Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 310

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Episode 310

 

“Peregrine Falcon.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“This is a note that came into Car 7… they asked me to deliver it to you.”

 

“…!”

 

Eun Ha-je accepted the note that the Station Master quietly handed over while avoiding others.

 

And she quickly realized from the Station Master’s glance.

 

Who had written this note.

 

‘That guy Sol-eum.’

 

With a pale face, he couldn’t even greet properly and quickly went to Car 8, then got off alone at another station and left a note.

 

“Is he perhaps in Car 7?”

 

“No. He didn’t board the train and just left that before getting off again. Well then, excuse me.”

 

What’s going on?

 

Eun Ha-je watched the Station Master leave the car and quickly called for Ryu Jae-gwan.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

Ryu Jae-gwan, who had just returned after being drafted for manual labor, was surprisingly adapting quite well to this Train Shelter.

 

He wasn’t showing any obvious suspicious behavior like trying to uncover the operating principles and secrets of this Train Shelter.

 

However, perhaps thinking of his teammates or family left outside, his eyes would sometimes darken.

 

‘It seems like he’s gaining some flexibility.’

 

Eun Ha-je judged this to be a positive change. At this rate, he would grow well.

 

…If only he could survive here.

 

‘Damn.’

 

Ah, she desperately craved a cigarette.

 

She never knew she’d crave cigarettes even with a dead body.

 

Anyway, Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je tapped Ryu Jae-gwan and whispered quietly.

 

“…It’s contact from Noru.”

 

“…!”

 

“Please sit like this.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Eun Ha-je used Ryu Jae-gwan’s large frame, who urgently turned around, as a kind of screen to hide the note and check its contents together.

 

Something urgent came up that I need to check, so I’m going to the company briefly.

 

If you need to contact me, please send word to the popup shop at Ohu Station.

 

P.S. Midday Station was completely destroyed by fire. It’s in a concluded state, so it should be relatively safe to visit.

 

For detailed information, I’ve sent company researchers to Ohu Station, so you can hear about it when you meet them.

 

“…Concluded?”

 

“Shh.”

 

Eun Ha-je urgently hit Ryu Jae-gwan’s back to quiet him.

 

Though they pretended otherwise, gazes could be felt from various parts of the car. They were still essentially treated as outsiders.

 

And in this tedious space, one of the few things to do was watching and observing others.

 

But honestly, the note’s content was so astounding it left her speechless.

 

‘In the midst of all that, he even concluded a darkness?’

 

Hadn’t it been less than a full day since he acted alone?

 

And what was this about researchers? Why were those crazy bastards here?

 

‘What have you been up to, Noru?’

 

Though it was quite a performance that made her wonder what kind of guy he was, Eun Ha-je felt bitter whenever she thought of her capable junior.

 

Being capable was good, but lately he seemed to be pushing himself too hard.

 

Being affectionate, he seemed to constantly feel guilt toward others even when he was barely managing to take care of himself.

 

‘There’s absolutely no need for that.’

 

…Meanwhile, she could subtly sense his helplessness about his contaminated state, which made her feel even more sorry for him.

 

Her heart became slightly anxious.

 

‘…I need to extract every bit of information I can from this Train Shelter.’

 

That way, it would help that Noru guy who hasn’t retired alone yet.

 

‘First, I should go to Ohu Station when I get the chance.’

 

Eun Ha-je pursed her lips bitterly and was about to fold the note back up when…

 

‘Hmm?’

 

“There’s one more line at the bottom.”

 

At Ryu Jae-gwan’s words, she pushed and unfolded the end of the note.

 

…Strangely, there was a sentence that seemed hastily scribbled and added, crammed in without any margin.

 

As if it had been urgently written in at the end.

 

If you find information related to a machine called a ‘dream incubator’ anywhere, please contact the popup shop at Ohu Station as quickly as possible.

 

Unlike the previous part, even the tone had become urgent.

 

‘…Dream incubator?’

 

It’s the machine that serves as the prototype for the Baek Il-mong potion manufacturing device.

 

“….”

 

“…Is this information you know?”

 

“No.”

 

Eun Ha-je pondered.

 

Though it was an unexpected sentence, that’s precisely why she intuitively knew.

 

‘He’s discovered something.’

 

Then, what exactly had Kim Sol-eum discovered?

 

 

I am running.

 

Coming out of Segwang Special City, to meet the person I need to meet.

 

To confirm what I need to confirm.

 

“…Huff.”

 

My mind is in chaos.

 

The Joyful Research Institute’s goal, the newly discovered facts…

 

The identity of the egg inside the dream incubator.

 

-The goal of that dream incubator is… to create a new world.

 

-…That’s the deduction I made. Hahaha!

 

What if that new world is… ‘a world without ghost stories’?

 

What if the Joyful Research Institute tried to create a world without ghost stories and succeeded?

 

What if that’s the world I came from?

 

…What happens to me then?

 

‘No.’

 

It’s a ridiculous speculation.

 

How many leaps and connections would need to align for this to be possible? There are plenty of probabilities and possibilities that it’s not…

 

‘But why does this feel so right?’

 

An instinctive realization.

 

The sensation that everything fits together exquisitely.

 

Motives and results all interlocking like puzzle pieces, flashing through my mind almost like inspiration.

 

So even while denying it in my heart, I’m acting based on this deduction…

 

But still.

 

‘This is strange.’

 

This place was the world inside the ghost story wiki.

 

Darkness Investigation Records.

 

‘They said it was a world without ghost stories that created a ghost story world.’

 

But if a ghost story world created a world without ghost stories… wouldn’t the order be wrong?

 

[Oh. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Time to bring out that old but wise metaphor!]

 

This is driving me crazy.

 

I want to grab anyone and spill everything about what’s happening and get answers.

 

Since I’ve made this deduction, I can’t bear not to confirm it, so my legs head toward the destination.

 

…To the person I wanted to avoid but absolutely couldn’t avoid.

 

“…”

 

I stopped walking.

 

Where I am is Jisan Village.

 

Someone is standing in front of the well on the outskirts of that abandoned rural village.

 

“Agent.”

 

Agent Choi is looking at me.

 

The person who had been looking down into the well with sunken eyes noticed my presence and turned to look this way, standing there.

 

Watching me for a long time until I approached.

 

I swallowed.

 

…Agent Choi was just about to enter Segwang Special City alone.

 

And I knew why.

 

Because I was the one who told him that a colleague agent from the same team had died and was trapped inside that extinction-level disaster.

 

“…You.”

 

Agent Choi caught his breath and spoke again.

 

“You left that as a letter…”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

I bowed my head first.

 

“I wasn’t asking you to apologize…”

 

“I’m truly sorry. I’ll solve this somehow…”

 

“Sol-eum.”

 

“…”

 

“What you should apologize for is leaving just one note and not coming out, saying you’d solve it alone. Got it?”

 

Countless rebuttals came to mind, but I spoke urgently.

 

“Yes. I’m sorry. But…”

 

“But?”

 

“…I just discovered something inside the special city. There’s something I absolutely must confirm right now.”

 

The shame and guilt of saying such things in this situation rose up but disappeared in urgency. So I finally spoke.

 

“The dream cultivation device… where is it?”

 

“…”

 

“The underground laboratory hidden by the manhole cover that you saw too, Agent. The dream cultivation room.”

 

The expression disappeared from the other person’s face.

 

This person must have taken some measures with that cultivation room or handed it over to the Management Bureau after I disappeared.

 

I need to find out where it went.

 

“Why do you need that again?”

 

“I need it immediately. When I told you last time…”

 

“What are you going to use it for?”

 

“…”

 

Agent Choi rubs his face with dry hands.

 

“Sigh, what is this…”

 

“…”

 

I swallowed.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“No. I’m not asking you to apologize… Grape.”

 

Agent Choi’s tone became gentle.

 

“Go get some rest.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“Tell me what you’ll use it for and I’ll go handle it. This is when we should pass the baton.”

 

Wait, wait a minute.

 

“You said dream cultivation device, right? What do you want to use it for?”

 

I first caught my breath, then pulled out a paper from my chest.

 

The letter that had been rolled up like a screw and hidden in a corner of the train shelter.

 

“…What’s that?”

 

“I found this in the special city.”

 

Oh~ you figured this out?

 

Then you’re qualified to read this tip lol

 

The story that began like that.

 

It was a hidden letter left by ‘Lee Kang-heon.’

 

“…”

 

“That letter, could you tell who wrote it?”

 

Agent Choi’s eyes move quickly across the paper. After reading all the contents expressionlessly, he looks away from it and at me.

 

And.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“…”

 

“You brought this to me because of the name Lee Kang-heon. But I don’t really know who the real Lee Kang-heon is either. I’m using it because I have no clue. Anyway, why do you need the dream cultivation device…”

 

“Agent Choi.”

 

I said quietly.

 

“Please don’t lie.”

 

“…!”

 

“If you really didn’t know, the conversation would have flowed to ‘I’ll find out who wrote it.’ Because you think it’s important to confirm who’s behind this.”

 

Agent Choi stopped moving.

 

“Changing the subject like now means you already suspect someone as the mastermind.”

 

“…”

 

“…Did you write that note, Agent?”

 

A small sigh escaped from Agent Choi’s mouth.

 

And he looks at the note again and says.

 

“I might have.”

 

“…!!”

 

“…There are several things I can see… habits I use when writing. Word choice, tone, consonant size…”

 

His eyes scanning the note are fast and mechanical. A gaze that captures suspicious contexts like a scan.

 

“Handwriting can be changed by writing with a different hand.”

 

“….”

 

“Of course I don’t remember it.”

 

Agent Choi raised his head.

 

“But since it was found in a cognitively sealed area, there’s a possibility I might not remember it.”

 

And he folded the note while looking at it and kept it himself.

 

“Wait….”

 

“But you’re not certain?”

 

And he looked at me and shook his head.

 

“The assumption that I would know this kind of information is strange to begin with. And Grape. Just because there’s a possibility, should we blindly trust a single note?”

 

“….”

 

“Do you believe this content?”

 

Then somehow steal the dream cultivation machine that Baekillmong Corporation copied

 

And try installing it in the remaining Joyful Research Institute facilities

 

“Do you want to try something when we don’t even know what intention it was written with?”

 

“Agent.”

 

I raised my head.

 

“We can only know the intention by trying it.”

 

“…!”

 

“I’m not saying we should try everything blindly. I just want to go up to right before doing it.”

 

“Right before?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I pointed to the content of the note.

 

“If you look, what this actually means isn’t just any dream cultivation machine.”

 

It’s.

 

“It’s requesting the version that Baekillmong copied. In other words, it seems like it’s telling us to steal the potion machine at the company….”

 

I swallowed.

 

“Instead, let’s first install a dream cultivation machine identical to the one originally at the Pleasant Research Institute in Segwang Special City, and observe it operating normally once.”

 

“….”

 

“We can guess the mechanism from there.”

 

And if by chance something shows up and we succeed.

 

“If this note is really a hint, we might be able to rescue the people trapped inside… or there’s a possibility the supernatural disaster could end.”

 

“….”

 

“Agent Choi.”

 

I said with emphasis.

 

“I’ll do it. No, at minimum I need to accompany you and try this.”

 

Agent Choi looked at me, then looked at the note once more, and fell silent as if lost in intense contemplation.

 

When his left hand stopped fidgeting with the cleaver handle.

 

“Phew.”

 

A long sigh came from Agent Choi’s mouth.

 

And he looked back at me with a bitter smile.

 

Along with blue light in his eyes.

 

“Right. So you want to take the dream cultivation machine and test it?”

 

“…! Yes.”

 

Agent Choi stepped back from the well.

 

I saw some ominous ritual equipment briefly appear and disappear between the agent’s jacket fluttering in the wind.

 

I felt both a chill in my chest and relief at the same time.

 

That it wasn’t too late before this person entered the well alone.

 

“…Follow me.”

 

“…!”

 

I followed Agent Choi as he moved away from the well.

 

 

[It’s hard to understand, Noru. That underground research lab was originally discovered by Friend, so why is that government official taking credit?]

 

It’s probably because I was discovered there while spying….

 

‘Phew.’

 

“Here.”

 

Anyway, instead of dragging me somewhere and forcing me to rest, Agent Choi guided me to the dream cultivation room.

 

It was… surprisingly still there in that manhole location.

 

However, it seemed to be hidden from civilian perception through some kind of mystical practice.

 

“I thought you would have handed it over to the Management Bureau….”

 

“I was going to hand it over. After I investigated it a bit myself.”

 

Agent Choi said casually while opening the door.

 

“With things like this, the moment you hand them over, Upper Management usually restricts field agent access and tries to control it themselves.”

 

“….”

 

“Here.”

 

Inside the door, sacred ropes were hung.

 

It must be traces of Agent Choi inspecting and purifying the space.

 

We carefully crossed over the sacred ropes and entered inside.

 

And I finally faced it.

 

A normally functioning dream cultivation machine.

 

‘…It’s there.’

 

A faint silhouette was visible in that still-giant dreamlike solution tank. Something golden and round, egg-shaped.

 

An egg.

 

“…I’ll move it.”

 

“Right. It’ll be quite heavy. Heave-ho.”

 

I slowly removed the wires connected to the device one by one, extracted the dreamlike solution that had been stored in a collector, and lifted out the powered-off machine.

 

Thanks to coming in Lizard’s body, moving heavy things wasn’t a problem, but storage was ultimately an issue, so I had to change bodies.

 

To the collapsed form of 130666.

 

“…So it wasn’t recovered after all.”

 

I quietly nodded.

 

And returning to the well again took several more hours, but this time throughout that entire period, Agent Choi persistently questioned me about my exploration.

 

After confessing everything about the news that Bronze Agent and Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je were in the train shelter, and all the things I experienced at each station, I was exhausted.

 

Still, I felt relieved somewhere inside.

 

But in the end, I couldn’t tell him about my speculation regarding the dream cultivation machine.

 

A world without ghost stories.

 

I just said this.

 

Question :

 

Agent Choi’s idea

 

“Hm?”

 

Joyful Research Institute’s Goal (Deduction):

 

To create a world where no one suffers from supernatural disasters

 

▶ Agent Choi’s opinion based on the assumption that such a world actually exists

 

“…Hmm. Sounds nice to hear.”

 

Agent Choi asked plainly.

 

“Cults hook people with the exact same story.”

 

….

 

“But Grape. Why did you think that? That such a world really exists.”

 

…Because I came from there.

 

Simple Deduction:

 

Proceeding based on traces left in the Joyful Research Institute

 

“Okay.”

 

Agent Choi looked at me with a strange expression.

 

“Agent Grape, if someone on the street says they can read your fortune and it’s all thanks to your ancestors, don’t talk to them. Got it?”

 

….

 

“Why no answer. You got it, right?”

 

Affirmative

 

It seemed my words were interpreted differently since I was from a company certified by the Disaster Management Bureau as a cult….

 

‘Phew.’

 

With that, the conversation ended.

 

And when we arrived at the well and re-entered Segwang Special City, it was already the middle of the night.

 

The platform of Segwang Special City that opened before our eyes was underground where the flow of time couldn’t be gauged, but that actually allowed us to move without hesitation.

 

To the Joyful Research Institute facility on the opposite platform.

 

“I’ll clear it out.”

 

Back to the completely burned office corridor.

 

I pushed out the existing, half-broken dream cultivation device that was barely functioning together with Agent Choi and placed the machine I had brought in its spot.

 

“…You said you’d connect it, right?”

 

I nodded.

 

This was the same type of cultivation device as the half-broken machine. So there shouldn’t be any sudden problems.

 

“But if problems arise, pull it out immediately.”

 

“Of course.”

 

I connected the wires and pipes to the dream cultivation device.

 

And when I held up my employee ID….

 

Flash.

 

…The device activated and lights came on.

 

“….”

 

Nothing else happened.

 

I looked at the dream cultivation device operating quietly just like before moving it and fell into thought.

 

🥰🥸🤯🧐🤪🥱

 

Children’s syrup.

 

The buttons that create the original liquid for Baekillmong Corporation potions.

 

And the trace of a button attached below them.

 

Just one.

 

◎

 

Something like a component left after forcibly prying out a button.

 

‘…I thought this was where the wish ticket button was.’

 

And while exploring Segwang Special City, I think I found out the name of the potion made with this button.

 

For this invitation research

 

Use children’s paradise syrup

 

-> My opinion!

 

Children’s paradise syrup.

 

Paradise.

 

Then….

 

‘Is this… really the button for the dream cultivation device’s true purpose?’

 

The button related to the ‘egg’.

 

I peered at it as if observing.

 

The spot where the button had been pulled out.

 

‘Where could this button have been?’

 

That only this was damaged was clearly unnatural. Someone had pulled it out.

 

And if this was the device’s core function, rather than making it completely unusable, they would have made it so only authorized people could use it.

 

For instance, by hiding the button so only qualified people could find it.

 

‘…Hidden away.’

 

I recalled a recent case where I discovered something someone had hidden.

 

Lee Kang-heon’s note.

 

The sense of wrongness hidden near living spaces.

 

A screw made by recycling a Baekillmong potion cap.

 

The cap used in an unexpected way was cleverly hidden in the screw’s place.

 

As if it had always been that way.

 

‘…Could this cultivation device’s button also be hidden in such a way.’

 

In an unthinkable place, casually.

 

…It might be good to search through that underground dream cultivation room again. Or I should search through all facilities related to the Joyful Research Institute.

 

‘Is there anything in the darkness investigation records that might give a hint?’

 

Regarding the dream cultivation room.

 

Before asking Agent Choi that question, I picked up my smartphone to utilize the broadest source of information I knew.

 

‘Round component….’

 

And as I examined that content….

 

….

 

[Friend?]

 

Round component.

 

Hidden usage.

 

In an unthinkable place.

 

Casually.

 

“….”

 

I flipped my smartphone over.

 

There’s a circle on top of it.

 

The equipment that used to bring up the Wiki for me.

 

Grip Tok.

 

“Grape?”

 

I looked at the Dream Cultivator.

 

And I picked up my smartphone, separating the Grip Tok with trembling hands.

 

Thunk.

 

I separated the adhesive part and decorative part from the fallen Grip Tok. The modular part easily came apart just by pressing both sides.

 

And I brought that part of the Grip Tok to the pulled-out button of the Dream Cultivator.

 

Click.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————