Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 293

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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 293

My legs are trembling.

At night, I’m looking at the tunnel at the base of the mountain that’s been restricted from entry due to frequent disappearances, floating around in internet discussions and people’s conversations as strange rumors.

The end of a desolate road.

A single streetlight ominously illuminates the shadows inside the tunnel where nothing can be seen in that darkness, meaninglessly.

‘Ha.’

Go in there and tell scary stories while walking all night.

No matter what happens, ignore it and keep going.

‘No, this is…’

The senses that had been dulled by experiencing fear in 130666’s state, or had become numb from only experiencing large-scale disaster-type ghost stories with backstories in Segwang Special City, come back to life as if punched in the face.

Right.

You’re such a damn coward…!

“Now, let’s go in!”

“…Yes.”

It’s been so long.

The feeling of being dragged to a slaughterhouse!

But it was at least fortunate that I didn’t need to struggle desperately to prevent this agitation from manifesting as breaking out in cold sweat or backing away.

The reptilian alien’s body wasn’t easily swayed by emotions.

‘Manager Lee Ja-heon… Thank you.’

It seems like a lie that I was scared and creeped out by body-switching horror.

No, honestly, even if Lee Seong-hae found out I was a coward, it probably wouldn’t be a big problem. He doesn’t seem like he’d despise me saying I should have been stuck in the Cleanup Team.

But the problem is the other personnel.

“…”

“Why, why?”

“You’re really lucky.”

“…?!”

“You never miss out on interesting things.”

I smiled brightly and patted Baek Sa-heon’s shoulder.

“The two of us entering darkness to hear scary stories… Isn’t it fun? Shouldn’t you thank Dolphin Deputy?”

“…”

“Won’t you?”

“Thank you.”

“Yep. It’s not like I did it for your sake though!”

Baek Sa-heon’s face turned red and blue, but he kept his mouth shut. Good. Let’s keep pushing like this so he can’t have other suspicions.

That way, even if I happen to collapse or back away, he’ll misunderstand it as ‘that’s also some crazy act to pressure me.’

‘Ha…’

To think I’d be doing this again.

“Then we’ll go in now! Only one person in the group should turn on a flashlight… I have one, so I’ll turn it on.”

“Yes.”

Thud, thud.

The three of us walked into the abandoned tunnel.

“…”

It smells damp and moldy.

Moss-covered stones and cement. And traces of where electricity was once supplied.

Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s flashlight illuminates the inside of the tunnel.

[Oh my, even the ventilation fan has rusted. It must have been abandoned for quite a while. It’s nothing short of ruins.]

Right.

And I’m experiencing firsthand what it’s like to be a human who comes to abandoned houses or facilities for courage tests, tells scary stories, and then goes missing…

‘Uuuugh.’

Deputy Lee Seong-hae holding the flashlight is on the left, Baek Sa-heon in the center, and I’m walking at the far right end.

I want to beg to let me hold the flashlight, but I’m holding back.

I even ended up at the farthest edge from the flashlight. Ha…

‘If only I could walk in the middle, I’d have no other wishes…’

The right side with no one felt empty.

But since there’s no good reason to ask to switch, I endured and walked.

“Now, shall we start telling scary stories?”

Let’s pretend to be calm. Pretend to be calm.

“How are scary stories judged?”

“Just something that would be posted on the internet as a ghost story. Creepy or horrifying?”

Phew.

“The important thing is doing it all night, so you can tell stories slowly. It’s fine to stop and rest while walking, as long as you don’t fall asleep.”

At least I don’t think I need to worry about falling asleep. Maybe I should worry about fainting instead.

“Then I’ll start first.”

“Yes.”

Thud, thud.

“Um… It’s a story about the people who went missing in this tunnel!”

“…Yes.”

Of all things!!

“Rumor has it this tunnel was a place with frequent traffic accidents.”

“…”

Footsteps echo.

“There’s another modern tunnel nearby. It’s a two-way tunnel with lanes going both directions, but apparently quite a few vehicles would mistake this tunnel for that one at night on the mountain road and drive the wrong way here.”

The pale light of the flashlight illuminating the dark tunnel.

And Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s voice echoing and reverberating in the tunnel.

“Strange, right? Usually people look at navigation, so such incidents are rare. But oddly enough, only this tunnel had frequent accidents of ‘mistakenly taking the wrong road.’ And one night too…”

Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s flashlight moves.

“A vehicle driving the wrong way by mistake in the mountain fog hit a compact car.”

Screech- Bang!

It sounds like I can hear that noise.

…Strangely enough, on the road surface ahead that the flashlight illuminates, there are marks that look like tire skids.

“The accident scene was discovered and cleaned up the next morning. It was a hit-and-run. But the strange thing was… only the car was left.”

“That’s…”

“There were no people in the car.”

As if imagining and drawing that scene, the flashlight moves in circles over the tunnel road.

“Not only the driver’s seat of the crashed compact car, but all seats were completely empty. What remained were the airbags, broken glass windows, and…”

“…”

“Blood stains and handprints.”

A chilling feeling passes down my spine.

“The license plate had also disappeared, so the identity of the compact car passengers was only identified much later – it was a family returning from a trip. And…”

“…”

“After that accident, missing persons began to appear.”

Thud, thud.

My footsteps following the relentless walking sound too loud.

“Whether day or night, when people entered this road when there were few people around, they would disappear. And the missing people sometimes left final text messages or call records…”

“….”

“They say it’s the same story every time.”

Thud.

“Apparently, there’s always a small car that’s been in an accident ahead, and the passenger is waving their hand outside the glass door.”

“….”

“And then they grab your shoulder.”

Tap.

I almost fell over right then and there.

“Like this.”

When I barely managed to turn my head, Lee Seong-hae, who had stretched out his hand to pat my shoulder, met my eyes and grinned.

“Of course, it’s all just rumors!”

Ha.

“How was that?”

“…That was a really scary story that fit the situation perfectly.”

I almost cried.

It fit so well that I felt like there was a ghost following behind us, creating an eerie atmosphere….

It was fortunate I wasn’t holding a flashlight. If I had been, it would have been shaking like a lighting effect.

‘At least I survived because I knew that story.’

“….”

How exactly is this safe, Deputy Manager…!

Well, I suppose the Field Investigation Team members with their average strong hearts would think this was awesome.

‘So we’re going to stay up all night here and then go eat breakfast….’

I felt dizzy, but eventually I listened to Baek Sa-heon take the next turn and continue the ‘scary stories.’

“…Is moderately scary enough? Well, then. This is a story I heard when I was young.”

And Baek Sa-heon’s story that followed wasn’t as situationally horrifying as Lee Seong-hae’s.

It was about a little girl who found a player with a strange cassette in some rural house that would play songs with advice that was oddly perfectly suited to her needs.

“It was perfect for choosing birthday presents for her younger brother or knowing when to hide from adults she didn’t like. The problem was… obviously, the content gradually became strange.”

At some point, the song lyrics became increasingly eerie or violent, and the frightened child eventually tried to open the player to throw away the tape….

“But that player had been completely empty from the beginning.”

“….”

“The end.”

“Oh. But what’s scary about that?”

It was scary though.

I barely managed to defend it.

“Um. It’s sufficiently eerie and supernatural, so I think it’s fine.”

“Really? Got it. Well then, now it’s Cat’s turn!”

Wait a minute.

“Cat…?”

“Yes. Your mask is a black cat, isn’t it?”

“Um. Yes.”

No matter how I think about it, this mask shape feels more like a large species rather than just a cat… but well, it doesn’t matter.

‘As long as the stories don’t overlap.’

I don’t really know what mechanism made this mask take this form in the first place.

-It’s similar to the Field Investigation Team masks. It’s a cognitive reduction function. Haha.

…Like the Security Team uniform I’m wearing, I suspect it might be equipment that Ho Yu-won had secretly diverted and was modifying.

Anyway, so now it’s my turn? Phew.

[Oh, tell the most thrilling story of anyone here. Friend!]

Rather than that, let me control it appropriately so I don’t get scared while telling it….

“So the story I’ll tell is….”

“What’s that.”

“…!”

We stopped walking.

In the distance illuminated by Lee Seong-hae’s flashlight, we could see other shadowy figures in suits.

‘Another Field Investigation Team…!’

Two people. And one of them had a familiar silhouette.

A tall, slender woman with a ponytail.

“Huh? Deputy Manager!”

It was Jin Na-sol from Elite Team A.

“I heard you went in first, but I didn’t expect to meet like this.”

“Really?”

Jin Na-sol frowned.

“Since we’ve met up, let’s travel together. As you can see, there’s been a problem.”

And the way she didn’t even glance at her companion standing beside her suggested that employee’s behavior wasn’t to her liking….

‘This feels familiar….’

That cold cutting off was typical of the Field Investigation Team elite. I looked sympathetically at the insect-masked employee who had been traveling with Jin Na-sol.

Then the gaze under the butterfly mask narrowed and looked at me.

“What’s that one?”

“Ah, this person is also an employee from our company, but not from headquarters Field Investigation Team. They’re really kind and capable!”

“Really?”

And sharp eyes scan me.

“What’s their position?”

“Higher than mine!”

“So what exactly?”

“Um. I’d say… similar to a team leader?”

Excuse me?

“That’s right. They’re like a leader in the project team!”

The look in the eyes under the mask changed.

“…Director Ho’s project team?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm.”

I answered as calmly as possible.

“Team leader is too much. Just call me ‘Cat’ comfortably. I probably haven’t been at this company longer than you, Deputy Manager.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll do that.”

And Jin Na-sol’s gaze moved away.

I secretly swallowed.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.’

I’m getting nervous for no reason. …Is it because I’m remembering when Eun Ha-je was imitating Jin Na-sol to enter the Annex Building?

‘I wonder if that was discovered.’

No, I don’t need to worry about that right now. At the moment, she’s meeting me wearing a mask in a ghost story and doesn’t recognize me.

‘Let’s just be happy about it.’

The number of people is increasing.

Not just one, but two even. This is the best.

No, why do these Company employees split into teams when they’re not even scared in the first place?

How great would it have been if we filled the maximum capacity and all went in holding hands together!

“Let’s go for now.”

“Yes.”

Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol stood next to Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, and the Insect Mask Employee stood next to me.

Thank you. You probably wanted to get away from Butterfly Deputy, but thanks to you, I can finally enjoy the sandwich treatment…

And the ‘scary story’ began again.

“This time, let’s start with the Deputy Manager who just joined us.”

“How annoying.”

But Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol proceeded without hesitation once something was decided.

“Some idiot bought a used Wooden Wardrobe, and everyone who slept near that wardrobe got sleep paralysis.”

“Oh!”

“When we called a Carpenter to open it, there was a strange Talisman stuck in the bottom panel of the wardrobe. But the next day, the Carpenter was found hanged inside that wardrobe.”

Aaaah.

As expected of the Field Investigation Team Elite Team, a brutal authentic folk Ghost Story continued as if directly experienced…

“Then the Disaster Management Department came and made a mess before taking the wardrobe away. So annoying.”

…Wait, did you actually experience this directly?

“Story’s over.”

Phew.

Anyway, the story finally ended.

“Now, lastly, Cat!”

“Yes.”

And just as I was about to open my mouth to tell the ‘less scary but still scary enough to pass’ story I had barely thought of.

Ah, come to think of it.

“It’s not the last. There’s one more person left.”

“Huh?”

“The person on my right.”

“Cat.”

“There’s no one there right now.”

“…”

Huh?

“Right now Cat is standing at the rightmost end among us.”

“…What about Butterfly Deputy’s Companion?”

“That guy? He ran away ages ago.”

…

“The Idiot who came in with me saw something earlier and turned around to run away.”

Ah.

“That’s why I joined you guys. It’s tiring and annoying to tell scary stories alone.”

…

I couldn’t turn my head.

However, I definitely felt the presence of a person on my right side, which should have been empty.

The sound of someone walking beside me.

A shadow.

Click.

From behind, headlight beams shine on me.

…I hear the engine sound of a broken Compact Car.

“Excuse me?”

Tap tap.

The Person on the Right tapped my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

“There’s someone trapped in here??”

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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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