Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 126

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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 126

Kim Sol-eum’s body runs through the maze-like long and dizzying studio corridors.

Rumble rumble rumble.

Lee Ja-heon once again traversed the narrow indoor space shaking with thunderous noise at an absurd speed.

Speed and bold movements that made even the original body’s owner, watching through CCTV-like vision, hold their breath and sweat nervously.

And before long….

“It’s the door.”

Filming in Progress

Double doors with a sign came into view. Manager Lee Ja-heon broke the door lock without hesitation and entered.

Bang!

Beyond the door he kicked open.

-…!

A surprisingly vast studio set appeared.

A space so enormous it was overwhelming in itself.

However, the main talk show stage set in the center….

Already looked like it couldn’t function properly.

-….

The ceiling where lights had sparkled was already half-collapsed. Debris from destroyed lighting and steel frames, along with dust, had messily dirtied the furniture and floor on stage.

And through those gaps, sacred fire bombardment continued to pour down endlessly.

The audience seats were in chaos, buzzing with commotion. Unable to leave their seats, they seemed contaminated, finding the whole situation entertaining at first, but would soon scream for help.

Kim Sol-eum suppressed a groan.

-…The live broadcast seems completely ruined.

The traces of a destroyed show variety program were there….

And.

[Oh.]

An entertainer standing alone on the half-destroyed stage.

[Coming here on your own feet.]

The host.

It was simply leaning against the desk in the ruins of the studio where lights had gone out and half-collapsed, using the sacred fires falling like meteors as lighting.

It seemed to already know who had dared to destroy the set. However, it didn’t shout in anger.

It simply quietly watched Kim Sol-eum who had burst into the set.

As if it knew that what was moving that body was not a friend, but a mercenary dwelling through an emergency caller.

-….

At the feeling of making eye contact with the host beyond his vision, Kim Sol-eum swallowed.

-Team Leader.

“Yes.”

-From now on… something outrageous is probably going to happen.

The host extended its hand.

As if it was still hosting a talk show, it proceeded.

[I’m delighted to introduce the culprit behind this incident!]

Click.

One remaining unbroken spotlight shone down on Kim Sol-eum.

[The one who destroyed the talk show set and caused chaos during the live broadcast… oh, surprisingly, it’s an audience member who attended the last broadcast!]

[Please welcome them with applause. Ah, booing would be a fine choice too!]

It immediately recognized the identity of Manager Lee Ja-heon controlling Kim Sol-eum’s body.

[Shouldn’t such a heinous criminal face appropriate hardship and challenges, and… punishment!]

The stage grew increasingly darker.

[Yes, in medieval times, executions were festivals. Of course, our talk show doesn’t do boring things like hangings!]

[Today we get to introduce a surprise new corner! It’s….]

The silhouette of the host raising both hands in the darkness

grew larger and larger.

Like a shadow cast behind a wall.

Bigger and bigger.

Thud.

The set walls that had surrounded them disappeared into the darkness.

On the stage floating in mid-air,

a giant spherical TV head descended.

Thud!

A spherical TV as large as the stage.

That head settled in place, crushing the central guest entrance as if replacing the studio’s background wall.

The host’s giant gloved hand supported the area below the TV as if resting its chin, while the other hand pointed precisely at Kim Sol-eum’s body like firing a gun.

[Amazing stunts! Dizzying danger! Horribly fun and eerily thrilling… punishment acrobatics!]

On the TV screen, a new signboard sparkling with dozens of dazzling light bulbs flickered.

Brown’s

Exciting Penalty

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump…

The drumroll echoes.

The Host’s gloved finger joints are drumming against the set.

A drumbeat like the moment before a circus trick.

-…Surely, they won’t try to kill you right away.

Lee Ja-heon raised his head while listening to the body’s owner’s advice.

-Since it’s still a live broadcast.

The black TV screen

comes pouring down.

[It starts now!]

Thump.

It swallowed Kim Sol-eum’s shadowy figure.

…

…

[Now…]

The old TV raised its head again.

Now Kim Sol-eum’s shadowy figure was trapped within that screen.

The audience gets excited and entertained by this amazing magic trick and sends applause.

[Then, shall we see some tricks?]

The lights sparkle.

Subtitles appear.

Penalty 1

Happy Ending Teddy Bear

Countless teddy bear-shaped monsters with bared teeth pour down on Kim Sol-eum in the TV, trying to peel off his skin.

Just like they did to their former owners who mistreated them.

However, Kim Sol-eum’s body displays amazing strength, grabbing the teddy bears’ snouts and making them bite each other to escape danger.

He runs.

The scenery in the TV changes, and suddenly a background appears.

City night. An alley.

A manhole on the floor.

Penalty 2

Manhole Arms

Trampling the bizarre arms that shot up from the manhole, Kim Sol-eum climbs up by hanging from a streetlight like an acrobat.

Long, skeletal arms barely grazed behind him.

Penalties taking the form of guests that Kim Sol-eum had chosen to recruit so far.

Ruthlessly and comically, they try to corner Kim Sol-eum into a dead end…

[Oh my.]

Kim Sol-eum barely breaks through everything.

Even with his left arm fractured and his forehead cracked, he doesn’t get caught and the penalty doesn’t end.

But as the numbers increase, the penalties become more violent and terrible.

Penalty 3, Penalty 4, Penalty 5…

Clang!

Kim Sol-eum gets part of his hair cut instead of his head, sliding out from under the knife of the Delicacy Restaurant that cooks intelligent beings…

And then.

Penalty 6

Red Scarecrow

A vast cornfield.

Among the densely grown stalks and leaves, a grotesque form with countless limbs wraps around everywhere and chases Kim Sol-eum like a centipede.

By this point, it had become impossibly difficult to escape…

But the one controlling Kim Sol-eum’s body was Employee D, a named Field Investigation worker from .

He dodges like an acrobat and counterattacks. The gleaming Blood Absorption knife.

Slash, he cuts off three or four of the scarecrow’s arms. Gasps erupted from the audience seats.

However, it was a matter of time.

There was no way to defeat the Monster from the Ghost Story of the cornfield with force rather than gimmicks in the cornfield.

There were definitely limits to a body that was already injured…

‘…Is this a penalty designed expecting me to die here?’

Kim Sol-eum waited.

He waited and waited… until the moment the scarecrow rushed at him like it was pouncing.

-Now!

Lee Ja-heon turned direction at a right angle following Kim Sol-eum’s advice.

And began running at a terrifying speed.

Toward the TV screen.

“Whoa!”

“He’s getting bigger!”

And then.

[Oh!]

He succeeds in jumping out of the TV.

Kim Sol-eum’s body rolls on the floor, and Lee Ja-heon lands that body with a breakfall technique.

Waaaaaaah!!!

That’s insane!!

The audience’s cheers poured out.

[Amazing! My goodness!]

The Host seemed to have forgotten his anger by now.

As if the only important thing was that a good show had been completed, a smiling emoticon appeared on the TV along with his bright voice.

[To pass even the 6th penalty, it was truly a nail-biting thrill! Ah, truly wonderful. Did everyone enjoy it?!]

Yes!!

Cheers and responses came from the audience seats.

And the Host also responded with a gentle voice from within the giant TV.

[Now, then…]

[Go back in and receive the 7th penalty.]

The TV Head draws closer again.

[The audience’s cheers were sweet, weren’t they? You must repay those passionate cheers. Oh, with such a good reaction, we can’t end it here. Continue. Continue….]

At that moment.

One Faceless Staff member who barely managed to pull out a sketchbook from the collapsed debris lifts it up from below the stage.

Emergency notification.

[…Aha!]

The TV stops.

[It’s commercial time.]

The audience’s disappointed cries.

[Haha, I’m disappointed too, but we’ll have to wrap up this surprise corner here. Instead, a spectacular show ending awaits you all!]

[The short commercial beforehand will only build more anticipation!]

The smiling emoticon in the giant TV bows its head.

[That’s right. When the cameras turn off, when the audience’s gaze disappears, when the stage lights go out…]

To Kim Sol-eum’s form.

[Who could possibly guarantee what wonderful thing will happen to the performer of a finished corner.]

“…”

[We’ll continue shortly.]

Click.

The camera lights disappeared.

The staff don’t come up to clean the half-destroyed stage.

On the dark stage where the murmuring sounds of the audience could be heard clearly.

The Host raised his hand.

Staring at the performer of the surprise corner whose time was up, who had outlived his usefulness.

Toward the ruffian who dared to destroy the set and smash his friend.

And, the giant fingers slowly came together to make a sound…

“Brown.”

The hand stopped.

“Did you incinerate my ‘Cotton-stuffed Body’?”

…

[Aha, so you went back there.]

[Don’t tell me you came to ask for help? How shameless. But that’s also a virtue of broadcasting…]

“No.”

Lee Ja-heon emotionlessly recited what Kim Sol-eum was saying.

“I just had something I wanted to ask.”

The emoticon disappeared from the TV Head.

‘As expected.’

Kim Sol-eum was certain.

Right now Brown couldn’t see into his inner thoughts.

Well, it was Lee Ja-heon who was out front talking to Brown right now.

Just because someone reads a script doesn’t mean they can read all the thoughts of the person who wrote it.

And the same was true for himself.

‘I’m not there.’

He was seeing and hearing everything indirectly.

Originally, situational factors have a big influence on persuasion.

But since only refined information was coming in through the screen and conversation, Kim Sol-eum could endure without helplessly falling for the great Host’s ‘Persuasion’.

If so, then true dialogue was possible.

A ‘conversation’ where neither knows what the other is thinking, yet they listen to what the other is trying to say and make an effort to understand and comprehend the meaning.

“Want to hear it first? It’s probably a question you didn’t expect…”

[Ah. Bluffing on stage sometimes has substance too.]

[But that only works on those who aren’t entertainers.]

The master of the talk show ghost story stares at him without eyes.

[To this Brown! If you think that some clichéd script, lines, urban legends, or discourse you’ve heard somewhere will succeed in impressing me and smoothing over the situation, that would be a truly pitiful misconception…]

However.

“It’s not like that. It’s just a personal question.”

The voice is calm.

[‘Personal question’?]

“Yeah.”

Kim Sol-eum’s mouth opens.

“Was it very frustrating being Good Friend?”

[ ]

The TV screen stopped moving.

However, the smooth voice still continues.

[An existence that finds the given mask frustrating has no qualification to take the stage.]

[In that sense, this Brown has never once considered the mask frustrating either…]

“I see. I was quite frustrated and scared while being a stuffed doll earlier. I wondered if you felt the same way.”

[Oh, formation of sympathy and empathy. How typical. You’ve made a predictable and outdated judgment.]

[Please elaborate at length on why I shouldn’t incinerate you and that swordsman entirely.]

[Before the commercial break ends.]

“…”

Kim Sol-eum thought.

He was certainly standing here with a betting mindset, driven by fear and prediction that if he escaped as is, he might face an even more terrible ending in the near future.

But betting can only happen when there’s a possibility.

Kim Sol-eum hadn’t placed his bet on this situation without any basis either.

The possibility he had grasped was this.

“Then were you happy being Good Friend?”

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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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