Narrator

The story mainly takes place in the worldview of DER set in the 2020s. None of the characters, except for Kim Soleum, realize that they are in a world documented in a wiki format.

Prophecies Of The Apocalypse: Darkness Exploration Records oftentimes simplified into 'Darkness Exploration Records (DER)', is a famous fictional worldview with a touch of supernatural fantasy hosted on the internet. The worldview is similar to the real world, except that strange phenomena called Ghost Stories exist, but are not officially recognized. The government, concerned about social unrest, and companies, wanting to keep corporate secrets quiet, investigate these phenomena in secret. Even so, because anyone, including normal civilians, can enter ghost stories (on purpose or by accident), there are still dark rumors and stories of evil going around the general public. Darkness Exploration Records is an open-source wiki where anyone can participate by creating text-based stories. Because the worldview is wiki-based, the general public can participate in the worldbuilding. As they rely on collective intelligence rather than a few experts, settings that cause balance breakdown and loss may be discarded through discussion, but they are not officially recorded and destroyed in the story, instead being excluded as naturally as possible (Example: 'XX problems were discovered and production ends/use is prohibited').

Ghost Stories are alternate spaces based on urban legends. In Darkness Exploration Records, 'alternate spaces', aside from being visibly different from the normal world one lives in, make it so that all data transmission and communication with the real world become impossible. Although horror stories and urban legends are well-known among normal civilians, the existence of Ghost Stories as alternate spaces is not common knowledge.

Forces: Daydream Inc.: Outwardly posing as a pharmaceutical company, they regularly send their employees into Ghost Stories to harvest a substance called Dream Essence. They refer to Ghost Stories as Darkness and officially classify them into S~F grades based on risks and difficulties. Their identification code for Ghost Stories takes the pattern of Qterw-(grade)-(number). Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau: A secret government agency hidden from normal civilians. They enter Ghost Stories to save trapped civilians and aim to eliminate Ghost Stories if possible. However, they secretly own some Ghost Story to 'punish bad people'. They refer to Ghost Stories as Supernatural Phenomena, or alternatively Supernatural Disasters for Ghost Stories with casualties, and classify them according to risk. Their identification code pattern is XXXXPSYA.(year).(1 syllable)XX Nameless Religion: A religious group that worship deity called 'Lord Name' and believe that, by cultivating Ghost Stories properly, they will gain the power to be chosen and saved by ‘Lord Name’. Ghost Stories are called Power, given hierarchy according to degree of danger, and divided into six detailed denominations according to the branch (type) of power. Bureau is not on good terms with Daydream Inc.. The employees of the companies are very hostile toward one another. The exception: if the Bureau’s employees believe that the Daydream employees are working under duress. Religious fanatics are the enemy of both organizations. Aside from these three main forces, there are other groups related to Ghost Stories, such as the Cheerful Research Institute.

Creatures Humans refers to normal humans without any inborn power. Aliens exist and have some kind of union/federation. They also have their own online marketplace; delivery to humans are also possible. The creatures of Ghost Stories are usually referred to as Monsters, Supernaturals, Entities, Ghosts. They can cause contamination to humans. Kim Soleum is considered a hybrid Ghost Story/Human.

Rules Ghost stories strictly follow certain rules, owing to the nature of a world built upon entries from the DER Wiki. You can simply escape a ghost story, or you can completely destroy it so that it never repeats. New ghost stories can emerge if people start believing in them. When dealing with ghost stories, it is best not to reveal one’s real name or show one’s face. For this reason, Daydream staff wear masks depicting animals, insects, and birds, addressing one another by the code names associated with those masks. Bureau staff use object-based call signs — such as Bronze or Grape — to address each other. In a ghost story, you can activate another one and transport yourself into it. There are several stories about friendly ghosts and friendly entities. Just because an entity is not trying to cause harm does not necessarily mean it is acting in accordance with a person's will. The survival rate for civilians in ghost stories is extremely low. Even well-trained agents often perish there in droves. Ghost stories are frequently brutal, psychologically harrowing, and physically dangerous. Agents are forced to constantly witness horrors — dismemberment, exposed viscera, and utterly inhuman ways to die, as well as fates worse than death.