Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 221

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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 221

A dark and narrow editing room.

Massive editing monitors.

One of them with its light on.

The only light source shows a blue desktop screen.

And there are several video icons on it.

They are variety show footage.

The two Field Investigation Team employees who had already exchanged words beforehand moved without hesitation.

-First, let me check if it’s really Darkness.

-Yes!

Verification work.

The hand holding the mouse moves, and the pointer moves across the desktop…

Click.

The clicked icon produces the footage.

The original video that would become episode 26 of MBS ‘Friendly Karaoke’.

[Hahahaha!]

[Wow, you really sing well!]

[You’re too kind.]

In the bright and colorful karaoke set, two guests and an MC are seen laughing with a table between them.

It’s a format popular in broadcast content targeting YouTube recently – a small-scale singing talk show featuring luxurious guests and a humorous host who isn’t too aggressive.

The bright and cheerful atmosphere of the interior, laughter, and even the production staff’s cheers were refreshing.

“There.”

The video stops.

A passing cut of the karaoke interior.

A dark small window attached to the karaoke room door.

There’s a man’s face there.

Looking at the camera.

“Phew.”

It’s visible even in the darkness. More distorted and noticeable than the episode 36 capture from the attached materials post.

As if trying to catch someone’s attention beyond the camera.

If anyone discovered this unexpectedly, it was a chilling sight that would make them freeze in terror or scream and run away.

“Okay.”

But the two Field Investigation Team members quickly turned off the video and clicked on another one.

Because they’re used to it.

Click, click, the hands rapidly clicking on other variety show episode files ending in ‘6’ are fast.

…But they realize something here.

“…”

“…”

The popular variety show formats these days don’t have many with large groups making a ruckus.

Especially those using many people for reactions or audience participation. There are none.

So there are no crowds either.

As a result, the ‘Man in the Screen’ can’t sit among people as if he’s one of them.

So…

The man appears in increasingly awkward ways.

In a variety show where people sit on cushions chatting in a rooftop room, a man standing outside the veranda looks at the camera. In a fishing variety show by the river, a man with his face pressed close to the cast focused on fishing looks at the camera. In a variety show where an MC and actor guest converse, a man standing blankly behind the table where the two sit facing each other looks at the camera.

His expression becomes increasingly strange.

His posture too.

Sometimes the movements that mimic the guests or MC.

As if imitating them, but the awkwardness and sense of wrongness send chills down one’s spine…

“…”

At this point, even a Gold Supremacist begins to feel ominous fear.

Kang I-hak swallowed and turned off the footage.

But he doesn’t hesitate.

“I’ll insert it.”

“Yes.”

Assistant Manager Lee Seong-hae inserted the prepared USB into the editing equipment main unit connected to the monitor.

Executing the simple processing method provided by the company.

Store video data in a storage device that cannot play it back and return it to an appropriate storage location. (Speculation)

It was a reasonable method to try based on Darkness’s patterns.

If deaths occurred while watching videos with the ‘Man in the Screen’ in the editing room, they would store all those videos separately and then close the editing room.

Because if videos can’t be played, the phenomenon can’t even occur.

Unfortunately, they would have to inform the production staff to use the original footage data that hadn’t entered the editing room.

-Don’t unnecessarily provoke it, just put it straight into the USB!

-Right.

Click.

As soon as the USB was connected, Kang I-hak, who had been waiting, opened the removable disk and grabbed all the episode files ending in ‘6’ that were on the desktop along with the editing folder, dragging them all in at once.

It was an action he’d done so often that his speed was unhesitating.

‘Phew.’

And as befitting high-capacity files, a loading popup appears. The process of moving the footage to the removable disk – if they could just endure this…

Copying…

“…”

“…”

Huh?

“Excuse me.”

Lee Seong-hae speaks up.

“Why are you keeping your hand there?”

Kang I-hak looked down at his hand.

His hand, reflexively placed on the keyboard, was pressing the Ctrl key.

…Habit.

When dragging files or folders into USB storage with just drag, it’s processed as a move.

It’s a ‘cut’ operation.

But if you do it while holding the Ctrl key…

It gets ‘copied’.

Something that naturally develops for upperclassmen who do numerous external activities and assignments.

Namely, backup.

“….”

Kang I-hak looked at the files still being transferred to the USB storage.

And he looked at the files still remaining on the desktop.

The ones containing the ‘Man in the Screen’.

At this rate, the original would remain in the editing room.

But files being copied cannot be deleted.

‘No way.’

Kang I-hak watched the ‘copying’ popup with a sinking feeling, waiting for completion.

The numbers climbed steeply. Please. 90, 92, 95, 97, 99….

Complete.

At that moment, Kang I-hak immediately hammered the delete shortcut key.

Are you sure you want to permanently

delete these 6 items?

Right now!

He had to hurry. His hand couldn’t slip. No, his hand didn’t slip, but strangely, supernaturally, the mouse double-clicked and instead of deleting, it pressed the icon to play the raw footage

Input Devices

▶ Mouse (Dolphin)

▶ Keyboard (Pony)

Damn it.

“Yes!”

As expected, they work as much as they’re paid!

Eventually Kang I-hak also ran over and grabbed the keyboard, crouching under the desk and sitting almost prostrate.

The keyboard, also being Bluetooth, operated naturally.

“I’ll bring up the desktop, so please help with deletion selection, Dolphin!”

Kang I-hak began rapidly pressing Windows key and D.

And so, he repeated frantically.

Sometimes the video would pop up first and the icon click would miss, sometimes they’d get almost there only for the desktop key to be pressed and the delete popup to disappear.

And the sound gradually became clearer.

Eeeeeeeeaaaaaaaooooooouuuuuuudeleeeeeteeeeuuuuuuuuuaaaaaiiiiiiiiaaaaauuuu

Cold sweat made both hands clammy.

But Lee Seong-hae moved calmly. While moving the pointer relying only on sensation, he calmly learned the ‘Employee’s’ signals and reduced errors.

Selecting all desktop icons with the keyboard and deleting wouldn’t work. Because the recycle bin would be included.

Ultimately, they had to use the mouse to select the appropriate files excluding the recycle bin.

After that, Kang I-hak would press the button corresponding to ‘permanent delete’.

Until the timing was right.

Before it was too late.

They repeated.

Eeeeeedeleteeeeeeeeedieeeeeuuuaaaaaiiiiiiiiaaaaauuuudooooon’ttttteuuuuuuuaaaaaiiiiiiiiaaaaauuu

To accurately grab the files Kang I-hak had selected earlier.

To make him input the permanent delete shortcut at that exact moment.

And in one instant.

Click.

“…!”

Lee Seong-hae knew.

“…Ah.”

Kang I-hak’s delete key had just been pressed at the perfect timing.

And he recalled.

The monitor popup that the ‘Employee’ would be seeing, invisible to her.

Are you sure you want to permanently

delete these 6 items?

Is this right?

Click.

Right.

Lee Seong-hae immediately put his hand on the keyboard Kang I-hak was holding and rapidly pressed Enter.

And he slammed the mouse he was holding to the floor, breaking it.

So it wouldn’t ‘accidentally’ double-click and play the video.

Then he smashed the keyboard as well.

Crack.

The sound of heavy breathing and silence filled the editing room.

….

….

“Did it… work?”

But the Employee was still surrounding them with black smoke. The monitor wasn’t visible. What more should they….

Tap.

Then. From within the black smoke, a hand wearing black gloves emerged and lightly pointed at the editing equipment main unit.

Ah, the USB!

“…!”

Kang I-hak almost crawled to approach the main unit and pulled out the USB.

Only then did the black smoke that had been surrounding them recede.

“…Whew.”

The revealed view. When he got up and looked at the editing monitor… only the blue desktop was visible again.

No filming video, no man, no strange lag or voices.

It was over.

They had captured the ‘Man in the Screen’ phenomenon on the USB.

“Ha!”

Kang I-hak collapsed to the floor.

He had survived and earned money.

Dopamine rushed through his central nervous system like crazy, making his heart race. This was true happiness….

But the next moment, Kang I-hak bounced upward and hit his head.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. I left the original file on this computer in the middle of everything and wasted time!”

In situations like this, it’s better to properly mention it to get off relatively lightly, avoiding bigger losses or expenses later.

‘Still, she handled the situation well too.’

She was still rolling the small magnet in her left hand.

Exclusive equipment made with the free opportunity gained from being promoted to Team Leader. It was an item with the performance of ‘once a day, 50% chance to unlock directly’.

It had the disadvantage of not being able to unlock what she couldn’t unlock no matter how much time she spent, but it was still quite satisfactory equipment.

It performed well this time too!

‘Would I have almost died if I couldn’t open the transport cage door right away?’

Phew! High returns really do come with high risks!

“But to finish this quickly. It’s really thanks to working with capable people… I even earned additional income, which was great! I’m glad it ended well!”

That was the moment.

The ‘Employee’ who had returned to the transport cage and been silent reacted.

Tap tap.

Denial.

Kang I-hak swallowed his saliva.

“…Don’t tell me you’re not satisfied with the additional income?”

Tap tap.

“…”

“…”

Then.

What this Security Team Special Department Employee was denying was…

“The work isn’t finished.”

…

“We’re misunderstanding something right now, aren’t we?”

Lee Seong-hae’s calm voice made Kang I-hak feel chilled.

“We missed something, right?”

Tap.

“…!”

Before they could ask what that meant.

“…This, would it have been film in the old days?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s entertainment show footage. They used film until the mid-2000s too.”

Suddenly, Lee Seong-hae, who had been looking at the USB, spoke up.

More precisely, while looking at the data inside it.

“Even if not, video data wouldn’t normally leave the editing room, right? After all, proper editing can only be done in the editing room anyway.”

“Mm. That would be right.”

Lee Seong-hae raised his head.

“But now it’s outside.”

“…”

Kang I-hak realized the meaning of those words.

They had just experienced it.

The ‘Man in the Screen’ reacted to the act of deleting itself.

So if the trigger wasn’t the space called the editing room, but the act of ‘editing filmed footage’ itself.

-For editing… we first do the urgent stuff that requires equipment here during the day, but we try to do it outside the broadcasting station, either in studios or working from home.

On the personal PCs of all editing-related production staff at PBS Entertainment Department.

The ‘Man in the Screen’ exists.

They began frantically calling the Security Team as they left the broadcasting station.

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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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