Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 37

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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 037

Saint U’s Peek-a-Boo.

According to the middle school students’ explanation, it was the final group activity album of a famous female idol who made a spectacular comeback after breaking a hiatus of several years.

The addictive, bright, and cheerful pre-release track apparently remained on the music charts for a long time.

Now that song is echoing through the gloomy, dark misty forest accompanied by synchronized clapping.

Clap.

“My sharp gaze captures you in one glance, but I have no intention of approaching first…”

“Until you come closer, I’ll wait pretending not to notice, very comfortably.”

Cuz Predators never move first… The adults also tried their best to sing along clumsily to that song.

Clap.

“Yes, hurry up and get ready. I’m an elegant tiger, the moment you approach, peek-a-boo!”

The lively and exciting melody continues.

Perhaps because they’re singing together, the children’s expressions gradually become more relaxed and their voices gain strength.

“Peek-a-boo! This body is coming out, be nervous! I’m a tiger. My eyes sparkle even in the darkness!”

-‘Walk along the path that raises the melody, and place the sacrifice to be offered at the very back.’

But at the very end of the procession, instead of a person, a palm-sized Purple Wild Ginseng dangles and sways like a bundle.

The Security Chief is following at the back, carrying the stick with the ginseng hanging from it on his shoulder like he’s holding a garbage bag.

Go Seon-ha keeps glancing at it suspiciously from the side, but the person in question is humming the song quite enjoyably.

“Peek-a-boo! I’ll enchant you so you can’t come to your senses. Peek-a-boo. Yes, be nervous.”

Clap.

I gestured for people to stop.

‘The thirtieth time.’

People bow deeply like they’re giving New Year’s greetings, though hesitantly, then stand up.

And the song continues.

“Peek-a-boo!”

The trail path gradually becomes flatter and easier to walk on.

-‘When the melody ends, the path ends. When you find a small Snake Den in a place without grass, put your hand in it with gratitude for the Mountain Lord’s mercy.’

-‘Your hand must be coated with Salt Water from Well.’

By the time we were singing the final chorus after the second verse, the surrounding scenery had also changed.

The trees that had been dense enough to hit our faces became somewhat sparser, and the whitish fog grew thicker.

Everyone instinctively realized.

‘We’re almost there…!’

People’s faces were stained with tension, anticipation, and alertness.

But as calmly as possible, they sing to the very end.

“Peek-a-boo, yes, be nervous…”

Clap.

Until the last verse.

“Now I’ll approach you.”

The footsteps stopped.

“…”

“…”

The path had ended.

Ahead of the blocked trail path was a wide open clearing.

“Th-there are no trees.”

People’s footsteps quickened. Finally, the result of the ritual was revealed before their eyes in the thick fog.

“Now the Snake Den…!”

A massive reservoir.

“…”

“…”

‘What is this.’

A black, massive waterside where fog endlessly rolls out.

People stopped with expressions of bewilderment and terror.

Faces that showed they didn’t understand what was happening.

“Why, why…”

“Uh, a Snake Den should appear, but uh uh…”

What?

What went wrong?

I looked at the ginseng the Security Chief was holding.

…It was fine.

‘It should have disappeared…?’

Go Seon-ha opened her mouth with a face that had turned pale blue.

“…Water ghost.”

“…!”

The words I heard a few hours ago immediately came to mind.

‘And… be careful of water. Chang-gwi originally used to mean water ghost in the old days…’

“It was a trap! The ritual, the ritual itself was a trap!! Bewitched by the water ghost…!”

“Aaaah!!”

“We were all lured here, to the reservoir…!!”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin screamed and tried to run away backward but fell down. The children whimpered, then screamed and grabbed each other.

I almost collapsed from the chills running up my spine.

It felt like entering a horror movie scene where all the characters are about to die.

“…”

‘Am I going to die like this…’

…No.

No!!

I need to at least understand the reason.

No matter how I think about it, I didn’t make any mistakes within the given information. Including all the investigation records from the I had read!

Rather than fear, the irrationality of not being able to understand dominated my mind.

Go Seon-ha’s terrified shouting buzzed in my ears.

“Turn, turn around and run away. To the abandoned house…!”

…Huh?

Wait a minute.

I turned to look at Go Seon-ha.

“…Do you know something?”

“Pardon?”

“The abandoned house is also a deception.”

“…What?”

“If you think about it, isn’t it strange.”

I spoke slowly.

About the intended contradiction of this ghost story.

“This is a space you entered while being bewitched by Chang-gwi, yet you can regain consciousness in an abandoned house with talismans meant to keep Chang-gwi out.”

“….”

“And that abandoned house even kindly has the ritual for escaping written in it.”

That’s why interpretations of this abandoned house were divided even in the comments section of the wiki, but I was almost certain.

‘This was a ghost story designed to torment people from the beginning.’

Then the intended logic would be this.

“They deliberately trap people in the abandoned house for two weeks to squeeze and weaken their mind and body.”

While giving them the hope of a ritual, they drive people to their limits and make them endure, breaking down their psychological barriers.

“Then it becomes easy to lure them out.”

Most importantly….

“If they can induce mistakes while performing the ritual in that state, it would be perfect, but even if not, it doesn’t matter.”

I looked at Wild Ginseng.

“Conflicts will inevitably arise in the process of choosing a sacrifice, and there will be dropouts. They can definitely ‘take’ at least one sacrifice.”

“….”

“Of course, the ritual would be real. That way people would cling to it more desperately.”

And this is after all.

You can’t put too many convenient false settings in a story. It would break immersion and reduce tension, so the ritual is definitely real.

That’s why I proceeded with the ritual with almost complete confidence, but….

“That’s why it’s even more puzzling.”

I’ve read quite a lot of ghost stories.

At least all the ghost stories that were posted on .

Even the ones that were hard to read became part of the company routine, so I ended up reading them several times.

In that process, I learned some trivia I didn’t know before….

Things like this.

“Peach tree branches are commonly known to ward off ghosts.”

“So what?”

“And plums are fruits that Chang-gwi likes. That’s probably why these two items were needed.”

“…Ah.”

“They lure Chang-gwi to the shrine, and meanwhile the person performing the ritual runs away carrying ghost-repelling incense.”

I raised my head.

“But coincidentally, there’s someone here who seems uncomfortable with the smell of incense made from peach tree branches and reacted as if tempted by plums.”

“….”

Among seven people, the person who deliberately walked next to the Security Chief at the very back.

As if wanting to stay as far away as possible from the incense made from peach tree branches.

“Go Seon-ha.”

I looked at the person in question.

“Are you speaking of your own will right now?”

“…What do you,”

Perhaps.

The real Go Seon-ha had already failed the ritual at the shrine before even meeting us….

“Right now, it’s not Go Seon-ha speaking, but Chang-gwi, isn’t it.”

Stop.

The footsteps halted.

“You found out.”

Go Seon-ha’s mouth split open.

But it’s too late! Too late!

Both arms stretched out grotesquely long, reaching to grab and pull me….

‘Agh!’

I rolled on the ground to avoid the arms.

Behind me, the screams of the manager and children echoed.

“Aaaaah!!”

“Gh, ghost!”

I reflexively pulled out my knife from my front pocket. That’s not completely Chang-gwi! It’s a human possessed by Chang-gwi, so if I can somehow suppress it….

But I realized.

‘I, I can’t charge at that thing!’

To use this short-range weapon, I’d have to get right up to the possessed person’s face! I feel like I’m about to faint right now!

Still, my burning brain immediately found the right person!

“Chief!”

I threw the weapon to the figure behind me.

“Please suppress it!”

Whoosh.

The blood-sucking knife cut through the air.

“…Ah.”

The Security Chief caught the blood-sucking knife I threw, looked it over once, then immediately charged at Chang-gwi.

Hihihik!!

Go Seon-ha’s face and arms twisted as strange and bizarre forms burst out randomly.

Countless arms, faces, hair, and eyes of men, women, young and old looked in all directions.

Excuse me! Excuse me!

“Hiieek!”

“Step back and close your eyes!”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin rolled back onto the mountain path with the kids and crouched down.

Can you hear me? Someone please help!

At that moment, the Security Chief’s appearance also began to distort.

A bizarre form.

His seemingly slender upper body swelled up as if about to burst, becoming massive, and his mouth tore open like a snout with his tongue protruding.

That tongue mercilessly grabbed and snapped Chang-gwi’s long arms.

Aaaaah!

No, it’s a hallucination. The Security Chief has the proper form of a human.

No, he’s still transforming into a monster-like shape….

‘Wow, this is driving me crazy.’

I barely managed to shift my focus.

The reason why the Security Team is so good at suppressing ghost stories.

Yet why they’re not the Field Investigation Team.

It was appearing before my eyes.

======================

[Security Team]

: One of the three teams under the Security Department of Baekillmong Corporation, a massive force appearing in .

Eroded by specific anomalies

Resignation impossible

======================

Do you know this?

If you’re not recognized as human, the collector won’t fill with essence even if you clear a ghost story.

Field Investigation becomes worthless.

So people who have assimilated with ghost stories and become almost monsters are assigned to the security team.

Especially… people contaminated by a certain ghost story that’s violent and has strong territorial psychology,

It hurts! It hurts!

To the Security Team.

For suppressing major problems with ghost stories managed within the company.

‘…And if someone’s made it to team leader there, that person is the same.’

In short, an employee specialized in confronting monsters from ghost stories.

Kyaaaaaaak!

Chang-gwi’s countless arms burst apart from the tongue, claws, and teeth extending from the Security Chief’s muzzle.

Strange forms still writhed on the Security Chief’s face as he bit down on the Blood-sucking Knife.

‘…A wolf?’

Hallucinations of saliva and blood dripping from a muzzle torn wide to show countless teeth overlapped and disappeared.

Dizziness and nausea washed over me like waves, so I hurriedly looked down at the ground.

‘…It’s like having a nightmare.’

I began to realistically and vaguely understand why the Security Team evacuates everyone when suppressing ghost stories in …

Still, for taking such a risky move, things were progressing successfully.

“Keep your eyes closed!”

I also silently endured while looking at the floor.

And the next moment.

-Oh, Noru. That strange guest you brought won!

The situation was over.

When I looked up, I saw Chang-gwi lying with the Blood-sucking Knife pierced through his right hand.

And the Security Chief’s distorted and mutated form gripping that head tightly…

-Ugh, what a lowlife who went all the way. If he’d come as a guest on my show, he wouldn’t have dared perform!

I’d never felt so grateful that only I could hear what Brown was saying.

I forced out a desperately calm voice to the Security Chief who was gripping Go Seon-ha’s head tightly.

“Chief, thank you.”

“Uuuhhh…”

-He says he’s tired. How rude!

You’re scarier for being able to translate those monster sounds…

That’s when it happened.

Some muffled sound came from under the Security Chief’s hand.

A human voice.

“W-wait a minute…”

“…!”

Go Seon-ha, now with a normal face, was desperately groaning and gasping with a terror-stricken expression.

“P-please save me! S-save me…”

Leave this one behind…

“Uh, uhhhhh…”

His eyes rolled back as Chang-gwi’s voice was heard.

Only you should die… Huh? You can die. You killed people. You tried to kill the kids. I know everything? You can die.

Go Seon-ha struggled desperately.

“No, no…”

Just leave this one. Just leave this one. Huh? Huuuuh?!

“Please save me, please save me!! Aaaaah!”

At that moment.

“Right now.”

The Security Chief asked in a human voice.

“You requested emergency rescue from …?”

His face wasn’t visible due to the monster’s form.

But that clear voice was definitely asking Go Seon-ha directly.

“This is an official request at the level of drafting a contract…, right…?”

…Something felt strange.

Go Seon-ha looked up with a dazed expression, then seemed to come to his senses and answered in a desperate voice.

“Right…”

Wait.

“No.”

I gritted my teeth and interrupted.

“This place isn’t company-owned darkness, we didn’t enter to rescue civilians, and most importantly, we helped each other mutually.”

“Huh…? That’s strange…”

The growling voice dropped dangerously low.

“Didn’t this guy try to prevent us from leaving…?”

Huuuuuh.

“…It doesn’t matter. He ended up being helpful.”

I declared firmly.

“Then this is cooperation.”

“…”

The Security Chief stared at me intently.

Then he looked at Go Seon-ha…

“Ah… I see…”

“…”

“That seems right too…”

Slowly.

The Security Chief’s voice lost its strength and returned to its original tone that seemed annoyed with everything.

‘Phew.’

I had intervened because something felt strange, and it seems I was right.

‘It’s best not to get involved with Baekillmong Corporation…’

Even owing a debt to that company? No matter how I think about it, I have a bad feeling about this.

“Hmm… Then what should we do…”

“Wait a moment.”

I approached Manager Lee Byeong-jin, who had been holding the kids and backing away with his eyes closed.

The manager was startled by the sound of my footsteps.

“Hiiiik! Don’t tell me you’re going to use me instead…!”

“The incense burner.”

“Huh…?”

“Please give it to me.”

I took the incense burner that Manager Lee Byeong-jin was still holding.

The incense made from peach tree branches had already burned completely, but the ashes remained intact in the burner.

‘She hated the peach tree branches.’

If that’s the case…

I poured the contents of the incense burner directly around Go Seon-ha’s shoulder area.

Kyaaaaaaaaaak!!

Sizzle.

Even though it shouldn’t have been that hot, the smell of burning and salty scent rose from her shoulder.

I won’t go! I won’t go! I can just cling on again! I can just cling on again… Aaaaaaaak!

I poured it all over her head.

The Chang-gwi possessed body convulsed, then thrashed around wildly…

“Gasp,”

Her eyes snapped open.

Eyes filled with clarity and relief.

It was Go Seon-ha.

“I, I’m okay! I think I’m better…”

“No, you’re not.”

“Excuse me?”

“This is a space you entered while being possessed by Chang-gwi in the first place, so it could come back at any time.”

“Then, then…”

“So, let’s make it so it can’t enter Go Seon-ha at all.”

“…?”

I had brought one more pack of apple juice.

I held out the sealed pack to Go Seon-ha.

“Uh, uhhhh…”

“Just swallow it all down.”

When I insisted, Go Seon-ha looked confused but eventually began gulping down the apple juice while lying down and restrained.

And after a moment.

Thud.

She fell asleep like Wild Ginseng.

Phew.

‘Problem solved for now…’

“You can let go of her now.”

“…”

The Security Chief obediently let go, then asked in a subtle voice.

“By any chance, a department transfer…”

“I won’t do it.”

Please stop.

I thanked the Security Chief once more for returning to human form properly, then gathered up Manager Lee Byeong-jin and the kids who still had their eyes tightly shut.

“You can open your eyes now.”

“Ah…!”

Relief crossed Manager Lee Byeong-jin’s face.

But soon he glanced at the kids and whispered to me with a desperate expression.

“But, but what do we do now?? How on earth will we find a way out…!”

“…”

“The sun will rise soon!”

I looked up at the sky.

Through the hazy fog, it seemed like dim light was shining from somewhere…

…The full moon night was ending.

‘There’s no time to perform the ritual again.’

But…

“It should be fine.”

“…Yes?”

“Because probably half of the ritual succeeded.”

I recalled how the path changed each time I walked while singing, and how the incense burned properly.

‘Everything I prepared was correct.’

Strictly speaking, this ritual has two purposes.

Avoiding Chang-gwi.

Pleading with the Mountain Lord to find an escape route.

“And it seems like the latter worked properly.”

The former failed because there was a Chang-gwi possessed person mixed in among us, so we did end up right at the waterside…

“Perhaps the exit might be somewhere around here too.”

“…!”

We stuck together in the thick fog and began searching the clearing that was a bit away from the waterside and close to the mountain.

Around the point where the trail path we had walked during the ritual ended.

-‘If you find a small snake den in a place without grass, be grateful for the Mountain Lord’s mercy and put your hand in. Your hand must be coated with salt water from the well.’

‘A place without grass…, a place without grass.’

And after a moment.

“I, I found it!”

“…!!”

One of the middle school students discovered a small hole under a tree.

Moonlight was shining down through the fog as if piercing it.

On a hole as black as if India ink had pooled in it.

“…”

Snake den.

I quickly had people put their hands into the salt water. My urgency made me act first, fear and everything else aside.

‘Quickly, quickly.’

Just before sunrise.

We put our hands into the snake den.

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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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