Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 369

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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 369

Agent Choi found the dream cultivator.

The very device that had been installed in the underground research facility where Kim Sol-eum’s spy operation was once discovered was now carefully preserved in the subway facility that had transformed into a resort.

As preciously as the desperate wish of the person who had found it.

“….”

Agent Choi poured all the liquid from the dream essence collector he had been carrying into it.

DE 01410000

1.41 million.

It was an enormous amount that would shock the Daydream Field Investigation Team, who collected dream essence from ghost stories as routine work.

After all, it was the highest grade darkness.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a clear but a termination.

The concentration of dream essence condensed from an extinction-level supernatural disaster that had been sealed for a long time was terrifying.

However.

“…It’s not enough.”

It was less than a third of the five million points that Kim Sol-eum had predicted and needed.

Perhaps it was natural.

He hadn’t contributed much to directly removing the cause of Segwang Special City’s supernatural disaster.

That was what Kim Sol-eum and Ho Yu-won had done.

Still, the reason such an enormous amount was extracted was surely because he played a decisive role in the final ‘Kwang-cheol Chase’….

Since that was the essential culprit behind the situation.

“Don’t worry.”

Still, Agent Choi said.

Because.

“I wasn’t the only one carrying a collector.”

And the next person arrives.

People who remember Kim Sol-eum.

“This way.”

“Yes.”

The mass in the tank perceives.

Lee Ja-heon, a body inhabited by an extraterrestrial being, entered the resort’s small research facility.

He performed inspection work as if checking the safety and condition of the dream cultivator.

And when that work was finished, he inserted the dream essence collector he was carrying into it without hesitation.

DE 02665000

The number updates.

And one more.

DE 03013000

“…Citizen, do you have two collectors?”

“Yes.”

The first was from successfully escaping Segwang Special City’s repeating May 4th.

And after returning to the rooftop to join the final stages of Kim Sol-eum’s termination and contributing to ‘Kwang-cheol Chase’, this person’s total points were even more than Agent Choi’s.

“….”

The mass in the tank knows.

That belongs to ‘us’.

Lee Ja-heon’s collectors were definitely items received from both the company and the project that were ‘deliberately not returned’.

If he had handled things so cleverly and separately, it meant they were intended for use elsewhere.

The mass perceived ‘our’ intention regarding this choice.

And strangely confirmed that ‘we’ hadn’t suffered a loss. Because it judged this as a compensatory payment for saving one individual.

The very individual performing this act.

Lee Ja-heon.

“….”

Lee Ja-heon said nothing until the end of the act.

He simply looked quietly at the tank.

The tank containing the mass that had been ‘Kim Sol-eum’.

Inside the transparent tank of the potion maker he had torn apart, the mass that still intermittently emitted black smoke pulsated.

Next to it, a mascot costume lay limply scattered.

The attempt to put it on, hoping it might give Kim Sol-eum form like the Security Team uniform, had failed meaninglessly.

It didn’t work.

The melted flesh, bones, and organ mass remained as they were.

But Lee Ja-heon didn’t waver.

He simply said this.

“I’ll call the next person.”

The mass in the tank perceives a new small presence entering the resort.

“Hello there!”

Lee Seong-hae had just helped Go Young-eun leave Segwang Special City for the outskirts and returned to the resort.

That employee’s tone when speaking to Agent Hae-geum was cheerful as always.

“She safely met her family!”

“That’s really good to hear.”

But soon she witnesses.

“Oh.”

Someone who had been beaten to a pulp at the end of the festival that took place on the rooftop.

What had been ‘Kim Sol-eum’, now only remaining flesh, pulsates and writhes in the tank.

“Huh.”

Lee Seong-hae wasn’t sad.

Because appearance doesn’t matter.

But since he probably wouldn’t prefer being in that state, if she could help, she should!

“I’ll put it in for now.”

DE 03193000

Lee Seong-hae’s points weren’t as large as those who directly participated in the ritual, but they were still meaningful as someone who successfully returned from a high-grade disaster.

But she pours them in generously.

She had already collected all the wish ticket points anyway!

And….

“Good people should live well.”

Because that’s the right situation by Lee Seong-hae’s standards.

However.

“But won’t the points still be insufficient even with this?”

Her eyes turned toward the Standard Mascots standing outside the facility.

The resort was still intact.

However, those mascots had lost their vitality.

They were like machines or kiosks that only performed predetermined tasks, responding only in a few ways ‘like Theme Park Mascots’.

That itself makes people reflect on Kim Sol-eum’s current state….

But Lee Seong-hae thinks something else.

The conviction that going in and out of this resort won’t accumulate much points.

“Even if we find other high-grade ghost stories, the efficiency won’t be as good as Segwang Special City. We might all die trying to extract more solution by attempting termination!”

“I see.”

But Lee Ja-heon answers calmly.

“There are still people left.”

The next person comes.

“So… this is Noru.”

“Yes.”

Deputy Eun Ha-je and Agent Ryu Jae-gwan.

The people Kim Sol-eum desperately tried to extract from May 4th had finally awakened.

The two who regained consciousness in the middle of Seoul’s streets or in a well were brought to the resort by their respective team members.

And the first to arrive among them….

“…Phew.”

Eun Ha-je looked at the lump of flesh in the tank.

The lump recognizes that the other’s gaze has darkened.

And it knows.

This person has already experienced countless superiors and subordinates who left their ‘last sighting records’ in terrible states in ghost stories and were processed as missing.

Some irreversible state.

Immutable horror.

A miserable end.

To reverse this, there was actually only one thing that came to mind from a Daydream employee’s perspective.

Wish voucher.

Of course, they also considered the possibility that Kim Sol-eum might just go to a worldline where he’s fine.

‘But if there’s an original wish voucher….’

It’s a gamble worth taking, the former Field Investigation Team deputy judges.

“Good.”

The lump sees Eun Ha-je generously plugging the collector into the incubator.

The numbers rise again.

Golden liquid ripples, reflecting light above the black smoke.

In this person’s dream collector, naturally, an enormous concentration of potion had gathered.

Trapped in the subway for a long period, entering an extinction-level disaster, then escaping through a high-grade resort.

No matter how much they didn’t contribute to termination, it was an insane irregular case.

As far as Eun Ha-je knew, there were virtually no precedents of long-term survival in such insane high-grade darkness while keeping the dream collector intact.

‘Well, strictly speaking, it was closer to long-term death than long-term survival.’

Anyway, didn’t they come back alive.

That’s what matters.

She almost reflexively whistled at the insane numbers rising in the dream incubator.

DE 03971000

A hollow laugh escapes.

“Hey, this really feels unreal. If I submit this to the company as is, I’d get at least five wish vouchers, right? If I negotiate well, I might get even more.”

….

“Of course, I have no intention of doing that. You know that, don’t you, Noru.”

Deputy Eun Ha-je, who had been speaking cheerfully, slowly and gently lowered her smiling lips.

And she spoke in a low voice close to the tank.

“Thank you.”

….

“I know you pushed yourself hard to save me and that agent. And….”

Her voice sounds gentle.

“I remember working together as journalists now too.”

….

“Come to think of it, there seemed to be something like that among the weird dreams I had long ago.”

And.

Eun Ha-je, who spoke about what happened on the ground level of Segwang Special City, whispered in an even lower voice.

“…Don’t worry about Min-seong.”

….

“The team leader and I will take care of him.”

The lump doesn’t react.

It’s just flesh spewing black smoke.

However, Deputy Eun Ha-je smiled and tapped the tank.

As if she had heard an answer.

“…I’ll be going now.”

And the next person arrives at the resort.

“….”

The lump in the tank recognizes the being entering the room with a hardened expression.

Blue eyes, massive build, black hair.

It was the Disaster Management Bureau agent Kim Sol-eum first met.

He appeared at this place in an unharmed state.

“….”

Ryu Jae-gwan approached and stood close to the tank.

And he opens his mouth.

“Agent.”

….

“A Disaster Management Bureau agent saved me while I was going to school in high school… I mentioned this to you before.”

He speaks to the lump.

“To meet you… like this.”

….

“Meeting past acquaintances or witnessing future scenes in supernatural phenomena isn’t uncommon. But,”

Ryu Jae-gwan takes a breath.

“I didn’t know I would be such a case….”

….

“I’ve wanted to express my gratitude all along. To both of you.”

….

The lump in the tank recognizes the eyes of the agent staring at it.

That’s all.

Ryu Jae-gwan, who was looking at the ‘agent’ that had become a pulp spewing black smoke… takes out his dream collector.

“I don’t know. …Agent.”

….

“My judgment hasn’t changed.”

If a house disappears, you can build a new house.

You might meet a terrible end by obsessing over an impossible wish.

If you can’t turn back from the path, it might become too late.

But.

“….”

Ryu Jae-gwan looks at the lump in the tank.

If it’s already too late.

If this is the only thing I can try.

…If that’s what the other party desperately wished for.

“I still want to repay you.”

The dream essence liquid that Ryu Jae-gwan collected rises in the incubator.

DE 04749000

It sparkles.

Lee Ja-heon, who had been watching all of this, opened his mouth.

“The next person is coming in.”

Director Ho’s counseling room also had dream essence liquid on standby.

Dream essence liquids that were temporarily stored from the project without being submitted to the company yet.

Those cylinders were ejected outside along with those who were inside the moment the counseling room closed.

Fortunately, among them was an entity with the instinctive tendency to seek out and extort ‘things lost in the territory’.

“Here…”

A gaunt male in shabby clothing.

The Security Chief, who looked worn out himself, held out the dream essence collector he had.

“This was stored in the counseling room… hmm.”

What started as slow and careless movements soon transformed into surprisingly efficient motion, skillfully finding the insertion port.

The liquid was sucked into the collector.

DE 04974100

Those points unrelated to the termination point weren’t astronomical numbers, but they were golden liquid that would slosh around and fill the incubator.

“…”

The Security Chief said nothing.

Unlike others, he didn’t gasp in shock, feel conflicted, or talk to Kim Sol-eum as if he were standing there perfectly fine.

He didn’t ask questions about the situation where Kim Sol-eum tore up Director Cheong’s contract and the Security Team’s restrictions and constraints disappeared.

He simply wiped the tank once, then quietly laid his body down somewhere in a corner.

As if waiting.

The incubator was now filled with holographic light.

The self-luminous substance filled the small research facility. Like a small pond filled with wish tickets.

It was a scene that felt transcendent.

But…

“…”

That was the end.

DE 04974100

The points stopped here.

With 25,900 points remaining.

Without reaching the 5 million.

The mass feels no emotion.

But it can calculate.

That no one else will come now.

There’s no one left who would willingly hand over dream essence liquid to help ‘Kim Sol-eum’.

“Should we fill the rest from other ghost stories?”

“We will. Don’t worry, Citizen. We’ve already picked candidates.”

The Agent with Scar on Neck cheerfully taps the tank.

“Grape, don’t worry and just wait, okay? …I’ll be back soon.”

The mass knows.

They won’t be able to return.

Because Resort Branch 2 will disappear soon.

By the time these people enter other ghost stories to fill the remaining 25,900 points, this place, where the mascot’s influence has weakened, won’t be able to hold on much longer and will soon be evacuated.

And everything will end.

The Dream Incubator will vanish along with the disappearing resort, and the mass will also disappear with it, to be stacked and abandoned in the storage room behind the resort.

Forever.

For an indescribably long time.

Even predicting all of this, there was no reason to struggle desperately to prevent it somehow.

Because there’s no desire.

Because there’s no fear.

The mass just exists there.

And that will soon end…

…

Knock knock.

“Who… sister?”

“Hey guys.”

Hae-geum Agent enters the facility, opening the door while panting.

“I brought one more guy.”

The mass recognizes the one entering through the door.

An unexpected person.

“What.”

Baek Sa-heon.

That Daydream Employee wearing an eyepatch looked displeased but slightly anxious.

“I heard there’s liquid.”

“Look, I have no intention of giving it to you.”

Baek Sa-heon’s irritated voice echoes.

“That agent said it was urgent, so I came to make a deal. That person. The Glasses-wearing Agent from Jisan Village.”

“…Right.”

“Where is he?”

People’s gazes converge.

Baek Sa-heon entered the resort research facility with a stiff expression.

And he too sees what the people are watching.

The mass of flesh.

“…This is supposed to be an agent?”

“…”

“…That,”

But Baek Sa-heon swallows his words.

That face, which went beyond denial straight to immediate resignation and acceptance, turned pale white, then soon darkened with anger.

And then mockery surfaced.

“I knew this would happen!”

His eyes burned.

“You kept trying to save others for no reason, and the ending was obvious. I don’t know why you bothered. That’s why you ended up like this…”

Agent Choi tried to restrain him with gritted teeth and a smile, but the outburst subsided before that.

Baek Sa-heon’s voice trembled and stopped.

…

“Hey, can you understand me?”

The mass couldn’t respond.

“Hey.”

Baek Sa-heon approached the tank.

And he spoke.

The speculation he couldn’t voice.

The reason he couldn’t remove his eye patch to check this being’s halo.

The true identity of the ‘agent who came to Jisan Village’.

“Actually… you are…”

When someone goes missing, an agent who naturally becomes unreachable.

An agent who strangely seemed to know a lot about him.

That was…

…

…

“Never mind. Whatever.”

Baek Sa-heon took his hand off the tank.

He couldn’t get an answer right now anyway.

No,

Perhaps he didn’t seem ready yet…

So he said this.

“Pay me back later.”

Baek Sa-heon turned to look at the people.

“If I give this, you can definitely save him, right? You’re not going to siphon it off for something else?”

“No.”

“…Ha.”

Baek Sa-heon finally took out the Dream Essence Collector from his chest.

When the project started going wrong due to Kim Sol-eum’s disappearance, he had deserted the project.

But when the administrative processing was delayed and no return request came for the collector he’d been issued, he dragged his feet and didn’t return it.

He calculated that while he’d have to return it the moment the project collapsed anyway, handing it over to the Company side might give him slightly more benefit.

And he had come to this moment.

“…Here.”

He took out the Dream Essence Collector and inserted it into the Dream Cultivator.

DE 04974100

Like that,

DE 05002160

The points gathered.

The amount Kim Sol-eum needed to go home.

All of it.

—————
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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