Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 239

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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 239

Lee Seong-hae was in a very good mood!

‘I helped good people.’

She didn’t care that the strange interior of the underground bunker was visible through the iron door.

Because she had found the being she needed to meet inside.

She stretched out her hand and pointed at that person.

“Employee, you’re over there.”

The Security Team Special Department Employee wrapped in black smoke.

Golden Mascot.

Even in the midst of all this, the sight of the ‘Employee’ holding the grandmother, seemingly caring for the elderly, only made her feel more pleased.

‘As expected, such a kind Employee!’

In that case, introducing equally kind people wasn’t a bad thing.

…Regardless of what expressions the agents she was trying to ‘introduce’ were looking at that Employee with, or what emotions they were feeling.

She was someone who was naturally insensitive to others’ emotions, and her habit of trying to do the right thing despite her self-centered tendencies made her execution of ethics and morality somewhat extreme.

Just like how this current situation had come about.

‘Good.’

Lee Seong-hae reminisced.

About what happened a few days ago, after capturing the ‘Man in the Screen’ ghost story in a USB.

“Hmm hmm~”

On the way home from work.

She was happily returning home. Today’s exploration had ended safely, and she planned to visit the Annex Building at dawn to meet the ‘Employee’.

So her steps were light when.

Buzz.

Her smartphone rang.

[K.LEE: Hello Deputy Manager lol]

A profile picture and name that felt almost unfamiliar.

But her exceptional mind remembered.

‘The person who introduced Salmon Market.’

Since it was the season for new employees to join, her associative memory worked even faster.

A mysterious KakaoTalk message contacting a ‘promising new employee’, introducing himself as Deputy Manager Lee Kang-heon from Team C.

[K.LEE: It’s been a while since I contacted you~ I heard you got promoted?]

Lee Seong-hae typed a message.

[Yes]

[K.LEE: Wow congratulations!lol It would be nice to meet and buy you a meal!]

[I don’t think you can afford it]

[K.LEE: Hey I have enough money to buy a fellow employee a meal lol]

Really?

But the thing is.

[You’re not a fellow employee though?]

Because it’s a lie.

And Lee Seong-hae hates liars.

[There’s never been anyone named Lee Kang-heon at this company, so who are you?]

This was the truth she had reached by combining the intranet and all rumors.

A moment of silence.

[K.LEE: You didn’t just figure that out now, did you?]

When Lee Seong-hae was staring down at her smartphone screen.

[K.LEE: And that’s not what’s important, is it?]

[K.LEE: Isn’t this what’s important? I might be able to tell you the whereabouts of Kang I-hak who disappeared recently hehe]

“Huh.”

At the mention of the employee whose disappearance she had neglected with her own hands, Lee Seong-hae blinked.

Actually, Kang I-hak was already out of her mind. There was no need to worry about a ‘bad person’ who had already been dealt with.

But this mention was meaningful.

Because Kang I-hak didn’t just disappear.

[Are you perhaps from the Disaster Management Bureau?]

Because the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau had taken him away.

[K.LEE: Shall we go with that?]

“Ooh.”

The other person’s reaction was surprisingly nonchalant, but given the circumstances, this was likely bluffing to avoid being caught in a lie.

In that case, even if they were a liar, they were lying for a good reason, so it was okay!

[So what do you want to ask for in exchange for telling me Kang I-hak’s whereabouts?]

[K.LEE: Shall we meet and talk?]

[Sounds good!]

If they really weren’t an agent, it would be even better to meet and deal with them.

And so Lee Seong-hae found herself sitting in a corner of a franchise cafe an hour later to meet ‘Lee Kang-heon’.

She acted naturally since she was like the personification of the saying “strike while the iron is hot”.

Moreover, she was in a good mood.

Because a very good idea had occurred to her.

And.

“Nice to meet you. Agents!”

The ones who soon sat down were…

The agents she had seen back then!

Two of the agents she had met when dealing with the ‘Man in the Screen’.

‘Ooh.’

The person with a neck scar and the tired-looking person who had taken Kang I-hak away.

And among them, Lee Kang-heon is…

“Hey, hello there? Deputy Manager.”

It would be this one.

The man with a scar on his neck smiled brightly and sat down in the seat across from him.

Lee Seong-hae reads several signals that this smile is just a habit, and that he’s actually in a very sharp, nervous state.

‘Must be something important.’

“I guess you have something to ask me.”

“Oh, if I ask you for a favor, you’ll just do it?”

“Yep. I’ll just help you out!”

“…Wow, really?”

The other person’s smile didn’t crack, but his voice became softer.

“Really! But could you do me one favor later? It’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing!”

“What’s your standard for distinguishing good things from bad things?”

“Me, of course.”

Lee Seong-hae grinned broadly.

“But I don’t do bad things to good people!”

After a moment of silence.

“Alright!”

‘Lee Kang-heon’ answers refreshingly.

“But only as long as it doesn’t harm the Disaster Management Bureau.”

“Of course!”

While the two were smiling at each other like that, a sturdy agent with a tired-looking expression stares at him.

“Mr. Lee Seong-hae.”

“Yes?”

“If you really want to help good people, wouldn’t it be better to reconsider working for a company that causes harm to society first?”

Hmm.

Lee Seong-hae noticed that Lee Kang-heon had urgently stepped on that agent’s foot under the table, but kindly ignored it!

Even though he had asked a similar question last time.

Lee Kang-heon throws out a comment in a tone that’s unclear whether he’s covering for him or questioning him.

“Hey~ Don’t you have some wish you really want to fulfill?”

“I do!”

“I thought so, right? But you know.”

His voice drops slightly.

“Are there any employees who stay in contact after using a wish ticket? I mean former employees who have been consistently reachable until now.”

Hmm.

Even excluding Team A Leader… since he’s still employed.

The former Team C Leader who quit, and just last year alone, three Field Investigation Team members retired using wish tickets, and among them, the 2 whose wishes were ‘not macroscopic’ were still easily reachable.

“Of course! Everyone’s doing well, you know?”

“…Really? Then what about the employees who disappeared?”

“Ah, of course there are missing employees too. When you make that kind of wish.”

“…”

“…”

A thick, heavy silence settled, but Lee Seong-hae’s bright voice cut through it.

“Anyway, what can I help you with?”

“…Ah, it’s nothing difficult since our Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae already knows about it.”

Lee Kang-heon says as if casually throwing it out.

“You were there when we met last time, right? The black mobile unit.”

“Ah, the Employee?”

Strangely, the agents fell silent.

As if Lee Seong-hae was about to say something shocking.

“He’s a really good person. Kind, and tries hard to help people!”

“…Ah, really?”

The voice is suppressed.

“But I guess everyone’s fine with cramming that good person into a pet carrier?”

“Agent.”

Another agent restrains Lee Kang-heon. But Lee Seong-hae was able to cleanly catch only the question in the sentence.

“Hmm. But the Employee uses that mobile unit because it’s comfortable…”

“…”

“It seems like it’s because people get scared if he just comes out. It’s consideration!”

“Scared, you say.”

“Some people are affected by appearances, you know?”

“…”

The agent who had been moving his lips closes them for a moment.

And when his mouth opened again, a businesslike voice came out of it.

“Understood. Anyway, there’s just one request – we’d like you to just let us get close to that mobile unit.”

Hmm.

“We don’t need anything else grand, just that. It would be enough if you could tell us the location when the mobile unit goes to other field sites.”

A quite convincing guess comes to Lee Seong-hae’s mind.

‘Could it be recruitment?’

Come to think of it, the Disaster Management Bureau said they cooperate with good spirits to dispose of bad darkness.

The Employee was qualified for that.

‘Hmm. Sounds good!’

Wouldn’t it be much better than being overworked without pay under a mean boss like Director Cheong?

Still, confirmation first.

“Are you going to help the Employee change jobs?”

“…What if we said yes?”

“Then I’ll help you.”

“…!”

“It seems like he’s not getting paid right now. He’s at the annex building now, and the conditions really seem terrible…”

“Right now,”

The agent stood up.

“He’s at the annex building?”

“Yes.”

“Baekillmong Corporation Annex.”

“Yes. But…”

Are they planning to storm in right now?

Lee Seong-hae smiled brightly.

“You absolutely can’t get in as humans, you know?”

Baekillmong Corporation’s security characteristics.

While darkness infiltrating or conversely, contained darkness escaping happens repeatedly, security against routes where external intruders could enter and ‘steal’ darkness was thorough.

A typical evil corporation that values raw material supply lines more than human lives, you could say.

Anyway, thanks to that, impulsive infiltration by moderate methods would be very difficult.

Without an inside collaborator.

“Please wait a bit.”

And Lee Seong-hae was very confident he could provide that collaboration well.

He was planning to go to the annex building today anyway!

So for several more days, he carried snacks (he was originally planning to give these as gifts anyway!) and gathered information, establishing contact lines with the Security Team people who were on the same team as the ‘Employee’.

Through this route, he planned to naturally hear when the mobile unit would go outside someday, and immediately pass that information to the Disaster Management Bureau agents.

The only problem was that he didn’t expect the Employee would be assigned to delve deep into the company’s interior.

And that he would go missing along with the Director due to some incident was something they couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Internally, it’s processed as ‘selected by Director Ho Yu-won for separate duty,’ but even that wasn’t made known externally.

The Employee’s assigned Security Teams also kept their mouths shut. Though it seemed like they were doing something among themselves.

“Hmm….”

What’s fortunate in this situation is that at least Lee Seong-hae noticed that the Employee was no longer in the Mobile Unit.

‘I can feel that he’s not there.’

Recognizing the presence of the Mascot.

It was a trace left by his experience working as an employee at Flower Golden Resort. It was the same phenomenon as Agent Hae-geum.

Anyway, Lee Seong-hae had to deliver this disheartening news to the Agents, and the Agents….

[K.LEE: He disappeared]

They requested that he bring something when meeting with Lee Seong-hae again.

If possible, that is.

Specifically, traces of the Employee.

[K.LEE: A part of his body, or even a piece of clothing he wore regularly would be fine]

[K.LEE: Simple belongings won’t work. Things like dolls won’t work either]

Hair or nails, or perhaps horn fragments.

Of course, Lee Seong-hae didn’t have anything like the Employee’s hair either. It seemed like the other party was asking just to grasp at any possibility.

However.

[I think I have something similar!]

An object that could practically be considered part of him.

“It’s the Mascot’s flower decoration!”

It was precisely the ‘souvenir’ that could be chosen as employee compensation at Cheerful Theme Park.

Lee Seong-hae had boldly chosen a single flower attached to the horn of the Mascot’s main body.

Of course, Kim Sol-eum was very reluctant about it, but Lee Seong-hae himself didn’t know this fact….

Are you

really okay?

Recalling only the Mascot’s question that had asked that, Lee Seong-hae gladly brought that single flower to show the Agents.

The Agent’s face darkened as he looked at the small golden wildflower.

“This is… ‘part of the Employee’?”

“Yes!”

The atmosphere somehow became even more strange, but Lee Seong-hae didn’t mind.

And the Agents used some mystical method similar to dowsing to discover one piece of information based on that possession.

Specifically, direction.

“He’s to the southeast?”

The Agents seemed ready to immediately begin tracking based on that, getting up from their seats as if to tell her ‘thank you for your cooperation’ and such.

“Um… but that flower is precious to me too.”

Lee Seong-hae declared with a bright smile.

“I’m coming with you. I’ll take time off and come!”

…And so, Lee Seong-hae finally arrived at Jisan Village after several transfers and was able to arrange a meeting between the Employee and the Agents!

And the Employee’s very first reaction upon finally confirming the Agents was….

This.

Request: Do not move

Huh?

I never expected we’d meet like this.

I stared blankly at those faces.

Agent Choi.

Bronze Agent.

The Elder’s light flickered from the dokkaebi lantern in Agent Choi’s hand, and rope was neatly coiled on Bronze Agent’s shoulder.

The sight I’d seen every time they deployed.

And they make eye contact with me. I slowly back away to widen my field of vision… the moment I do.

I see the black box with both hands protruding again.

Right next to the entrance.

‘…!’

A sense of crisis makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Request: Do not move

Reason: Box three steps away (extremely dangerous)

‘No.’

Too close…!

‘If I’m not careful, the one it follows by detecting movement could change.’

The characteristic of the ‘Seeker in the Box.’

It ‘prefers’ to accept the one with richer stories into the garden.

So, if I’m not careful, it might chase after two of those three.

‘I need to get them out safely.’

Somehow.

Should I scare them? I want to send Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je along somehow too, but how should I do it?

…If I deliberately lure the box,

“Grape.”

….

…!

“Calm down.”

Agent Choi at the entrance slowly puts down the dokkaebi lantern.

And raised both hands.

“Look. We’re not going to do anything. That’s okay, right?”

….

“Should we communicate just with nods? If it’s hard to speak, just moving your head is fine.”

I slowly nodded my head.

A smile appeared on Agent Choi’s face….

“Oh my… you speak in such a way.”

Ho Yu-won.

“It’s not that speaking is difficult, but that you structurally don’t have vocal cords. Right?”

Somehow my heart feels like it’s shrinking.

[That insolent bastard! My Friend has vocal cords somewhere in their body, but they’re simply using a more comfortable means of communication for now!]

And.

Ho Yu-won and Agent Choi are acquainted.

Moreover, that Director harbors tremendous resentment toward the Disaster Management Bureau…

“The prohibition spell I cast was once again undone by running off to that back-room Elder whining on the mountain peak. Truly befitting conduct for your organization.”

“Grape Agent.”

Bronze Agent spoke up.

“If an intelligent entity within a supernatural disaster is continuously inflicting supernatural harm on a government agent, we can immediately transport them to the Disaster Management Bureau.”

His eyes look darkly at Ho Yu-won.

“With just the testimony of the party involved, it’s something that can be done right now.”

Ho Yu-won’s smile deepens.

[Oh, it seems there’s no one in this place who’s favorable toward that fellow. Well, who likes a plague? Especially one so detestable.]

[And so our candidates have emerged.]

…Candidates?

[Candidates to fill the 2-person capacity. How about putting that fellow in the box?]

And I realized that Brown was talking about a very simple way to escape this situation.

[Oh, elimination notices are sad but also an essential element of show management. Let’s notify the two most worthless ones.]

[‘Unfortunately, you can no longer continue with us’!]

Six entities present.

Capacity is two.

[Let’s pick out two.]

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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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