Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 354

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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 354

 

The Segwang Special City Subway that I entered again.

 

“This way.”

 

“Yes!”

 

I was walking along the railway tracks with Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, holding a flashlight.

 

There was enough space to step aside when a subway approached, and even if I got hit and died, I could wake up outside, so my steps were calm.

 

However, keeping my ears alert for any unexpected situations, I conversed with Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae.

 

Thanks to getting some sleep, my mind was clearer than before.

 

Even when reviewing my conversation with Agent Choi.

 

I realized clearly.

 

‘…They didn’t believe me from the beginning.’

 

-So, you’re saying you got caught up in a supernatural disaster and fell here. Suddenly the world changed, and you got equipment.

 

Previously.

 

When I told Agent Choi that I came from another world and wanted to return there, I was relieved by their calm reaction.

 

I thought they acknowledged my situation.

 

But it wasn’t acknowledgment…

 

‘Just… wariness.’

 

Had they already determined that I couldn’t be trusted even then?

 

‘…Why?’

 

Surely they saw children from other worlds at the Mermaid Graveyard… at the Sparkling Dragon Palace too.

 

Parallel worlds and such aren’t that foreign a concept in this ghost story world either.

 

That much… couldn’t they have believed?

 

“…”

 

Somehow my mind felt hazy somewhere.

 

Through that haze, Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s clear voice rang cleanly.

 

“Have you been well?”

 

Ah.

 

“I heard you fell from the train shelter to above the city and couldn’t wake up, but you saved people again while doing that!”

 

I pulled the corners of my mouth up vaguely.

 

“That’s actually not so much that I saved them, but rather Sanyang and Bronze Agent saved them.”

 

“Eh, all three of you saved them together!”

 

Up to here it was heartwarming.

 

“But those shelter people didn’t look that nice though… Hmm, it would have been good if some of the mean ones there had died instead.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“I heard Bronze Agent still hasn’t woken up either. I think it’s a bit unfair! I wish we could change it even now.”

 

Wow. My mind that had been hazy from shock snapped to attention.

 

Right, Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae was this kind of person…

 

I barely managed to answer.

 

“…There was no such method. And the train shelter people… most of them can’t really be called particularly bad people.”

 

I added a follow-up.

 

“Originally people show irrational behavior in extreme situations.”

 

While saying that, I suddenly had this thought.

 

Maybe I looked that way too.

 

Always saying I wanted to go home…

 

“That’s true!”

 

As if answering that thought, Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae spoke.

 

“But even while making wrong choices under psychological pressure, thinking ‘I’m screwed!’… there are definitely good people even among those wrong choices.”

 

“…”

 

“Like Noru.”

 

“Me? …I don’t think so.”

 

“No. Noru was really a good person even when you were Mascot. Even in moments when you didn’t need to be kind.”

 

“…”

 

“That’s really amazing.”

 

“…Thank you.”

 

Those strangely subjective and firm words were oddly comforting.

 

“Anyway, Mascot’s shop is doing well, so actually I wasn’t that worried even while you were missing!”

 

“That’s… really fortunate.”

 

Somehow my heart felt at ease.

 

How should I put it, there was a strange comfort that extremity provided.

 

I’d been breaking out in cold sweats thinking I might get stabbed as a bad person if things went wrong, but now I thought this person was really clear and good.

 

In the sense that they give answers to any question without hesitation.

 

So I ended up asking this.

 

A question I hadn’t been able to ask because it was related to me and sensitive.

 

“Um, may I ask what Dolphin’s wish is?”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes. The wish you want to make if you win a Wish Scroll.”

 

A smile spread across Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s lips.

 

A mysterious one.

 

“Shall I tell you honestly?”

 

“…Then, I’d be grateful.”

 

“Good…”

 

The person approached and whispered in my ear.

 

“Actually, I’ve collected all the points to buy a Wish Scroll.”

 

‘…!!’

 

“500,000 points. All of them.”

 

I looked back at Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae with shocked eyes.

 

Their mouth was still smiling.

 

“The others contracted to receive Wish Scrolls if this project succeeds, right? I just asked them to calculate points based on the grade of dream essence liquid that comes out.”

 

Plus, they collected them faster because they entered so many high-grade ghost stories through regular work.

 

So the points they collected without hesitation exceeded 500,000 just a week ago…

 

“…”

 

“Oh, Butterfly Deputy probably collected almost all of them too? They might have collected even more points than me, but it seems they spend a lot of points buying this company’s special painkillers!”

 

“Then,”

 

I swallowed.

 

“Why… haven’t you quit?”

 

“…”

 

Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, who had been talking as if flowing elsewhere, stopped speaking and looked at me intently.

 

“I haven’t decided on my wish yet.”

 

What is this supposed to mean.

 

“…Didn’t you join the company because you had a wish?”

 

“Mmm, so there is a wish in my heart, but I’m still thinking about how to fulfill it.”

 

Ah.

 

“Because you have to make a wish in one sentence with a Wish Scroll?”

 

“Yes! And I really want the world to change. Not just me going to a world where my wish is fulfilled.”

 

“That seems like it would be difficult.”

 

“That’s right! That’s exactly what I’m worried about!”

 

Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, who walks the tracks without hesitation, speaks just as boldly.

 

His wish is….

 

“I wish only good people remained in the world.”

 

“…!”

 

“So I’ve been thinking, it seems kind of unfair for bad people to become good without any consequences… Originally I was going to wish for all the bad people to disappear.”

 

Cold sweat runs down my face.

 

“Um, what exactly is the criteria for bad people….”

 

“Immoral and unethical people, you know! People who push others in the darkness to save themselves? I think that’s about half of everyone!”

 

“…If, if you make that wish, all those people would disappear?”

 

“Yep!”

 

I can almost feel the madness.

 

Did my talk about going home sound like this too?

 

Completely sincere from the speaker’s perspective, but sounding insane to anyone listening?

 

Is, is it that bad?

 

No, this seems rude to Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, but wait, is it okay to worry about being rude to someone who was about to casually wish away half of humanity….

 

“But just going to a world where bad people are gone seems kind of boring. I want the bad people who are here right now to die.”

 

Wow.

 

“…How about wishing for a cleaner environment? Like, the development of sustainable energy resources….”

 

“Oh, that’s good! That would be beneficial for Earth in the long term too.”

 

Yes….

 

But Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae didn’t say ‘I’ll make that my wish.’

 

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that fact….

 

‘Hah….’

 

[Oh, my friend really does have talent as an interviewer! What else are you going to ask?]

 

Now… I’m trying not to talk about that….

 

I quietly swallowed and walked along the tracks.

 

“A train is coming.”

 

And after letting several trains pass behind us.

 

“….”

 

“Is that it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I finally found the subway depot area connected to the line leading to the ‘maintenance track’ where the train shelter had escaped.

 

Unlike other station depot areas, there were some familiar sights.

 

For instance, when I shone my flashlight beyond where those tracks continued, I could see something at the far end.

 

Safety First During Maintenance

 

Two-Person Teams Mandatory

 

Through that passage, the train shelter had escaped to the surface of Segwang Special City….

 

“….”

 

I glanced at Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae.

 

It seemed he had only heard an abbreviated version of what the situation outside Segwang Special City was really like….

 

“Should we go in and check the route before we actually go?”

 

I shook my head.

 

“I’ll go check by myself. Since we don’t know where it starts counting as ‘outside,’ I need to be very careful….”

 

“Huh? If we’re going to be careful anyway, let’s do it together!”

 

And Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae began walking briskly toward the maintenance track.

 

No….

 

I started to say something, but eventually gave up and hurriedly followed behind him.

 

I had no confidence I could persuade him…. I’ll just watch carefully and notice if anything seems off.

 

So we walked along the straight tracks, up the inclined path leading upward.

 

The grooved rails actually made it more stable to step and walk upward.

 

“This is actually more comfortable. Now we don’t have to worry about subways coming from behind.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

Thud, thud.

 

Our footsteps echoed in the dark tracks.

 

Upward, higher up.

 

To the surface.

 

“….”

 

I asked slowly to shake off the pressure.

 

“Um, how have you been getting along in the new project team?”

 

“I’ve been doing well! There are many familiar faces so it wasn’t awkward. But it was disappointing that many good people disappeared.”

 

Hmm.

 

“Ah! I eat snacks with the Security Chief a lot! As for Badger… well, he mainly only responds to conversations on the subway.”

 

Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae cheerfully told me news about the Security Team and Team A.

 

“If you want, Noru could probably recruit the Team A people for your use this time? Director Ho also said we must cooperate.”

 

“…I see.”

 

Most of the people who were mutual acquaintances seemed to be doing well.

 

Of course, it wasn’t all bright stories told in a bright voice….

 

“Oh, Pony Supervisor is doing well too, but he keeps hanging around the reopened Body Casino. I don’t think he’ll live long!”

 

“…Yes.”

 

You don’t mean you’ll personally make that happen, right?

 

Anyway, hearing everyday updates had the effect of returning my depressed mental state to its normal track.

 

I continued conversing as we walked through the dark tracks.

 

And….

 

At some point after walking upward for quite a while.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“I don’t think we’ll need the flashlight.”

 

Sunlight shines down on my head.

 

At the end of the straight tracks, I could see an exit.

 

The point where the underground ends.

 

Chillingly, the natural light piercing through from there illuminated the underground tracks and reached my eyes….

 

‘…That’s it.’

 

I knew instinctively.

 

That exit was exactly the section dividing the surface and underground of Segwang Special City.

 

But.

 

“Why don’t we need the flashlight?”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

I heard Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s voice.

 

I raised my hand and pointed slightly at the exit where sunlight was pouring in.

 

“…Can you see it?”

 

“Hmm….”

 

Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae, who had been waving his flashlight, shrugged his shoulders.

 

“I can see something like a pitch-black exit.”

 

“….”

 

It seemed like the sunlight was only visible to me.

 

‘Is it because I’ve… been to the surface once before?’

 

I have a feeling that’s right.

 

Since I’ve belonged to the ‘outside’ before, it seems like my senses are open to perceive that…

 

“Shall we go take a look?”

 

“Wait a moment!”

 

I managed to grab Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae’s shoulder in alarm as he tried to rush ahead again, but wait, why is he so strong?

 

“Let’s go together. Slowly and carefully.”

 

“Yes!”

 

I walked forward.

 

I kept the flashlight on, just in case.

 

“….”

 

The closer I get to that exit, the more I feel a strange pull and impulse.

 

‘…It feels like I’m going to be sucked in.’

 

Is it calling me, the one who escaped from the containment?

 

“Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be anything there… Do you see something beyond there?”

 

“To me, yes.”

 

It seems like Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae feels the surface outside as if it ‘doesn’t exist’ due to the containment’s influence.

 

A state of recognition impossibility.

 

‘Whew.’

 

Sweat flows from my hand gripping the flashlight due to tension.

 

“…Dolphin. Could you pull me back if something happens?”

 

“Of course!”

 

I slowly moved forward step by step, checking to make sure no unexpected situations occurred.

 

Step, step.

 

Only about my height’s distance remained between me and the exit.

 

Then ripples began to appear in the exit that had only shown sunlight…

 

‘…Ah.’

 

It’s the strangely distorted and obscured view of the outside.

 

Like when I looked out the window from the train shelter when I escaped to the surface, I can see the scenery beyond the railway exit.

 

But it’s somehow fainter than back then.

 

It seems like it might be visible at a glance.

 

Somewhere… it seems to be fluctuating…

 

‘…Is it because the containment is being released?’

 

I finished my confirmation in front of it, suppressing the urge to jump in.

 

‘If I go out, it’ll definitely be the surface of Segwang Special City…’

 

That’s enough.

 

And just as I was about to pull my body back.

 

Something began to appear in the fluctuating scenery outside the exit.

 

“…!”

 

I stopped in my tracks.

 

My eyes, accustomed to seeing the ‘outside,’ distinguished a certain silhouette within that distorted scenery.

 

It’s a person.

 

The silhouette of someone large and familiar.

 

“…Manager?”

 

Manager Lee Ja-heon.

 

Team D’s Lizard Team Leader was standing blankly in front of the corridor.

 

“…!!”

 

Wait, why is he here…

 

I wondered if I was seeing an illusion, but the more I stared, the clearer the silhouette became.

 

And I could also make out the silhouettes of two people behind him.

 

Wait, if it’s two people…

 

‘…Deputy Manager and Agent!’

 

At the predicted identities, I almost succumbed to the urge to go outside the exit.

 

No!

 

“Heave!”

 

…I looked back at Deputy Manager Lee Seong-hae who pulled me back and barely managed to open my mouth.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Yes! Oh, is there something outside?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

I clenched my fist and stepped back. Then I take a deep breath and think.

 

Isn’t there a way to communicate? I can’t hear sounds and can’t read lip movements either… Ah!

 

I took out a pen and paper and wrote.

 

-Noru is here.

 

“….”

 

Then I crumpled up the paper and threw it outside into the sunlight.

—————
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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