Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 147

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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 147

I never knew there would be a crazy bastard who could recognize someone just by the blood vessels on their wrist exposed between gloves and sleeves.

‘Agent Choi.’

And I never thought I’d be the one to experience it.

‘This is insane.’

A situation that goes beyond creepy and makes a person freeze up completely.

But I can’t freeze up.

I need to act moderately, just moderately flustered so I don’t look suspicious.

So then…

“Excuse me?”

I’d rather turn it around and be suspicious of him instead.

I acted flustered, then openly swallowed while looking at him.

And I stepped backward as if I’d been caught by a cult member on the street.

“S-sorry, sorry but… I have a companion waiting for me.”

“Huh??”

“I’ll be going now.”

The point being that I didn’t recognize you as Agent Choi.

‘If it’s a new agent whose mental state is shot from having their arm cut off, it’s entirely possible they wouldn’t recognize a senior agent who visited them once just by looking at their eyes…!’

Especially if they’re timid but mustered up courage to enter this insane space within a ghost story.

‘This way, he’ll also be flustered and make excuses…’

“Oh well, sure. Take care~ See you at work.”

“…”

Holy shit.

‘I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.’

In the end, I opened my mouth.

As if I was speaking with uncertainty after hearing the word ‘work.’

“…By any chance, are you that person I saw in the hospital room, um, my superior…”

“Oh~ Now you recognize me. Good.”

Agent Choi patted my shoulder and casually tried to lead me toward the outskirts. Wait a minute…!

“Um, I was trying to buy that thing…”

“Come on, it’s been sitting there unsold for 5 years, right? Let’s have a chat. I’m happy to run into you in a place like this. …Why is a new employee who should be in a hospital room here?”

“…”

I deliberately fumbled for my fake right arm inside my coat.

I could feel Agent Choi’s gaze.

“…I heard that I might be able to get something here to temporarily use in place of my arm.”

“Ah~ Who told you that? Jae-gwan?”

“I cannot tell you.”

That’s a trap!

Quickly giving the name of whoever introduced me would be proof that I was lying to get out of the situation.

At the very least, it doesn’t match the character I was building at the Management Bureau. Because I’m cowardly!

“Wow, you’re loyal.”

Sure enough, Agent Choi laughed and patted my shoulder.

I knew this direction was right…

“Or maybe you thought making something up would be found out immediately.”

“…”

“Something like that? Uhahaha!”

Aaaaargh!!

“It’s fine. What agent doesn’t have circumstances? You might have something you can’t talk about.”

“…”

“Let’s see… you were trying to buy that thing? Should we at least observe it?”

Agent Choi focuses on the arm I was trying to make a deal for.

A bloody, crumpled piece of paper clutched tightly in a hand missing its pinky finger.

“But that looks like something completely unrelated to an arm.”

“…”

“Why were you trying to buy it? I don’t understand.”

Shit.

In that case!

“…They looked.”

“Huh?”

I hung my head low.

“…They looked desperate.”

“…”

“They were just clutching a piece of paper, and since I could see bloodstains on that paper, I speculated that maybe… they were holding onto some kind of rescue message.”

It’s the truth.

Not now, but it was my speculation when I first read the record of this arm appearing in .

Anyway, Agent Choi was silent for a moment.

N-now’s my chance. I’ll make excuses…!

“I didn’t know it had been here for 5 years though…”

“Our junior, let’s think about this together for a moment.”

Agent Choi grabbed my shoulder and turned me slightly.

So I could see the disgusting sight of countless arms rippling on the wall of the trading hall directly in front of me.

“Do you think there’s anyone here worth sending a rescue request to?”

“…”

“They all voluntarily entered this bizarre place and are trying to sell things. The probability of them being in a situation requiring rescue seems low, doesn’t it.”

That’s…

“I think we could skip it, what do you think?”

That’s an uncharacteristic statement from Agent Choi.

I mean, based on the Agent Choi I knew from .

‘This person… was an agent who desperately tried to save even one more person somehow.’

Agent Choi was an early named character.

And in the early days of when there was only the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, exploration records were often written with emphasis on the government agency’s attribute of ‘rescuing civilians.’

Then settings were added for the sake of realism and ease of story buildup.

But Agent Choi was a named character from before this setting was added.

Naturally, it meant he was the type of agent who would overexert himself trying to save citizens down to the very last person.

In that process, he would use underhanded or ingenious methods and came to possess various abilities and items… but his essence never changed.

Until he went missing and was presumed dead at Lucky Mart.

“…”

As expected.

I think this would be okay too.

“I’ll still try anyway.”

“…?!”

I suddenly reached out with the item I had prepared.

Toward the arm missing its pinky finger that I had found.

“No, that arm won’t make exchanges…”

Whoosh.

An arm roughly stretched out its hand.

“…!”

And the hand missing its pinky finger devoured the item I offered with a crunching sound.

Flutter, I barely caught the scrap of paper it had been holding as it fell onto the dirty floor.

Meanwhile, Agent Choi’s eyes narrowed as he confirmed the shape of the item I had offered.

“…Coins?”

“Ah, they’re not ordinary coins… I, I brought them from another ghost story.”

It was true, actually.

Though it was a secret that the ghost story was Baekillmong Corporation’s twilight-grade ghost story for custom equipment, the ‘Kind Seed Kit.’

Right.

That was the first exclusive equipment I had ever made for the Field Investigation Team.

‘Third Hand…!’

Coin-shaped equipment that could summon hands in the air.

Given the nature of this arm, the conditions for the items it required were all too clear.

Items created from ghost stories that Baekillmong Corporation had been isolating and utilizing in its early days.

This was definitely it.

But since Baekillmong Corporation employees were essentially blacklisted at this trading post, deals had been left unfinished for 5 years….

‘Done.’

I felt a small, thrilling sense of achievement as I held the paper in my hand.

Of course, I didn’t just boldly invest exclusive equipment without planning to use it right away—I had a way to recover it all later.

For now, the urgent matter was Agent Choi.

I offered the excuse I had thought up.

“I thought currency might be immediately helpful in a ghost story…. I, I remembered how it was at the mart.”

By the way, the Lucky Mart gift certificate disappeared completely, including the remaining balance, as soon as we left the mart. It truly was a ghost story mart run by vicious bastards.

Anyway, I thought it was an appropriately new employee-like attitude.

‘It would look like I didn’t really know that different ghost stories might use different currencies and just offered it anyway.’

And luckily, it worked.

I’ll go with that narrative.

“Hmm… Junior. That arm has been left alone for 5 years—didn’t you think any situation that needed help would already be over?”

“Still… the arm is still there.”

I finally smiled a little.

“The fact that bartering works means there’s someone to receive it, I figured…. Th, um, of course it’s just speculation and I could be wrong.”

“….”

Agent Choi stared at me intently, then….

“Ah~ I really like this!”

“…?!”

“Yes, this is it! It’s rare to find someone who uses their head and imagination like this. Plausibly!”

Agent Choi patted my hat-covered head. Ugh!!

And he lowered his voice so those around couldn’t hear, speaking secretively.

“As expected….”

As expected?

“Coming to our Genmu Team 1.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmph.”

I was sick of it….

‘Still, I’m glad I seem to have avoided suspicion for now….’

“But you said you were scared to join the Emergency Rescue Unit, yet you have the guts to enter this dangerous place alone.”

“….”

“Then… couldn’t you survive in Genmu Team 1 too?”

Damn.

Is this a threat? Join us if you don’t want to be suspected?

My head became complicated.

But the moment the next words came out.

“Your fear in the first place. Actually, it’s an illusion that appeared because you overworked from your first mission….”

I exploded.

“No, I’m scared to death! I’m really scared!!”

“…?!”

“But I have to endure it because there’s no choice! I can’t just say I can’t do anything because I’m scared, as a new employee!”

I’ll die if I don’t!!

“How could I not be scared of missing an arm! Even though I was scared something might go wrong, I endured it and came here!”

I spoke as if spitting blood.

It was partly intentional, but the resentment I’d built up from this crazy ghost story world’s constraint company burst out, making me genuinely upset.

…Agent Choi was looking at me with his mouth open.

“S, sorry?”

“….”

“There, there. Junior. Congratulations on your first trade, and um… right, the note! We should check the note. How about it?”

“…Yes.”

I took a deep breath.

Still, I couldn’t remember the last time I could speak this honestly in a situation like this… it was somewhat refreshing.

After going this far, he won’t try to drag me to the Emergency Rescue Unit… please.

“Sorry for shouting.”

“Nah, it’s fine. There are plenty of people doing crazy things here. It’s nice to feel 3 seconds of attention.”

So it looked like crazy behavior. I understand….

I sighed.

“I… I can’t remember the last time I shouted like this.”

“Oh my, your house must not be soundproofed well.”

“No. I don’t… have a house right now.”

“….”

“I do want to go back though.”

“I see.”

Phew.

I could finally calm my breathing and unfold the note in my hand.

‘Agent Choi has gotten quiet for some reason.’

Anyway, it’s better since he’s not bothering people anymore.

I turned my attention back to the note.

Inside the bloody scrap of paper I carefully opened with one hand….

Letters scrawled in blood had dried and stuck to it.

Look here

There’s a toy that

empathizes and pays attention

The blood plastered all over the paper had flowed out as these very letters smeared….

‘Ha.’

It was like a horror movie prop. I wanted to throw the note away immediately, but someone conveniently helped.

“Wait a moment.”

Agent Choi naturally took the paper I was holding.

I deliberately didn’t stop him.

Agent Choi placed some kind of strange dowsing device on the paper and began examining it.

‘That was also issued equipment from the Disaster Management Bureau.’

However, the tracking rod showed no reaction to the paper note I had bought.

“Hmm, nothing mysterious about it. It’s just an ordinary note. The text is…”

Agent Choi chuckled.

“Seems like it’s trying to lure people into a ghost story?”

“That might be it.”

But I took the note from Agent Choi’s hands and carefully put it away.

“Oh~ But you’re keeping it?”

“Yes.”

I lowered my head as if slightly embarrassed.

“Just in case there really is a rescue request hidden in it… I thought I’d take it and examine it myself.”

“…”

Agent Choi also didn’t ask why I wasn’t reporting it to higher-ups.

The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau wasn’t a leisurely organization that could afford to analyze ordinary notes left by suspicious unknown individuals that had been neglected for five years.

There were plenty of ghost stories killing people right now.

It was an obvious fact that even a newly hired agent would know – ambiguous cases like this always got pushed down in priority.

‘Agent Choi himself just said as much.’

However… here I make a move.

I hesitated before holding out the note.

“Um, Senior, if you have time, could you please check it once more…?”

“…!”

Actually, with this note, I just need to memorize the content – the note itself isn’t necessary.

And given its nature, there was no problem leaving it with a Disaster Management Bureau agent who could recognize ghost stories.

“Alright. I’ll take a look at it too.”

“Ah, thank you…!”

I quickly handed over the paper. I hope this gets me off the suspect list, even a little.

After that, the atmosphere flowed a bit more smoothly.

“Is that okay?”

“Yes. Thank you…”

Under Agent Choi’s supervision, I barely managed to obtain one item I wanted to buy.

‘It was difficult.’

Not just the surveillance, but choosing the item itself.

What you can get here are mainly items from typical ghost story worldviews.

What this means is that they’re not items refined by major corporations or filtered by aliens to guarantee customer safety.

They have terrible side effects.

That was the premise.

These weren’t things made for humans to use beneficially in the first place.

The sellers are often not in their right minds either, so the items you receive are often not normal either…

What was surprising was that Agent Choi wasn’t just monitoring me, but actually trying to help.

“This place is exactly like Hanyang. It’s a place where you’ll get your nose cut off while your eyes are open, you know? If you watch what your senior does and follow along…”

…Though it didn’t always work out well.

“…Someone already bought it.”

“…”

“It’s, it’s okay. The next one is good too! Forward to the next stall~”

Still, like a veteran, he knew the origins and specific side effects of items I didn’t know about, so I could carefully ‘purchase’ things.

Yeah. That’s all well and good.

‘He made me buy items he knew about.’

In the end, he put my movements under his control.

Whether this was a strong expression of suspicion or if he was really looking out for me… even I, who had read through all of Agent Choi’s activities in the , couldn’t tell.

‘Of course, I wanted to buy that item anyway, so it was more like I let myself be guided…’

The scary part was that I probably would have bought it reluctantly even if he hadn’t.

I sighed while touching the item in my pocket.

‘Phew.’

Agent Choi accompanied me until just before his time limit was up, then even saw me off.

While waving the paper scrap I had bought.

“Then I’ll check this note once more and return it to you?”

“Yes. Thank you…”

Actually, there was no real need to return it. I had already memorized it.

And there was actually no meaning in Agent Choi checking it either.

Because…

That note wasn’t even related to ghost stories in the first place.

‘It’s a psychological trap.’

Since it’s a marketplace where ghost story personnel trade, naturally you’d assume it contains text related to ghost stories.

But no.

If you had to categorize it… yeah.

It’s a ‘legacy.’

Let’s look at the note again.

Look here

This refers to a ‘here’ that actually exists in reality.

In other words, ‘some place.’

Then looking at the next sentence…

Empathizing and paying attention

There are toys

The grammar was awkward and lacked context.

Because it was a forced, pieced-together sentence.

‘So I break it down.’

What remains is…

Empathizing and paying attention

There are toys

Three words.

And with three words and a ‘location’, it becomes the perfect hint for deduction.

‘what3words’, there’s an address system that expresses a 3m x 3m area using three words.

‘If I substitute these words and search…’

Immediately, a small location in Seoul’s old downtown appears.

I was standing there right now.

“…”

Word coordinates pointing to a position that awkwardly bypassed buildings, between a cluster of small commercial buildings.

What was there was…

A manhole.

To be precise, an old manhole cover was roughly propped up next to the wall of a vacant store.

As if it had been leaned against that wall.

As if suggesting something.

“…”

I pushed the manhole cover.

Creak.

Surprisingly, it moved more lightly than expected. And behind it…

There were semi-basement stairs leading down to the floor.

“…”

A hidden place.

Why did the arm without a pinky finger tell me about this location?

And why did it only accept items from the early days of Daydream Corporation as payment?

It was simple.

‘Because it’s a force related to Daydream Corporation.’

“Whew.”

I finished going down the stairs and raised my head.

[Dream Cultivation Room]

Daydream Corporation’s Dream Synthesis Machine.

The research laboratory of that prototype created long, long ago was now revealed before my eyes.

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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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