Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 223

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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 223

The sound of a bell.

Jingle.

The clear sound is proof of existence.

Evidence of some divine energy that repels evil.

Jingle.

What came next was the sound of footsteps.

Fast and unhesitating steps walking straight toward their destination with alert precision.

Light but not frivolous.

Those footsteps grew closer and closer to the officetel, then stopped briefly, casting a shadow in front of the open door.

And then…

“Let’s see, the citizen who arrived first… no.”

A Disaster Management Bureau Agent reveals themselves.

A long scar across the neck.

A smile.

Genbu Team 1.

Someone who was once my superior.

“There’s a fraudulent company here.”

Agent Choi.

The mouth was smiling as it spoke, but the eyes scanning to assess the situation held no trace of laughter.

Agent Choi surveyed the blood-soaked living room and the corpse that had died after gouging out its own eyes with sunken eyes.

And then says.

“This wouldn’t be a coincidence, would it?”

“…!”

Jingle.

Agent Choi’s hand is pointing toward something behind. But I know what’s back there.

A massive cleaver.

An illusion of blue light seems to rise from the blade.

Agent Choi moves their arm…

“Then…”

“I surrender!”

Kang I-hak raised both hands and dropped to his knees on the floor with a thud.

“…?!”

[Oh, selling knees at bargain prices, I see!]

However, Agent Choi didn’t even blink.

“Really? That makes it even better.”

“Wait! Wait!”

Kang I-hak, desperately blocking the cleaver baptism, moves his mouth even faster.

“Hey now, Agent, you remember me, right? Didn’t we meet in that darkness where they give out those expensive conch shells!”

“Sure, I remember.”

Agent Choi grins.

“You’re the fraudulent company employee who tried to escape using injured children as hostages, right?”

“That wasn’t me, that was Butterfly Deputy’s solo action!”

The Security Chief watches this back-and-forth with bewildered eyes, wondering what this is all about.

“Actually, we came looking for some useful darkness, but no matter how we looked at it, it wasn’t something we could handle, so we were just about to leave!”

“Oh~ So you have no connection to this incident at all?”

“Is that what’s important? What’s important is this.”

Kang I-hak quickly turned his head and solemnly asked the Security Chief.

“Is Director Cheong there?”

“The connection… already cut off.”

“Okay.”

Kang I-hak beamed with a full smile and looked at Agent Choi again.

“You can buy the darkness-related information we discovered at the lowest price!”

Kang I-hak made a circle with his thumb and index finger, leaving a short but intense impression.

[Good heavens.]

“Hey, what do you mean lowest price? A good government official should pay proper prices for goods. Citizen. As payment…”

Agent Choi smiles while pulling their hand from behind their back.

One step forward.

“I’ll make sure you get good prison food.”

The cleaver flies forward.

Thud.

However, the shape of a beast’s black front paw blocked the cleaver.

“…!”

The Security Chief’s mutated left arm.

But between the massive and vicious claws, the cleaver had dug in so deep it seemed ready to cut right through.

Hissss.

The contact surface burns.

Just looking at the dangling state of that front paw suggests tremendous pain, yet the Security Chief doesn’t budge an inch.

He simply stares at Agent Choi with the cleaver between them.

“Look… we’re just going to leave… we won’t cause any trouble… so let us go… we’ll cooperate…”

“Oh my, if I let you go, how can I receive your cooperation…”

Agent Choi’s words, spoken with a smile, suddenly stop.

Eyes looking at the Security Chief again.

The expression changed.

“…You.”

As if realizing the identity of the opponent they couldn’t recognize due to the security team day-shift uniform that almost completely obscured their silhouette and appearance, now understanding through this mutation.

…The night Director Ho imposed restrictions.

The Security Chief I met in that dream cultivation room where I was caught as a spy by Agent Choi.

“…”

For a moment, tremendous conflict and impulse surge across Agent Choi’s face.

But the next moment, those signs disappeared as if suppressed.

The dry tone that regained its priorities once again found its place with businesslike smoothness.

“…Even the security team is here? Well, this must be no ordinary matter. I’ll need to hear all the statements. As quickly as possible.”

“There’s a misunderstanding. We were just here trying to earn some side income, so yes, if you could just guarantee that part…”

“I’ll just tell you everything.”

“…!”

Lee Seong-hae raised his right hand and stepped forward.

“D-Deputy Manager?!”

“Yes?”

“Y-yes.”

Lee Seong-hae speaks cheerfully without even looking at Kang I-hak.

“We should help agents who work hard to rescue citizens.”

“….”

“So could you please remove the cleaver? The Security Team employee looks like he’s in so much pain!”

Agent Choi, who had been studying Lee Seong-hae’s face as if gauging something, soon retrieved the cleaver and smiled habitually.

“Should I do that then?”

And he quickly listened to Lee Seong-hae’s briefing.

Lee Seong-hae truly testified completely about the ‘Man in the Screen’s’ actions and the crisis situation that seemed certain to spread uncontrollably.

I thought he might mention that the USB was in his hands, but after glancing back and forth between the Security Chief and the mobile unit I was in, he didn’t mention that.

He seemed to think harm would come to us.

“Okay.”

…And during all this time, the cleaver blade remained in front of the mobile unit’s bars.

I held my breath.

So the smoke wouldn’t escape.

…So the opponent couldn’t know anything.

Agent Choi, who listened to Lee Seong-hae’s testimony as if memorizing every word, didn’t let his guard down until the very end.

Only at the very last moment did he withdraw the cleaver.

“Oh my, thank you for your cooperation.”

“Don’t mention it! Helping good people is a good thing!”

“Wow, really? That’s my daily routine too. You’re really achieving self-realization through work. Helping good citizens. But….”

Agent Choi looks at the golden mark inside Lee Seong-hae’s mask.

The Elite Team dolphin deputy.

“Why do you work at Baekillmong?”

“….”

“You already know that several good people die because of what that company does, right?”

Lee Seong-hae smiled brightly.

“For now, I’m making sure they can’t do bad things whenever I notice them!”

“Really? How about just quitting?”

“….”

Lee Seong-hae didn’t answer. And Agent Choi also stopped the conversation there.

[Oh, it looks like they’re about to leave here.]

That’s right.

This was an incident that happened simultaneously to multiple broadcast editors. The agents probably mobilized together and received distributed assignments to come here.

And since they’ve learned everything they could here, they’ll leave the cleanup of corpses and such to the Vermillion Bird Team, and Agent Choi will also go help other Black Tortoise Teams….

I know this.

Because I used to do it too.

[…Friend, you seem to have become unhappy. Oh my, are you alright?]

I’m fine.

No, rather than fine… my dull brain can’t reach proper conclusions anyway.

I’m not sure what I’m feeling.

I just watched from beyond the mobile unit’s bars as a familiar shadowy figure exited the officetel door….

“You there.”

Agent Choi, who had been holding the door, turned around as if unable to hold back and approached closely to whisper low.

To the Security Chief.

“You know me, right?”

“….”

“You also know the employee who uses the nickname Noru, right.”

The Security Chief made eye contact with Agent Choi.

“What happened? Don’t bother saying he was processed as dead after going missing in the train ghost story since that’s meaningless. His whereabouts after that.”

“….”

“…Did he really board the wish ticket?”

The Security Chief answered slowly.

“He boarded… the wish ticket.”

“….”

The expression disappears from Agent Choi’s face.

“And then?”

“….”

“And what happened then?”

The Security Chief carefully tapped my mobile unit and turned his head this way….

“That won’t work.”

The cleaver blade struck the bars.

“Use of supernatural disasters prohibited.”

A nostalgic light sparks from beyond the bars.

“Hey now, sir. If you suddenly appear at a scene with such a suspicious mobile unit, anyone would think it’s for mobile containment of supernatural disasters.”

“….”

“Should I split it in half to check? What it’s used for.”

“It’s not… that kind of thing.”

“Then please provide an answer.”

“….”

The Security Chief didn’t answer.

Because he couldn’t confirm my intentions.

And when the silence lasted several seconds, Agent Choi, who had supernatural disasters to handle immediately and civilians to rescue, showed signs of impatience and then… seemed to give up.

The method of getting an answer right here on the spot.

“Right. Well… you might not want to talk about it. Personal freedom and all.”

Instead he chose a different approach.

“But while resting over a hot bowl of seolleongtang, you might feel like talking.”

The moment Agent Choi put his hand inside his jacket and smiled slyly, I realized.

“And it’s suspicious after all. This whole situation.”

“…!”

“Coming from Baekillmong just to catch darkness after hearing rumors… the timing of the report is quite coincidental, very coincidental. Don’t you think?”

A chillingly accurate instinct.

“With personnel discovered at disaster scenes, such witness testimonies often come out more when you take time to think slowly.”

And what comes out of his jacket….

A glass prison transport device.

“The Management Bureau will provide a place for you to rest and wait.”

The agent had changed his mind to transport the Baekillmong Corporation employees all at once while he was at it.

‘…This can’t happen.’

I need to finish my work and return with the USB.

I released the smoke.

Just as I was about to escape outside the mobile unit.

“You there.”

A cold voice echoed through the officetel.

A new person who had entered through the door grabbed Agent Choi’s arm.

“Cool your head.”

“…!”

A tall woman wearing the Four Symbols Participation Sword.

Team Leader Hae-geum of Hyeonmu Team 3.

The agent I had encountered at Cheerful Theme Park was standing there.

[Ah, indeed. This must be the employee who helped with your resort management!]

That’s right.

“Dealing with fraudulent companies is the team leader’s job when the team leader is present. The rookie agent should go to the broadcasting station now.”

“….”

“Maybe it’s because you’re still young, but you’re quite hot-blooded. Even trying to use underhanded methods.”

“Hey, sis. I’m practically in the prime of my youth.”

Agent Choi smiled brightly, but there was a hint of urgency in his following words.

“But I have more to say….”

“I told you to go. Agent.”

“….”

“I’ve already rescued everyone from the chaos. Now you need to go to the broadcasting station and grill the director. You’re the right person for the job.”

Agent Choi stood frozen in place for a moment, but eventually turned around and started walking.

The sound of his footsteps running out the door grew distant.

….

“Phew.”

Team Leader Hae-geum straightened up, then looked over the two masked people and spoke.

“Now, if the two from the Field Investigation Team have nothing more to say, how about heading out?”

“…!”

“Yes, thank you!”

“Wait a moment. Can the Security Team employees leave too?”

“Ah, I have something to discuss with these folks. Don’t worry, I’m not going to throw them in jail.”

“Oh, then we’ll wait….”

“Yes. Thank you!”

After hesitating briefly while watching Kang I-hak hurriedly leave his seat, Lee Seong-hae followed him. Thus, the two from the Field Investigation Team left the officetel.

Hae-geum Agent watched the backs of those Daydream employees with a somewhat bitter expression, then approached the Security Chief.

And then….

She lowered her gaze.

To me.

“Golden Mascot.”

…!!

“Or should I call you the Resort Owner?”

Hae-geum Agent smiled bitterly.

“Why are you so surprised? You even hired me as a resort employee.”

Ah.

“Work that causes such changes to one’s existence tends to leave scars. For instance… recognizing a former employer.”

But for something she called a scar, the agent’s expression wasn’t bad.

Rather, she bent down toward the carrier and said this.

“And I should express my gratitude.”

…Gratitude?

“Thank you for safely sending home the citizens who got caught up in the resort.”

….

“You employed adults even when they had no coins to pay, and gave children experience tickets to stay the night.”

[Good heavens. Friend, are you running an underground business?]

“If it had been when the Red Zone existed, it would have definitely been classified as a supernatural disaster wave anomaly, but thanks to you, it’s currently registered as just a phenomenon.”

In the midst of some inexplicable strange shock, I looked at Hae-geum Agent.

Yes.

That was… definitely a decision I had made before.

And I was still the owner of that resort.

Unchanged even after all those events occurred.

“So, what I’m saying is….”

….

“No matter how I think about it, the Resort Owner doesn’t seem compatible with Baekillmong Corporation.”

Ah.

“Were you caught by a contract?”

…!

“Baekillmong Corporation seems to have finally figured it out. How to control supernatural phenomena.”

….

“Originally pure beings are easily deceived by such wicked promises. Because they don’t understand human malice well.”

Denial

“It’s not to that extent? But… your energy has changed.”

Hae-geum Agent tapped the carrier. When the Security Chief tried to stop her, she raised both hands slightly, then continued speaking….

“You seem very tired.”

….

“You’re not the same vibrant figure I saw at the resort before. Something is… murky. It reminds me of the true form of that red mascot, what was it called, Magic Bunny.”

…I recalled it.

The grotesque form of the red mascot that had been consumed by the mask, lost its original appearance, and melted away completely.

And the Blue Mascot who absolutely didn’t want to show their unmasked appearance.

“Do you want to escape? Before you lose more.”

….

Impossible

“Hmm… I see.”

Hae-geum Agent, who had slightly furrowed her brow as if feeling sorry, pressed it firmly and pondered something deeply.

“Then what do you want most right now?”

….

I want to have at least a human-like appearance.

That would have been the correct answer.

That was my intermediate goal, after all.

However… I found myself moving the smoke without realizing it….

To reclaim myself

It was a vague and impractical statement.

I hadn’t lost myself; this was my original form. I had simply realized the truth.

When I thought I should retract it.

“…Hmm.”

Surprisingly, Hae-geum Agent began rummaging through her pocket.

“Team Leader Hong compared you to a lamp… but for someone like you who’s always shrouded in black fog, what I used to use would be better.”

And extends something forward in front of the mobile unit.

A small item.

A round object made of jade and silver….

“Even if you cannot see, you should be able to hear the sound.”

A bell.

“When you lose me, when you cannot see an inch ahead, when the world becomes clouded with confusion and anguish.”

“Listen to that sound and follow it.”

Jingle.

“Realize. What kind of person you originally were.”

A clear sound rang from the bell.

Team Leader Haegeum gave it to me.

“It will be helpful.”

….

I created hands from the smoke and grasped that bell.

At the same time.

Outside the officetel, in a Seoul alley.

“Phew.”

Kang I-hak moved his steps with a sigh.

‘Couldn’t make a single penny here.’

It was so regrettable! No matter how he thought about it, it was a situation where he could have at least grabbed one item.

He looked at Lee Seong-hae, who was walking some distance behind him, and clicked his tongue in disappointment.

‘He doesn’t place bets.’

It was disappointing. Next time, he absolutely had to figure out how to use this superior to create additional income!

Of course, if he was going to work with the Elite Team anyway, he’d prefer to work with a different superior.

‘Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol spends money much more generously!’

Though if you could choose that freely, it wouldn’t be a company.

‘Still, I broke even.’

Let’s work harder going forward. After shrugging his shoulders only inwardly, Kang I-hak casually approached Lee Seong-hae.

“Deputy Manager, is taxi fare back to headquarters also covered….”

Lee Seong-hae stopped walking.

…?

“As expected.”

At that moment.

Kang I-hak saw a person walking out from beyond the alley and felt an intense premonition strike the back of his neck.

The sensation of ‘I’m screwed.’

“So you came this way.”

It was another agent.

Someone who had finished their rescue operations and was scheduled to return to the Management Bureau to report information instead of being dispatched to the broadcasting station.

The agent that Agent Choi had called while running to the broadcasting station.

Bronze.

“I hereby notify you. Survivors of supernatural disasters are subject to isolation measures by the Disaster Management Bureau for interrogation and protection purposes, ranging from a minimum of half a day to a maximum of indefinite duration.”

Kang I-hak immediately tried to turn around and run. The moment he decided to use an item.

He saw it.

Lee Seong-hae, who had been standing behind him, urgently raising his hand.

‘…!’

It was at that moment when Kang I-hak reflexively hesitated at the motion that seemed like he was about to use some equipment or ability.

….

‘Ah.’

Lee Seong-hae, standing behind him.

Smiled and waved his raised hand at Kang I-hak.

A farewell greeting.

“Proceeding with transportation.”

Before the blackout, Kang I-hak saw the massive glass barrier covering him.

—————
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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