Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 340

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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 340

 

It was about 20 minutes later when we successfully boarded the train heading to Segwang Station.

 

[Good heavens, at this rate I’ll be trampled to death by all these feet! What a disgraceful sight!]

 

We had to let several trains pass by.

 

‘I almost got crushed to death trying to board.’

 

This was the point where people who had suffered serious injuries while fleeing began desperately refusing to get off the trains.

 

‘Everyone noticed that their bodies were fine only when on the trains.’

 

It was complete chaos with people trying to board and people pushing back.

 

…I actually saw people getting crushed to death.

 

‘…Phew.’

 

Watching the horrific scene unfold without any chance to intervene, I gritted my teeth and took care of the two people.

 

“Come this way.”

 

Without overexerting ourselves, I moved to the very end of the platform where there were relatively fewer people and calmly attempted to board the train.

 

The exit doors are opening.

 

‘As expected.’

 

The panicked people were all rushing to board through the same route like a lemming effect, but the end car we chose to avoid that was relatively rational.

 

…For now, at least.

 

I succeeded in pushing the two people in and gathering right in front of the door.

 

The platform screen doors are closing…

 

We made it.

 

‘Phew.’

 

The relief and tension made my stomach so uncomfortable it was almost painful.

 

But the Galaxy journalist looked at me and raised one eyebrow.

 

“You’re quite capable, aren’t you? Very composed.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“There’s chaos outside, but people here are in relatively good condition. From what I heard on the way, it sounded like some zombie virus outbreak level situation.”

 

I answered calmly.

 

“Underground is relatively safe.”

 

“Is that so? That’s strange. With biochemical terrorism, toxic substances usually settle down, so underground should normally be more dangerous, shouldn’t it?”

 

Sharp observation.

 

“And… how does that beanpole over there know such information?”

 

“…”

 

I checked the surroundings.

 

With all this noise, there didn’t seem to be anyone with the leisure to eavesdrop on our conversation. Everyone was absorbed in their own pain and desperation, trying to contact someone, trembling with acquaintances, or looking outside.

 

I opened my mouth.

 

“…You can think of me as personnel familiar with these kinds of disaster situations.”

 

“Does this have something to do with being called Agent?”

 

“…”

 

So you did hear that.

 

“That’s correct.”

 

I briefly explained the Disaster Management Bureau to the Galaxy journalist. The journalist’s eyes sparkled as they listened to the explanation.

 

‘Even if it sounds absurd, it would be an explanation that fits the situation.’

 

And when I finished saying that ‘there are personnel to rescue and evacuate, and it’s currently in progress,’ they laughed heartily and said.

 

“I see. ‘Agent’, then you’ll need to write reports too, won’t you?”

 

“That’s possible.”

 

“Then you’ll need someone to record what you did, right?”

 

And they pointed to themselves with a grin.

 

“I’d be perfect for that.”

 

“…”

 

“There are few people as good as me at grasping conspiracies and incidents. I’ll write it very objectively, with good analysis and interpretation included.”

 

No matter how I look at it, you seem filled only with the desire to report this…

 

‘Well, whatever…’

 

I suppressed a sigh and nodded.

 

“I’d be grateful if you did that.”

 

“Okay. Good choice.”

 

The Galaxy journalist winked.

 

But this person wouldn’t be able to write that article as a journalist anyway.

 

What’s here isn’t a real journalist, but just Deputy Manager’s contaminated form fixed to match Segwang Special City’s day of disaster.

 

…Actually, that’s why I tried using the resort contract to restore them to their original form through ’employer orders.’

 

It doesn’t work.

 

I had only written one line of resort contract on the existing contract, and exercising any power beyond that was impossible.

 

If it had been possible, they would have changed into resort work clothes and their wounds would have healed, but it doesn’t work at all.

 

My ability as resort General Manager, that is.

 

‘As expected, other ghost stories’ influence is blocked in Segwang Special City.’

 

I had thought it was because of the blockade, but perhaps it’s the nature of the disaster itself that started from City Hall…

 

…

 

Wait a minute.

 

The train is shaking.

 

“Huh?”

 

The train car is tilting.

 

“Huh? Huhhh?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Oh my!”

 

People grab the handholds, but those who couldn’t grab them or let go slide and pour toward one side.

 

The opposite side from where we’re standing.

 

To the right.

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

My blood runs cold.

 

I immediately reached out to grab the other two people while holding the pole with my arm. The hands of the Galaxy journalist who had already grabbed another pole and Student Ryu Jae-gwan who grabbed the same pole crossed as they grabbed my arm and shoulder.

 

We hung precariously from the left door, almost floating in air.

 

“What? What’s happening?”

 

“Huhuuk!”

 

The train was still running but felt eerily precarious.

 

“Agent, there’s a strange… sound.”

 

It wasn’t the friction sound from going through a curved section. That was…

 

The sound of something breaking.

 

‘Ah.’

 

A train running with more passengers than its capacity.

 

Eventually, unable to bear the weight, the train that derailed from the railway tracks…

 

was overturning.

 

Kiiiiiiing-!

 

“Kyaaaah!”

 

“Someone save us!”

 

Screams came from the front cars, and the train continued to tilt and run without reducing speed…

 

It began to heavily topple over completely.

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

The position of the pole we grabbed rose to the ceiling. People tumbling down piled up below like spilling cargo, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones.

 

The person crushed at the very bottom would already be pulverized to death.

 

Buried.

 

The train was still running and its body bounced.

 

‘No!’

 

If I let go now, I’ll get swept away.

 

‘Stay calm, stay calm… Damn it!’

 

I gritted my teeth and prepared to land as carefully as possible.

 

‘Before it completely flips over, I need to slide down to the floor.’

 

I just need to slide down the pole.

 

The hands of the two people beside me were damp with tension and cold sweat. I sent them down first, then took a deep breath and pulled my arm gripping the pole to slide down last.

 

And then I saw it.

 

Blue light was flickering outside the window.

 

“…!”

 

Dokkaebi.

 

I almost became dazed for a moment, but snapped back to my senses and turned my body to look at the device attached next to the exit door.

 

‘Emergency release…!’

 

I operated that manual control device to make the door openable.

 

‘Hurry!’

 

Then I gritted my teeth again and climbed up the pole to open the exit door.

 

“Agent, step on me…!”

 

“…!”

 

Using High School Student Ryu Jae-gwan’s shoulder as a foothold as he braced his back against me, I launched myself more easily to grab the exit door.

 

And opened it slightly.

 

Whoosh.

 

Eerie light entered through the door gap.

 

Blue traces of Dokkaebi Fire were hovering near the door.

 

Anyone would see this as a rescue operation, but…

 

‘…Traces?’

 

The Dokkaebi Fire showed no expression or personality.

 

A mass of energy that had lost its purpose.

 

‘Then…!’

 

I let go of the pole with my hands.

 

“…!”

 

Barely hanging from the exit door on the ceiling with one hand’s grip strength, I reached out with my other hand through the door gap… and caught the traces of Dokkaebi Fire.

 

Then I threw it forcefully down below the train.

 

Whoosh.

 

The miraculous flames of the cooperative spirit that recognized my identity as an Agent traveled down my hand and connected beneath the subway wheels.

 

The moment blue light flashed.

 

With a grinding sound, the train flipped over again.

 

“…!!”

 

“Uhhhhhhh…!”

 

The train rotated 90 degrees in the reverse direction, not too abruptly. The exit door I was holding closed automatically. I could hear the wheels spinning freely…

 

Click.

 

The sound of wheels engaging with the tracks.

 

“….”

 

The train is departing…

 

The scenery beyond the train car windows began moving smoothly…

 

“…Ha.”

 

I gripped the door and let out a long sigh.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

“Whew… roughly?”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

My Companion was safe. In my relief, I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my head.

 

“Man… that guy was flying around like crazy.”

 

I gave Journalist Eun Ha-je a weak smile in response to his admiration.

 

But inside the car was already hell.

 

“Huuuuuk…”

 

“Min-jeong? Min-jeong!”

 

I could hear the corpses of people crushed to death and the screams of people with broken bones.

 

Right next to me, close enough to bump into.

 

The car packed with people was now also filled with corpses.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

I reflexively moved the High School Student away from there, sending him closer to the door.

 

Journalist Eun Ha-je was actually observing the carnage quite carefully.

 

My hair stood on end, but I eventually got up on shaking legs and looked at the pile of people.

 

It was too horrific… maybe because I’d seen too many deaths today, I felt a strangely desolate and dry fatigue.

 

I staggered and began pulling living people out of the pile. Once the train interior was somewhat organized, I stepped back…

 

“Wow, thank you. Unknown Agent. We survived thanks to you being here.”

 

…!!

 

I whipped my head around.

 

Over there beyond the crowd in the front car, I could see several new Shadowy Figures that had somehow appeared inside the train.

 

Shadowy Figures collecting the crushed and injured people.

 

Figures wearing blue jackets very similar to mine.

 

Restraints, glass hand cannons,

 

…traces of blue Dokkaebi Fire.

 

And.

 

“We would’ve been in real trouble if we hadn’t finished cleanup before the next train came.”

 

A Person in Lion Mask who had appeared beside me was chattering.

 

Under that mask, I could see text on a blue jacket.

 

Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.

 

They were Disaster Management Bureau Agents.

 

‘…!!’

 

Segwang Special City’s day of disaster.

 

The dispatched Agents had appeared before my eyes.

 

Among them, the Lion Mask Agent was looking at me, the one who had helped connect the train to the tracks.

 

And with a somewhat anxious yet cheerful voice, they asked.

 

“You even cleaned up this entire train car in the meantime. I saw you handle the Dokkaebi Fire properly earlier – which Branch Office are you from, Agent?”

 

….

 

“I’m not from the Segwang City Branch Office.”

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

The yellow eyes inside the comical and fierce lion mask seemed to glow as they looked at my jacket.

 

“…But that outfit looks like a knockoff, not regulation.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

I answered somewhat sheepishly on purpose.

 

“I was off duty and didn’t have my uniform, so I hastily borrowed this from a cooperative spirit in the area.”

 

“Wow. Yeah. Making do with what you have – that’s a real field Agent statement…”

 

“Haha.”

 

The other person laughed heartily at my bitter smile.

 

I quickly assessed the situation…

 

‘…Male? Female?’

 

I couldn’t even tell that.

 

Like Daydream Company’s masks, that being obscured perception, making it difficult to grasp their appearance and characteristics.

 

Even their voice was indistinguishable as high or low. All personality seemed suppressed by the comical feeling that lion mask gave off.

 

‘…Or perhaps the power of a dokkaebi.’

 

Sure enough, a somewhat troubled voice brings up the dokkaebi story.

 

“By any chance, do you also have a dokkaebi fire that travels with you? My colleague’s dokkaebi fire suddenly completely evaporated this morning. Leaving only an afterimage behind.”

 

Of course that would be the case.

 

The sealing ritual would have proceeded after extracting all the real dokkaebi fires outside.

 

They wouldn’t exist within May 4th of Segwang Special City trapped in the day of disaster.

 

But I answered without showing my thoughts.

 

“…I’m taking a break from work, so I don’t have dokkaebi fire or equipment. But if what you’re saying is true, this isn’t an ordinary situation.”

 

“Hmm… That’s true. The little guy who usually stuck to me like glutinous rice cake.”

 

Lion Mask scratched his mask as he spoke.

 

“What’s strange is that quite a few traces remain. So the dokkaebi fire’s cute little consciousness disappeared, but something like a backup battery is still left behind.”

 

“…”

 

That is.

 

‘Could it be that the power of the dokkaebi fire used on Segwang Special City’s day of disaster is still trapped and remaining inside here.’

 

Just like what happened at Segwang High School.

 

“Did you hear anything else when borrowing that uniform from the cooperative spirit?”

 

“Nothing in particular.”

 

Instead, I conveyed what the ‘Counseling Teacher’ had said about ‘going to Segwang Station to end this disaster.’

 

“I see. Hmm…”

 

The Lion Mask Agent turned his head.

 

I swallowed as I watched agents from the front car roughly calm people down and separate the corpses.

 

And my companions…

 

“So you’re both from the same Disaster Management Bureau, but you don’t know each other? It seems the departments are quite divided and separate branch offices exist in each province?”

 

“Ahaha. Yes. That’s right.”

 

The Lion Mask Agent smoothly deflected the journalist’s words, then suddenly patted high school student Ryu Jae-gwan’s head and said with a smile.

 

“I suppose you’re the rescue requesters? Are you Blue Dragon Team?”

 

I smiled bitterly.

 

And without knowing why, I answered.

 

“Actually, we were Xuanwu Team. But since we don’t have equipment… we’re just trying to rescue people as best we can.”

 

“Wow! That’s admirable. Fellow agent.”

 

Then he rummaged through his pocket and pulled something out.

 

A glass-made, sparkling jade-colored gun.

 

A glass hand cannon.

 

“I’ll give you this. I brought a spare.”

 

“…Thank you.”

 

“Not at all. I’m the one who survived thanks to you. No, I almost died trying to get the train back on track with dokkaebi fire afterimages.”

 

I quickly tucked the glass hand cannon into my chest. The Lion Mask Agent watching this nodded and said.

 

“So you’ll be getting off at Segwang Station. You’ll check the cooperative spirit’s condition first, then establish a new rescue route.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then…”

 

The Lion Mask Agent hesitated slightly as he checked the carnage inside the train and the citizens’ condition.

 

Though he seemed cheerful throughout the conversation, now anxiety and unease briefly showed beneath his demeanor before disappearing.

 

Then he lowered his voice and whispered in my ear so my companions couldn’t hear.

 

“Listen, I have a bad feeling. I caught the scent of that vicious Kkwangcheol here.”

 

“Kkwangcheol… you mean?”

 

“The Daydream Company Director. That cult leader!”

 

…!

 

Which director is he talking about?

 

‘And Kkwangcheol… that would be.’

 

In other words, Gangcheol.

 

The evil imugi monster that breathes fire… isn’t it?

 

[Hmm, a folk tale that was popular in my friend’s homeland! Whether you’d call it classic or outdated. Of course, if he’s been a famous figure since the 17th century, we could treat him as a classic.]

 

Right. But there’s such a director at Daydream Company?

 

No, more than that.

 

“You can smell… such a scent?”

 

“I’m not wearing this hot and heavy mask for nothing. I wear it because of these mystical effects.”

 

“…!”

 

The lion mask ripples here and there as the yellow eyes roll playfully.

 

“Especially this guy is absolutely amazing at finding wicked and strong creatures or fraudulent contracts! It’s like having a bloodhound’s nose!”

 

I, I see.

 

But before that, there’s another realization.

 

Joyful Research Institute was destroyed because of Daydream Company.

 

Then, Daydream Company is also highly likely to be involved in the Segwang Special City incident related to Joyful Research Institute…!

 

Perhaps even at this very moment.

 

I asked urgently.

 

“Do you think Daydream Company is deeply involved in this situation?”

 

“Most likely, right? And there’s something else that bothers me.”

 

What?

 

I moved closer to the gesturing Lion Mask Agent and put my ear near him.

 

A lower, smaller voice spoke.

 

“That scent is coming from you too.”

 

I stopped.

 

“Agent. Did you perhaps make some contract with the Daydream Company Director? Maybe…”

 

“…”

 

“Pretending to be an agent while playing a disruptive role?”

—————
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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