Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 38

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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 038

The first thing I felt was dampness.

Splash.

As I put my salt water-soaked hand into the snake den, I felt a strange coldness as if I had put my hand into india ink.

And then I was sucked in.

“…!”

The suction force that started from my hand soon swallowed my entire body.

‘I, I can’t breathe.’

It felt like wet paper was clinging to my entire body, suffocating me.

In the pitch-black vision and sensation, my sight spun round and round….

“Gasp!”

Thud.

My breath cleared in the cool air.

I opened my eyes.

The night view of a provincial city with neon signs twinkling instead of stars spread out before me.

A Korean autumn night.

‘…I’m alive.’

It was reality.

“Phew.”

I tried to stand up on my trembling legs but almost fell over.

Dark red india ink was seeping out beneath my feet.

“….”

I followed the traces of india ink with my gaze.

There was an ink wash painting drawn on old Korean paper, all smudged and faded.

As if the painting had completely faded away over many years and then fresh india ink had been poured over it, I couldn’t even see a proper form….

‘…That must be one of those crazy paintings that led to that mountain.’

Feeling somehow chilled, I immediately looked away and instead looked at the people sprawled on the ground.

One, two, three, four… seven. Everyone’s here.

It seemed like the painting had spat them out after me.

“Ugh….”

“Are you alright?”

“Urgh… Huh?! Out, outside!!”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin screamed while looking at the air.

“Haha!! We, we’re alive!! We’re alive!!”

Then he turned to look at me with an expression full of joy and tears and bowed his head deeply.

“Th, thank you. For saving us….”

“You saved yourself, Manager. You were the one who performed the ritual, weren’t you.”

“…Haha, well, you’re so modest… I’m embarrassed. Yes.”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin bowed his head deeply with a somehow moved expression.

It was closer to flattery than modesty, but let’s let him misunderstand it positively.

“Huh, huh huh!?”

The middle school students were the next to come to their senses, and while taking care of the kids, I heard an amazing story.

“This is your school trip location?”

“Yes!!”

Come to think of it, this place did match perfectly with the kids’ description of ‘the pavilion behind the lodging mountain.’

‘I guess it spat us all out here.’

…It was fortunate that I didn’t come to my senses in that strange office space in the company basement.

I didn’t stop the kids who were hugging each other with relieved faces, crying and trying to run down immediately, but left them with a word of caution.

“Watch your step. As soon as you get down, meet an adult and then call your parents, okay?”

But the kids seemed scared instead.

“Aren’t you coming with us…??”

Uh… I guess that makes sense?

Whether I’d be misunderstood as a kidnapper or treated as a hero who saved the kids, the company wouldn’t be too happy from the moment I went to the police station….

‘As long as the kids get back safely, that’s enough.’

I slowly shook my head and said.

“The uncles have to go somewhere else. You guys just keep going down from here. Don’t look back.”

You might fall.

“…! Yes.”

The kids somehow became spirited as if they had made a big decision, and carefully went down the mountain together, supporting each other as I had told them.

‘Good.’

Since it was a shallow mountain with well-maintained walking trails anyway, going down would only take 5 minutes.

I was watching the kids safely going down when.

Tap tap.

“Excuse me….”

The Security Chief, who had gotten up early while staggering, tapped my shoulder.

“Take this….”

“Ah.”

The Security Chief held out the wooden stick with the bluish wild ginseng hanging from it.

‘We could have just left it there though.’

Anyway, as I inadvertently took the unconscious wild ginseng, the Security Chief turned around and started walking trudgingly.

“…Where are you going?”

“Company…. I’m still on duty….”

Ah.

‘But this is Gyeongju.’

Wouldn’t your work hours be over by the time you get back up anyway.

I followed him anyway. I had to get to Seoul.

While carrying graduate student Go Seon-ha on my back, who was still sprawled out.

‘Let’s drop her off in front of the police station on the way.’

That’s when it happened.

“Ah, you two are from the Security Team so you have to go back quickly! I, I’ll follow you! Haha! The missing person you were looking for should go too, shouldn’t they? Let’s go together!”

I looked back at Manager Lee Byeong-jin.

His hurried following looked like a sycophant worried about losing his backing.

Hmm, since we’ve escaped too… maybe it’s time to know the truth.

“And uh, after things are settled, I’ll visit your workplace again to pay my respects. Hehe, where does the Security Team work….”

“No.”

“…?”

“Even if you come to the Security Team, you won’t be able to meet me.”

“What?”

“Because I’m from the Field Investigation Team.”

A long silence fell.

“But your, your clothes are Security Team,”

“I borrowed them….”

“…!?”

At the Security Chief’s words, Manager Lee Byeong-jin’s face filled with confusion, but soon he seemed to somehow piece together the situation in his head.

“Ah! Ah! I, I see. Huh? But I’m not familiar with you at all… Don’t you receive administrative support? Ah! Are you perhaps a special team or something? That’s why you’re wearing the security uniform….”

“I’m a new employee.”

“…?”

“I’m a new employee from Team D.”

“…???”

What happened after that was handled quite quickly.

Manager Lee Byeong-jin kept shouting “lies” until he returned to the Company from Gyeongju, but eventually came to the Company, checked my personnel documents, and became dazed again.

And naturally, he switched his attitude… well, not exactly.

‘Why though.’

I expected him to look down on me immediately as a Field Investigation Team newbie, but surprisingly he acted politely and kept watching my reactions.

Though he did try to act bold and speak casually.

“Hey, Soleum, did you hear? About those kids and the graduate student. Seems like they made it back safely.”

A few days later, the manager told us that the people who escaped with us had been registered as Civilian Survivors with .

He also hinted that they probably received a pretty decent amount as information provision fees.

“In some sense, you could really say their fortune opened up, which is quite ironic. Right? That’s what life is like.”

And that irony came to me as well.

“Anyway, now Soleum just needs to trust me completely!”

“…Um, yes.”

“Hahaha!”

Manager Lee Byeong-jin processed the manual review with lightning speed.

…Only mine.

‘Is it okay for him to act like this after showing up following a week of unauthorized absence?’

Anyway, it was good news for me.

The scroll rod, which was the passage for the ‘Mountain Lord’ ghost story, was quickly collected into the darkness under , and in that process, my solo Escape Method was accepted as a manual again.

Moreover, the pending manual revision review from when I applied to Team A also passed at breakneck speed.

So the amount deposited in my account was….

“….”

‘This is insane.’

A hand-trembling amount had been deposited.

With two pieces of darkness passing review, an unimaginable amount appeared in my banking app.

Since it wasn’t officially assigned work, I didn’t get points and received money as a second-best option, but when the amount reached this level, it was enough to make my head spin.

‘When the manual review person in charge is this friendly, shouldn’t I somehow tackle many new darkness areas…?’

But voluntarily meeting various ghosts and monsters and wandering around alone was something I couldn’t bring myself to do, so for now….

‘I should spend this 100 million well.’

Where should I spend it to be able to say I spent it well.

Well, 30% of this already had a designated use.

The starting point of all this suffering.

“Congratulations, Brown.”

-Ohhh!

Blood Bathtub – ₩29,999,999

₩29,999,999

Purchase ready.

Fortunately, the Blood Bathtub was still safely available in the Alien Shop, and I could keep the promise I made to the moving Stuffed Doll.

‘I wonder if this will also come by delivery.’

Thinking of the Post Office delivery box that was suddenly spat out from thin air made me slightly stunned.

As far as I know, the Blood Bathtub is… about the size of an installation-type bathtub with four legs that you’d put in a fairly large house.

The legs are even decorated with gold leaf making it fancy, and that’s supposed to drop into this one-room apartment-sized Company Housing personal room?

‘…Should I order it from the bathroom?’

F-for now, I decided to push the bed and desk in the room to secure some space, and try pressing the order button here. The bathroom doesn’t have enough space.

“…Alright. I’m ordering now.”

-How exciting! My heart is pounding.

While talking to a Stuffed Doll that probably doesn’t even have a heart to pound in a room with just one flashlight on, I finally clicked the ‘order’ button.

Rip.

Like the past few times, space tore open. Tension rises.

But the torn space is… smaller than expected?

Thud.

It spat out a delivery.

The delivery is also… small…?

“…?”

I opened the Post Office delivery that was less than 1/4 of the expected size.

A product box was visible.

[Youth Bathtub – Foot Massage Edition]

“….”

No wonder it was cheap.

Come to think of it, since these came from home shopping ghost stories, various editions and versions seemed to be recorded too…

Except for a few specific cases, there aren’t really significant differences, just detail variations for fun.

‘But I never dreamed there would be something like a foot bath version.’

It seems to be a special edition with sparkling gold foil stickers and even a warranty card.

[10-year free A/S]

Really meaningless…

‘As if anyone would apply for A/S.’

But anyway, I tried opening it.

There are no records in of automatically having blood drawn just from touching the Blood Bathtub.

When I unwrapped the angular box like regular electronics, I could see an item covered in expensive packaging materials like expensive brands do to show off luxury.

And when I removed the packaging materials, it finally revealed itself.

‘…Youth Bathtub.’

Also known as the Blood Bathtub.

It was a glossy black and white checkered bathtub that seemed to be made of sparkling ceramic.

The entire bathtub curved elegantly, and golden cat paw-shaped legs easily supported the bathtub from all sides.

It did have quite a nice appearance.

‘…Except for the fact that it’s a foot bath.’

However, someone with the perfect size for the bathtub seemed extremely excited.

-Noru! Please put me in there! Along with the bath additive….

Wait, if it’s a bath additive for the blood bathtub….

“…You want my blood?”

-That’s right! You’re very perceptive, Noru.

This is insane.

For a moment I debated between persuasion and running away,

Good Friend

“….”

Good Friend

But what about when there’s an audience and camera?

However, I didn’t voice that thought. The one who needs something should swallow their words.

But I couldn’t hold back one comment.

“I’d prefer if you didn’t make jokes like that. It’s not funny, it’s scary.”

-Oh my, understood. Humor is greatly influenced by culture, so it must always be handled with care!

Is this what you call handling it with care…?

-Anyway, getting back to the main point… isn’t there already something more suitable to use as a bath additive in this space?

-Oh, let’s see if our Noru can figure it out!

There’s something like that in the company housing?

I turned my head.

‘Surely it’s not referring to Baek Sa-heon who lives in the adjacent room….’

It can’t be. It shouldn’t be.

Setting that aside for now… there was one thing that caught my eye.

I pointed with a reluctant expression at something that had occupied a corner of the dormitory desk for the past few days.

“…This wild ginseng?”

-Excellent!

That’s right.

That corrupted purple wild ginseng-like thing I had inadvertently brought back from the ‘Mountain Lord’ ghost story.

‘Should I call it essence, it definitely seemed like blood-like fluid was flowing through it.’

However, this wild ginseng had remained just like ordinary wild ginseng for days, only purple in color.

I had planned to feed it a whole glass of apple juice once it woke up, and if I couldn’t handle it, just donate it to the company, but surprisingly it never woke up.

‘I felt like such a fool staying completely alert until sunrise that day….’

Brown had commented on this as well.

-It doesn’t seem like it will wake up anytime soon. Isn’t it true that weak creatures play dead when they sense a threat?

I interpreted it as being due to being dragged from that Chang-gwi’s space called the ‘Mountain Lord’s Burial Ground’ into the real world.

Good Friend

And no problems had occurred so far.

Anyway, so they want me to use this wild ginseng.

‘Hmm, that might be worth trying.’

If no ghost possessed it, it would just be handling juicy ginseng.

Besides… honestly, I was curious to see the blood bathtub in operation.

‘It is fascinating.’

I had my curiosity too. That’s probably why I’d been browsing ghost story wikis during breaks at work….

There aren’t many ghost stories I can safely observe even through images.

I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity where it would operate with plant juice instead of blood.

-Ooh!

I brought rubber gloves and scissors from the kitchen.

A low, excited voice came from the Monster Under the Bed stuffed doll.

-Now please put me in the bathtub!

“Wait a moment.”

I had something to say first.

“This bathtub has rejuvenation effects, but do you need rejuvenation? Hmm… you look young enough already.”

I wanted to point out whether such concepts even applied to dolls, but I held back.

However, the stuffed doll laughed cheerfully. It was a clean sound like recorded sound effects from a show.

Good Friend

-‘Rejuvenation’ means… I see. In Chinese character cultural spheres, it means ‘spring returning.’ So strictly speaking, it means ‘regaining one’s prime abilities.’

-Strangely, my body feels heavy and it’s hard to maintain balance right now, so it’s exactly the effect I need!

But… you’re a cotton doll.

Moreover, the manual says it’s effective for ‘wound healing, fatigue recovery, arthritis treatment, skin beauty enhancement, etc.’

‘…I don’t know.’

If it’s going that far to explain.

In the Good Friend ghost story, there weren’t any cases in the where treating stuffed dolls well and giving them power resulted in harm.

Disasters happened when they were treated roughly.

I decided to stop before my thoughts went deeper. It’s unnecessarily scary.

Instead, I put on rubber gloves and held scissors in one hand and the wild ginseng in the other.

‘Let’s try it.’

And I reached toward the blood bathtub.

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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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