Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 27

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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 027

Baek Sa-heon.

-You idiots. If you can escape with just one eye, you should do it quickly!

The colleague who caused all that chaos on the subway.

That guy, who was also a named employee in , would steadily leave his mark by getting promoted all the way to section chief…

“He’s going to die?”

Suddenly, the stuffed doll in the ghost story had delivered a death sentence to Baek Sa-heon.

This question came out reflexively.

“Why?”

But I know the future where he makes it all the way to section chief…?

-Ah, very typical. It’s typical… Noru, have you ever seen such movies?

“…Movies?”

-Yes. Movies featuring serial killers.

Oh please.

-In popular culture, there are targets that become their victims. Conspicuous symbols like blondes, university students, hitchhikers, or wearing red shoes.

-Do you know what the most typical and certain way of choosing victims is?

The stuffed doll’s shadow whispered.

-Picking up the killer’s belongings.

“…”

The giant black shadow reflected on the wall points beyond the wall.

-Noru’s ‘company colleague’ picked up something, and will soon die horribly!

“…”

Ha, seriously…

“Anyway, thanks for letting me know.”

-Don’t mention it!

I said ‘I need to sleep because I have to go to work tomorrow’ as gently as possible, and fortunately ‘Good Friend’ readily understood my situation.

-Oh my, it must have been a tiring day. I hope you sleep well and have sweet dreams!

That seems unlikely.

‘And you have a share in making it unlikely…’

-Adios!

The smartphone flashlight turned off by itself.

The giant shadow cast on the wall also disappeared.

After thinking for a moment, I made a reasonably soft sleeping spot on the desk with a clean towel and placed the stuffed doll on it.

‘This should be enough that it won’t chase me with a knife in my dreams complaining about poor treatment.’

Though I should probably worry about whether I can even fall asleep and dream first.

“Hmm.”

I turned the mood light to maximum brightness and lay down on the bed.

Baek Sa-heon.

He’s probably sleeping in the adjacent room right now…

‘What the hell did you do.’

How sinister must the ghost story material he picked up be for the stuffed doll beyond the wall to detect it.

Is it a butterfly effect? Or was it something that was supposed to happen originally but he overcame it.

I recalled what Baek Sa-heon had done in , and even searching the wiki didn’t turn up anything relevant.

Maybe it was natural. If it was a personal incident rather than something that happened during work.

Sigh.

“…”

‘He’d probably have a heart attack if I knocked on his door at this hour, right?’

Besides, from my perspective, I didn’t want to voluntarily approach such a terrifyingly scary ghost story that would mark me as the serial killer’s next target…

Honestly, my roommate isn’t someone with the kind of character worth risking my life for.

‘Still, now that I know, it would be proper to at least give him a warning.’

A way to approach this indirectly…

‘There is one.’

It happens to be related to what I need to do next anyway.

I lay on the bed and checked my smartphone messenger.

[Jang Heo-un : This is the new employee group chat. You can connect through here. Thank you! (link)]

It was sent by my Team Y colleague.

I clicked the link with a sigh.

[17th Class Field Investigation Team Group Chat]

It was an open chat room.

I wondered why they chose this format specifically, but it seemed they made it so it wouldn’t sync with contacts to minimize the emotional impact when news of deaths came in.

Anyway, since everyone set their profile names to their real names, there shouldn’t be any problem with identification.

‘I should set my name and enter too.’

[Kim Sol-eum has entered.]

And as I was writing a greeting…

[Wow]

[Whoa]

[Are you really Kim Sol-eum?]

[Nice to meet you^^]

[Really? Who invited you?]

“…??”

Intense reactions poured in before I even finished writing.

‘Surely they wouldn’t have invited that guy without any tact.’

Looking at it positively, maybe they felt curious or heard rumors since my recent performance has been decent.

I posted a simple greeting.

[Nice to meet you. Please take care of me.]

As if they were waiting, someone asked.

[Kang Ihak: Is it true that you received 40,000 points? haha]

Hmm.

[Yes.]

[Kang Ihak: I’m jealous! I’m curious about how you received it haha]

[I did my best.]

I didn’t answer any further and just sent a single bowing emoticon.

‘This is no different from a jungle.’

I had hoped this might be a warm group chat where colleagues share tips and information and enjoy hobbies together, but it definitely doesn’t seem like that.

‘It’s like a group chat for interns where only 10% get converted to regular employees.’

Meaning it’s an atmosphere where everyone pretends otherwise while trying to scrape up benefits somehow.

‘Right. With countless people dying and Wish Potions being distant and desperately needed, it can’t be helped.’

If I felt any sense of belonging to this group chat, I’d be perfect for getting depressed over obituary news.

It was a bit bitter, but understandable.

[Go Young-eun: (Fighting emoticon)]

[Go Young-eun: (Clapping emoticon)]

Still, there are colleagues who seem like good people.

‘She seems to be doing well…’

I nodded while looking at the clean emoticons from my medical school dropout colleague who had fully supported my opinion on that deadly subway.

‘Now shall I do what I need to do.’

Following the voice of my conscience, that is.

I found Baek Sa-heon’s profile in this group chat and started a one-on-one open chat.

And I said.

[Watch out for the serial killer]

The “1” disappeared in one second.

But no reply came.

Hmm, maybe he feels guilty about it too?

‘If he feels guilty, he’ll be careful.’

This seemed like a decent warning.

“I should send this every morning from now on.”

I’ll do it for about a week until the impact wears off.

I gave myself a passing grade and turned off my smartphone.

‘…Let’s sleep now.’

I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep, but I should try. I have to go to work tomorrow too… *sigh*.

‘I wish the company would explode.’

I bitterly mulled over the sad fact that due to the company’s nature, I’d still have to go to work, and stayed up all night with my eyes wide open…

When I briefly dozed off at dawn, I had nightmares of being chased by theme park mascots wielding intestines while offering churros to stuffed dolls.

‘Save me.’

It was the night of an ordinary office worker suffering from trauma.

The news I heard the next day wasn’t quite so ordinary though.

“Noru. You hit the jackpot.”

“…?”

“You… earned 20,000 points.”

What?

I looked up to check this morning’s accumulated points.

[Kim Sol-eum Employee / Accumulated Points: 20000p]

It’s real.

‘I’m sure they said only 10,000 points would come in yesterday…?’

The Team Leader vigorously patted my shoulder.

“Assistant Manager Jin from Team A apparently submitted a report saying you absolutely must receive additional points!”

Assistant Manager Jin…!

You recognized my efforts to save the Deputy Manager even if my palms got pierced!

I upgraded my internal evaluation of the butterfly mask deputy, who had been psychopath-level work-obsessed, by about three levels.

From now on, that person is a competent superior who works well, is quick-witted, and has clear rewards and punishments.

“Originally our Team Leader was also mentioned as a key contributor to the clear, but Team A Leader is throwing a fit…”

Ah.

That… honestly, from their perspective, it was worth throwing a fit over…

‘Did I benefit from their conflict?’

I’m not sure if I should be happy about this, but I’ll gratefully take it.

“Anyway, it’s amazing, Noru. Now you’re at the level of the shortest company record, right?? It’s crazy.”

“Thank you.”

Though I might have to give up on staying under the radar at the company soon…

‘Still, points are sweet.’

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Before the morning ended, I got a phone call.

“…Assistant Manager Jin?”

-Yeah.

It was a moment when I should have been having a somewhat leisurely day doing paperwork since we had just finished a B-grade Darkness Investigation yesterday.

The Team A Deputy Manager called me through the company network.

I immediately expressed my gratitude.

“Um, thank you. For recommending me as a key contributor to the theme park Darkness Clear…”

-People who do well should get more points for work to function properly. Why are you thanking me for something like that?

Ah, yes.

-Anyway, come up here.

“…?”

-Our team is going into a Darkness today but we’re short on people. Come help us.

“…”

-Don’t want to?

Yes!

The new employee who almost died yesterday, where’s the harm in letting him rest today!

“Please wait a moment. …Um, Manager Eun. There’s a phone call.”

“Huh, why.”

Help me, same team supervisor!

I called over our team’s supervisors to hand over the phone, then tried to roughly deflect and pass off the call.

But it didn’t work.

“Team A vacancy? This was a Team A vacancy call?”

“…!”

Oh no.

Even the Team Leader who had been burying his head at that desk over there suddenly flew over with his chair and whispered.

“Wait, Team A called Noru for today’s vacancy?”

I don’t know either, Team Leader. My shoulder hurts, so please stop shaking me.

“Understood for now. Yes.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Manager hung up the phone.

And with gleaming eyes, he shook his fist at me.

“Hey. Go.”

…Excuse me?

“That’s right! With Team A as it is now, this is good news! It’s safer but you can earn more, you can’t miss this!”

“It’s all points. Points, Noru.”

“….”

…So, this is what they’re saying.

‘First, Team A being an elite team gets separate additional points per case.’

That’s supposedly quite sweet.

But seeing there’s no call for a cleanup team like Team Y, it’s not darkness that requires sacrificial victims.

Plus, they even called me, a new employee, as a substitute, so it probably isn’t very demanding darkness.

In short, it’s overtime work but with good pay and easy money!

“They have a vacancy and need to take someone along, and they must have seen you favorably yesterday and want to bring you once. Go!”

“….”

‘I have no excuse….’

Words like “I couldn’t sleep because I was scared and want to rest” were now impossible to say even if my mouth was torn.

‘A Field Investigation employee saying such things when it’s a relatively safe situation with quite a lot of points at stake? That would be too suspicious…!’

Unless I wanted to be certified as a coward and sent to the cleanup team, I had to keep my mouth shut.

Thus, I was forced to drag my unwilling feet toward the 15th floor….

“Magnificent, the new employee’s spirit!”

It feels more like defeat than spirit.

I tried not to trudge as I moved toward the elevator.

And when I arrived at the top floor of the Field Investigation Team, the 15th floor, and the doors opened.

I was quite surprised.

“…!”

There were no cramped desktops or partitions commonly seen in offices.

Instead, I saw a luxurious reception room that you’d find in a hotel. And beyond that, individual spaces separated by opaque glass.

They were all private offices with each employee’s name attached.

‘My goodness.’

One room per person.

It was the kind of welfare you’d find in an executive office.

‘Is this some kind of motivation?’

It seems that when you become an elite team in the Field Investigation Team, you can use private space like this.

‘It is an office worker’s dream though….’

Just then, a familiar face walked out from the glass door right next to me.

A supervisor already wearing a butterfly mask.

“Good morning, Assistant Manager Jin.”

“Yeah.”

Team A’s Assistant Manager Jin looked more human than when I saw him in the ghost story.

“The Team Leader says he wants to see you once more.”

And from the larger office across the way, Team A’s Leader walked out holding coffee.

“Mr. Noru.”

“Manager, good morning.”

The middle-aged Team A Leader smiled with a genial, good-natured face and patted my shoulder.

He was acting as if his murderous glare at Team Leader Lee Ja-heon at the theme park never happened.

“Assistant Manager Jin isn’t the type to praise people, but he seems to think very highly of our Mr. Noru. I heard a lot of good things.”

That much…?

“So I called you in today. It’s the first time Assistant Manager Jin has said ‘well done, well done’ about an employee like this.”

I reflexively looked back at the Team A Deputy Manager.

The Deputy Manager wearing the butterfly mask snorted and smiled.

“I just reported the facts.”

“Oh, there you go again.”

The supervisor with the butterfly mask frowned when our eyes met, but his voice remained gentle.

“Why? You did do well.”

“…Thank you.”

“Yeah. Do well today too.”

“Oh my, you young people are so harmonious.”

Team A’s Leader, who had been watching the scene with a chuckle, put on a mallard duck mask.

“Welcome to Team A. Mr. Kim Sol-eum.”

“….”

“Well then, let’s go to work.”

Honestly, I was a bit curious.

‘Do elite teams have different strategies?’

The expectation that the Field Investigation Team’s work process itself might be different.

Wouldn’t it be different from regular teams that suddenly get assigned work on the same day, read manuals, and get thrown into darkness to struggle!

And it was different.

“Collector confirmed, recording device confirmed, mask confirmed, equipment confirmed, basic supplies confirmed. ‘Identification Code Qterw-C-402’ entry time 31 minutes before 11 o’clock, preparation status check completion declared as of current time.”

Hmm… this is intense.

The atmosphere was completely different from Team D, who would casually sit around on sofas for briefings, with the Team Leader making incomprehensible jokes before trudging into darkness.

Even with only two people due to one death, the hierarchy and protocols were firmly established.

They made me do the supply check briefing as soon as I entered.

“…That’s all.”

“Good. Now let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

Whether I’m a temporary substitute or whatever, I absolutely have to do what the lowest-ranking person on this team should do.

‘Come to think of it, that Assistant Manager Jin doesn’t have an ordinary personality either, but he was speaking formally to the Team Leader by the book….’

Right. I would have gone through this kind of team eventually anyway.

Having this kind of experience once in advance didn’t seem too bad.

‘I just need to not get caught being a coward….’

If I could just know which ghost story we’re entering today, I could at least prepare myself mentally.

Team A’s Leader, holding the manual, spoke to me.

“Ah, Sol-eum, you haven’t read the manual, have you?”

“Yes.”

I tried to think positively and politely extended both hands to the Team Leader.

Just before the manual paper for the Darkness we were about to enter was allocated to me.

Team A Leader’s hand stopped.

…?

“That’s right. How about Soleum goes in without this and experiences it directly?”

Excuse me?

“I heard that Manual-free Deduction is your specialty.”

I quickly raised my head.

I could see the lower jaw of Team A Leader smiling beneath the Mallard Duck Mask.

“I’ll give it to you right away if it looks dangerous. Got it?”

“….”

That’s… not saying he’ll give it if I ask for it.

‘He’s saying he’ll judge whether it’s dangerous or not himself.’

He might not give it until I die.

“….”

They all know everything, and I’m supposed to enter the ghost story knowing nothing?

“Well then, shall we go in? Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve had fun working~”

Wait. Could this possibly be….

‘Workplace bullying?’

It’s so typical it seems like a joke. I’m getting dizzy.

But there’s no reason for a Manager from another team I met for the first time yesterday to… Ah.

‘…Lee Jaheon!!’

Don’t tell me our team’s Lizard Manager made such a bad impression that he’s taking it out on me, the new employee of that team!

Did I get caught up in this too!

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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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