Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 30

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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 030

As soon as I thought I needed a lot of money, I received a message from an unfamiliar profile asking if I needed money.

But this is inside a ghost story.

[K.LEE: Employee? haha]

The wise choice would probably be to scream, block them, and leave the chat room…

‘But it also feels too stereotypical.’

Since I’m in a ghost story, let me try getting some Ghost Story Advice.

I put ‘Good Friend’ down under the bed, turned off the lights, and summoned Brown using the usual Shadow Projection method.

However, this time I used a Small Flashlight I had bought on my way home from work.

Good Friend

This time, Brown regained consciousness with almost no delay, recalled my escape method from the previous ghost story with considerable joy, then immediately grasped the current situation.

A message from a stranger mentioning big money!

-How suspicious! But isn’t curiosity that doesn’t go beyond suspicion the virtue of a show?

-Of course, it would be even better if some sparkling gold came along!

Although the Stuffed Doll was talking like a dopamine addict, seeing that reaction confirmed this wasn’t a ghost story-related phenomenon, so that was enough.

‘In that case.’

I simply asked a question in the chat room.

[Kim Sol-eum: Who are you?]

An answer came back immediately.

I actually thought there was a high chance I’d just get something like “haha your friend~” at best.

Surprisingly, it was a proper introduction.

[K.LEE: Hi, I’m Assistant Manager Lee Kang-heon from Team C haha]

“…!!”

‘Team C?’

Another elite team.

Why would they contact me… no, why would they reveal their identity so readily, even including their rank?

[K.LEE: Hey, I heard you turned down Team A’s scout offer today!!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

Oh.

[K.LEE: Wow, that’s insane confidence! I’ve never seen such a capable newbie before lol]

[K.LEE: He declined this time, but maybe we’ll see him on another elite team next year? Is someone finally going to take the route of joining an elite team right after getting promoted to supervisor? Something like that lol]

Do you have some kind of Specialized Equipment that makes you type faster…?

Sentences poured out like bombs before I could even type a single letter in reply.

I barely managed to collect myself and sent one sentence.

[Kim Sol-eum: Yes, nice to meet you, Deputy Manager Lee Kang-heon.]

[K.LEE : Oh, come on! Let’s say hi when we run into each other at the office and grab a meal sometime. I know this really great charcoal-grilled chicken galbi place nearby! haha]

[K.LEE: Oops, I talked too much. Anyway, so the reason I contacted you today is!]

The atmosphere changed.

[K.LEE: You need a lot of money, right, Employee?]

“…”

[K.LEE: This is exactly the timing when you’d wish you had a bit more money… Kids who show promise right before getting promoted to supervisor try to secure routes for getting personal items ㅋㅋ]

[K.LEE: I heard you already have Specialized Equipment, Employee. Then you’re probably looking into ways to get Items through connections?]

I don’t have anything like that.

‘I just went to the Alien Shopping Mall I already knew about…’

[K.LEE: All of that costs money though haha]

[K.LEE: Don’t waste your money and time buying meals and drinks for seniors when you don’t have much. Just listen to me instead haha]

Hmm.

[Kim Sol-eum: I really appreciate the offer, but why are you telling me this?]

[K.LEE: Because you want to get close? haha]

At least put some effort into your lies…

[K.LEE: Do you want to hear it? haha]

I hesitated for a moment.

-Oh my! Noru, the text reeks of a cheap medicine peddler. Doesn’t seem like the type to appear on a classy professional channel.

-But… cheap goods have their own uses too.

-If you coax them gently…

I typed.

[Kim Sol-eum: No.]

-…!?

[K.LEE: ???????]

[K.LEE: Oh, you’re quite the jokester too haha As expected from the record holder for fastest accumulated points haha]

[Kim Sol-eum: I’ll just ask Manager about it.]

[Kim Sol-eum: I hope you have a good night.]

[K.LEE: Wait a sec]

[K.LEE: Hey wait a minute]

[K.LEE: Are you Lee Ja-heon’s cousin by any chance?;; You have the exact same personality]

I’d rather you curse at me…

Anyway, since they still didn’t know my personality well, this kind of bluffing worked effectively.

The other person hurriedly poured out messages.

[K.LEE: Ah, I’m not asking for money so just listen, seriously I don’t make offers like this often;;ㅠㅠ]

And then a rapid succession of KakaoTalk messages came.

[K.LEE: (Link)]

Along with some internet page link.

[K.LEE: If you need seed money or items, check it out. Just designate me as the referrer, hawaiib53 <-just enter this]

[K.LEE: You don’t have to put it in, but since I recommended it to you, follow your conscience hahahaha Ah, you know what I mean? hehehehe]

[K.LEE: Keep it somewhat secret from other people! (Shy emoticon)]

‘…Template?’

No matter how I look at it, it seems like copy-paste…

[K.LEE: Anyway, I’m the one who told you about it, right?]

[K.LEE: Well then, I’ll head out before I get caught by the audit. Hope you have a happy shopping life haha]

[K.LEE has left.]

“…”

‘If they were worried about getting caught by audit, why bother with the self-introduction…’

Do they want to leave it as a debt of gratitude?

I deleted the reply I was typing that said ‘What exactly is this site you sent’.

‘Looking at how they talked about shopping and such, it seems like a platform for buying things.’

Opening up routes other than the Alien Shop wasn’t bad.

Moreover, their expression was quite interesting.

‘Seed money.’

They’re expressing it as if you can make quite a lot of money.

‘It’s not some company gambling page, is it.’

Anyway, there was only one way to check.

I ran a safety check on the link’s authenticity once, then carefully accessed it.

The smartphone screen turned pitch black, and the text that appeared was…

Salmon

“…??”

Like salmon swimming upstream against the flowing river

We who swim upstream against this crazy world

‘Crazy World…?’

What the hell is this old-fashioned sentimental phrase?

The text disappeared with an effect that really looked like salmon swimming, and a new sentence appeared.

Registration Available (Referrer Required)

Hmm.

It was really suspicious (in many ways), but anyway, I created an account using that employee as the referrer. I had to check it out anyway.

And as soon as I logged in and saw the page that changed, I realized.

Salmon Market

“This is a secondhand trading site.”

This was a kind of site for buying and selling items between individuals.

Except for the fact that they traded superstitious and bizarre objects or information.

[Selling Mermaid Jerky (Authentic, includes Hannuri-ok appraisal)]

[Looking for Blood Bath Tile fragments, no discoloration]

[$$Reliable information about Bad Luck Vending Machine appearance location frequency$$]

[Selling efficacious Protection Charm]

I clicked around roughly to understand the situation.

So this was…

‘It’s full of pure scams.’

From the perspective of someone who had read , it was just filled with junk items, meaningless props, or false information.

In other words, it felt like an occult secondhand trading site with not very high professionalism (by industry standards).

I rubbed my forehead and said.

“Is this a place with more ordinary people than insiders?”

-Hmm. Originally, popularity inevitably brings about a decline in professionalism! To prevent that requires great effort and trouble… but this place feels deliberately neglected.

-Enthusiasts without expertise tend to buy even worthless things at high prices.

It’s like the psychology of even tearing off pieces of stage set floors that stars stepped on!

No, that can be a memento and it’s real, so that could make sense.

The problem is that this place is full of fakes.

But I could see traces of even those being traded at quite expensive prices.

“…”

‘Right. This worldview doesn’t officially acknowledge paranormal phenomena.’

Both the government worried about social anomie and companies wanting to keep business secrets are all hushing up while secretly investigating ghost stories.

But civilian casualties would already be widespread.

Among ordinary people too, ominous rumors and experience stories would be circulating secretly, so it wouldn’t be strange for such a site to emerge.

Moreover, looking at the prices compared to the items being traded makes it even more dizzying.

‘One million won per piece…’

Monthly rent deposits are flying around.

I don’t know if it’s because it’s a matter of survival, or if there’s a Veblen effect for occult items too, but…

‘Could I sell something here too if I do it right?’

If that employee who introduced me to this is really an assistant manager from Elite Team C, it seemed like employees working at ‘Daydream Corporation’ were secretly selling junk items or information through this place.

That actually worried me more.

‘The moment you cross the line, you’ll definitely get caught by audit…’

So let’s create safety measures.

I logged out of the current account and created a new account.

The name is, hmm…

[Blue Friend]

Friend

It’s roughly correct since I combined what came to mind with what I could see.

And for the referral ID, I entered the account I had just created earlier.

“Done.”

-Oho. Creating a new identity to avoid tracking!

Correct.

I plan to use this account to trade items that a employee wouldn’t have, or things that might get caught in an audit.

‘This way, even if something happens, my purchases won’t be traced.’

“Of course, I’ll also leave some transaction records with the first account I made.”

-To avoid suspicion. Excellent.

With the previous account, I plan to deal with things that a ‘Daydream Corporation employee’ would reasonably trade without crossing any lines.

Now that the social maneuvering is done, let’s get to the main point.

What should I sell?

‘First… reselling items bought from the Alien Shop won’t work.’

Look at the amateur level of this site. It would cause a huge uproar.

Well, I’m already busy buying useful items from the Alien Shop anyway, so I don’t have time for that kind of arbitrage.

I browsed through Salmon Market sorted by newest.

Something that wouldn’t stand out too much, but that I could sell to make money…

[Buying food originating from supernatural phenomena.]

Oh?

[Buying food originating from supernatural phenomena.]

For research purposes.

Strong supernatural phenomena (Disaster Management Bureau waveform abnormality) preferred.

40.0

-This bastard’s here again

-Ah, the food I’m looking for is Type 1 waveform, for “research purposes.” (adjusts glasses) hahahahaha

-Isn’t this person a bot? Seems to post daily

-Occult nerd, please come out of your own little world. What the hell is Disaster Management Bureau waveform anyway

Only a few mocking and teasing comments remained in the replies.

However…

‘…It’s real though.’

.

In , it was a government agency that formed one of the three major powers alongside Daydream Corporation.

My goods, the Memorial Grip Tok, was also an item distributed by this agency to civil servants.

‘And the Supernatural Disaster Management Agency classifies ghost story danger levels by type …’

The waveform mentioned in this post was also an actual grade. In Daydream Corporation terms, it would be slightly above C-grade.

This person was truly someone who ‘knew what they were talking about’.

I stared at the page intently.

‘If they’re a real insider, there’s actually a higher chance they won’t rip me off.’

The very fact that they mentioned technical terms that outsiders wouldn’t know without explanation actually lowered the probability of it being a scam.

It was a factor that increased transaction reliability.

And look at the price.

40.0?

‘That’s forty million won.’

At this amount, there would probably be people willing to contact them just to try their luck, even if they didn’t know anything.

Sure enough, when I looked up previous posts, this had already been discussed in the comments.

-Wow, but it’s still forty million won… Has anyone contacted them about this?

└I actually contacted them thinking I’d really sell it, but after they kept asking about the source a few times, they disappeared lol

└Everyone gets left on read lol it’s just someone playing a character, don’t bother

No, that’s not it.

‘From what I’m hearing, they probably got ignored because their ghost stories weren’t waveform grade or higher.’

However, I happened to have something in my possession that perfectly matched their preferred criteria.

Something suspicious with unknown effects that I wouldn’t dare consume myself…

‘…I have it?’

Even two packs of it.

The snack I received from the Blue Dragon Mascot at the theme park.

“…”

-Ah, that filthy food!

Well, it’s not exactly filthy.

But here’s the thing.

‘Good children need war funds.’

The mascot would understand. Sure.

[Blue Friend : Hello sir^^ I can sell the supernatural phenomenon-derived food you’re looking for!]

Message sent!

The next day.

‘It’s the weekend again, perfect timing.’

I found myself waiting for my appointment near Gwanghwamun Station.

In my hands was a box containing one pack of ‘Blue Soda Churros’ that I had received from the mascot.

‘I handled this… reasonably well.’

I recalled the messages I had exchanged with the buyer yesterday.

Almost immediately after sending my message, I had received a reply.

[T : What exactly is the food?]

This was the turning point.

I had two choices.

Show off my professional knowledge to gain trust by revealing that I knew what the Supernatural Disaster Management Agency was and what wave ratings meant.

Or….

[Blue friend: It’s like some kind of churros or something. Actually, I’m not really sure…ㅠㅠ I got it in a really weird situation.]

[Blue Friend : But I’m also scared to keep it… and I really need the money. Could you take a look and if it meets your conditions, maybe buy it…?]

Pretend I didn’t know anything and just leave all the judgment to the other party.

And my choice worked well.

‘Honestly, the second part was all true anyway.’

I also didn’t feel like revealing that I was an employee of .

Anyway, that’s why I was waiting for the other party near Gwanghwamun Station Exit 5, having arrived 7 minutes before our appointment time.

‘If something feels off, I’ll run immediately.’

Just as I was tensely waiting just in case, I saw someone coming from Cheonggyecheon Plaza toward Exit 5, looking around.

‘Oh.’

Anyone could tell they were here for a secondhand transaction by the way they were scanning around.

The tall person wrapped entirely in black clothes and wearing a mask approached me when our eyes met and said.

“Are you by any chance Salmon….”

I nodded.

And immediately opened the box and held it out.

It meant for them to check it.

“….”

The other person quietly reached out their hand.

They were wearing gloves on that hand too.

Their voice was quite young, but I didn’t expect them to come wrapped up so thoroughly that it would be hard to guess their identity.

‘Though I’m not one to talk.’

Actually, I was also wearing everything I could find, from a hat to glasses.

I pressed down my hood and watched the other person’s movements. If they tried to grab it and run, I’d have to move first.

The prospective buyer ran their gloved hand over the box once, then nodded and grabbed the box.

Hmm?

“This is the item I was looking for.”

And they held out a small beverage box to me.

When they slightly opened the box, I caught a glimpse of the interior filled with 50,000 won bills before it closed again.

“….”

The other person seemed to be looking at me as if wondering what more I was waiting for.

It was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t ask Brown about it, but….

‘First things first.’

I set the box down on the ground.

“…?”

After bowing my head to the other person, I took out my notebook from my pocket.

“…??”

And I opened the pages toward the buyer to show them.

[I don’t know the effects of this food.]

[It wasn’t dangerous to have, but just in case, I think it would be better not to eat it.]

[You said you’d research it, but I wrote this down just in case]

“…!”

Though I couldn’t see their expression, the other person seemed somewhat flustered.

‘They’re probably wondering what this sudden performance is about….’

Sorry. I don’t want my voice to be recognized.

I bowed my head, then showed the last page while politely receiving the beverage box and ran away.

[Have a good day^^]

“Good.”

I immediately deposited the cash I received and went home.

Since it was the weekend, Baek Sa-heon was already not at the company housing. From seeing him come and go, I wondered if he was going to his family home or something.

Anyway.

“Now it’s time to access the Alien Shopping Mall.”

I revived the link.

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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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