Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 263

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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 263

I found my missing companion, Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, who had disappeared after boarding the train, at Casino Station.

I could have been happy that the tracking was successful.

If only he hadn’t been working as a dealer in the casino ghost story, missing one eye.

“Dolphin…”

“Shh.”

Agent Choi grips my shoulder tightly. I reflexively shut my mouth.

“…”

“Yes, Dealer. Please guide us~”

“Yes!”

We began quietly following the dealer who started walking ahead—a resident of the ghost story wearing Lee Seong-hae’s appearance.

Agent Choi whispered quietly.

“Rather than causing a commotion by recognizing him, we need to time it right and make him snap back to his senses, even if just for a moment. Got it?”

I nodded.

The dealer guided us inside through the run-down casino entrance area.

We entered while quietly observing our surroundings.

…If this were the , this environment would surely have been recorded like this…

Following the dealer’s guidance through the casino entrance area, a location appeared with three iron doors lined up side by side, as if converted from subway facility management space.

The areas accessible through each door are described in order below.

1. Left – Red Door

“This is the Slot Machine Zone!”

When the door opened, a square space appeared with fast-tempo, low-quality instrumental music, old brass decorations, and endlessly lined slot machines.

A place that felt more systematic and persistent than the atmospheric machines at the entrance.

“You can enjoy simple games by pulling the lever, and you can challenge the jackpot with just 1 coin, so it’s very popular!”

Most of the slot machines were already broken, but I could see numerous visitors pulling the shabby slot machines still in operation with vacant eyes.

If they had no hands, they used their feet; if no feet, they used their mouths.

I also saw someone desperately grabbing something from a slot machine that had just hit and running to a corner.

And the sight of addicts chasing that winner like mad.

It was a bone-chilling scene.

“Then I’ll guide you to the next area.”

2. Right – Blue Door

“Dealer Zone. This is where various table games are played. Only companions with 50 coins or more can enter.”

A casino space that looked somewhat cleaner than the Slot Machine Zone from before revealed itself.

However, more than half of the game tables were broken or shattered.

At the few decent tables that remained, ‘dealers’ dressed similarly to Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae were either standing still or conducting games.

But their numbers were significantly few, and there were hardly any visitors sitting down…

[It seems like an isolated place. Oh, like a run-down casino in a tourist destination that no one visits anymore.]

[Look at those wretches. What a shabby state they’re in!]

The visitors sitting in front of the dealers either had no legs, were missing more than half their facial features, or had their entire bodies covered with worn-out hoodies or padding.

“…”

“How do you find it?”

“Ah, today seems like a rather quiet day.”

“We usually get more visitors on weekends than weekdays!”

It definitely didn’t seem like that was the problem, but it was natural that realistic conversation with corrupted people was difficult.

I smoothly changed the subject.

“Actually, I was surprised to meet a dealer. I thought this was an unmanned facility.”

“Ah. I understand. I heard that ██City Royal Casino is also changing its management policy to be more innovative recently due to the declining trend in subway users.”

It was a meaningful statement.

The dealer wearing Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s appearance smiled broadly and guided us to the next room.

“But there are also special games you can only enjoy here!”

The last room.

2. Center – Golden Door

A golden, rusted iron door with all its paint peeled off.

Above it was attached a velvet nameplate that hadn’t faded yet.

VIP ACCESS

“This is a room that only visitors with 999 coins or more can enter!”

As stated, the iron door was firmly closed.

As if we couldn’t enter.

“This is an area I’d definitely recommend since you can see the true nature of Royal Casino.”

“What kind of games do you play?”

“That’s information I can only tell visitors who have qualified for entry!”

“How many people are inside right now?”

“That’s information I can only tell visitors who have qualified for entry!”

It meant that 999 coins were needed to learn anything about that VIP room behind the door.

“What I can definitely tell you is that you can earn tremendous coins!”

“…I see.”

[Hmm. Are you curious, Friend?]

Of course I felt something ominous, but of course that wasn’t what was important right now.

“…Thank you for the explanation.”

“Not at all, visitor!”

The dealer wearing Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s appearance smiled brightly and bowed again.

I returned the bow while receiving that greeting, but I couldn’t shake off a certain thought.

One question was circling in my head…

Was Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae

that tall?

“Then I’ll help you enter the Dealer Room first!”

He definitely had more than a 10cm height difference with Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, but now he looked clearly taller at a glance.

He was wearing dress shoes instead of his usual cushioned sneakers.

How could that be?

“Would you like to try a game?”

Returning to the second space, the Dealer Room, the dealer went to the opposite side of a shabby table and explained in a cheerful voice.

“It’s a simple card game. You just need to guess the identity of the card I’m holding! You can bet a minimum of 3 coins, and you can earn up to 36 times your coins!”

Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s hand movements were dazzling as he took out and showed the trump cards.

And I realized something else again.

“Are you going to place a bet?”

The dealer with one missing eye makes eye contact with me, who also has one missing eye.

“If you bet all 35 coins you have, visitor, theoretically you could gain VIP room access in one go.”

….

“That’s alright.”

I smiled and stepped back slightly from the table.

“This is our first time here. We’ll try the slot machines first, enjoy ourselves a bit if possible, then come back to bet. Thank you.”

“…Y-yes. Thank you!”

The dealer’s persistent gaze finally fell away, and I escaped the dealer room with my companions.

We returned to the entrance area, and only after confirming by the pawn shop that the dealer hadn’t followed us did I speak.

“Grape, did you see it?”

“Yes.”

I saw the dealer’s hands shuffling cards.

“Only the ring finger and middle finger looked different.”

“Right. …The connection between the wrist and hand was also unnatural.”

And even the dealer’s height, which was ‘strangely tall compared to Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae.’

All of it points to one fact.

….

“Only the head belongs to Deputy Manager Dolphin.”

The dealer was crudely assembled from different body parts.

Along with Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s head.

“He repeatedly gambled here, selling most of his body parts and buying them back.”

Or.

“He might have accumulated debt, had all his body parts taken by the casino, and been reassembled as a dealer.”

Either way, one question remains.

So.

“…Can we consider him to be in a state where rescue is possible?”

….

“We need to kill him.”

“Wait,”

Bronze Agent’s voice asserted again.

“Then he’ll wake up in reality. We just need to kill him with a headshot.”

“Wait a minute!”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je cut off Bronze Agent’s words.

“Government Official. Let’s calm down first. Let’s think about this. …Can we say it’s still him when only the head remains?”

“Hmm~ We should consider the side with the brain to be the real person. After all, it’s the head that dreams.”

“That’s not right.”

Agent Choi and Manager Lee Ja-heon’s opinions split.

The two looked at each other.

“Citizen, could you tell us why you think it’s not right?”

“Yes. Because in the darkness, symbolic and conceptual classification methods may be used instead of medical diagnosis.”

“…For example, the heart rather than the head could be the standard, right? Since some cultures view the heart as a more fundamental element of a person?”

“Yes.”

“Phew.”

Agent Choi pondered.

If ‘Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae with only his head remaining’ isn’t recognized as the real person, and therefore can’t wake up in reality….

‘Only his consciousness might die.’

Moreover.

“There’s also no guarantee here that ‘dying will immediately wake you up in reality’ like at the last station. Old-fashioned Guy.”

“…Even so, it’s more humane than leaving him completely contaminated and abandoned in an unrecognized extinction-level supernatural disaster.”

“Cheongdong.”

Agent Choi’s low voice was heard.

“I told you not to present Management Bureau manuals as your own thoughts.”

“….”

“Our junior is a bit rigid, but he didn’t mean anything bad by it, citizens.”

“I know. Well, what Old-fashioned Guy said has some generalization fallacy, but it’s not entirely wrong either.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je spoke soothingly, cutting off the conversation.

“Anyway, we brought euthanasia drugs since we’d probably have to die to get out if there’s no other way.”

That’s also true.

‘I thought the mechanics probably wouldn’t have changed much.’

Moreover.

“I think so too. …Seeing that I’m in human form, we probably entered through dreams rather than reality.”

“…Noru.”

“So if there’s really no other way, we’ll have to do as Bronze Agent suggested… but I’d like us to look into other methods first.”

“….”

Bronze Agent nodded heavily. The others seemed to have reached a consensus too.

Gather as much information as possible at Midnight Station Body Casino.

That was our first objective.

However, there was someone who didn’t agree with this.

Baek Sa-heon, whose face looked like it had ‘not interested’ written on it.

He has no real connection to Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, and since Ho Yu-won is the one giving rewards, rescue isn’t his goal.

‘He’d be more interested in the payoff.’

And Ho Yu-won made an unusually generous request this time.

-I’d appreciate it if you could gather information about Segwang Special City outside the subway.

Rather than going out recklessly, we might be able to get relevant information by exploring the station thoroughly.

Even if not, a casino would be the perfect place to obtain items.

‘His mind must be in the field.’

And perhaps noticing that uncooperative attitude, Bronze Agent looks at Baek Sa-heon with contemptuous eyes through his mask.

But that’s not how you handle this.

I grabbed Baek Sa-heon’s shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Y-yes?”

Baek Sa-heon was (fortunately) intimidated, but this time it’s the carrot’s turn instead of the stick.

I spoke as gently as possible.

“If this is a casino, wouldn’t the dealer know best about the mechanisms and products here?”

“So?”

“I mean, if we rescue him and take him with us, we could probably get some useful information.”

“….”

Perhaps he had already gathered information about Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s personality, as Baek Sa-heon’s facial expression changed slightly.

Right. You know he’s not the type to receive help and then run off without paying back.

“Think about it yourself.”

I let him go.

‘This should be enough to ensure he won’t interfere, at least.’

With that, people scattered.

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je went to observe other casino visitors, Manager Lee Ja-heon and Baek Sa-heon went to the slot machines, and the agents each went to see the body pawn shop and product exchange counter.

And I….

“You’ve returned!”

I entered the dealer room.

-Deputy Manager, could you lend me 20 coins for a moment? I won’t use them, I just want to enter the dealer room.

-Okay. I’ll be coming soon too, so come out to meet me.

Having carefully borrowed the truly ‘blood-like’ coins from Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, I met the 50-coin requirement and qualified to play games with the dealer.

“Yes. We meet again.”

I sat across from the table.

The dealer with Lee Seong-hae’s face smiled brightly.

“Will you be betting?”

“…Yes.”

“Understood!”

The dealer stood across from the table with a pleased expression and began organizing the cards again.

“I’ll give you advance notice! If you’re caught using ‘cheating’, a penalty will be added.”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

I carefully observed all those movements and said casually, as if in passing.

“Have you perhaps worked anywhere else before?”

“…Pardon?”

“I think I saw you at the resort.”

The hands moving the cards stopped for a moment.

And….

“Ah, I worked briefly at Flower Golden Resort. It was a really nice place!”

“…I see. That’s wonderful.”

“Thank you.”

So at least they remember that much.

I decided to proceed with the game to move toward more personal questions that might revive memories, and to understand what Deputy Lee Seong-hae had experienced.

Just then.

“Then let’s start the game… Oh!”

Another person sat at the table.

‘Who is it?’

I thought Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je had said they were my companion and entered without meeting me, so I turned my head.

“…!”

A resident of Segwang Special City, wearing a completely worn-out padded jacket pulled down over their head, was sitting next to me.

“….”

“….”

‘What is this?’

I have a bad feeling.

I considered getting up from my seat, but decided to stay seated for now.

Cold sweat forms on my hands.

“Will you be betting?”

The resident next to me silently and slowly nods, placing 3 coins on the table.

Stained and worn coins.

“….”

I placed 3 coins on the table.

In contrast, the clean coins gleamed slightly in the light….

“Yes yes. Then I’ll begin!”

The dealer collects the coins and spreads the deck of cards face-down on the table, then asks.

“Which card will you choose?”

I waited.

However, the person sitting next to me doesn’t choose a card.

Suffocating silence.

“…This one.”

“Yes!”

And the customer in the next seat, the moment I chose a card, pointed to the card next to it as if they had been waiting.

‘…What is this?’

I get a strange feeling.

“Now. You need to guess the suit or number of the card you chose. If you guess the suit correctly, you get 3 times the prize, if you guess the number correctly, you get 8 times, and if you guess both correctly, you get 36 times the prize!”

A kind explanation follows that K, Q, J are excluded and A is considered as 1.

[Oh, these are odds that only benefit the casino. How obvious!!]

Right.

But rather than unfairness, in this strange tension, I said quietly.

“It’s a probability game. Since numbers have higher odds than suits, it seems like they have higher grades. Like precious solution.”

“That’s an interesting comparison, customer!”

It seems I can make small talk up to this point. Let me continue probing.

“Then have you perhaps enjoyed games as a visitor yourself, dealer? I’m curious about how many coins you might have bet.”

“Me?”

A monotone voice is heard.

“I’ve bet up to 990 coins.”

…!

But without time to say more, the game proceeds.

“Then I’ll ask the visitor who placed coins first. How will you bet?”

….

“Visitor?”

An index finger is raised from the next seat.

The hand, obsessively wrapped in bandages, has the other fingers hidden from view.

“Yes, you’ve bet on 1!”

Phew.

Now I need to place my bet too.

‘For now….’

“I’ll guess the suit. Diamond.”

“Confirmed!”

And the dealer looked at the resident in the next seat again, and my gaze followed….

And I realized.

At some point, the person sitting next to me had turned their body almost completely to face me.

Even though the dealer was asking about their bet.

“Let me check starting with the person who bet on numbers….”

The dealer flips the card.

“It’s a 3 of spades.”

“….”

“Unfortunately, you failed!”

The customer in the next seat doesn’t move at all.

And….

“Now, this time….”

The card I had chosen is flipped….

Diamond 8.

“Congratulations! You got it right! Here’s your prize money.”

The dealer paid me 9 coins. Among them were the old, stained coins taken from the person next to me. I swept them up and put them in my pocket.

“….”

“Congratulations! Will you play again?”

I can feel eyes on me.

The Segwang Special City resident next to me who lost the coins is staring intently at me.

Though not visible, certainly.

“….”

I quietly gathered the coins I’d won and stood up.

‘Let’s avoid this.’

I should go meet Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je first, then come back later.

“Oh, are you getting up now?”

“I’m just going to look around other places for a moment…”

And the moment I turned around.

The casino visitor from the seat next to me, who had gotten up from the table at some point, was standing right in front of me.

“….”

“….”

That person raised their head.

The lower part of their face was revealed beneath the padding jacket.

And….

“Noru.”

A familiar face.

A familiar voice.

[Good heavens!]

“Why are you here.”

Go Young-eun.

My colleague with anxious eyes was saying the words I should have said.

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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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