Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 36

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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 036

My foot that crossed over the sacred rope touches the ground.

If this were a game, it felt like entering some kind of special field.

Like a lie, the fog disappeared and the scenery was properly revealed.

But….

‘…It’s huge.’

The mountain field under the full moon was much larger than expected.

A massive field large enough to cover the entire ridge.

Quiet and dark green colors swayed under the dark blue moonlight.

However, it didn’t feel particularly peaceful or pleasant.

It felt ominous and eerie.

-There’s a strange fragrance.

That’s exactly right.

Moreover, those small red berries visible between the swaying green lights are… wait, hold on.

‘…Ginseng?’

That’s right.

This is a ginseng field?

Wait, ginseng is what you get when you artificially cultivate and grow sam, but this doesn’t seem to be cultivated by humans strictly speaking….

‘…Wild Ginseng?’

All of this is Wild Ginseng??

‘No way….’

I hurriedly looked around the field and saw a sign post stuck in the outskirts.

“….”

I immediately turned around and tried to cross back over the sacred rope.

-Noru?

‘Let’s run.’

Thousand-year-old Wild Ginseng?

It’s like asking to borrow a pen from a friend, opening their pencil case, and finding it full of gold bars instead of pens.

Just as I was about to cross over the sacred rope.

[Noble one!]

“…!”

[Ah, noble one. Please don’t leave….]

A delicate voice sobbing could be heard from behind.

I very slowly turned only my head halfway back.

[A ghost attached to a tiger is coming to steal me! A terrifying tiger will approach to tear off my limbs, chew them up, and spit them on the ground! Save me, save me…!]

One berry that sprouted from the field was gently swaying.

Then, as if noticing that I was looking at it, its leaves drooped.

[Ah, now it’s my turn. I’ll be brutally torn to pieces with not even scraps remaining….]

“….”

I turned my body to look at that Wild Ginseng.

The berry cluster that received my gaze shook enthusiastically.

[Rather than being dragged away by an evil tiger, I’d rather be eaten by the noble one! Take me away and boil me thoroughly in a large iron pot, and all diseases will be cured and even aged parents will rise up like strong men with power!]

Come to think of it, Wild Ginseng has… been depicted as a good and mystical being in folk tales from long ago.

A reward given to good people.

I bent my knees toward the Wild Ginseng shaking its berries.

[Noble oooone!]

And I reached my hand toward the Wild Ginseng….

Then stood back up.

[…?]

“Lies.”

The berry froze.

Then the ground shook as if vibrating, and a gloomy, cracked thick voice erupted upward.

[You noticed! You vermin!]

Yeah.

‘This is the Mountain Lord’s Burial Ground.’

Have you heard the story that ghosts do everything backwards?

But this is a place I came to after being bewitched by a ghost, and its name is a grave site?

‘There’s no way Wild Ginseng growing in this neighborhood would be normal.’

It wouldn’t be strange if all the properties were completely reversed. I knew it would be like this.

[Ehehehehe, hihihihi!]

The Wild Ginseng began to writhe and emerge.

Hiiiiiiiiek!!

Its half-emerged appearance was dark purple-blue, looking exactly like some zombie miniature.

It was even vomiting up some kind of dark red fluid!

‘Even though I prepared myself mentally, it’s still scary!’

[You should be buried too! You should become ginseng and be buried here too! Let your hands and feet be cut off and rot so you can’t escape! Feel the pain of dying while alive!]

Even the surrounding leaves twisted like tentacles and writhed their roots out of the soil together. Uaaaah!

I immediately pulled out an item from my waist without delay.

‘Sn-Snow White Apple!’

It’s an item with the strange effect of ‘falling into a death-like sleep immediately upon eating.’

But what am I going to do with this?

‘I figured it would be hard to chew and eat an apple in an emergency situation…’

So I ground it all up and made it into juice!

Splash.

I took out a sealed pack containing apple juice made from ground Snow White apples and thoroughly sprinkled it all over the field ahead.

The Wild Ginseng was…

[Kihihihi! It won’t work! It won’t work! You foolish thing! I’ll grab your limbs and rip them…]

Thud.

It fell into unconscious sleep.

“…”

Snow White apple… definitely effective.

I carefully moved my feet.

The disgusting Wild Ginseng half-emerged from the soil was still lying motionless on the ground, completely unconscious.

It gave off a strange feeling, like a cockroach that had been hit with pesticide and was sprawled on the floor, or like a dog or cat that had fallen into deep sleep and was showing its belly.

-Oh! Though it was rude, it was quite an interesting fellow! How about taking it as a souvenir?

Normally I would have asked if he was crazy.

But I carefully examined the Wild Ginseng.

It spoke, expressed emotions, tried to deceive me, and calculated the situation. It seemed like some kind of sap was flowing inside it too.

If that’s the case, then this…

‘It’s a sentient being… isn’t it?’

Found it, a substitute for the sacrifice.

“…So, you’ve gathered all the materials and finished preparing for the ritual, and we can use this strange Wild Ginseng as the sacrifice…is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

“…”

The faces of the people in the abandoned house became blank after hearing the summary version of ‘What did Kim Sol-eum (impersonating Security Team) experience out there~’.

Did I summarize too much?

But I had no choice. Since I couldn’t explain exactly how I did it, it ended up becoming ‘anyway, I got it’.

‘I do feel a bit bad about digging up the Wild Ginseng… but it’s better for my mental state than killing a randomly selected person.’

I don’t know whose field it was, but I think Brown would have sounded an alarm if there was a real big problem.

Anyway, I looked at the people with as natural a face as possible.

The people still had their mouths hanging open, alternately looking at me, the supplies, and the Wild Ginseng.

But it roughly got through to them.

“As, as expected of the Security Team… to even do something like this!”

No, that’s not right.

I looked at the real Security Team feeling guilty for no reason, but the Security Chief was just lying among the middle school students with an expression that found everything bothersome.

The kids had somehow gotten acquainted and were chattering away next to him.

“Hyung, you don’t look that strong though?”

“No way… I’m totally strong.”

The kids were laughing. With more people around, they seemed to have relaxed a little.

Lee Byeong-jin looked at Go Seon-ha, whose face had brightened while checking the supplies, and me with an anxious expression, then swallowed and said.

“Then, then, are we all going to the shrine together now? To perform the ritual there…?”

“Yes.”

“…The shrine is nearby, so we should be fine if we move carefully. Nothing happened while I was at the shrine either…”

Go Seon-ha turned to look at me with a tense face.

“By any chance, did you also visit the shrine when you went out?”

“Yes.”

While Brown was making my presence disappear, I had burned the peach tree branch there.

I was so nervous I almost cried about three times.

“…Then it’ll be easier. Just walk quietly, don’t make noise, and move quickly. Since we’re in the fog, we just need to not make mistakes.”

“Understood.”

“…Then, let’s go to the shrine together.”

The time had come.

We took a moment to catch our breath and prepare ourselves mentally, then lined up in front of the closed door.

“Kids. You absolutely cannot stop. Keep walking.”

“Yes…”

At Go Seon-ha’s words, the kids nodded with frightened faces, but soon shut their mouths tight and squeezed into the line with the adults’ encouragement.

“…”

But why did I end up at the very front…?

Everyone, why are you naturally moving to the back?

‘Did I oversimplify the process of gathering supplies when I explained it…!’

Everyone seems to think of me as some kind of century’s iron-hearted, curiosity-filled capable person. Oh, please…

‘Even if I said I was scared now, they wouldn’t believe me, would they?’

…Still, it’s better than being at the very back.

I resigned myself and opened the door again.

Creeeeak.

The mountain slope shrouded in darkness and fog revealed itself again.

Gasp.

“Ugh,”

“Shh.”

The kids shut their mouths tight with frightened faces.

We slowly, as quietly as possible, moved our feet.

Thump, thump.

Every time a small sound echoed, the footsteps became faster.

I could feel that a sense of pressure, as if Chang-gwi might chase after us from behind while calling out at any moment, was enveloping the entire group.

Friend

And fortunately, that ‘worst case scenario’ didn’t happen.

Beyond the darkness and fog, old roof tiles could be seen.

A red and blue old house bent at strange angles.

It was the shrine.

Thud.

“Phew.”

“Did, did everyone get in?”

The people who had safely entered the shrine caught their breath.

The Security Chief, who had sluggishly entered last, closed the green door made of hanji paper and locked it.

Lee Byeong-jin hurriedly tried to paste additional talismans he had picked up from the abandoned house floor onto the door, but Go Seon-ha stopped him.

“There might be problems with the ritual. Just leave it. We can get out quickly after we’re done!”

“Y-yes.”

In the meantime, I looked around the sacred shrine.

My eyes, adapted to the darkness, showed me outlines in shadows.

Inside was strangely clean, but very old.

Between two headless, rusted Maitreya statues stood a completely broken incense burner.

And above it, I could see a worm-eaten wooden tablet.

-That must be the wooden tablet with the ritual written on it. Quite atmospheric….

I read along with the contents of the wooden tablet that Brown told me.

“…The human with the most courageous mind and body shall step forward and conduct the ritual.”

Well, that’s definitely not me.

“….”

No, you two please don’t look at me, seriously.

I naturally turned my gaze to look at the Security Chief. Then both their gazes followed mine too….

“I can’t do it.”

“…Excuse me??”

“I can’t do it, so don’t make me….”

“Ah, understood.”

Lee Byeong-jin looked bewildered and then looked at me.

I stared directly at the manager.

“….”

“…Well,”

“Please do it.”

“Y-yes, yes….”

Even if he has neurosis, he’s probably less of a coward than me….

Lee Byeong-jin stepped forward with trembling steps, then soon turned back to look at me and Go Seon-ha with a terrified face.

“W-wait a minute! Mountain hero!”

Go Seon-ha was also startled.

“Right! ‘The melody to offer to the Mountain Lord’!”

“Yes, that! That tiger children’s song or folk song, there’s no substitute! No matter how much we have all the materials, without that….”

Ah.

“We have it.”

“…??”

“Just a moment.”

I called the middle school students.

And asked very politely.

“Kids. You said you’re on a school trip.”

“Yes….”

“Is there anyone who kept listening to music in the bus on the way down? Or someone who knows celebrities well.”

The kids looked at each other, then gestured toward one student without bangs.

I quickly asked that student.

“What’s your name?”

“L-Lee Na-yeon.”

“Alright Na-yeon. I have something to ask you.”

I tried to make a very kind expression. Question marks appeared on all the adults’ faces.

“…?? Excuse me, what are you doing right now….”

“Among famous idol songs, there are songs with tigers in the lyrics, right?”

“…!!”

I turned to look at the adults.

They had dumbfounded expressions.

“B-but would it be okay to use, um, pop songs? Something like idol songs….”

“It’s fine.”

I held up the ritual instructions that Go Seon-ha had written down.

“If you look, it just says ‘melody.’ There’s absolutely no need to use folk songs or children’s songs.”

“…!”

This isn’t a ghost story wiki entry, and there’s no need or reason to select songs to match the ghost story atmosphere.

Human prejudice had narrowed the scope.

“Ah….”

I turned my gaze back to the child.

“Na-yeon. So do you remember any songs? Mountain Lord, tiger, things like that are fine too.”

“Ah!”

And Na-yeon’s face immediately brightened as she answered.

“There is! Saint U’s Peek-a-boo!”

Jackpot.

“Also, there are V-TIC songs too….”

“Among those, is there a song you know all the lyrics to? And that’s famous at the same time.”

“Yes! Saint U’s Peek-a-boo!”

Okay.

I turned to the adults and solemnly declared.

“We’re going to use Saint U’s Peek-a-boo as the melody to offer to the Mountain Lord.”

Take this idol song, tiger!

Inside the quiet sacred shrine.

Lee Byeong-jin, who had stepped forward in the darkness, shook the ashes into the incense burner with trembling hands.

Ashes from burning peach tree branches.

-First.

-‘The one conducting the ritual, step forward and burn peach tree branches in the incense burner and smell the incense.’

-‘Carefully close the incense burner’s cover, then open it again when the incense flies away.’

The manager covered the broken old incense burner with an equally old cover with trembling hands, waited a few seconds, then removed the cover.

Amazingly, the pile of ashes had disappeared.

Instead, a complete stick of incense was burning.

From the small branch-shaped incense, a fragrant smell mixed with peach wafted up.

“…!!”

-‘If the incense is burning, the Mountain Lord has noticed your sincerity’…. Oh, it’s falling into place perfectly as planned. Magnificent!

“Ugh.”

Perhaps because the incense smell was strong, Go Seon-ha covered her nose and stepped back.

The manager hurriedly performed the next action.

-Second.

-‘Open the hanji paper door.’

Slide.

Through the open door, the dark forest came into view. The children hid behind the adults.

-‘Crush three plums in the brass cup and sprinkle them on the soil beneath the wooden floor. Throw the remaining cup to the east and never look at it.’

I handed three plums to Manager Lee Byeong-jin. The manager crushed the plums roughly with his fingers in the bronze cup, then sprinkled them on the soil.

A sweet and sour fragrance rose like syrup.

Go Seon-ha, who had been standing back, came forward and sniffed, his complexion improving somewhat.

Then he gestured to Manager Lee Byeong-jin.

It meant it was time to proceed with the third process.

-Third.

-‘Prepare a melody to offer to the Mountain Lord. The more well-known it is to the world, the better its effect.’

Manager Lee Byeong-jin carefully rolled up the lyrics sheet he had written in advance and placed it in the drawer beneath the incense altar.

-‘Write the lyrics and place them in the incense altar, sing at the top of your voice while clapping with each step and bowing every thirty steps.’

People stepped out one by one through the open door.

Manager Lee Byeong-jin began singing together with the lyrics taught by the student named Lee Na-yeon.

“…Peekaboo. This body comes forth.”

The middle school students sang in chorus.

A melody offered to the Mountain Lord.

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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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