Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 33

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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 033

Let me sort this out.

I was chasing after a missing person when I encountered bizarre and horrifying phenomena and got sucked into somewhere.

The conclusion was simple.

I had gone missing just like the missing person.

Swallowed by a ghost story.

“M-mister police officer…?”

And probably these kids too.

Five or six kids in middle school uniforms were looking at me with expressions full of hope and sorrow.

Seeing their faces actually made the overwhelming feeling fade and brought me back to my senses.

‘First.’

I need to assess the situation…!

“I’m not a police officer.”

I showed them the Daydream Corporation logo attached to the front of my security uniform.

“I’m an employee of a private security company.”

“Ahh…”

It seemed they had mistaken the security staff uniform for a police uniform.

Resignation and fear began to fill the children’s faces. I quickly added,

“But I can still file reports and implement security measures. So stay calm and tell me what’s going on here, okay?”

“U-uh, yes…!”

The short-haired student who had spoken first gulped and began speaking in a trembling voice.

“Well. We, we… came on a school trip.”

First-year students from a certain middle school in Seoul had come to Gyeongju on a school trip.

The teachers had divided the kids into groups for easier management, and these kids who became Group 3 seemed to be particularly cheerful and curious.

“Th-there was a mountain behind our lodging. And, we saw there was something like a pavilion there… so we decided to go test our courage.”

They had decided to secretly go to that ‘pavilion’ by themselves in the middle of the night.

‘Sigh…’

Normally, they would have been caught by the teachers and scolded, or they would have looked around by themselves, giggled, and returned.

But…

“There was a painting in that pavilion.”

This is a ghost story world.

“It was a strangely shaped painting of what looked like a house…”

The student gulped.

“Someone in that house was staring at us.”

“…”

“So, we were all telling each other to go closer and…”

“You touched it.”

“…”

The student who was speaking nodded and began crying with hiccupping sounds.

“Su-suddenly from the painting, sounds like ‘well done, well done’ came out, and it was cackling and laughing, and then… something weird came out,”

And when they came to their senses, they were in this gloomy abandoned house.

“There are strange sounds outside the windows, and even when the sun rises we can’t see it because of the fog… we, we can’t get out…”

The mischievous-looking boy in the back was also sniffling. They all seemed to be on the verge of panic.

‘Hah…’

I deliberately asked calmly.

“By any chance, did that painting look like a scroll?”

“*sniff* A scroll?”

“Something rolled up like this.”

“Ah… uh, it wasn’t that… it was, traditional painting? Traditional painting… you know, uh, painted with a brush like this…”

“…Ink wash painting?”

“Yes!!”

The middle school student nodded vigorously.

Then… maybe that’s the common factor for getting dragged into this ghost story.

Scroll rods were usually antique items.

‘The thing inside the scroll that the person in charge had was probably also a traditional ink painting.’

That bizarre dark red liquid that was (ugh) rampaging in the bathroom also looked like ink.

To summarize…

A ghost story where bizarre ink wash paintings swallow humans who come into contact with them and send them to terrifying places.

‘…There seem to be about five or six of them.’

The scope had narrowed down quite a bit. The problem was that none of the darkness was easy to deal with.

‘This really is a proper ghost story…’

Superstitious terror that suffocates people.

That kind of scary story with a somewhat shamanic smell to it.

“…”

This is really bad. I’m already weak against ghosts…

‘It looks much more serious than the Convenience Store Ghost incident…’

I wanted to increase the number of people, grasping at straws. Usually it’s less scary when there are more people!

Isn’t there anyone else?

Come to think of it, where did the Security Chief, that guy, go? He should have gotten caught up in this with me, but I don’t see hide nor hair of him.

Even having that security guard would be reassuring, but this… I can’t rely on the kids either.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Still, I asked without showing my feelings.

“You must have been very scared. How long have you been here?”

“O-one day…? I don’t know…”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“There were snacks and stuff… we ate those.”

“I see.”

‘These kids seem to be at their limit too.’

Kids who had just graduated elementary school were trapped by themselves in a place like this?

They were so scared that their minds were in a heightened state, so they couldn’t feel the physical exhaustion, but they were likely to collapse from exhaustion at this rate.

“It’s, it’s too scary, and our phones don’t work, so…”

“Right. For now, I’ll look for a way out, so you guys don’t touch anything else like you’ve been doing…”

Wait.

“So it’s just you guys here? There are no other adults?”

“Adults! There are, there are some, but, well…!”

That’s when it happened.

…From far away, I could hear someone shouting.

Aaaahhh!

“…”

“He’s been shouting by himself over there… that man is scary.”

“…Right.”

I’m scared too…

‘But I can’t take you guys with me…’

At times like this, having a warm, comforting stuffed doll (that’s alive) might actually be advantageous.

‘Brown.’

I called out to the Good Friend in my pocket.

Come to think of it, this guy seems to have been pretty quiet.

-Noru.

A somewhat dejected voice came out.

-I’m sorry. You went to such an unsanitary and dirty place just to give me a gift….

It seemed he was feeling quite guilty. I chuckled softly.

‘It’s okay. I just need to get out.’

Actually, it’s not okay.

But getting angry here won’t let me quit halfway through…. I’d just build up resentment with a moving killer stuffed doll.

-You’re really bold! That’s an excellent talent as an entertainer too!

No. I’m a coward.

So please cooperate with me seriously.

‘Will you help me get out?’

-What do you need? Just say the word! This Brown will prepare it….

Hmm, at this level, even without pulling five thousand, the favorability should be fine.

I patted Brown, who promised full cooperation, through my pocket, then moved deeper into the abandoned house.

…Toward where I heard the screaming.

“I’ll go check it out, so wait here for a moment, okay?”

“Y-yes…!”

Of course, I had a 500 won coin loaded and ready to use Remote Hand at any time.

And my flashlight too.

‘Thank goodness it’s attached to the uniform.’

I relied on the thin beam of light to move further forward.

Aaaah…! No, no…!

…Save me, save meeeeee!

As I got closer, the voice became distinguishable, and I could hear words and sentences.

The screaming from beyond the walls of the dark abandoned house was vivid. Hah….

‘B-bear with it.’

I wanted to run away so badly that my spine went cold.

I forced myself to endure and turned the corner.

“This fucking world! This fucking company…!!”

I saw a familiar face.

“…Manual Review Person in Charge?”

The office worker in his 40s who was struggling in front of a wooden plank covered with talismans saw me and his eyes widened.

It was the missing Manager Lee Byeong-jin.

“S-Security Team…??”

Oh right.

I’m wearing a Security Team uniform.

“My, my goodness! Are you a Security Team employee?!”

The other person’s face lit up as he trembled and approached me.

“You came to find me!!”

No, I was captured too.

‘But why is he being so submissive?’

Ah, is it because he misunderstood that I’m from the Security Team?

This was almost the first time since falling here that I’d seen company employees show such a groveling attitude.

I glanced down at the borrowed security uniform.

‘…Office workers tend to look down on the Field Investigation Team….’

More precisely, the low-ranking general employees of the Field Investigation Team. Since they could die anywhere at any time, people treated them carelessly and didn’t want to deal with them properly.

I recalled the administrative staff member whose attitude had subtly changed when they learned I was about to become part of an Elite Team.

And now Manager Lee Byeong-jin in front of me, sweating coldly, rolling his eyes, and trying his best to smile.

Hmm.

Let me take advantage of this a little.

I put my hands behind my back and spoke like a Security Team employee.

“A missing person report was filed within the company, so I was conducting a search.”

“I-I see. Haha! Ha, hahaha…! As expected!! The company didn’t abandon me…!!”

No, they did abandon you.

“Um, so, uh, you’re going to smash this darkness, right? Right?? Since you’re Security Team….”

I spoke in a deliberately indifferent tone.

“The Security Team is not a department that smashes darkness.”

“…!”

“We’re a team that suppresses disturbances.”

“Th-that’s right. Yes, haha… I, uh, don’t have much experience with this kind of field investigation, you see.”

Okay. I’ve set the mood appropriately.

“Explain the situation.”

“Huh??”

“Please describe your experiences since going missing in chronological order.”

I need to compare it with what the kids told me to figure out what the hell this ghost story is!

“Ah, yes, yes!”

The other person hurriedly got up from his spot and started talking rapidly.

“I, I, I found what looked like a very precious scroll rod at a souvenir shop near Jirisan over there….”

It was almost identical to what I’d heard in the office.

After hearing a tip from the shop owner that it ‘grants wishes’ and purchasing the suspicious scroll rod, his financial luck improved noticeably.

“He said to keep it near water and not touch the scroll rod… and I really won the lottery!! Second place!!”

But….

“Strange whispers started to be heard….”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin’s eyes trembled, and he began spitting as he clenched his hands.

“Uh, um… since wishes were granted, it’s proper for a gentleman to repay them, uh, those kinds of whispers, every night, every night there were water sounds, and crying sounds, animal crying sounds approaching from far awayyyy!!”

Hiiiek.

“I couldn’t, I couldn’t bear it anymore!! So….”

“…So,”

I remembered.

The scroll rod I saw in that blood-soaked bathroom, torn to shreds in the middle.

“You tried to tear it up?”

“…Yes.”

So in broad daylight, not at his own house, but in a place with no witnesses where he could immediately escape into a crowd after tearing it. For example….

‘An unused bathroom at the company.’

He went to such a place and tore up the scroll rod.

“I tried, I tried to do that, but….”

“So you were dragged here.”

“…Huff! Yes…”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin was breathing heavily.

I rubbed the back of my neck.

‘…What should I say.’

He did everything that people typically do before dying in ghost stories…

The fact that he went all the way to the basement bathroom of saying he wanted to go somewhere without witnesses almost deserves applause.

‘Honestly, at this point, he’d have no excuse even if he died.’

I suppressed a sigh and looked up.

In front of where Manager Lee Byeong-jin had been rolling around, I could see a wall covered in talismans.

There were noticeably more torn talismans here than elsewhere.

‘Why was he making such a fuss in front of this place?’

I shined the flashlight on the wall.

And I realized the reason.

“…A door?”

Through the gaps where the talismans were torn, I could see a handle.

And judging by the lock on the handle…

‘A door leading outside?’

“It, it comes here!”

“What?”

“The ghost! It comes here every day!”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin crawled over with bloodshot eyes, clung to my pants leg, and started muttering.

“It, it comes to eat me. It comes to eat me… The, the talismans! They fall off every day!”

“That’s…”

“It, it will come again today…”

Knock knock.

“…”

“…”

Knock knock knock.

From the door,

came a sound.

Knock knock knock knock.

“It came again…”

I covered Manager Lee Byeong-jin’s mouth.

Excuse me.

“…”

It’s really cold outside, could you please open the door?

“…”

Mister, don’t you remember me? I’m seven-year-old Jeong Na-eun who lived next door at Somang Apartment…

The sound of a young child sniffling and sobbing could be heard from beyond the door.

Please help me. It’s so cold and hard… I don’t know where this is, please open the door for me…

A strange desperation that made me forget my fear and feel sympathy was conveyed…

As if entranced, a trembling voice beside me spoke.

“Na, Na-eun.”

Mister.

The talismans on the door began to burn.

Laughter mixed with the sobbing sound.

You answered again?

“…!”

“No, no!! Ahhh!! No! I didn’t answer!! Get lost! Get lost!!”

The manager who came to his senses went berserk.

But.

I don’t want to?

I don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want toI don’t want to

“Hiiiiek!”

Bang.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang

The door began to shake as if it would break.

The burned talismans fell.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang

Talismans fell in droves.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang

I barely managed to move my arm.

Bang.

I threw a coin into the air and summoned the hand.

Bang.

And somehow managed to grab the intact-looking ones among the countless talismans scattered on the floor…

Bang.

I placed those talismans over the door knob.

Thud.

The talismans fell off again with a rustling sound.

“Huff.”

However….

.

The door sounds stopped.

Of all the talismans I had layered on the door handle, only one remained.

“….”

“….”

Close call.

Goosebumps rose on the back of my neck.

Sob, heh heh heh sob….

Thump thump, the sound of footsteps gradually fades away from beyond the door….

“Gasp, haaah….”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin collapsed face-down on the floor.

I clenched and unclenched my sweat-soaked fists.

‘This is insane.’

I almost fainted when the door was rattling.

I hid my trembling hands behind my back.

A ghost story that traps its prey.

Shamanic atmosphere, talismans, devouring, temptation, calling sounds, terror….

‘….’

I got it.

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Darkness Investigation Records / Ghost Story

[Mountain Lord]

: A ghost story appearing in , Daydream Corporation’s identification code is Qterw-C-51.

The eerie darkness of an ink wash painting depicting a window ghost.

A total of 17 investigations have been recorded.

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This is a Jangsan Tiger-type ghost story.

—————
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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