Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After all sorts of hardships, we escaped from the crazy Red mascot’s sector and finally arrived at the Blue sector.

There we met the welcoming Group D…… but on the shoulder of the Lizard manager, the body of Group A’s leader was hanging limply.

“…….”

I barely managed to ask.

“Th-That corpse on your shoulder, Group Leader….”

“Ah, he just fainted.”

Aha.

Was he safely moving him? Just when I was relieved and restoring a sense of familiarity.

The Group D assistant manager gestured with her thumb toward a giant tube that she and the supervisor were dragging.

“The corpse is over there.”

“…….”

To think I would see a corpse shoved into a tube and dragged around like that….

“We wrapped it well, but some parts were a bit severed.”

Please do not describe it.

“No, seriously, it was absolutely terrible? Wow….”

“Roe Deer, the mascot here acts like some incarnation of justice, so be careful.”

“Excuse me?”

The explanation that followed was like this.

The mascot here extremely disliked acts of killing among teammates.

“But the Group A assistant manager wearing the mantis mask did some crazy things, thinking it was an experiment.”

While riding the first attraction, he had giggled while pushing the Group Y employees into death traps one by one.

Release your seatbelt, stand up, sing along to the song, do a handstand and go down to the tracks….

“All three of Group Y died like that. The last employee begged while crying, but he didn’t even blink an eye… it was a bit disgusting.”

“…….”

And it seemed the companions weren’t the only ones who felt that way.

The Group D assistant manager frowned.

“When we got off the attraction, the mascot was waiting right there for the mantis mask. Calling him a ‘bad kid.’ And then….”

Omitting the description for the sake of my mental health.

“I thought I was going to vomit.”

“…….”

“Well, honestly, he had it coming! …Though our manager didn’t agree, of course.”

The supervisor lightly pointed at the Group A leader hanging on the Lizard leader’s shoulder.

“Come to think of it, why on earth did that person faint?”

“That… our group leader, uh,”

“…….”

W-Wait a minute.

Don’t tell me.

“Actually, at that time, that person made a somewhat unreasonable demand on us. It seems he was trying to save his team members somehow.”

And when that grew excessive….

“Our group leader hit the back of his neck.”

“…….”

“Hey. We’re going to match our stories that his blood pressure rose too high and he collapsed on his own, so you keep your mouth shut too, Roe Deer.”

“Yes.”

I will take it to my grave.

“Ah, and, as for why the Group Y employees receive such treatment….”

“I roughly heard about it. From that person.”

I lightly gestured with my eyes toward the assistant manager wearing the butterfly mask.

“…Really? Okay.”

The supervisor’s complexion turned slightly better. It seemed to be because we bypassed a dark topic that was uncomfortable to speak about with his own mouth.

“But are your team members’ conditions okay?”

Ah.

I hurriedly checked the cow mask with a pierced shoulder and the butterfly mask with bubbles on her face.

“There are people who need emergency treatment. Could we receive some help, by any chance?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, the Lizard manager tossed the load on his shoulder… Group A’s leader, onto the ground with a thud.

And he began to shake his shoulders.

“W-Wait a moment, Group Leader!”

“U-Ugh!”

“…?!”

The Lizard manager, who shook the Group A leader awake, spoke with a calm face.

“Manager Seok. There are employees who need treatment.”

“Wh-What….”

The Group A leader, who had a dazed expression, soon wore an expression of sudden alertness and pointed his finger at the Lizard manager.

“You!! You!”

“Yes.”

“What happened to Assistant Manager Lee! The one wearing the mantis mask….”

“He is deceased.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…And what were you doing while he died?”

“We waited until he died, secured the corpse, and rode the next attraction.”

Oh my god.

The Group A leader momentarily wore a speechless expression, then barely managed to open his mouth while stuttering.

“Y-You were just watching my Group A member die?? Lee Ja-heon, are you in your right mind?? How are you going to take responsibility! This loss…!”

“? I am Group D’s leader. Group A is not under my jurisdiction.”

The Lizard narrowed his pupils as if puzzled.

“The loss from the death of Assistant Manager Lee Seok-jong of Group A is your responsibility as the leader.”

“…….”

T-To think I would see a person actually make such a remark at a company.

Even if they had the same job title, if they were the elite team, they would unconditionally be senior to him.

My spine grew chilly in a slightly different sense.

“…….”

The Group A leader quietly glared at Manager Lee Ja-heon with bloodshot eyes.

“Even while unconscious, you boarded all three attractions together with us to meet the clear conditions. Now, treat the employees to fulfill your responsibility….”

“Group Leader.”

This wasn’t a voice stopping Manager Lee Ja-heon.

It was the voice of the assistant manager in the butterfly mask calmly addressing the Group A leader who was right on the verge of losing his mind.

“Wouldn’t it be better to speak after we go out first? Let’s clear before more variables pop up. You also have to meet that crazy Research Team 1 person, don’t you?”

“……Right. Yes.”

The eyes inside the mallard duck mask blinked and slowly settled down.

It seemed the primary target of his anger was fixed again.

But in the end, he left a single word.

“Group Leader Lee Ja-heon, we shall see each other outside.”

“Yes.”

The supervisor quietly whispered to me.

“It’s fine. They say our group leader hearing such lines is an annual event.”

“…….”

Is it really… fine?

‘What is certain is that I am not in a position to intervene here.’

Let’s shut my mouth quietly and not stand out.

In any case, the Group A leader used his dedicated equipment to treat the assistant manager in the butterfly mask.

The sight of the skin near her jaw and head regenerating as if rewinding was marvelous.

“Hardly any employees have that kind of dedicated equipment. I’m jealous.”

Me too.

‘Is there any way to obtain it?’

Just having something like that seemed like it would raise my survival rate considerably.

I watched the Group A leader’s dedicated equipment, the healing ring, quite intently.

‘Healing… huh.’

The Group A leader, after confirming the fairly cleanly treated butterfly mask employee, tried to pass by without even considering the Group Y employee whose shoulder was pierced with holes, but….

“Could you treat this side too, by any chance? We have to move together, and I’m worried our mobility might drop.”

“…!”

Surprisingly, the Group A assistant manager lightly poked for the treatment of me and the Group Y rookie.

Thanks to that, the Group Y rookie, whose shoulder healed in a daze, blinked his eyes under his cow mask.

“…Thank you.”

The Group A assistant manager nodded slightly.

‘Is she a type who really moves thinking only of work efficiency….’

Once she grasped the mechanism by which this ghost story ran, and safety and escape methods were secured, her decision-making method switched to the direction of minimizing risk.

‘Is that type the elite in this company….’

I made up my mind to keep an eye on Group A’s equipment and characteristics and remember them for now. …Along the way, it would be nice to forget about the corpses in the tubes as well.

“Well, then let’s quickly ride the two attractions we have left and get out.”

“Ah, thank you.”

As soon as the treatment process was finished, the Red Team moved toward the attractions to fill the remaining empty slots on their ticket bracelets.

The other people followed without leaving either.

“Don’t worry, it’ll end in exactly 30 minutes.”

It seemed they were waiting for us, partly to confirm the situation and partly to look after the rookies.

I was grateful, but thinking of the corpse tube following us, I also thought it might be less scary if they just went out….

“As I said earlier, the mascot here was quite moral for a monster.”

Mmh. I actually guessed that from the time we spoke on the phone.

‘If they rode three attractions that quickly, there would be only one reason.’

A generous mascot that demanded things that weren’t humanly excessive.

These teams had luckily broken through immense odds and hit such a sector.

“Even when we asked what was inside the attraction, he answered kindly, you know? He even gave us souvenirs because we rode three first.”

Must be nice. Sucking honey.

While someone else came back from slaving away in the insane Magic Bunny Zone….

The fascinating point was that in terms of survival rate alone, the Red Team had all survived, so more had survived.

In any case, the Red Team soon arrived at the entrance of the attraction where a blue dragon character riding a dolphin was smiling.

And as we entered the attraction… a figure with a cute, exaggerated blue dragon head came into view.

A blue mascot wearing a life jacket.

[Hello]

The mascot waved a greeting sign.

I bowed my head slightly to greet it. The mascot greeted me back.

“Hmm.”

Subsequently, we boarded a flume ride named ‘Blue Mountain.’ It was a typical amusement ride where we boarded a boat and moved while enjoying the stream of water.

The other two Field Exploration Team members also boarded safely.

The only problem was the last person.

“Fuck.”

The researcher’s mouth twitched, and he spat curses at the mascot.

It seemed his hatred and fear toward Magic Bunny erupted when he saw a mascot that was similar but less scary.

“You squelching, disgusting bastards….”

“Hurry up and board.”

“Uh, yeah.”

The researcher, who glanced back at the mascot, boarded the attraction.

The button-like eyes of the blue dragon mascot watched that sight without a word.

“…….”

As a result of boarding the remaining attractions smoothly like that.

[(Pleasant) Fantasyland Ticket ■■■]

“Finally…!”

“Hoo.”

Finally, the slots on the ticket were all filled.

“The exit is in the north. We will move.”

“Yes!”

We were soaked with water, but that didn’t matter at all. The important thing was that we could finally escape from this damn theme park now.

‘For the time being, I don’t even want to go within a 1km radius of an amusement park….’

[Goodbye]

Above the gates of the northern exit, a typical goodbye sign flashed.

And next to it stood a blue mascot dressed in formal attire.

“They say you just scan your completed ticket here and go out.”

The blue mascot politely pointed at the gate machine with its hand.

“Well, well, then the group leaders can go out first. Hurry.”

The Group D assistant manager made the wise choice of wrapping up the situation and sending the superiors out first.

People went out one by one like that, and it was around the time those below the assistant manager were about to leave.

“Well, then Assistant Manager Jin first….”

“G-Get out of the way!”

The researcher pushed the employees and dashed into the gate first.

“What the….”

The supervisor and assistant managers wore expressions as if they found it somewhat absurd, but they seemed to let it pass with the feeling of ‘Well, that’s how civilians are.’

After all, exiting a few seconds later wasn’t a loss.

Regardless of their reactions, the researcher frantically tried to recognize his ticket bracelet at the gate.

‘I feel like that’s a habit.’

Honestly, my brow furrowed….

B a d K i d

“…Uh?”

The researcher turned his head.

His ticket bracelet was held by the blue dragon mascot’s talons.

The paper bracelet crumpled.

Y o u

Tear.

B a d K i d

Tear.

I n d e e d

Snapped.

It broke.

Whoosh.

The researcher stared at the piece of the bracelet falling to the floor with a dumbfounded expression as if he couldn’t understand.

And.

“Haaaaack, aaack!!”

The blue dragon’s mouth ripped wide open.

“Save me! Save me!”

He was sucked in.

Next to me, the cow mask muttered as if possessed.

“Ooooh, how scary. The sea god is enraged. The evil one is sucked into that tsunami. How scary….”

I covered the Group Y rookie’s mouth and held down his head.

I also bowed my head and didn’t look.

“Aaaaack!!”

In the end, does it turn out like this….

If one crossed over to another sector, the active aggro drawn to the mascot of the previous sector vanished.

But, the things one had done accumulated.

———————=

Pleasant Theme Park User Guide (Applied up to Exploration Record No. 64)

6. Do not forget that the theme park is a public space!

Keep the etiquette and manners when using public facilities! Countless eyes are watching you, and no one forgets.

Hey, the mascot is behind you.

———————=

Every mascot knew what one had done inside the Pleasant Theme Park.

So, including what the researcher had done previously.

-Get out of the way, fuck!

Even pushing the Group A assistant manager to die instead while fleeing from the Red mascot.

‘I think they tried to let it slide once, considering it was an extreme situation….’

The problem was that he repeated the exact same behavior.

‘It’s karma.’

The researcher’s screams echoing in my ears were now turning into wails.

“That fucking bastard also tried to kill me!! Why only me, only me!! This trash, tras….”

True.

But the Group A assistant manager had never actually executed it. Because she listened when persuaded.

‘But you didn’t listen.’

To this extent, even I, a resident of the coward’s shelter, thought it was self-inflicted.

-Sa— ve— m— uaaack…

The researcher’s voice stretched as if it were taffy, leaving a chilling shudder.

‘Ugh.’

When my body flinched as the coward’s heart reacted reflexively.

“Don’t do it.”

“…….”

The Group A employee grabbed my arm and held it down.

And she spoke as if dissuading me.

“You can’t save him.”

Actually… I didn’t even plan to try.

In any case, as she said, I stayed quiet.

Soon the screams vanished, and the eerie feeling in the surroundings also subsided.

When I raised my head, the blue dragon mascot in formal attire stood politely as before.

It was an appearance that made it unbelievable that it had just killed someone.

It grew slightly more chilling.

‘The criteria is… tighter than I thought.’

Is this indeed inside a ghost story?

This mascot seemed to have its own beliefs and criteria. Going beyond simply not harming teammates.

‘Let’s act cautiously.’

“…Let’s go out again.”

“Yes.”

Again, one person, two people, the remaining people exited.

I wondered, but was it senior priority after all?

“See you outside.”

I gave up and sent the superiors first.

And after seeing my fellow coward off.

Lastly, I stood at the gate next to the blue dragon mascot.

“…….”

The cute, simplified dragon stared at me with round eyes.

Excuse me, could you not look?

Honestly, it is really scary. Remaining at the very end right now also makes me extremely nervous. I only pushed through to avoid getting caught as a coward.

It was then.

Y o u A r e A G o o d K i d

“…!”

Ah, is it reassuring me?

The mascot’s voice did not sound eerie like before.

‘Property damage… indeed, they seem to let it slide.’

Thank goodness.

“Thank you.”

I bowed my head and tried to pass.

But the mascot moved, blocking my front.

“…?”

A G o o d K i d G e t s

A G i f t

The blue dragon reached out its hand.

And lightly grabbed my wrist.

To be precise, the ticket bracelet hanging there.

[(Pleasant) Fantasyland Ticket ■■■]

The bracelet seemed to grow slightly warm, and then, as the mascot took off its hand….

[◎ (Pleasant) Fantasyland Membership ◎]

The text changed.

L e t ‘ s K e e p P l a y i n g

…Eh?