Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 140

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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 140

While I don’t know about Baekillmong Corporation’s ethics, the effectiveness of the potions they manufacture is certain.

Like magic.

“…!”

Flesh sprouted and grew from around the Bronze Agent’s severed thighs after drinking the C-Grade Regeneration Potion, and in an instant, the shape of complete legs began to be restored.

Go Young-eun swallowed her breath. Though she had used it herself before, this was her first time witnessing it, so she seemed to feel amazed.

I felt the same way.

Such a large area regenerating all at once, and this was just a C-Grade Regeneration Potion.

‘…I think it was worth about 10,000 points.’

It was an effect that would shock and mesmerize anyone who saw it.

I tried not to touch my right arm that had regrown thanks to the Nostalgia Candy, and watched the scene.

“Phew.”

Soon, the Bronze Agent mechanically checked the movement of his legs.

Then he stood up barefoot, grabbed the rope that had bound the Employee, and… avoided my gaze while bowing his head.

“…Thank you.”

“Yes.”

As if she couldn’t hold back any longer, Go Young-eun muttered quietly.

“…I think you could be a bit more grateful.”

Ah.

“What do you mean….”

“Let’s go outside and talk.”

I hurriedly defused their conversation and tried to get everyone back to the Base Camp that the Bronze Agent had set up.

But then the rope the Bronze Agent had tied began to tremble.

“…!”

Inside it, the forms of the Two Employees who had been subdued with holes and deflated began to writhe.

And over there.

The door to the Employee Area we had come from too.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud.

A sound like countless blunt objects colliding echoed, then the Iron Door swung open with a creaking sound as Employees poured out.

“…!”

“Th-this way!”

To avoid the Employees rushing toward us like mad, we hurriedly hid the Bronze Agent behind the Candlelight shadow.

The three-person capacity was filled again.

The three Agents pressed against the Wall and hurriedly retreated to avoid the chilling wave of Employees.

“…!!”

“It should be fine. Since you’ve entered the Candlelight….”

The Bronze Agent glanced at the Candle Go Young-eun was holding.

“…Was that originally yours too?”

“…Yes.”

I deliberately glanced at the Bronze Agent and muttered.

“Um, I made an excuse that it was an Item I received from the Bronze Agent… so, I’d be grateful if you could play along.”

“….”

The Bronze Agent nodded very slightly.

‘…He’s cooperative.’

Even though he must know it’s an Item obtained during the Baekillmong Corporation days, if he’s being this cooperative, it’s probably the effect of giving him the Regeneration Potion.

Creak creak creak creak creak creak creak creak creak creak creak creak

‘No, they’re making it impossible to think…!’

Meanwhile, the number of Employees surging in kept increasing. Go Young-eun’s ears grew paler as she stepped backward.

The Two Employees who had been shot by the pistol, grotesquely emerging as the rope’s effect wore off.

Other Employees who had poured out surrounded them and were circling around frantically.

Due to the sheer number of Employees, arms got crushed and heads were pressed down before popping back up.

It looked like some bizarre Ritual.

“That looks like they’re searching for whoever harmed the Employees….”

“If you damage Employees in this Mart and get spotted doing that… you’ll be chased until you’re caught.”

“…!”

But he shot both of them without hesitation and sat on top of them?

The Bronze Agent’s eyes hardened.

“…This time, since it was the end anyway, I was planning to handle it myself.”

“~!!”

Go Young-eun seemed to hold back something she wanted to say again.

“Let’s move quickly.”

“Yes.”

Anyway, we hurriedly moved our feet to escape from that bizarre group behavior.

Still, the continuous creaking, unpleasant pitched noise kept coming….

‘Phew.’

I looked down at the Floor, then saw the Bronze Agent’s bare feet stepping on the Mart Floor.

“Agent, do you have spare shoes….”

“…They’re in the Camping Store.”

Okay. I checked the time on my Wristwatch.

Fortunately, we found the Bronze Agent relatively quickly, so probably only about two or three hours had passed at most.

‘Even conservatively estimating the perceived time, it should still be around evening….’

Around 7 PM, I thought as I looked at the watch.

But….

[ 09 : 04 ]

Nine o’clock.

“…!”

I looked at the numbers again.

But the numbers that differed from my expectation by ten hours remained the same.

Of course, we couldn’t have gone back in time, so this means….

‘…It’s the next morning?’

“The time right now is strange….”

I realized as I was speaking.

“Grape Agent. In this Mart’s Employee Area, the flow of time is not consistent.”

“….”

No wonder the Employee Area seemed strangely patched together with spaces in a contextless manner – it made sense that such a setting would be attached to make it more eerie and bizarre.

‘It’s a cliché.’

Maybe it was even mentioned in the Darkness Investigation records, but it might not have stuck in my memory because it’s so common… no, that’s not what’s important right now.

‘…Then how long were the Kids by themselves?’

To make matters worse, the Bronze Agent muttered with a hardened face.

“Nine o’clock.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s move as quickly as possible. …There isn’t much time left for the protective barrier I set up in the Store.”

“…!!”

I almost sprinted at full speed to reach the Camping Store. It was impressive that I didn’t drop the candle.

“Huff, haaah….”

And I was right.

At the Camping Store, the High School Students were just about to escape.

“They’re not coming! And something’s wrong right now!”

“B-but….”

‘Good Lord.’

The Agents hadn’t returned even after a full day, and the sounds of Employees moving could be heard going crazy somewhere.

Thanks to that, they were completely terrified and seemed to be trying to flee to another floor.

How on earth could they move their Friend who had gone missing and was in a dazed state, or should they just leave her behind, and so on. The kids who had been desperately talking among themselves collapsed the moment they saw us.

“Ah!”

“A-Agent!”

This is driving me crazy.

We took the High School Students, who were pouring out words and tears with emotions somewhere between ‘why are you so late’ and ‘you came!’, back to the center of the Camping Store.

And the Bronze Agent quickly checked the defensive items like go stones that he had set up.

“How much time is left?”

“About an hour.”

Damn.

“At least we can rest safely for an hour. Let’s quickly do maintenance first.”

Go Young-eun immediately extinguished the candle and began checking the High School Students’ condition and figuring out what had happened.

…She was reliable.

‘Phew.’

“I’ll keep watch, so you can take care of your outfit.”

“…Yes.”

The Bronze Agent took advantage of Go Young-eun entering the tent to change into spare agent clothes that he seemed to have brought as backup.

I listened to the sounds beside him and pondered where on earth we should go after this Camping Store….

‘The Stair Landing is too narrow.’

…I really hoped the Store would be open for business today, but no, expecting such lucky things to happen was bad for mental health.

I swallowed the sugar taste from the Nostalgia Candy with my saliva.

And I turned my attention to something else.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“…Yes.”

The Bronze Agent took out several items from the Pocket of his original blood-stained agent uniform pants and quickly re-equipped himself.

But there was something among them that looked somehow unusual.

Because the Bronze Agent, who had casually taken out and organized his belongings in an instant, flinched when he picked this up.

…A white Grip Tok.

Must give

It had a handwritten Label attached.

…It somehow reminded me of the Memorial Grip Tok. It looked like something from the Disaster Management Bureau.

“Agent, that’s….”

“….”

The Bronze Agent looked at the Grip Tok silently, then eventually put it in his new clothes as well and muttered.

“It belongs to another Agent. I found it in the Supply Warehouse…”

I realized from that nuance.

‘…There was another Agent in the Storage Room.’

It seemed like he had taken it from the corpse of an Agent who had already died and been ‘stored’ in the Supply Warehouse for a long time.

The Bronze Agent finished adjusting his outfit completely and made eye contact with me.

And he asked quietly.

“Did you happen to enter the Supply Warehouse?”

“….”

I shook my head. A slight relief passed through the Agent’s eyes.

“You did well. From now on, avoid ‘places that feel somehow unpleasant’ as much as possible. Human intuition is quite a useful sense in these supernatural phenomena.”

“….”

What on earth was the condition inside the Storage Room.

But I could already guess what kind of state it was in, even if not specifically, through the descriptions in the .

‘…Dozens of dying people would be trapped there, rapidly contaminated while being processed as supplies.’

I tried not to imagine it and turned my attention away.

“So, what kind of item is it?”

But if it had been useful, the Bronze Agent would have already brought it up.

Sure enough, a somewhat complicated expression passed over the Agent’s face.

“…It’s an item that helps send a definitive rescue request text to the Disaster Management Bureau.”

“….”

Ah.

“It’s a Smartphone attachment item, so I wondered if I could send at least one message Outside… but it seems like it only sends when the user is a rescue target.”

It would be an item made with that kind of restriction to create the effect.

‘…The dead Agent was carrying it to give to someone.’

Of course, being able to send a definitive rescue request in this damn Ghost Story would be a good item, but it meant the conditions weren’t met.

I couldn’t imagine what kind of feelings the Bronze Agent had while enduring in the Supply Warehouse.

“Excuse me, are you finished changing?”

“…! Yes.”

Go Young-eun opened the tent Door and came out.

“Um, I think it would be good if the Bronze Agent could talk to them once. The Students already know that you have the highest rank among us.”

“….”

The Bronze Agent nodded slightly and entered the tent.

Go Young-eun sighed deeply and sat down next to me.

“…How are the Students’ conditions?”

“They’re fine. Once they focused on the fact that all the Agents had returned and even rescued someone, their morale really came back to life.”

…Because they wouldn’t know that we’d have to flee from this tent Store soon.

Phew.

Go Young-eun and I sighed at the same time.

“I hope… business resumes today.”

“…I hope so too.”

I really hoped so.

I deeply agreed and sat down.

“I mean, when we came in, it was operating just fine, but how many days has it been closed without operating….”

That’s right.

Every word matches my feelings exactly.

‘When we came in, it was operating just fine….’

….

….

Wait a minute.

“G-Grape?”

I got up from my spot and rushed to the tent.

And I opened the front vigorously.

“Agent!”

The Bronze Agent and High School Students opened their eyes wide and turned to look at me.

“Can you use that rescue request item right now?”

“Excuse me?”

The Bronze Agent looked at me with a momentarily bewildered expression, but soon answered again as kindly as possible, which didn’t match his fierce appearance.

“The item itself is in a usable state, but agents can’t use this in the first place.”

“What if a student uses it?”

“Duplicate requests… get pushed back in priority compared to the first report.”

The High School Students flinched.

Right. Those kids reported it, so we entered this damn Lucky Mart for rescue.

But still.

“There’s one more student, isn’t there.”

“…!”

I thought of the student who would still be lying there dazed in that tent over there.

The friend of these High School Students that the Bronze Agent had found, who had gone missing even earlier.

A citizen who had never once requested rescue from the Disaster Management Bureau.

“Please calm down, Agent.”

The Bronze Agent spoke calmly again, as if trying to calm me down.

“This is equipment that can only send 33-character text messages, making detailed explanations impossible in the first place.”

“That’s fine.”

Since I wasn’t suggesting we use it to inform them of our situation.

“That student can freely make a rescue request as they wish. …If they just do that.”

If my guess is correct.

I swallowed.

“…The mart will open today.”

“…!!”

I ran to the tent next door.

And I distributed one of the three remaining Nostalgia Candies to the High School Student who had been lying there continuously in a daze.

The student named ‘Lee Su-bin’.

To the Missing Person who had entered this mart several days before the High School Students who reported to us.

The High School Students who had come in together based on Go Young-eun’s judgment that it would be better to have familiar faces for stability were anxiously watching from the side.

The moment I unwrapped the Nostalgia Candy and put it in Student Lee Su-bin’s mouth.

“…”

“Su, Su-bin. Are you okay?”

Tears began streaming down from the student’s eyes.

And they sobbed.

“Sniff, huuuuuk…”

“It’s okay, it’s, it’s okay…”

The High School Students came over and hugged them tightly, not knowing what to do.

…Nostalgia Candy restores the body and mind to their peak state, but it’s not an item that erases painful memories or experiences from the head.

I calmly waited for the friends to help Student Lee Su-bin calm down.

While checking the time.

[ 09 : 22 ]

And when it became a timing where I could no longer wait.

[ 09 : 43 ]

That’s when I opened my mouth.

“Student Lee Su-bin.”

“Sniff sniff, yes…”

“Actually, we absolutely need your help to get out of here faster.”

I held out the smartphone with the grip tok attached to the student.

“Could you write your name and identity, write that you’re currently at Lucky Mart, and send a rescue request?”

“…”

“Please.”

The student grabbed the smartphone with trembling hands.

And began writing frantically.

[Please save me I’m trapped in Lucky Mart I’m Lee Su-bin living in XX District please]

It was text that seemed written in blood. Tears streamed down from the High School Student’s eyes as they moved their fingers.

And… sent.

“…”

“You’ve worked hard. Please rest for a bit.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell them to spit out the Nostalgia Candy.

…If my guess was wrong, then I might really have to make them spit it out to save it.

‘For now, I have to wait.’

I left the High School Students together and came out of the tent.

Creak.

Go Young-eun, who had been sitting in front, looked at me.

I sat next to her and kept checking the clock until the time came.

Until ten o’clock, opening time, arrived.

[ 09 : 51 ]

The Bronze Agent prepares to retrieve the protective items.

[ 09 : 54 ]

I calculated how long we could last in the 2nd Floor Food Court if we failed.

[ 09 : 58 ]

In the worst case, who should receive the two Escape Items.

And…

[ 09 : 59 ]

The time approaches.

All three of us raised our heads and began looking at the ceiling and air.

Waiting for a signal.

Like that…

[ 10 : 00 ]

It’s time.

“….”

“….”

“Grape Agent, are you okay….”

Na na na na na na nan na na na na na nan~

“…!!”

A bell-like notification sound begins to fill the store.

–Lucky Mart’s doors have opened. We will greet all our customers who visit us today with bright smiles~

A cheerful announcement voice.

The familiar logo song began to ring out cheerfully through the mart without any distortion.

Beep beep beep beep.

The mart lights up brightly, and sunlight begins to shine through the window glass from outside.

And the strange Employees disappear as if rewinding.

Making creaking strange sounds, they went into the gap of the open iron door of the Employee Area as if being sucked in….

Thud.

The door closed, and they all disappeared.

Without a trace.

“….”

Business had finally resumed.

“Huff.”

‘…I’m alive.’

I slumped down in my spot.

“It worked! It worked!!”

That’s right.

Go Young-eun hit my shoulder with the most excited face she’d had in the past few days, looking around the store with a flushed face as if she was about to cry.

“How on earth did you… No! That’s not important! Let’s get out of this crazy place first and talk!”

However, Bronze Agent, who had been looking at the store with a dazed expression, immediately turned to me with a face that realized something.

“The rescue request! Could this be….”

“Yes.”

Did he catch on?

I finally smiled and answered.

“For rescue agents to enter, the mart needs to be in operating condition.”

“…!”

That’s right.

‘It’s a kind of reverse thinking.’

I created a situation where the mart absolutely had to operate for things to ‘make sense.’

It’s exactly… a matter of prerequisites.

“You definitely said there was no way to prevent people from entering Lucky Mart.”

Not only in the rescue agent manual I received, but it was also precisely recorded in the Darkness Investigation records.

The entry conditions are also written out.

Lucky Mart entry conditions: Move for more than 20 minutes looking for a mart within a 3km radius around the building where Lucky Mart used to be.

What this means is.

‘As long as you follow those conditions, you can immediately enter this terrible ghost story called Lucky Mart.’

If we think about this differently.

“Then, when someone wants to enter, Lucky Mart must necessarily be in business.”

-For a victim to enter, that day’s Lucky Mart must be open for business.

“And….”

“A new agent will be coming in today.”

Go Young-eun suddenly spoke up.

Her face was flushed with shock and realization.

“Because a High School Student made a rescue request earlier, so they’ll be entering!”

Correct.

So today, for an agent from the Disaster Management Bureau to come after receiving a support request….

“Yes. Today is necessarily a day when we must operate.”

I smiled.

Go Young-eun smiled along for a moment, but soon confusion filled her face.

“…? Wait a minute. Then the cause and effect are backwards….”

That’s also correct.

“It’s not that missing people occur because the doors open, but rather the doors open in the morning because missing people need to occur for the doors to be open. The time sequence is completely messed up.”

“That’s why it’s a ghost story.”

It follows bizarre, backwards, strange laws that we can’t understand….

Like this 3rd Floor with endless event stores of all seasons.

“That’s true.”

Confusion was replaced by calmness and active uneasiness on Go Young-eun’s face.

She looked like she wanted to run out of this mart immediately.

…I sympathize.

So let’s get out quickly.

We immediately got up and started preparing to leave.

‘I have gift certificates and escape items too.’

This should be enough for all three High School Students and the three of us to get out.

“Excellent.”

Bronze Agent whispered quietly while preparing.

And he glanced at the three students coming out of the tent, happy about being able to ‘get out now.’

“Those citizens are being rescued thanks to Grape Agent.”

Honestly, that wasn’t true. If either Bronze Agent or Go Young-eun hadn’t been there, we all would have died….

Anyway, just as I was about to say thank you.

“….”

I suddenly.

Thought that my mouth felt too comfortable to speak.

Whatever had been interfering with my pronunciation was gone.

‘Ah.’

And I realized I could no longer taste the sweet sugar in my mouth.

“….”

The Nostalgia Candy had completely melted away.

Which means….

“…!”

“Agent!”

A frenzied, intense pain struck the right side of my body.

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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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