Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The foot that crossed the taboo rope steps on the ground.
If compared to a game, it felt like entering some kind of special field.
As if a lie, the fog disappeared and the landscape revealed itself properly.
But….
‘…It’s wide.’
The field in the mountains under the full moon was much larger than expected.
A field huge enough to cover the entire ridge.
The quiet and dark greens bathed in the dark blue moonlight swayed.
However, it did not feel very peaceful or pleasant.
It felt ominous and bewitching.
-A strange scent wafts.
Just as he said.
Furthermore, those tiny red berries visible between the swaying greens were…… W-wait a minute.
‘…Ginseng?’
It was correct.
Is this a ginseng field?
Wait a minute, ginseng is cultivated artificially by humans, but strictly speaking, this doesn’t seem to be cultivated by humans so….
‘…Wild ginseng?’
All of this vast amount is wild ginseng??
‘No, surely not….’
I hurriedly looked around the field and saw a signpost stuck on the outer edge.
[One Thousand Years]
“…….”
I immediately tried to turn my back and cross the taboo rope.
-Mr. Roe Deer?
‘Let’s flee.’
A thousand-year-old wild ginseng?
It felt like opening a pencil case to borrow a pen from a friend, only to see gold bars packed inside instead of pens.
The moment I tried to cross the taboo rope like that.
[Noble guest!]
“…!”
[Ah, noble guest. Please do not leave….]
The sound of a slender voice sobbing was heard from behind.
I turned only my neck halfway back extremely slowly.
[The ghost bound to the tiger is coming to steal me! The future where the terrifying tiger tears my limbs apart, chews them, and spits them on the ground is approaching! Save me, save me…!]
A bunch of berries rising from the field was swaying gently.
Then, as if realizing I was looking at it, its leaves drooped.
[Ah, now it is my turn. I will be ruthlessly chopped up, not even a scrap of flesh remaining….]
“…….”
I turned my body to stare at the wild ginseng in question.
Receiving my gaze, the cluster of berries shook fervently.
[Rather than being carried away by the evil tiger, I would rather be eaten by the noble guest! If you take me, boil me thoroughly in a large iron pot and eat me, all diseases will be cured, and even senile parents will rise like robust young men and exert strength!]
Come to think of it, was wild ginseng… historically depicted as a good and mysterious existence in folktales.
A reward given to a good person.
I bent my knees toward the wild ginseng swaying its berries.
[Noble gueeeest!]
And reached out toward the wild ginseng…….
But stood back up instead.
[…?]
“Liar.”
The berries froze.
Then, shaking as if the ground vibrated, a dreary, cracked, thick voice burst forth.
[You noticed! You insect-like thing!]
Yep.
‘You said this is the Mountain Lord’s grave site.’
Have you heard the story that ghosts do everything in reverse.
Yet this is a place I came bewitched by a ghost, and the name is a burial ground?
‘There’s no way the wild ginseng growing in this neighborhood is normal.’
It wouldn’t be strange even if all properties were completely reversed. I knew it would be like this.
[Yihehehe, hehehehe!]
The wild ginseng began to wriggle and sprout upwards.
Hieeeeeek!!
The half-protruding look was a deep purplish color, literally looking like a zombie miniature.
It was even throwing up something like dark red sap in gulps!
‘Even though I prepared my mind, it’s scary!’
[Let’s bury you too! You be buried here as ginseng too! Let your hands and feet be chopped and rot so you can’t flee! Feel the pain of dying while alive!]
Even the surrounding leaves twisted like tentacles, wriggling their roots out of the soil together. Argh!
Without delay, I immediately pulled out the item from my waist.
‘Sn-Snow White’s Apple!’
An item with the strange effect ‘you fall into a death-like sleep immediately upon eating.’
But what was I going to do with this?
‘Since it would be hard to chew and eat an apple in an emergency situation anyway….’
I ground it all up and brought it as juice!
Splat.
I pulled out the sealed pack containing the apple juice made from grinding Snow White’s Apple, and splashed it thoroughly over the field ahead.
The wild ginseng was…….
[Kkihehehe! It doesn’t work! It doesn’t work! You foolish thing! I’ll pull out your limbs—]
Zzz.
It fell into a fainted sleep.
“…….”
Snow White’s Apple… the effect is certain.
I cautiously moved my feet.
The gruesome wild ginseng, half-emerged from the soil, was still knocked out on the ground without a twitch.
It was a bizarre feeling, like seeing a cockroach sprayed with poison splayed on the floor, or a dog or cat fast asleep showing its belly.
-Oh! He was a rude but quite interesting fellow! How about taking him as a souvenir?
Normally, I would have said are you crazy.
However, I cautiously peered at the wild ginseng.
It spoke, expressed emotions, tried to deceive me, and calculated situations. And something like sap also seemed to flow inside it.
If so, this….
‘An intellectual entity… isn’t it correct?’
Found it, the sacrifice substitute.
* * *
“…So, you’ve gathered all the ingredients, finished the ritual preparations, and as a sacrifice, we just need to use this strange wild ginseng…… is that what you are saying?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Hearing the summary of ‘What kind of things did Kim Sol-eum (impersonating the Security Team) experience outside~’, the faces of the people in the abandoned house turned dumbfounded.
Did I summarize too much.
But it couldn’t be helped. Since I couldn’t explain how on earth I did it, it ended up as ‘Anyway, I brought them.’
‘Harvesting the wild ginseng weighs on my mind a bit, but… it’s better for my mental state than killing a person through a random draw.’
Though I didn’t know whose field it was, I believed Brown would have sounded an alarm if there was a really major problem.
Anyway, I looked at the people with the most nonchalant face possible.
The people still gaped blankly, looking alternately at me, the ingredients, and the wild ginseng.
But roughly went through.
“As expected of the Security Team…. To think you did even this kind of thing!”
No, I didn’t.
Feeling guilty for no reason, I looked at the real Security Team, but the security leader was merely lying down among the middle schoolers with an expression of being annoyed by everything.
I didn’t know when they introduced themselves, but the kids were clinging to him and chattering.
“Hyung, you don’t look very strong?”
“No… I’m super strong.”
The kids were laughing. Seeing that there were more people, they must have relaxed a bit.
Gazing anxiously at Ko Seon-ha, whose face brightened as she checked the ingredients, and me, Manager Lee Byung-jin swallowed and spoke.
“Th-then, are we all going to the shrine together now? To go and perform the ritual…?”
“Yes.”
“…Since the shrine is nearby, we just need to move carefully. Nothing happened while I was at the shrine also……”
Ko Seon-ha turned to look at me with a stiff face.
“By any chance, did you also visit the shrine when you went out?”
“Yes.”
I went and burned the peach branch while Brown made my presence vanish.
I almost cried about three times because I was tense.
“…Then it will be even easier. Quietly, without making a sound, just walk fast. Since it’s inside the fog, as long as you don’t make a mistake, it’s fine.”
“I understand.”
“…Then, let’s go to the shrine together.”
The time arrived.
After catching our breath and preparing our minds for a moment, we stood aligned just like that in front of the closed door.
“Children. You must absolutely not stop. Keep walking.”
“Yes……”
At Ko Seon-ha’s words, the kids nodded with terrified faces, but soon, comforted by the adults, they shut their mouths tight and squeezed into the line.
“…….”
But why have I ended up standing at the very front…?
Everyone, why are you naturally moving to the back.
‘Did I summarize the process of obtaining the ingredients too much…!’
They must all think of me as some century-defining stouthearted person or an inquiry-filled capable individual. Oh, please….
‘Even if I say I’m scared now, they won’t believe me, right?’
……Still, is it better than the very back.
Resigning myself, I opened the door again.
Creak.
The foot of the mountain wrapped in darkness and fog revealed its appearance again.
Gasp.
“Ugh,”
“Shh.”
The kids shut their mouths tight with terrified faces.
We moved our feet slowly, as quietly as possible.
Tramp, tramp.
Each time a small sound echoed, the footsteps grew even faster.
I felt the pressure that the Changwi would chase us while calling out from behind at any second wrapping around the entire group.
-Friend! You do not need to hurry too much. Even in the worst-case scenario, do not forget that this Brown is always here….
And fortunately, that ‘worst-case scenario’ did not happen.
Beyond the darkness and fog, old roof tiles were visible.
An old red and blue house bent at a strange angle.
It was the shrine.
Thud.
“Whew.”
“Everyone, everyone made it inside, right?”
The people who successfully entered the shrine caught their breath.
The security leader, who entered slouched at the very end, closed and locked the green paper-screen door.
Manager Lee Byung-jin hurriedly tried to layer the talismans picked up from the floor of the abandoned house over the door, but Ko Seon-ha stopped him.
“It might cause a problem for the ritual. Let’s just leave it. We just need to do it quickly and leave!”
“Y-yes.”
I looked around the shrine in the meantime.
My eyes, adjusted to the darkness, showed the outline through shadows.
The inside was strangely clean, yet extremely old.
Between two headless and rusted Maitreya statues was a completely broken incense burner.
And above it, a moth-eaten wooden plaque was visible.
-That must be the wooden plaque where the ritual was written. It has quite an atmosphere….
I read along with the content of the wooden plaque that Brown read for me.
“…The human with the most stout heart and mind shall step forward and conduct the ritual.”
Well, first of all, it’s not me.
“…….”
No, seriously, both of you do not look at me.
I naturally turned my gaze to look at the security leader. Then, the two people’s gazes followed, but…….
“I can’t do it.”
“…Pardon??”
“I can’t do it, so don’t make me……”
“Ah, I see.”
Whimpering, Manager Lee Byung-jin looked at me.
I stared at the manager blankly.
“…….”
“……Well,”
“Do it.”
“Yes, yes……”
Even if you are suffering from a neurosis, you are probably less of a coward than me….
Manager Lee Byung-jin stepped forward with trembling steps, then soon turned to Ko Seon-ha and me with a terrified face.
“W-wait a minute! The Hero of the Mountain!”
Ko Seon-ha was also startled.
“Right! ‘The melody to offer to the Mountain Lord’!”
“Yes, that! There is no substitute for that tiger children’s song or folk song! No matter how much we have the ingredients, if we don’t have that….”
Ah.
“There is.”
“……??”
“Wait a moment.”
I called the middle schoolers.
And asked extremely politely.
“Children. You said you are on a school trip, right.”
“Yes….”
“Is there by any chance a friend who kept listening to songs inside the vehicle coming down? Or a friend who knows celebrities well.”
The kids glanced at each other, then signaled toward one student who had no bangs.
I quickly asked that student.
“What is your name?”
“L-Lee Na-yeon.”
“Okay, Na-yeon. I have something to ask.”
I tried to put on an extremely kind expression. Question marks rose simultaneously on the adults’ faces.
“…?? Excuse me, what are you doing now…”
“Among famous idol songs, there is a song that has a tiger in the lyrics, right?”
“…!!”
I turned to look at the adults.
They had dumbfounded expressions.
“B-but, uh, is it okay to write a popular song? Something like an idol song….”
“It works.”
I held up the ritual slip that Ko Seon-ha had written.
“If you look, it is merely written as ‘melody.’ Which means there is absolutely no need to use something like a folk song or children’s song.”
“…!”
It wasn’t like this was a ghost story wiki creation field, so there was neither a need nor a reason to select a song matching the ghost story atmosphere.
Human prejudice had narrowed the scope.
“Ah….”
I turned my gaze back to the child.
“Na-yeon. So is there a song you remember? Things like Mountain Lord, tiger, those are fine too.”
“Ah!”
And Na-yeon immediately answered with a brightened face.
“There is! Saint U’s Peek-a-boo!”
Jackpot.
“Also, also there’s a VTIC song too….”
“Among them, is there a song you know all the lyrics to? And is famous at the same time.”
“Yes! Saint U’s Peek-a-boo!”
Okay.
I turned to the adults and solemnly declared.
“We shall use Saint U’s Peek-a-boo as the melody to offer to the Mountain Lord.”
Receive the idol song, tiger!
* * *
Inside the quiet shrine.
Stepping forward in the darkness, Manager Lee Byung-jin shook the ash into the incense burner with trembling hands.
It was the ash of the burned peach branch.
-First.
-‘The one conducting the ritual shall step forward, place the burned peach branch into the incense burner, and smell its scent.’
-‘After carefully closing the lid of the incense burner, open it again once the scent dissipates.’
Covering the top of the completely broken worn-out incense burner with a similarly worn-out lid with shivering hands, the manager waited for a few seconds, then removed the lid.
Astonishingly, the heap of ash was gone.
Instead, a whole single stick of incense was burning.
An incense scent mixed with peach billowed from the incense shaped like a small branch.
“…!!”
-‘If the incense is burning, the Mountain Lord has recognized thy sincerity’…. Oh, it fits perfectly according to plan. Marvelous!
“Ugh.”
Whether the incense scent was too strong, Ko Seon-ha covered her nose and stepped back.
The manager hurriedly performs the next action.
-Second.
-‘Open the paper screen.’
Slide.
Beyond the opened door, the dark forest caught the eye. The children hid behind the adults.
-‘Crush three plums in a brass cup and sprinkle them on the soil beneath the wooden floor. Toss the remaining cup to the east and absolutely do not look.’
I handed three plums to Manager Lee Byung-jin. The manager squished the plums wildly inside the bronze cup with his fingers, then sprinkled them on the soil.
A sweet and sour scent rose, enough to make one feel nauseous.
Ko Seon-ha, who had retreated to the back, came forward, and sniffing her nose, her complexion improved slightly.
And signaled to Manager Lee Byung-jin.
Meaning it was time to proceed with the third step.
-Third.
-‘Prepare a melody to offer to the Mountain Lord. The more commonly known it is in the world, the better its effect.’
Manager Lee Byung-jin lifted the lyric sheet written in advance, carefully rolled it, and placed it inside the drawer beneath the incense altar.
-‘Write down the lyrics and place them in the incense altar, sing with all your lungs, clap at every step, and bow at every thirty steps.’
People stepped out of the opened door one by one.
Manager Lee Byung-jin began to sing along to the lyrics taught by the student named Lee Na-yeon.
“…Peek-a-boo. Here I come.”
The middle schoolers chorused.
The melody offered to the Mountain Lord.