Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 232
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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 232
Ho Yu-won.
The director who knows more about Jang Heo-un than anyone else in this company.
“I thought you might have many questions.”
But an untrustworthy person is smiling at me.
In the corridor of a ghost story filled with corpses, reduced to skeletal ruins by fire and smoke.
He asks me ‘Do you have anything to ask?’
‘…In that case.’
I can approach it this way.
I produced smoke.
Proposal: One-on-one Q&A Ritual
“Hmm?”
Conditions: 2 people
▶ Questions and answers alternate in order.
▶ All questions must be answered truthfully.
▶ If unable to answer a question, state “Cannot respond” verbally and proceed to the next question.
▶ Answers cannot be delayed for more than 96 seconds.
[Ah, how interesting. Setting such meaninglessly specific conditions. It has a slightly occult feel to the structure…]
I did it on purpose. Since I’m dealing with a non-human entity.
And…
‘This side definitely has things they’re curious about regarding me too.’
If it’s a formal ritual form of exchanging questions like this, they can’t help but be tempted.
And.
▶ Intentionally concealing the truth during the ritual results in punishment.
“…Haha! Are you copying me?”
Yes. Feel what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes for once.
Ho Yu-won laughed a few times then answered cheerfully.
“But this is good.”
However, a sinister look flickers in his eyes.
“It’s fair, isn’t it? I could actually place a prohibition to ensure punishment is given… but I won’t. I want to trust Noru.”
A lie.
He’s saying that because he can’t easily place one anyway.
‘You already got hit by me when you tried to place a prohibition.’
But it doesn’t matter.
Agreement
: One-on-one Q&A Ritual
From now on.
Ritual begins
Clap.
“Good. Then… I’ll let Noru, who proposed this, ask the first question.”
And so, on the underground 96th floor, at the bizarre fire scene of the Joyful Research Institute, two ghost stories began exchanging questions and answers.
[Friend, what facts would you like to know first?]
Starting with the most essential thing.
Question:
Everything Ho Yu-won knows about Jang Heo-un.
“You’re asking quite a comprehensive question, Noru.”
Ho Yu-won answers.
“What I know is this: Male, twenties, no family, raised in a religious social welfare facility in the provinces. Three years before his hiring date, that welfare facility was completely destroyed in a fire incident, and he was the sole survivor.”
…
Information that matches the testimony I once heard from the contaminated Heo-un.
“So his wish is probably… related to that fire. Something like bringing the dead back to life, or making the fire never happen.”
Accurate.
‘Did he investigate more thoroughly when selecting him as a spy?’
“Then it’s my turn to ask a question, Noru.”
Ho Yu-won looks at me.
“If you already knew the story you just heard from me, who did you hear it from?”
…!
“Specifically, what kind of entity?”
…
Response:
An employee of Flower Golden Resort – Buffalo
“Ah, I thought so.”
The rekindling flames cast shadows on Ho Yu-won’s face with backlighting.
“I saw in the Field Investigation Team report that he died at the theme park and came back to life as a resort employee… but to think you heard such things directly.”
…
“It’s not just that Noru helped with the resurrection… he’s your subordinate, isn’t he?”
Hmm.
“Ah, this wasn’t a question. It was a certainty. …As expected, Noru is quite human-like. You even make choices you’ll regret.”
Though it was an ominous statement, it seemed to carry a hint of faint regret.
Instead of getting angry, I just stared at Ho Yu-won.
“Anyway, you’re curious about the three ‘Heo-uns’ with different surnames, right? I’m curious too, so it might be good for us to try deducing through our Q&A. …Shall we continue?”
Without being shaken, moving on to the next.
Question:
What you know about New Employee Kim Heo-woon.
“…This is where it gets a bit interesting.”
Interesting?
“He has exactly the same background as Jang Heo-un.”
“…!!”
Male, 20s, no family, raised in a religious social welfare facility in the provinces. Fire trauma.
“To say they’re people who grew up in similar environments, the keywords are too identical, aren’t they? It’s like they were assigned the same role in a game.”
….
The puzzle pieces are coming together in my head one by one.
“Then it’s my turn to ask a question. …Did Noru distribute the Wish Potions he received to the Daydream Company employees who infiltrated the Disaster Management Bureau together? Exactly who did you give how many bottles to?”
Response: 2 bottles to Employee Sanyang
-Requested to deliver them to Employee Buffalo later.
“Ah…. As expected.”
Wait. ‘As expected’?
That sounds like I already knew… don’t tell me.
Question: Whether the usage of the 3 Wish Potions was tracked
“Ah. Rather than tracking, I just know about it.”
…!
“The Wish Potions I gave you were from my personal collection. So I processed the bottles a bit… I can tell whether they’ve been used or not.”
Ho Yu-won smiled.
“And the three bottles of Wish Potions I gave to Noru have all been used currently. …You used one of them, didn’t you?”
What that means is….
The two bottles that went to Go Young-eun have already been used too.
A chilling sensation runs up my spine.
‘Go Young-eun used both bottles?’
If they weren’t stolen by someone… no, the probability of them being stolen is low.
Go Young-eun is the type of person who carefully manages risks well.
And she was also someone with the character who wouldn’t carelessly use Jang Heo-un’s Wish Potion.
Then there’s a high probability she used them for Jang Heo-un’s sake.
‘But….’
Why is the Jang Heo-un I saw still the same?
“Then we can make an interesting speculation here. …Did someone make the wrong wish?”
Ho Yu-won says with a pitying tone while smiling.
“Even after half a year, poor Mr. Buffalo shows no signs of recovering from contamination and returning to human form, so in desperation… she used them arbitrarily.”
….
“But due to some error, instead of ‘Jang Heo-un,’ ‘Kim Heo-woon’ appeared in this world, fulfilling the wish, don’t you think?”
It was a spine-chilling speculation.
[Hmm. Is that so? Then let’s speculate more specifically.]
So… this is what it means.
If Go Young-eun made a wish like ‘Please let Heo-un live as a person in this world.’
‘Instead of the contaminated Jang Heo-un returning to human form, a person that Go Young-eun could accept as ‘Heo-un’ could come into existence in the world…!’
Wish Potions are personally omnipotent. So it’s a sufficiently plausible, ghost story-like situation, but….
Skeptical: Judgment reserved
“Huh?”
In that case, there’s a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit.
‘The person on this Yukwae Research Institute employee ID card.’
Yukwae Researcher
Lee Heo-un
Only this researcher named Lee Heo-un is left hanging alone.
This one seems unrelated to the Wish Potions used now, someone who existed in the past Yukwae Research Institute.
‘…There’s definitely something else.’
Heo-un, Heo-un, Heo-un….
I get a strange feeling.
‘The keyword “fire” overlaps too.’
Someone whose acquaintances all died in a fire at the facility where he lived.
Looking at the situation on this underground 96th floor, wasn’t this Yukwae Research Institute employee the same? Why did he end up having a background so similar to Jang Heo-un… wait a minute.
‘It’s not that, it’s the opposite.’
If I think in chronological order….
‘Jang Heo-un and Kim Heo-woon have backgrounds similar to this Yukwae Research Institute employee….’
Rustle.
….
Rustle.
“Noru.”
….
“Did you see that?”
I saw it.
Just now.
The pile of corpses moved.
No, to be precise, it looked like the pile of corpses in front of the elevator moved.
Because something buried underneath them moved.
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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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