Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 378

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Even If You Fall Into Ghost Stories, You Still Have to Go to Work — Chapter 378
I thought I’d misread the situation.
But no matter how many times I looked again, nothing changed.
The “mentally unhinged person” left at Team Y’s lodging, Y491… was Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol.
She lay sprawled on the floor in grimy work clothes, her condition utterly wretched.
‘What on earth happened here?’
I instinctively lowered my body and began to examine the person before me more carefully.
‘…The more I look, the worse it gets.’
The more I studied her, the deeper my groans became.
I recalled the Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol I’d met as a new employee.
Remembering how impeccably groomed she’d been, so refined you’d think not a drop of blood flowed through her—seeing her now with tangled hair, looking like a wreck or a vagrant, was almost terrifying.
And those broken fingernails, the scars, the calluses covering her hands.
‘Where the specialized equipment was…’
The place where those elegant, perfectly maintained nail parts had been—the mark of someone with formidable power—was now wretched. The contrast left me speechless.
And then… her eyes.
‘…They have no focus.’
Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol looked as though she’d lost all reason, or as if possessed by a spirit.
Collapsed there like someone whose soul had fled, muttering unintelligibly in her mouth.
“…….”
Why on earth would a Deputy Manager from the headquarters Elite Team be here in this state?
In a place where they trap debtors and gamblers to put them to work?
‘It doesn’t feel right to call this contamination…’
Even when I recalled the records in the Darkness Investigation Records where Jin Na-sol had appeared, there was no specific description of what became of her.
But she wouldn’t have washed up here if she’d been left contaminated. She’d have been funneled to Security instead, or gone missing in the Darkness entirely.
‘Something’s off.’
I deliberated.
And I decided to try the most intuitive method available, carefully.
Lowering my voice to avoid any surveillance, I whispered very quietly.
…….
“Butterfly Deputy.”
In that instant.
Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol’s eyes gleamed.
“……!”
Her eyes, which had been narrowly open like they were before, began convulsing rapidly as though trying to process her situation, then she jerked her head toward me.
Her mouth fell open, and a rough, raspy voice emerged.
“…Noru?”
“…!”
She recognizes me.
“You… what are you doing here?”
That’s what I’d like to know.
“Are… are you alright, sir?”
“Does this look alright to you?”
There was no sharp, cutting annoyance in Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol’s voice like before, but that wasn’t a good sign either.
It was a voice that sounded hollow, empty.
‘But she does recognize me…’
In this bewildering situation, if there was one advantage, it was that I appeared as Kim Sol-eum himself, not inhabiting someone else’s body.
Apparently my identity and appearance remained the same this time too.
Seeing the face of someone she knew seemed to be helping sharpen Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol’s thoughts, though…
“Please, at least sit up…”
“…….”
Jin Na-sol’s reaction faded.
The sharp gleam that had kindled in her eyes dimmed.
And then.
“Painkillers.”
“What?”
“Do you have painkillers.”
A hollow voice came forth.
‘Painkillers?’
“Ah, I don’t have any… but if we go to the medical room, they might give us some…”
“Quiet.”
“…….”
Is she in pain right now?
I hesitated, then pulled out one of the remaining items I’d brought with me.
“Um, well… this?”
A beer can.
Alcohol did serve as a primitive painkiller, after all.
I’d deliberately chosen something with decent alcohol content to fulfill the role of “liquor.” I held it out to Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol.
“How do you feel about…”
Thunk.
Her hand snapped out with terrifying brutality, snatching the beer away.
“…!”
Her other hand cracked open the can, then she nearly shoved it straight into her mouth, pouring the beer down.
Glug.
The fingers gripping the can crushed the aluminum as though she meant to tear straight through it.
Gulp, gulp…
“…….”
Exhale.
The empty can fell from Jin Na-sol’s hands onto the floor as she caught her breath.
Clang.
“I wasn’t planning to drink.”
She pushed herself up.
Though her eyes had grown a touch clouded, her voice was far steadier than when she’d seemed out of her mind just moments before.
“It helps a bit.”
I nearly recoiled reflexively.
I barely held my ground.
“Oh, thank goodness…”
When I deliberately answered with a hint of hesitation, her expression darkened.
“Why do you talk like that?”
But then a harsh, mocking laugh caught sharply at her lips.
“Though I’m hardly in a position to say much.”
“…….”
I shook my head slightly.
“Um… I’m not sure who you are, but if you’re feeling…”
“There’s no surveillance.”
……!
“I… I don’t know what you mean…”
“They keep the audio on in all these vermin’s rooms if they really cared, but the data costs would be ridiculous. So they toggle it on and off—and it’s off now.”
Like a rusted mechanism slowly restarting, Jin Na-sol’s words came out dully at first, then gradually creaked back toward their usual rational tone.
Finally, she pressed her forehead and gestured.
“Over by the door. When it kicks on, it makes this high-pitched screech—annoying as hell.”
…So if the audio surveillance activated, there’d be an ultrasonic machine noise, like a high-frequency sound.
“So… there’s no… beeping sound right now…?”
“Right. Don’t make me repeat myself. It’s annoying.”
…….
“Understood.”
“…!”
I answered as a Team Leader should.
“Even with audio surveillance off, the CCTV for monitoring workers is definitely still rolling, so I’ll speak carefully.”
And I looked at her.
Surprisingly, Jin Na-sol averted her eyes, looking to the side.
“Deputy. I woke up to find myself hired as a worker here. So I’m trying to understand the situation, but now I see you’re here too.”
“…….”
“Why are you here?”
“What difference would it make if you knew?”
“What exactly happened?”
“Knowing wouldn’t change what you can do about it, so why ask?”
“Because we might be able to help each other.”
“Ha, coming in this far and yet—”
Her mocking tone suddenly cut short, and she looked at me directly.
As if recalling something anew.
“You were the top new hire.”
“Yes.”
And I also got promoted in record time.
“…….”
“I came back to my senses two days ago.”
I pointed to the tag on my neck.
Z999.
“That’s what I was then.”
“You…….”
“And now I’m Y492.”
“…!”
In just two days, I’d jumped from the very last number, skipping entire teams and moving to an earlier designation.
“…….”
I felt her gaze measuring me.
Jin Na-sol’s eyes sharpened slightly, then she nodded.
“…Alright.”
It seemed to be tacit acceptance.
Her voice became more measured, her demeanor composed.
Eventually, Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol began to brief me.
“But why you’re here isn’t my business. My situation has nothing to do with you.”
“Understood.”
I wasn’t expecting much anyway.
“What else do you want to know?”
“What’s the deal with this branch office?”
“Why it’s full of nothing but disposable trash?”
A bitter smile played at her lips.
“If you paid attention, you’d see—this is designed as a place where workers are use-once-and-dispose. The headquarters grabs anyone desperate for quick points and sends them here as management. That’s what this ‘remote work allowance’ is.”
“…!”
“That’s the whole game.”
If the management here earns points quickly…
“Then the workers’ arm bands must have dream essence collectors, I assume.”
“Sharp as ever. Yeah. The dream essence collected goes straight to the manager’s pocket. Then they skim off commission as it moves up the line.”
A multi-level scheme, in other words.
‘That researcher’s kid doing the announcements must’ve raked in points beyond what field investigators normally get…’
“And there’s no salary.”
Wow.
‘So it’s binary choice—points or money.’
I rubbed my temples.
Then something came back to me.
—New Employee Kim Sol-eum, did you happen to get a business card or anything?
The card I’d received back during my orientation after the employment test at Daydream.
Gwak Je-gang’s voice echoes in my mind.
—If you want to earn points faster, reach out to that number.
‘…Surely not.’
So that business card was the gateway to the branch assignment…!
‘That’s genuinely terrifying.’
So the route to falling here had been open from that point on.
I think I’d suspected this once before, but this unwelcome prediction had just been confirmed…
Of course, becoming someone who uses workers as consumables rather than being a worker myself would put me in an entirely different position.
Still, the reputation that the branch was hell squared with the working conditions.
But…
‘Which makes Jin Na-sol being here even stranger.’
Shouldn’t she be here as higher management, grinding through workers?
‘Was there some special incident?’
Well, there was one…
…….
‘Wait.’
There actually was something.
“…Could the Deputy’s presence here be connected to Director Ho’s disappearance?”
“…!!”
Ho Yu-won.
The spiritual being of Segwang Special City.
I recalled the Fox Counseling Office with its “Extended Closure” notice. That counselor working through lengthy consultation schedules with all her clients.
‘But from the Daydream Corporation’s perspective… Director Ho just vanished that very day.’
And the Elite Team A, where Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol belonged… was Director Ho’s faction!
Entire departments had been requisitioned for the Director’s project.
“So if the Director’s project disappeared, did it cause some internal fallout…”
“Stop.”
“…!”
“I told you not to ask about things unrelated to your situation. Aren’t you listening?”
She’s caught.
‘Looking at this oversensitive reaction, I’ve hit a nerve…!’
Watching Jin Na-sol’s menacing gaze fixed on me, I straightened my posture and planted my feet firmly.
She’d barely regained her senses—no point irritating her now. If this line of questioning was getting too difficult, I’d switch tactics.
Something I’d wanted to know all along.
“Then, how long has it been since Director Ho disappeared?”
“What?”
“I’m asking about the timeframe.”
Ho Yu-won and I must have vanished around the same time.
How much time had passed here since I disappeared?
Her mouth slowly opened.
…….
“Three years.”
What?
“Yeah. About that long.”
Hold on.
Three years?
‘I spent a year at home…’
Meanwhile, several years have passed here?
My head spins.
‘So right now…’
How much has really changed?
A year and three years feel different. How much time is left before this Darkness Investigation Records world collapses? What state are the others in—could something have happened to them…?
‘No.’
There’s no way to answer that question right now anyway. Don’t let panic set in. I took a deep breath.
‘One thing’s for certain though.’
Even in this state, she’s probably the most capable darkness investigator here.
Looking at this former superior who’d lost all her equipment and position, I finally said this.
“I’m getting out of here in fourteen days.”
“…….”
“I still have confidence that I can do it.”
What this person still has is experience.
Experience investigating the Darkness.
“I don’t know what your wish is, but besides Daydream Potions, we can look for other methods. Daydream isn’t the only group dealing with supernatural phenomena.”
That wasn’t just persuasion—it was fact.
“How about we make it our goal to get out of here first, then find another way?”
“…….”
“Until we do, I’d like us to work as a team.”
I waited.
Jin Na-sol looked at the floor for a moment, then finally lifted her head.
“Try it.”
Her eye light had returned.

* * *
When Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol emerged from the bathroom, she’d cleaned up completely.
The wrinkles in her shabby work clothes had been pressed out, her outfit straightened.
And the tangled hair that had hung past her shoulders was now completely gone.
“…!”
“It was a hassle.”
Through the short bob cut so sharp it barely brushed her chin, her eyes were menacing and keen.
“What are you staring at?”
“…I was just thinking, you still had that clean look when you work.”
“Ha.”
Jin Na-sol scoffed, though she wasn’t angry.
Click.
And in that moment, the break room door swung open.
“…So how the hell is a single cigarette five thousand won?”
“Tell me about it. This company’s so stingy they’re pulling con jobs… huh?”
Team Y’s 490-numbered workers were flooding into the room.
And one middle-aged man, who’d been loudly bluffing, narrowed his eyes at the sight of Jin Na-sol and started pointing.
“Hey, wait. This asshole’s finally back to normal…”
“Hey.”
Ah.
“Don’t speak. It’s loud.”
“What… what?”
“Why.”
Jin Na-sol, rubbing the space between her brows, strode toward the man.
“W-wait, she was just muttering to herself, and now she’s really lost…”
“Didn’t you hear me the first time?”
“What… gah, gah…!”
I watch in alarm as Jin Na-sol strangles a Team Y worker’s throat.
Right. This was her temperament…!
Under her shabby work clothes, her arms showed muscle and veins. She looked like a wreck, but that viciousness was still intact—no, wait, that’s not the point!
I hurried to stop her.
“Wait, stop! Don’t burn calories. The alcohol wears off! Please stop…!”
“…….”
Thump.
Fortunately, Jin Na-sol dropped the Team Y worker to the floor.
Though she’d thrown him, not just released him.
“From now on, shut your mouth. Breathe quietly too. Got it?”
“G-g-g-ggg…”
“If you’re loud again, I’ll rip your tongue out.”
She looked genuinely mad.
These workers, with their strong-weak-weak-strong rhythm, glanced nervously at Jin Na-sol’s uncommon demeanor and threatening presence, then instead of fighting back, they quietly slipped into the room.
They chose to run rather than fight.
…Huh?
‘Wait, could this actually prevent unnecessary trouble…?’
Once they went inside, I threw in some lines for them to hear.
“Um, hey, getting hit hurts, so… you can’t hit them…”
“You’re annoying. Cut the act.”
“…….”
Yes.
So that’s how I reset my position.
Specifically as the mad thug’s lackey.
‘This works…’
Might be convenient…!
“So, um, should I go get painkillers from the medical room…?”
Silence.
Soon a flat voice emerges.
“No money.”
“…….”
How on earth had she been surviving…
“I’ll… lend it to you…”
“Fine.”
And so I headed for the medical room of my own accord…
Yes.
Earlier I’d refused to get treatment from the researcher, insisting I wouldn’t go, but now I had a reason to volunteer, and it felt good…
Anyone watching would think I was being shaken down.
‘Let me prepare while I’m at it.’
Actually, there was no need to think about how to resell anything.
[Medical Room]
When I walked in, it was self-service…
All the medicines came from a vending machine.
‘Daydream lunatics…’
Anyway, I bought the painkillers.
I also purchased some spare first aid supplies for myself and a few clichéd medical items useful as supernatural triggers or tools.
The price was horrible.
‘210,000 won…?!’
This place was like a dystopian nation without health insurance. I swallowed hard and handed over the money with trembling hands.
Still, my mind was clear.
As I walked down the corridor back to Team Y’s room, I organized my thoughts.
‘Got a room change, and now I have a teammate of sorts.’
What darkness would I be sent into next?
‘After the wooden doll, what would the researcher have chosen?’
I had a feeling they wouldn’t give me something totally unmanageable. If they wanted to test my luck “stably” instead of with reckless optimism, they’d have made a long-term plan.
‘This time, there’s a good chance I’ll be sent somewhere with relatively low risk.’
And I think that was quite a reasonable prediction.
…if not for this one variable.
[Tonight there will be special night work.]
[X100-numbered group, Y400-numbered group, Z900-numbered group—all workers will begin movement to the work site.]
“Huh?”
“What? Why are they all going to the same place?”
That night.
We workers were all simultaneously deployed into a single ghost story.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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