Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 108
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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 108
The Security Chief gave me a towel so I could clean up my blood-stained cleaning uniform.
I mechanically wiped down the uniform, trying not to look beside me.
Right now, there would be the grotesque corpse of the Nameless Radiance Cult Member whose head had been blown apart by the Security Chief.
-Hmm. Certainly not a pleasant sight! Dirtying the floor without any aesthetics… Oh, Noru! An interesting phenomenon is occurring!
“…??”
I reflexively turned my head.
The place where blood, flesh, and the crushed head had been scattered was now melting away.
As if time had been rapidly rewound, what had been dried and stuck to the floor transformed into someone’s withered body…
A human corpse.
So emaciated that its identity couldn’t be determined, old paper that was completely dried and rolled up fell from its gaping mouth.
The inner surface with unrecognizable golden letters writhed and changed to Korean the moment my gaze touched it.
Mimic Scripture Chapter 4
Story Thief
“…!”
It’s a Divine Law.
In other words, it’s something like a ghost story generator for the Nameless Radiance Cult.
When cult members swallow fragments of Divine Law scripture and perform rituals at the altar, they become able to use the corresponding Divine Authority.
The Security Chief slowly approached it and crouched down.
He probably wanted to collect it…
“It’s 4th grade… Hey, do you want to take it?”
Excuse me?
“The company… seems to buy these at a pretty good price… You can say you got it somewhere else later and sell it…”
“…Jay handled this, so is it really okay for me to take it personally?”
“What’s the big deal…”
“…”
“I don’t particularly need money…”
No, I meant whether it was okay for me to take it personally when the company security team had stepped in…
Anyway, since he was giving it to me, I quickly took it.
“Thank you.”
Besides selling it to the company, several other uses immediately came to mind.
‘It’s good to have many usable cards.’
Besides, after going through all this trouble, it would be nice to get something out of it…
I wrapped the item with ‘Wrapping Paper 12B357B’ to avoid any potential influence and pretended to put it in my pocket while actually placing it in my Inventory.
‘Phew.’
“Once again… thank you for helping me. Thanks to you, I survived.”
“Don’t mention it…”
Meanwhile, memories from the past two days were slowly returning in my head.
Bland daily life.
Moments that just passed by instantly, with nothing particularly noteworthy that I wouldn’t even bother writing in a diary.
Days that would disappear from memory after about a year… in other words, days that would be equivalent to ‘narrative omission’ in a novel.
That’s why it was chilling.
It felt like time had been sucked away.
‘Nameless Radiance Cult… truly the worst.’
There’s a reason they’re the faction I least want to get involved with among the three.
‘Ghost stories that blend into reality.’
I never expected to encounter one while cleaning. I knew there were Nameless Radiance Cult members deployed in Baekillmong Corporation, but to meet an escaped containment entity like this without any preparation…
‘I’m lucky to be alive.’
I let out a deep sigh of relief. Now I want to go home and rest a bit…
“Ah, here… they were in the corridor.”
Creak.
Beyond the door of Isolation Corridor B that the Security Chief opened, a man in a crimson uniform who had lost consciousness slumped down.
The janitor who came in with me.
“…Badger Supervisor!”
Aaaaah!
You were here on the third day too!
Fortunately, Park Min-seong regained consciousness shortly after being moved to the break room.
“…Huh? What? What… someone pushed me,”
“There was an escape incident from the containment room.”
“What?!”
I explained everything I had experienced up to now.
For reference, during this process, the Security Chief only nodded occasionally when required. He didn’t seem to have even the slightest intention of questioning me about already knowing about the Nameless Radiance Cult.
He just… seemed like he didn’t want to work…
‘…Well, it’s a lifetime position, so that’s understandable.’
I understood.
And Park Min-seong also seemed to understand my explanation as his complexion changed.
“Certainly, I don’t really remember what Noru did on days 1 and 2… It just remains as ‘finished cleaning without any problems.'”
“…”
“That cult is scary.”
“Exactly.”
The Nameless Radiance Cult’s Mimic had stolen and absorbed even the incidents it had caused.
Calmly and ordinarily, as if nothing had happened.
‘And that was only 4th grade.’
A kind of reality manipulation.
Actually, in Baekillmong Corporation terms, it would be between B and C grade, so it wasn’t exactly low-level.
The problem is that the Nameless Radiance Cult has plenty of fanatics who received 4th grade or higher ghost stories as ‘Divine Authority’…
Recalling the earlier Mimic that could hardly be considered human, I swallowed hard.
Please, let there be no more entanglements until I collect all the Wish Potion points.
“Well… since cleaning is finished, you should go change clothes too…”
“Ah. Right. Noru, then I’ll quickly change and come back. Just a moment!”
“Yes.”
I bid farewell to Park Min-seong as he left the room.
Beside me, the Security Chief was sweeping up the paper that Park Min-seong had dropped with a broom and putting it in the trash.
That strange work tip note.
“…”
“Hey. About this note…”
Fortunately, the Security Chief brought it up first.
“I was actually going to ask because it seemed so suspicious, but is that really a tip that was circulating within the Security Team?”
“Yes… it is correct. But… we would never have given it to that person.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Badger Supervisor…”
The Security Chief muttered quietly.
While looking at the spot where Park Min-seong had already disappeared outside the room.
“That person was completely contaminated by ‘Hungry Hangman’… so he’s not supposed to come into contact with any form of work manual… Since he’s contaminated by similar darkness…”
“…!!”
Wait, that’s right!
‘Park Min-seong was contaminated by the kindergarten textbook, so similar types of writing could definitely be dangerous.’
Even though the intensity was different, having experienced the same contamination made my stomach churn.
It was completely natural to prevent access to things that reminded one of contamination.
But what the Security Chief was trying to say didn’t end there.
It was an even more… chilling fact.
“Badger Supervisor can contaminate manuals just by reading them…”
“…”
What did he say.
“If he realizes it himself, he might become too conscious of it… and the contamination could accelerate, so he probably doesn’t know it himself yet…”
Then.
“…Are you saying someone intentionally gave the supervisor the forbidden note? So that I would read the work tip that Park Min-seong contaminated?”
Nod.
The Security Chief slowly nodded his head.
-Ah, it’s a trap! How classic.
My response also came out classic and reliable first.
“…Can we check the CCTV?”
“There’s no CCTV in the Security Team dormitory area… There’s a high probability of catching bad things on camera too…”
“…They targeted the fact that there’s no CCTV.”
“Yes, probably…”
Who on earth?
This was a perfect snipe at Park Min-seong’s work. It wasn’t that the Mimic escaped by chance due to overlapping accidents and misfortune.
‘Did other Nameless Brilliant Church members in the company cooperate?’
But with this method, it would be difficult for the Nameless Brilliant Church member in the containment room to properly escape… it would just cause a commotion.
‘Then if escape wasn’t the purpose…’
If the cleaning employee who worked that day was the target.
‘If the purpose was to screw me over?’
“…Jay.”
“Yes…?”
“By any chance, might Research Team employees also know well about the Security Team underground area?”
“Um… depending on the team…?”
The Security Chief’s eyes narrowed.
“Is there… a suspicious employee in the Research Team?”
“…Somewhat.”
“Who…?”
“…”
I was slightly conflicted.
But the Security Chief was today’s security officer in charge of this area, so he had the right to know.
‘Moreover, he could become a witness to the situation.’
Good. I deliberately confessed readily.
“It’s Manager Gwak Je-gang.”
“…”
“In the first place, I received this disciplinary action because I didn’t do what he ordered me to do. …He told me to leave my Cleanup Team colleague in a place where they’d die, so I ignored it.”
“…”
“Of course, rather than suspecting the manager personally, it’s more of a circumstantial guess…”
“I understand.”
“…??”
“Wait a moment…”
Beep beep beep.
The Security Chief approached the landline phone in one corner of the break room and picked up the receiver.
Then, seeming to ponder something for a moment, he pressed the buttons firmly.
A short dial tone went through… click.
[Yes yes, this is Gwak Je-gang!]
“…!!”
I stared open-mouthed at the Security Chief who directly called a manager from another team at this dawn hour.
But he himself showed no change in expression.
“Um… this is J3, the Security Team 3 chief.”
[…J3? …Wait, who is this?? Team B leader… oh right, you’re not in the Elite Team anymore, are you? Haha, I made a mistake with someone who’s not even in the Field Investigation Team anymore!]
“…”
[Anyway, how long has it been! I heard you became a chief in the Security Team too. Wow~ capable employees are different! It must be disappointing not being able to enter the darkness.]
‘Is he picking a fight?’
No, there’s no need to question it. It really seems like he’s picking a fight…?
[Anyway, why did you suddenly contact me? Were you on night duty today? That’s the Security Team area phone, right?]
[Is there some incident? Oh, if it’s about really wanting to enter the darkness, I’m sorry but I can’t grant that. Haha!]
I watched the Security Chief tensely.
“Hey.”
[Hmm?]
“You know… even though I can’t enter the darkness… I can still kill people.”
[…!]
“Just… saying.”
And he hung up the phone.
“…”
Wow.
“Is it… okay for you to do that?”
“Yes… well.”
The Security Chief shrugged his shoulders.
“But it probably… won’t work much… Research Team employees with high positions are… hmm.”
The Security Chief chose his words.
“He went crazy…”
“….”
It seemed like he didn’t really choose them carefully.
I managed to respond.
“Anyway, seeing his reaction, um, I realized that my suspicions were reasonable…”
Judging by how he subtly and indirectly asked ‘Did anything happen during your Security Team Area duty today?’ No matter how I think about it, it seems like something Gwak Je-gang was involved in.
‘I thought he’d lost interest after getting sick of my MZ Power.’
It doesn’t seem like things will go that easily.
‘This is driving me crazy…’
…I’ll need to prepare countermeasures again.
Anyway, I nodded at him.
“Thank you. Jay.”
“Um, then… next time too…”
Aha.
“I’ll come visit again with some snacks. Like donuts.”
“Yes.”
The bribery code is surprisingly simple.
“Anyway… be careful… You never know what that guy might do…”
“….”
I hesitated for a moment and then asked.
“If you don’t mind me asking, have you also had bad experiences due to conflicts with the Research Team?”
“….”
The Security Chief avoids eye contact.
“It’s not… a very interesting story.”
A brief silence.
“I got trapped in a strange fairy tale… And came out much… much later.”
And the Security Chief said nothing more.
“….”
‘A fairy tale ghost story that the Research Team caused problems with.’
Actually, just hearing that sentence was enough for me to figure it out.
What kind of darkness the Security Chief had been contaminated by.
And there was a named character from the Elite Team that naturally came to mind.
That character’s… tragic exploration record of becoming part of the Security Team.
For the recording of an employee who went missing during research on Qterw-A-37, check the ‘And They All Lived Unhappily Ever After‘ document.
‘I could pretend not to know and ask more…’
That way I could confirm one more named character.
“….”
But I just remained silent too.
I decided to respect the Security Chief’s silence.
A little later. To Park Min-seong who had returned after changing clothes, the Security Chief said:
“Anyway, you safely passed the three-day cleaning work… so, um, now… you should be able to handle Security Team duties too…”
This was Park Min-seong’s first recovery declaration.
“…! Really?!”
“Yes… And you should be able to… go outside too.”
“Huh.”
“Only possible after sunset though…”
Hmm.
“Then, is it possible today too? Since the sun has already set.”
“N-Noru? I’m fine. We can go another day…”
“Wait a moment…”
The Security Chief submitted a report somewhere on his old computer, then declared:
“Go today…”
“Huuuh!”
“From now on… you’ll be able to go out once a week…”
“Huuuuh!!”
Color returned to Park Min-seong’s slightly gaunt complexion, and a smile spread across his face.
It was the same expression I’d seen when he was in Team D.
“….”
“Um, you just need to return before sunrise… and, um…”
“What happens if you can’t make it back?”
“The company… would request rescue services…”
“….”
“Don’t do that… Unless you want a lifetime position.”
Park Min-seong bowed his head deeply.
“Yes. I’ll definitely keep to the time. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it…”
The Security Chief scratched his cheek.
And shortly after, I climbed the stairs with Park Min-seong, who had instantly finished preparing to go out.
“See you later…”
The Security Chief slightly raised his hand to see us off as we left the underground.
“Wow! It feels great to walk outside!”
Park Min-seong grinned and raised both arms.
Though it was past 3 AM and there weren’t many people around, being Seoul city center, lights still twinkled here and there and people were still walking about.
“No, it really feels like I’m breathing outside air for the first time in ages… I can even see the stars!”
Park Min-seong was wearing a mask and had his hat pulled down low. As if trying to hide his face as much as possible.
The outing time allowed for him now was conservatively 3 hours until dawn.
‘At least it’s fortunate that it’s winter.’
“Are you going home?”
“Ah, um… I’m thinking of going to the hospital.”
“….”
“My family is hospitalized there. They’re probably sleeping… but I thought I’d go see their face.”
Park Min-seong scratched his cheek with a slightly awkward expression.
“Um, I’m actually collecting points because of my family…”
Damn.
“May I ask what family member?”
“Ah, my younger brother. He’s really kind! And a genius? A violin genius!”
And Park Min-seong excitedly explained how kind and wonderful his younger brother had been as a child, how much he loved the violin and how well he played it.
However, there was no mention of what condition he was currently in.
“….”
“Anyway… that’s why I absolutely need points for my younger brother. So I really don’t want to… quit if possible…”
“Then will you return to the Field Investigation Team?”
“…Mm. That might take too long though.”
Park Min-seong trailed off for some reason, then added the rest in a somewhat brighter voice.
“Oh, apparently there’s a department in the Security Team that gives out a lot of points too. They say they get even more than the Field Investigation Team?”
“…!”
…Ah.
That place.
“…There must be a reason they give out so many, don’t you think?”
“Mm. That’s true… but.”
Park Min-seong muttered.
“Sometimes it seems like you have to risk danger to make your wishes come true….”
“….”
“Ah, we’ve arrived at Noru’s company housing!”
Park Min-seong patted my back.
“Go on in quickly. I can catch a taxi from here. Go in comfortably, Noru. You really worked hard!”
Then he spoke quietly in a low voice.
“Listen, you don’t need to worry too much about me…. Honestly, I was prepared when I took this job. This is actually a better result than I expected…. It’s thanks to you, Noru. Thank you.”
“….”
I finally smiled faintly and shook hands with him.
“I’ll be rooting for you wherever you work, but I hope we get a chance to work together again if possible.”
“…Yeah. That would be nice.”
We said our farewells like that, and Park Min-seong left for the hospital in a taxi.
“Phew….”
I sighed and entered the company housing building.
If I wasn’t mistaken, there was something like a strange madness emanating from Park Min-seong when he talked about wishes….
-He was an ordinary person, but now he’s finally gained some interesting personality.
Let’s not say such scary things, Brown….
‘Anyway, I can finally get some sleep….’
Having a day off on the last day of the year wasn’t bad, but I didn’t expect to spend it just sleeping.
I entered the dark company housing in the early morning hours, keeping my smartphone flashlight on warm and bright against the creepiness as I headed to my room.
And I went to sleep.
‘I’ll think about countermeasures for Gwak Je-gang when I wake up with a clear mind… Please, let me just rest.’
My overworked body, exhausted from the night’s grueling physical and mental labor, gratefully accepted sleep.
It had been a very long time.
Since I’d fallen asleep without watching children’s cartoons or comedies before bed.
I thoroughly enjoyed a very deep and sweet sleep without any dreams.
And the moment I drowsily woke up feeling refreshed, as if I’d just closed and opened my eyes…
“Ah. You’re awake.”
“…!”
I immediately sat up.
-An unannounced guest has arrived, Noru.
Someone was standing by the grayish window.
A tired face, casual clothes, tightly tied hair, and….
An empty left hand.
“It’s been a while, Noru. …I heard you did some cleaning with Min-seong.”
The real Eun Ha-je was here.
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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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