Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 283

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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 283

 

The quiet corridor of Hanbit Library.

 

The Security Chief was quietly hanging his head.

 

His gaze directed toward his own hands.

 

As if recalling how just moments before, he had summoned the black and eerie front paw-shaped contamination to suppress Wolf Team Leader.

 

…Or perhaps, reflecting on his state just before that attack, when he had bitten his tongue and partially freed himself from his restraints.

 

“….”

 

I accepted all the experiences I had in this Hanbit Library as Golden, Grape, and Noru as my own and became one.

 

Then perhaps the Security Chief also…

 

“Hmm….”

 

“…!”

 

The Security Chief’s mouth opened.

 

And….

 

“So this is how it is.”

 

A quiet voice.

 

I unconsciously called out.

 

“Wolf Team Leader?”

 

The other person raised his head.

 

And looking back at me, he opened his mouth again….

 

“Um… I’d prefer if you didn’t… call me that… It’s confusing and all…”

 

Ah.

 

Limbs hanging limply and lifeless eyes.

 

The Security Chief was still exactly the same.

 

“Haven’t you two merged back into one?”

 

“Hmm….”

 

The Security Chief seemed to be choosing his words.

 

“If we’re talking about… a book… even if I know that page is with me… you can’t read a page with spilled ink or… a crumpled page… like it was originally…”

 

“….”

 

“What restored that page… must have been… the power of this library…”

 

…For J3, who could barely remember himself before contamination, his time as Wolf Team Leader was a kind of ‘damaged page.’

 

And damaged pages still can’t be read. But….

 

“Still, the sensations from spending today with me should have carried over.”

 

“….”

 

“That’s why you said ‘so this is how it is.’ Because you felt something different from before.”

 

About his past.

 

About before he was contaminated.

 

Because he had merged with the ‘undamaged state he once knew.’

 

And….

 

“Yeah….”

 

“…!”

 

Only then did a different emotion show on the Security Chief’s face.

 

An expression of numbness.

 

The stillness that appears when someone accustomed to failure and pain, who had grown numb and eventually lost even that, realizes that anguish again.

 

“I remember again… what it feels like…”

 

“….”

 

I don’t know.

 

‘Is it good? Or is it bad?’

 

If recalling one’s numbed, forgotten, lost self is itself overwhelming pain.

 

‘…Maybe I’ll only know after some time passes.’

 

What will remain after digesting that pain.

 

What will J3 regain.

 

I recall.

 

The question I asked him more than half a year ago.

 

-By any chance, what wish brought you to join this company, Jay?

 

…Perhaps I might be able to hear that answer.

 

But instead of asking right now, I approached the Security Chief and bowed my head.

 

“You worked hard.”

 

“….”

 

“And thank you. Thanks to you, I survived countless times during today’s exploration. …Jay.”

 

“No….”

 

The Security Chief adjusted his dental mask.

 

That hand gesture of the Security Chief was exactly the same as when a certain former Elite Team member who had been with me until just before adjusted his mask….

 

“….”

 

“…So what the hell is all this about, Noru?”

 

Ah.

 

“Deputy Manager.”

 

The other companions who had been quietly staying put due to the atmosphere began asking me quietly, and I finally started sharing what had happened to us.

 

The things I experienced while traveling with Wolf Team Leader.

 

Exploring Sekwang Technical High School, realizing the essence of this situation just before becoming a librarian.

 

And merging back into one.

 

“Quite eventful.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

By the way, in the case of the former Team D that had been with ‘Grape,’ things had unfolded in a completely different way from where Golden or Noru had been….

 

-Everyone be careful.

 

-Our new employee Badger, be cautious here.

 

-Y-yes, yes sir…!

 

Team D from the era when I wasn’t there had appeared in a different corridor…!

 

Team D members who immediately recognized this from the hairstyles and forms of address moved faster to uncover the truth of the library.

 

All while coaxing and soothing me as Grape, desperately trying not to encounter their own doppelgangers.

 

“But our Team Leader was even exactly the same. I thought I had split or something.”

 

“Hahaha….”

 

By the way, Deputy Manager Lizard had appeared as two completely identical lizard heads that were impossible to distinguish….

 

-T-Team Leader?

 

-Yes.

 

-Yes.

 

-Damn, he’s hearing me from that distance. Run!

 

“….”

 

Come to think of it, didn’t they say those Alien Reptilians are barely affected by contamination?

 

Deputy Manager Lizard really might have been similar enough that any page would be the same….

 

‘Anyway, I’m glad we merged safely.’

 

And what’s even more surprising is….

 

“We’re out. The entrance.”

 

The fact that my yarn functioned normally and guided us to the exit.

 

As if all the bizarre and strange events that had occurred while following the yarn were lies, we had returned to the platform entrance we had originally entered through.

 

“Didn’t this library need a librarian? So it was trying to kidnap us like a Venus flytrap, wasn’t it?”

 

I thought so too.

 

As I pondered deeply, I realized something.

 

The usage rules.

 

Stare at the window

 

Do not come down to the underground

 

Once you obtain one, leave

 

“That… wasn’t it some kind of test?”

 

“A test?”

 

“Yes. To see if we’re qualified to properly use the library.”

 

“…!”

 

In places that store knowledge, ‘confirming whether visitors are wise enough to possess this knowledge’ was a common theme in myths and legends.

 

It wouldn’t be strange for this to apply to urban legends and ghost stories either.

 

“When I was divided into multiple forms and existed simultaneously by staring at the window, only those who realize the truth without trying to eliminate the other or offer them as sacrifices are qualified to be users.”

 

There’s a reason doppelganger ghost stories exist worldwide.

 

When you encounter an existence identical to yourself, existential rejection arises, so it could be considered a very difficult test.

 

“So those who lack mental cultivation and eliminate themselves get made into librarians?”

 

“It’s like a labor reform sentence. Hmm, Noru’s words make sense.”

 

Park Min-seong agrees with me.

 

And I recall the last usage rule.

 

Once you obtain one, leave

 

This might not mean leave once you obtain a librarian.

 

It might mean once you realize what this situation is and obtain your unified self, then you can safely leave.

 

‘Hmm.’

 

Thinking about it that way, this Hanbit Library feels a bit different from the ghost stories we’ve encountered so far.

 

It’s even somewhat sacred. Rather than malice or horror, it makes you feel overwhelmed and afraid due to a vast will that humans cannot understand.

 

‘Could this be a characteristic of the ‘being that must be worshipped’ who made the library their sanctuary?’

 

Of course, all of this is an impression we can have because we passed the test.

 

“Either way, we can see the entrance, so let’s go out. Is that alright, Team Leader?”

 

“Yes.”

 

We agreed to leave Hanbit Library and return to reality.

 

There were many things we confirmed during this exploration that needed to be verified after returning to reality.

 

‘…I also want to check the train Young-eun mentioned.’

 

Though I’m anxious, thinking about Segwang Technical High School, I absolutely couldn’t postpone and continue the exploration…

 

But then.

 

“Um, should I just stay here?”

 

“What?”

 

Park Min-seong stopped walking.

 

“Well, since I’m fine here… What if I stay here and provide backup or something! I have both hands and I’m sane.”

 

Ah.

 

Lee Ja-heon’s voice declares.

 

“That’s not possible.”

 

“…”

 

“The possibility of surviving alone in that darkness for more than two weeks is slim, and numerous unverifiable and uncontrollable variables are anticipated. Please return.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Park Min-seong’s voice quieted down.

 

“Um, treatment would have continued in reality too, so there’s a high probability you’ve recovered more from the contamination than before.”

 

“Right. We have to… check it out…”

 

“Yeah, let’s go. Badger.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

The situation was thus resolved.

 

‘Phew.’

 

[Ah, finally the ending. It was quite an interesting expedition.]

 

You… ugh, never mind.

 

‘It’s not like this is new.’

 

Today ended well, so let’s just move on.

 

We took the euthanasia drug as we left Hanbit Library.

 

“There’ll be a lot to do when we wake up.”

 

This Segwang Special City exploration thus ended for the first time in a non-emergency situation where everyone was safe.

 

 

A moment ago.

 

Just before everyone took the euthanasia drug.

 

“…”

 

J3, the one who lost his name, raised his head and looked back. The corridor filled with books, the entrance to the strange library and its interior.

 

And he remembered.

 

The hidden path.

 

Himself walking through the strange corridor beyond the bookshelf while bound, and while binding others.

 

At the dead end of the black and red corridor where he had gone down to make his companions into librarians to worship the master of this library, the phrases attached to the information board.

 

· ■rce■oom

 

→■eo■cre■

 

←■■■■rce

 

↑■oom■ce■

 

The others hadn’t noticed.

 

But this contaminated being with inhuman vision that could completely see through the darkness had noticed.

 

There wasn’t just one information board.

 

Small additional explanation boards were separately attached to each bookshelf in the directions the information board pointed to.

 

And among them, the one attached to the right was this.

 

■eo■cre■

 

: ■assic■airy■aleⅢ■xhi■ition■cree■ing

 

To reestablish.

 

Video Archive Room

 

: Classic Fairy Tale Ⅱ Exhibition Screening

“….”

 

He remembers.

 

Similarly, long ago, about the entry method for a certain fairy tale ghost story that Baek Il-mong had lost.

 

Entry method:

 

Viewing a specific video purchased from a used video shop located in an alley of a redevelopment district on the outskirts of [REDACTED] City.

 

(The viewing method follows the special exhibition screening technique developed by the Research Team.)

 

The video in question is a movie, and its title is

 

He recalls.

 

‘World’s Outstanding Masterpiece Fairy Tales’.

 

“….”

 

“Jay. Let’s go out.”

 

“Yeah….”

 

The exploration had already ended, and J3’s motivation to act on his own desires and emotions had long since worn away.

 

So he obediently took the euthanasia drug.

 

At least this time.

 

 

“You’re awake.”

 

I opened my eyes.

 

Before me was the familiar sight of Ho Yu-won looking down at me with a smile.

 

“What did you experience this time? And what did you find out?”

 

Obsessive questions poured down like a bombardment, but there was something I needed to check first.

 

Check: Dream Collector

 

I took out the item I had brought from my chest. The inside of that item I had brought just in case was….

 

Rippling with golden liquid.

 

“…!”

 

It had been collected.

 

Request: Visual Appraisal

 

Ho Yu-won’s eyes narrowed.

 

“B. Almost… close to A. No, it might even be A.”

 

‘…!’

 

It was a result beyond expectations.

 

‘If I had directly met the library’s owner, or at least felt their presence, it might have been an even higher grade.’

 

But without needing to take such risks, this alone was an incredible result.

 

Research into darkness exploration methods that could enter through dreams and extract high-grade potions without casualties?

 

‘This will definitely work.’

 

We had even brought four dream collectors.

 

‘Even excluding the one we entrusted to the Security Chief, three would be enough to submit as initial results to the company…!’

 

But the more surprising thing was discovered after everyone woke up.

 

While everyone was checking their dream collectors, the Security Chief also took out his collector….

 

“Wait, that’s….”

 

“….”

 

Sparkling golden light.

 

The dream collector given to the Security Chief was also filled with liquid.

 

‘My goodness.’

 

It was difficult to entrust to Park Min-seong since he was completely contaminated, so we had just let him hold it, yet it was filled with liquid.

 

But Ho Yu-won’s approaching comment made me understand the situation.

 

“Hmm. The purity is a bit lower than the other collectors….”

 

Ah.

 

‘It was processed as collected while in Wolf Team Leader state.’

 

It was definitely assessed when I explored Sekwang Technical High School and when I escaped….

 

“….”

 

However, until Ho Yu-won retrieved it, the Security Chief stared blankly at the dream collector that came from his chest for several seconds.

 

He clearly seemed to feel some kind of emotion.

 

‘….’

 

I turned my gaze away from it as politely as possible and asked about the well-being of the other personnel.

 

Specifically, about the team member who wasn’t in the same place as us.

 

Question: Badger’s condition

 

“Ah, that person did wake up, but… it would be difficult to have a conversation. They’re still in a contaminated state.”

 

Ah.

 

“It’s unfortunate about both arms, but they haven’t regenerated. But they seem to think they’re still there, so they keep making training manuals appear from somewhere and try to pick them up.”

 

“….”

 

As expected.

 

It seemed Park Min-seong only recovered his arms and maintained his sanity while inside Segwang Special City.

 

‘Still… if he slowly recovers from contamination in reality, regeneration potions should work.’

 

I had to think that way, even if it was forced. I lowered the black smoke and struggled to redirect my thoughts.

 

“So… can you answer me now?”

 

Ho Yu-won’s eyes gleamed again.

 

“What did you discover in Segwang Special City this time?”

 

….

 

I moved the smoke to form letters.

 

Question:

 

About the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau’s Emergency Rescue Team.

 

“Those agents are still aggressively contacting us. Saying it’s urgent, threatening us to notify them immediately when Noru wakes up…. It’s rude, but I think it’s something I have to handle. More importantly, what happened in Segwang Special City….”

 

….

 

I added to the question.

 

More specifically.

 

Question:

 

About the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau’s Emergency Rescue Team.

 

Emergency Rescue Team Azure Dragon Team

 

Ho Yu-won stopped moving.

 

As if pierced by a spear, as if crushed by a building, from his frozen body, a voice emerged….

 

“Finally.”

 

A voice filled with ecstasy.

 

I raised my head.

 

“You figured it out.”

 

Ho Yu-won’s face was spread with a smile full of rapture.

—————
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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