Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 154

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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 154

Rejuvenation.

It’s humanity’s dream, but since no one has ever succeeded through science, there probably isn’t anyone who has experienced actually becoming younger in reality.

But in this Ghost Story World, I’m experiencing it… that very rejuvenation!

…Though my height has been cut in half.

“Achoo.”

“Oh oh, be careful, kids catch cold easily.”

I looked at Agent Choi, who was covering me with a blanket while making an excited expression, and fell silent for a moment.

It was absurd.

‘I’m losing my sense of reality.’

Me being 8 years old!

My state of having returned to elementary school lower grades was very strange.

Those protagonists in old cartoons who adapted immediately after becoming younger were all lies. A child’s senses are several times sharper and their stamina mysteriously overflows with energy.

I thought I’d stumble awkwardly due to my shortened reach, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

“It’s because of dokkaebi mischief.”

The Bronze Agent explained it neatly.

Of course, that was neat by the standards of a Darkness Investigation Records veteran, but it wasn’t neat at all for a new employee.

So I gave an appropriate reaction.

“D-dokkaebi mischief…?”

“Think of it as a supernatural phenomenon that deceives reality. It’s not a disaster, and it can’t be used for evil purposes at all. Because it’s ‘mischief.'”

Hmm. That was a good explanation.

I glanced at the dokkaebi fire dwelling in my arm and recalled the explanation from Darkness Investigation Records that I knew.

“As you’ve probably guessed, the Disaster Management Bureau is quite deeply connected with dokkaebi. So you can think that the Team Manager of Xuanwu Team 1 can also use ‘dokkaebi mischief,’ for now.”

You’re openly telling me there’s deeper backstory and that you’ll tell me when I have more experience. Thank you…

“Huh, Jaegwan, you told him too much? What do we do, Junior. You might get memory erasure!”

“…”

“Hmph. You’re already not falling for it.”

The Bronze Agent pressed his temples. It was quite strange seeing a young child making an expression like he’d lived through everything…

“When Agent Choi says things not directly related to work… you don’t have to respond.”

“Hey! That’s too much. Fine, I’ll just say work-related things!”

Child Agent Choi’s grumbling was slightly less annoying.

“Anyway, so dokkaebi mischief is basically all trickery~ Since we haven’t really become children of the New Country, keep that in mind.”

“Yes.”

I understand what you mean…

“But senses deceive the body, and the body deceives the mind.”

Agent Choi grinned and leaned his head forward.

Having a child’s appearance while making an adult’s expression felt somehow strange, giving off a slightly eerie feeling.

“While in this form, your emotions will strangely become uncontrollable, your stamina will overflow with energy, and your strength will weaken.”

Because you’re a child.

“That’s why we work in pairs of two. When there’s a colleague who’s become a child next to you, you try to stay alert and take care of them, so the adult ego manifests a bit~”

“…”

I see.

“Mischief is mischief after all, so be careful not to get swallowed by it!”

“Yes…! I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Oh my, our new employee answers so well.”

Around that time, the Disaster Management Bureau vehicle that was transporting us stopped.

Ah, due to physical condition issues, it was difficult to ride bicycles, so this time a van carried us.

The destination was quite far too.

“We’ve arrived.”

Clack.

The door opened and what was revealed was…

Swoooosh…

The seaside.

In the chilly early spring, the seaside without sunlight had a somehow desolate and solemn atmosphere.

If someone said there was a ghost story about children going missing there, anyone would nod in agreement…

“Not there, this way.”

“…?!”

I turned my head following Agent Choi’s gesture.

That was… an old, super-sized sashimi restaurant.

‘Good heavens.’

A yellowtail neon sign flickers its tail on the huge signboard. Very avant-garde.

However, there was a notice posted on the glass door.

[Closed Today]

But the three children approached the restaurant door and placed their hands on the door handle.

“We’re going to the Dragon Palace from now on.”

Entry location.

Children’s playroom attached to large restaurants that handle marine life, such as seafood centers and sashimi restaurants.

At this time, the floor area of the playroom must exceed 49㎡, and there must be a red cylindrical slide.

Also, pictures related to underwater kingdoms must be observed on the walls.

(When the murals of playrooms meeting these conditions were changed, distorted similar sea pictures began to be spotted irregularly. Complete blocking of entry is presumed impossible.)

“Confirmed.”

“Good.”

The Bronze Agent cleared away toys with arms shorter than before and revealed poster-type wallpaper printed there.

The Mermaid Princess and smiling fish, and behind them coral and shells, a cute castle shaped like a conch shell.

And next to it, a red slide ride like a playground slide and a ball pit.

“Wow, nostalgic. Places like this really never disappear. Is it because there’s steady demand?”

“Stop chatting and let’s prepare.”

“Yes.”

Even this bickering sounds relatively warm and friendly when heard in children’s voices.

“Junior, you read the entire manual, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Good. Let’s do it.”

I stood at the exit of the red slide following the children.

Entry method.

With eyes closed, crawl up the slide backwards from the bottom.

At this time, you must have a strong desire to enter the underwater kingdom depicted on the wallpaper.

If you possess related items (seashells, etc.), the probability increases.

And you recite the incantation.

“Sparkling Dragon Palace, I’ve moved to the Dragon Palace.”

With eyes closed, you enter the black hole of the smooth, cold slide.

This incantation appears irregularly as graffiti on the walls or floor of playrooms that meet the entry conditions.

Sometimes it’s depicted in detail with pictures in the appendix pages of comic books placed in playrooms, titled “How to Go to the Sparkling Dragon Palace.”

“Sparkling Dragon Palace, I’ve moved to the Dragon Palace.”

I keep going up.

From front and back, clear, high children’s voices echo my incantation.

A strange feeling.

It’s dark.

I continue reciting the incantation.

“Sparkling Dragon Palace, I’ve moved to the Dragon Palace…”

The slide doesn’t end.

Instead, strangely, the upward incline becomes steeper, and eventually I end up climbing the slide as if hanging on.

I could hear the children panting. I feel like crying but hold it back.

If the incline begins to rise more precariously, the entry ritual has succeeded.

There are no records of what happens if you can’t endure and slide backward at this point.

How much time passed?

Finally, the moment it becomes like hanging from a cliff.

“Sparkling Dragon Palace…!!”

I fall forward.

“Ah!”

Like tumbling down a cliff, like a roller coaster that climbed high plummeting down.

My small body rolls downward.

“Hik!”

Finally, the moment the child’s body can’t endure and screams while opening their eyes.

A fantastic scenery appeared.

“…!!”

A city you’d only see in dreams.

That place, sparkling golden with blue sky spread wide, has aurora-like light rippling in the air.

No, it’s not sky but blue sea.

Below the dazzlingly rippling sea, golden pipes and ivory brick houses lined up to create elegant and brilliant streets like pictures from fairy tales.

Sparkling coral reefs, colorful banners and decorations. Golden speakers and delicate flower and wave-pattern metal ornaments glittered on every streetlight.

And above, a beautiful five-colored blue palace adorned with pearls and gold.

“Ah…!”

Before I knew it, my body wasn’t falling.

Floating, I was gently approaching downward as if swimming above clouds in a dream.

Toward the beautiful Golden Village.

Floating.

The two children who came with me descend together on either side of me.

At the center of the approaching city, banners in front of the White Fountain flutter, sparkling in gold, blue, and red.

Welcome

children who moved

to Sparkling Dragon Palace!

And.

“New friend!”

“Wow, someone came again!”

From under the banner, more than twenty children came running along the beautiful boulevard.

Every one of them was beaming with bright smiles.

Clean, pretty hair and clothes. Children dressed like fairy tale princesses and princes looked like birthday party hosts.

“Three came?”

“I like that one!”

“…!”

When the Bronze Agent was startled by having their arm grabbed, the child who had grabbed the agent’s arm giggled.

Laughter and sparkling euphoria overflowed.

“Where is… this place?”

“This is Sparkling Dragon Palace! It’s really really fun? Really good?”

The child who had been chattering to me smiled and began guiding the way.

As if there was nothing to worry about, as if parents had sent them to a wonderful program where they could make new friends in a heavenly fun place and just enjoy pleasant times.

But…

“…”

These kids are all missing persons.

Everything confirmed as living beings in this supernatural disaster is presumed to be missing children.

Ages range from 5 to 11 years old, with the majority expressing deep euphoria and satisfaction.

“Ahahaha!”

The children burst into laughter and led us running along the boulevard, trying to take us straight to the palace.

While doing so, they also looked around here and there like children do.

“Look at this, this!”

Throughout the streets were doll decorations moving with gears wound up.

Golden signboards hanging overhead.

Children

come receive honey!

Near the belly of a colorful soldier decoration with a comical expression was a water fountain, and when the faucet attached there was turned, honey actually poured out.

“If you fill bottles carefully, the Mermaid Princess gives presents!”

When honey was placed in front of the Mermaid Princess statue made of white ivory in front of the castle, wonderful toys, clothes, fairy tale books, and other desired items poured out as the statue’s base opened.

Waaaah!

The sound of children cheering and laughing.

“I’ll give you this.”

“…Thank you.”

I received a pair of very fancy-looking shoes from a child in a blue dress who looked younger than me.

The prevailing theory is that this is a manifestation of civilian folklore about the Dragon Palace, which was traditionally passed down out of pity for children who went missing near the sea, manifesting as a supernatural disaster.

“…”

I deliberately grabbed the child and spoke quietly with an anxious tone.

“Um, I need to go see my mom now…”

“Mom? Mom said she’ll come pick you up! She said you can just play here!”

“…”

“You know, my mom is really cool? She’s really good at sewing too, and when mom comes later, I’ll show her just to you.”

And with a somewhat shy giggle, she ran out to the street again.

“…”

…Probably.

That child won’t be able to show me her mom.

-When you go in, you’ll feel like you can bring all the kids out as soon as you see them, right? You can’t get caught up in that. Got it?

I clenched my jaw.

-If you bring the wrong one out, that child will die.

When rescuing long-term missing persons (1000+ days) from the ‘Sparkling Dragon Palace’, they turn into bubbles and disappear the moment they return to reality.

Be sure to carefully check the missing date before rescue.

But this is said to be insanely tricky.

-…Many of the children we meet change each time we enter. But there was definitely a child who wasn’t there when we visited last year, yet showed evidence of having stayed here for over 3 years.

The flow of time is all mixed up, so a child who went missing yesterday in reality might have spent about 5 years here.

Conversely, children from the distant past or children from timelines where different events occurred from our reality are also discovered.

So you must listen to what year that child was living in reality, and based on that, confirm if they’re a recent missing person before taking them out.

The only fortunate thing is that the agents’ time has never been distorted, but they estimate this is probably because we’re actually adults using ‘Dokkaebi Tricks’.

-Still, you can be contaminated by this supernatural phenomenon just like the children, so staying here long is dangerous.

Agent Choi, the person in charge of this mission, had declared.

-Two days.

-…

-We’ll spend exactly two days here and leave on the third day. Got it? …Actually, we could endure a bit longer, but the Management Bureau told us to…

-Agent.

-Right! So two days it is.

Thus, from now on, Xuanwu Team 1 and I, three people, must find ‘children who have been missing from reality for less than 3 years’ and leave.

…Only those children.

“…”

This won’t do. Maybe because it’s a child’s body, I seem to get emotional easily.

“Let’s calm down…”

I took a breath and moved.

To meet many kids in my assigned area within the set time and listen to their stories.

And I’m confident I did my best for those two days.

I caught and talked to each of the children who had come to greet us, and even found the bedrooms where children who hadn’t come to greet us were staying.

But…

“…This regular rescue ends here.”

“…”

“…”

…We couldn’t find a single child who met the conditions in two days.

Not even one child.

“Let’s return.”

I hung my head.

“…”

…In this world, there are things that don’t work out even when you do your best.

‘It was an unfamiliar ghost story.’

Since it was a ghost story I’d never seen in the Darkness Investigation Records, I didn’t have any special alternative methods.

Following the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau’s rules and my superior’s plan was safe and right.

‘Besides, standing out more would be dangerous for me too.’

So right now this is…

“I don’t want to!”

…

…?!

Wait.

Did I just say that?

“I don’t want to! Let’s look more!”

…I really did say that!

“…That, that is.”

What’s even more maddening is that my supervisors’ expressions started to look upset too.

…Because it’s a child’s 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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