Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 227
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Episode 227
Let me think about this.
Baek Sa-heon left this paper boat in Jisan Village. He probably left it for the ‘Grape Agent’ he met at that time.
Of course, he wouldn’t know that the agent’s codename was Grape.
‘If he knew that, he would have already realized I was Kim Sol-eum.’
Since he didn’t know, he left behind a communication item.
So in the current situation, it would be better to respond like an agent to continue the conversation smoothly.
I wrote as neatly as possible.
With my melted body crammed into the suit, the distribution of strength was off, making my handwriting slightly shaky.
Are you the citizen we met
in Jisan Village?
So what if I am
It seems you evacuated safely.
That’s a relief.
Baek Sa-heon didn’t respond.
However, the text I had written naturally disappeared after a while, confirming he had read it, so I continued writing.
Sorry for the late response. I discovered it
late.
I didn’t know you had to unfold the paper boat
to use it.
Are you stupid? Why don’t you know this
There we go. I knew you’d say that.
‘That venomous personality never goes anywhere…’
Just as I was thinking about how to suppress this guy while maintaining my agent identity to enable productive conversation.
Well, I guess you might not know
…?
Seems like you don’t have much experience with this stuff
Can’t even guess properly
You haven’t been an agent for long, have you?
Yes. That’s correct.
But I think I handled the situation
reasonably well back then.
Silence again.
‘What’s this about?’
Anyway, the fact that you left
this communication paper behind—
do you have something to report?
Don’t talk about reporting
I left it because I had something to ask
The text that had been appearing smoothly now updated with a slight delay.
What happened to the village
Do you mean Jisan Village?
What other village would I be asking about here?
Of course I mean there
What happened back then
[Good heavens, bothering my Friend with something from half a year ago. It wouldn’t be strange if Noru got angry at such laziness!]
Hmm… Rather than being lazy.
‘It’s probably closer to… being too scared to check.’
It seemed Baek Sa-heon hadn’t gone anywhere near Jisan Village since he fled that time.
He probably felt through sound and pressure what was happening in Jisan Village even while escaping.
‘And after that… contact from the village itself probably stopped completely.’
It’s almost October now. With Chuseok approaching, he’s probably getting more anxious. Wondering if he should go down there, if the Disaster Management Bureau failed and the village became even more horrible.
I declared concisely.
The supernatural disaster you were worried about
has disappeared.
There will be no more lucky draws or festivals.
The Centipede Monk that the village people had brewed with alcohol and buried under the village shrine was gone, and would now be under the jurisdiction of the Disaster Management Bureau.
You are free.
For a long while, Baek Sa-heon didn’t respond.
I continued speaking.
However, since I can’t be certain
about the village’s current state, it would be
better to be cautious about visiting.
I’ve been working on other supernatural
disasters since then, so I couldn’t
get detailed updates.
Somehow, this was the truth…
I almost got a bit depressed, but I was able to finish with information that an agent would have provided.
Of course, since you’re an experiencer
of that supernatural disaster, if you
contact the Disaster Management Bureau officially, they can provide safer countermeasures
scared.
Of course, you wouldn’t do such a thing.
Never mind
I figured as much.
Your handwriting is really terrible
‘But suddenly with the personal attacks…?’
Well, sorry about that. You’ll understand how difficult delicate movements requiring fine motor control become when your brain and body are beaten to a pulp…
It’s a miracle I didn’t crumple up this paper.
I’m sorry.
I hurt my hand a bit.
The reply stopped again.
Then the contact came back with a change of topic.
Hey
Are you contacting me from the darkness right now?
To some extent, yes.
But about you using the term ‘darkness’
I have to ask.
You already know where I work, so why
are you pretending to ask? The agent
who was with you seemed to recognize me
Threatening me with this won’t work
Why is this guy suddenly going off like this, just like he did during new employee orientation?
I have no need to threaten you, citizen,
nor do I want to.
And when talking to someone, if they’re
really trying to threaten you, don’t fight
back like this – just leave. That’s
safer.
Silence again.
I held back a sigh and continued.
I just had something I wanted to ask
personally.
About Daydream.
Are you crazy? You think I’d answer
that and create trouble for myself
with the company for no reason? lol
Stop messing around
Understood.
I expected that response. Naturally, I was considering which lure to use to hook him when…
Text quietly appeared.
What are you curious about?
What’s he trying to do?
But I went ahead and threw out the question I had prepared.
I wanted to ask if any of the new employees
were people who previously worked there
and rejoined, and if there were any
faces you recognized.
First, confirming about Jang Heo-un.
I could ask Gwak Je-gang too, but I don’t want to give that mad scientist the impression that I’m paying special attention to Jang Heo-un beyond normal levels.
‘It would provoke his curiosity.’
No matter how much I’ve restrained him with the ‘Red Finger’, giving that crazy person motivation to find some kind of workaround wasn’t advisable. Especially regarding people around him rather than the person who made the promise.
‘For the same reason, I’m not asking about Go Young-eun or Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je either.’
Of course, it wouldn’t work on Baek Sa-heon with just words either, so while I was choosing between carrot and whip again…
Wait a bit
I’ll find out when I go to work tomorrow
‘…??’
What… did he eat something wrong?
I really wonder what’s going on.
Anyway, since he’s saying he’ll do it, that’s good for me.
Thank you.
Don’t forget to show your appreciation
Prepare some useful items
Don’t do something like sending
coffee gift cards
Hey. I can’t even buy coffee gift cards in my situation…
That would be difficult.
I’m sorry. I’m currently not in a position
to obtain items.
Don’t you even think of promising to
get some later? You really have no sense
and no flexibility, yet you’ve managed to
work as an agent until now
[What a Grinch you are.]
My thoughts exactly.
Then I’ll pay you back
when I get the chance. Thank you.
‘Hmm.’
It seemed like the ‘Grape Agent’ had gained some kind of trust from Baek Sa-heon through the Jisan Village incident.
‘How did that happen?’
I had no idea. It was completely unexpected.
‘…I’m not even an agent anymore.’
It’s bewildering that I’m still communicating as an agent.
Anyway, I decided to wait for Baek Sa-heon’s response to this first question.
After all, this was a period where I needed to quietly work at the annex for the next step.
[Now it’s time to rest well and prepare for tomorrow’s work, friend!]
Right.
Several days passed like that.
I continued working quietly at the annex front desk, while also putting silent pressure on the company that they must pay my salary on payday.
For reference, during this time I went out once more to collect darkness, and this time I also captured it safely.
Since it was darkness from the wiki, analyzing the manual with a clear mind wasn’t particularly dangerous or difficult. Even more so since my fear and emotions were dulled.
Other than that, it was quite peaceful. Surprisingly, Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae continued to visit us several times during our annex shifts, bringing snacks.
‘I wonder if I could eat them someday if I find and reassemble my digestive organs.’
For now, I passed them all to the Security Chief.
Baek Sa-heon’s paper boat still showed no response. He probably hadn’t confirmed all the new employees’ faces yet.
And so time passed until today, when the work arrangement changed slightly.
[Solo duty! Don’t worry about boredom, friend. This witty entertainer is by your side!]
That’s right.
Night shift solo duty.
Since I had been working quietly for over a week, the company seemed to think ‘let’s test this far’ and stationed me alone at the front desk.
‘I wouldn’t have tried something like this…’
But that’s what makes it a crazy company in a ghost story world.
The Security Chief and Team Leader Park Min-seong each did their original work, and would respond if a security call came from my side.
So I was left alone at the front desk in the form of an open mobile unit.
As a result.
“…”
“…”
About seven out of ten people approaching the front desk were hesitating.
‘Sigh…’
At least they’d seen the mobile unit for several days, otherwise security would have been called already.
“Excuse me… Mobile unit? Employee? I’m trying to access the Twilight-grade ‘Self-Made Cookie.'”
Access card distribution
I created letters using smoke, and simultaneously extended only part of my body, my left hand, from the mobile unit to register the access card and threw it to the person.
“Th-thank you…?”
Please use safely
I could hear murmuring from the employees entering the corridor as if fleeing, saying I was surprisingly good at the job.
Please don’t make such evaluations loudly in front of a mobile unit presumed to be darkness…
‘Must be new employees.’
I saw them particularly often.
Although several days had passed since the entrance exam, it was about time to introduce new employees to places like the annex and have them try using it themselves.
I had done it too.
‘…Was it around this time that I made my dedicated equipment?’
I remembered the time when I received various help from Team D supervisors.
‘…’
While I was quietly spending time with the smoke like that.
The annex entrance door opened, and another person in a suit carefully walked inside.
“H-hello…”
He seemed to be another new employee. A tall male.
But this person froze when he saw me at the front desk as he walked in.
‘Mm. That’s understandable.’
Question: Need for access card
“…!”
The new employee’s pace quickened at the sentence I created, and he came to the front desk almost frantically.
‘…Huh?’
More precisely, seeing the black smoke and yellow light coming from the open mobile unit.
As if recognizing it…
…
…!
I hastily displayed a sentence.
Question: Situation during hiring
Whether you visited Annex Basement Level 13
“…!!”
Tap tap, the sound of footsteps walking to the front desk grew louder.
“Do you… remember me?”
This way of speaking.
Build, probably polite expression, relatively long hair…
“I thought you might not recognize my face, might not be able to identify me…”
Question: Name
…
Slowly, lips opened on a face like melted mosaic.
“It’s Heo Un…”
…
As expected.
“…Employee.”
I faced my colleague whom I had met again.
Countless questions passed through my mind.
Reason for joining
“…There’s something I need to find.”
The hands placed on the front desk tensed slightly before relaxing.
Since there were CCTVs, we couldn’t have a more detailed conversation.
‘…Was my guess correct?’
It seemed that Jang Heo-un, who had become human through the wish ticket, had rejoined Baekillmong to fulfill his wish.
“Excuse me, employee.”
I wanted to talk more, but that wouldn’t be appropriate in such an open place.
‘At least we’ve acknowledged each other’s presence.’
Access card distribution
“…Thank you.”
I assigned access permission to the twilight-grade darkness that he had requested.
However, Heo-un glanced inside the annex building for a moment, then returned the access card to me and went outside.
“I’ll come back again.”
Leaving those words behind.
….
‘…Did he come here after hearing rumors from the beginning?’
That there was a Security Team employee who used fog at the annex front desk.
In other words, that I was here.
It was possible.
‘…Phew.’
At least, it was fortunate to confirm that he was safe as a human.
If he had been contaminated as a resort employee, dream extraction wouldn’t have worked and he wouldn’t have been able to pass the Field Investigation Team selection.
‘Did I ask Baek Sa-heon for nothing?’
I thought I should have looked into other information instead, but I didn’t expect to meet him so soon.
Since there were no people around, I took out Baek Sa-heon’s paper boat that I had hidden in the smoke of the mobile unit and unfolded it in a CCTV blind spot, in the shadow of the iron fence.
‘Ah.’
A response had come back in the meantime.
So, Baek Sa-heon’s response to my question about whether there were any new employees who had previously worked here and rejoined, or if there were any familiar faces….
None
….
What?
No new employees who rejoined Baekillmong, and no
familiar faces either. No one who looked
like a celebrity either
Is this what you wanted to know?
….
Wait a minute.
Then….
What about Jang Heo-un who just left the annex building?
….
Hey
You confirmed it, so why no response?
Thank you. I’ll contact you again.
I folded the paper boat again and put it back in the smoke.
All kinds of possibilities rushed through my mind.
The possibility that one of them was lying, the possibility that both were lying, the possibility that both were telling the truth but there was a misunderstanding.
At the same time, the most primitive method also came to mind….
The simplest method I hadn’t thought of until now.
….
‘Brown.’
[Oh, what’s the matter, friend?]
Thanks to the bell, in my clear mind and the dull shock that had passed hazily, my reason asked.
To the good friend beside me who could identify people’s faces.
‘Was that person earlier really Jang Heo-un I knew… the employee of Baekillmong Corporation who wore the buffalo mask?’
And the answer was.
[My, Noru would know that better than anyone else!]
Me?
[Of course! But since you seem to have forgotten, let this host give you a hint….]
A pleasant, classically-toned radio host voice spoke three words.
[Flower Golden Resort.]
…!!
‘Ah.’
I was not in human form, but there was still one identity I hadn’t lost.
The mascot of Flower Golden Resort.
That was because it was created through contracts and achievements.
If that’s the case.
‘I could call Heo-un, who is a subordinate of the mascot and an employee of the resort, anytime…!’
[Correct!]
[Since you personally employed him as a full-time employee at the resort, naturally you can know anything about him and command him as you please.]
‘Right.’
That was also why I was able to transfer his custody to the Disaster Management Bureau in the first place.
However, since his custody had been transferred to the Disaster Management Bureau, they would be taking some measures to restore the contaminated Heo-un back to human form, so I hadn’t interfered.
‘But in a situation like this.’
It would be better to try calling him once.
If he doesn’t respond to the call, if that presence can’t be felt, then it means he’s returned to being human, so you can rest assured.
‘….’
I took a deep breath.
And I ‘called out’.
Jang Heo-un.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————