Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 28
Chapter 28
===================
Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
…Let’s look into the things I must keep in mind as I am deployed with Group A in the ghost story this time.
Conditions
1. Must not get caught as a coward.
2. Must not get caught knowing the clear method in advance.
3. Must survive the corporate bullying of the uncooperative group leader.
‘Rather kill me.’
I think I have muttered this to myself the most since joining the company.
But it cannot be helped.
Because it was also the first time going into a ghost story with a superior who wanted me to be ruined!
‘Every day is newly like hell….’
And the other one is a work-first superior whose personality would shove me into the Cleanup Team the moment she knows I am a coward….
In a word, I had entered the ghost story with only people who would hinder my survival.
‘Is the only answer to persistently gather points and escape from here with the Wish Ticket?’
Moreover, the ghost story I had entered just now also made me sweat cold sweat, leaving me confused.
“What do you think after looking at the space?”
“…It looks like an abandoned factory.”
A dark, abandoned factory smelling of oil.
Do you know just how many ghost stories featuring abandoned factories there are in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>?? There are at least dozens.
Moreover, there would be even more ghost stories where the space changes randomly that include abandoned factories!
I had intended to quickly enter the identification code and run a search on the <Records of the Dark Exploration> the moment I parted from the two Group A members, but they absolutely didn’t give me a moment to be alone.
‘They are staring at me as if surveilling.’
As if waiting for me to make a mistake, the two Group A superiors were moving their feet slowly while glancing at me….
Cold sweat poured.
‘There is truly not a single cooperative companion….’
-Friend?
“…!”
-Oh! It is another place. Mmh, it doesn’t look like a place very suitable as a filming location, though! What a filthy, wretched donkey-like uncleanness! Isn’t that so?
I quickly lowered my head.
The voice was coming from the key ring in my pocket, the ‘Good Friend.’
Brown!
‘He was there, a cooperative opponent!’
W-Wait. But with the two Group A superiors right next to me, if you speak so openly like that….
-Oh dear, are you worried our precious friendship might be interfered with? No problem! Because those who are not friends have no right to hear my words!
Phew.
Did that mean the words couldn’t be heard by other people?
‘Come to think of it, there was indeed a record that the Good Friend only conversed with the owner.’
And did they say he could quickly read the opponent’s mood and surface thoughts?
I lightly tapped my pocket while feeling slightly relieved.
-Haha, it tickles a bit!
Tears came.
This situation where a monster inside a ghost story was the sanctuary of my mind….
“Group Leader. A door is visible over there.”
“So it is. Shall Sol-eum try opening it once?”
“…….”
“Sol-eum?”
“Yes.”
Walking toward the rusty door in front immediately, I swallowed a scream.
To designate me without even giving me the manual, they have no intention of hiding the corporate bullying at all!
-Oh dear… Roe Deer, you look tired for some reason. Is it a matter of physical strength?
Shake, shake.
I shook my head slightly to a degree that wouldn’t get caught.
-Then the matter of the filthy environment?
Shake, shake.
-Aha, if so, it seems the companions do not match you very well!
That was true.
It was truly hard. This dirty ghost story universe, and the corporate bullying….
-Bad people who bully my friend?
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.
-Oh, I see. Sometimes there are opponents who do not match like the same poles of a magnet! Let’s proceed while encouraging ourselves, friend!
My stomach began to ache.
‘To think I also have to keep the balance so that the stuffed doll doesn’t run amok.’
Is this right?
Suffering between fear and stomachache, I barely grabbed the handle of the iron door without trembling.
Creeeeak.
The rusty iron door opened, revealing… the working area of the factory.
Perhaps having ceased operation, it was full of dusty tin cans and boxes. Rotting contents flowed through the cracked beef tins.
But there was something more intense than that.
The smell of iron piercing the nose.
And… a corpse lying on the floor.
“…….”
W-Wait a moment.
“Did you see? There is a corpse over there.”
“…Yes.”
“Sol-eum, go search it.”
“Yes.”
Aaaaack!!
To think the reason I didn’t sink to the floor and wail was because the warmth of the key ring doll was giving me solace—I cannot be more embarrassed of myself.
‘Abandoned factory… corpse, abandoned factory, corpse….’
Searching through the <Records of the Dark Exploration> wiki encyclopedia in my head, I approached the corpse while barely avoiding screaming.
The corpse lay face down on the rail while wearing a suit.
It was an adult male bleeding from the back of the head.
Perhaps because he wore a suit and was of a similar age to me, he looked familiar somehow.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
I can absolutely not touch it directly…! Without even breathing, I immediately summoned my dedicated equipment, floated the hand in the air, and checked the corpse here and there.
It was truly, truly fortunate that this only transmitted pain and not touch.
“…A male in his late 170s to early 180s in height, wearing a suit, and the bleeding is only at the back of the head. It seems he was struck by something with a diameter of 10cm or more.”
“Hmm. Decent. Now flip it over.”
“Yes.”
Kim Sol-eum will remember this….
Staring at the Group A leader with all my might internally, I barely flipped the corpse over while holding back my vomit.
The front side with closed eyes was revealed.
It was….
My own face bleeding.
“…….”
Fuck, fuck!!
Oh, these damn ghost stories, seriously!!
“Oh, he looks exactly like Sol-eum. Is it a trap?”
“Group Leader, it is time to tell him the basic manual, at least….”
“Ah, right. It would naturally be so, wouldn’t it?”
The Group A leader watched me as if measuring me, then slowly opened his mouth as if granting a favor.
“Sol-eum, this is inside a story.”
“…….”
“Move while thinking you have entered a novel or a movie.”
I already knew that.
The moment I saw my own corpse, I realized.
What kind of Dark it was.
———————=
Records of the Dark Exploration / Ghost Story
[The Day I Died]
: A ghost story appearing in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>, Daydream Co.’s identification code is Qterw-C-406.
A ghost story where one is dragged into a thriller/mystery story that failed to succeed, becoming a victim.
The first witness unconditionally discovers their own corpse that has already been victimized.
Explorations have been recorded up to 25 times in total.
———————=
It was a ghost story perfect for causing schizophrenia.
‘This is… a potato, a potato.’
Brainwashing myself as much as possible, I tried to take my eyes off the shape of my corpse….
“Do not use the dedicated equipment and check directly. While examining closely, nook and cranny….”
Are you joking?
“No.”
I answered without even breathing.
The eyes under the mallard duck mask narrowed.
“…Hmm?”
Ah, uh-oh.
In a situation where I was already suffering corporate bullying, talking back to the superior who looked down on me?
‘I must salvage it!’
This time too, following my instinct, I added words naturally.
……Using the repertoire that was already tested and verified once.
“There is a way to escape faster.”
Again.
Again in this direction…!
* * *
A working condition was added.
Conditions
1. Must not get caught as a coward.
2. Must not get caught knowing the clear method in advance.
3. Must survive the corporate bullying of the uncooperative group leader.
4. Must time-attack. (New!)
…Still, the saving grace was that I clearly found out what kind of ghost story this was thanks to seeing my corpse.
‘And the standard clearing method of this ghost story is… this.’
———————=
Success if the story is reconstructed in a direction where the victim does not die.
———————=
In this ghost story, the more one explores the space, the more time winds back to the past.
So normally, one had to investigate the entire factory, tracing why ‘my corpse’ died, and analyze it while deducing that process one by one.
———————=
If the story is not changed within the time limit, the victim is confirmed dead.
———————=
Chasing in that manner while being chased by time, to avoid the fate of a guaranteed death for one person, one had to engage in a blood-drying, desperate pursuit for half a day….
‘Mmh. Before that, my stomach will melt.’
My digestive organs would not endure.
If there is no shortcut, I must make one. Help me, exploration records!
If it had been recorded up to 25 times, there would definitely be strange and anomalous records written by creators to break out of mannerisms. Something to use as a hint!
I flipped through the records in my head.
‘Let’s see, a unique experience story to refer to is…….’
———————=
Exploration Record #21
Assistant Manager Han So-eun and 2 others deployed.
Immediately after the employees entered the abandoned mountain cabin-shaped Dark, they noticed what kind of work it was.
This was a certain movie that had greatly failed to succeed but became famous as a joke online as a meme.
Followed by reactions like contemptuous laughter, mimicking memes, loud laughter, and derogatory spoilers.
Result: The space suddenly collapsed and they were moved to another work (subsequent record: Exploration Record #22). Testimony that a crying sound was heard.
Dear me, is it a kind of specter of failed directors? The fact that their mental state is weak is also identical.
-Researcher Gwak Je-gang
———————=
Oh.
“…Group Leader, Assistant Manager, could you give me ten minutes?”
“Mmh, yes.”
For starters, let’s not give the superior a chance to step in at all.
Since I don’t know what kind of interference will enter through corporate bullying, even if it is petty and dirty, I must do it…….
‘……I must do it quickly before vomiting and screaming.’
Using my dedicated equipment, I quickly reconfirmed the shape of the crushed back of the neck of the sticky corpse (aaaaack). And I also checked the footprints of the corpse and the surrounding bloodstains….
“Why do you use the dedicated equipment when you have hands?”
“That is because if I grab it with my own hands, the evidence might get damaged. I thought doing it this way was correct for scene preservation.”
I didn’t know I had a talent for rapid-fire rap.
“Evidence? You speak like a mystery novel.”
“It’s not to the point of deduction, just a simple guess. And….”
I stood up.
“Found it.”
“Uh?”
“The answer.”
I searched the surroundings immediately. Of course, remotely using the dedicated equipment.
Let’s see.
Delicately hidden in a shadow, but not completely blocked, in a place easy to pass over carelessly….
‘Found it.’
From a musty corner under a shelf, I pulled out a cylindrical object.
“Isn’t that… a tin can?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, tin cans are scattered all over here, though?”
Right. Because this place was like an abandoned tin can factory.
But there was a difference.
On the tin can I lifted, bloodstains were smeared on a slightly crumpled corner.
It was exactly according to the cliché of ‘it is dark beneath the lamp.’
-Ho-oh, Roe Deer! If this were a mystery drama, it would be the decisive evidence. It fits the shape of the wound on the head perfectly.
Correct.
“This is a size similar to the crushed groove of the wound on the back of the head.”
-Ah, typical. The common object in the background passed over carelessly was the murder weapon! It is a story-like structure indeed….
Right, right.
In any case, whether the Group A assistant manager also immediately understood, she nodded.
“Then that must be the murder weap….”
Thud.
I dropped the ‘murder weapon’ candidate tin can on the floor.
And I crushed it violently with a kick.
“…??”
“…????”
-?!??!
“Ah.”
I tilted my head.
“There is no way the back of a human head was ruined by this level of strength… hmm. It’s strange. It doesn’t make sense.”
Rattle.
At that moment, the space shook minutely.
-But no matter how you look at it, it appears to have been struck by a tin can!
That was what I meant.
I nodded as if I had just realized.
“Ah… this can is aluminum.”
“What about it?”
“Normally, tin cans are made of steel.”
I frowned.
“Why would they make a tin can with aluminum that is used for soda cans…. Mmh, don’t tell me….”
-Intriguing indeed….
I deliberately spoke after taking a beat.
“A failure in historical research?”
Crack.
At that moment, the tin cans around me began to tremble finely.
But ignoring it, I continued my monologue.
“I suppose it could happen. Since one encounters soda cans relatively more frequently than tin cans, carelessly thinking of a soda can and mistakenly labeling the material as aluminum….”
-Ho-oh….
But.
I stopped my words and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ayy, no way.”
“…Sol-eum?”
“Anyone can find out just by searching once, so they wouldn’t have composed the story so lazily. A trick is the core of the mystery genre, so they aren’t fools.”
-Hahaha!
“Come to think of it, isn’t a murder occurring with a tin can in a tin can factory also too obvious a structure?”
This was slightly sincere.
“There is no freshness or twist… there is no way the writer would have written this as a trick in their own way. If they were a creator with a shred of sense.”
-Oh, I agree!
The space began to rattle and shake.
“Honestly, it is so poor that….”
I concluded in an indifferent tone.
“Even an amateur wouldn’t write like this nowadays.”
Thud.
After silence.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!
Tin cans began to explode in all directions.
“Wh-What is this?!”
The space hit by the tin cans melted away as if shedding tears in torrents.
And vanished.
Right before everything vanished at last, the sorrowful sound of someone screaming and weeping echoed….
And the next moment,
We stood in the luxurious reception room on the 15th floor of the company.
While covered in beef tin can scraps.
“…….”
“…….”
“We came out… indeed.”
The Group A leader faltered, losing his composure for the first time.
“The Dark let us out, …why?”
Wiping the scraps of the exploded beef tin off my face, I answered silently.
“The creator had a mental breakdown.”
* * *
After escaping from the ghost story where my corpse was.
After washing in the shower room attached to the office and cleanly removing the beef tin can contents that covered my body, we gathered in the reception room again.
“Truly… they said quick clearing without a manual was your pride, and it is exactly as the rumors say.”
“You flatter me.”
“Humility is not for times like this, Sol-eum.”
Checking that the yellow fluid was normally filling the dreamscape collector, the Group A leader turned to look at me.
Admiration was visible in his eyes.
“How did you derive this result?”
Yes. I knew you would ask this question.
Holding my hands behind my back, I took the posture of a rigid presenter.
It was a defense against the superior’s corporate bullying reigniting to find fault.
“I went through a standard deduction process.”
“Hmm.”
“First of all… seeing that you kept making me observe the corpse and search the surroundings, I guessed the corpse would be the core of the escape.”
Of course, he just did it to pick on me, but words can be spun in any way, can’t they?
“And since you said this was a story, a story where someone becomes a corpse… namely, a movie or a novel about a murder. If so, I guessed preventing my death would be the standard clearing method, but.”
I shrugged.
“It takes too much time, doesn’t it?”
“…?!”
“Since you kindly called me, I wanted to resolve it within the morning if possible.”
The Group A leader is looking at me with an expression of ‘What on earth is this crazy talk, rookie.’
But Manager, you would also prefer a crazy guy over a coward!
“So I found a shortcut.”
“How?”
“Because there was a hint.”
I turned to look at the two of them.
“Your actions, I mean.”
“…!”
“Didn’t you two read the manual? So you kept giving clues in your actions.”
Like encouraging me to observe the corpse.
‘If those were clues given intentionally, there were also clues given without realizing.’
I recalled the most decisive part.
-So it is. Shall Sol-eum try opening it once?
-Sol-eum?
“Even though we entered the Dark, you called me by my real name.”
“…!”
Normally, within a ghost story, calling each other by real names instead of nicknames derived from masks is a clear advisory.
Because it could be utilized in a bad direction.
But the Group A leader called me ‘Sol-eum’ instead of ‘Roe Deer.’
If a person who was much more of a veteran and an elite team did that, there was only one reason.
He already knew it was fine.
“That meant there was no intelligent entity in this Dark that would hear my real name and harm me.”
It also meant that there was no other supernatural interference besides my death that had already occurred.
After explaining that additionally, I continued my words.
“So the scope of my movement widened… if so, I thought, why not aggressively attack the story itself and collapse it?”
“…??”
“You thought…… of such a thing?”
“Yes. A story has no meaning once its premise is collapsed, doesn’t it?”
I nodded.
“So I criticized the plausibility, collapsed the story, and came out. That is all.”
“…….”
“…….”
The superiors’ faces are somehow blank.
“…You deduced such, such a thing not only from the surroundings, but also from our conversations and actions…?”
“Yes.”
No.
Actually, I benchmarked the exploration records.
The space suddenly collapsed and they were moved to another work (subsequent record: Exploration Record #22). Testimony that a crying sound was heard.
They had their mental states shattered and the work reconstructed just by laughing at a meme-fied work, didn’t they?
If so, I thought that if I steadily pointed out the historical research and trampled on their self-esteem as a creator, the new work and everything would vanish.
‘And it succeeded.’
Yay.
But the Group A leader stared at me, then slowly opened his mouth.
“You speak so… easily, Sol-eum.”
Uh-oh.
“That, of course, is not a standard method. You could call it a trick.”
Did I offend him?
I laid down the groundwork diligently. And bowed my head as if reflecting.
This much would look real, right?
“Still, I will take the reprimand gratefully.”
Right. Please just curse and end it.
I quietly waited for corporate bullying Mark 2.
But…….
Clap, clap, clap….
The sound of clapping was heard.
When I raised my head, I saw the Group A leader, who had taken off his mallard duck mask, his eyes shining with surprise and satisfaction.
“Adheres to rules and orders. But does not choose means and methods.”
Excuse me?
“Very good. It is exactly the talent we want.”
Me?
“Sol-eum. You passed.”
“What,”
“A slot in Group A is vacant, isn’t it?”
At that moment, I realized.
‘Ah.’
This wasn’t corporate bullying.
It had been a test.
“That slot, Sol-eum, fill it officially.”
“…!!”
Oh my god.
To think this was a recruitment test for Group A!