Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 28
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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 028
…Let me figure out what I need to watch out for now that I’m being deployed into a ghost story with Team A.
Conditions
1. Can’t let them find out I’m a coward.
2. Can’t let them find out I know the strategy guide in advance.
3. Must survive the workplace bullying from an uncooperative Team Leader.
‘Just kill me instead.’
I think I’ve been saying this to myself the most since joining the company.
But I can’t help it.
This is my first time entering a ghost story with a supervisor who wants to see me get screwed over!
‘Every day is a fresh new hell…’
And the other one is a work-supremacist supervisor who would throw me into the Cleanup Team the moment he finds out I’m a coward…
In short, I’ve entered a ghost story only with people who will interfere with my survival.
‘I guess the only answer is to desperately collect points and escape from here with a Wish Potion.’
Moreover, the ghost story we’ve entered now is confusingly designed to make people break out in cold sweat.
“What do you think of the space?”
“…It looks like an abandoned factory.”
A dark abandoned factory reeking of oil.
Do you know how many ghost stories in feature abandoned factories?? There are at least dozens.
And there would be even more among the ghost stories where spaces change randomly that include abandoned factories!
I was planning to quickly input the identification code and search as soon as I got separated from the Team A duo, but they won’t give me a moment alone.
‘Th-they’re staring at me like they’re monitoring me.’
As if waiting for me to make a mistake, the two Team A supervisors were glancing at me while slowly moving forward…
I’m breaking out in cold sweat.
‘There’s really not a single cooperative companion…’
Friend
“…!”
-Oh! Another location, I see. Hmm, though it doesn’t look particularly suitable as a filming location! Such filthy squalor like a mangy donkey! Don’t you think so?
I quickly lowered my head.
Words were coming from the keyring ‘Good Friend’ I had put in my pocket.
Brown!
‘There was one, a cooperative partner!’
W-wait. But if you speak so openly when the two Team A supervisors are right next to me…
Not a Friend
Phew.
Does that mean others can’t hear what he’s saying?
‘Come to think of it, there were definitely records of ‘Good Friend’ only conversing with their owner.’
And I think it said they could keenly read the other person’s mood and surface thoughts.
I tapped my pocket lightly, feeling a bit relieved.
-Haha, that’s a bit ticklish!
I’m about to cry.
This situation where a monster from a ghost story is my source of comfort…
“Team Leader. I can see a door over there.”
“You’re right. Soleum, why don’t you try opening it.”
“…”
“Soleum?”
“Yes.”
I immediately walked toward the rusted door in front while swallowing a scream.
Not giving me a manual and specifically designating me – they’re not even trying to hide that they’re bullying me!
-Oh my… Noru, you look troubled somehow. Is it a matter of stamina?
Shake shake.
I shook my head slightly so they wouldn’t notice.
-Then is it a problem with the filthy environment?
Shake shake.
-Aha, then your companions must not be very compatible with you!
That’s right.
It’s really tough. This damn ghost story world, and the workplace bullying…
-Bad people bullying my friend?
Shake shake shake shake shake.
Friend
My stomach started to hurt.
‘I have to maintain balance so the Stuffed Doll doesn’t go on a rampage.’
Is this right?
I suffered between fear and stomach pain as I barely managed to grab the iron door handle without trembling.
Creeeeak.
What the rusted iron door revealed as it opened was… the factory’s work area.
It was full of dusty canned goods and boxes, as if operations had stopped. Rotten contents flowed between broken beef canned goods.
But there was something more intense than that.
The metallic smell piercing my nose.
And… one corpse collapsed on the floor.
“…”
W-wait a minute.
“Did you see? There’s a corpse over there.”
“…Yes.”
“Soleum, go search through it.”
“Yes.”
Aaaaaaahhh!!
The reason I didn’t collapse on the floor and wail was because the keyring doll’s warmth was giving me comfort, and I couldn’t be more embarrassed about myself.
‘Abandoned factory… corpse, abandoned factory, corpse….’
I searched through the wiki in my head and barely managed to approach the corpse without screaming.
The corpse was lying face down on the rail wearing a business suit.
An adult male bleeding from the back of his head.
He looked familiar somehow, probably because he was around my age and wearing a suit.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
I absolutely couldn’t touch it directly…! I held my breath and immediately summoned my specialized equipment, floating my hands in the air to examine the corpse from various angles.
I was really, really grateful that this only transmitted pain and not tactile sensations.
“…Male, late 170s to early 180s in height, wearing a business suit, bleeding only from the back of his head. Looks like he was struck hard by something with a diameter of at least 10cm.”
“Hmm. Not bad. Now flip him over.”
“Yes.”
Kim Sol-eum will remember this….
I glared at Team A Leader with all my inner strength, suppressed my nausea, and barely managed to flip the corpse over.
The front face with closed eyes was revealed.
It was….
My own bleeding face.
“….”
Fuck, fuck!!
Ah, these damn ghost stories really!!
“Oh, looks exactly like Sol-eum. Could it be a trap?”
“Team Leader, shouldn’t you at least tell me some basic manual….”
“Ah, right. I suppose so?”
Team A Leader looked at me as if gauging something, then slowly opened his mouth as if doing me a favor.
“Sol-eum, this place is inside a story.”
“….”
“Think of it as entering a novel or movie and move accordingly.”
I already knew that.
I realized it the moment I saw my corpse.
What kind of darkness this was.
======================
Darkness Investigation Records / Ghost Story
[The Day I Died]
Darkness Investigation Records
A ghost story where you’re dragged into unsuccessful thriller/mystery stories and become a victim.
Your own corpse that has already been sacrificed
A total of 25 investigations have been recorded.
======================
Really a perfect ghost story to give you a split personality.
‘This is… a potato, it’s a potato.’
I tried to brainwash myself as much as possible while trying to look away from the corpse-shaped something….
“Don’t use your specialized equipment, check it directly. Take a close look at every corner….”
Are you kidding me?
“I can’t do that.”
I answered without breathing.
The eyes behind the mallard duck mask narrowed.
“…Hmm?”
Ah, oops.
Talking back to a superior who already dislikes me in a workplace bullying situation?
‘I, I need to fix this!’
Once again, I instinctively added words naturally following my instincts.
…Using the repertoire I’d already tested once.
“There’s a way to escape faster.”
Again.
This direction again…!
Work conditions have been added.
Conditions
1. Can’t let them find out I’m a coward.
2. Can’t let them find out I know the strategy guide in advance.
3. Must survive workplace bullying from an uncooperative team leader.
4. Must do a time attack. (new!)
…Still, the fortunate thing is that seeing my corpse helped me figure out exactly what ghost story this is.
‘And the standard strategy guide for this ghost story is… this.’
======================
Success if you reconstruct the story so the victim doesn’t die.
======================
In this ghost story, time goes backwards the more you explore the space.
So normally, you’d have to investigate this entire factory while deducing and analyzing step by step why ‘my corpse’ died, going through that process one by one.
======================
Victim’s Confirmed Death
======================
You’d have to spend half a day doing a blood-curdling and desperate chase while racing against time to avoid one person’s confirmed kill fate….
‘Hmm. My stomach would melt before that.’
My digestive system wouldn’t be able to handle it.
If there’s no shortcut, I have to make one. Help me, investigation records!
If it’s been recorded up to 25 times, there must be some strange and unconventional records that creators wrote to break out of their mannerisms. Something I can use as a hint!
I quickly flipped through the records in my head.
‘Let’s see, some unique experience worth referencing….’
======================
Investigation Record #21
Manager Han So-eun and 2 others deployed.
Employees immediately recognized what work it was upon entering the darkness in the form of an abandoned mountain lodge.
This was a certain movie that failed greatly at the box office but became famous as internet memes and jokes.
Followed by reactions of contemptuous mockery, meme imitation, loud laughter, derogatory spoilers, etc.
Result: Space suddenly collapsed and moved to another work (subsequent record: Investigation Record #22). Testimony of crying sounds heard.
Oh my, is this like the vengeful spirits of failed directors? Even their weak mentality is exactly the same.
-Researcher Gwak Je-gang
-Researcher Kwak Je-kang
======================
Oh.
“…Manager, Deputy Manager, could you give me just 10 minutes?”
“Hmm, alright.”
First, let’s not give my superiors any chance to step in.
Since I don’t know what interference might come from workplace harassment, even if it’s petty and dirty, I have to do it myself…
‘…I need to do this quickly before I throw up and scream.’
I used my specialized equipment to quickly reconfirm the shape of the depressed area in the sticky corpse’s occipital region (aaahhhhh). And I also checked the corpse’s footprints and surrounding bloodstains…
“Why use specialized equipment when you could just use your hands?”
“That’s because if I touch it directly with my hands, the evidence might be contaminated. I thought this was the right way to do it for crime scene preservation.”
I didn’t know I had a talent for rapid-fire rap.
“Evidence? You’re talking like it’s a mystery novel.”
“It’s not quite deduction, just simple speculation. And…”
I stood up.
“I found it.”
“Huh?”
“The answer.”
I immediately searched the surroundings. Of course, remotely using my specialized equipment.
Let’s see.
Cleverly hidden in the shadows but not completely concealed, in a place where one’s gaze would easily pass over carelessly…
‘Found it.’
I pulled out a cylindrical object from under the shelf, in a musty corner.
“That’s… just a canned food can, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, but this place is full of canned food cans?”
Right. Since this seems to be an abandoned canned food factory.
But there’s a difference.
The can I picked up has bloodstains on a slightly dented corner.
It’s exactly like the cliché ‘the darkest place is under the lamp.’
-Ooh, Noru! If this were a mystery drama, this would be the decisive evidence. The shape matches perfectly with the wound marks on the head.
That’s right.
“This is similar in size to the groove carved into the occipital trauma.”
-Ah, how typical. The common object in the background that was carelessly overlooked was the murder weapon! It’s a story-like structure…
Right, right.
Anyway, Team A Deputy Manager seemed to understand immediately and nodded.
“Then that must be the murder weapon…”
Thud.
I dropped the ‘murder weapon’ candidate can on the floor.
And kicked it hard to break it.
“…??”
“…????”
-?!??!
“Ah.”
I tilted my head.
“A human’s occipital region couldn’t have been damaged with this level of force… Hmm. This is strange. It doesn’t add up.”
Clatter.
Suddenly, the space shook slightly.
-But no matter how you look at it, it seems like they were struck with a can!
That’s what I’m saying.
I nodded as if I had just realized something.
“Ah… this can is aluminum.”
“So what?”
“Usually canned food cans are made of steel.”
I frowned.
“Why would they make canned food with aluminum that would normally be used for beverage cans… Hmm, could it be…”
-How intriguing…
I deliberately paused for a beat before speaking.
“A research failure?”
Creak.
At that moment, the canned goods around me began to tremble faintly.
But I ignored it and continued my monologue.
“I suppose that could happen. Since we encounter beverage cans relatively more often than canned food cans, one might carelessly think of beverage cans and mistakenly specify aluminum as the material…”
-Ooh…
But.
I stopped speaking and let out a hollow laugh.
“Nah, no way.”
“…Soleum?”
“Anyone could find that out with just one search, so they wouldn’t have made the story that carelessly. The most crucial thing in the mystery genre is the trick, and they’re not idiots.”
-Hahaha!
“Come to think of it, isn’t a murder happening with canned food in a canned food factory too obvious a structure?”
I was somewhat serious about this.
“There’s no freshness or twist… an author wouldn’t have written this calling it their own trick. Not if they’re a creator with any sense.”
-Oh, I agree!
The space began to shake violently.
“Honestly, it’s so terrible…”
I concluded in an indifferent tone.
“Even amateurs wouldn’t write like this these days.”
Thud.
After the silence.
Pop-pop-bububu-BANG!!
Canned goods started exploding from all directions.
“Wh-what?!”
The spaces hit by the canned goods melted away as if tears were streaming down.
And then they disappeared.
Finally, just before everything vanished, someone screamed and let out a mournful sobbing sound…
And the next moment,
we were standing in the luxurious reception room on the Company 15th Floor.
Covered in canned food contents.
“…”
“…”
“We got… out.”
Team A Leader lost his composure for the first time and stammered.
“The Darkness let us out… why?”
I silently answered while wiping beef canned food remnants from my face.
“Its mental state broke.”
After escaping from the ghost story where my corpse was.
We washed in the shower room attached to the office, cleanly removing the beef canned food contents that had covered our entire bodies, then gathered in the reception room again.
“Really… they say you’re proud of Rapid Clear without a manual, and the rumors are true.”
“You flatter me.”
“This isn’t the time to be modest, Soleum.”
Team A Leader, who had checked that the Dream Essence Collector was properly filled with yellow liquid, looked back at me.
I could see admiration in his eyes.
“How did you arrive at this result?”
Yes. I knew you’d ask this question.
I clasped my hands behind my back and took the posture of a proper presenter.
It’s a defense against my supervisor’s workplace harassment reactivating to find fault.
“I went through a standard deduction process.”
“Hmm.”
“First… since you kept making me observe the corpse and examine the surroundings, I guessed the corpse would be key to escape.”
Of course, you were probably just trying to hassle me, but words can be spun however you want, right?
“And since you said this was a story, it would be a story about someone becoming a corpse… that is, a movie or novel about a murder case. So I guessed preventing my death would be the standard clear method.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“But that would take too long.”
“…?!”
“Since you kindly called me, I wanted to resolve it during the morning if possible.”
Team A Leader is looking at me with an expression like ‘what kind of crazy talk is this, newbie.’
But Manager would say a crazy person is better than a coward!
“So I looked for a shortcut.”
“How?”
“Because there were hints.”
I looked at both of them.
“Your actions, I mean.”
“…!”
“You both read the manual. So you kept giving clues through your actions.”
Like encouraging me to observe the corpse.
‘If that was an intentionally given hint, there were also hints given unconsciously.’
I recalled the most decisive part.
-That’s right. Soleum, why don’t you try opening it.
-Soleum?
“Even after entering the Darkness, you called me by my real name.”
“…!”
Normally, inside ghost stories, not calling each other by real names but using nicknames derived from masks is a firm recommendation.
Because it could be used against you in bad ways.
But Team A Leader called me ‘Soleum’ instead of ‘Noru.’
If someone who’s much more veteran than me and from an elite team did that, there’s only one reason.
He already knew it would be okay.
“That means there were no intelligent entities in this Darkness that could hear my real name and harm me.”
It also meant there was no other supernatural interference besides my death that had already occurred.
After explaining that as well, I continued.
“So my range of movement expanded… then I thought, what if I attacked more aggressively, attacking and dismantling the story itself.”
“…??”
“You had… that kind of thought?”
“Yes. Stories become meaningless when their foundation crumbles.”
I nodded.
“So I criticized the plausibility to collapse the story and escaped. That’s all.”
“…”
“…”
The Supervisors’ faces look somehow dazed.
“…You inferred that kind of thing not just from the surrounding environment, but also from our conversations and actions…?”
“That’s right.”
No.
Actually, I benchmarked the exploration records.
Suddenly the space collapsed and moved to another work (later record: Exploration Record #22). Testimony of crying sounds heard.
A work that barely became a meme had its mental state broken just from being mocked, causing the work to be reconstructed.
So I thought, what if I systematically pointed out historical inaccuracies while trampling on the creator’s self-esteem – wouldn’t new works and everything just disappear?
‘And it succeeded.’
Yahoo.
But Team A Leader stared at me and slowly opened his mouth.
“You speak of it very… easily, Soleum.”
Oops.
“Of course, it’s not the standard method. You could call it a shortcut.”
Did I perhaps displease him?
I laid the groundwork earnestly. And bowed my head as if reflecting.
This should look genuine, right?
“Still, I’ll gladly accept any reprimand.”
Right. Please just scold me and be done with it.
I obediently waited for workplace harassment mark 2.
But….
Clap clap clap….
The sound of applause could be heard.
When I raised my head, I could see Team A Leader, who had taken off the Mallard Duck Mask, with eyes shining with surprise and satisfaction.
“Follow rules and orders. But don’t be picky about means and methods.”
Excuse me?
“Very good. That’s exactly the type of talent we want.”
Me?
“Sol-eum. You pass.”
“What,”
“There’s an opening in Team A, right?”
At that moment, I realized.
‘Ah.’
This wasn’t workplace harassment.
It had been a test.
“How about you officially fill that position, Sol-eum?”
“…!!”
My goodness.
This was a Team A recruitment!
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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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