Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 348

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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 348

 

I wanted to ask ‘What did you say?’, but in truth, my mind had already understood what Hae-geum Agent had said.

 

It felt like some part of my brain had burst from the shock.

 

‘…The sealing ritual is collapsing?’

 

So the disaster of Seogang Special City… will be completely unleashed?

 

And that’s…

 

‘One week… left.’

 

Reflexively, an enormous sense of terror began to wash over me.

 

Having just experienced the reality of that ‘disaster’ firsthand, panic with an almost electric tangibility rose like goosebumps from my mind.

 

‘Then…’

 

It’s the end.

 

‘What’s going to happen?’

 

Even knowing the horrific truth of the seal, even having directly witnessed the suffering of Seogang Special City citizens, my face was probably deathly pale.

 

Because that scene would descend upon the entire nation in just a few days!

 

Helplessly… no, wait a moment.

 

I turned to look at Hae-geum Agent.

 

There’s no way I’d be feeling this terror alone.

 

“Does the Management Bureau… not know?”

 

If they knew, they wouldn’t have spent the past 300 days just wasting time. They surely would have established some kind of countermeasure on their own.

 

The problem was that if they had established countermeasures, these two agents wouldn’t be talking about an extinction-level disaster erupting in a week with this kind of tone.

 

‘…Are they keeping it secret?’

 

Hae-geum Agent slightly furrowed her brow.

 

“You know. There are hardly any agents or personnel in the Management Bureau who know about that special city.”

 

…!

 

That’s right. They erased all the agents’ memories and made the city unrecognizable.

 

In that process, the Blue Dragon Team disappeared entirely and the organization was even restructured as if it had always been that way.

 

But.

 

“But surely the ‘people who know’ must know.”

 

“…”

 

Looking at Hae-geum Agent’s eyes, I realized who she was referring to.

 

‘Someone who led the sealing ritual.’

 

Someone who pushed forward the chilling idea of making May 4th, the day of disaster, repeat infinitely and using the endlessly dying people as power to maintain the sealing ritual.

 

The higher-ups must surely know.

 

“…But from what Agent Choi and I have looked into over the past few months… there haven’t been any special movements within the Management Bureau. If they were taking some kind of action, it should have affected the sealing ritual, but there’s been none of that.”

 

“That’s…”

 

Wait.

 

One shocking assumption flashed through my mind.

 

If they’re not moving now, could it be…

 

“…Are they waiting until the seal completely disappears?”

 

“…”

 

“Do you think they plan to perform the sealing ritual again right after it disappears?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“…!”

 

“If they have to seal it anyway, it’s an already proven method. I think there’s a high probability they’d choose that over uncertain reinforcement.”

 

Ha.

 

“However, the problem is where they’ll obtain those… ‘sacrifices’.”

 

Hae-geum Agent seemed to feel tension only about that unknown question itself.

 

But I already knew the answer.

 

…They could just offer up the released Seogang Special City citizens as sacrifices again.

 

‘This is insane.’

 

The top of my head bristled.

 

I urgently opened my mouth.

 

I need to talk about this…

 

“Agent, have you… discussed that sealing ritual with other agents?”

 

About the human sacrifice, I mean.

 

I tried to refer to it vaguely, but the next moment I made eye contact with Agent Choi and knew.

 

“Why beat around the bush like that, Grape. I already heard.”

 

…!

 

A somewhat tired, dry voice came from that bitterly smiling face.

 

But there was almost no anger or confusion.

 

…As if he’d already mulled it over extensively, he was calm.

 

“Ah. Are you worried about tracking? Then it’s fine to talk here. It’s right below Tiger General’s sanctuary, so they can’t follow.”

 

And he added.

 

“…It’s a location the Management Bureau doesn’t know about anyway.”

 

“…”

 

“We tried to somehow extract only the living citizens while maintaining the existing sealing ritual itself… but we absolutely couldn’t interfere with the ritual.”

 

Blue pupils looked at me.

 

“Right up to this point, 7 days before the seal ends.”

 

“…”

 

His head must have been ready to burst.

 

His direct subordinate and former spy haven’t woken up since going missing in an extinction-level disaster, someone at the agency he’d devoted his life to was hiding chilling secrets, and there was no telling what kind of rash action Ho Yu-won might take…

 

Seeing those hollow eyes that clearly hadn’t rested at all during his leave, my chest grew cold too.

 

A crisis that had approached right before our eyes.

 

‘This is driving me crazy.’

 

All sorts of matters to handle whirled through my head. Director Ho, the safety of the Security Team, the condition of researchers who might be at Twilight Station, the rent for the Blood Broadcasting Station, Lizard’s body that had been stored at Manager Lee Ja-heon’s company housing…

 

The suffocating 293-day gaps.

 

However, all these worries would become unnecessary if we couldn’t prevent the extinction-level disaster that would strike in a week.

 

But sealing Seogang Special City again… I just couldn’t think of that positively either.

 

A situation where it’s hell for someone either way.

 

‘…At this point, how much does Director Ho actually know.’

 

No, get it together.

 

If I couldn’t change the fact that the situation had arrived, I needed to move faster.

 

I had to somehow handle this crisis.

 

“Grape Agent, be careful…”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

I stood up from my seat without assistance. My legs were shaking.

 

My head cleared.

 

What I need first is…

 

“Young-eun, I mean… I’d like to meet Agent Park Ha.”

 

The incident where the seal began to break.

 

Let me grasp the situation from the person who was the focal point during the train shelter escape.

 

Quickly.

 

* * *

 

It was less than half a day later when Go Young-eun arrived at Agent Choi’s hideout under Hae-geum Agent’s guidance.

 

“Sol-eum!”

 

Young-eun really did look perfectly fine.

 

Instead of the haggard padded jacket appearance from the Seogang Special City subway, the person I first saw at the company – neat and tidy in appearance – was wearing casual clothes without any special treatment.

 

…Which also meant all the visible body parts were there.

 

-The body parts that Young-eun lost at the body casino…

 

-She got them back from the body casino after escaping.

 

-…!

 

-Right.

 

“You really woke up. Really, really thank goodness….”

 

-Less than two weeks after escaping, they called Agent Choi and asked us to tell them again about the ‘method of dying to escape’ that we had used to enter Segwang Special City.

 

-As soon as they recovered, they immediately entered. And at the body casino that had reopened business, they found all the body parts they had lost.

 

-Only the ring finger is left. They said someone else had already taken it from the pawn shop.

 

I saw Go Young-eun’s left hand, missing the ring finger, sweep across her face, hiding a sigh of relief.

 

And I opened my mouth with difficulty.

 

“Young-eun. Originally, I should have come to see you, but given the current situation, it was difficult, so I asked the agents to invite you here.”

 

“Of course it’s fine! No, if you just woke up, your muscles and everything must be weak and it must be hard….”

 

But when Go Young-eun realized I was in better condition than expected, a slight glimmer passed through her eyes, but instead of asking about it outright, she just quietly closed her mouth.

 

…Even there, I felt a strange flow of time.

 

“Young-eun, how have you been? …I heard you’ve been entering the Special City subway.”

 

“I’m… better than before. I’m living with my paternal aunt. My aunt has… forgotten about what happened during that time.”

 

Go Young-eun’s voice seemed to darken for a moment, but then returned.

 

“Actually, part of wanting to return to work as an agent is to avoid having my memory erased.”

 

Ah.

 

“You might say it’s calculating, but… having my memory disappear feels like losing myself.”

 

She added that right after being rescued, she deliberately expressed her desire to ‘return to work’ to implicitly delay memory erasure.

 

“After that, I also glossed over getting my body parts back as being thanks to items. …It feels a bit excessive, doesn’t it? It’s the Disaster Management Bureau, not Daydream Company.”

 

“No. I completely understand.”

 

Especially from Go Young-eun’s perspective, who had tried to take the wish ticket after losing memories of her family in Segwang Special City without even knowing why she had forgotten.

 

And….

 

Thinking that far, I couldn’t open my mouth any further.

 

I absolutely didn’t have the confidence to speak casually again after telling the two agents, so I had planned to speak when all three people were together.

 

‘Damn.’

 

But time was running out and destruction was approaching.

 

“Young-eun.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“There’s… good news and bad news.”

 

A bitter smile appeared and disappeared on Agent Choi’s lips.

 

But as he heard my following words, even that bitter smile vanished without a trace.

 

“Starting with the good news, there’s a possibility that other people might safely wake up too.”

 

“That’s… that’s really good news!”

 

Joy briefly flickered in Go Young-eun’s voice before she quickly became calm.

 

Agent Choi’s eyes were also looking at me.

 

“Are Deputy Manager Ha-je, Ryu Jae-gwan, and Manager Lee Ja-heon alive? All three of them disappeared from the train too… we understood that they fell together.”

 

I slowly nodded. A flash of cold anger crossed Go Young-eun’s face.

 

“…That conductor pushed them, didn’t he?”

 

“….”

 

“I knew it. That’s what happened. That crazy bastard….”

 

Saying she didn’t regret hitting him at all, Go Young-eun caught her breath and regained her composure.

 

“Still, still, I’m glad they’re alive. …No matter how much I searched the subway, I couldn’t find any trace of the four of you.”

 

“….”

 

“Then you were on the surface, right?”

 

“Yes. …It was completely unexpected, but people were living on the surface of Segwang Special City too.”

 

I met Go Young-eun’s eyes.

 

“And they were dying every day.”

 

“…What?”

 

The atmosphere turned chillingly cold.

 

“…What does that mean?”

 

I spoke.

 

About the disaster of Segwang Special City where May 4th repeats.

 

“…!!”

 

And….

 

“…That’s the method of containing the disaster?”

 

“….”

 

“By repeating the same day every day, so that no matter how much time passes, the disaster doesn’t leave that city’s radius, people keep… dying every day?”

 

Emotion slowly boiled up from Go Young-eun’s stunned words.

 

“Then what about my mom and dad?”

 

“Young-eun….”

 

“Now, years have passed… and they….”

 

There was a sound of gasping breath. I hurriedly moved to the side to pat her back, but Go Young-eun pushed my hand away.

 

…!

 

“….”

 

For a while, there was no answer from that head hanging low.

 

Then slowly, muttering could be heard.

 

“…This is real? This is reality? Really… that’s what happened?”

 

“…It might just be my speculation,”

 

“You’ve always been right! Sol-eum’s deductions have been correct every time! What’s the point of saying that now….”

 

She caught her breath again.

 

A piercing silence settled in the cave.

 

I looked at Go Young-eun’s tightly clenched fists.

 

They were pale and trembling.

 

I could see Agent Choi slowly getting up and silently approaching Go Young-eun’s side.

 

He too, and Agent Hae-geum as well, had turned coldly pale. However, they didn’t show their shock in front of the family member who was directly affected.

 

I barely caught my breath and then threw an implicit question at her in a small voice.

 

“…Do you know?”

 

Go Young-eun….

 

“Do you know that I know the Special City’s containment will be lifted in 7 days?”

 

…!

 

“I know. Even after coming outside, the ability to ‘hear rumors related to the Special City’ didn’t disappear. That rumor was part of why I kept trying to enter the subway in the first place.”

 

Go Young-eun’s voice cracked.

 

“Come to think of it.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“If we just let that containment be lifted… maybe it could be lifted while mom and dad are still alive?”

 

…!

 

“May 4th keeps repeating, right? So if the timing works out well, during a time when people are still mostly alive… if it’s lifted. Wouldn’t they be fixed while still alive?”

 

[Oh, that’s an interesting speculation!]

 

I felt my blood run cold instead.

 

It seemed unlikely that things would flow so conveniently and favorably, but I couldn’t find words to refute it.

 

“…Young-eun. In that situation, this entire country would be… within a few days.”

 

“We could just run away somewhere quickly. If we go to the other side of the earth, it might be safe…! And,”

 

Go Young-eun’s voice was breathless yet cold.

 

“Why should I care about that?”

 

“…!”

 

“Whether it collapses or not, let them figure it out among themselves, I don’t care, uh, sorry….”

 

Go Young-eun gritted her teeth.

 

“No, I’m not sorry at all. …I only want to apologize for snapping at you, Agent.”

 

“….”

 

Hae-geum Agent lowered her sword.

 

And slowly patted Go Young-eun’s back.

 

“Actually, you don’t need to apologize for that either. I feel the same way…”

 

“…”

 

I could tell that Go Young-eun was gritting her teeth and shedding silent tears.

 

They seemed like tears of anguish and rage rather than sadness.

 

…A suppressed resentment similar to the counseling teacher’s.

 

I also suppressed the emotions welling up inside me.

 

‘…Is there really no way?’

 

Was Go Young-eun’s plan from earlier really bound to remain just a personal scheme or wishful thinking? Or…

 

…

 

Wait a minute.

 

“What if we end it beforehand?”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“Before the blockade is lifted, if we end the disaster… it might be possible.”

 

“Grape Agent!”

 

“Wait.”

 

But Agent Choi immediately looked at me.

 

A strange light gleamed in her eyes.

 

“So you’re saying, if the disaster ends right before the blockade is lifted… the citizens might survive.”

 

“Yes.”

 

It felt like sparks were flashing in my head.

 

I now knew how to get out of the subway to the outside.

 

‘I just need to walk along the maintenance tracks.’

 

If I set foot on the ground level of Segwang Special City in the morning when the day rewinds and starts over.

 

If it’s at some point in the very early stages, before this city itself becomes completely contaminated.

 

‘I can at least try to end it…!’

 

And I already had a ‘method’ I’d been preparing after getting a hint.

 

-Then somehow steal the dream cultivator that Baekillmong Corporation copied

 

And try installing it in the remaining Joyful Research Institute facilities

 

The Daydream potion manufacturing device I had stolen.

 

And the ones I entrusted it to…

 

The researchers.

 

…

 

In my mind, my experience of May 4th, the day of disaster, connected with the contents of that note.

 

I could almost understand it. But…

 

“Even if the chances are slim, we can at least try, can’t we.”

 

I raised my head.

 

Go Young-eun was catching her breath.

 

In her eyes, I could see conflict about not wanting to have hope and fierce calculations sparking like electricity.

 

“Young-eun.”

 

“…”

 

“Have you ever visited Twilight Station in the underground of the Special City? There’s a resort pop-up store there, and there…”

 

“…You’re talking about Heo-un, right?”

 

“Yes. And there should have been Daydream researchers there…”

 

But I could tell the answer from Go Young-eun’s expression.

 

“They weren’t… there?”

 

“No.”

 

…!!

 

“Wait a moment.”

 

Just before my blood ran cold, I heard Go Young-eun’s calm voice.

 

“Director Ho… I’ve heard ‘rumors’ that he secured the Daydream employees who went missing in the subway.”

 

…!

 

“I think the current project team probably has them secured somewhere in the subway station.”

 

…

 

“…Are those people… necessary for the termination attempt?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Then… let’s go meet them.”

 

“…!”

 

“Before it’s too late, let’s go see Director Ho.”

 

D-6 until the day of disaster arrives.

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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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