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Published:
2025-05-27
Updated:
2025-06-02
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1,890
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2/?
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I'm Originally a Monster, But I Was Forced to Become a Salaryman

Summary:

There was only one problem: Kim Soleum wasn't human.

And not only that, but…

He was afraid of humans.

Role-reversal AU where darkness Kim Soleum is an office worker at the idyllic, human-filled company: Daydream Incorporated.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter Text

Nighttime in Seoul:

The gleaming lights of the city flashed relentlessly. Inside the countless high-rise buildings and humble offices, countless South Korean citizens sighed, forced to work overtime at the demands of their boss; they looked at the clock with resignation and envy, watching the amount of emails they needed to respond to continue to grow, and forced themselves to keep on typing away at their company-assigned computers, spending the short lifespan they had with their closest companion, M*crosoft Exc*l. But there were more than a few people who had escaped the life of corporate drudgery, and they filled the streets, busy with the excitement of going home or going out to play — eager to buy themselves something to eat, buy themselves something to drink, or otherwise spend their money.

And then there was him—

Kim Soleum.

A person who appeared to be a perfectly average twenty year-old office employee, Kim Soleum had recently become a part of Daydream Inc., a perfectly normal (human) company. They worked in various industries, but were considered a wish-granting factory by the general public, who held them in high esteem.

Not only were their products perfectly catered towards their audiences, they were also extremely effective. And they were rumored to treat their employees extremely well, heaping on benefit after benefit, doing everything they could to retain them. Every day, more top-class talent was attracted, and every day, the company did its utmost to retain this talent, creating a utopia of capitalism inside and out.

Making your dreams come true, it's Daydream, Daydream Inc.! Apply to Daydream today!

That might have been true for anyone else, Kim Soleum thought blankly, looking at himself in the mirror. He was trapped inside of the bathroom — the quietest part of the company building — but even this area was kept in tip-top shape, the floor tiles so clean that you could eat off of them. Although Daydream looked like a company that couldn't possibly be as good as it seemed, a total fool's gold of a corporate empire, as part of the company himself, he knew it best: these were unbeatable benefits, unbeatable pay, and unbeatable work conditions.

He couldn't even complain or nitpick about anything if he wanted to. The office chairs were extraordinarily comfortable. The keyboards they were given were designed to minimize the sound they produced, minimizing noise pollution in the workplace. They didn't even have cubicles, but proper, separated offices, even though their size was determined by their position in the company. The company cafeteria provided food that was so delicious that even though every employee could afford to eat out, they willingly spent their meals here, even bringing their friends and family over to try the dishes Daydream put out for their workers.

Even his coworkers were perfect: never overbearing, never rude, and always polite. They completed their tasks without shoving them onto him. If he did well, they commended him and pointed out his contributions. If he didn't do well, they offered to help him and pointed out his specific mistakes. It didn't matter if it was just them or if their boss was there — they did it simply because it was the right thing to do. The office gossip wasn't vicious or mean-spirited, either: it was only done casually, always taking the feelings of others into consideration. Unlimited PTO, flexible work hours — the only flaw was that your work couldn't be completed remotely, but the company building was so luxurious that most people would have paid to come to work rather than the other way around. 

This seemed like a utopia, right? Everyone else would have killed for these kinds of conditions. And that didn't even encompass the entirety of what Daydream Inc. had to offer. Just one of these things alone — unlimited PTO, fantastic coworkers, ideal offices — was enough to drive the average worker green with envy.

This was the peak of human civilization. The peak of human ambition. The peak of human dreams.

There was only one problem.

Kim Soleum stared at his reflection in the mirror, barely managing to mask his nausea. The lights overhead flickered on and off just as he turned on the faucet and splashed water onto his face, sighing. A long breath in. A long breath out. When he met his reflection in the mirror, his sclera turned pitch-black before he flinched and refocused, forcing his eyes to return to normal. 

Kim Soleum wasn't human.

And not only that, but…

He was afraid of humans.

Chapter 2: First Encounter

Notes:

the reception to the prologue has been really heartwarming !! thank you all for reading and commenting, i really appreciate it <3

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

There was a saying that was widely circulated around monsters from Darknesses like Kim Soleum: humans are more scared of you than you are of them.

Of course, that only applied to monsters that could feel emotions like him. If he were the type of unthinking, non-intelligent horror that most people thought of when they thought "monster", he wouldn't even had to deal with the sensation of "fear" in the first place. And even among monsters like him, the phrase wasn't meant as a comfort: monsters weren't creatures that were meant to need comfort in the first place. It was more of a mockery: haha, look at those humans, so fearful and stupid, that sort of thing.

But, considering the situation—

There's definitely no way that they're more scared of me than I am of them, though?!

Having returned from the bathroom, he hovered in the corridor, unwilling to open the door labeled 'D' and go back to his seat. He could hear the voices of his team inside as they discussed the recent assignment they had completed: it sounded like everyone but the Section Chief was present, which made sense. The Section Chief rarely appeared in person.

But he really, really didn't want to go inside…

"Is that you, newbie?"

A voice from the office within called out to him. Barely managing to catch himself before he flinched, Kim Soleum reached out to the doorknob and opened it as normally as he could, trying to seem cool and collected.

"Ah… yes."

"I thought so," said Park Minseong, his supervisor. He was a friendly-looking human with a tall, muscular build, his smile spreading wide over his face as he gestured for Kim Soleum to come look at his screen. He turned to the assistant manager, Eun Haje, and joked, "He was taking so long that I was beginning to think that he got lost again. Honestly, for someone who received the highest marks during the company's skill assessment, he sure has no sense of direction, especially during those first few weeks… I was worried every time I took my eyes off of him, thinking, what if he gets lost again?"

Kim Soleum forced a smile. During the first few weeks that he'd been referring to, Supervisor Park had found him in odd places all over the company: on the rooftop, in the restricted area, next to the doors in the lobby… and every time, he'd ask him what he was doing there.

Kim Soleum couldn't just say that he was trying to run away from this angelic company, so he'd just lied and said that he had gotten lost. It was a good thing that Supervisor Park believed him, but he couldn't say that he was thankful for the way that he'd be personally accompanied back to his desk with the utmost care and consideration. Ever since he'd done well on the first few assignments, his seniors had taken it upon themselves to treat him differently, trying to get him to stay on their team for as long as possible.

The amount of tears he'd had to swallow back while smiling and thanking them for their help, thinking, please, just leave me alone…

And because Supervisor Park Minseong was the chatty type, his reputation as someone with no navigational skill had already spread to all of his coworkers.

"I thought you said that you printed out a copy of the map for him," Assistant Manager Eun Haje said, frowning at Supervisor Park.

Supervisor Park smiled abashedly. "Haha, yeah… I forgot."

"..."

Assistant Manager Eun gave Supervisor Park a sharp look, but she didn't say anything further. Sensing that the attention on him had somewhat abated, Kim Soleum quietly crept over to his seat as unobtrusively as possible, trying to not attract attention.

As long as he could get through today without them talking to me, he would be satisfied.

"Hey, rookie."

Had he jinxed it?

"Yes, Assistant Manager?"

"Here," she said, passing a folder to him. "You haven't been in the field for a while, right? Get ready. We'll start heading out soon."

"Our team's Roe Deer must be feeling restless," chimed in Park Minseong with a grin, giving Kim Soleum a thumbs-up over the table. "All this paperwork must be pretty boring, right?"

"Haha…"

He laughed weakly, pretending to be busy with opening the folder and reading it so he didn't have to reply. Normally, he could steel himself enough to look at their faces without reacting too obviously, but honestly… humans were just too scary. Something about the way their faces moved, the way they talked to him, their casual, friendly demeanor — all of it made goosebumps rise on his body.

[ Sunday Group Therapy ]

Inside the folder was what looked like a poster advertising psychological aid. The paper was colored a light blue to mimic the sky, tacky-looking clouds patterned all over the paper — boasting the classic scam-like appearance of a cult, which made my heart ease in relief: finally, something familiar and Darkness-like! — and in rainbow-printed letters against a backdrop of a man's body bent in prayer, the flyer advertised: Sunday Group Therapy! Having a hard time? Feeling alone? Struggling with something you find hard to share? Don't worry! Come to XXXXXX XX on Sunday, and receive support from your community. Snacks and refreshments provided!

He flipped the flyer over, looking to see if there was anything else, but there was just a Post-It on the back with a few careless lines scrawled onto it.

IMPORTANT: Radiance shows signs of memory manipulation. Despite a 100% survival rate, no entrants remember what transpired during their time inside the Radiance.

A 100% survival rate, huh…

He cast a glance at the assistant manager and supervisor next to him, feeling a complicated sense of regret. Before he could look away, Assistant Manager Eun Haje glanced over and caught his gaze.

"Finished reading?"

"Yes."

"Good. We'll leave once you get your things; this time, Supervisor Park will come with us. Do you still have the Nightmare Essence Collector?"

"Yes, I do."

"Alright. I'll meet you both down in the lobby."

She picked up her coat and headed for the door without a glance back, her mask already in her hands. Supervisor Park was humming as he finished up what he was working on, but Kim Soleum didn't dare to look at him for too long. If he did, there was no doubt that he'd try to engage him in conversation again.

Having to be on a mission with the two of them was already enough. He just wanted to limit the amount of exposure he had to endure.

But…

Kim Soleum stole a glance at the folder again, silently thinking to himself.

If no one remembered what happened inside of the Radiance—

—Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to run away?

Notes:

this chapter isn't much longer, but i've decided that this is probably going to be the typical length of the chapters for this fic... more or less. we'll see. anyways: some new terminology dropped in this fic; more information on radiances (vs darknesses) and the nightmare essence collector (vs the dream essence collector) and why kim soleum is so scared of humans will be revealed in the next couple chapters, i'm thinking... please look forward to it!

Notes:

not too sure about the update schedule on this one, either, but the following chapters will be (hopefully substantially?) longer: this is just shorter because it's the prologue. if you've come this far, thank you for reading!

i'll post whenever there's an update on my tumblr.