Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 196

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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 196

First, I had a fairly reasonable guess as to why Baek Sa-heon was in this strange rural village.

‘…Baek Sa-heon was on the Tamra-bound train!’

It was the same Mokpo-bound high-speed rail that I took today.

‘Was this his destination back then too?’

It seemed like he was going down to his family home, so does that mean this is Baek Sa-heon’s… family home?

It felt strange.

The scene of a simple and warm rural village festival somehow felt disconnected from Baek Sa-heon.

Even more so if that rural village festival was a cult-like ghost story about a bizarre small society.

“Take that over there!”

“Ah, yes.”

Even now, Baek Sa-heon was helping out with tasks like carrying rice, obediently agreeing to other village people’s instructions despite his grumpy face.

But…

Observe the village people carefully and find the grumpiest-looking person to ask for a night’s lodging!

According to Agent Choi’s comment, could that guy also be considered one of those suitable people?

It was somewhat unpleasant and strange, but I could understand the context of the situation up to that point. However…

Why on earth is that person there?

‘…Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.’

I desperately turned my head naturally to avoid being noticed by the Bronze Agent and confirmed that shadowy figure once more.

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je was getting more boiled pork and drinking it with soju.

Just like in the company cafeteria.

“…”

Seeing that natural and indifferent expression and movements felt strange.

I unconsciously focused my gaze more in that direction…

Our eyes met.

‘…!’

At that moment, Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je smoothly picked up the boiled pork plate and soju bottle… and started approaching this way.

‘…?!’

Why, why is she coming this way?

And she sat down with a thud in front of our table and naturally started talking to the Bronze Agent!

“I have a bit too much boiled pork, would you like a piece?”

“…Who are you?”

“I’m a reporter, and I heard there was a village festival so I came to see if there was any story material… I wanted to ask for some coverage and impressions.”

‘De, Deputy Manager!’

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je naturally pretended not to know me and kept talking to the Bronze Agent like a work-weary reporter.

The agent’s eyes became suspicious. It was the look of someone annoyed by a bothersome busybody.

“I have nothing particular to tell you.”

“Then just listen to me ramble a bit. From what I saw yesterday, the strategy for luring outsiders to this festival…”

Clang clang clang clang clang clang!!

“…!!”

My head turned at the loud sound of gongs and drums being struck together.

The music stopped, and a kind-looking middle-aged man came up among the people who were doing folk performances, picked up a megaphone and shouted.

[Everyone! It’s now time for the drawing! Everyone receive your prizes and enjoy lots of Jisan’s blessings!]

“Yes. That’s what I was talking about. Holiday commemorative lottery drawing.”

It seems they hold prize drawings every day during the four-day festival period.

The prizes are mainly agricultural products grown directly in the village, and sometimes crafts or precious metals come out.

In the case of precious metals, the branch office estimates them to be belongings of missing persons.

Village people scattered in all directions carrying lottery boxes. Here and there, sounds of people drawing something or not drawing anything could be heard. I could see someone who drew gold cheering and receiving a pair of gold earrings.

“Oh, that looks nice. But those earrings also look like used goods.”

“…”

“…”

“Well, someone probably donated them for the festival.”

None of us could answer.

And someone approached us from over there carrying a lottery box.

A grumpy person wearing a medical eyepatch.

‘Ba, Baek Sa-heon.’

This isn’t some Daydream Company employee reunion. We’re about to have a three-way encounter.

The bigger problem is.

The Bronze Agent knows Baek Sa-heon’s face.

“That…!”

The Bronze Agent’s face hardened coldly upon recognizing the face of my ‘workplace colleague’ that he had seen at the Serial Killer Lodge.

And at his gaze alternating between him and me, I shook my head.

“It’s fine.”

“…Yes.”

The Bronze Agent also calmed down quickly.

Because he was certain my identity wouldn’t be exposed.

Because…

He wouldn’t recognize us anyway.

Village people do not recognize acquaintances visiting from outside during the festival period.

They thoroughly treat them as grateful customers who visited for the festival, and there are several testimonies from people who felt uncomfortable about this and escaped to avoid disaster.

-I thought they might just be pretending, so I even interrogated them, but they really seemed not to know? It seems like some strange prohibition is in place. The branch office has no related information either, so just let it slide when I’m not around.

Baek Sa-heon approaches.

Still with a face that doesn’t look very pleased, but even when our eyes meet, there’s no sign of recognition.

He just…

“Please draw one.”

Simply extends the lottery box to our table.

“…”

“I heard they give pretty good prizes… Oh, thank you.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je unhesitatingly drew a stick from the lottery box. At the end of the stick was written ‘Rice’.

“It’s your turn.”

I made eye contact with the Bronze Agent.

Do not decline the lottery drawing. If declined, no village resident will provide lodging. Keep this in mind if you don’t want to fail the rescue and urgently summon other agents!

“Excuse me. Aren’t you going to try?”

“Ah. I’ll give it a try.”

I reached for the wooden chicken-shaped lottery box. The box was strangely damp with moisture.

And what I drew was….

“It’s a dud.”

Sigh.

The Bronze Agent also carefully drew from the lottery, and this time too, a stick with ‘dud’ written on it came out.

“Too bad. It would have been nice if you could have won something to take home.”

Eun Ha-je pointed to the middle-aged man with the megaphone in the village center.

“That special prize would have been jackpot.”

[If you win the special prize, treasure will come!]

In the corner of the banner the man was pointing to, a golden rooster statue was printed very vividly.

The size could only be estimated since it wasn’t the real thing, but from the detail alone, you could guess it was quite large.

“Jackpot.”

“That looks like it’s worth about 100 don!”

“Does anyone actually win that thing?”

Speaking of that….

But there have been no eyewitness accounts of anyone winning the special prize so far.

That’s right.

Considering that guests draw more than half of the lottery sticks, it’s definitely statistically strange.

The author suspects this is some kind of selection ritual within this supernatural disaster.

(According to the branch office investigation, there’s a folk tale that 52 years ago, a winner ended the village’s drought and was enshrined as a god in the village shrine, but the credibility hasn’t been proven.)

And it was just as Agent Choi had said.

This time too, no special prize came out.

Deep disappointment spread across the face of the village person holding the megaphone.

[Thank you all again today! May you receive Jisan’s blessings!]

And so that day’s festival celebration came to an end.

“Aw.”

“Isn’t this a scam?”

“Hey hey, but the drinks and meat were free.”

The outsiders got up from their seats, but the problem was that many companions had difficulty driving because many people had drunk the free alcohol.

“Oh my, how did this happen….”

“It’s fine. This person here says they’ll let us stay!”

Quite a few outsiders decided to stay the night like at a guesthouse, thanks to the kind hospitality and invitation of the rural village.

It was quite a warm scene.

However, if you looked closely, the village people were inconspicuously gathering here and there, collecting the remaining lottery boxes while muttering something.

And they too took turns drawing sticks from the lottery.

After the drawing for outsiders ends, the village people gather and take turns drawing the wooden sticks remaining in the lottery box.

Until they find the ‘special prize’ stick.

At this time, they recite a strange phrase.

“Sansanbaekjisanbok jusiopge daejaya.”

“Sansanbaekjisanbok jusiopge daejaya.”

-It’s probably like a spell or prayer… Even though it’s not exactly the right shamanic expression, don’t listen too carefully. Spells from supernatural phenomena rarely have good effects

And finally, one person finds it.

The stick with gold attached to the end.

“Ah…!”

Tears flowed from the eyes of the one who drew it.

People surrounded him as if congratulating and shouted.

“Sansanbaekjisanbok jusiopge daejaya!”

“Sansanbaekjisanbok jusiopge daejaya!”

There’s a rumor at the branch office that village people who draw the special prize seem to take on a special role at the next festival.

“….”

I turned my head.

Baek Sa-heon was watching all of that with sunken eyes.

“Excuse me.”

Baek Sa-heon only turned his eyes.

I asked quite politely.

“By any chance, isn’t there a place to stay the night in this village?”

“…You’re not saying you want free lodging and to waste other people’s food supplies and rooms, are you?”

Eun Ha-je, holding a rice sack, suddenly interjected.

“I’ll pay. Since we met like this, it’s also fate.”

“Pardon?”

“Here. Is this amount enough?”

And Eun Ha-je held out quite a thick wad of cash to Baek Sa-heon.

Baek Sa-heon looked slightly flustered, but soon his eyes sank as he snatched it up.

“…Follow me.”

“Okay.”

“Wait! Did you say you’re a reporter? Please leave now. We’ll handle this….”

“You’re going to kick out someone who paid? Capitalism is dirty, but let’s still follow what we should follow. Old-fashioned man.”

“….”

I could hear the Bronze Agent quietly muttering ‘Old-fashioned?’

Good heavens.

With the feeling of wanting to squeeze my eyes shut, I followed Eun Ha-je who had begun walking after Baek Sa-heon with complete composure, and asked.

“…Shall I carry the rice sack for you.”

“Oh. Young man, is this repayment for the lodging fee? You know how to follow what should be followed.”

I took the rice sack from Eun Ha-je, whose hands were still uncomfortable. Then the Bronze Agent with a sour expression helped carry it together.

“You’re too late.”

“….”

It was the moment the Bronze Agent looked at Eun Ha-je with an incredulous expression.

“Hey! You fucking country bumpards! Cucumber? Do you think I came to this rural backwater to get cucumbers?”

Thud!

Loud shouting and a crashing sound came from nearby.

Cucumbers shattered and rolled around the dirt floor from a box thrown on the ground.

And the drunk outsider rolls on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Give me gold, gold!”

“Oh my, dear customer.”

“You still have two more chances left!”

The smiling village people coax and soothe him.

…Such gentle kindness that it’s hard to believe they just heard such abusive language.

Tempted by offers to provide dinner, stay the night and try again tomorrow, and praise for the good hot spring water here, the troublesome customer followed the kind village people and disappeared into a house.

Into one of the village’s few tile-roofed houses.

The tile-roofed house located in the central area looks strangely grand in scale.

“…”

I stiffly turned my gaze away.

The smiles disappeared from the faces of the village people who remained, and they silently packed the broken cucumbers into boxes and carefully cleaned them up.

They kept muttering something while brushing the dirt off the cucumbers.

“Sansanbaekjisanbokjusiopgedaejaya…”

That prayer-like thing I heard earlier.

“…”

I barely managed to look away and continued walking.

“…This way.”

But do you know what the problem is?

Baek Sa-heon is also heading to that tile-roofed house.

‘Wait.’

Is it really okay to enter that suspicious-looking place?

But since the Bronze Agent was moving forward without hesitation, I didn’t flee.

‘…Agent Choi wouldn’t have bothered to write lies in the help notes.’

The tile-roofed house draws closer.

“…Please come in.”

The entrance of the tile-roofed house was wide, and the main wooden floor that now seemed to serve as an entryway was also spacious.

However, Baek Sa-heon moved carefully and secretly to a corner as if he didn’t even want to step on it, then opened a side door.

But someone was already standing there.

The middle-aged man who had been holding the megaphone earlier.

“The guests are sleeping.”

“Ah, welcome! Haha! Sa-heon, treat them well. Don’t do anything foolish.”

“…”

“May you receive Jisan’s blessings!”

Baek Sa-heon slowly nodded his head, then guided us.

The tile-roofed house was strangely spacious, with similar structures repeating and sliding doors continuously appearing…

A corridor lined with old wooden doors came into view.

Creak.

Baek Sa-heon opened one of the doors.

Inside was a small room with signs of daily life.

One neatly folded bedding set and one dusty blanket set that seemed hastily taken out.

“Please sleep here.”

“Isn’t this your room? Where are you planning to sleep?”

“…”

With an expression that said I was asking something utterly pointless, Baek Sa-heon quickly turned around and opened another door for Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.

Then he disappeared down the corridor.

“A fellow who doesn’t give value for the money spent on him.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je shrugged her shoulders and spoke to me matter-of-factly.

“Well then, sleep well. Let’s meet tomorrow if we get the chance.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

I watched the back of Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je as she entered the adjacent room.

…Surely, the Deputy Manager must have recognized Baek Sa-heon too. But she didn’t acknowledge it.

She was aware that he wouldn’t recognize her.

‘She knows this ghost story well.’

This means the Deputy Manager also visited with a clear purpose.

And Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je is… part of Director Ho’s project team.

‘…What’s happening here?’

As much as I could guess what kind of extinction-level supernatural disaster Director Ho was demanding, various hypotheses came to mind. No, if it were before, I surely would have thought that way but…

“…”

I was tired.

Of all of it.

Let’s stop.

Let’s just think about the wish ticket…

“Grape Agent.”

“…”

“Do you remember what we need to do?”

“Yes.”

This ‘Jisan Offering Ritual’.

When a rescue request comes in, the branch uses a supernatural phenomenon auto-responder to designate the meeting location and time for the rescuer.

So let’s go to the location we received from the branch.

“This is the place.”

The Bronze Agent showed me a note.

1 AM

Village well site

The tile-roofed house became as quiet as a tomb after midnight.

The Bronze Agent and I very quietly left our rooms and moved our feet.

-After midnight, it’s relatively safe to move around as long as you avoid the village shrine.

But don’t deliberately make loud noises!

“The well site is to the east.”

Crossing the landscape of the dark rural village where only sparse streetlight glows were visible, we finally arrived at a place with just a few houses that looked like abandoned houses people had left.

The well site was in the middle of that place.

At that spot where the well was blocked with stones, a shadowy figure was already standing as if keeping watch…

It was Baek Sa-heon.

“…!!”

The one-eyed man looked back at us and spoke quietly.

“Are you really agents?”

The next moment.

The Bronze Agent rushed forward and suppressed Baek Sa-heon.

-If you get caught by a village person in the middle of the night, hide as quickly and quietly as possible.

If that’s impossible?

Suppress them and hide them in the abandoned house!

And just as he was about to roughly drag Baek Sa-heon to the abandoned house.

“Ah! Government officials shouldn’t treat informants like this!”

“…!”

The Bronze Agent stopped his arm.

“You’re an informant?”

“Yes! I’m the one who reported it!”

When Baek Sa-heon irritably tried to shake off the Bronze Agent’s suppression and failed, he glanced around and urgently lowered his voice.

“Please help me escape from this village. …Today, right now.”

“It seems like a trap.”

The Bronze Agent immediately said to me openly.

“Village people can leave anytime after the festival ends. There’s no reason they’d need help….”

“I can’t leave!”

Baek Sa-heon panted.

And looking back and forth between me and the Bronze Agent with eyes seeking a way to survive, he finally swallowed and said.

“…Check my pocket.”

“….”

I reached out and searched through Baek Sa-heon’s pants pocket.

What was inside was….

A lottery stick with gold leaf coating on the end.

Special prize.

“I, I drew that on the first day….”

-Unfortunately, there’s never been a case of rescuing village residents from supernatural disaster influence during the festival period.

If the junior agent I’ve marked for our team is the type who would definitely attempt a rescue, I’m telling you in advance.

-Junior. The seniors will try that, so don’t you do it. If you try to leave Jisan Village during the festival period with a village person…

“Get me out of here, please!”

-The agent will also go missing.

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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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