Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 311

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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 311

 

My grip tok.

 

It was the final button component of the dream incubator.

 

The main button corresponding to the wish scroll.

 

“….”

 

I stared at it blankly.

 

The illuminated button was glowing softly as if tempting me.

 

I unconsciously brought my hand toward it….

 

“Grape Agent!!”

 

“…!!”

 

I quickly pulled my hand away.

 

Agent Choi grabbed my arm from the side, then used his other hand to turn off the power connected to the device and pulled out the cord.

 

“You said it yourself. To pull it out immediately if there was a problem.”

 

“…Thank you.”

 

“What was that just now.”

 

I looked at the button that had gone dark, then muttered as if my soul had left my body.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

But.

 

“It seems I was carrying the most important component of this machine.”

 

“….”

 

Agent Choi’s pupils dilated as he observed the button I had completed.

 

“Memorial grip tok.”

 

“….”

 

“But the color….”

 

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

 

“It’s not a memorial grip tok.”

 

“What?”

 

“The shape and function are definitely like a memorial grip tok, so I thought it was the same thing, but apparently it’s not.”

 

“Who said that.”

 

“The Elder did.”

 

“…!”

 

-This one is more precious. However, it seems to be mimicking an item from our workshop.

 

“…I heard that something more precious seemed to be mimicking a memorial grip tok.”

 

And the original function of this grip tok was as a wish scroll button for the Joyful Research Institute.

 

I stared at the grip tok that was still there as a button, then reflexively looked up.

 

The notepad that wasn’t visible now, but would appear and hover around my head when activated.

 

A trace of the pop-up store.

 

[Darkness Investigation Records Real Goods Box]

 

-New goods usage permission unlocked!

 

The grip tok was one of the first-place prizes I had won at the popup store.

 

A product from inside the real goods box.

 

‘But why is that… the button for the Joyful Research Institute’s dream incubator?’

 

My head was spinning.

 

So to organize my thoughts, I first explained what the Elder who had fixed my broken grip tok had said.

 

Including the fact that he had looked at this item with pure curiosity and no aversion.

 

“….”

 

Agent Choi’s eyes deepened as if lost in thought while listening to the story.

 

“So you want to argue that it’s not an evil object…. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

 

“Rather than an argument, I’m just telling you what I experienced.”

 

“…Right.”

 

Agent Choi sat down on the floor while holding the cord wire. Then he brushed off the ash-covered front area and patted it.

 

“We seem to have quite a long conversation ahead of us.”

 

….

 

“Grape. So where did that thing come from.”

 

“You probably won’t believe it.”

 

“Really? Well, I’ll listen anyway. I’m also good at listening. That’s another virtue of an ace agent.”

 

I looked at Agent Choi’s grinning face, then finally sat down across from him.

 

And impulsively opened my mouth.

 

“I came from another world.”

 

The other person stopped breathing.

 

 

…At some point, I had imagined honestly confessing my situation to someone.

 

But I couldn’t say it because I would definitely be treated like a crazy person or dealt with in a way befitting the ghost story worldview.

 

So it was strange.

 

That I was saying this with my own mouth.

 

…It’s relieving and strange.

 

But it wasn’t a thoughtless decision.

 

“….”

 

I looked at Agent Choi.

 

…Surely, given this person’s nature, there would be things he hadn’t told me, more information and situations he was hiding.

 

‘To get that, I also need to state my preconditions.’

 

If I only hide things, I would look even more suspicious when I’m already suspicious enough. We would just keep suspecting each other without showing our cards.

 

That won’t work anymore.

 

‘Because new clues have emerged.’

 

Right now, this situation needed any information and deduction. I wanted to talk with someone and hear their opinion.

 

So if I wanted information, I had to give some too.

 

…In a way that could earn Agent Choi’s trust as much as possible.

 

“…Do you remember the cases where children’s identities couldn’t be identified in the supernatural disaster ‘Sparkling Dragon Palace’?”

 

“…I remember.”

 

Children who gave names of countries that didn’t exist on Earth, had slightly different physical characteristics, or talked about addresses that didn’t exist in reality.

 

“Those children weren’t ‘citizens’ of this place.”

 

“….”

 

“I’m similar.”

 

A missing person caught up in a ghost story.

 

“I came from a different reality, not this place. …From Seoul Special City that’s almost similar but has some different aspects.”

 

I didn’t say ‘I came from a world without ghost stories.’

 

Because I remembered Agent Choi’s reaction like he was looking at a cult member. It would only undermine the credibility of our conversation.

 

‘But ghost stories related to parallel worlds were already quite registered in .’

 

So this much should be a sufficiently convincing explanation.

 

So I poured it all out.

 

When I opened my eyes, it was Baek Il-mong’s new employee orientation, and I had been given several pieces of equipment.

 

“….”

 

Agent Choi quietly looked down at the ash-covered floor and remained silent for a while.

 

Soon, fortunately, a calm voice was heard.

 

“So, you’re saying you seem to have been caught up in a supernatural disaster and dropped here. Suddenly the world changed, and you got equipment.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“So,”

 

The sound of breathing in could be heard.

 

“So. Going home was your wish.”

 

“….”

 

I forced a smile and answered.

 

“But I couldn’t go.”

 

“….”

 

“As Bronze Agent said, the wish ticket didn’t work.”

 

“Grape.”

 

“But I didn’t expect to find another hint from this machine. …A hint that lets me guess why I was called here.”

 

I looked at the machine that had been turned off again.

 

More precisely, at the ‘wish ticket’ button completed with my grip tok.

 

“….”

 

The grip tok adhesive area left alone on my smartphone couldn’t function as a ‘memorial grip tok’.

 

This means that to read the Darkness Investigation Records wiki, I need the component that is the dream incubator’s button.

 

‘…So someone removed the dream incubator button, processed it to make a memorial grip tok… and that was given as the first prize at the popup store.’

 

For someone to be summoned from the world that created Darkness Investigation Records into Darkness Investigation Records.

 

…Or for someone to be called out from the ‘world without ghost stories’ created in the dream incubator to the outside.

 

‘Which one is it.’

 

What hint are they trying to give?

 

What do they want from me?

 

Something seems to be taking shape, but it’s not clear yet. Just….

 

“I just think this Joyful Research Institute might have done something.”

 

“You think this research institute called you here?”

 

“Based on the circumstances, that’s what I’m guessing.”

 

Actually, I’m almost certain.

 

Because I woke up from this incubator.

 

“So I want to know more about this dream incubator. Not just rescuing people from Segwang Special City… actually, it seems to be related to me too.”

 

“….”

 

“That’s everything.”

 

Agent Choi sits quietly without saying anything.

 

Those eyes alternately look at the dream incubator and me, and the hand gripping the sickle handle moves its fingers as if pondering….

 

And then opens their mouth.

 

“Grape.”

 

I looked at them tensely.

 

“That underground research lab, actually we properly turned it upside down once after you disappeared.”

 

“….”

 

“…We found something.”

 

What?

 

“What kind….”

 

“But I’d like you to promise me one thing.”

 

Agent Choi’s eyes meet mine.

 

“You can’t pass this information to Baek Il-mong, that company. Got it?”

 

“…Agent.”

 

I struggled intensely with the conflict, then finally sighed and said.

 

“I’m under employment contract with Baek Il-mong. Permanently, forever.”

 

“…!”

 

Agent Choi must be remembering too.

 

The appearance of 130666 wearing the Security Team uniform.

 

It was an unavoidable choice to survive, but the result wasn’t pleasant.

 

“As 130666, I probably won’t be able to refuse if Baek Il-mong demands something for the company’s benefit. So… I might not be able to keep that promise.”

 

“….”

 

“But still, I want to hear it.”

 

Agent Choi looked at me with an expression like they’d been hit, then answered.

 

“Alright.”

 

And gave a bitter smile.

 

“…Honestly, did you think I’d consider the circumstances and quickly tell you?”

 

“To some extent, yes.”

 

“That’s amazing, really.”

 

Agent Choi took something out from their chest.

 

“…You’re right.”

 

It was a folded paper.

 

“I restored and copied a document that was labeled ‘experiment log’. It’s only a few pages because it was covered in gunk.”

 

“…!”

 

“This must be it. Anyway, it was in the place you found. Here.”

 

Agent Choi added ‘I grabbed it when I was taking the incubator earlier’ and handed it to me.

 

I took it.

 

[Oh, like the saying that behind every cloud there’s sunshine, Friend, that crisis of being caught by the Government Official who snuck into that dusty research lab that day wasn’t entirely bad.]

 

[Didn’t it come back like this?]

 

Brown’s applause echoes in my head like tinnitus.

 

I unfolded the document with trembling hands.

 

It was….

 

That contract!!

 

It was an accusation against Baek Il-mong.

 

No, a document where resentment seemed to have turned into words and been carved.

 

It wasn’t about signing the contract the Pharmaceutical Company Executive offered. Because of that ■■, our research was helplessly taken over.

 

They stole the ■■ of the dream incubator. Their promise to provide ■ liquid supply was dismissed with the petty wordplay of filling the dream incubator with solution.

 

So….

 

‘Baek Il-mong originally approached Joyful Research Institute saying they’d supply dream solution, then backstabbed them by only stealing the dream incubator that makes potions?’

 

It was truly typical of Baek Il-mong.

 

The next content seemed similarly filled with curses against Baek Il-mong, then eventually calm content appeared.

 

I left the Research Institute Main Building and set up a separate research lab. Here I will find that pharmaceutical company’s weaknesses.

 

What followed organized how they used Baek Il-mong’s potions as a basis to turn the dream incubator into a simple potion production device.

 

Most of it was damaged and difficult to read, so many words and sentences were deleted as blanks.

 

And as my eyes scanned what was readable….

 

This came in.

 

Confirmation of similar product to ■■■ Paradise Syrup for ■■■ use among potions produced by pharmaceutical companies.

 

Name is Wish■■.

 

“…!”

 

It’s censored but readable.

 

‘Wish Potion.’

 

Children’s Paradise Syrup was indeed the original.

 

Estimated to be a degraded version with cultivation function of ■■■ deleted and liquid concentration required for production arbitrarily adjusted downward.

 

Degradation cases:

 

Requires verbalized sentence expression.

 

Deterioration of worldline ■■ function.

 

Compromised wish fulfillment rather than Paradise’s ■■.

 

That was all the information I could read.

 

“….”

 

“How is it.”

 

I raised my head.

 

Agent Choi looked at the paper I was holding and spoke teasingly.

 

“It’s totally content exposing the dark side of a major corporation, right? If only the Disaster Management Bureau wasn’t just the Ministry of Environment, I would have…, …Grape?”

 

I yanked the code wire Agent Choi was holding as if snatching it.

 

And reconnected it.

 

“You…!”

 

“Wait a moment!”

 

I looked again at the buttons on the dream cultivation device that had lit up.

 

My head was pounding and my heartbeat echoed.

 

‘I got it.’

 

I still remember.

 

No, I can’t forget.

 

That day when I drank the Wish Potion, I read the text written on the bottle.

 

The usage instructions for the Wish Potion.

 

Lift the bottle with both hands.

 

After expressing your earnest wish in one sentence…

 

With your eyes closed, consume the liquid in the bottle all at once.

 

Any wish will be granted.

 

One sentence.

 

Making a wish in exactly one sentence was the usage method.

 

But you know what.

 

According to this document….

 

Degradation cases:

 

Requires verbalized sentence expression.

 

That’s a side effect created by Daydream Company’s manufacturing.

 

Then.

 

Then in the original Joyful Research Institute version of the ‘Wish Potion’… it means there was no condition of ‘making a wish in one sentence’ at all.

 

Even without verbalization, wishes deeply desired in one’s heart would be granted?

 

Then,

 

If that’s the case….

 

“Grape.”

 

I can go back.

 

If I want to go home, I can return.

 

I don’t need to worry about sentences. If I just need to earnestly wish, if I want to return home….

 

The Joyful Research Institute’s Wish Potion, ‘Children’s Paradise Syrup’ will send me back home.

 

To a world without ghost stories.

 

To the place where I originally belonged.

 

…In my original form!

 

I looked at my hands. I see human hands. Something I can’t see when I return to reality. Not that melted, amorphous bizarre form or the lizard body I received as an attachment, but I can return in my original body and go home.

 

Just imagining it fills me with relief that makes my brain tingle.

 

Nothing else mattered. Whatever the truth of the world was, why I was here didn’t matter….

 

“Calm down.”

 

“…!”

 

I blinked my eyes.

 

Agent Choi was holding my shoulder, having pinned me to the floor.

 

“Breathe in and out. Hurry!”

 

I did as told.

 

Taking deep breaths….

 

….

 

“Agent Choi.”

 

“….”

 

“I’ve calmed down.”

 

Agent Choi was tense, watching to see if I would act impulsively.

 

But I turned my gaze back to the dream cultivation device to check.

 

Specifically the liquid indicator section.

 

DE 00000000

 

When this tank was filled with Dream Essence solution, the numbers would go up.

 

When A-grade concentration Dream Essence solution was added, about 150,000 points.

 

‘And other emoticon buttons consumed about 10,000 to 20,000 points.’

 

If that’s C-grade, then the value for EX-grade potion corresponding to Wish Potion would be….

 

‘Wait a moment.’

 

I quickly got up and pressed the lit Wish Potion button.

 

“…!”

 

“It’s fine. Nothing will happen anyway since there’s no liquid….”

 

Right.

 

But instead something gets displayed.

 

‘The amount of liquid that’s lacking.’

 

It’s displayed in red at the bottom. That is….

 

DE 05000000

 

…Five million points?

 

My mind goes completely blank.

 

‘A Grade A Solution was 150,000 points.’

 

How on earth am I supposed to gather five million….

 

‘No!’

 

I can gather it. Why can’t I? I just need to clear A-grade about thirty or forty times, right? It’s not impossible. If I do it, it’ll work.

 

Right, Segwang Special City Subway Station, I mean, even just clearing Hanbit Library alone gave me close to A-grade results before.

 

So if I take my time calmly….

 

….

 

Or.

 

‘If not that.’

 

There is a way to gather it all at once.

 

I’m talking about what’s outside that subway station I just thought of.

 

A tremendous ghost story.

 

For example… something like an extinction-level supernatural disaster that swallowed an entire city whole.

 

And I know.

 

That if you don’t just escape from a ghost story but properly solve it, you can extract higher concentration Dream Essence Solution.

 

“….”

 

So.

 

If I terminate the Segwang Special City ghost story

 

I can return home.

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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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