Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 324
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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 324
I almost stumbled and fell.
I reflexively stiffened my body and looked up at the stairs of Morning Station again, but nothing had changed.
‘Ho Yu-won.’
An agent from Segwang Special City with the face of that Daydream Director was really standing in the old subway space.
Juror No. 1 that I had seen at the Scale Courthouse.
-The Author is an empty shell. The real one is inside there.
-He transferred all his wrong desires, wrong thoughts, extreme emotions, and abnormal judgments to other personalities that he separated and isolated within himself.
The juror who had interrogated me.
So…
-We have confirmed the validity of the Selection Candidate’s testimony.
We acknowledge the Author as being in a complete state that can be weighed on the scale of evil.
Someone with Ho Yu-won’s face who had ultimately guided me so I could return to being human.
I opened my mouth, thinking it might be an inappropriate form of address…
“…Agent?”
Juror No. 1 looked at me and smiled gently, then disappeared into the shadows inside the waiting room.
“…!”
I reflexively followed him up to the waiting room.
But the old waiting room was darkly empty.
[It’s like a poltergeist phenomenon!]
I swallowed my saliva.
[Two paths lie before Noru. ‘To chase or not to chase, that is the question!’]
‘…I have to go.’
[Oh!]
I stepped onto the stairs.
‘To terminate this city’s ghost story, I ultimately need to know what kind of ghost story this is.’
What ghost story exactly is controlling Segwang Special City outside this subway station right now.
Are there no rules or countermeasures?
‘If he’s a Disaster Management Bureau agent of this Special City, and if he’s Ho Yu-won, there’s a high chance he knows.’
It was no different from having a pathway to find out right before my eyes.
I finally stepped into the waiting room above the stairs of Morning Station.
“….”
Overall, it wasn’t much different from the waiting rooms of other stations where the ghost stories had ‘disappeared’, but it was more devastating.
This meant there were more traces of people scattered throughout this place.
‘It seems like more people fled here…’
The ruins were so dry that even filth had dried and stuck to surfaces, giving off the feeling of a desolate, abandoned city…
And.
[Look over there, Friend!]
The signboard for Exit 2 marked ‘Segwang District Court’.
Juror No. 1, who had Ho Yu-won’s appearance, was standing in front of it.
He was looking at the signboard, so only his back was visible.
‘Phew.’
“…The Scale Courthouse has disappeared, but you’re still here.”
Juror No. 1 turned to look at me.
“Are the other Jurors still here as well?”
He showed an ambiguous smile, then frowned as if pondering before pointing somewhere with his finger.
At Exit 2 with its shutter down.
‘…Outside?’
“You mean they’re outside this subway station?”
Juror No. 1 slowly nods his head.
I fell into an even more incomprehensible mood.
“…I know that an extinction-level disaster occurred here several years ago. What exactly… is happening out there right now?”
There was no answer.
‘Should I probe from a different angle?’
I spoke directly to the point.
“I met your other self.”
Juror No. 1’s smile instantly faded.
“He desperately wants to reclaim himself who is trapped here. That’s why he sent me to this Segwang Special City. …Do you perhaps feel the same way?”
I probed once more.
“Don’t you also want to leave this place, like your other self?”
….
Juror No. 1 opens his mouth.
A voice as hazy as if shrouded in fog can be heard…
-I am not an Agent.
Not an Agent?
I unconsciously looked over Juror No. 1 again. Even the Agent uniform that I hadn’t paid much attention to while looking at his face that was identical to Ho Yu-won’s…
And I realized.
‘Ah.’
What I had thought was an agent uniform until now had subtly different details from a real agent uniform.
What was different was….
‘There’s no affiliation.’
Where there should have been a mark indicating affiliation, there was a small non-woven badge that looked crooked as if made by a child.
…It was a fox picture.
That thing that didn’t fit the format naturally brought Dokkaebi Fire to mind….
A kind supernatural being.
“You’re not an agent… you were indeed a cooperative spirit of the Disaster Management Bureau.”
Juror No. 1 quietly looked at me and then spoke.
-I am merely a projection that remained here.
-Not the real thing.
And he began to crumble from his extremities like sand.
“…!”
It looked as if he no longer had the strength to endure.
Juror No. 1 looked at his hand where his index finger had already disappeared, then opened his mouth again with a bitter smile.
Each time he spoke, his body collapsed faster and faster.
-There’s still a chance, so just go back from here. You don’t need to fulfill someone’s demands.
And he looked at me with eyes containing slight interest and affection.
-Still, keep receiving counseling regularly.
-I stayed here briefly to tell you this.
“Wait a moment,”
-Don’t go to the opposite platform.
“…!”
With those words, Ho Yu-won’s form before my eyes completely disappeared.
What remained was white ash, and… just one old ‘agent uniform-style outer garment’ carelessly fallen on the floor.
“….”
I picked it up.
I also emptied a water bottle just in case and gathered as much of the white ash powder as I could into it.
‘…The opposite platform.’
As far as I know, there’s only one significant facility there.
Yukwae Research Institute.
[Hmm, final advice for life. It’s emotional, but we can’t definitively say it’s the truth…. I’d like to hear your decision, Noru?]
I said calmly.
“Let’s go.”
[As expected!]
‘If I really absolutely didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t have given the hint about the opposite platform.’
This was a kind of… well, it was right to see it as meaning to prepare my heart for something terribly arduous ahead.
‘Still, I’ll be ready to run if things go wrong.’
However, Brown seemed a bit excited.
[You know the flow of episodes, Friend! You really know how to prove with actions what show you’re from…]
…Though it’s a bit scary that he’s responding this enthusiastically.
‘Phew.’
I put Juror No. 1’s ‘Agent Uniform’ and ash powder inside my wrist, then moved my steps.
And at the opposite platform, I opened the door to the Joyful Research Institute disguised as a ‘Machine Room’ just like the other stations…
And I froze.
The Joyful Research Institute facility at Morning Station was barely burned.
“…!”
I could see the office corridor that had soot marks but was mostly intact.
Did the sprinkler do its job in time? Or maybe it was a floor quite far from where the fire occurred…
Still, one thing was important.
‘Clues!’
[Oh, this looks like a space where there might have been survivors until the very last moment!]
I urgently opened office doors and searched everywhere.
And I realized.
“…Brown.”
[My Friend is calling this Brown.]
“This isn’t an office.”
Beyond each door, it was almost completely empty.
There were no signs of fire damage, yet there were no desks, no PCs, no chairs.
[What could that mean?]
I moved my steps.
A round object was lying in the corner of the room….
A bundle of light green yarn.
The logo painting of the ghost story ‘Joyful Research Institute’s Toy Maker’ was attached to the band above it in gold foil, sparkling.
“This floor probably means… it was used as a storage room by the Joyful Research Institute.”
[Hooh.]
Since the boxes could be moved, there were no traces left.
When the fire broke out, they must have used items to move all the things that were here.
‘And as those things were released into the world… various ghost stories occurred….’
…thinking about it that way, everything fit together.
I looked around a few more places.
They were all empty.
[How disappointing. It would have been nice if we could enjoy it like a treasure hunt.]
But Brown’s disappointment was a bit premature.
Because I found traces in the room right in front of the emergency exit.
[Hmm. It’s an ordinary desk.]
It was also the only desk.
‘Was it for the storage room management employee.’
But what’s important comes next.
There was a USB placed on the bookshelf.
It was in the shape of a playful red rabbit with the Joyful Research Institute’s logo engraved on it.
‘That’s right.’
I immediately picked it up.
Because I could check it right here on the spot.
‘I brought a laptop separately.’
[Oh!]
It was exploration equipment based on the past few experiences.
I was thinking of giving it to the researchers, but it would be fine to use it here.
I quickly took out the laptop from my inventory tattoo, started it up, and plugged in the USB.
Naturally, there was no wifi, but the USB was successfully read and a removable disk appeared….
Password : ___________
Ah.
[Oh my, the path is blocked. How on earth are we supposed to figure out the password from this research institute that left no traces?]
“….”
[Friend?]
I read the text that appeared as a ‘password hint’ in the input field.
Hint: Our first beginning
Password: ___________
[Don’t tell me… they did something as stupid as setting an obvious number like the founding year as the password?]
Honestly, normally I would have reflexively thought something similar and choked on my own thoughts, but right now my eyes were focused elsewhere.
The character count display of the password input field.
Password: ___________
‘…11 spaces.’
It would be alphabets or numbers, at most special characters, so it would be difficult to convert to a date.
‘Joyful Research Institute’s first beginning…’
Could it be their first invention?
Even when I tried to recall the Darkness Investigation Records to think of that research institute’s first product, it was hard to remember. Surely it wasn’t the ghost story registration order.
‘Should I try to recall all of Joyful Research Institute’s products?’
Most of them have long and fancy names. It would be difficult to convert them to 11-character alphabets…
….
…!
[Oh, my friend has started typing something.]
There is one.
11 spaces.
I moved my hands over the keyboard as if possessed.
Something that was also used to summon me to this place.
Among their inventions, one that I still keep close by my side.
Password: ckrgksclsrn
Good Friend.
I pressed the enter key.
The lock was released, and the disk opened.
‘I solved it.’
The shock spread through my entire body for just a moment, then I hurriedly checked the file.
[Final Words.txt]
It was a memo pad file. When I opened it with a double-click, I could see what weren’t even proper sentences, just hastily scribbled essentials.
Fire outbreak
Evacuating to subway station
Valuables -> fire extinguisher
Fire extinguisher.
I reflexively raised my head and rushed out to the corridor, opening the fire extinguisher that was there.
When I felt around and searched inside, there was a safe hidden in a concealed space within.
“…!”
[You found treasure. Congratulations!]
I shoved the whole thing into the inventory on my wrist. …It felt like I was running low on storage capacity as I had to really cram it in.
‘Still, this is amazing.’
Valuables that were in the Yukwae Research Institute storage room.
I wiped away my sweat and began reading the rest of the memo pad’s contents with a slightly excited heart.
Confir;mation needed: government response plan (urgent)
That was…
…
…
…
…
…
Ah.
* * *
“Hae-geum unnie, I’m leaving work now~”
“Alright, alright.”
Hae-geum Agent yawned and chuckled as she watched her team member leaving the container.
It was a team member who had returned to work this time. …She had recruited her to fill Go Myeong-i’s vacant position.
No matter what, it wasn’t something she could easily get used to.
‘Phew.’
At least there was hope for Go-myeong’s return, which made me feel a bit better.
Hae-geum Agent was cleaning her sword, preparing to leave work…
“Agent.”
Thud.
The container door burst open and someone could be seen standing there blankly, looking at Hae-geum.
A person with a pale face.
Grape Agent, Kim Sol-eum was standing there.
“You…!”
Hae-geum momentarily showed a pleased expression as she got up, then her expression hardened as she recalled Kim Sol-eum’s various circumstances.
Including the reason for his sudden appearance.
“…Are you really okay?”
“Yes.”
His answer was clear, but his complexion wasn’t.
“Nothing else strange has happened to the agents.”
“Got it. Sit down here first.”
Grape Agent sat down on the chair as if collapsing under her guidance and insistence, then immediately opened his mouth.
“I came here because I have something to tell you about the Special City.”
“Really?”
While saying this heartily, Hae-geum was somewhat puzzled.
‘Why did he come to me?’
Didn’t he get along more closely with those two guys who were on the same Xuanwu Team 1?
Honestly, Hae-geum herself had developed some affection for this Kim Sol-eum guy since they’d been involved in many situations together, but since they were from different teams, he would surely feel some distance from her perspective as a junior.
Especially if he was a former spy.
But since he came all the way here, there must be a reason.
Hae-geum Agent waited.
After a long silence, Grape Agent opened his mouth.
“About the sealed Special City.”
“Yeah. Do you have some new information you’ve discovered?”
“…About the method used to seal that city.”
The sealing method?
“The Management Bureau did it by erasing the city’s very existence, didn’t they.”
“That seems to be the case from the circumstances.”
Recognition Erasure.
They sealed it by making people unable to perceive or remember the existence of that Special City anymore.
“Do you know what kind of ritual is used for that sealing?”
“…I know roughly.”
Hae-geum’s eyes grew gloomy, then brightened again and deepened.
“But it’s difficult to tell you. I’m not even the person in charge of that kind of ritual system to begin with.”
Agent Choi would know that better instead.
But if that guy has any sense, he wouldn’t go blabbing about every little detail.
“Usually those kinds of things involve great costs and dangerous rituals, so people don’t mention them lightly.”
“I know.”
Grape Agent’s face was still pale.
“Then… when they sealed the Special City, have you thought about how they might have prepared for that cost?”
Hae-geum Agent held back a sigh.
“They probably did their best not to harm innocent citizens. Well, it might have been through some not-so-honorable method like the Selection Scale.”
“….”
“…Grape Agent?”
“Agent.”
Kim Sol-eum raised his head.
Recalling the final contents of the USB he had read.
Occult Anomaly targeting the entire city
Government?
Massive Human Sacrifice Ritual??
At this rate we’ll die must get out no matter what
“The Management Bureau… it seems they offered all the Seogang Special City Citizens as Human Offerings to seal it…”
“…!!”
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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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