he wondered, just how was he supposed to escape this ridiculous thing he got caught up in?
Perhaps he could wait, hoping that the company might send someone to come looking for him eventually if he waited out his time. But he knew they werenât likely to waste resources on a rookie like him.
Maybe he could wait for the next group of employees to come into this Darkness and find a way to escape through them. But if they didnât have the right items or he couldnât persuade those selfish bastards, then there wasnât any point.
The other hope for him was that his team might somehow convince the higher-ups to let them search for him, but waiting that long, who knew if heâd be deeply contaminated or long gone by then?
Just as he was about to give up, a light flickered above his head. He glanced up, heart pounding and a nervous grin creeping up his face.
[Dark Exploration Records Real Merch Box]
Please be something useful!
He held his breath as he reached out for the black notepad.
Something dropped, a soft little thing that he barely managed to catch before it hit the floor. The little trinket was wrapped in clear plastic, and, as carefully and quickly as he could, he unwrapped it.
But, as he read its description, he realized what it was. It was the Good Friend plushie: an animal doll that summons a being from the Otherworld to accompany and protect their friend.
It was in the shape of a yellow puppy with beady eyes. The soft and delicate body flopped over as he brushed his finger over the fabric.
Normally, he wouldâve been more cautious using the Good Friend, but based on the urgency of the situation, he acted swiftly. He opened his phone and reviewed the requirements for the summoning ritual, which included a lighter, 100 mL of water, a tablespoon of salt, a clean coin, an item related to the âFriend,â and a quiet space.
After settling on the coin and special item heâd used, he gathered the rest of the items needed from briefly scavenging the locker room before settling down on the floor. As he began drawing the enclosed hexagram with water, he desperately pleaded to whatever God there was that heâd actually succeed and not summon something more terrifying than the Blue Dragon or Red Rabbit.
He placed the plushie perfectly in the middle with the Silver Serpent Coin on its belly. It technically counted as a coin, and considering how pricey it was, maybe it would summon a powerful being that could help him out.
Lastly, with the salt placed in his mouth, stinging his tongue, he grabbed the item related to the âFriend.â It was something he was unsure would work, and perhaps it was a long shot, but he began burning it with the lighter despite his doubts.
The item in question was a pin he accidentally grabbed while snooping through Chief Lizardâs computer. Thinking back, he was a little surprised the chief was into idols, but at this point, who really cared?
He burned the fabric pin of an idol, and in an instant, it was completely engulfed, even with the metal of the needle being incinerated. The flame cast a shadow over the toy, and it wavered.
The shadow contorted. It wavered, growing larger and larger against the wall into unnatural shapes before it began settling on a solid form for a mere second before the entire room was drenched in shadows. The only thing he could now see was the lighter in his hand and the plush in the center.
By this point, most of the salt had already melded into his tongue, causing a numb sensation, but he hardly noticed, anxiously waiting for the Good Friend to say something.
âFor the love ofâwhat is it now?!
Kim Soleum flinched. It wasnât as immense of an aura as he thought would be fitting of a ghost story resident, but it was certainly ear-splitting.
âThis fucking system is driving me crazy. What do you mean, âhelp your friend or dieâ? Could it be referring to one of the Lee Sejins or someone else?
Then, the voice fell quiet as if realizing there was another person in the room. The plush doll, hugging the coin that was fusing with his body, twitched.
âAh, sorry for cussing so suddenly. I didnât notice you there.
It sounded slightly nervous as it spoke but otherwise easygoing and a bit tired. Luckily, he was also much more quiet when he wasnât yelling.
Kim Soleum swallowed the rest of the salt. The prickling sensation of his throat made him have a light cough before he spoke.
âHello, umâfriend?â He attempted to sound as calm as possible.
âHm, you must be the Good Friend the system was talking about . . . Wait, can you hear my thoughts?
Kim Soleum hesitated. âIt seems that I can hear your surface thoughts, so yes, I can.â
âThen, what is it exactly that you need help with? No, first off, where are we, and whatâs wrong with my body? Is this . . . a dog plushie?
âWeâre in a water park, I summoned you through the Good Friend plushie, and I need your help to escape this place.â
âA plushie? Actually, who cares? Iâve had weirder things happen to me. But anyways, canât you just leave? Itâs a water park; they should just let you exit on your own through the gate.
âNo, the problem is that the mascot, a blue dragon, is stopping me from leaving. If I leave, I donât know how theyâll react. I might even die.â
âThat sounds illegal. Call the police or jump over the fence.
He was a bit dumbfounded. It was such a normal response and advice that it hardly seemed like this entity was a ghost story resident. Then, he had a thought.
The Good Friend summons residents from the Otherworld. Usually, that refers to ghost story residents, but what if that included regular people from another world like me? Or, what if theyâre from a wholesome ghost story that explains why their reactions are so normal?
âDid you say âghost storyâ?
The voice suddenly became serious and deep. Kim Soleum had forgotten that the Good Friend would also be able to understand his own thoughts as well.
âOf all things, it had to be a ghost story. Iâd like to be of help, but I donât think Iâll be able to. If Iâm in a body like this and up against whatever that mascot is, youâd likely be better off without my help.
âIf youâre a resident from the âother side,â you must have some sort of ability or insight I could use, right?â
The growing despair Kim Soleum was facing caused him to spout all sorts of nonsense. There wasnât a guarantee that he could summon a different Good Friend and one that was as naturally passive as this one.
âThink. Isnât there something you could do? Didnât you also say something about how you might die if you donât help me? Ah, Iâm not threatening you, of course, Iâforget it, Iâm sorry if I offended you.â
âI do have âabilities,â but they only really apply to myself. If I have to, I could personally speak to the mascot, but . . .
They fell silent. Then, they let out a sigh.
âSo, thatâs how it works, huh? Give me a minute to read the conditions and description.
It appeared that this being also had their own form of âdescriptionsâ similar to Soleumâs wiki on his phone.
And, after a few minutes, the doll shifted upright. It almost appeared to smile as it looked up at Soleum.
âIt looks like Iâll be able to help you after all. These abilities, some of them I havenât been able to use on myself for a while, but it looks like I can use all of my past abilities and apply them to you.
âWhat kind of abilities exactly?â
â An ability to sleep well, an ability to persuade others, an ability to gain everyoneâs attention on you, an ability to reduce the amount of time youâre fatigued, another to reduce psychological shock, to cry at will, and to appreciate musâ ah, that oneâs actually kind of useless to you now.
After listening to the long list of abilities, something clicked for Soleum. âAre you, by any chance, an idol, sir?â
âHm? Well, I recently debuted, but yes, I am.
No wonder, all those abilities are perfect for an idol! But how am I supposed to use these abilities to escape from here?
He fell into thought. Crossing out the skills that wouldnât help him, he deliberated between the persuasion- and psychological-based powers. He obviously shouldnât use the ability to draw attention to himself, and sleeping wouldnât do anything for him.
But as if on cue, the little puppy had come to tap on his leg.
âActually, I have an idea. But it depends on two things. One, are there other human people around, and two, what is the mascotâs relationship with you? Is it positive, and what is their personality?
Soleumâs lips parted, seconds from responding, until the questions had fully been processed through his head.
He couldnât help but grin as he excitedly answered his Good Friend. âThere arenât any real human people here, but the Blue Dragon seems to like me a lot, although to the point of keeping me here against my will. Theyâre known to be benevolent, dislike violence, and seem to be fair.â
âThen your only choice is to make them empathize with you enough to let you go. If you could justâ
ââJust use the persuasion, attention, and crying ability, I might be able to escape!â
Both their hearts thumped rapidly as they reached that result. It was a bit alarming how well they understood each otherâs thought processes, yet Soleum quickly shook off the excited feeling and leapt into action.
Now was the time. He had to escape before the time limit, or else he might disappear entirely.
The mascots all turned their heads to Kim Soleum. He was bolting through the crowd in a straight line, making sure they could see him. His eyes were watering as he rushed towards the blocked path labeled with a no-entry sign. The Yellow Zone.
He hurriedly began untangling the weeds in front of the gate and forced his body through the thorny thicket. His suit was ripped in several places as it got snagged, but he barely managed through.
Soleum sharply raised his head to stare into the eyes of the Blue Dragon. They were puffy, and his head pounded with pain.
âIâm sorry,â he muttered. His head hung low again, gaze on his worn-out and bloodied shoes.
The Blue Dragon appeared taken aback and worried. They took a step closer.
Soleum began running, but it took the mascot hardly any time to follow.
They grabbed Soleum by the shoulder with their other soft mascot paw. Slowly, they ruffled his messed-up hair until it began to straighten out.
It seemed to ask why he was trying to escape and why he had been crying. It was difficult to tell with its broken-up words, but he could just make out its intentions.
He felt a pang of guilt for making the Blue Dragon feel bad, but he had no choice. This was his only way out. He was determined.
Normally, heâd feel more terrified. However, with the warmth of the Good Friend pulsating in his chest pocket, he felt slightly comforted in a strange way.
âI want to play some more with you and everyone here, but I have things I need to do. I want to go home.â He attempted to pull himself away, but the mascotâs paw tightened. It was almost painful.
He shook his head. His neck creaked as he did so. âYouâve been so nice to me and my friends, but I canât. I have another place to go, and thatâs my home on the other side of the gate.â
The Blue Dragon lifted Soleumâs head with a gentle nudge. His eyes watered even more, barely held back by whatever dam was his insane acting.
Is this the power of an idol? Iâm half making things up as I go, but doesnât it look like itâs actually working a bit?
âMy friends . . .â He began dryly. âThey must be worried about me. But because of some circumstances, they might not be able to come here. Also, they have people they need to help on the other side, so keeping them here against their wills isnât an option. One even has a sick relative they need to protect.â
As the Blue Dragon spoke, his frown slowly swept up into a weak smile. Tears, scorching and fast, ran down his face. âPlease, let me go home. I miss my family, my job, and . . . I miss my home. I want to go home.â
The Blue Dragon flinched at his tears. It anxiously pulled out a hankie to dab on his face, but as soon as they wiped a tear away, another streamed down.
âNo,â he wept. His throat constricted. âI donât belong here. My home is on the other side, and Iâplease, Iâm so tired.â
Soleum resigned into the Blue Dragonâs embrace. They were so shocked by the events, patting his back, and attempting a few comforting words. Soleum, however, was trying hard not to mess up this performance. One wrong move or misstep, and heâd be killed or worse.
âIâm so tired. I want to play and stay here, and Iâm sure this place would be a lovely home, but I still have things I need to do. If I donât leave, I wonât be able to help the ones I care about.â
Itâs not exactly a lie. The D-team is practically the closest thing to my family at the moment, and I donât have plans of transferring anytime soon, so Iâll be helping out the team as a rookie for a while, Iâm guessing. Besides, all that talk of home is a hundred percent true. Please, just let me go home!
The mascot gently pulled away from Soleum and gazed for a while, deep in thought behind those cartoonishly big eyes.
âI canât. If I stay any longer, I might get into trouble. Please, let me go.â
âPlease, let me leave.â
Soleum pursed his lips. He was worried about pushing further and testing out the Blue Dragonâs limits. Right now, he was balancing on a thin line.
But he let out the tension in his body through a sigh.
The mascot continued to stare. It was motionless for a while, and even the other mascots around the park were standing still.
After an excruciatingly long time, the Blue Dragon held his wrist and quietly guided him through the hiking trail of the Yellow Zone.
Shit, did I fail or succeed? Where are they taking me?
The Good Friend stammered, patting his chest from within the pocket. Surprisingly, they appeared to be just as scared and uneasy as he was, which was comforting in its own way as a fellow coward.
When he looked up from his feet, he saw that they had stopped in front of a rundown gift shop surrounded by a desolate hotel. The Blue Dragon entered and looked back.
They waddled around the store in search of something. He wasnât sure what was happening, but at least they didnât seem to want to kill him. Still, he couldnât let down his guard.
He followed a few steps behind and deliberately staggered. Suddenly, there were two paws in front of his face that nearly caused his soul to ascend.
Two paws that held a small, unwearable accessory. As he squinted for a better look, he realized it was actually a toy accessory, fit for a keychain plushie, all along. It was a brown and silver dog collar with the silver tag in the shape of a crescent moon.
Soleum ignored the muttering that wasnât meant for him and looked into the mascotâs eyes. âIs this for me? I just asked to leave and was rude to you, so why are you still being kind to me?â
âBut why?â He croaked. Because of the ability, more tears came from his face even when he hadnât activated it.
âThatâs because Iâm doing it manually. It seemed like it would fit the situation.
The Blue Dragon clasped Soleumâs hands with the collar and tapped the Good Friend hanging from his chest.
It was asking if heâd promise to return. The collar was like a symbol of the promise it was proposing heâd make.
Soleum was stunned at the tiny thing. Slowly he picked up his plushie and adorned it with the collar. Itâs perfect for him, he thought.
As he broke his gaze from the toy, he looked back at the mascot, who lowered their head sullenly.
The Blue Dragon remained still.
âI wonât forget about this,â he cheered again, bringing in the mascot in a large, warm hug. Soleum was genuinely happy and relieved that things ended peacefully. âIâll try my best to return as soon as I can. Iâll visit, and then we can play together again. I promise.â
But they kept their silence. Gently, as if Soleum would break with a pat too rough, they stroked his hair and rested their chin on his shoulder. They almost seemed to be crying, but it was hard to tell behind their perpetually smiling mask.
He had to stop himself from bolting towards the Yellow Zoneâs exit, and instead, he paused right before the gate. Finally, heâd be able to leave this Darkness and wash off the filth on his skin.
But he couldnât help but still feel uneasy. Looking behind his back, he saw the Blue Dragon watching him closely.
A chill went down his spine. Whether that was a threat or a gentle reminder, he had to ensure that they would actually leave off on a good note.
âHere.â Soleum held out a flat cookie to the mascot, who stared blankly at the item. It was a cookie that was part of the Alice Picnic Set he bought from the Alien Shop. âThis is for the churros you gave me. See you soon.â
Quickly, he exited. His feet went in first, and his ears, just before they went through the gate, caught one more sentence from the Blue Dragon.
Back in the real world, there was no one left in the conference room. A few hours had passed since everyone else had first left the Darkness, so it made sense that there wasnât any person waiting for him. They mustâve suspected that he was killed.
As he let out a long sigh of relief, he noticed the band on his hand was burning, leaving a black tattoo.
He sucked back in a breath.
Shit, is this some type of binding spell to keep my promise?
Soleum searched through his brain, running through related Darknesses if there was something about a binding spell appearing through a tattoo. A few ideas came to mind, but because he was too exhausted at that point, he decided to think about the consequences later.
Now, he trudged onward. On the way back, he was greeted enthusiastically by Assistant Manager Eun and Supervisor Park.
When they inquired about his reasons for being late, he casually flashed the tattoo under his sleeve.
âUh, Roe? Are you feeling okay?â
âOh, yeah, just . . . I guess Iâm kind of out of it.â
I guess they canât see the tattoo. Probably not a good sign for me.
He took a long pause before speaking up. âI was late because the exit gate went out right when I was about to leave. I waited for a while until I came to the conclusion that I had to find another way out via the abandoned Yellow Zone.â
They both widened their eyes as he began to make up an explanation for how he escaped. To summarize, he told them how he entered the zone, what it looked like, the fact that the exit was also out of power, how he manually turned it back onâbasically everything that excluded the mascot issue.
The Assistant Manager and Supervisor had a few more questions, informed him of Squad Leader Lee Jaheon being scolded by the Team Leader, and even badmouthed the Section Chief for sending his own researcher to his death.
After speaking, he went and washed up at home. As he picked up the items left in his dirty jacket to place in his spare, he realized heâd forgotten about his Good Friend.
He set the doll on his bed and cast his phoneâs flashlight over the plushie. The shadow behind it wavered unnaturally, twisting into itself, and finally taking the silhouette of an average-looking man.
Huh. I thought that he would at least have some sort of unique or terrifying appearance to match the theme of a ghost story resident. Even some wholesome ghost stories have grotesque appearances to twist expectations.
The voice sounded like they just woke up from a deep slumber. The plushie rubbed their head for a moment as they recalled Soleumâs conversation with his coworkers and caught themselves up to speed.
âLooks like it worked. The system is still saying I need to help you, though.
âEr, right.â Soleum didnât question further. âI wanted to say thank you for helping me out there. It turned out that your abilities helped quite a bit.â
âDonât mention it. . . Did you always have that tattoo?
âOh, you can see it?â He glanced at his arm, tugging down the sleeve. âFor some reason, my coworkers canât see it. I got it from the mascot.â
âAh, I forgot that you could read my mind. Anyways, it looks like the mascot has attached itself to you and left a mark. Do you think itâs a curse or something?
âWell, Iâm pretty sure that âsociusâ is a Latin word. What was itâsomething about being social.
Kim Soleum tapped the keys on his phone. âIt says that âsociusâ means companion, member, or kin. So, something like a membership ticket.â
âAt least you wonât have to go back, right? Unless the mascot decides to chase or kidnap you if you donât follow through with your promise.
âAh, please donât jinx it. Thatâs why Iâll have to find a way to reenter the Darkness later, but for now, I need to worry about how the higher-ups will react to my clear method.â
âSounds rough. So, is this place youâre working in some sort of ghost-busting company? If youâre terrified of ghosts, why havenât you just quit yet?
Soleum huffed exasperatedly and sprawled himself across the floor. âI wish it were that easy, but thereâs this âcompany benefitâ I need. Otherwise, I think I might die in this messed-up place either way.â
The Good Friend went quiet. The shadow crossed its legs as it leaned against the wall.
âThen whatâs your next plan? Are you going to fight another monster tomorrow?
âFor now, I binge my shows before I sleep.â
âItâs already late. Shouldnât you try to sleep now?
âI wish I could, but if I donât wind down with some cartoons, I might get nightmares or not sleep at all.â
The shadow tilted its head, now crossing its arms.
âI can help with that, too. As I said, one of my abilities is to get a perfect amount of good sleep.
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