Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 107
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Episode 107
…The Nameless Radiant Cult.
If the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau tries to eliminate ghost stories, and Baekillmong Corporation tries to exploit ghost stories.
‘The Nameless Radiant Cult is the ghost story itself.’
They worship ghost stories and believe that ghost stories are the origin of this world.
So they believe that if they excavate and nurture ghost stories well, becoming meaningful beings in the world, they can receive the selection of ‘Name-nim’ and achieve eternal life – they’re fanatics.
‘It’s completely an apocalyptic cult.’
To be honest, among the three forces that appear in , this is the one I feel the most distant from.
‘It’s… not my taste.’
Of course, I did read the wiki entries about that cult.
So the wiki pages load fine with the ‘Memorial Grip Tok’, but the problem is that I haven’t been able to read the wiki for several days.
‘That’s probably why I didn’t notice right away.’
But now that I’ve identified it, I can properly understand the current situation.
The bizarre repetitive phenomenon that occurred during night isolation room cleaning. What exactly from the Nameless Radiant Cult caused this nightmarish situation.
I took a deep breath.
This is….
‘A doppelganger ghost story type.’
A supernatural being that usurps someone’s life.
One of the cult-style ghost stories that gained explosive popularity and fame in the early days when the Nameless Radiant Cult was registered on the wiki.
To be precise, it was one of the ranks within the Nameless Radiant Cult.
That crazy cult assigns supernatural phenomena according to affiliation and rank!
And its name is….
In wiki terms, this was a ghost story derived from the fear of an unknown being replacing me or those around me.
‘The most obvious sign is… doing bizarre things in the form of close relatives.’
It appears imitating various acquaintances like the target’s lover, friends, or those they feel indebted to, inducing carelessness before creating supernatural terror.
Its purpose is this.
Inducing a strong psychological state of ‘I wish this situation would pass‘ in the target. Obtaining tacit agreement and consent to steal the opponent’s narrative.
And I, who fell for this, had my narratives of the 29th and 30th ‘stolen’.
Thanks to that, I was processed as having spent those two days ‘without anything particularly memorable’ in a bland way, and came to my senses at a similar point the next day.
‘At least thanks to the silver ring, only one day at a time was stolen before it ended.’
I could have lost my bearings and continued drifting like this.
If you can’t tell front from back and start doubting what’s real, you get dragged along by the situation.
‘That’s how they suck away your whole life.’
Fortunately, my mind was intact so it didn’t go that far….
-Ah, how interesting. Phew, this time you caught up even faster.
‘Brown!’
From the small stuffed doll came the sound of the host exaggeratedly catching his breath and adjusting his suit collar, then a cheerful voice was heard.
-You gave up another day’s worth of story, Friend! Hmm, but it seems the opponent pulled some clever tricks to induce that choice.
-Was imitating Noru’s acquaintances part of that?
‘Right.’
First they imitated Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, then Team Leader Park Min-seong, completely catching me off guard.
They don’t use identities that have been caught once, constantly changing to try to steal my narrative….
-Oho. Then I’m curious about what ‘acquaintance’ Noru will meet on the 31st.
-Right now, in this 3rd day situation, who exactly did they imitate… it will be revealed soon!
“….”
I looked around.
There was no sign of Team Leader Park Min-seong. Naturally, there was also no sign of Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.
I was alone in the equipment warehouse.
‘…At the end of the 2nd day, the lockdown was lifted.’
Then maybe it already left?
But usually ‘Story Usurpers’, if they have a chance to completely steal the life of someone they’ve marked to drain, tend to be obsessive and put effort into doing so.
‘It probably didn’t guess that I noticed its identity.’
Then.
An acquaintance who could naturally appear in this place, put me at ease, and already knew me….
Beep beep beep.
[It’s almost… 10 minutes now… I’m coming.]
“….”
I listened to the voice from the walkie-talkie and tensed my shoulders.
A moment later.
[Beeeeeep!]
[Lockdown is being lifted. Shutters are opening…]
I got up from my seat and looked ahead.
The door was opening.
The protective shutter of the door leading outside from the Security Team Equipment Warehouse front opened, and the red light that had been coming in changed back to green.
And beyond the rising shutter….
“You’re safe. Thank goodness….”
Security Chief J3 was looking at me with his usual tired eyes but with slight relief.
“The other employee is… ah, inside that door… hey, are you okay?”
“….”
“Hey…?”
I got up… and turned my back to the security chief.
“Huh…?”
And stood facing the wall.
Actually, you see.
‘Usually when religious elements enter ghost stories, exorcism follows.’
There are procedures for dealing with transcendent beings. Like a kind of two-way mirror.
In this regard, even the crazy Nameless Radiant Cult is no exception.
‘The Story Usurper also has a way to be dealt with.’
I recalled the work guidelines I received on my first day.
Name-nim? Anyway, this bastard shouts weird stuff and says he’ll tell you how to be happy, but if you just curse at him roughly, he’ll quiet down.
If you don’t want to curse, just telling him to get lost is fine too.
How strange.
Even though that second page was contaminated, the hint was correct.
Because.
“Get lost.”
The way to drive this away is ‘notice its identity beforehand and completely reject it.’
It needs tacit cooperation and consent to steal my time?
I just won’t give it.
So then…
“Um, why are you acting like this…?”
“Get lost.”
I declared again while turning away from my opponent.
…
Kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke
Really? Really?
After giving you two chances?
“Get lost.”
“Noru. Why on earth did your speech habits become like that? No matter what, saying that to your superior is…”
“Get lost.”
“Huh? Hey, Noru. That’s too harsh! We need to finish cleaning. I just want to help you.”
“Get lost.”
“I don’t want to… Hey, I’ll just stay here… Honestly… it’s not like I said anything bad to you…”
“Get lost.”
“…”
Kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke
What a wasteeeeeee
The voice behind me becomes distorted.
You reject the grace bestowed upon us insignificant beings who cannot influence even a single letter of this world’s origin. What a waste.
If you hand over your pathetic story, we would fill that story with Name-nim’s radiant grace. Name-nim would look upon me, what a waste.
“Get lost.”
What a waste…
I gritted my teeth.
“Get lost.”
The strange whispers behind me subside.
And…
It became quiet.
“…”
It seems that thing has given up on targeting me.
‘Phew…’
I almost collapsed from the released tension but held back. Instead, I worked my head persistently.
Since I can’t hear footsteps yet, the moment that thing moves elsewhere, I’ll escape from here and report to the Security Team. That should work…
Beep beep beep.
“…!”
The radio in my pocket rings.
A familiar voice… can be heard.
[I’ve arrived… hmm.]
“I’ve arrived… hmm.”
But I can also hear a voice nearby.
“…”
I very slowly turned my head to look at the entrance of the equipment storage.
Outside the door, Security Chief J3 with an expressionless face was looking this way.
‘Is it really him?’
No, this is definitely the real person!
I hurriedly opened my mouth to explain the situation…
“…! Jay.”
…Behind me, a sound was heard.
A voice that seemed bewildered.
I turned my head further to look behind me.
The Nameless Radiance Cult ghost story that was there is now wearing a crimson cleaning uniform.
“I don’t understand what’s happening.”
Black hair, late twenties. A pale-looking man with a shocked face, alternately looking at the Security Chief and me.
Kim Sol-eum.
Something that perfectly copied my current appearance was looking at me and babbling in a flustered tone.
“What is this… can you get caught up in such strange phenomena while cleaning?”
It’s imitating me.
‘Damn…!’
My spine runs cold.
I urgently looked at the Security Chief and spoke calmly.
“Jay, that’s a Nameless Radiance Cult believer.”
“What… what do you mean. Jay, do you happen to know what this situation is? It seems like some kind of darkness…”
“Jay! Please don’t respond. You need to just listen and make judgments. The moment you respond, you’ll get caught up in the situation.”
“…”
“If you want to verify something, speak to the wall by yourself… no, just shout at everyone to get lost if possible. That’s the safest.”
The Security Chief is quietly staring this way with an unreadable expression.
And I hear the faintly trembling voice of ‘Kim Sol-eum’ next to me.
“I… don’t really understand what that means.”
What?
“Think about it, Jay. I just… came in to clean for three days. I only realized this phenomenon was darkness because the… something next to me told me.”
“…!”
“It would be more natural for me not to know what’s in the Security Team’s containment room. Jay, please think logically. This side is… correct, isn’t it?”
-Oh, quite plausible indeed.
Exactly. Damn it…!
“And… I’m really relieved you came. I’m sorry for putting you in this situation…”
“….”
‘He’s damn good at talking.’
Just like a cult member. I gritted my teeth.
Well, I almost fell for it too when it first appeared as Eun Ha-je on the first day.
‘How on earth did Park Min-seong realize it wasn’t Eun Ha-je?’
I desperately tried to recall that moment.
Where did he notice?
‘There didn’t seem to be any logical flaws back then either…’
What could it have been?
A sense of unease that only someone who knew her well could detect?
The nuance felt in conversation?
‘Or…’
As I desperately reviewed and pondered, another soft and calm voice came from beside me.
“Um, Jay. Please don’t feel guilty about anything, and just move as you judge best. I’ll accept it.”
….
Ah.
‘I got it.’
Was that it?
I pressed my temple and opened my mouth.
“Jay, please look at the purpose behind bringing up these words. Who’s trying to somehow continue a friendly conversation with you and make you immerse yourself in the situation.”
Back then, Eun Ha-je was…
Excessively friendly compared to the situation.
She couldn’t act that way when trapped in prison and barely needing to escape.
‘No, if it were the real Deputy Manager in the first place, rather than taking the risky move of revealing herself and persuading, she would have hidden and slipped out.’
When there were items to help and the lockdown would be lifted just by waiting.
There’s no way she would judge it necessary to talk with us right away while bearing that risk.
A strange reaction that didn’t fit the situation.
So…
“In this strange and dangerous situation, who’s making unnecessarily sociable remarks. …Who has other motives.”
I spoke calmly.
“That said, you don’t have to believe me either. Just yell at me to get lost and turn away, and this ghost story will disappear. Or you could summon other Security Team members…”
“Hmm.”
The Security Chief raised his body.
And.
“It’s this one.”
The black front claws of the giant wolf-like monster fell toward my head like a guillotine blade.
‘Shit…!’
In the instant before I could close my eyes.
Thwack.
A head flew off.
The Mimic’s that had been beside me.
“…!!”
Splat.
The twisted, giant shadow-like front paw made a squelching sound over the crushed corpse as it lifted again, then passed by my side leaving tremendous pressure behind…
And returned to the Security Chief’s arm.
“Excuse me.”
“….”
“Are you okay…?”
I looked down at my crimson cleaning uniform splattered with the Mimic’s blood and plopped down on the spot.
“…!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I survived.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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