Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 323

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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 323

 

The darkened annex corridor.

 

No, the Security Team that appeared after being ‘assigned’ in response to my summoning from within the ghost story hospital.

 

[Oh… take a look at that clothing, Friend!]

 

The thing standing in the corridor was covered from head to toe in pitch-black coat and restraint tools, along with workers’ gear, gloves, and a hood.

 

And that style is familiar to my eyes.

 

[It’s the exact same style that Friend was wearing just a few days ago.]

 

The Special Department Employee slowly approaches.

 

The result of summoning entities from ghost stories to the company and binding them through the bizarre method of employment contracts, making them work for the Security Team.

 

-(Static)Congratulations(static)congratulations beloved(static crackling)nursing home hospitalized patients being reborn today congratulations

 

I’m still following the patient from the hospital ghost story holding the congratulatory cake.

 

The steps heading toward the emergency exit don’t stop.

 

Whoosh.

 

And the emergency exit door swings wide open.

 

In that place where no one should be, patients are standing with their heads poking out, smiling.

 

The patients who had been on each floor.

 

Every time my trembling hand’s camcorder screen swept across my vision, they appeared and disappeared. Dark green, black, and yellow contaminations seemed to swirl around like whirlpools, causing dizziness.

 

But at that moment.

 

The Security Team Special Department Employee overtook us.

 

“…!”

 

The Security Team silently moved their steps, overtaking the patient holding the cake and entering through the emergency door. On the camcorder screen, I could see the patients reaching out their hands and clinging all over the Security Team’s body.

 

However, the Security Team with their face completely covered by the hood didn’t move a muscle.

 

Finally, the patient holding the cake crossed through the emergency door with a beaming smile…

 

The Security Team pulled out something from inside their black coat.

 

What emerged from their chest was a bizarre long form covered with bones and flesh, something massive that even looked like a spine.

 

‘…An axe?’

 

The murder weapon was raised above the Security Team’s arm.

 

“…!!”

 

At that moment.

 

Thud.

 

The emergency door closed.

 

And.

 

-(Static)Congratulatioooooons!(Static)Congratulatioooons!Beloved(Static)nursing home hospitalized patients reborrrrrn today congratulations

 

Heavy impact sounds.

 

Short, merciless piercing noises.

 

From inside the emergency door came cruel bursting sounds that made one instinctively hunch their shoulders.

 

Through the gap under the emergency door, shadows like black swamps splattered like blood, and green light flashed. My and Baek Sa-heon’s steps were blocked by the emergency door, but we kept moving our feet as if trying to continue forward, pressing our faces against that iron door.

 

Blood and filth got on our faces. I could faintly hear Baek Sa-heon holding back curses and groans.

 

Because the sounds of screaming and commotion were ringing too loudly in our ears.

 

-(Static)Congratulatioooooons!(Hahaha)Congratulatioooons!Hahahaha!Beloveeeeeed!!(Static)nursing hahahaha!Aaaaah!patients reborrrrrn today congratulatioooons!!

 

Insane laughter and screams as if patients were crying out from hell swirled inside the door and roughly escaped through the gaps. I gritted my teeth and endured the rough vibrations of the emergency door rumbling beneath my cheek. I got goosebumps.

 

And.

 

-(Static)Congrat…

 

The moment the merciless noise and light stopped.

 

The face and body that had been pushing against the emergency door also stopped.

 

“…!”

 

I grabbed Baek Sa-heon’s neck and pulled back.

 

Creak.

 

The emergency door opens in the silence.

 

Inside stood a Security Team Employee alone, quietly standing still, soaked in contamination as if his entire body had been doused in blood.

 

Receiving the emergency exit light in the darkness.

 

“…”

 

He held up a camcorder.

 

Blood was pooled abundantly on the stair landing.

 

Below that, eerie bloodstains stretched long as if countless things had become one mass and rolled down…

 

I inhaled as I saw traces of a celebration cake embedded in the corner of the stairs.

 

Inside the crushed cake, countless syringes filled with drugs had burst and shattered, dyeing the bread and cream in bizarre colors…

 

‘…Ha.’

 

I got goosebumps, but relief swept over me at the same time.

 

It worked.

 

‘It’s done.’

 

I swallowed as I looked at the Security Team that had come in response to my summoning.

 

The one who had crushed all the patients on the 5th floor and sent them ‘somewhere’ put the murder weapon he was holding back inside his coat.

 

Blood and flesh dripped down below his walker.

 

I realized that the axe form wasn’t made of blood and flesh from the beginning, but rather had them thickly smeared over some kind of foundation.

 

It was extremely eerie, but the important thing was….

 

“Thank you.”

 

The response.

 

I immediately bowed my head.

 

And I pressed down Baek Sa-heon’s head. Instead of grumbling, I could sense survival instinct from how quickly he bowed his head together with me.

 

…At the same time, I realized that both of us had cold sweat forming on the backs of our necks.

 

‘This can’t go wrong.’

 

The Security Team Special Department wasn’t human to begin with.

 

It was a ghost story.

 

If it had been 130666, I might have been able to handle it, but I couldn’t let his mind and body collapse again when he had barely regained human form.

 

And if the Company found out, things would become incredibly complicated.

 

So I urgently said the prescribed words.

 

“We’ll be going now.”

 

Silence flowed.

 

“We discovered the situation and called the Security Team, but it wasn’t a rescue request. …Just in case there might be charges, we’ll wait on our own for now.”

 

Stillness.

 

‘Damn.’

 

If communication wasn’t working, I’d have to run away immediately.

 

I slightly raised my head, trying to gauge the Security Team’s mood.

 

Then I suddenly realized something. That Security Team member seemed somehow familiar.

 

‘What is it?’

 

At that moment.

 

The hand that had gone inside the blood-soaked coat smoothly came out.

 

“…!!”

 

I thought they were going to pull out a weapon.

 

However, on the hand that appeared was a small pink Post-it note.

 

-No charges will be applied.

 

The moment I read the phrase written in neat handwriting.

 

“…!”

 

A scene flashed through my mind like lightning.

 

-Have a good night.

 

The Security Team Employee I had met at the Front Desk when I first joined the company.

 

That Contaminated Employee whose hoof-like form had appeared and disappeared.

 

‘…They were from the Special Department?’

 

Back then, they definitely weren’t wearing that outfit… No, wait, they assign Special Department members to front desk work?

 

‘Hold on. I did that too.’

 

I nodded inwardly as I recalled the memory of sitting in the transport cage and dealing with people.

 

Anyway, the fact that it had worked at the front desk meant it could communicate and wasn’t particularly aggressive in daily situations.

 

‘Should I? Or shouldn’t I? …Let me try just a little.’

 

I chose an appropriate line and started an informational conversation.

 

“Thank you for letting me know. Um, but are the other places okay? All the other new researchers were on the 10th floor, so I’m worried.”

 

There was no response.

 

I changed direction slightly.

 

“The supervisors were there too. Including the team manager who came from the branch office…”

 

Swoosh.

 

Suddenly the Security Team pulled out a Post-it note from its coat again.

 

Then it gripped it completely covered by its huge gloved hand and held it out to me.

 

“….”

 

‘Could this be some kind of action that gets me caught up in a rule-based ghost story…?’

 

But refusing might similarly trigger some unknown button. In the end, I suppressed my internal scream and received it with both hands.

 

A crumpled Post-it note covered in blood flowing from the gloves fell into my hands.

 

‘Aaahhh.’

 

I carefully unfolded it and checked the contents.

 

You must not go to the branch office.

 

“…!”

 

Be careful.

 

I quickly looked away from the Post-it note and raised my head.

 

But beyond the emergency door…

 

There was no one there.

 

I suppressed my trembling steps and approached the door closer to see the eerie scene of the emergency staircase.

 

…I could hear the presence moving away from below the stairs.

 

A shape like hooves, swaying as black shadows.

 

‘Lower floor…’

 

Is it going back… to the annex basement?

 

“Hey there.”

 

“…!”

 

“Are you going to keep that?”

 

I quickly came to my senses and replied to Baek Sa-heon while putting the Post-it note in my pocket.

 

“I’m going to keep it for now.”

 

Anyway, since the patient with the congratulatory cake had gone out through the emergency door, there wasn’t much time left until this ghost story disappeared.

 

“I’ll go back to look for my item.”

 

“…I suppose so.”

 

With Baek Sa-heon following me, I crossed the eerily quiet 5th floor corridor of the abandoned hospital toward my destination.

 

Toward the pristine pharmaceutical company door visible through the camcorder.

 

[1184]

 

“Companies or institutions that prioritize security, especially in research buildings, sometimes use numbered door plates to make it difficult for outsiders to immediately identify what’s inside.”

 

The researcher’s card key probably wouldn’t work.

 

After confirming the CCTV was broken, I damaged the door as if ‘desperately searching for somewhere to hide’ and entered.

 

And the moment I stepped inside.

 

Baek Sa-heon, who was also looking through the camcorder, widened his eyes.

 

“This place is….”

 

Inside was a storage room.

 

But not an ordinary storage room—it was a space where old, worn-out items and facility equipment were haphazardly stored, covered in dust.

 

[Disused Items Storage Room]

 

Specifically, a space where the company stores items that have reached the end of their lifespan.

 

And here’s the thing.

 

“Do you see it?”

 

I pointed ahead with my hand.

 

“There are some here too. ‘Potion-making machines.'”

 

“…!”

 

This was Baekillmong Corporation.

 

In other words, this room was where they stored all kinds of equipment used by Daydream researchers in the annex building that had reached the end of their service life.

 

Things like broken dream fragment collectors, cracked darkness isolation equipment, label makers with dried-up ink.

 

And….

 

Retired potion-making devices and such.

 

I recalled the contents of Gwak Je-gang’s letter responding to my question.

 

-Discarded items? If they haven’t been completely thrown away, they can probably be fixed to work a few more times. Usually they’re passed along because their service life has ended.

 

Something that fully retained the identity and function of the ‘Daydream equipment’ I wanted, but would be slow for the company to notice if it went missing and less likely to be concerned about.

 

[A clever choice, Noru!]

 

Today, I had infiltrated this place targeting exactly that.

 

“…It’s just trash.”

 

“But it’s trash I need.”

 

“No….”

 

Baek Sa-heon looked like he had a lot to say, but eventually asked with an expression of reluctant acceptance.

 

“How are you going to take it with you.”

 

“I have a way to take it. …Could you turn your head away for a moment?”

 

Shoving it into my wrist would look like a ‘Identity: Kim Sol-eum confirmed’ performance, wouldn’t it.

 

“….”

 

Surprisingly, instead of trying to argue, Baek Sa-heon silently turned his head away, and I successfully stored the old potion-making device into my tattoo.

 

Then after looking around the area, I gathered a few noticeable things and… did some processing.

 

‘That’s done.’

 

Some time later.

 

I hid in the ‘safe space’ on the 6th floor until the moment the ghost story was resolved, then was naturally rescued together with Baek Sa-heon.

 

And the moment the annex building’s lockdown was lifted, I quickly slipped away from the scene.

 

With that, the necessary preparations were complete.

 

* * *

 

Two days later.

 

Baek Sa-heon was commuting to the company while recalling the events he had experienced.

 

‘What the hell happened in the annex building.’

 

This damn company only gave him extra pay and one day off, not a single additional point.

 

Thanks to that, Baek Sa-heon had been gathering information throughout his entire day off.

 

First of all….

 

‘It was cleaned up suspiciously well.’

 

-It seems like several new researchers quit because of this incident.

 

But that was the end of it.

 

Strangely, the disappearance of the potion-making device from the 10th floor didn’t escalate and was buried, and the casualties weren’t very noticeable either.

 

‘The interrogation wasn’t very persistent either.’

 

Almost everyone who got caught up in this darkness incident was sent home as soon as isolation ended after a few interviews.

 

Including himself.

 

Most of all, it was strange that such a ghost story suddenly erupted in the upper floors of the annex building.

 

‘Usually these isolation failures happen in the underground, don’t they.’

 

The disappearance of the potion-making device and the ghost story outbreak clearly showed intent.

 

Someone was trying to cause chaos.

 

But….

 

Baek Sa-heon’s mind, sharp from survival instincts, flashed with realization.

 

‘This seems like an inside job rather than external?’

 

A trap.

 

What if someone anticipated that someone would steal that potion-making device, and deliberately orchestrated this?

 

Moreover, the last rumor bothered him the most.

 

-Oh, the potion maker? They found that again right away, didn’t they? Something about a computer error.

 

-A director came and took care of everything. Director Cheong, I think it was.

 

Director.

 

‘A trap set by a director?’

 

…Could they have been targeting the agent?

 

Baek Sa-heon was momentarily suspicious, but soon snorted.

 

‘What do I care?’

 

Besides, he actually hadn’t stolen the 10th floor potion maker.

 

Just as the agent had planned, the few discarded items that broke and disappeared were simply recorded as ‘facility damage’ and didn’t receive much attention before being buried.

 

But he had no idea what the agent planned to do with the stolen junk.

 

Baek Sa-heon recalled his last conversation with the agent.

 

-Thank you for accompanying me today, citizen.

 

-At least you know that much.

 

-And pressing the caller device on time was also a great help.

 

-If it helped, then repay me.

 

-That was an action for both our sakes, so should I really be the one to repay you?

 

Damn bastard.

 

-You just grabbed a bunch of trash, so there’s nothing to gain anyway!

 

-Hmm… Still, shall we split what we gained in half?

 

How infuriating!

 

‘Why would I want useless stuff!’

 

This time he’d only gotten caught up in danger for no reason. He felt bitter since there was no benefit…

 

“Excuse me.”

 

“…!”

 

He turned his head.

 

Just as he was about to enter the company lobby.

 

The person who had lightly tapped Baek Sa-heon’s back flinched slightly when their eyes met.

 

‘…Camcorder.’

 

This was the person from whom he had snatched the camcorder and thrown into the door.

 

And…

 

“Oh, that’s right. That person.”

 

The rescued person the agent had saved.

 

He looked fine, as if he had taken a regeneration potion or something.

 

Though his face looked somewhat confused and frightened, he seemed to have finished rationalizing things internally as he greeted him.

 

“Um, th-thank you. I survived thanks to you.”

 

And that other department employee said ‘please let me know if you need anything’ while bowing once before disappearing.

 

“….”

 

A benefit… is it?

 

Baek Sa-heon quietly looked at his clenched fist, then looked away again.

 

Being with that agent made him uncomfortable because strange and bizarre things would happen.

 

But… it didn’t feel entirely bad either.

 

‘…Anyway, it’s true that I went back for no reason!’

 

Baek Sa-heon shook off the unfamiliar feeling and tried to think as usual.

 

Right, since I suffered because of him, I should say something. I should also urge him about the compensation, and… yeah.

 

‘It might not be bad to drag him into Director Ho’s project either.’

 

There are agents there too, aren’t there!

 

If he wants to save people, wouldn’t that strange special city be roughly suitable too? Since there are plenty of benefits from the project, it would be easy to repay what I owe him.

 

‘Was it Park Kyung-hwan Researcher?’

 

If I run into him at the company today, I’ll talk to him right away. It was the moment Baek Sa-heon made that decision.

 

‘Huh?’

 

There was a familiar back of a head in front of the company lobby.

 

It was that Park Kyung-hwan Researcher.

 

“…!”

 

Baek Sa-heon unconsciously called out to the researcher in an energetic voice.

 

“Hey there!”

 

“….”

 

“You there, researcher!”

 

“Yes, yes?”

 

What’s with acting clueless and pretending not to know? Baek Sa-heon chuckled and generously thought he’d play along.

 

But the one who turned around was…

 

“Did you call me?”

 

“….”

 

That expression.

 

With that one sly and vacant look, Baek Sa-heon realized.

 

It wasn’t the ‘agent’.

 

“….”

 

“Why did you call me… huh, huhhhhh?”

 

Baek Sa-heon turned around and walked away with large strides. Then he went into the bathroom and opened a paper boat.

 

Hey there!

 

Is your infiltration completely over?

 

But no reply came for quite a while.

 

At the same time.

 

The ‘agent’ he was trying to contact was alone, infiltrated into Segwang Special City.

 

“Phew.”

 

Kim Sol-eum opened his eyes on the platform of Morning Station in Segwang Special City.

 

His heart was burning with anxiety and anticipation, but he was trying his best to suppress it and judge and act calmly.

 

This time, stealing the discarded potion maker had been careful and clean.

 

‘I’ll hand this maker over to the researchers as planned.’

 

And let’s prepare for installation as soon as repairs are finished.

 

Kim Sol-eum set his action priorities like that and got up.

 

‘Come to think of it, the Scale Courthouse disappeared from Morning Station.’

 

Then he could also take a look at the Joyful Research Institute that would be on the platform across from this station. He should check if that place would be easier to install in.

 

‘I wonder if another waiting room appeared.’

 

He reflexively turned his head.

 

Above the Morning Station platform, where the Scale Courthouse used to be, he could see an empty waiting room space.

 

‘As expected…’

 

But someone was standing inside the waiting room.

 

“…!”

 

Kim Sol-eum reflexively pulled back his body to secure safety, then tried to identify who it was.

 

In the darkness, the figure standing in the old waiting room slowly walked out to where the platform’s light reached, revealing their appearance…

 

A figure wearing agent attire with Ho Yu-won’s face stood there silently, watching Kim Sol-eum.

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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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