Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 353

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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 353

 

It’s past midnight,

 

With only two days left until the day of disaster arrives.

 

Agent Choi and I sit beside the still-sleeping Bronze Agent in the hideout, each organizing our information.

 

The situation hasn’t changed from when I woke up a few days ago.

 

Silence flows.

 

-The seal will be released in the evening of that day, around the hour of the dog… If you want to do something before then, that morning is the limit.

 

There really isn’t much time left.

 

So, we can’t continue like this.

 

I exhaled and put down what I was looking at.

 

“Agent.”

 

“….”

 

“What are you hiding?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I know there’s something you’re not telling me. …We can’t spend time in this state.”

 

I looked at him.

 

“This is an extinction-level supernatural disaster. Even if we share everything we know and work together to plan our entry, it’s not certain our attempt will succeed.”

 

“….”

 

“Moreover, the termination method I’m trying to attempt isn’t definitively proven either, so there will definitely be gaps. That’s why it would be troublesome if those entering the disaster aren’t in sync.”

 

“…Right. You understand well.”

 

Agent Choi spoke in his usual tone without taking his eyes off what he was reading.

 

“Grape.”

 

“….”

 

“The method you’re trying to attempt is nonsense.”

 

….

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I said it’s nonsense.”

 

Thud.

 

Agent Choi put down the researchers’ ‘Potion Maker Repair Log’ on the floor.

 

“I’ve memorized it all. I also heard from the researchers you smuggled out.”

 

“That’s…”

 

“But no matter how I look at it, I can’t deduce that this maker has the ability to terminate the Special City’s supernatural disaster.”

 

“….”

 

“You knew it too, didn’t you? Your plan isn’t just flawed, it’s a complete gamble.”

 

“It’s not that extreme.”

 

“What do you mean it’s not? …Do you trust Lee Kang-heon’s note that much?”

 

“….”

 

“That’s not a hint you discovered from a supernatural phenomenon, it’s just a note someone left behind. And you believe that?”

 

“I thought it was worth betting on given the circumstances.”

 

“No.”

 

Agent Choi’s eyes sink as he stares at me.

 

“This isn’t betting on it, it’s experimenting with it.”

 

“…!”

 

“You’re thinking ‘maybe it’s true, so let me try risking my life alone once,’ isn’t that right?”

 

“You too…”

 

I said, suppressing my anger.

 

“While rescuing people until now, haven’t you tried escape methods relying on small clues?”

 

“Of course I have. But walking into a death trap is different! I don’t do things like that.”

 

“….”

 

No, you do.

 

If the flow hadn’t changed when I cleared Rookie Mart, you would have been the agent who went up to the 4th floor and disappeared.

 

Since I can’t say this, it rises up to my throat.

 

And furthermore.

 

“I’m not walking into a death trap.”

 

“Really? Then let me ask. If people go crazy when they hear that music box sound, how were you planning to prevent that? It didn’t seem like you were gathering items for days.”

 

“I told you. Strangely, I wasn’t greatly affected by that mental contamination…”

 

“….”

 

“Agent.”

 

I realized.

 

“You never believed me from the beginning.”

 

-So, if the disaster is terminated right before the seal is released… the citizens might end up alive.

 

That wasn’t agreement.

 

This person never had any intention of cooperating with my attempt from the start.

 

He didn’t believe what I said.

 

“Suggesting we attempt termination… was a lie to reassure me.”

 

“It wasn’t a lie.”

 

Agent Choi stood up from his seat.

 

“I’m trying to use a different method.”

 

“What method? If such a method existed in the first place, you should have told me about it…”

 

Ah.

 

“You never planned to move together with me.”

 

“….”

 

“Come to think of it, it would be easy. After saying you’d enter the Special City, instead of entry, you could just put me to sleep.”

 

“Grape.”

 

“You’ve been aiming for that, just going along with what I wanted until now.”

 

“….”

 

“A different method? What’s different if you attempt it instead of me?”

 

“It’s different.”

 

Agent Choi looked at me with a tired face, then rubbed his face and stood in front of me.

 

And tried to speak in a calm voice.

 

“…Sol-eum. At least I won’t attempt a method when I don’t even know if it’s a trap or not. I’ll choose a method where I can predict the results as much as possible.”

 

“I already broke through the trap.”

 

“What if there’s another one? What if that note itself is a trap? Do you think others can’t think of what you’re thinking?”

 

“We clearly discussed that it couldn’t get any worse anyway!”

 

“Right! Even if it’s a trap, it couldn’t get worse! Except for the person doing it dying or ending up in a state worse than death!”

 

“Stop!!”

 

Agent Choi and I turned our heads while gasping for breath.

 

Hae-geum Agent, who was entering the hideout, looked at us with a stern face and shouted.

 

“This country might end in two days, and you’re fighting among yourselves? Do you have that much time to spare?”

 

“…The country won’t end. The Disaster Management Bureau will proceed with the seal again.”

 

I found myself speaking as if spitting out the words.

 

“But Segwang Special City will be trapped in a ghost story where citizens die repeatedly every day like now. That’s…”

 

“Grape Agent.”

 

Hae-geum Agent looks into me.

 

What I see in those eyes is… worried composure.

 

“Where does that impatience come from?”

 

“…”

 

“If you had heard that story from Yeong-eun, I would have understood. But you shouldn’t have any special connection to that city.”

 

“…”

 

“Could that emotion be… from that director of the Fox Counseling Room, who was said to be a spirit of the Special City?”

 

I was conflicted.

 

“…I might be influenced by it, but that’s not all there is to it.”

 

It’s difficult and frustrating to keep speaking evasively and staying silent.

 

…Maybe I should try being more honest.

 

Since I haven’t been able to do that until now, maybe if I spill everything this time, something might change…

 

After agonizing over it, I finally opened my mouth as if spitting it out.

 

“I… want to terminate this darkness, no, this disaster.”

 

“It seems like you have personal reasons. Why?”

 

“…”

 

Ha.

 

“I need dream fragment solution.”

 

I clenched both hands tightly and lowered my gaze.

 

Maybe, this time…

 

“The solution that Daydream uses to make wish potions. I… really, this time… I found a way to use it properly.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s not those dangerous wish potions the Company gives out. It’s the original version. The Joyful Research Institute, that organization originally developed it… considering the group’s purpose, it will really grant wishes,”

 

“…Grape Agent.”

 

“It’s true. The wish potions produced by Daydream were distorted versions, but this time it will be real.”

 

And Hae-geum Agent…

 

Patted my back.

 

As if calming someone who wasn’t in their right mind.

 

…

 

“You don’t believe me.”

 

My heart sinks.

 

“Yes… I thought that might be the case, so I couldn’t tell you. But,”

 

“Kim Sol-eum.”

 

Agent Choi sat in front of me.

 

And I heard an earnest and firm voice.

 

“You can’t go back home.”

 

“…”

 

Let me calm down.

 

“You’ve experienced it too. Don’t believe the words that you can return to before, to the past. Right? But…”

 

This is something this person is saying because they don’t properly know my situation… It’s natural that a rational person couldn’t believe that I really have a home in a different world than this place. And they keep saying something…

 

‘The living must live.’

 

‘Don’t be tied to the past and move forward.’

 

I know it’s that kind of advice and shock therapy for encouragement, I do know that…

 

…

 

What do you know.

 

“…!”

 

I lowered my hand that had almost grabbed Agent Choi by the collar.

 

But the words had already spilled out.

 

“I can go back! Because I’m not from here!”

 

“What?”

 

“This whole situation, this place is a ghost story and supernatural disaster to me! I…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

Ah.

 

I stepped back.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Grape, Kim Sol-eum…!”

 

I backed away and left the hideout. Then I ran down looking for a door.

 

“Kim Sol-eum!”

 

I barely found what could be called a door, attached a nameplate to an abandoned container door and tried to cross over to the Fox Counseling Room… but.

 

“…”

 

I stopped.

 

‘This won’t do.’

 

Let’s not be overwhelmed by the situation thinking I can’t handle it. If I keep avoiding things, I’ll only continue to avoid them.

 

…

 

Right.

 

“Agent.”

 

I turned around with my head lowered, took a deep breath and spoke.

 

“I suppose it must seem frustrating from your perspective. You probably don’t understand what I’m saying either.”

 

I see Agent Choi’s feet stop.

 

“And I know that if you’re already thinking of another certain method, my attempt might just look like throwing eggs at rocks.”

 

“…”

 

“But actually, I know that the ‘certain method’ you mentioned is also a crazy method where you shoulder all the burden alone.”

 

“You,”

 

“So I’m saying let’s be fair about it.”

 

I looked back and said.

 

“I’m also going to try my best with what I can do.”

 

“…”

 

“If you feel inclined to cooperate, please come to the counseling room then.”

 

I then opened the door and crossed over to the counseling room.

 

Click.

 

“…”

 

“…Noru?”

 

I let out a deep sigh.

 

Then I sat on the counseling room floor and took out the dream fragment collector from my tattoo.

 

It’s intact.

 

‘I can collect.’

 

…I wonder how Agent Choi will respond.

 

Even if the agents couldn’t cooperate, alternatives were fully possible.

 

‘I can proceed according to plan.’

 

After all, getting help with entry, movement, and backup… is possible from this counseling room too.

 

‘Whew.’

 

I looked up at Ho Yu-won who was sitting at the waiting room table.

 

“What kind of conversation did you have with Agent Choi yesterday?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“By any chance, did you receive a request to secretly put me to sleep instead of letting me enter the Special City when my turn to enter comes?”

 

“…”

 

His mouth opened.

 

“That’s right.”

 

….

 

“He said he would try to save the citizens of Segwang Special City while attempting a more humane and safe method to contain the disaster.”

 

As expected.

 

‘Agent Choi was planning to interfere with the sealing ritual…!’

 

As soon as the current seal is released, he was planning to interfere with the Disaster Management Bureau’s sealing ritual that would be conducted again and change something.

 

The fact that Agent Choi had been tracking the sealing ritual in the consciousness chamber for the past few days wasn’t simply to understand the situation, but was definitely preparation for that method.

 

And naturally, that wouldn’t be an ordinary method.

 

‘How could one person handle replacing a seal that was completed by repeatedly sacrificing hundreds of thousands, maybe even over a million people every single day.’

 

…And my method of attempting termination before the seal is released was like pretending to agree while planning to stab him in the back to prevent it.

 

‘….’

 

Did Hae-geum Agent also… know?

 

My head grows cold.

 

My mouth dried from anxiety.

 

“So, you said you would block my entry and just put me to sleep… is that right?”

 

“He said he would think about it.”

 

“….”

 

“But since there isn’t much time left, I did hear that he needs an answer within today or tomorrow.”

 

A subtle smile appears on Ho Yu-won’s face.

 

“While being extremely wary of me, he made quite an earnest request.”

 

“…I see.”

 

Very faintly through the shock, something like a stinging feeling welled up and then disappeared.

 

I knew it was definitely a decision made out of concern for me.

 

‘Ha.’

 

Then, rather than reaching that situation, it was better that things turned out this way.

 

‘Actually, my head has become clearer.’

 

I tried to think that way….

 

Moreover, to be completely honest, I also knew that there were definitely some valid points in what Agent Choi said.

 

‘…I hardly delved into the possibility of failure.’

 

I only thought about how to make this method succeed. Thinking about the possibility of failure would only make me anxious, and there were no alternatives.

 

Right. I’m currently buried in one possibility.

 

Because this termination would be the best possible result, I’m interpreting all information with bias toward that outcome.

 

…But if I step away from this.

 

What bothers me most right now is….

 

“Teacher Ho Yu-won.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why isn’t Director Cheong barging in here right now to harm all of us?”

 

This.

 

Director Cheong almost captured me when I escaped from Segwang Special City.

 

That means he probably has a rough idea of how much I’ve figured out.

 

With that personality, would he just leave me alone after only setting the trap of the ‘music box of the potion maker’?

 

Is that rational?

 

“If the plan I’m making really has an effect, it seems like he would push himself a bit and destroy this counseling room to halt this project itself.”

 

But Ho Yu-won, who had been looking at me with a slightly surprised expression, seemed lost in thought for a moment, then shook his head.

 

“Hmm. I don’t think he would do that.”

 

“Is there a reason?”

 

“Well, that’s… because I’m a director of Baekillmong, and this project is under my jurisdiction as a director.”

 

…!

 

“I don’t think Director Cheong would respect you just because you’re a fellow director.”

 

“That’s right. It’s more like following the rules of this pharmaceutical company.”

 

A slightly sinister look flashes in Ho Yu-won’s eyes.

 

“He can’t attack a director of the same rank one-dimensionally without justification, especially regarding a company project.”

 

“….”

 

“It’s even more so for a company executive to sabotage his own department’s project that’s producing good results without any justification using force.”

 

“…You mean he could attack through internal political warfare, but wouldn’t act personally?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

I realized something.

 

While Director Cheong did attack Ho Yu-won with performance pressure and such throughout this project investigating Segwang Special City, he didn’t respond in a ‘I’ll kill you if I meet you on the street’ manner.

 

Even with me, if he really wanted to put me back under his direct command, he could have attempted physical kidnapping when I went out for project work, but he didn’t….

 

“If there’s one thing that being who uses every means and method without hesitation to achieve his goals, desires, and pleasures cares about.”

 

That would be.

 

“Perhaps it’s Baekillmong Corporation itself? Director Cheong probably puts the rules of this company as his top priority in his own way.”

 

I thought of Director Cheong who always goes around saying ‘my company.’

 

“…It might even be the only rule he follows?”

 

“It could be.”

 

I nodded with a strange feeling.

 

…My mind became a bit calmer. Right.

 

‘Probably… Director Cheong has more prepared moves too.’

 

The most important thing is that my employment contract is in that director’s hands.

 

But I also prepared my own countermeasures at the resort in preparation for the worst case, so I won’t be caught helplessly.

 

And I absolutely had no intention of just letting Agent Choi interfere with the sealing ritual.

 

‘Then you’re the one who’ll die.’

 

Or he’ll end up in a state worse than death. My spine chills thinking about what he was trying to handle.

 

It’s more rational to first try my method, which has a possibility of even me surviving the implementation.

 

But I don’t know if such words will get through.

 

Moreover, remembering that I made revealing statements about myself, a sigh naturally escaped.

 

“….”

 

“Noru. How about you get some sleep first?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“It seems like you haven’t slept properly for about two days. In this state, I’m worried you might die from some ridiculous mistake on the street, let alone achieve termination….”

 

“….”

 

“Shouldn’t you sleep first? That way you can make judgments with a clear mind.”

 

“…What if the agents spirit away my person while I’m sleeping?”

 

“You’re saying something quite hurtful.”

 

I see an expression that seems to blink eyes somewhat smugly.

 

“You can just request that I prevent that from happening. I’m also your employee, aren’t I?”

 

Ah.

 

“Do you remember? I also signed an employment contract.”

 

I remember.

 

“I promise. I won’t arbitrarily hand over your identity or interfere with your sleep.”

 

“…Understood.”

 

I eventually nodded.

 

And I entered the long-term hospitalization room and got on the bed.

 

“Sleep well, Noru.”

 

I fell asleep like that.

 

…And when I opened my eyes again, I saw a being looking down at me from beside the bed.

 

“Hello there!”

 

A familiar person I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

 

I opened my mouth with a cracked voice.

 

“…Dolphin.”

 

“It’s been such a long time since we last met.”

 

The curly white hair of that small employee sparkles in the sunlight beyond the counseling room curtains as she smiles brightly.

 

“I heard you’re entering for the termination of darkness this time!”

 

“….”

 

“I’ll provide full support.”

 

I nodded and shook hands with her.

 

“Thank you.”

 

…And until I re-entered the Segwang Special City Subway, Agent Choi never visited the counseling room.

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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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