Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 169

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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 169

The day of assignment.

“Congratulations on Grape Agent’s official appointment~!!”

“….”

“Uhahahat! Should we have a company dinner today? Our team has quite a bit accumulated in this month’s overtime meal allowance, right? How much did I get? Anyway, it’s on me!”

Wow.

I received the agents’ welcoming greetings in Genbu Team 1’s waiting room with eyes that had given up on everything.

Actually, calling it a welcoming greeting was a bit much. I had just seen them a few days ago.

It’s just that I was completely confirmed for Genbu Team 1 today!

“…Please take care of me.”

“…Yes.”

By the way, the senior colleague who said he would do his best to voice his opinion so I could be assigned to another team is also here.

Bronze Agent is avoiding my gaze even while shaking hands.

“….”

That’s right, Agent. This is the grave I dug for myself….

‘Destruction King… Let me work diligently so that nickname at least disappears.’

Since I’m wondering if it’s okay to be like this as a spy.

‘Hehe….’

I eventually bowed my head to Agent Choi as well.

Since I’ll be seeing him continuously, it would be foolish to complain more about not wanting to come to Genbu Team 1.

“…Thank you for welcoming me.”

“What~”

Agent Choi smiled brightly and patted my back.

Anyway, he’s a person with a decent personality….

“We’ll be working together for life from now on, so shouldn’t the welcome be more grand? Haha!”

“….”

The sense of mission of early-career agents is a bit scary.

“Let’s work together for a long time, Grape….”

No, very….

Anyway, Agent Choi’s company dinner proposal became reality that evening.

Genbu Team 1 moved to have a meal together as soon as work ended.

“This is a place we come to often. The restaurant owner here is a retired agent. Ah, please give us a large gopchang hot pot! Two bottles of soju.”

And so, at a private table room in the corner of a crowded restaurant, we began to have a meal and conversation with light drinks.

In the process, I finally received a formal introduction to Genbu Team 1.

“Team numbers don’t really have much meaning now, but when we first launched, Team 1 did handle more difficult missions? So you can take pride in your affiliation while thinking of the senior colleagues!”

This was a fact I already knew.

But hearing the explanation directly from the person involved was still new.

Same with hearing about the current situation like this.

“Originally Genbu Team 1 has five regular employees under the team manager… but two people are on sick leave, and one person is… well, on leave of absence.”

“….”

Though not mentioned, there are probably many cases of death in the line of duty too.

I looked at the two people remaining on this team while recalling the various handwritten phrases that filled the whiteboard in the waiting room.

Agent Choi grins.

“Finally we have three full members. Hey, that’s good, right? Hey hey, Jae-gwan, you think so too, right?”

This person… maybe he was just happy to see a new face.

I held back a bitter smile. And I just bowed my head to the two people while raising my glass.

“Um, for welcoming me… thank you once again….”

“…!”

This was gratitude for not giving me a single reproach when I came to Genbu Team 1, even though they knew I had very stubbornly aspired for another team.

And the listener seemed to have read the meaning of these words too.

“No~ we’re the grateful ones.”

Agent Choi waves his hand and says casually.

“You didn’t want to come, right? To our team.”

“….”

I held back a sigh and downed the soju.

“It’s not that I dislike the Emergency Rescue Team. It’s just… because I don’t trust myself.”

“Sol-eum.”

Agent Choi looked at me.

“It’s okay. No one is like that.”

“….”

“Who would be confident that their actions are 100% correct in supernatural disasters? If there’s someone like that, that would be a supernatural phenomenon.”

The senior colleague who at some point started calling me by name and title instead of Junior.

He grinned while serving me hot pot.

“…But we have advice from people who’ve done it before us.”

“….”

“Trust that.”

Investigation records.

“And then… sometimes you’ll want to resolve yourself and try something first? Then you’ll become someone who gives advice to whoever comes after you.”

“….”

Bronze Agent’s eyes became dim but he didn’t object.

It seemed like the two had already fought about this part before and reached an agreement.

“But you don’t need to think that far ahead yet!”

Agent Choi smiled brightly and filled my glass.

“Sol-eum has really had a hard time from the beginning after joining here.”

I absolutely couldn’t deny that.

“But actually, those kinds of incidents happen once every six months, no, if you’re unlucky maybe once every few years. Don’t worry because you won’t be doing that all the time just because you joined our team.”

Agent Choi grinned and unilaterally clinked glasses with me.

Cheers.

“You’ll do well.”

“….”

“Got it?”

I nodded my head.

And like a lie, those words came true.

3 weeks after the official assignment to Genbu Team 1.

“Grape, over there!”

I was performing rescue operations in ghost stories much more smoothly than expected.

“Catch them!”

“Yes!”

I grabbed the rescue requester who was frantically trying to run away beside me and shoved them into the washing machine.

“Aah!”

I’m sorry, but that’s the escape route so please bear with it!

“Hey it’s over! Run!”

And before the drying finished, I also got into an empty washing machine and was submerged in the spinning water….

“Phew!”

I successfully escaped safely.

“Rescue Requesters plus 2 others, successfully rescued from ‘Intersection Laundromat.'”

Today I saved three citizens from a crazy laundromat that remodels personalities and reforms bodies.

And the past 3 weeks were similar.

‘About one deployment every three days…’

Honestly, it’s scary and exhausting.

But…

“Is that guy the one? The Destruction King? He really handles work refreshingly well!”

“Uhaha! That’s right, Team Manager!”

“….”

Surprisingly, the Destroyer Rookie image was quite useful!

-Destroyer Rookie is adapting smoothly^^

-You’re in this room now too, right?

Since I established a somewhat funny, friendly, and positive character, adaptation was easy.

Moreover, the character was getting stronger day by day. At this level, it wouldn’t be awkward even if written on a wiki.

‘I’m a Disaster Management Bureau celebrity…’

Honestly, it doesn’t feel bad.

And maybe what I experienced before really was some kind of purification, because for 3 weeks there were no unexpected incidents in ghost stories.

All that remained was just following the existing rescue manuals and bringing people out.

As long as I could endure the terrifying fear, it was manageable!

‘In the first place, if it’s a ghost story where you can find the Disaster Management Bureau’s rescue request number, it means it’s already a ghost story the Disaster Management Bureau has thoroughly investigated.’

Enough to be able to embed numbers in the ghost stories.

Enough to understand why there are so many solo missions.

‘This level is bearable…!’

I was even still paired up since I was still a rookie.

Less scary and safer!

So I casually mentioned this to Bronze Agent once, and he became serious.

-No. It’s not safe.

-….

-Your standards have become somewhat twisted.

If Agent spent just half a year in Daydream, he’d become like me…

‘I’m about to cry.’

Bronze Agent has been excessively caring for me since I finally became part of Genbu Team 1, while subtly avoiding personal conversations. He seems to have an uncomfortable sense of debt. I understand…

Anyway, so the past 3 weeks were bearable despite the tension.

I naturally blended into Genbu Team 1, and now when I encountered people at headquarters, I didn’t need to introduce myself as part of Genbu Team 1.

Because I had already blended into this team enough that everyone knew.

‘…It was okay.’

I couldn’t deny that there was stability that came from a sense of belonging.

…The problem was that it was about time for solo missions to come my way too.

Sigh.

‘Alone… it’ll be scary.’

Having to experience ghost stories alone every three days. That’s really the problem.

Still, before that, this proposal came.

“Grape. Want to take a little break?”

It was when I was preparing to leave work in the waiting room after completing the handover to the Field Cleanup Team.

“You’ve been working almost non-stop for 3 weeks and kept coming out for support duties. A guy who was hospitalized a month ago shouldn’t overdo it. You need to rest now to clear your head and recover your stamina.”

This was Agent Choi’s suggestion.

And…

Honestly speaking, this was a situation I had somewhat aimed for.

‘It’s hard to use up vacation days all at once as a rookie…’

So I deliberately overworked and maximized my working hours, hoping that a superior who couldn’t stand watching would recommend I take a few days off.

‘Success.’

Bronze Agent also quickly nodded as soon as our eyes met.

Good.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, don’t forget to take two days off and attach them together!”

So I was able to use up to four consecutive vacation days.

Combined with the two days off per week, that’s a whopping 6 days.

Naturally, there was a clear reason why I needed this empty period.

[Teacher Kim Sol-eum, your psychological stability test results are out. Please schedule a consultation when you have time and come pick them up^^]

I got a text from Director Ho last week.

…Now, I can soon enter Cheerful Theme Park.

‘Let’s prepare.’

And let’s handle the schedule I postponed due to work.

[Won’t you make an exchange?]

[It’s information you’ll definitely want to hear]

Baek Sa-heon seemed ready.

And that evening.

I met that guy at a secluded room cafe in Seoul.

“Speak quickly.”

Veins appeared on Baek Sa-heon’s temples when he was rushed as soon as we met.

“…Look, this is a trade. It doesn’t feel good when you talk like that.”

“You like efficiency. Wouldn’t it be good to speak quickly and take your stuff? Live with some calculation.”

“~!”

Baek Sa-heon showed an expression of being pissed off for a moment, but soon hid that look and smiled.

“…Let’s do that then!”

Oh. He seems quite confident.

I also focused to listen carefully.

“First…”

Baek Sa-heon opened his mouth with a very meaningful tone and told me a special fact…

“Two of our class colleagues have disappeared.”

“….”

“Remember? Go Young-eun and…”

“Jang Heo-un.”

“…!”

Geez.

“So hand it over.”

“W-wait a minute. You don’t know where they went either, Team Leader?”

Right. I know.

I stared at Baek Sa-heon with dead fish eyes, and he continued speaking while breaking out in a cold sweat.

“They went to the branch office!”

Wrong.

“You know the branch office, right? The one in the provinces. Lately there have been a lot of employees transferred from there to headquarters, but it seems kind of suspicious? All contact with them has been cut off too…”

“Right. Next.”

I said it’s not that.

I don’t know for sure, but Baek Sa-heon probably cursed internally just now.

‘Damn it…’

But I should give him a little hope so more information flows out. I changed my approach.

“Tell me something else. There’s no point in you rambling about information I already know – it’ll just tire you out.”

“…”

“Don’t you have any other rumors?”

Baek Sa-heon looked at me briefly with eyes that seemed to cry ‘How do you know all this?’, but eventually confessed the next piece of information.

It was…

“I saw a researcher and a security guard fighting recently.”

Hmm.

‘Did the researcher’s head get cracked or something…?’

My face must have looked displeased because Baek Sa-heon hurriedly continued.

“No, listen. The researcher is someone you know too, Team Leader. Manager Gwak Je-gang from Research Team 1…”

“…!”

What?

I almost completely lost my composure.

I barely managed to keep it to just widening my eyes, but it was already too late.

“You seem very interested in hearing this.”

Baek Sa-heon was wearing a triumphant smile.

“I’d love to tell you right away, but… well, let me see that item first before I continue. It would be troublesome if you said there was no item after hearing everything.”

“…”

“Ah, I don’t mean you’re that kind of person… it’s for mutual trust! Speed is important of course, but trust is also important in transactions.”

How cunning.

“Should I?”

“…!”

Good.

I pulled out the Necronomicon from my wrist as if performing a magic trick.

Seeing the imposing book-type item contained in an ominous bookcase with an unsettling atmosphere, Baek Sa-heon’s eyes flashed with greed.

And he reached out his hand…

Smack!

“You said just looking, right?”

“…”

Baek Sa-heon sent an aggressive glare for a moment, but soon opened his mouth and continued spilling information.

“The security guard picked a fight with the researcher. He was trying to hit him because he wouldn’t answer his questions properly.”

And the ‘rumor’ that followed was this:

A security guard was asking a researcher he encountered during duty about facility-related matters, when the researcher’s superior appeared.

That was Gwak Je-gang.

And he supposedly said something.

“What did he say?”

“I don’t know. It probably wasn’t anything important. But suddenly the security guard attacked.”

“…”

Suddenly, a scene came to mind.

The Security Chief talking on the phone with Gwak Je-gang.

-You know… I can’t enter the darkness… but I can kill people.

Wait a minute.

‘Could that security guard be… Jay?’

“It’s probably because of contamination. The security teams are all crazy bastards because of contamination anyway…”

“Don’t make things up.”

“What?”

“Your imagination got mixed in.”

I spoke as if I were crazy.

“If it shows that you embellished it… the dopamine disappears.”

“…”

“Continue.”

Baek Sa-heon seemed a bit scared.

And his words became plain again.

Good.

“…A-anyway, that security guard is someone who usually doesn’t come out much, but he volunteered for annex building duty and such. He was apparently someone quite famous originally?”

“Who told you that story?”

“Manager-level staff talking among themselves. I don’t know specifically who, but anyway, they were people with quite a bit of seniority.”

“…”

‘The Security Chief was… originally an Elite Team Leader.’

It really does seem to be Jay.

‘He’s really trying to investigate Yukwae Research Institute for me…!’

I hoped he wouldn’t do anything dangerous, but fortunately he seems to be maintaining good boundaries.

Though it’s a bit nerve-wracking that he clashed with Gwak Je-gang.

If Gwak Je-gang got beaten up, so be it – there shouldn’t be any problems for the Security Chief. What’s scary about Gwak Je-gang is the crazy exploration scenarios he sets up!

‘It is convenient to confirm things this way.’

No need to worry unnecessarily.

“This is certain!”

“Right.”

After that, I pretended to be interested in several more useless pieces of gossip.

And when Baek Sa-heon’s patience was about to run out, I sensed it had reached a fair price.

“Honestly, the stories after that weren’t very interesting.”

“…”

“The fight with the researcher was interesting though. Good job. That’s good information.”

“…!”

I smiled and lifted my hand that had been pressing down on the Necronomicon.

“Take it.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Baek Sa-heon quickly grabbed that bizarre book.

And as he scanned the bookcase with excited eyes, he suddenly looked at me and said:

“This isn’t something only beings like you, Team Leader… anyway, only such existences can read, right?”

“No.”

I met his gaze directly.

“But don’t expect to be able to use it with the same power as me.”

Because you’re not a ghost story maniac!

“…”

Baek Sa-heon hesitated but eventually packed the book away.

Phew.

I finally relaxed my tense shoulders.

Disposal complete.

‘Got information and handled it too.’

The fake Necronomicon. I was already feeling uneasy about keeping it, so this worked out well.

Well, it wasn’t an item that would cause problems just by having it…

‘…I think I’d keep wanting to use it to handle work.’

Its power was too good.

If I kept it, every time work got complicated, I’d feel the urge to just quickly read from it and solve things ‘that’ way.

Since it would make everyone listen to me.

But if the tail gets too long, you get caught.

‘Perfect way to get discovered.’

And… no matter how I think about it, if I pushed it even a little, I’d either go crazy or develop permanent mental problems.

So selling it as payment for information to someone who isn’t a ghost story maniac is perfect.

‘This worked out well.’

As Baek Sa-heon packed the book, his expression gradually improved, and he finally looked back at me with a subtle expression.

“Um, Team Leader. I’d like to hear more about the criteria for ‘good information.'”

It seems he wants to extract more since the trading item’s performance was confirmed.

“If you could tell me more specifically, I could also…”

“Interesting stuff.”

“…”

“I already told you that. You want me to be more specific?”

“…Yes. If you could do that, I’d be grateful…”

I rested my chin on my hand.

“That researcher story from earlier was interesting too. As expected, it’s easier to imagine when you know the person’s face… Right. The security guard is good too. Unique.”

“…Then I’ll listen for rumors mainly about those two, and look into other things as well.”

“Good.”

I nodded.

With that, the deal tacitly entered a closing atmosphere, and Baek Sa-heon gathered his bag containing today’s haul and stood up from the table.

Now once that guy leaves, I’ll also…

“Excuse me.”

Hm?

Baek Sa-heon hesitated before continuing.

“You’re currently at the Disaster Management Bureau, right Team Leader?”

“…”

“You were rescued by agents in a child’s form back then. So…”

I quietly looked back at Baek Sa-heon.

And advised him.

“It’s better not to know.”

It was the truth.

Unless you want to receive a ‘branch office assignment’ and disappear too.

‘If that guy digs into my background and gets caught by Director Ho, it’s over…’

“It’s not a place where you can steal wish potions or anything like that anyway.”

“…”

“Meaning there’s no angle for you to benefit from.”

Perhaps sensing something ominous, Baek Sa-heon rolled his eyes before nodding.

‘This should be enough.’

However, he added an unexpected comment.

“…Yes. Well… please take care of yourself too, Team Leader.”

“Yeah. You too.”

With that, the deal was finished.

I sighed only after confirming that Baek Sa-heon had opened the door of the room cafe and left.

“Ha.”

Baek Sa-heon.

I already knew what kind of person he was as a character, and figured him out while sharing company housing.

So in a different sense, he’s a low-risk partner.

‘You could say he moves as expected.’

Thanks to that, I still use him as a trading partner… though honestly, I barely knew any personal information about him other than his personality.

And thinking about it, that doesn’t just apply to Baek Sa-heon… it seems to apply to almost everyone I’ve met here.

‘…Since I’m going to return home.’

At most, the Team D seniors are the exception.

Hearing all that trivial gossip about others from Baek Sa-heon today made me newly conscious of that.

So I’m suddenly curious too.

‘Why is Baek Sa-heon trying to steal wish potions?’

Why a guy who bets everything on survival does life-threatening work was never really mentioned in .

‘Well… it’s not really my business.’

Honestly, I’m more curious about the other colleagues’ reasons than Baek Sa-heon’s.

I’ll ask when I get the chance later, but for now let me think about my own wish potion.

And my own survival too.

“Phew.”

After confirming that Baek Sa-heon had completely left for the street, I took out my smartphone.

And sent the reply I had prepared.

To Director Ho.

[I’d like to make a reservation, Teacher]

Let’s enter.

Cheerful Theme Park.

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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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