Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 119

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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 119

My hand slipped.

Coins spilled out from the belly of the severed stuffed doll’s lower half.

“…!”

I hurriedly blocked it and meaninglessly pressed the two pieces of the stuffed doll together.

“Brown?”

But naturally, there was no response.

The upper half of the cotton doll just slid down from the lower half.

“….”

No….

No, wait. Maybe it’s because I keep looking at it…!

“Brown.”

I turned my head and brought the doll close to my ear with my eyes closed.

Then….

-■■, ■■■■■….

“…!!”

I heard vibrations from the doll.

It was definitely a signal.

But it was very faint, crackling like a radio frequency that was accidentally tuned in.

‘Something’s still there.’

It was still there. Then….

‘Blood Bath!’

Click, I immediately locked the train bathroom door. Then I pulled out a small bathtub with checkered pattern and blonde hair from the tattoo on my wrist.

The so-called Bath of Youth.

Thunk, the bathtub stood on the floor, and I carefully placed the nearly severed doll inside, and then….

I picked up the cutter blade that the passenger who failed to attack and fainted had dropped.

I slashed my forearm with it.

Blood flowed down from the burst blood vessel.

‘In an urgent situation like this, there’s no time for alternatives…!’

If I cut the unconscious human’s arm, they might wake up, and I might not be able to stop the bleeding.

‘I can’t handle a more uncontrollable situation.’

My blood poured into the Blood Bath. The scent of wood and fragrant aroma wafted up.

Filled with bath salts, the doll began to swell and grow larger….

It was rejuvenating.

The stuffed doll’s fur became cleaner and shinier, and a mysterious light emanated from its pebble-like eyes.

And it began to rapidly increase in size.

As if it had crossed some kind of threshold. The doll soaked in bath salts broke free from keyring size and became large enough to fill both hands.

Just like the original ‘Good Friend’ doll.

Pop pop pop.

The bow-tie shaped hair tie couldn’t withstand the pressure and snapped off, sticking to one side of the bathtub.

The change was that dramatic.

But, but….

The doll was still silent.

“….”

I held my breath and turned my head to listen to the doll again.

I couldn’t hear the vibrations from before either.

The stuffed doll with its severed waist was just floating on the fragrant bath salts in the Blood Bath….

“….”

I stared at the doll again.

The ‘Good Friend’ stuffed doll, now large enough to fill the small Blood Bath, gleamed as if it were a handmade doll crafted by an artisan and just released.

But it remained severed.

‘Ah.’

The Bath of Youth literally restores youth… it doesn’t heal wounds….

“….”

I actually knew that.

No, I knew it, but I still tried it anyway….

The Good Friend stuffed doll was broken.

I took a deep breath.

‘…It’s okay.’

I can just get another one.

Right, instead of from a goods box, I can get it from the original source.

Cheerful Theme Park still exists. The Good Friend stuffed doll was an item available at the gift shop there.

‘I had to go there anyway, so this is actually more efficient.’

Let’s get a Good Friend doll there. And then summon it again like I did before….

….

“…Ha.”

Let’s not be ridiculous.

I already know, don’t I.

The ‘Good Friend’ summoning method doesn’t designate and call a specific being, but calls ‘someone from the Other Side World.’

‘There’s no guarantee that summoning again will bring out the same being.’

No, it would actually be strange if the same thing was summoned identically.

I used to read for the fun of seeing different beings appear in each summoning record.

‘Haha,’

Ha….

“….”

I had to admit at this point.

Regardless of mental contamination, I had grown quite attached to this strange stuffed doll….

‘But that’s only natural, isn’t it.’

Because it really was a ‘Good Friend.’

A friend who encouraged me when things were tough, got angry with me when I was angry, had deep conversations, and could chat while watching variety shows late at night.

A friend who put me first without calculation.

That kind of friend can only be met during childhood school days….

“….”

Right.

Let’s try everything I can do.

“Should I try sewing it up?”

If that doesn’t work, I can find a restoration item, or enter a ghost story that repairs objects… there are many things I can research and try.

For my mental health too.

“Let’s try it.”

I calmed down a bit.

My head, which had panicked too much over an unexpected and unforeseeable incident, regained its composure and began to calculate.

‘First, let’s clean up.’

I reached my hand into the blood bathtub and pulled out Brown’s dangling upper and lower body parts.

And just as I was about to roughly organize the cotton and store the doll.

‘Huh?’

A fluttering piece of cloth on the back of the stuffed doll caught my eye.

A small square silk sewn at the line connecting the head and torso.

‘…A tag?’

It seemed that what had emerged like a trace from the blood bathtub last time had completely returned with this bath.

‘Good Friend’s… product label?’

You know how there are those things. Origin, washing instructions, care methods, or signatures from buyers or manufacturers.

My gaze unconsciously went there.

It was definitely a label with proper specifications and format, with unknown characters written in tiny, strange lines.

However, there was something that stood out overwhelmingly more than that.

Above all that information, huge letters scrawled in black marker like censorship.

[Ah.]

[So it was here.]

Thud.

A giant hand snatched the tag.

A hand wearing stylish formal gloves.

That thumb quickly covered the label’s text so it was barely visible and pulled the tag.

[Found it.]

That hand.

Was surging up from inside the half-torn ‘Good Friend’ doll I was holding.

Crrrrrack.

The doll’s lower body split open and beyond the arm that completely emerged from inside, a shoulder came out, then the other arm roughly emerged and gripped the washbasin.

Soon the rest of the giant body also poured out, filling the small bathroom completely.

A giant body dressed in a stylish brown three-piece suit, long legs, black laced shoes worn underneath, and….

A spherical television attached instead of a head.

A smile.

[]

The giant spherical TV head that emerged from inside the completely broken doll’s lower body tilted toward me.

[Kim Sol-eum!]

The head shook.

The Host was gripping my shoulder.

[My, you must have worried about me a lot. Haha! You don’t need to worry anymore. Now… your reliable Host, Brown has come here!]

The Host from the ghost story waved the tag between his fingers. The tattered upper body of the stuffed doll swayed back and forth.

[Ah, restoring this tag was truly an excellent choice! Thanks to it, I was able to find this address. Phew.]

[Ah, I won’t decline admiration, praise, and applause… but haha, to speak humbly, this was possible because I had just finished a live broadcast rehearsal.]

[Anyway, we’ve met again so quickly!]

“….”

[Kim Sol-eum?]

What is this?

[…You don’t look very happy. Hmm… Ah, is it perhaps because this cotton doll is broken? I see. Audiences are always influenced by what they see… That’s right!]

Snap.

The Host snapped his fingers.

[How about this?]

The emoticon disappeared from the TV head.

Instead, something walked out trudging from within the screen.

…A Good Friend rabbit doll wearing a bow tie.

[Now, here’s your friend with a cotton-stuffed body! How about it, isn’t it still cute even in my screen? Oh, it’s waving its hand.]

“Good Friend is….”

[That’s right. Isn’t it right here. Your Good Friend! Me, Brown!]

No.

“Good Friend is….”

“A doll.”

….

….

[Kim Sol-eum.]

Click.

A pinpoint light shone in the narrow studio space that had been a bathroom.

Now the spotlight was illuminating the Legendary Host and me.

I couldn’t turn my head.

[You seemed somewhat passive, but you were making a big mistake…. It’s fine. Though it’s awkward for me to say this myself, the one standing before you now is a very kind and capable show host.]

[As always, I have expertise in explanations. Now….]

The gloved hand properly picked up the broken doll instead of the tag.

The Good Friend rabbit doll that had been broadcasting from the TV screen attached instead of a head suddenly disappeared, and a smiling emoticon filled that space again.

And….

Whoooosh.

…The Good Friend stuffed doll in the Host’s hand.

Was incinerated.

[This is nothing at all.]

Pat pat, every time the Host dusted off his hands, less than a handful of ash fell from his gloves and scattered across the floor.

I stared at it blankly.

But.

‘Wasn’t it supposed to only let a part dwell in the doll, making it like a friend….’

[Now… let’s recall again. How did you call your friend?]

….

A strange item that invites someone from the Other Side World, letting part of their spirit dwell in a doll to make them a Friend.

So,

I, using the stuffed doll, necktie, and coins….

[Invited me.]

The Host points to himself.

[Does a dinner appointment get canceled because the telephone breaks? Do bills disappear because you destroy the mailbox? Do lovers break up because you tear up a love letter? We already know the answer.]

[Of course not!]

[Then… here’s the question.]

[Does your invitation get canceled because you destroy the doll?]

The Host spreads both arms.

[Of course not!]

Ah.

[What you performed was an eternal ritual. Oh, yes indeed….]

“….”

My stiffened mind slowly formulates the sentence.

‘So,’

The Good Friend Ritual wasn’t about summoning only part of a non-human being and trapping it in a doll to make it a friend.

That being was only limitedly revealed through the filter that the stuffed doll provided.

Like a children’s role-play.

[Do you wish to continue calling this ritual a friend? Then I have become your friend forever. Kim Sol-eum! Ah, what wonderful words – eternal friendship!]

The emoticon on the TV head briefly shows a touched, teary expression before returning to a smiling face.

[And our MVP Participant, once again showing perfect timing! This is exactly the right moment. Kim Sol-eum….]

The hand on my shoulder pats my back encouragingly.

And says.

[The new talk show preparations are complete.]

“…!”

[New staff, new set, new music, new season… all filming preparations are finished. My humble talk show exists solely for the audience’s enjoyment.]

[I’m delighted to introduce your new workplace….]

No.

I reflexively stepped back.

Open the door and get out first, escape this spotlight and clear my head, my thoughts….

[Oh my.]

The smiling emoticon inside the TV head disappears.

No.

The screen went black.

[You said you were a fan of my show and were so delighted just to apply as a participant, yet you want to run away at this moment of opportunity to become part of the talk show? After receiving all my advice and help, complete support and dedication, you make such a choice.]

[Kim Sol-eum, wasn’t friendship supposed to be a mutually complementary relationship? This emotional and unilateral rejection! I, I… am heartbroken.]

I feel like throwing up.

“S-sorry….”

[Oh my! But there’s no need to apologize. Kim Sol-eum. Thoughtless apologies aren’t a virtue needed by show creators.]

[And I’m a host who can always read and understand others’ inner thoughts and feelings….]

[So.]

The next moment.

[This Brown will wholeheartedly try to persuade you.]

Wide open.

The screen filled completely with smiling emoticons.

Filled.

Completely filled.

“Wait….”

But the giant spherical TV head keeps coming closer.

Closer.

Even.

Closer.

[Now….]

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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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