Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 62

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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 062

[Everyone, what kind of game is ‘Hangman’?]

[That’s right! It’s an educational game where you guess the spelling of words! If the alphabet you shout is included in this word, it’s correct! If not, wrong!]

[And to help you learn this game in a more study-friendly way, we’ll give you various hints.]

The deputy manager hanging in the air.

In contrast, the TV’s pastel colors and bright voice assault my ears.

[Shall we begin?]

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je hanging in the air breaks out in cold sweat and smiles bitterly.

“We all know this already, but the introduction is long. Don’t you think?”

The true B-grade nature of this ghost story lies in the hellish hours leading up to near-death, caused by mental breakdown and the psychological pressure and pain that drains one’s blood.

…It’s like this.

It’s true that the victim selected as the hangman essentially receives a death sentence.

But during the actual ‘game,’ they’re temporarily alive.

And this victim…

[This round’s word is one word that best describes Teacher Eun Ha-je!]

[Let’s all guess together what kind of person Teacher Eun Ha-je is!]

Gets mercilessly exposed.

According to the Darkness Investigation Records, all attempts to hide the victim’s personal information during this process have failed.

Major life events are fatally revealed as if someone is examining and evaluating that person’s entire life in detail.

The Hangman game format was even modified for this purpose.

[Everyone, this English word has 8 letters.]

I looked up at the blank spaces displayed on the TV screen.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

If you fill in all those letters correctly, you get one English word.

Originally, game participants take turns throwing random letters one by one, and if there’s a blank space that matches, it gets filled in naturally.

That’s how you deduce the word.

But…

‘Here, every single letter is connected to the victim.’

[Here’s a hint for the 8th blank letter!]

[What was Teacher Eun Ha-je’s job 4 years ago?]

Like this.

It’s easier if you guess things related to the other person’s personal information. So if you want to make this process smoother…

You need the victim’s cooperation.

You have to persuade or threaten the person who’s been sentenced to death to talk.

“…”

“…”

Cold sweat dripped down my chin.

‘So right now…’

What am I doing?

The stuffed doll in my hand, the old TV, Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je hanging in the air…

What can I do?

‘Let’s run.’

I moved my feet.

“Noru! Where are you going?!”

“There’s no time. I’ll explain later…”

“Are you looking for the execution platform?”

“…!”

“Breaking that won’t do any good. You know that, right? You read the manual.”

“I won’t know until I try.”

I’ll summon Section Chief Lee Ja-heon like during the quiz show. So, so if I ask him to destroy the execution platform again this time… Yes, to buy time before it gets restored again,

“Wait a minute.”

There’s no time.

“Just sit down for now. Actually… I have something I want to try at the last moment too.”

“…”

“I’m not just saying this. So don’t do anything that stands out unnecessarily. You don’t want to rack up penalty points for nothing.”

Penalty points.

“You know?”

I know.

This ghost story is based on the fear that comes from the suffocating frustration of everything being thoroughly constrained.

The movements and actions of the 12 ‘new teachers’ are monitored in real-time by the kindergarten through CCTV, and they receive ‘penalties’ for behavior unbecoming of teachers.

[1 minute remaining. Teachers, please raise your hands and shout out letters!]

“Manager Eun! Manager Eun!”

Just then, the playroom door burst open and an employee rushed in frantically.

His face showed he was frustrated and anxious to the point of going crazy. He must have been searching for the victim, but since he couldn’t run, he ended up with that expression.

Running faster than a jog is also prohibited in this kindergarten.

Profanity is prohibited, vandalism is prohibited, everything that goes against the game rules is prohibited.

“Shi… Whew. Why does it have to be the end room on the 3rd floor!”

The employee glared at Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je and made a sharp sound as if venting his frustration. Even so, he seemed to be holding back profanity to follow the rules.

“Hey! You… Manager Eun, what were you doing 4 years ago?”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je chuckled.

Because…

“Where does this fucking bastard get off speaking informally to me.”

“…!”

The hangman is exempt from all these rules.

“What, what… why, suddenly…”

Since they’re going to die anyway.

“I didn’t point it out before because I didn’t want to get involved with you, you asshole. You already look like you’re going to die without collecting enough points, which makes me feel even more disgusted.”

“Uh, uh…”

“If you’ve killed three new employees, get your act together, you crazy troll bastard.”

The employee’s face flushed red with anger.

“Feel wronged? Getting pissed off?”

“No, no…”

“But you have to endure it. You don’t want to get a ‘no contribution’ judgment later and receive penalties for not guessing a single letter, right?”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je spoke as if gently scratching at him and smiled slyly.

“There are only eight seats, so let’s behave well. Okay?”

“….”

The Employee clamped his mouth shut.

If he had any brains, it was the obvious decision.

The fact that only one person dies in this ghost story is based on the best-case scenario from the manual, and in reality, if things go wrong, total annihilation can easily occur.

A ghost story where survival is only guaranteed by following the rules to the letter.

‘And in this Hangman Game, if you can’t guess even one alphabet, you’ll also receive punishment during the final ‘evaluation’…’

That’s when it happened.

“Hey, Noru. Come here.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je called me over.

When I approached, she lowered her voice so only I could hear.

“My job 4 years ago was a reporter.”

“….”

“Noru, you guess it. Start without the ‘no contribution’ penalty.”

This is driving me crazy.

“Even if you say you don’t want to guess here, nothing will change. You know that, right?”

“It helps my mental state.”

“Take care of the mental state of someone who might die soon first. Please.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je frowned.

“Try to understand how shitty it feels when that bastard gets ahead and guesses correctly. Huh?”

Sigh…

I pressed my temples firmly, then finally headed toward the TV.

The Employee who had barged in widened his eyes.

“W-wait, you…”

“The last alphabet of the keyword is R. The initial of Reporter.”

Bzzt bzzt bzzt.

[Correct!]

_

The screen made a cheerful sound as it displayed the alphabet.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ R

And then.

[Let’s draw the Hangman~]

“Kugh.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je’s body twisted.

From the deputy manager’s body hanging in the air, her left foot literally ‘disappeared.’

…One foot had stepped onto the execution platform.

Hanging

There are no exceptions.

This is driving me crazy.

“…It’s not cut off, so there’s no pain. Don’t worry.”

Do I look like I’m not worried?

“At least it’s not starting from the neck. I can still keep talking though.”

No way.

No matter how I think about it, that person’s ‘last resort I want to try’ seemed like bluffing to keep me safely anchored here.

‘I can’t just spend time like this.’

Meanwhile, the TV continued with the proceedings.

[Here’s a hint for the 5th blank alphabet!]

[When Teacher Eun Ha-je was a reporter, what was the last mode of transportation she used?]

The Employee hesitated, glanced at Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, gritted his teeth and spoke.

“P-please tell me… Hey, we’re still,”

“We’re still what.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je looked at him with an incredulous expression.

“Three New Employees died because of you… Ah, you fucking bastard, really. You should have been caught here and died instead.”

“S-shut up! You’re the one who’s gonna die!”

“Oh~ don’t listen to someone who’s gonna die.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je shook her head with a bored expression.

The Employee, his face turning red and blue with anger, pushed me aside and stepped in front of the TV.

“If it’s transportation! Yeah, it’s obvious statistically! Bus or subway! Right, uh, subway initial, S!”

[Oh no, wrong!]

_

[As punishment, please read the Educational Manual aloud for 10 minutes!]

“Uh, uhh…”

With a twisting sound, a black booklet hologram appeared in front of the Employee’s eyes and…

“Kraaaagh!”

It stuck to his face.

“Aaaagh! Aagh!”

The black booklet that engulfed his face melted down as if sticking to his skin. Even rolling on the floor and struggling desperately to tear it off, nothing changed.

Below the flowing booklet, a clear brand mark was visible on his forehead…

[Chick Class]

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je clicked her tongue.

“He chose that. Stupid bastard.”

“….”

“Watch carefully, Noru. If that accumulates, you’ll be educated here until you become a proper ‘kindergarten teacher.’ …Forever.”

That’s right.

If you don’t participate faithfully in the game here, you’ll end up worse than dead.

“3 times. It’s over after just 3 times.”

3 penalties.

You become so contaminated that you’re no longer recognized as human.

Just like the Security Team.

‘But this is a worse situation.’

Because if you can’t be rescued like the Security Team, you’ll just be trapped in this ghost story and go missing.

“So don’t do useless things.”

“….”

“If you mess up, you won’t even be able to die.”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

‘I know.’

In this situation, I’ll definitely survive if I just follow the manual.

I even guessed one letter correctly and eliminated the penalty.

But is there any need to take risks?

‘If I try something, I might only make the situation worse.’

In this ghost story filled with records of people who tried to save the hangman, got contaminated, couldn’t escape, and ended up being endlessly educated as kindergarten teachers.

There are no exceptions.

Right, there’s no answer.

I know too.

There’s no answer.

Here, no matter what, the game must be completed and the hangman must die.

This wasn’t a ghost story that enjoyed watching irregular investigation records.

‘It’s fundamentally different.’

From the moment it was registered on the wiki, it was written as a theme that drives people crazy because the rules cannot be broken!

It was a ghost story that maximized the fear of the weak – the helplessness and frustration of being unable to break rules, and ultimately having to desperately censor oneself to conform to those rules.

At least, at least there was one thread-thin variable I had witnessed.

Brown, who had escaped the game by talking to this ghost story.

But I had just stood there blankly watching Brown chatter, so that opportunity flew away too.

‘I should have intervened.’

Somehow, buying time without immediately passing the rope and having more conversation…

-Hmm?

Brown exclaimed in disbelief.

-Oh my, I’d like to decline. What a boring task, having more conversations with these fellows!

Friend

…

Huh.

‘Brown. I can say that too.’

-Wait a moment?

‘When you declared you wouldn’t participate in this game, you knew someone would be selected again to be the hangman, right?’

So,

‘You did it without hesitation even knowing I could die with a 1/12 probability?’

-…!!

‘You didn’t care if I got hanged?’

Friend is more important

I felt an unprecedented confusion in Brown’s tone.

It seemed like the role as ‘Good Friend’ and the role as host in the ghost story were conflicting within him.

Let’s not forget, this guy has the twisted way of thinking typical of ghost story residents.

But at the same time…

He was a stuffed doll that tried very hard to be my friend.

‘Right.’

Let me center myself. Even if I’m a coward, I shouldn’t be an idiot.

I explained as calmly as possible.

‘What I was trying to say is, I don’t think you should have been hanged either.’

I’m just… going crazy with anxiety.

‘I meant it would have been good if I had asked you to get more information before leaving. Since you seemed to be able to communicate with this ghost story.’

-Ah… That’s right. Unfortunately for Noru, it seems they’ve decided to treat me as an outsider now, so no special interview is being connected.

-Anyway, if that’s your judgment, I can gladly understand it!

‘Yeah.’

But vaguely… I felt like we probably understood each other differently.

Even while thinking that, I absolutely didn’t have additional brain capacity to spend on it.

‘There isn’t any.’

Even knowing there wasn’t any, one part of my mind desperately searched through the investigation records and manual information I had, searching again and again for a gap to save the hangman.

But there wasn’t any.

No, of course there wasn’t!

If there had been, it would have occurred to me during the past two days of thinking until my head split!

‘There are no such cases.’

No matter how much I searched through the in my head, no matter how much I retraced the manual, there was nothing.

I already know…

Even if you destroy the execution platform, even if you try to switch the hangman, even if you endure without guessing words.

Only additional penalties are added, but the hangman dies.

There are no exceptions.

‘They definitely die…? Definitely…,’

Is there really nothing more?

I gritted my teeth.

Somehow…

“Noru!”

Then, I heard a familiar voice.

When I turned my head, I saw a second employee appearing at the open door…

“…Team Leader.”

“Are you okay… Huh.”

Park Min-seong, who was entering the room, gasped when he saw Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.

“You came?”

“…”

“You already heard on TV, right? Get ready to guess.”

Park Min-seong’s face filled with indescribable emotion, then quickly sank.

“Stop thinking useless thoughts and guess quickly. You know you already have accumulated ones, right?”

“…”

Accumulated?

“Team Leader, what does that mean…”

The team leader whispered to me quietly with a strained expression.

“Well. Actually, this is my second time coming here…”

“…!!”

“I came in right after joining the company, and now I’m back again after 2 years. Haha… I wonder if I’m lucky or unlucky every time.”

The Team Leader laughed bitterly.

“Before, I got penalized once trying to remove someone who was caught by the Hangman… so maybe the contamination accumulated… I’m not sure. There haven’t been any cases like this until now.”

The Team Leader was already mentally broken, rambling incoherently about how he had been careful to carry only one piece of Specialized Equipment at a time just in case.

I grabbed the Team Leader’s shoulder.

“…!”

“Team Leader.”

A direct experiencer.

Almost the only person who would have detailed information that I don’t possess!

“From now on, please answer my questions quickly and accurately.”

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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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