Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 90

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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 090

Each alley in the ‘Death Road’ ghost story has its own theme.

Just like how stores dealing with similar businesses or materials gather to form commercial districts in reality.

Of course, they appear completely unpredictably, and their appearance rates differ.

Confirmed Death Road alleys so far:

1. Street Vendors

And the place we’ve entered now is an alley selling daily necessities.

But even at a glance, I’m heading straight for the store that looks least inviting in this alley.

A butcher shop with living organs and flesh hanging from it.

Squirm squirm.

‘Think of it as a Ghost House.’

It’s okay. At least there’s nothing… hanging there that looks exactly like it did when alive. They’re all just body parts, so just, just think of it as a theme park attraction using animatronics technique…

Wait, if I think of theme parks, it reminds me of Cheerful Theme Park, which makes it even scarier?!

‘C-calm down.’

I can’t back down.

I pretended to be calm and strode boldly toward the butcher shop.

Raw Meat Butcher Shop

Under the glass window illuminated by red and blue lights, the shop owner who had been sharpening a meat-cutting knife on a stone looked up.

Blood-stained apron and massive build.

Looking closely…

A raggedly skinned cow was looking back at us with what had become a lump of flesh for a head.

Creak.

It gestured.

As if to treat customers well, beckoning us to come closer…

“T-Team Leader, wait a moment!”

Kang I-hak blocked my path.

“Haha, uh, well. We don’t seem to need anything from that store, let’s go to another one!”

“The owner already gestured to us, it would be rude not to go in.”

-Ah, that’s right. That’s proper manners!

“No!”

Kang I-hak immediately noticed his voice had gotten louder, then quickly lowered it and spoke urgently.

“It said never to enter alleys with meat…!”

He’s right.

If you discover an alley with a meat theme on Death Road, absolutely do not enter and stay in the existing alley.

If you’ve already entered due to unavoidable circumstances (such as being chased by merchants), block your hearing with earphones and move as quickly as possible to complete 1000 steps to the next alley.

If a companion gets caught up in tasting invitations, leave them behind and advance with faster steps.

Manual entries that are eerie just to read.

“That’s right.”

“Ah, you do remember? Then…”

“So what?”

“…!?”

“I want to go shopping.”

And I walked steadily toward the butcher shop.

“No, Noru…!”

I’m sorry, Jang Heo-un! It’s okay if you run away…!

But I heard the footsteps of two people following me. It seemed both had decided to follow me.

Hmm. I thought they’d run away.

‘Actually, I wanted to run away more than anyone…’

But if I stopped and backed down here, I felt like I’d be dragged around by that colleague’s schemes again, so I continued forward.

Eventually, the three of us stood side by side in front of the intensely lit butcher shop with squirming body parts on display…

Naturally, I was in front.

Ha.

…

The skinned cow looks at me.

‘Uuuugh.’

I shouldn’t look too closely.

I unfocused my eyes and looked around the shop owner’s neck area, but blood vessels were squirming there, so I hastily turned my gaze to the clothes.

It’s better to look at the blood-stained clothes instead.

“Hello. Do you do fresh packaging?”

Creak… eak.

“You have good cuts. Um… excuse me.”

I pretended to think, then pointed with my finger.

“Could I take a look at the front paws?”

Thud.

The skinned cow head rose from its spot and opened the glass door.

From inside, ‘front paw’ parts were efficiently taken out and displayed before my eyes.

…Still squirming and moving alive, flesh.

Beast paws.

Primate hands.

Primate hands.

Tentacles?

Beast paws.

Primate hands…

A human hand with trembling ringed fingers pleadingly against the glass floor…

‘Ugh.’

I had to endure it.

I pretended to be calm and looked down.

…There wasn’t a suitable left hand among them.

‘What a shame.’

I endured this mental anguish, so it would be nice if there was at least some harvest from it.

I shook off Eun Ha-je’s thoughts, pondered for a moment, then spoke to the other party.

“Something with sturdier bones would be better for making broth… Hmm. Do you happen to have anything with eyes?”

Thud!

Having been rejected once, the Shop Owner’s hands became rougher. I could faintly hear my Colleagues behind me on both sides holding their breath.

I also endured my fear with Deep Breathing.

‘Display….’

The front paws were cleared away,

And eyeballs appeared before my eyes.

Black pupils with purple irises.

Fist-sized blue eyeballs.

Crystalline lenses still with flesh attached.

White circles trembling without focus….

Earnest dark brown pupils looking at me.

‘Ha.’

I closed my eyes and opened them again.

“That one looks good.”

I pointed with my finger.

At the first displayed item, the black eyeball with a glinting purple iris.

“I’d like to purchase it. Ah, you don’t need to slice it.”

….

The Skinned Cow stared at me intently.

Then extended its hand.

A very clear gesture demanding payment.

Kang I-hak whispered in a very small voice.

“…Team Leader, should we try to probe what we need to pay….”

“No.”

I pulled out a box from my tattoo.

Thud.

A heavy box filled with corn and carrots was placed in front of the shop.

“…??”

“…?!”

“I’ll pay with this.”

When attempting to purchase through barter at the relevant butcher shop, you must trade with food items that cattle can consume.

Right. The shops on Death Road sometimes use strange currencies, but we basically don’t have those currencies.

‘So I have to attempt bartering.’

However, since each shop accepts different items, I filled my tattoo with various daily necessities, precious metals, and snacks….

Including boxes of vegetables.

Of course, there are shops that demand something humans couldn’t possibly give up while sane, but this was sufficient here.

“How much should I give you as payment.”

….

The butcher shop owner reached out to take all the vegetable pile I had produced.

The complexions of my companions, who had been shocked by the tattoo inventory performance, brightened.

“Ah, the transaction succeeded….”

“Wait a minute. That much?”

“…?!”

I frowned and intervened.

“That’s too expensive. I mean, even if it’s fresh packaging, there should be some reason. It wasn’t easy for me to transport that stuff here in such fresh condition either….”

“No, Noru…?!”

My companions turned pale and began looking at me like I was even more insane, but I kept talking.

“You didn’t raise the price just because I’m buying it… did you. Is it just a supply issue these days?”

Creak…thud.

“…You must have a lot of hardships. Still, this exceeds my expected budget… Sigh.”

I deliberately fell silent.

The Shop Owner also fell silent.

The Skinned Cow’s head seemed to stare at me blankly, then finally went to what appeared to be the checkout counter and brought back a handful of coins.

Rusty coins with all numbers and letters marked backwards.

This place’s currency.

‘Aaaah!’

Perfect…!!

There are shops where bartering doesn’t work, and when escaping from such places, you absolutely need coins!

-Ah, everything fits together perfectly. The joy of a prepared script!

I smiled as I received the coins.

“…This is enough change. Thank you. I’ll buy it like this.”

…!

The Skinned Shop Owner seemed excited as it got up and packaged what I had purchased.

The black eyeball rolling its pupils frantically was wrapped in plastic in transparent liquid and placed in my hands.

I tried hard not to look closely at either the coins or the item.

“Thank… you.”

In the midst of that.

Splat splat.

Blood splattered on my face from the butcher shop owner’s apron as it moved greatly.

And on Jang Heo-un’s face too.

“…!”

Jang Heo-un, wearing the Buffalo Mask, stiffened and lowered his head.

He seemed to be desperately holding back nausea….

‘Damn.’

I intervened and chattered.

“Ah. That friend seems weak from hunger. We should hurry back and get him something to eat.”

Please, please!

The Skinned Cow looked at Jang Heo-un with some interest.

Just as Jang Heo-un was about to break out in cold sweat from stiffening up.

Thud.

The shop owner dropped an item to him.

…It was the corn I had paid as the price.

“Th, thank you…”

Jang Heo-un received the corn with trembling hands.

The shop owner stared at him for a moment, then sat back down in front of the butcher shop’s glass door.

‘…We passed.’

We quickly left the ‘Raw Meat Butcher Shop’ with hurried steps.

At the same time, I looked at Jang Heo-un’s face as he clutched the corn tightly.

More precisely, at what he was wearing on it.

‘…Is it because of the mask.’

It seemed to have mistaken Jang Heo-un for a buffalo.

As expected, Baekillmong Corporation’s masks weren’t ordinary items. Just like the Dream Essence Collector.

‘Phew.’

Don’t give up on your body!

Remaining steps: 7999

Our footsteps only stopped when the next alley appeared, and I immediately checked on Jang Heo-un.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes? Oh, yes… Th, there wasn’t that much blood, and everything was already prepared, so this much is, fine now…”

‘Wouldn’t it be more horrifying that they were alive despite being cleanly prepared…?’

But everyone has different fear points, I suppose. Let’s respect that.

Anyway, it was fortunate that he said he was fine. His complexion didn’t look bad either.

Just as we were about to move again.

“Wh, what the hell was that just now? How did you make such a deal…?!”

Kang I-hak finally started asking questions.

Hmm.

‘Let’s go for it one more time here…!’

I deliberately asked back nonchalantly.

“What do you mean?”

“What you just bought! The manual clearly said to avoid alleys where meat is visible, but how did you do it so smoothly as if you had prepared…”

I did prepare!

But since I couldn’t say that, I answered like this.

“It was too obvious.”

“…?”

“Looking at the description of meat-related shops in the manual, they were restaurants. Usually eating seems to be the problem…”

I lifted up what I had purchased, bag and all.

“This is a butcher shop. I figured we could just buy without eating.”

“…!”

“And judging by how they were displayed…”

I turned the bag around to show it to him.

The bizarre black eyeballs.

“Since they’re alive, I thought we could use them in a different way, so I bought them.”

“…”

“For instance… something like organ transplants.”

“…!”

Right.

Explorers don’t come to this Raw Meat Butcher Shop to buy food.

Attachment

If you attach those butcher shop ‘parts’ that are packaged alive for freshness to damaged body parts, they function.

Sometimes even the original abilities that those parts possessed come along with them.

Of course, approaching that butcher shop without knowing this and trying to buy something would be absolutely insane!

So I kept running my mouth.

“In places like this, deduction that creates from limited clues is important.”

Yeah. No.

‘Trying to benefit by imagining from limited clues is just asking to die…’

Everyone knows that’s something you only try as a last resort when you absolutely can’t see an escape method…!

But I had no choice but to pretend to be calm and act crazy. Originally, crazy bastards always have their own brilliant logic.

“I succeeded in that deduction. Is there any problem?”

There would be many!

Sure enough, Kang I-hak was staring at me with his mouth agape.

Right, he must be dumbfounded too…

“Wow!”

Oh my, what a surprise.

“You’re absolutely right!”

…?!

His eyes sparkled from behind the pony mask.

“No, wow, right. As expected, if people want to make high profits, they need to think differently from others… Maybe I’ve been too scared about risks and such.”

“…”

“Life is all or nothing anyway! Hahaha! Right!”

W, wait a minute.

Something’s strange about this…

“Come on, let’s move forward. Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve met such an exemplary superior!”

“…”

At that moment I realized.

‘The Silver Heart!’

I was still wearing the Silver Heart inside my pocket.

‘I succeeded in persuasion by running my mouth while wearing it!’

The problem was that it was still a strange situation.

The Silver Heart was supposedly a persuasion tool, not a brainwashing tool according to the setting.

It meant it was equipment that only worked when you had both logical validity and emotional rapport.

‘So normally, when I make such absurdly crazy statements, not being persuaded would be normal…’

“From now on, I’ll support Team Leader’s activities well! Haha.”

“…”

Ah.

I get it.

This person… actually found the crazy logic I spouted plausible.

‘What kind of personality is this.’

Cold sweat ran down my back.

I turned to look at my normal colleague with the desperation of grasping at straws.

‘Heo-un, at least you…’

“Yes, I’ll support you well too!”

“…”

Where did things go wrong here?

Jang Heo-un had a face that said ‘Wow! I got help again! Thanks!’

Already in a completely persuaded state.

Friend

“….”

Yeah.

But something… something seems wrong.

But for now, I had no choice but to walk to get out of here…

‘F-first, let’s escape.’

Don’t give up on your body!

Remaining steps: 6999

Surprisingly, the next alley went smoothly too.

Even the one after that.

“These are lighting shops. Looking at the windows can blind you or possess you, so let’s move while avoiding eye contact by pretending to talk among ourselves.”

“Yes!”

Alleys lined with all sorts of bizarre and mysterious shops.

Still, since I already know the manual, it feels like taking a quiz after memorizing the textbook.

However, considering that getting even one question wrong means death, I was still in an extremely tense state…

“Oh! A pharmacy! Should I try making a purchase there this time? Team Leader, what do you think? Mr. Buffalo, is that okay with you?”

“Yes! I’m fine with it!”

“…It doesn’t seem to have much value, so let’s just move on.”

“Ah, we should save our bullets for the big places, haha!”

The atmosphere became one where they naturally expected me to boldly purchase something again…?

And what made me break out in the coldest sweat was that my colleagues seemed ready to give me their full support.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t even see any stores that might have stocked the chocolate that was my purpose for coming here.

It was killing me to glance around while avoiding eye contact with the shop owners. Ugh…

That’s when it happened.

Don’t give up on your body!

Remaining steps: 4999

“Ah, Team Leader. A new alley has appeared…”

I stopped walking and looked at the gap between the medicine shops.

From inside… a foul smell was flowing out.

‘Ugh.’

It was a very narrow back alley.

It seemed less than half the size of the street vendor alley… and was overwhelmingly dark.

“….”

Whoosh.

Old side doors lined the alley in a dreary succession. Only one or two sparsely placed gas lamps flickered weakly…

In that dim light, thick filth like sewer liquid flowing from pipes next to the side doors appeared and disappeared.

And under the gas lamps, strange silhouette beings with dried, curved spines leaning against the walls.

Glance.

Those wearing dirty, worn uniforms were staring at us.

…Judging comprehensively.

‘Even if you didn’t know this was a ghost story, you’d immediately turn around and get out of this atmosphere.’

An eerie and chilling feeling that absolutely no normal transactions would take place permeated the alley.

“…It’s not a place that was in the manual.”

That was correct.

At this point in time, Daydream Corporation hadn’t conducted actual exploration yet, so this was an unfamiliar, unknown alley to the employees.

…The problem is.

‘I have to go in there…’

I want to cry.

And somehow… even though it’s such a crazy place, I feel like I won’t need to persuade them to go in… that also makes me want to cry a little…

With mixed feelings, I looked back at my colleagues and said.

“Let’s go into that alley.”

And the reaction was like this.

“Yes…!”

“Looks like a place that sells stolen goods? Wow, guaranteed high profits!”

“….”

I’ll be the only crazy bastard in this area, please…!

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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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