Dispatches from the Graduate School of Ghost Stories - Chapter 4

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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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Paranormal Tales from Graduate School (4)
Unable to Resign
The first week after enrollment passed in a blur.
The professors filled the schedule to bursting from day one, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, and Yu Jonghwa understood almost nothing they said.
Though the enrollment had been forced upon him, now that he was here, he’d resolved to study diligently. Or so he’d promised himself.
“The likelihood of paranormal phenomena arising from folkloristic elements such as legends and myths is not high. This is because paranormal phenomena shaped by the public’s distorted perception are observed far more frequently. Therefore, the academic community views modern human consciousness as the actual cause of paranormal phenomena.”
He revised his goal: maintain just enough grades to graduate.
[This is Professor Song Yeonho’s lab. Please come to room 505 of the Injae Building by 3 PM today.]
A message arrived instructing him to start work at the lab.
Class was over, but the professor droned on. Yu Jonghwa slipped quietly out of the lecture hall.
* * *
Yu Jonghwa pushed open the heavy door marked with a “WARNING: NO ENTRY” sticker. Unidentifiable machines hummed inside, and the old lab reeked of something suspicious.
Along one wall of the empty lab sat three ordinary office desks instead of lab benches. He’d heard there were two senior researchers, but neither was present.
On one of the neatly organized desks lay a sticky note.
Ju Ho and I went out on a paranormal expedition. Do not contact.
―So Hwiryoung
At least it wasn’t a resignation. His seniors were simply away investigating paranormal phenomena.
Yu Jonghwa immediately recognized that the empty desk with a thick stack of papers was meant to be his.

The title in bold, standard font jumped out at once.
Yu Jonghwa flipped open to a random page. In one corner, written in neat, round blue handwriting, was some advice.
The handwriting matched that of his senior, So Hwiryoung.
‘Unexpected situations always come up. When they do, try your best to keep things pleasant with whoever you’re facing, and if that doesn’t work, don’t panic—use force. After all, these paranormal things won’t sue us. You can just claim it was an emergency and the state can’t touch us either.’
Wait. Something’s off here.
Below that absurd explanation, his senior had added something more.
‘If you’ve only dabbled in some half-baked martial training, just run to Ju Ho. If you get yourself caught fooling around, I can’t save you. I don’t have bail money. I’m broke.’
So who exactly is this Ju Ho? A martial artist? Why would someone like that be working in a lab?
Yu Jonghwa closed the seemingly useless handover document.
Only then did he notice the A4 sheet taped to the monitor screen.
Affixing such an enormous sheet with tape instead of just leaving a note—surely that meant they wanted him to see it?
For the employment contract, contact Jeon Shihyeon from the Research Support Team.
―Ju Ho
Below the note was a phone number connected to somewhere on campus.
Right, the contract! Yu Jonghwa grabbed his phone and dialed urgently.
[Hello, this is Jujak University’s Industry-University Cooperation Division. I’ll connect you with the relevant staff shortly.]
A cheap hold tone played—the kind untouched by capitalism’s hand—through the speaker.
He’d half-expected a melodious female voice based on the name alone, but instead, a low male voice suddenly came through the phone.
[This is Jeon Shihyeon from the Research Support Team. What can I help you with?]
“Hello! I’m Yu Jonghwa! I’m with Professor Song Yeonho’s lab!”
[Ah, I sent the contract and instructions by email.]
His curt tone barely maintained politeness, but made no effort to hide his indifference.
“Yes! Should I sign and send it back to you?”
[Yes, send it by email.]
“Haha… Thank you.”
Yu Jonghwa had expected the call to end immediately, but there was a pause. Should I hang up first?
Just as he awkwardly tried to say goodbye, the same halfhearted voice returned.
[……I’m leaving in two months. As long as I’m still here, things should be fine, but…….]
“I’m sorry? You’re leaving?”
[You’re registering as a research fellow, correct? You know you won’t get hazard pay even if you go into a paranormal investigation, right?]
“What do you mean?”
Damn Seoul types. Always looking to take advantage the moment your eyes close.
Yu Jonghwa realized he’d almost fallen for a contract scam and let out a yelp.
Jeon Shihyeon sounded tired of the phone call. He said to come by now if Yu Jonghwa wanted a more detailed explanation, then hung up.
Yu Jonghwa bolted toward the administrative office.
* * *
Yu Jonghwa burst into the office panting like a marathon runner, but the staff paid him no mind.
As he stood there, eyes darting about, someone approached him with an ambling gait.
“Researcher Yu Jonghwa?”
“Could you be… Jeon Shihyeon?”
The lean man in gray sweatpants was wearing cheap rubber sandals with three stripes. His unimpressive expression was made worse by his long hair, carelessly bunched into a rough knot.
It seemed his goal was to openly rebel against the typical image of a “company employee.”
‘Good grief. Do kids these days really work at companies like this?’
Suddenly equipped with an outdated mindset, Yu Jonghwa stared hard at the man. He paid no attention and took a long sip of the Americano he was holding.
“Ah, I brought coffee for you…”
“Thank you.”
It wouldn’t be proper to go empty-handed. He’d been trained in the art of service by an unreasonable boss, and so he’d brought back a café latte.
Jeon Shihyeon opened his mouth and tossed the coffee he’d been drinking straight down his throat in one gulp. Then he readily accepted the drink Yu Jonghwa was offering.
Maybe this man wasn’t going to quit on his own in two months—maybe he was going to get fired in two months instead.
Just as Yu Jonghwa was beginning to lose faith in the man, Jeon Shihyeon thrust forward a thick stack of printouts. He even pointed to the sections marked with sticky notes and spelled out what he should prioritize learning first.
And his expression made his assessment of Yu Jonghwa perfectly clear.
‘I don’t expect you to memorize this.’
Huh. The thug of a man actually did his job well.
Just five minutes in, Yu Jonghwa felt his spirit deflate, and his already drooping eyes grew even wider with resignation.
For some reason, something about the man sent shivers down his spine.
At Jujak University, the graduate students who’d crawled around during the interview day were like this too—there were plenty of strange people.
The school’s location must be cursed.
“I’ve only heard rumors that graduate school is busy, but there’s really a lot to do, haha…”
“Still, Song’s research lab is relatively manageable. Ah, should I call you ‘teacher’ instead? Strictly speaking, you’re not a researcher.”
“Please, call me whatever’s comfortable for you…!”
Even so, hearing the detailed explanation from an administrator made things easier to understand.
His job could be thought of as handling all sorts of miscellaneous tasks so the researchers could focus on their work.
If the researchers were ordinary slaves, Yu Jonghwa was no ordinary slave.
“Well, even if graduate school is famous for being hell, not every place is like that. There are good professors, right? And in a typical research lab, when they say ‘support staff,’ they just mean office workers.”
“I see.”
“But support staff for paranormal phenomenon research like you—they’re positioned about here.”
Jeon Shihyeon, mumbling in a listless tone, picked up a thick black pen and drew a pyramid on the paper.
The top was where the research funding came from, below that was the professor. Then he drew a line downward and scribbled “graduate students” at the very bottom layer.
Below that, he made a single dot and marked it as “you.”
“…I have no status?”
“The position of paranormal phenomenon support staff is so new that a lot of what happens still falls outside the law.”
“I… what?”
“It means you have no human rights.”
“But the Korean Constitution says all people are equal.”
Yu Jonghwa was a sensible member of society. He carefully raised his hand to lodge a protest.
But the man shook his head firmly.
“You can find your natural rights outside the university. Once you step into the school, they disappear.”
“Why?”
“Subcontractor of a subcontractor. Slave of a slave. In other words, untouchable. From now on, whenever anyone in the lab asks, you’ll be on standby twenty-four hours a day and do whatever they say.”
Yu Jonghwa couldn’t accept reality and kept repeating, “Is this right?” But did school staff normally explain things this way?
Suddenly struck by something odd, he stared hard at the man in front of him and asked.
“Do you always explain things like this?”
“Ah, my apologies. I’m not leaving this job for long, so I’ve stopped caring what I see.”
That was right—the man wouldn’t be an employee much longer.
The long-haired man smiled awkwardly, lifting only his lips.
Was the disappearance of someone else’s rights something to laugh about? Yu Jonghwa seriously questioned the man’s character, but he didn’t show it.
“I’m joking. It’s true that you’ll be doing risky work. So I hope you at least get paid well. I’ve already changed the contract to one for paranormal phenomenon support staff. I’ve already discussed it with the professor.”
“Thank you!”
Yu Jonghwa’s face brightened in an instant, and he quickly took the papers the staff member offered and signed them.
He couldn’t call the man kind, not by any stretch, but he did seem reliable.
“But may I ask why you’re resigning?”
“Just because.”
“Um, is Jujak University really that lenient with dress code…?”
It was a delicate way of asking whether he’d been fired from his company for being strange.
Jeon Shihyeon continued with a sour expression.
“…This hair is fake.”
“What?”
“I didn’t go around like this at first. But the company won’t let me go.”
“No. Do you have a reason you need to get fired?”
“I don’t want to work here. The pay is peanuts and the work is filthy. I want unemployment benefits. If I leave on my own, I won’t get those.”
“I completely understand.”
Yu Jonghwa nodded with deep sympathy.
The truth of the matter was a heartbreaking struggle of modern life.
“I did submit my resignation, but the team lead has been trying to convince me for a month now. I’m planning to come in tomorrow wearing a Hawaiian shirt. If he doesn’t give up this time either, I’ll be walking around in formal court robes.”
Yu Jonghwa’s glittering experience in small and medium enterprises spoke up powerfully in his mind.
‘This fellow isn’t going to quit.’
So instead, he simply called out “Fighting!” with a subtle smile.
“For now, reach out to me. I’ll introduce you to my successor, so you can contact them in two months.”
“Will do.”
“Try to reach me by email if possible.”
“Sure thing!”
The long-haired man rose from his seat, radiating obvious reluctance to take calls.
Yu Jonghwa nodded with a more forgiving heart. ‘Let’s just hope we make it through until I graduate.’
Even as curses poured from Yu Jonghwa’s lips, the long-haired employee held the door open for him.
“Professor.”
“Yes?”
“You’re kinder than you look.”
“Should I be unkind to you?”
No, I’m sorry. Yu Jonghwa quickly tucked his tail and fled.
The gaze watching him with arms crossed felt piercing. ‘His personality really is quite strange….’
But there was someone else whose personality was truly odd.
[♪♩♬♩♬♪♬♪]
The ringtone on his smartphone chimed from his pocket. The screen displayed a name saved not long ago.
‘Professor Song’
Yu Jonghwa trembled at the sudden, very real surge of dread.
He answered hastily, and a calm voice greeted him on the other end.
[How have you been? The thing is, there’s an urgent matter. Another research lab found the reagent we need and they’re willing to trade. Since we got authorization for a paranormal phenomenon happening today, could you head over this evening?]
It really is urgent.
The professor drove home every word with emphasis.
Materials sourced from paranormal phenomena are rare because there aren’t many places that handle them, and suppliers can’t provide them on a regular basis.
So there’s a state-certified bartering site where exchanges can happen, or so Yu Jonghwa had heard. He didn’t yet understand the full structure, but researchers were rumored to keep constant watch with eyes wide open.
[I’m sorry, but could you go right away? It’s not a difficult place to find.]
“Yes, understood!”
‘It’s my first day of work?’
He broke into a cold sweat, but answered briskly and ended the call.
The professor had apologized, but there was no sincerity behind it. Not long after, a message arrived with the address of the paranormal phenomenon.
Daejeon?
It’s four o’clock now, and he’s supposed to arrive by seven and enter the phenomenon.
‘Good grief.’
‘Professor, do you really think this is possible? I have to take a train. You did factor in travel time, right?’
Every word that crossed his mind carried a question mark.
“Are there tickets left?!”
And so he set out toward Daejeon, crying out in despair.

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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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