Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 49

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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 049

The light green magic potion flows into Go Young-eun’s mouth.

Gulp. Gulp.

The water disappears, and when the glass bottle is completely empty.

“…!”

Go Young-eun sets the bottle down.

With eyes wide open, both hands move toward her ears….

And within her trembling hands.

Like new flesh sprouting from a wound, round lumps of flesh grow where Go Young-eun’s ears had been torn away.

And they take shape in an instant.

The ear helix, earlobe, and ear cartilage reveal distinct forms based on cartilage, and then….

They become complete.

“….”

“Wow, woooow…!!”

My goodness.

“Go Young-eun?”

“Yes!! Ah! I can hear! This, this actually worked….”

Go Young-eun touches her newly grown ears and cries out in disbelief, then turns on her smartphone and starts examining her ears with the camera app.

Naturally, they look exactly like her original ears.

“Does it hurt at all?”

“Not at all! It was just a bit itchy but then it got better… Wow, no, it actually seems like I can hear better than before?!”

It was a very good thing.

Really, truly amazing and even awe-inspiring, and such a fortunate thing, but….

‘…This might lead to more reckless choices.’

This company sometimes provides low-grade regeneration potions as supplies when the manual determines that certain high-level darkness clears inevitably involve critical bodily damage.

And once you get used to that?

Employees gradually become indifferent to losing body parts.

The first time is hard, but from the second time it’s easy.

‘Is that really a good thing?’

I looked to the side with a strange feeling.

Baek Sa-heon was looking into his ornate box containing the regeneration potion with a somewhat dark expression….

With one eye.

“…Um. Baek Sa-heon.”

“….”

Go Young-eun hesitates before carefully speaking up.

“If one eye is uncomfortable, the impact is bigger than you’d think. Depth perception, field of vision, and even balance are affected, so even if it’s precious, it might be better to use it for regeneration.”

“Mind your own business.”

Go Young-eun almost made a ‘what kind of bastard is this’ expression, but perhaps feeling relieved that her ears had grown back, she chose to ignore him.

I hesitated before adding.

“Since work is dangerous, more bodily damage could occur. Saving it for emergencies doesn’t seem like a bad decision either.”

“Ah… That’s true too.”

“…!”

Baek Sa-heon’s pupils suddenly trembled as he looked seriously into the box.

‘Hey.’

Why did you get that ‘should I just use it now’ expression when I sided with you?

Anyway, I also ignored him and carefully stored the box.

My heart was beating a little fast.

This was the first time I’d seen such a famous, powerful, and non-frightening symbolic item in person.

The symbol of Daydream Corporation.

The magic potion.

‘Let’s store this well.’

That’s when it happened.

“Um, Sol-eum.”

“Yes?”

“I was going to tell you anyway… I really want to formally thank you right now.”

Go Young-eun looks at me and bows her head.

“Really, really… thank you.”

Huh?

“Back then, you faced that machine alone and let us escape.”

“…Go Young-eun, you weren’t in a dangerous situation to begin with.”

You’d already had your ears taken so you didn’t need to pay the fee. Wasn’t it really only Baek Sa-heon that I saved?

‘And that rude bastard never even thanked me once….’

What a character-deficient guy.

However, Go Young-eun firmly shook her head.

“No. You came back to save us afterward. Even lying that the candle was ours.”

“….”

“No matter how I think about it, there was absolutely no need for that. You could have just gone with Team D.”

“Hmm.”

But there was a need….

‘Give the candle to those daredevils?’

Oh? This secured our safety? Okay. Then let’s try this and that too. Let’s put it in manual review and extract some points.

I could only imagine them making such statements while doing all sorts of things, and me collapsing from a heart attack while chasing after them from behind.

I didn’t risk the terror of wandering that crazy exhibition hall alone looking for them for nothing.

There was a greater terror waiting behind…!

‘And… if I can save someone, that’s the right thing to do.’

I just did what I could manage.

So I just shook my head.

“That was something anyone would have done.”

“Are you serious? I don’t think so….”

“Actually, considering contributions alone, you two should be getting promoted too, so I feel a bit sorry that only I’m getting promoted.”

Go Young-eun became serious.

“Ah, no. I… don’t want to get promoted yet.”

“….”

“Ah, of course you’ll do well, Sol-eum!”

I’m suddenly about to cry….

“But why do you think we should get promoted? All the items and everything at the exhibition came from Kim Sol-eum’s pocket… you remember that, right?”

Go Young-eun looked at me with pitying eyes for some reason.

“Hmm. In company life, if you seem too nice, people look down on you, so you don’t need to speak so well of others….”

Huh?

No matter how I look at it, she seems to be viewing me too favorably due to the life-saver effect… but remembering the silver heart, I just bowed my head.

Let’s be nice!

“…Thank you for the advice.”

Baek Sa-heon looked back and forth between Go Young-eun and me with an incredulous expression but kept his mouth shut.

Then he stood up and left without even saying goodbye.

Well. Let’s leave him be.

I exchanged polite farewells with Go Young-eun again and turned around.

And I thought.

‘Silver heart, when should I start wearing it.’

Should I only do it when entering missions.

I rolled the badge in my pocket with my fingers, making various plans.

Then, from the other end of the corridor, a now-familiar figure walks over….

A white lizard head.

“Team Leader.”

“Kim Sol-eum.”

It seemed like he had been talking with the team manager while I was receiving my commendation.

Now even those vertical pupils feel somewhat friendly.

‘Is this also the benefactor effect.’

I fell silent for a moment, recalling the lizard’s tremendous knuckle strike that split the guide machine’s needle in half.

Then, the lizard’s vertical pupils turned toward the empty regeneration potion bottle and box.

“Did you use it?”

“Huh? Ah. It’s not mine. My colleague here… Employee Go Young-eun used it.”

“Hello, Manager! I’m Go Young-eun!”

Go Young-eun bowed her head toward the unfamiliar lizard… no, the other team’s manager.

The lizard looked at Go Young-eun with its lidless eyes.

“I have a question.”

“Y-yes.”

“Are you the owner of the escape item?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Three days ago in the B-grade darkness in exhibition form, did you possess a candle-shaped cognitive disruption item?”

Ah.

“Ah… um. Something like that….”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

When Go Young-eun made eye contact with me, she grasped the situation and trailed off, but tactfully didn’t deny it.

But she seemed to think she should leave quickly.

“Yes. Then I’ll be going now.”

With that polite farewell, she quietly disappeared first in the opposite direction down the corridor.

‘Good judgment….’

I sighed in relief and took out a water bottle from my bag, taking a sip….

“Kim Sol-eum.”

“Yes?”

“Please refrain from repeated lying.”

I almost spat it out through my nose.

“The more frequently you mention it, the less effective it becomes.”

“….”

When did he notice?

But first I bowed my head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yes.”

“I thought it would be difficult to convince someone to waste precious escape time unless my colleague had an escape item.”

“Yes.”

To say he was answering curtly because he was pissed off….

‘His voice is calm though.’

So this is just how this person, no, lizard originally is.

I cautiously raised my head.

Surprisingly, the lizard was… smiling slightly!

“All humans lie.”

“….”

“What matters is the purpose and result of the action.”

It was a statement that felt almost philosophical.

‘…So since I lied with good intentions and the result was also good, it doesn’t really matter?’

“….”

Whatever, I don’t know.

“Still, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Yes.”

That ended the conversation.

Lizard Team Leader returned to being an indifferent reptile with vertical pupils.

‘I thought his personality was somehow different from ordinary people too….’

I felt that more deeply now. In a good way too.

I picked up the regeneration potion box I received as a commendation from the chair.

Friend

Just then, Brown in my pocket spoke to me.

When doing office work at the company, we agreed to refrain from chatting with each other so I wouldn’t get caught having ‘Good Friend’… but since the timing was right, should I ask once.

I slightly pulled the stuffed doll out to hang from my pocket.

‘Brown. About the employee standing next to me right now.’

-Ah, you mean Noru’s tall superior?

‘Yeah. What does he look like to you?’

-Oho.

After a brief silence as if examining closely.

-Eyes, nose, mouth, even auditory organs are all perfectly intact!

‘…As a lizard?’

-Lizard? Haha, Noru, you know how to make mischievous comparisons too. Who are you trying to tease? Even so, calling someone a lizard!

“….”

Brown doesn’t see him as a lizard either?

Don’t tell me… am I really the only one who sees him as a lizard?

“Kim Sol-eum.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

I decided again. From now on, I won’t even mention the ‘L’ in lizard.

“We’re moving.”

Manager Lee Ja-heon started walking toward the elevator.

I followed the lizard while pretending to be nonchalant and asked.

“Should we return to the office?”

“No.”

Hm?

“…Then where are we going?”

“A restricted area that opens access from team leader level and above.”

“…!”

“I will explain how to use them.”

Here it comes.

In this company, the higher an employee’s rank, the more various privileges they gain.

These were benefits, abilities, and access to places.

“With Kim Sol-eum’s promotion to team leader, you have been granted additional access to three facilities.”

In front of the annex building, I received a file folder from Manager Lee Ja-heon.

1. Security Team Rental Warehouse

2. Annex Building (Free equipment crafting twice per year)

3. Fox Counseling Room

“From now on, Kim Sol-eum can withdraw weapons from the Security Team Rental Warehouse.”

“….”

“You can customize exclusive equipment using twilight-grade darkness in the annex building without senior supervision, and register for the Fox Counseling Room when necessary.”

Benefits I already knew about.

And several spaces I didn’t know about but had information on through were now open.

A slight sense of achievement and thrill.

And anticipation.

‘More methods I can use to survive in this insane world…!’

But everything has two sides.

Better treatment means they want something more from the employee.

In this company’s case…

‘Danger.’

Befitting a company that deals with ghost stories, things only accessible to high ranks usually meant they contained the potential to become dangerously beyond what civilians could handle.

Like this.

“Additionally, team leaders in the Field Investigation Team are assigned one darkness to manage.”

“….”

Right.

Apart from the team, I would have one ghost story that I had to directly manage!

“Usually even when individuals are assigned responsibility, the team manages them jointly, but primary responsibility lies with the employee themselves.”

Distributing responsibility to field workers.

Such a corporate move. I’m getting a familiar taste of 21st century office life here…

According to Team Leader Lee Ja-heon, as years of service accumulate and rank increases, the assigned darkness becomes more numerous and dangerous.

At least it was fortunate that I was a new employee.

“Since Kim Sol-eum is a team leader with less than one year of service, you’ll be assigned F-grade.”

Phew.

“Manage according to schedule, then register any unusual circumstances on the checklist.”

“Yes.”

Anyway, in a situation where I had to do what I was told, I decided to offer meaningful prayers instead of meaninglessly whining and wasting energy.

‘Please! Please! Let me be assigned a normal low-grade darkness!’

If something like Tuesday Quiz Show comes up, I’d rather just quit and prepare for the Disaster Management Agency exam!

But then I heard something surprising.

“You’re letting me choose?”

“Yes.”

Manager Lee Ja-heon would show me several candidates and let me choose from among them!

“Is that normally how it works?”

“No.”

Lizard stared at me intently.

“It’s my authority.”

…?!

So, he was using his authority to flexibly create options for me… was that it?

That lizard?

“Thank you so much for your consideration. But… may I ask why you’re doing this for me?”

“It’s a reward.”

“Pardon?”

“A reward for finding the correct escape route in the B-grade ghost story and guiding all of Team D to return without injury.”

“…You also saved my life from the guide machine, Team Leader.”

“That’s a matter of responsibility.”

Lizard said matter-of-factly.

“Team leaders have an obligation to take responsibility for their members within their capabilities.”

“….”

Hey, he’s a good boss… isn’t he.

‘I almost got touched for a moment.’

If I had really been a new graduate, I would have postponed my resignation decision for a month.

So this was why Deputy Eun Ha-je and Team Leader Park Min-seong tried to see the team leader’s work in a positive light while chuckling.

Even I felt like I should do well.

“…Thank you anyway.”

“Yes.”

I bowed my head, then headed to the F-grade darkness containment room that Lizard was guiding me to.

It was an unexpectedly very good situation.

‘If I do well, I might actually benefit from this.’

was a wiki.

What that meant was, since various creators freely made content while following the rules, each might have slightly different standards for grades.

‘Even among F-grades, some could have very good utility.’

If only I knew the proper way to handle them.

And through , I already knew those methods.

If it was darkness recorded there.

“Here are three F-grade darkness items.”

I raised my head.

Before my eyes, I could see three objects…

An old teddy bear.

Two black cards.

A model airplane.

“…!”

‘I know all three.’

It was a jackpot.

-Ah, what an old and ugly doll.

Meanwhile, Brown spoke in a somewhat displeased voice. Was it being wary of the doll due to the influence of ‘Good Friend’?

-Anyway, the time for choice has come, Noru!

I pondered.

And reached out his hand.

“I will take charge of this Darkness.”

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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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