Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 200
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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 200
Light pours down.
The sharpened blade flashes, cutting with conviction.
The dance of ritual knives wielded by both hands and heaven.
Aaaaah…!
The ritual knives pierce into the body of the centipede that has taken the form of a fallen monk.
These aren’t the criminal suppression knives that pierced Deputy Jin Na-sol at the Sparkling Dragon Palace, or me in the Dream Cultivation Room.
Ritual knives adorned with splendid tassels and intricate bells, appearing at least twice the size.
For ceremonies.
Weapons to confront evil ‘beings’.
Uuuuuuuuu…!
The wicked thing that had been preaching worldly truths—or rather, merely muttering its own horrific enlightenment, sowing madness by mimicking human oral structure—writhes in agony.
Each time it does, the human arms that had been writhing fall to the floor, turning to ash and finding peace.
The procedure of a memorial ritual.
Thud.
The centipede convulses as the pillars and rafters of the village shrine collapse.
Those fragments seem about to pour down onto people’s heads as well…
“Do not worry.”
Bronze Agent’s steady voice can be heard.
The transparent bullets from his Glass Hand Cannon embed in the air around the village shrine, trapping the centipede so it cannot escape from there.
Like a kind of talisman, the bullets with appropriate characters carved in the center produce precise effects.
“It should be fine now.”
“…”
“The most difficult and troublesome procedure for ending this type of shamanic ritual supernatural disaster is that the hidden identity must be revealed.”
I know.
Because you need to know what something is to exorcise it.
And I also know why the Disaster Management Bureau couldn’t easily detect that Nameless Radiant Sect missionary buried with the liquor jar in this village shrine, who had been giving strange power.
The comments Agent Choi had written while agonizing directly.
-Hmm… actually the branch office wanted to investigate more seriously. But other government departments blocked them and they’re having trouble. Even dissolving the village itself was rejected.
Isn’t it fine to just go rescue them every year like now, the exact causal relationship regarding disappearances or deaths hasn’t been proven, etc.
But in reality, it seemed there was likely a bureaucrat receiving bribes from Jisan Village.
So their hands were tied.
-The annual holiday festival period returning is really long and repetitive if you think of it as a disaster, right? But if you consider it as investigation time, it’s woefully short.
Especially with ghost stories with such long histories, when rituals have been modified making it difficult to find the original form, it becomes even more troublesome.
The situation becomes busy just rescuing the rescue requesters.
They could only barely maintain the status quo that way.
-So it’s disappointing every time. There’s definitely a culprit… if we could just find it, we could try exorcism or whatever. It’s bitter not being able to do that.
-Wait Grape, don’t read this and decide on your own to investigate the village’s secrets! Do it together! Got it?^^
However…
I did it.
“You found that identity.”
I raised my head.
“You brought that thing out of the village shrine. And now that its identity is revealed.”
Bronze Agent was smiling.
“Ending this disaster has become our specialty.”
Precisely…
The Genbu Team’s specialty.
“Evil things in the traditional sense. Their exorcism.”
“Elder!”
A shout can be heard from the roof.
Agent Choi throws the ritual knife into the sky as the goblin fire in his hand blazes bright as the sun.
Flames that sweep even the bottom of the destroyed village shrine.
Aaaaaaaah!
The dark, damp shade created for the centipede burns away, and bright, warm positive energy arrives.
Auauuuuuu!
The centipede that lost many human arms opens its mouth again, but that enlightenment can no longer be well expressed in human language.
The Genbu Team’s systematized supernatural disaster exorcism steadily drives it into a corner.
First. Purification of the ritual space.
Drive out the environment where evil things like to dwell.
And second.
Restraint.
“Now!”
The bullets Bronze Agent fired constrict the village shrine.
The centipede, having lost many human arms and exposed to the dazzling environment, writhes and struggles desperately.
However, the response that pierces its innate, five-element weaknesses like an awl cuts off its connection to that indescribable evil truth and makes it vulnerable.
Thus the end approaches.
Third.
“Sealing.”
䥗
The final bullet emerges from Bronze Agent’s Glass Hand Cannon.
Having received powerful exorcism blessings, crafted with cunning and skilled artisanship at Baridegi Workshop, it fit perfectly into the evil thing’s body.
Precisely in the forehead.
Thunk.
And.
From the hole in the centipede’s body where the bullet had embedded, its contents were being sucked in.
Inward.
Ooooooooh!
The centipede made a strange bursting sound as it crumpled as if contracting to a single point. No, not just the centipede, but the village shrine and the ground beneath it, the alcohol, and his territory contaminated by the centipede lord were all being sucked in.
Into the glass bullet.
Aaaaah!
The centipede’s voice echoed like a death rattle, and then finally…
It stopped.
…
Thud.
The blackened glass orb fell into the sunken pit where the village shrine had once stood.
On the surface of that glass bullet, now the size of a fist, was an engraved image of a centipede carved in relief.
That rough and bold carving tried to glitter golden like the Sacred Law Scripture Fragment of Mumyeong Chanran Temple, but soon disappeared as if blocked by a powerful sealing force.
The surface of the glass bullet soon transformed into a silver mass as if cooling down coldly.
“…”
“…”
Bronze Agent went to the pit and grabbed the silver orb, examined its entire surface once as if checking it, then put it in his pouch.
And declared.
“It’s concluded.”
“Phew!”
Agent Choi sat down on the ground while holding the ritual blade.
“Are the people okay?”
“Yes. They’re in a calm state.”
The outsiders and village people who had experienced the shocking ordeal had all either lost consciousness and collapsed, were staggering around in confusion, or were standing still staring blankly into space.
It seemed that with the disappearance of the centipede that had revealed the violent truth of madness to them, they had temporarily lost their reason to that emptiness.
The traditional music performers had vanished, leaving only their instruments and clothes behind.
Occasionally, bones and dirt-like things could be seen beneath the collapsed clothing…
And my eyes, having surveyed all of this, returned to Agent Choi’s back.
“…”
The agent sat quietly.
Looking at the sunken mark where the village shrine had disappeared.
‘…What is he thinking about.’
A spy who would die in a month if he didn’t leak information from the Disaster Management Bureau.
He had even almost died because he got involved.
Yet the agent who had come down to the provinces in just one day with all sorts of preparations to save that spy, risking his life to fight the centipede… what would he be thinking.
“…”
I didn’t want to know.
The thoughts I would have and the things I would have to do after realizing it felt too exhausting.
That’s certainly how it had been.
But now.
For a moment, just briefly…
I also wanted to hear the answer.
What he was thinking.
“…Grape.”
“…!”
“Want to come over?”
Without thinking anything at all, I moved my steps toward him.
Agent Choi didn’t turn to look at me.
But as I approached, he extended his hand behind his back.
Toward me.
“It’s all done. Let’s go back.”
…
…
I took that hand.
Agent Choi pulled my hand and stood up lightly from his spot.
“Up we go!”
The face that turned to look at me had the same smile as before.
And he began to make a fuss.
“Oh my, my whole body aches. I mean, I barely rested for a day and a kid goes missing. This is why I can’t rest.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not Grape’s fault, right? The reporter wasn’t in their right mind, and unexpected situations can’t be helped.”
“…”
“But next time, don’t do anything too reckless.”
As if there would naturally be a next time.
He spoke like that.
“…Yes.”
It was strange, but somehow I felt like the situation had improved a little.
Even though nothing had been resolved or progressed.
“…”
My head seemed to clear up a bit.
“Good. That’s how Genbu Team 1 should be!”
Agent Choi patted my back and went over to check on the orb that Bronze Agent had secured.
I took a deep breath in and out.
‘Right.’
At least I survived today well.
And I got to see Disaster Management Bureau agents seal a strange entity from a ghost story through traditional exorcism… so maybe it wasn’t such a bad day.
‘Everyone lived too.’
…My heart felt much lighter.
The brightly shining goblin fire had disappeared, but the sun was up in the sky, sparkling.
‘Hmm.’
And when I looked down, I could see the people who had served as my human palanquin, collapsed next to the now-empty village shrine area.
But there were only three of them.
‘Baek Sa-heon.’
I turned my gaze to where the rescue reporter had been standing.
Baek Sa-heon, who had been one of the human palanquin bearers, had originally been standing to the left side of the village shrine…
‘Hmm.’
He was no longer there.
It seemed he had fled from the moment things started going strangely.
‘That’s not strange.’
No, in this case, it was actually the wisest decision.
Still, now that I’ve regained some energy, I do find him somewhat annoying.
‘Someone pushed that bastard into a position where he’d die in my place, making me suffer like a dog…’
Still, the knowledge about the village he shared all night at the risk of being caught was definitely helpful.
‘Now that bastard won’t have to come back here anymore either.’
-No, I have to come here every year. If I just run away, I’ll go crazy and hang myself!
According to what Baek Sa-heon said at dawn, the village people seemed to need to visit this Jisan Village periodically to escape the madness of the ‘World Truth’.
No matter how much they pickled the centipedes in alcohol, pressed them down with stones, and enshrined them at the village shrine, it was probably because they had already made too much contact.
But now that the source, the Centipede Monk, was gone, things would probably get better, though I couldn’t be sure.
‘Hmm.’
I was about to look away when I noticed something strange.
There was something where Baek Sa-heon had been.
“…”
I moved slightly and picked up the object.
A note… no, something like a small paper boat made through origami.
‘Did he leave this behind?’
Thinking I should look at it later, I put it in my pocket.
When I turned my head, I made eye contact with Agent Choi, who had been watching me.
“…”
“…”
Agent Choi turned his head while maintaining his smiling expression, then said casually.
“Good thing you arrived on time, right? You really came running as soon as we finished preparing.”
“If you hadn’t been at Seoraksan, I would have arrived faster. Why on earth did you take a day off to go there?”
“Hahaha… To recuperate in a place with good air and water? Ah, anyway, there she is! The number one contributor who helped us get Grape here on time.”
Agent Choi pointed to a location.
At the end of his gesture was… Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je!
“Yes. She immediately told us the location of the village shrine.”
“…!”
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je had been waiting at the village entrance, and as soon as she saw them, she immediately directed them to the village shrine.
Thanks to that, the agents were able to arrive before I became bewitched by the Centipede Monk and became its arm…
‘…She must be busy with her own work too.’
I was grateful.
I tried not to stare blankly.
“She recognized Bronze. Oh, she’s greeting us.”
When Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je made eye contact with us, she nodded slightly and then disappeared into the crowd.
More precisely, she thought she had, and I accepted it as such, but apparently not to someone with exceptionally good eyesight.
Because she was moving with clear purpose among the people who seemed dazed and lost.
“Shh.”
Agent Choi, who had been quietly observing with his hand to his lips, frowned slightly.
“She’s heading toward the abandoned house. Hmm.”
He quickly tidied his clothes while putting away his ritual blade.
“Let’s follow her. Her destination is unusual… she’s a reporter?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, that’s a profession that’s useful for infiltration…”
A chilling deduction.
‘The Deputy Manager can’t get caught too.’
I didn’t want to put Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je in a difficult position, nor did I want to push Agent Choi further into Director Ho’s grasp.
That would truly be a catastrophe.
“Mm.”
Agent Choi, who had been talking with Bronze Agent, looked back at me. After seeming to examine me carefully, he said this.
“Grape… you can go out and rest if you want.”
No way.
“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to move together.”
“Alright. Let’s go together.”
“…”
Did he notice?
Even if he hadn’t noticed, his kindness made me feel like my stomach was twisting.
Anyway, I hurried to follow the moving agents.
And a little later.
We could see Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je looking into the well site, having half-torn off the wooden covering.
“…No, it’s not.”
She was muttering to herself.
“Citizen? Are you looking for something right now?”
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, who had been looking down the well, raised her head and looked at us with a slightly incredulous expression.
“Acting like ordinary government officials at this point… Really. You guys are… like in comics? That kind of thing, right?”
“Comics…”
“How about 007 while we’re at it? Haha, this agent here seems to like that expression!”
“…Ha.”
Agent Choi acted cheeky and patted Bronze Agent’s back, then put his index finger to his lips.
Bronze Agent squeezed his eyes shut. Agent-nim…
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, watching this scene, shrugged her shoulders.
“Anyway, I have no intention of telling anyone about this, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you!”
But I saw the agents secretly exchanging glances.
Probably, agents from the Disaster Management Bureau’s Vermillion Team would soon storm this village for ‘cleanup’, and in that process, large-scale harmless memory erasure would be performed on the people…
I hoped the Deputy Manager would leave before then.
I broke out in a cold sweat.
Meanwhile, the agents got to the main point.
“But why were you looking at that well?”
“Well, I heard rumors about strange legends here. Something about it being connected to some mysterious place.”
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je took out a cigarette from her pocket, then quickly put it back while speaking.
“I came here because I heard rumors about strange things happening during this village’s festival…”
She tapped the well with her finger.
“Well. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly special about it.”
“Aha.”
Agent Choi nodded and took out a light source from his chest as if to help the Deputy Manager’s investigation.
A lantern inhabited by a dokkaebi.
The shadows of the well site brightened momentarily in that red flickering light.
“Come on, let me light it up for you!”
“…Must it be with that?”
“Yes, yes.”
Agent Choi said with a smile.
“Moreover, this lantern even serves the role of detecting danger!”
“Aha.”
“Look. The color changes, right? When it flickers red like this.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means there’s something non-human nearby.”
“…”
“….”
“Who are you?”
Silence.
“The one who guided us earlier was definitely human, but you’re not human.”
“….”
The thing in the form of Deputy Eun Ha-je raises its head.
That face with a slightly gentle smile.
“You’re quite perceptive.”
“…!”
“Hello, Agent! We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Agent Choi!”
As Bronze Agent hurriedly tries to take a defensive stance, Agent Choi stops him with a gesture.
Meanwhile, Deputy Eun Ha-je continues speaking with a warm and kind expression she would never normally wear.
“Ah. I definitely asked this person for a different favor, but it seems you’re moving to a strange location. I’m here to help you directly.”
Director Ho.
Whether it was shapeshifting or controlling, I couldn’t tell, but that’s what it was.
Director Ho was standing before us in the form of Deputy Eun Ha-je.
“Do you perhaps have something to say to me?”
No.
‘He’s deliberately provoking us!’
I couldn’t continue talking with Director Ho here. Bronze Agent was present.
‘The probability of Agent Choi breaking the prohibition spell is too high…!’
Even if not, Bronze Agent might get dragged into this too. Or Deputy Eun Ha-je.
It was repeating again.
‘No.’
I gritted my teeth and watched for a chance to intervene. And just as I was about to somehow speak up.
“This works out perfectly. It’ll be easier. …If I know who it is.”
Agent Choi raised his cleaver and pointed it.
…At me.
“…?!”
“Grape.”
“Agent Choi, what are you doing right now…”
Splash, splash.
“It was hard, wasn’t it?”
“….”
“It’ll be okay now.”
Splash, splash.
“Your prohibition spell.”
“…!?”
What was he suddenly talking about, no, if he says that now like that…
….
‘…Wait a minute.’
I realized.
Right. Agent Choi couldn’t tell anyone about last night’s experience due to the prohibition spell.
That I was a spy.
That I planned to steal information from this Disaster Management Bureau.
And even the fact that he himself was under a prohibition spell.
‘All of that is forbidden.’
But.
“After thinking about it… there’s something I can do.”
The prohibition spell regarding me was an exception.
‘The fact that our team agent has a strange prohibition spell from a supernatural being’ wasn’t included in the prohibited matters.
Attempting to break it was something he could do as much as he wanted.
“…!”
“I really had a hard time finding someone skilled in Seoraksan.”
Agent Choi looked up at the sky.
“They’ve arrived.”
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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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