Dispatches from the Graduate School of Ghost Stories - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Urban Legends and Graduate School (26)
Together Forever
Yu Jong-hwa did not report to the lab for four days after leaving Yeongrok Elementary School.
Most graduate students didn’t have a concept of vacation, but support staff like them were told that the professor didn’t mind if they took a week off after handling an Urban Legend Phenomenon. At his previous company, he’d had to take calls even while traveling and hurry back, so this was plenty of reasonable treatment. Aside from the fact that he had to throw himself into dangerous situations, it was really quite a good workplace.
Yu Jong-hwa, who genuinely appreciated his current circumstances, turned on his computer with enthusiasm the moment he returned to the lab. Moments later, a familiar number called his smartphone.
“……I’m sorry to interrupt while you were crying, but I’d appreciate it if you could take proper photographs next time.”
It was the kind of remark that instantly deflated the slight enthusiasm he’d managed to muster.
As Yu Jong-hwa answered Jeon Si-hyun’s call, a deep sigh escaped him unbidden.
The other man’s voice, still lacking any particular enthusiasm, proceeded to lecture him.
It seemed there was a problem with the supporting photographs from the FSBC Broadcasting Station he’d submitted weeks ago.
A month had passed since he’d uploaded those photos—what was this about now? How was he supposed to fix something when they came to him this late? Such questions always arose when dealing with government agencies. But there was never a solution.
And naturally, the school working as a subcontractor to that government agency demanded equally absurd things.
“To be honest, I thought the photos were quite well taken, but a complaint came in from the Accounting Firm. They claim the broadcasting station background isn’t visible enough to confirm the location.”
“But how am I supposed to take them any better under those conditions?!”
“I can’t be certain, but I suspect that demon, well—in any case, I imagine someone reviewing the photos after seeing that creature passed out. It’s retaliation.”
For such a ridiculous reason. Yu Jong-hwa found himself at a loss for words.
The former teacher delivered his words without inflection.
“You came out quite well in the photographs, I should mention.”
“Yes……. Thank you.”
“Next time, don’t cry—try making a heart with your hands. Then they might approve it, no?”
“Are you joking?”
“I’m just poking fun.”
“But why……?”
“The deadline has passed. Why hasn’t Professor Song’s lab uploaded the receipts?”
“Oh, that’s right! I apologize! We all just got back from an Urban Legend Phenomenon……!”
After muttering through a few instructions at a leisurely pace, Jeon Si-hyun sighed.
Yu Jong-hwa hastily rummaged through a drawer to check the receipts that had piled up haphazardly during their absence, and then consulted the calendar to verify the date.
But this person—he’d definitely said last time that he was quitting a month later. How much time was left?
“Um…… has your resignation been postponed after all, sir?”
“……One person resigned last week, and another went on parental leave.”
“My goodness.”
He should have known.
Despite his tone, the teacher clearly had the air of someone competent at his work. And people like that can’t easily escape. That’s simply how the world works.
“Things must have gotten quite busy for you.”
“Yes. I’ve asked them to hire a replacement quickly. I’m planning to resign after just one more month.”
“I see—wishing you all the best. Please take care of your health.”
A feeling told him he’d be seeing this man for quite some time yet.
Yu Jong-hwa exchanged courtesies and ended the call.
But if things are that bad, couldn’t he just run away?
He seemed like someone who spoke his mind freely, yet he had a sense of responsibility. People remain mysteries, Yu Jong-hwa thought, opening the lab’s shared mailbox.
Since everyone had taken leave after Yeongrok Elementary School—his seniors and himself—over twenty emails had already arrived in the inbox.
Amid the professor’s trivial errand requests and the research staff’s purchase order emails, work messages from the former teacher appeared here and there.
The urge to work vanished instantly.
He needed to work to get paid, it was something he had to do right now, and if he set his mind to it, he could finish it easily enough. Yet humans are always drawn toward immediate gratification and postpone their duties.
Yu Jong-hwa escaped from reality and began deleting spam emails cluttering the mailbox.
Insurance advertisements, messages sent to the wrong address, product promotions from unknown websites…… delete.
Email from the professor…… delete.
No, restore. Restore!
[Please process the certification exam fees for our lab students by today. Urban Legend Phenomenon Handling Grade 1.]
As always, the subject line was the entire content of the email.
Since none of his seniors were coming to the lab that day, Yu Jong-hwa had to handle everything alone. He closed the email with deadened eyes and, while scanning the screen, discovered something strange.
[Thank you for your application. We are writing to inform you of the date for the first round of interviews for the Administrative Assistant Intern position.]
What kind of spam email was this? Yu Jong-hwa clicked on the unfamiliar message as if bewitched.
The subject line of the email that arrived in the lab’s shared mailbox had the typical structure of good news for job seekers.
Had some unfortunate unemployed person written down their contact information incorrectly?
Having experienced job-hunting difficulties himself, he felt sympathetic toward whoever this careless person was and read the email carefully. He was planning to request that the company resend it to the correct recipient.
[This is DNA Logistics.
We sincerely thank you for your interest in and application for this position.
We have reviewed your application, and we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a candidate for the interview round.
Please find the interview schedule below and kindly confirm your attendance.]
Beneath the boilerplate salutation lay the interview date and time, location, and precautions.
“It’s today, isn’t it?”
The interview was scheduled for ten o’clock this morning. Whoever had applied would be hard-pressed to receive the notice in time.
Scrolling down the email, he found an attachment on a white background—a crude drawing that looked as though it had been sketched with a mouse.
The moment his eyes met the image, a single impression seized his mind.
‘A person sitting alone in an office, watched through a crack in the door.’
But the drawing was so unclear—just tangled black lines and thin scribbles bordering on doodle—that after a moment, Yu Jong-hwa found himself questioning why he’d conjured that image at all.
There was something unsettling about it.
He quickly closed the window and deleted the email.
He even clicked “Empty Trash” cleanly to ensure no trace remained, yet the nagging unease persisted. Yu Jong-hwa frowned and set about his work. Keeping his hands busy was better—the distraction helped. By quitting time, he had forgotten the mysterious email entirely.
By the time he left for the day, he had wiped the strange message from his mind.
* * *
There’s a running joke that the flower language of cherry blossoms is “midterm exam,” but these days, global warming has the blossoms blooming earlier than the exams themselves.
Early April, when the flowers bloom. A quiet Friday. Yu Jong-hwa arrived at the lab before nine, dutifully looking forward to what little remained of the weekend.
Being a newcomer, he came in not only on days without classes but also squeezed in during breaks between lectures to handle miscellaneous tasks. His seniors, though, operated on an entirely different level.
Lee Ju-ho and So Hwi-young showed up at the lab maybe three days a week, for perhaps half a day at a time. Even then, So Hwi-young handled most of the administrative work, and since the professor had approved the arrangement, Yu Jong-hwa harbored no resentment whatsoever.
Whether So Hwi-young was actually good at his work remained unclear to Yu Jong-hwa. But he was unquestionably fast—the kind of fast where what took Yu Jong-hwa an hour, So Hwi-young could finish in a minute. As for Lee Ju-ho… he apparently handled most Urban Legend Phenomena on his own and returned when he was done.
So it was that So Hwi-young clocked in at the lab and Lee Ju-ho clocked in at the phenomena.
And so, today too, Yu Jong-hwa greeted So Hwi-young warmly when his senior appeared alone in the lab.
“Did you have a good rest? I’m genuinely happy you’re here, senior.”
“That’s creepy. Did the professor order something else? Does he want me to order noodles?”
“No, it’s just… sometimes when I sit here alone it gets overwhelming. If I’d had to handle all this by myself without you and Ju-ho, I would’ve just dropped out and… well, I wouldn’t be here.”
“You can just drop out—why the dramatic talk about not being here? Try being stronger.”
“If I don’t graduate, I will die. I mean it!”
Yu Jong-hwa had been about to elaborate on how his life was conditionally held hostage by Urban Legend Phenomena when So Hwi-young waved him quiet. There was a phone ringing insistently that needed answering.
“Yes, Professor. The Diagnostic Kit? That’s the one for ten million won, right? I received the quote by email. One moment…”
Yu Jong-hwa helpfully rifled through the emails and showed the relevant one to So Hwi-young. The latter skimmed the contents irritably, gave the professor a cursory response, and hung up.
“Yes, I’ll charge it to the card. It should arrive soon.”
While So Hwi-young efficiently handled the matter, Yu Jong-hwa spotted another oddly titled email in his inbox and clicked it open.
[We thank you for your enthusiastic application. Please note the date for the first round of interviews for the clerical assistant intern position and ensure your attendance.]
It was clearly the same content as before. A full week had passed since he’d deleted it, yet they were sending it again—which meant the company must truly be desperate for applicants.
Instinctively, Yu Jong-hwa sent the email to trash and turned back to So Hwi-young.
“What would you like for lunch?”
“Restore that email I just watched you delete.”
“This one? It came last week too. I think someone typed in the wrong email address. Nobody from our lab would apply to a place like that anyway.”
“I would. I was wondering why they never replied—you deleted it!”
“Wait… senior, you’re not… leaving for another job…?”
Surely Ju-ho wasn’t going too?
Yu Jong-hwa stared at his mentor with shock written across his face.
Watching his foolish expression, So Hwi-young sat in silence for a long moment before handing him a cold bottle of water.
“Yeah. You think you can manage on your own?”
“So Ju-ho really is going! You’re a package deal!”
“Hey. The professor doesn’t know yet. I’m trusting you to keep quiet. Loyalty, understand?”
“That’s not loyalty! It’s been less than two months and both my seniors are vanishing? I can’t let you go. I’m telling the professor I’m quitting too!”
Of course, he couldn’t actually quit and survive, but he shouted defiantly, trying to blackmail So Hwi-young with the threat.
That’s how desperate he was. Standing alone in the lab felt far too barren, and the Urban Legend Phenomena far too harsh.
Truthfully, Yu Jong-hwa simply hated the thought of being alone more than anything in the world.
“Listen. Look at the screen. Pull up the email I wrote. Then copy it exactly. Make the resume information fake. And your name too. You know your alias? Kim Jong-sik.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Though he didn’t fully grasp what was happening, Yu Jong-hwa simply typed as So Hwi-young instructed.
[Application for Clerical Assistant (Hired Intern) Position at DNA Logistics Center Gangwon Headquarters]
The line he transcribed bore a company name printed large and clear—the name of a spam mail outfit.
“You want me to leave my job too? Senior, the real reason I need to graduate on time is that…!”
“I told you to read ahead about the Urban Legend Phenomena we visit regularly.”
A metal filing drawer at least a decade old screeched sharply as it opened.
So Hwi-young withdrew a bundle of dusty papers, rolled them up, and began whacking Yu Jong-hwa on the back with them.
“Right, that too. I forgot to mention it.”
“I’m going to have to teach you everything… this is going to be rough.”
A week from now, after midterms ended, they would have to be deployed to the Urban Legend Phenomena again.
This time, the mission was to secure employment through Undercover Infiltration and steal the delivery items from the logistics company within the legend.
Ugh, a contract position again!
The bitter wind of a frozen job market cut just as mercilessly through the Urban Legend Phenomenon.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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