Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 98
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Episode 098
After confirming the crack in the grip tok, I don’t know what state of mind I was in to get through that night.
The next day, sick or not, I immediately went out and bought a new phone.
And after transferring the SIM card, I attached the cracked grip tok with trembling hands and turned it on.
‘…It works!’
Fortunately the wiki was functioning, but… something was strange.
Darkness Investigation Records / Ghost Story
[Hell Surcharge Taxi]
It was glitching.
Like an old computer, showing the characteristic stuttering of a machine whose lifespan was hanging by a thread…
It did recover to normal soon after, but it sent chills down my spine.
‘Right. Goods can break too…’
In this bizarre situation where purchasing from the Popup Store made it actually usable in the ghost story world, I’d been carrying my smartphone around like part of my body and overlooked that aspect.
What about copying the wiki contents elsewhere as backup?
‘That would take over a month.’
To begin with, the pages that appear through the Memorial Grip Tok have copying and screenshot functions disabled. I’d have to manually transcribe everything while looking at the smartphone screen.
‘I don’t even know if this grip tok will last that long.’
But there’s no need to panic.
After all, the goods that the Goods Box provides are items from this ghost story world, aren’t they.
I’ve also built a foundation here over the past six months, so other options have opened up now.
Either get a new grip tok.
Or establish a route for repairs.
Interestingly, both required the same type of connection.
‘The Disaster Management Bureau.’
The origin of this grip tok.
And I know where things like this grip tok and silver badges are manufactured…
Naturally, I also know the method to enter there, the passwords, and what to prepare.
And I happen to have a Disaster Management Bureau temporary agent badge.
“…”
I pressed my temples and thought.
‘I’m on sick leave for three days right now.’
Which means, in this state I can’t go to the Company to work or handle follow-up processing related to Death Road anyway.
But since I’m just not going to work, if I can endure it, it’s fine to push myself with other tasks. Recovery in three days is guaranteed.
‘However, artificially avoiding the pain charged as taxi fare won’t work.’
Since this is a curse, it won’t heal no matter how many painkillers I take, and if I try to avoid the pain through supernatural methods, the curse duration extends by however much I avoided.
Only by actually experiencing the pain does it count as payment.
So my super-strong painkiller, ‘Happy Maker’, should be saved unless there’s an urgent situation where I need to extend the curse duration.
Besides…
“…”
Thinking about what I did after injecting that in the nightmare makes me feel a bit chilled.
‘I really felt no pain at all and was completely comfortable…’
If it hadn’t been a dream, and if I hadn’t received treatment for contamination at the Fox Counseling Room, it would have popped into my mind whenever things got tough or I could have become addicted.
I had to be careful.
‘…Right.’
Let’s not break down as much as possible, and prepare when I can.
I very carefully detached the cracked grip tok from my phone, wrapped it up, and stored it in my tattoo.
“Brown. I need to go out again.”
-Aha, fighting spirit through injury! What an attractive interview subject. Sometimes it’s proof of passion for the industry, isn’t it?
-But if it becomes too hard to endure, please tell me anytime. Your perfect colleague, Friend, Brown will help you…
Those were both chilling and reassuring words.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
I showered my sweat-soaked body once more, then put on a light hoodie.
And I took the rabbit doll with its shiny bow tie and put it in the hoodie’s front pocket.
-You look refreshed, Noru! So where are we going?
Hmm.
“The place in Seoul where the most young people gather.”
I got off at Hongik University Station.
It was amazing that there could be this many people even on a weekday afternoon.
‘And there are lots of people even away from the station.’
From Mangwon to Yeonnam, every street would be bustling with people out having fun.
The crowd was incomparably larger than that outdated alley I went to yesterday, the shopping district that connected to Death Road.
-There are so many people here! Bright and reactive… Ah, I want to invite them all to a show and give them once-in-a-lifetime joy and shock!
Aaaaah!
Fortunately, Brown immediately got distracted by something else, so I didn’t need to stop that excited voice.
-Ah, the coffee smells good too! Shall we have a cup, Friend? …Oh my! You’re staggering. Do you need support?
‘…I’m fine.’
It was unavoidable once I came out to downtown Seoul with a disease curse and a ghost story resident… haha.
Still, the feeling full of positive energy wasn’t bad.
A lively street lined with cafes under the blazing sun, where you couldn’t find a trace of gloominess.
It’s hard to imagine anything mysterious or ghost story-like happening here in broad daylight.
‘That’s exactly why it’s safe.’
I recalled the method to access the place where I could fix the grip tok.
The Disaster Management Bureau document that was registered in the wiki complete with note images.
! Must be destroyed after thorough reading
Location to visit: Blue-Roofed Signless Cafe. A commercial facility converted from a house with a buckwheat flower wreath hanging on the door.
There it is.
With Brown’s help, I completely suppressed my presence and entered the blue-roofed building.
It was a large cafe bustling with customers.
Even in broad daylight, with all sorts of lights and decorations sparkling, the cafe employees were busily taking orders and preparing drinks and coffee.
Instead of standing in the order line, I stepped aside slightly and crouched down to enter the kitchen space.
And if I went even further inside from there….
The moment I turned the corner, two doors came into view.
[Staff Only]
They were identical yellow doors, but one just led outside while the other one….
‘That’s the door I need to open.’
Enter through the right door of the two doors.
Never touch the left door. Once you touch the left door, you can never enter the ‘place’ through the right door again.
I carefully approached the right door and knocked lightly in rhythm.
Knock-knock, knock knock-, knock-knock, knock knock-
Jajinmori Rhythm. It was a beat that anyone who received public education in this country would be familiar with.
And I inconspicuously opened the door just slightly and entered.
Creak, thud.
“….”
Inside looked like an ordinary staff area.
A space that mixed corridor, storage room, and employee break area.
Old sofa, desk, laptop, supply boxes. And on one side, out-of-season interior props were piled up.
Find sculptures that can be interpreted as houses, such as houses, apartments, yurts, etc.
I carefully searched through the props and found what I was looking for.
A hanok model.
It looked like it had been used as an interior prop for Chuseok.
‘This must be it.’
I crouched down next to the hanok model and reached out to grab the small main gate.
And the moment I opened the main gate.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————