Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 67

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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 067

After that, everything was handled quite quickly.

It seems I received some kind of significant recognition from the company again.

Employees rescuing contaminated colleagues on their own apparently happens occasionally, but most of the time they prepared for months or years and pulled them out with desperate resolve.

There are countless cases of people going missing together while attempting rescues.

Pulling someone out immediately after contamination like this is unprecedented among new employees.

“That deer antler mask over there…”

“Ah, is that the guy?”

“Wow… how many times is this now.”

When walking through the company corridors, I could sometimes hear whispering behind me.

Actually, I remembered having similar experiences several times before when Team D ate together in the company cafeteria…

Maybe because I was walking alone, it was particularly audible.

Though it didn’t last long.

“Kim Sol-eum.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t come to work for the next ten days.”

“…??”

“It’s paid leave.”

Team D was already temporarily suspended since half the team members had disappeared, and now I had vacation time coming my way.

‘Though I had been coming to work diligently for several days to write situation reports.’

They were extremely curious about how exactly the rules were bent and Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je came out alive from a B-grade darkness that required Hangman’s death to clear.

‘Someone must have reported that Park Min-seong and I were trying to do something.’

There was even talk of scheduling interviews with the research team to strengthen the reliability of exploration records…

-Ah, Team Leader Kim. Why bother with that stuff! Rest, rest. You did something big!

-…Mm. Thank you.

It seems it was cut off at the level of Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin, who’s in charge of manual review, and our team’s Section Chief Lee Ja-heon.

It’s a bit funny, but while the employees who went in together were reporting, they testified that ‘Kim Sol-eum probably acted with no other intention than to save a team member.’

They basically made excuses for me, saying it was just quick thinking and luck that made the situation work out well.

‘They all ran off as soon as the clear door opened, but they still spoke up for me.’

The former was natural and the latter was something to be grateful for, so I decided to accept it as is.

Anyway, thanks to that, my name was going up and down in company gossip again, and ‘s manual got tagged with ‘possibility of revision.’

In the colleague group chat, they were trying to dig information out of me again…

[Go Young-eun: You’ve been through a lot.]

“…”

Someone sent a comforting text message.

‘Thanks. Really.’

For reference, Baek Sa-heon didn’t ask about my well-being even once at home.

‘That bastard’s personality is just like that…’

I didn’t expect it anyway.

In any case, the situation so far wasn’t bad for my survival.

‘No, is it actually good?’

I was continuously building an impressive career.

Specifically, it meant I was continuously building a reputation as a named employee with the keywords ‘quick clear through fresh methods without following existing manuals’ and ‘goodness.’

Even ten days of vacation.

I thought I’d either be happy about being able to stay away from ghost stories for ten whole days, or disappointed that my point-gathering speed would slow down.

I expected it to be one of the two, but I didn’t really feel either.

So I just didn’t do anything…

-Noru, shall I share Brown’s perspective on what aspects of that terrible comedy failed to capture the public’s attention? It would be quite interesting!

“Sure.”

I spent several days sitting in the living room watching TV.

It was around the third day when this happened.

…A text came.

[Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je: Come to the hospital]

“…!”

“Noru’s here?”

“…Deputy Manager.”

I placed the hospital visit gift I brought under the bedside table and stood next to the bed.

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je chuckled.

“Soy milk? Good choice.”

“…Thank you.”

This was the first time meeting since we briefly communicated when she regained consciousness in the medical office…

The deputy manager looked fine, though a bit pale.

The Snow White Mountain apple seemed to have done its job to some extent.

“Not bad for someone who almost died, right? …That item was good. Thanks.”

Thanks to that item, Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je looked like a corpse, but it was fortunate that she was kept in isolation storage due to the special circumstance of missing hands rather than her neck.

‘The next day at sunrise, Section Chief Lee Ja-heon confirmed her survival and reported it, then she was moved to the medical office…’

And now she had been transferred to a hospital that apparently has some kind of partnership with the company, having just finished urgent treatment.

“Ah, I said that apple was something I just happened to have. People usually don’t want the source to be traced.”

“…Thank you.”

“Thanks for what, I’m the one who should be saying that to you and Min-seong.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je started to wave her left hand dismissively but stopped.

Because it wasn’t there.

“…”

Her left wrist wrapped in bandages was blunt.

Body parts lost like that can’t be regenerated with the supply potions the company provides.

“…Um, Deputy Manager.”

I voiced what I had been thinking.

“The C-grade regeneration potion I have…”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to give it to me?”

“I was going to sell it for money.”

“Hah.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je clicked her tongue.

“Listen carefully, Noru. Items that can only be traded with points can’t be bought with ordinary money outside.”

“…”

“And using that potion just because one hand got cut off would be wasteful. It’s something that can regenerate roughly half your limbs even if they’re blown off.”

“Still,”

“Forget it. I’ll take care of my own hand, so you keep it for emergencies.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je’s eyes gleamed somewhat gloomily.

“If you keep going into the darkness, there will definitely be times when more than just a hand gets blown off.”

A chill ran down my spine….

“Actually, I have something to give you.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je skillfully handled her one remaining hand as if she had been using it that way for years, then reached into the drawer.

And she pulled out a gold-leafed box with an elegant oil painting on it.

“…?!”

[Baekil-mong Potion]

‘W-wait a minute.’

That’s the box for storing Daydream Corporation’s special potions!

The luxuriousness even exceeded the C-Grade Regeneration Potion I had received.

“Deputy Manager, what are you….”

“Look, see? There’s one left.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je boldly opened the box.

The inside was shaped with silk, with indentations designed to hold two round glass bottles.

But one was already empty.

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je took out the remaining one and casually tossed it to me.

“Take it.”

“…!”

My goodness.

I hurriedly reached out to catch the glass bottle before it could fall and examined it.

Inside the bottle, a liquid that seemed to weave together purple and silver swam gracefully like flowing lines….

: Baekil-mong Potion :

Poison?!

“You purchased this with points….”

“That’s right.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je grinned, showing her teeth.

“Handle it carefully. That’s a 170,000-point death note.”

“…!!”

“You can kill people remotely and secretly.”

W-wait a moment.

I read the description written on the glass bottle with trembling hands.

Desert Rattlesnake Poison helps you take revenge quietly and cruelly.

“In other words, if there’s someone you want to kill, it’s perfect for sending them off without a trace.”

“….”

“Before dying, they experience tremendous burning pain and terrible mental torture that makes them want to curse the world, then fall into a coma and suffer for what feels like 4 years over 4 hours before they go.”

You’re giving me such a murder weapon…?

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je grumbled, saying things like ‘the poison comes in two lines so they insist on selling two bottles as a set’ and ‘because of that damn concept, my working period doubled.’

But in the end, she looked at me and smiled wickedly.

“Use it when someone you want to kill appears.”

“…!”

“I had someone.”

I looked at the empty glass bottle space in the box and fell silent.

…So she had already used it!

“Curious? About who I used it on.”

I couldn’t help but reflexively recall it.

-The word that best describes Teacher Eun Ha-je is ‘traitor’!

The revelation from .

“If it’s personal and uncomfortable to discuss, you don’t need to tell me….”

“Uncomfortable? Hey, I’m dying to talk about it.”

Well, if you put it that way.

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je crossed her arms and leaned against the bed.

“To cut to the conclusion… it’s true that I caused trouble when I was a reporter and had to change jobs.”

“….”

“I tried to expose a politician’s son who was involved in all kinds of crazy shit like drugs and human trafficking as a scoop, and it ruined my life.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je spoke in her usual matter-of-fact tone, but the content was anything but matter-of-fact.

It was simply the particular cleanness of a story that had been chewed over and refined through long contemplation.

Even when she wrote articles, they wouldn’t pass the desk, then from the next day massive pressure came down on the entire team, she was stalked, threatening calls came to her family….

“Actually, the team concluded that we should just drop everything and let it slide, but I couldn’t stand it and tried to take it to an overseas media company to blow it up. So yes, it was betrayal. But….”

A small sigh.

“On the day I was supposed to leave the country, I got a call. Four informants had died like it was a lie.”

“….”

“Well, officially it was suicide due to despair over their circumstances… but obviously that wasn’t it, right? They were either killed or tormented to death.”

“….”

“I was stupid to think everything would be solved once it was reported.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Being stupid is being stupid. Anyway….”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je quit being a reporter.

She said she simply couldn’t continue anymore.

“But I had to get a job. I had people at home to feed.”

Fortunately, she found a suitable company then.

The age range for new employee hires was relatively diverse, and they favored people with experience from various fields for sales positions.

A pharmaceutical company where she wouldn’t be on any blacklist since it was a different industry.

“Daydream Corporation.”

And what she encountered after joining this place….

Wish Potion.

“Well… at first I thought about whether I could bring all the dead people back to life, but that felt like an insult to the deceased.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je adjusted her crossed arms.

“Acting up saying I’ll bring them back to life just because I feel guilty is just self-satisfaction. The dead should be respected as they are. There are many bastards in our company who can’t agree with this. Anyway….”

The conclusion ended with a faint smile.

“So I got my revenge last night, and that’s the end of it.”

“….”

“When news comes out that the politician’s son died horribly, know that I killed him.”

And Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je stretched broadly.

“Ah… Fuck, anyway I’m finally quitting this damn Darkness Investigation!!”

“Are you going to resign?”

“Life is unpredictable.”

Unlike her refreshing statement, Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je’s face was somewhat stiff.

She mentioned it lightly to avoid burdening me, but she was clearly worried about Team Leader Park Min-seong….

“Still, he’ll be resting for a while… So he won’t be able to work in Team D like before.”

“….”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je smiled bitterly.

“Noru made such a fuss about staying in our team, and it turned out just like he said.”

“…Yes.”

I reflexively realized.

From now on… Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, who sat next to me in the office.

I wouldn’t be able to see her either.

“….”

“Noru.”

“….”

“Is it really hard on you?”

“…!”

“Yeah. If it wasn’t hard, you’d be a heartless bastard. It’s coming late because you’ve been too competent all this time, but it’s a process everyone goes through once.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je smiled and patted her chest.

“Not being able to see a team member who sat next to you the next day.”

“….”

“But give yourself some praise for this being the best-case scenario. You’re not seeing a team member for good reasons because you did well.”

“…Team Leader Park Min-seong,”

“That’s something I’ll carry as my debt.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je firmly cut off my words.

“You rescued that guy too, didn’t you? You should be proud of yourself. He’s a strong guy in his own way. He’ll recover on his own… so you just worry about yourself.”

Then she glanced at me and smiled.

“Speaking of which, the Team Leader has been worrying about you a lot.”

“…?”

Lizard… worrying?

“Noru, hasn’t the Team Leader barely come into the office lately?”

That was true.

“Normally when a team loses half its members like this, instead of resting, you’d usually get sent to support other teams.”

Ah.

“But he kept you out of that.”

“…!”

“Whether he used his connections or went in your place himself.”

My goodness.

“Makes you trust him a bit, right? That guy’s been like that since I joined the company. He’s strangely inflexible, but he’s reliable.”

Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je grabbed my shoulder with her intact hand.

“It’s hard to work with trustworthy people in this company, so that’s also your good fortune. …Keep working well with the Team Leader from now on.”

Then she grinned and held out her hand.

“No matter who comes to my seat, with Team Leader Lee Ja-heon and Kim Sol-eum, well. It’ll be fine.”

Her right hand that remained intact.

“I hope you earn lots of points safely. Noru.”

I gripped it tightly.

“I hope your wish definitely comes true.”

“…Yes.”

I shook hands with Team D’s Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je.

That was the last time.

On my first day back to work after vacation, I saw that Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je’s belongings had disappeared from her desk in the Team D office.

Team Leader Park Min-seong’s desk was still the same, but who knows. When it might be cleared out.

“….”

I quietly went to my desk and sat down.

And so.

I was left alone as the only team member in Team D.

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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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