Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 197

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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 197

“Please!”

Baek Sa-heon was practically struggling desperately.

Yet at the same time, he was keeping his voice as low as possible, making it seem like he just wanted to escape undetected from the encroaching supernatural disaster.

However, the Bronze Agent did not release his restraints.

He merely glanced at the golden rod I was holding, which I had taken from Baek Sa-heon’s pants pocket, and asked a question.

Special prize.

“What does it mean that you drew that thing?”

“What does it mean? It means I’m screwed! So I need to get out before the holiday festival finale comes. Right now, from here…”

“Will you die?”

Baek Sa-heon froze.

I interjected and asked again.

“But earlier I saw that the person who drew that rod was being congratulated. And there was talk about them playing an important role in next year’s event…”

“…”

Baek Sa-heon’s mouth moved slightly, but he couldn’t speak.

However, fear and anger glittered in his eyes.

‘A prohibition spell?’

I made eye contact with the Bronze Agent.

The agent nodded slightly and asked in a monotone voice.

“Then tell us how you obtained the direct rescue number to headquarters.”

“Ha! Isn’t that a number you guys hid all around the village?”

“…!”

“Everyone already knows. The village knows everything. They just leave it alone. But how do you contact that number?”

Sarcasm poured from Baek Sa-heon’s mouth.

“Wait. You noticed the Management Bureau’s information signs but left them alone?”

“That’s right! Whether outsiders drink the sacred liquor and realize the truth of the world and hang themselves or fall into rivers or rot at the bottom of wells or forget everything and live their lives, it doesn’t matter. Whether they escape one by one or not doesn’t matter, so they don’t care. They only manage it to avoid being tainted by impurity!”

“‘Tainted by impurity’? What kind of impurity are you talking about?”

Baek Sa-heon closed his mouth again.

Cold sweat dripped from his jaw.

‘Another prohibition spell.’

Seeing him suffering from supernatural fear and pressure made me feel strangely depressed.

‘…Is it because it reminds me of myself?’

But that was my perspective.

“It seems you can’t answer.”

The Bronze Agent probably didn’t need to feel any sympathy for Baek Sa-heon.

He was someone who had killed those with tapes at the mountain lodge as part of his job.

Because the Disaster Management Bureau had selected him as a villain.

And Baek Sa-heon had a tape.

“If you know so much, then leave on your own.”

“I can’t!”

At the agent’s cold words, Baek Sa-heon seemed to assess the situation and roll his eyes.

But the next moment, his voice became calm.

“Look, you know that thing. I know it too. The stone pile in front of the village pine tree. You place a stone there, pray, and if the agents link arms on both sides and walk with you, you can safely leave the village, right?”

“…!!”

It was accurate.

If you walk ninety-nine steps east from the well site, there’s a withered pine tree, and you must place one more small stone on the stone tomb in front of it.

Then after praying “Look back and protect” three times, if everyone links arms and heads toward the entrance, you can safely return to everyday life… that’s the current rule.

Since this task requires at least three people, two agents are deployed.

So don’t forget. The agents should link arms at the left and right ends and put the rescued people in the middle!

“I, I saw it all. I’ve been watching for decades. That’s the rescue method, isn’t it? Please do it for me too! I reported it! That’s right, isn’t it!”

Desperation and resentment overflowed from Baek Sa-heon’s tone.

But…

“That doesn’t work on village people.”

Baek Sa-heon stopped.

“…What?”

“It means it won’t work on you, since you live in this village.”

That’s right.

-I’ll write it again, but this doesn’t work on village people during the festival, so don’t try it rashly. Don’t get lost between the village and reality if you do it carelessly without preparation.

“Village people can’t safely get out using that method.”

“…I don’t live in this village anymore. I live in Seoul.”

The Bronze Agent didn’t answer.

Baek Sa-heon lowered his voice and cried out desperately.

“I, I only come here once a month, no, once every two or three months and stay for a few days. I don’t live here! You crazy bastards!”

“The criterion is whether you’re wearing feathers at the festival.”

“…!”

Baek Sa-heon’s gaze dropped.

To his chest where he was still wearing the rooster feather.

“~!!”

He twitched as if trying to tear it off, but soon stopped as if it were impossible.

And he muttered.

“It won’t come off?”

“…”

“No. That can’t be. I’m an adult and I don’t live here, so I’m definitely an outsider. Then… then there must be another way. You have to save citizens. You have to save the person who reported it.”

The Bronze Agent’s cold voice declared.

“Currently impossible.”

…

…

“Then die.”

…

What?

“Then you all die too.”

Baek Sa-heon’s mouth opened.

“Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya! Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya! Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya! Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija…mmph!”

I hurriedly covered Baek Sa-heon’s mouth.

Then with sharp pain, flesh was gouged from my hand.

“…!”

He had bitten me.

“Grape Agent!”

“These guests are stealing the proxy! Stealing the proxy! We’ll be tainted by impurity!”

The Bronze Agent quickly pulled my hand away and briefly covered his mouth, but the moment that restraining force was released, Baek Sa-heon’s voice burst out again.

And.

“Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya…”

Shadowy figures appear from behind the abandoned house.

No, several of them.

I realized.

“Please don’t make such a commotion in the village.”

“That’s right. Oh my, what’s all this fuss in the middle of the night. Our bath water is really nice, so take a warm bath and rest well.”

“You must not be able to sleep because you haven’t eaten enough.”

I realized why Agent Choi said that if it seemed like we might be discovered by the village people, we should quickly hide or conversely suppress them and hide in the abandoned house.

The treatment had changed.

“Bringing in your meal~”

After being caught meeting at the well site.

The gentle village people guided us back to the tile-roofed house.

And instead of Baek Sa-heon’s original small room where we had been staying, they changed our sleeping quarters to a luxurious large room with sliding paper doors.

It wasn’t a suggestion. They just naturally arranged it that way.

And they recommended a bath and brought out festival food. Along with alcohol.

“Drink it down refreshingly. It’s rice wine. Rice wine.”

“Wild vegetables, medicinal herbs, and ginseng from the mountains here are steeped in it, so it’s very nourishing and opens your eyes~”

Just like those who had clung to the troublemaker who threw cucumbers on the ground.

Baek Sa-heon is nowhere to be seen.

The village people led him somewhere.

“….”

With an ominous premonition, we exchanged glances.

Did the people who saw the information sign hidden by the Disaster Management Bureau and sent a report request feel this same sense of unease?

The village people set out the meal and left the room so it was just the two of us, but I could still sense a presence outside the door for a moment.

Then it disappeared.

“….”

The Bronze Agent approached the door and listened carefully.

After waiting until he could be certain there was no presence, he carefully reached out to slightly open the door to check outside…

Wait.

I grabbed the Bronze Agent’s shoulder to stop his movement.

Then I rummaged through the dining table and picked up a flat candle that had been used to warm the food.

I held it up near the sliding paper door.

I could see the shadows of people clustered together on the other side of the door.

“…!”

They had been eavesdropping.

Their presence hadn’t disappeared because they moved away.

‘Damn.’

A creeping feeling crawled up my throat.

I hastily put down the candlestick naturally, and instead spilled some water from a cup, wetting my fingers to switch to written communication.

-Is it impossible to put all those people to sleep and quietly leave?

-It’s difficult.

The Bronze Agent quickly responded.

-In ghost stories with such overt religious overtones, sleep isn’t necessarily a good method.

“….”

Indeed.

This seems like a ghost story that’s been observed for a very long time, so they probably tried various methods.

They must have tried various approaches that couldn’t all be contained in Agent Choi’s guide I read. Only the effective and safe ones among them would have become rules.

…Yet in the midst of all that, not a single method for rescuing village people from disaster has been confirmed.

Still though.

-Exactly how do the outsiders who visit this village festival go missing?

I need to hear about this.

But…

-It’s unknown.

…!!

-The village people send the outsiders away immediately after the festival ends.

And there were quite frequent records of people who had stayed only one night leaving in the middle of the festival, strongly insisting they wanted to return home.

-But the problem is… some of them don’t make it home.

“….”

-Sometimes, even after returning home safely, there are many witnessed cases of them suddenly choosing death on their own weeks later.

It was mainly death using natural elements.

Creepy.

-The cause of this situation is unknown, but a common procedure has been identified.

Entering this ghost story and following the guidance of kind village people to receive baths, food, and alcohol.

-It hadn’t been determined which of the three was the exact factor, but we’ve caught a hint this time.

I recalled what Baek Sa-heon had shouted.

-Whether outsiders drink the sacred wine and realize the truth of the world and hang themselves or drown in rivers or rot at the bottom of wells…

I see.

‘So alcohol is definitely one factor.’

I looked at the alcohol placed on the dining table.

Clear liquor in an ordinary white porcelain bottle.

But…

‘Drinking this makes you realize the truth of the world and die… what exactly does that mean?’

What kind of ‘truth’ could it be?

In the original ghost story worldview, there are many cases where they attach the name of truth and destroy people’s minds through brainwashing or hypnosis.

That’s also scary, of course.

But what’s even scarier is this.

…Something that’s truly real, but just knowing it makes people choose death.

When humans learn something they shouldn’t know.

‘…Something feels ominous.’

My chest felt cold.

…It would probably be safer to just leave.

My peripheral nerves sent a signal that it would be wise not to dig any deeper.

And there was still one sure method left.

The escape method the Disaster Management Bureau provides to agents.

The five-colored sneaker laces.

“…”

I had already seen the Bronze Agent glance into his jumper, conflicted.

-Are we leaving like this?

But even if they weren’t rescue requesters, I had seen people who would definitely not be able to return home even after the festival ended if left like this.

Though the Bronze Agent was a stickler for principles, as an agent he couldn’t help but consider that.

-If there’s no way to quietly escape from this room before today’s festival ends, I’ll do that.

And he added with a tired, guilty expression.

-I’m sorry. I spoke too harshly and gave the other party an excuse for rash behavior.

No.

‘I should have known that Baek Sa-heon was the type to act rashly…’

I’d seen so much of him on the wiki and even lived with him in company housing.

…I feel like my predictions have become dull from exhaustion.

I shook my head and then slumped down in a corner of the room.

It was already dawn.

‘The festival will start soon.’

And.

Hiyaaaaa!

Until the festival music and noise from outside grew stronger and reached its peak, we couldn’t leave the room.

‘It’s not disappearing.’

Even though the festival had started, someone would occasionally bring us warmed food and alcohol to our room.

And there were always two or more people standing in front of the door.

Persuasion and guidance didn’t work either.

They were just kind, but seemed to have no intention of talking with us at all from the start.

‘They’re going this far?’

It was bewildering.

‘Just how did Baek Sa-heon rat us out to the village people?’

This wasn’t normal.

At this rate, we’d really have to tie our sneaker laces and just go back.

The Bronze Agent’s judgment seemed to be leaning slightly in that direction too, when.

We heard sounds from outside.

‘People were making a commotion over there… Should I report it here?’

‘Yes, yes. They were fighting. Well, spilling food… Huh?’

After some brief chatter from outside, we heard the sound of people rushing away.

And a moment later.

Slide.

The sliding door opened, revealing a familiar face.

“As expected, there are people here too.”

“…!!”

It was Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.

The Bronze Agent’s eyes widened.

“You…”

“Shh.”

The deputy raised her index finger to her lips.

And she frowned as she muttered.

“What is this, some human trafficking village? Everyone’s trying to lock up outsiders who are disruptive elements to their families. Anyway, you want to get out of this room too, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je guided us and began skillfully sneaking us out of the tile-roofed house.

For some reason, there were almost no people left in the tile-roofed house.

“Why did the personnel suddenly leave?”

“The number of people had already decreased due to festival preparations, and on top of that, village people got into a fight outside the house, so they all went to break it up.”

“…By any chance, was there someone who instigated that fight?”

“Who knows?”

And Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je winked.

‘That was her doing.’

I felt both the urge to yell at her to stop doing dangerous things and gratitude at the same time, which made me a bit emotional.

“Anyway, hurry up and go. This doesn’t seem like an ordinary village.”

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

And after sneaking out through the back door that Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je seemed to have scouted, we were greeted with a scene no different from yesterday.

[May you receive Jisan’s blessings!]

A village in the midst of a holiday festival.

Hiyaaaaa!

“Still a complete chaos.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, who had been scratching the back of her head, turned to look at us and said.

“Don’t get caught and dragged back to a room for no reason. With all this chaos, you should be able to quietly make it to the entrance without being noticed…”

“Wait a moment.”

The Bronze Agent frowned and spoke sternly to Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.

“Come with us.”

Of course, Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je was bewildered.

“No, I told you I have other business to attend to. I need to do news gathering to make a living too.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I’m the one who saved you all from danger, aren’t I?”

The Bronze Agent sighed. He seemed frustrated by wasting time on this argument, yet also wanting to persuade Agent Eun Ha-je.

It seemed he was worried that someone who had helped them this much might go missing here. He probably wanted to save her if at all possible.

But I was….

‘I’m concerned, but I can’t be sure which side is more dangerous.’

If I dragged Agent Eun Ha-je out just because this village seemed dangerous right now, I might end up being harmed by Director Ho for neglecting my duties.

It was something I had already experienced just recently.

‘Phew.’

My head was in chaos.

And there was one more thing that bothered me.

‘Is it really okay to just leave Baek Sa-heon like this?’

Of course, Baek Sa-heon wouldn’t die and would continue to get promoted all the way to section chief. If this was Baek Sa-heon’s family home, then nothing that wouldn’t have happened without the variable that is me would occur, meaning he wouldn’t die here according to the wiki’s setting.

‘But… that fear was real.’

Was it really okay to leave like this?

I unconsciously turned my head to look around, and at that moment, it caught my eye.

That very Baek Sa-heon.

“…!”

He was still helping with village work, carrying food and guiding people.

His eyes were sunken, but his face was more peaceful than expected.

And then.

Clang clang clang clang clang clang!

[Everyone! It’s lottery time again! Everyone receive your prizes and enjoy the blessings of Jisan!]

Lucky draw time had come around again.

The village people began moving in perfect coordination again, carrying lottery boxes.

“We need to leave.”

“No, so what I’m saying is….”

While the urgent words of the Bronze Agent and Agent Eun Ha-je crossed paths.

“Receive the blessings of Jisan!”

Village people scattered among the outsiders.

‘…At this speed, we probably would have been caught even if we had just run straight to the entrance.’

It meant this was an unavoidable flow.

What caught their attention was.

One of them was also approaching this way.

And so our turn naturally came around quickly too.

“Receive the blessings of Jisan!”

A lottery box was held out.

“….”

Wouldn’t not drawing be more suspicious?

There were too many village people.

‘I don’t think we should cause a commotion.’

If we wanted to leave without being noticed by the people in the tile-roofed house, it wouldn’t be good to refuse and draw attention or raise our voices.

‘Even if I win, I just won’t take the prize with me.’

After intense deliberation, I finally reached out and grabbed the nearest random stick and pulled it out….

But then.

I saw a golden tip.

“…!!”

A stick with gold attached to the end.

Yesterday, the thing that had been in Baek Sa-heon’s pants pocket.

Special prize.

“….”

The surroundings suddenly became eerily quiet.

I could feel gazes, gazes even without looking.

And then.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“Ahhhhh!”

[It has come! It has come! The blessing of Jisan has come!]

Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya

Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya

Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya

Sansan-baekji-sanbok-jusiopge-daerija-ya

The sound echoed.

I barely managed to take my eyes off the stick and raised my head.

And I saw.

Over there.

Baek Sa-heon holding a lottery box, laughing with ecstasy.

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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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