Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 288

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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 288

 

…I had seen the Four Seals Sword used by an agent only once before.

 

It was the sight I witnessed in Agent Hae-geum’s hands when the thing inside the Red Mascot’s mask attacked the resort.

 

The Pure Yang Energy extending from the sword shook the heavens, and the power of the lightning-like strike pierced through and shattered the invading evil thing.

 

The destruction of impurity.

 

That was now.

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

Unfolding within my grasp.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Blue lightning.

 

The white Pure Yang power burning with the principles of the world blazed blue-hot, soaring as if to pierce through the auditorium’s ceiling to reach its peak. And toward the terrifying and impure thing that had invaded the school…

 

It struck down.

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

That divine power.

 

‘Ah.’

 

So powerful it burned the evil world, and shamefully burned the evil me as well. But I had no time to look at my hands that had lost three fingers.

 

Because the evil thing was crumbling before my eyes.

 

Thud.

 

Thud thud thud thud…

 

They fell one by one.

 

The bodies of the teachers that had been grotesquely twisted and stuck together to form the monster’s body, those incomplete bodies with only parts remaining, collapsed onto the auditorium floor.

 

Along with Team Manager Park Hong-rim’s upper body.

 

Thud.

 

Finally, even that body that fell in the center. All of them piled up quietly with their eyes closed, as if peacefully losing consciousness.

 

And.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Silence.

 

“…Ha.”

 

Thump. I collapsed onto the auditorium floor.

 

White ash from my burned fingers and palms rubbed off from both hands gripping the Four Seals Sword. My mind and body, overworked by something I couldn’t handle, were screaming, but I didn’t dare let go of the sword and kept it tightly gripped.

 

“Good work.”

 

Agent Hae-geum approached.

 

“Agent Grape.”

 

I suppressed what sounded like a sob that was about to bubble up from my throat.

 

And steadying my hands, I offered the sword back to Agent Hae-geum.

 

“No, keep it equipped for now. This isn’t over.”

 

“…!”

 

It felt like cold water had been poured on my mind.

 

‘Right.’

 

The auditorium had regained its quiet for a moment.

 

Because the glass bullet of ‘Helping Tiger’ projected the previous appearance of the auditorium, and I had collapsed and neutralized the ‘teacher.’

 

But.

 

“It will probably settle in again.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

The Four Seals Sword had neutralized the monster in a desperate situation, but it hadn’t deleted the evil contamination itself that was devouring the school.

 

Just like how the Red Zone remained even after the Red Mascot’s main body was burned by the Four Seals Sword at the resort.

 

Sekwang Technical High School was still eroded by flesh, maintaining its ominous and eerie atmosphere.

 

So we had to proceed quickly.

 

The one remaining procedure…!

 

‘Sealing.’

 

The atmosphere became urgent again.

 

“For Agent Bronze to finish drawing all the strokes of the talisman… Agent Choi?”

 

“It will need at least another half hour.”

 

“Right. Get up. We’re going to Agent Bronze.”

 

I immediately got to my feet. My body’s balance was off like I’d been hit by a truck. Damn.

 

“Do you need transport?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I’ll gladly accept it.

 

I was about to hurriedly follow Agent Hae-geum while being carried like luggage by Manager Lizard, when…

 

I turned around and stopped.

 

“Grape?”

 

“Just a moment.”

 

I asked Manager Lizard to help me approach the pile of collapsed ‘teacher’ bodies.

 

Specifically, to the upper body placed in the center.

 

…Half of the torn talisman was still attached to Team Manager Park Hong-rim’s upper body.

 

“Why.”

 

Agent Choi came near me.

 

After some consideration, I took out the remaining half of the talisman I had.

 

“Could you possibly reconnect this with that talisman?”

 

“…That’s what was buried in the backyard, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Let me see it first.”

 

Agent Choi performed some simple misfortune-dispelling motion on the remaining talisman piece, then placed it on the Team Manager’s upper body.

 

The fallen talisman didn’t become one, but at least it could form a single shape.

 

There was no broken glass lantern, but the talisman made using the back of a Hanbit Library book loan slip finally took its form.

 

“…Do you think it will be effective?”

 

“Well. Since it was made by someone more divine than me, I’m not sure.”

 

Agent Choi’s eyes examining the talisman made by Team Manager Park Hong-rim and the bodies on the floor seemed to darken with thought for a moment, but soon he smiled as usual and pushed my back with his hand.

 

“Still, it’s better to try and regret than not try at all. Let’s hurry.”

 

“Yes.”

 

And we began to hurriedly exit the auditorium.

 

The school’s erosion was still ongoing.

 

No, it had progressed even further.

 

“Mmph, mmph mmph.”

 

I could see figures in school uniforms writhing while stuck to the walls. Those who had already been devoured alive were flailing only their limbs on every floor and wall, like pain that had sprouted throughout the school.

 

My chest grew cold with fear and horror.

 

‘Damn.’

 

It’s rather fortunate that I’m being carried by Lee Ja-heon, since my feet won’t stop moving due to human instinct.

 

The agents and I gritted our teeth and moved forward.

 

But instead of going to the classroom on the 2nd floor, the agents moved their feet down to the 1st floor.

 

“The Bronze Agent is…”

 

“I left him with the other agents. For now, to a place where we can avoid contamination as much as possible…”

 

The words stopped.

 

“…”

 

The 1st floor corridor was already covered in flesh.

 

And on the floor and walls, there were traces of humans who seemed to have been swallowed while resisting.

 

Flesh consuming glass handcuffs and severed rope.

 

And the people who were swallowed.

 

The protruding limbs of agents.

 

“…Go Myeong-ah.”

 

There was no response.

 

The agents’ limbs were just stuck in the wall, struggling.

 

…Hae-geum Agent stopped walking for the first time.

 

“Agent. If we use bullets on the wall, perhaps…”

 

“No. That’s not a life response. …They’re already dead.”

 

“…”

 

“Save the bullets. Let’s move.”

 

And Hae-geum Agent’s gaze moved.

 

Next to the corridor where traces remained of agents being swallowed by the school in groups and dying, there was a place that was the only location on the 1st floor that hadn’t been devoured yet and looked relatively intact.

 

Class 4 of 1st year classroom.

 

In front of it, contamination was being delayed by a barrier rope.

 

Even that was half-eaten, but we could guess what kind of desperate battle the agents had fought…

 

Creak.

 

Carefully crossing over the classroom’s barrier rope and opening the door, the scene inside became visible.

 

Under the desk in the center that the flesh hadn’t reached yet.

 

A faint light sparkled.

 

Bronze Agent was kneeling on that floor, carving lines into a glass lantern.

 

With a cutter knife.

 

“…!”

 

Each time the cutter knife made a line, light sparked. Each time, shadows fell across the carver’s face.

 

His temples and the side of his face were wet with what might have been sweat or tears, but his expression was absent due to extreme concentration.

 

He couldn’t even look back at us.

 

Whether due to inadequate equipment or because the lines went astray and he used his flesh to compensate, his hands were covered with red thread-like wounds, but he didn’t stop.

 

And… next to him, standing and looking back at us, was one Segwang Technical High School student.

 

“Kim Sol-eum.”

 

It was Lee Gyeol.

 

I got goosebumps for a moment hearing my name’s three syllables in the ghost story, but relief and joy came next.

 

He was still alive.

 

“Did your memory come back?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

-Check if the teacher has a piece of paper

 

My classmate raised his hand, showing the letters he had written himself, and frowned.

 

“I was trying to check what the teacher had after seeing this… but suddenly my memory came back, and I met people.”

 

“The agents?”

 

“Yeah. Since I recognized them, they told me to wait a moment and took me… I stayed in the classroom.”

 

“…”

 

“They went out to the corridor among themselves, and I haven’t heard any voices since just now.”

 

Everyone knew the reason, so no one bothered to mention it.

 

We just nodded with hardened faces.

 

Lee Gyeol gestured toward Bronze Agent with his chin.

 

“Anyway, I received a request. When this person completes what he’s doing, there’s a place we need to go together.”

 

The backyard.

 

‘…Bronze Agent arranged it.’

 

Because people who aren’t students of this school can’t see the backyard outside the infirmary window, and just see it as a black void.

 

But… wait a minute.

 

“You recognized the agents?”

 

“…”

 

“How did you recognize them?”

 

From the outside, it just looked like errors had suddenly become students wearing different school uniforms. But if he recognized their occupation as ‘agents’ through items or conversation.

 

That would mean he originally knew about the identity of Disaster Management Bureau agents.

 

For example.

 

About Team Manager Park Hong-rim, and the Blue Dragon Team agents who stayed to protect this school.

 

“What you remembered, exactly how far back does it go?”

 

My classmate with dyed hair and piercings answered with an incongruously tired expression.

 

“The day the agents came to this school.”

 

“…!”

 

“I remember up to the day this school was destroyed. Phew…”

 

“Wait a minute.”

 

Agent Choi interrupted.

 

While checking on Bronze Agent who was still carving lines.

 

“We… yes, student Lee Gyeol. Could we talk about that time now? You said the school was destroyed.”

 

I realized it too.

 

The day the school was destroyed.

 

That was…

 

‘The day of the Segwang Special City disaster.’

 

The day the extinction-level supernatural disaster broke out.

 

Goosebumps ran down my spine.

 

“When was that?”

 

“…”

 

Lee Gyeol’s mouth slowly opened.

 

“It was May. The day right before Children’s Day.”

 

May 4th.

 

“The first period was starting when suddenly we got a disaster text. Saying there was terrorism at City Hall.”

 

“…!”

 

[Segwang Special City] Alert warning issued. Suspected terrorist explosion occurred near City Hall. Presumed to be biochemical weapons lethal to human body.

 

Chain explosion situation is suspected, so citizens please prepare to evacuate according to instructions and absolutely do not go outside.

 

“‘Segwang Special City’?”

 

“Yeah. Then would this be Seoul?”

 

Hae-geum Agent’s facial expression, who had reflexively asked back about the place name that doesn’t exist in ‘current’ South Korea, hardened ominously beyond just confusion.

 

However, my and Agent Choi’s expressions would have been even more hardened.

 

“TV channels and YouTube kept showing real-time breaking news, so no one listened to class and everyone watched that. They showed people running away and buildings collapsing.”

 

“….”

 

“Then… suddenly it all cut off.”

 

Soon the internet itself stopped working entirely.

 

Students who had been calling their families also found that their calls stopped going through at some point.

 

But then.

 

“Only disaster alerts suddenly started coming again.”

 

[Segwang Special City]

 

Alert cancellation Not terrorism Not weapons Not explosion Don’t worry

 

Come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out come out

 

You came

 

It sends chills down my spine.

 

“That’s when the first crying kid appeared in the classroom.”

 

“….”

 

“The teachers hurriedly collected all our phones. Cut all the TV cables.”

 

The students panicked, but eventually followed the teachers’ instructions to cover the windows and gather near the auditorium.

 

It was because of talk that if it was a biochemical weapon, it would be heavier than air and settle downward, making the lower floors dangerous.

 

“And they told us to close our eyes, cover our ears, and lie still.”

 

“Did the teachers do that too?”

 

“No. They kept talking among themselves.”

 

But they had classical music playing in the 5th floor corridor.

 

Loud enough to make it difficult to talk to each other.

 

“And all the high school students obediently listened to that?”

 

“There was a terrorist attack. With those weird texts coming in, we thought they might remotely detonate our phones. Though there were some kids who didn’t listen.”

 

“Are you included in that by any chance?”

 

“….”

 

Lee Gyeol, who had been avoiding eye contact, speaks as if confessing.

 

“I just didn’t cover my ears because I wanted to hear what the teachers were talking about. It was suspicious.”

 

“So what did they talk about.”

 

“I couldn’t hear well, but one of the teachers tried to leave.”

 

“…!”

 

“Saying they had something to check and needed to go somewhere else. But they said there was a place to report in situations like this, and sent a rescue request asking ‘agents’ to come to the school.”

 

“….”

 

“I think it was probably the counseling teacher.”

 

-Some high schools even had periodic visits to counsel students.

 

Ho Yu-won?

 

“That’s all. And….”

 

At that moment.

 

Tuk.

 

We reflexively turned our gaze.

 

Under the desk, Bronze Agent had removed the cutter blade from the glass lantern.

 

“It’s complete.”

 

“…!”

 

All attention was drawn in that direction.

 

The agent carefully lifted the glass lantern. Then took out the paper talisman made at Yi-jeong Bookstore and ‘properly’ fitted it to the bottom of the lantern.

 

Blue flames blazed along the strokes.

 

Whoosh.

 

The strokes of the bell connected with the strokes of the lantern, and the flames followed. The talisman expanded and connected….

 

“…Phew.”

 

Complete.

 

Following the strokes, the blue light was swallowed into the lantern.

 

Under everyone’s gaze, Bronze Agent held the lantern with both hands and rose from under the desk.

 

His face was pale.

 

“Are you okay… Agent?”

 

“Cheongdong.”

 

Relief and surprise briefly crossed Bronze Agent’s face as he looked at us, as if just noticing.

 

“The other agents….”

 

“Let’s activate the talisman first and then talk.”

 

“….”

 

Bronze Agent takes in the 1st Year Class 4 classroom half-covered in flesh and the silence of the corridor where no sound could be heard.

 

But he takes a deep breath and concentrates.

 

“…Yes. Where should I take it?”

 

“Should I just take it to the backyard and bury it like this? That’s where it was, right?”

 

I tried to answer as energetically as possible.

 

“Yes! Right through the infirmary window….”

 

But.

 

-Found it the game is over

 

–The backyard was discovered no no!

 

“….”

 

Wait.

 

“Grape?”

 

“We shouldn’t take it back to the backyard. It’s already a discovered location.”

 

I added urgently.

 

“This is… this is like a kind of hide-and-seek.”

 

“Hide-and-seek?”

 

“Yes. I saw records that seemed to indicate they hid talismans so they wouldn’t be discovered by the evil thing that invaded.”

 

I recall.

 

The backyard that wasn’t visible to Errors.

 

“The backyard is a place that isn’t implemented in the game, so maybe that’s where they hid it.”

 

Gazes turn to Bronze Agent.

 

“Agent?”

 

“…Theoretically, it’s possible.”

 

“Okay. Then we need to find a similar place in this school.”

 

A similar place.

 

A place where we can hide without being discovered by the invader….

 

‘If the most suitable place, the backyard, was already used.’

 

I need to think in a different way.

 

If being completely invisible is impossible, then conversely….

 

‘What if it could be hidden by the presence of something absurdly powerful?’

 

And this school was already part of that thing too.

 

-Since one of the supernatural phenomena found in Hanbit Library has a school as its setting, let’s try using this.

 

Hanbit Library.

 

“Let’s go to the library.”

 

To the corridor leading to Hanbit Library.

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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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