Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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A dark vent inside the ghost story.

A situation of holding one’s breath to avoid terror.

It was a bewildering situation, even down to the fact that the one whose life I had practically preserved was Baek Sa-heon.

‘Why does it have to be you of all people.’

On top of that, the other guy was now desperately avoiding my gaze.

“……?”

He isn’t the type of person to act like this…….

‘Ah, no way.’

Something flashed in my mind.

-Watch out for the serial killer

Was it because I had kindly sent him serial killer notifications every day?

He seemed a bit scared. Mmh, it was indeed enough to be creepy.

‘Actually, this is better.’

In fact, it was somewhat intended. Not sending it anonymously was aiming for this effect.

I seem like a psycho, right? So let’s not get involved.

Given his personality of clearly being strong against the weak and weak against the strong, rather than trying to eliminate me at the first opportunity, he would just preserve himself and try not to get involved as much as possible.

‘I would welcome that with open arms.’

…The problem was, we had to be wedged together in this vent for a little while right now.

I held my breath. Fortunately, Baek Sa-heon was also as quiet as a dead mouse.

Outside, the shadows of the people who had failed to escape could be seen faintly in the dark, cast by the candlelight.

Screeech, thump.

The machine stopped.

Before the shadows of the people cornered in a dead end, something thin slipped out.

A shadow with a spider-leg-like silhouette.

And silence.

“…….”

“…….”

Only the noise of an unknown machine echoed, and then.

Swoosh.

The spider-leg-like silhouette spread wide right before the human’s eyes.

“Hieeeeek!!”

Eight sharp and delicate somethings clutching a human torso could be seen in the swaying shadow.

“Save me, save me…… Aaaaahhh!!!”

Thud.

A single strand of the spider leg dug into the gap of the human head.

And with a pluck, it pulled something out of the head.

“…….”

And already, I knew what it had plucked…….

‘…An eyeball.’

That is it.

The reason why this exhibition was called the ‘Mansion of the Blind.’

———————=

A majority of visitors testified that they had lost human body parts to the guide, and among them, the part commonly lost first is said to be the ‘eyeball.’

———————=

‘The guide.’

If you meet that machine here, your eyes are gouged out.

The next time you meet it, it is usually one of the limbs, the tongue, or sometimes the ears.

Thus, it is a crazy story where eventually, people who have become blind, mute, and like grubs roam around crawling in the dark exhibition hall….

And what was more cruel was that this did not happen all at once.

This was because, surprisingly, this exhibition was kind.

To the point of providing ‘convenience’ on its own without even being requested.

———————=

For the convenience of visitors, sensory correction devices are always available for free rental.

(Currently supported devices: visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile, gustatory, panoramic, and focal-angle)

———————=

Gasp, grooan.

To the eyes of the person whose eyes were gouged out, another spider-leg-like silhouette approaches elegantly and delicately.

The form it carries at the end of its leg momentarily reveals a clear shadow under the candlelight.

A slender needle and thread.

‘Damn it.’

I held my breath and waited longer until all the commotion quieted down.

Cold sweat broke out all over my body.

After a short while.

Thud, thud, thud….

The sound of the machine faded away.

……Soon, the person whose eyes had been gouged out began to move their feet, tottering.

Approaching right toward the vent, their blood-soaked face was clearly revealed and then vanished.

A telephoto lens was attached instead of eyes.

“…!”

Next to me, Baek Sa-heon could be seen swearing silently with only his mouth shape.

It didn’t feel like someone else’s business.

‘With that attached, you can see ahead for at least a few hours, or at most a day or two.’

However, precisely because it is a rented device, they gradually lose function and fall into even greater terror.

And the next time they meet it, that too is ‘collected.’

Because it is a rental.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

It felt like a prelude to the terrible things to be seen in the future, making my eyes tightly shut involuntarily, but….

‘To think that I must endure because I cannot let my cowardice be discovered.’

Conscious of Baek Sa-heon next to me, I crawled out as soon as I confirmed that the surroundings had grown quiet.

‘I cannot stay here forever.’

I had to move quickly and escape. As for organizing the exploration records and manual, I would do that after parting ways with Baek Sa-heon first….

“Excuse me.”

Hmm?

“Thank you.”

Suddenly, Baek Sa-heon spoke to me in polite language.

And he stealthily tried to run away.

“Then, I shall take my leave….”

“Wait.”

Baek Sa-heon stopped in his tracks.

I asked.

“How many hours have passed since you entered?”

“…….”

“Do you not want to answer?”

“…About two hours have passed.”

He entered quite a bit before me.

Since it was not a ghost story where the concept of time became strange, it meant even the rookie Baek Sa-heon had been called in since morning…….

‘My Group D superiors had left me out!’

For a moment, I almost felt touched.

It was to the extent of becoming motivation to quickly find my team members and get out.

‘Group Leader Lizard would have originally been among the 7 final survivors anyway.’

I should quickly find the other Group D people.

…Though to be honest, once I actually crawled out of the vent and looked at the hallway, a sigh escaped me first…….

‘Wow, to think that I have to rummage through this place alone.’

To search every nook and cranny here to find clues? While playing hide-and-seek with the guide monster?

So much so that a horror game based on this Dark had even been released; though I hadn’t played it, I had watched a video of it on Wetube.

…While covering half the screen with my hand.

“…….”

Mmh. As expected, even if there’s a problem with their personality… wouldn’t it be… better to go with anyone?

I looked back at Baek Sa-heon.

* * *

Inside the darkness.

Next to Kim Sol-eum, Baek Sa-heon swallowed his saliva.

‘Fuck.’

To think I got caught by this crazy bastard of all people.

Nothing had gone right since this fucking nutjob got assigned as my company housing roommate.

Hearing him spout crazy talk with a cynical look that seemed like he would never get picked on by a drunkard even in the dead of night made my head spin.

‘Do I really have to stick with this guy.’

The employees who had entered together seemed to have regained consciousness scattered all over this bizarre mansion, and the other civilian I had managed to run into was also destroyed just now.

Still, rather than going with this out-of-his-mind bastard, maybe it would be better to roam alone….

It was when he was weighing it frantically.

Suddenly, Kim Sol-eum opened his mouth.

“You are using polite language? Suddenly.”

Fuck.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

“…Before, it was such an emergency situation that I ended up speaking informally… but now it seems right for us to be polite to each other again.”

Kim Sol-eum stared at him, then soon replied as if it were nothing.

“I see. Understood.”

“…Yes.”

Should I… run away?

Baek Sa-heon scanned Kim Sol-eum.

He had already heard all about the other’s absurdly grand rumors within the company.

The absurd monster rookie of the Field Exploration Team.

-They say he cleared an A-grade Dark all by himself.

-I heard he almost got recruited to the Elite Team. But he refused it himself?

-Wow, they say he even brought back a missing manager. Is that really a rookie?

-Two cases of manual review revisions? What kind of rookie used for propaganda to rip off employees is this….

Later, it was so grand that there were even a few people whispering whether he was the company’s propaganda.

However, Baek Sa-heon did not doubt the rumors.

‘Isn’t it because he’s a crazy bastard?’

Is the reason why that bastard’s performance comes out like a monster… because his way of thinking resembles a monster?

Since his way of thinking is different from normal people, even inside ghost stories, he must have made concepts that a human couldn’t possibly do!

Baek Sa-heon knew that he himself was a type of person obsessed with practical benefits and selfish.

However, the sense of intimidation given by an unpredictable opponent was different.

The terror given by the unknown.

‘I would believe it even if they said that bastard is the ghost story itself.’

Baek Sa-heon broke out in cold sweat.

Still, because he wanted to obtain information, he opened his mouth.

He should at least listen as much as was told.

“Where are you going to go? Judging by how that monster attacks people, it seems like a Dark where we are treated as uninvited guests….”

“No.”

“Yes?”

“This exhibition is definitely treating us as visitors.”

What kind of bullshit is this again.

Baek Sa-heon looked at Kim Sol-eum.

The other spoke with certainty, as if it were nothing.

“That is why they are coming to collect the fee. They only take the eyes, don’t they. They are merely collecting the admission fee.”

“…….”

“Did you not read the manual?”

He had read it.

That bizarre document contaminated into an exhibition invitation.

“It is an invitation, after all. How could a person who came by invitation be an uninvited guest.”

“……But there was no mention of a fee.”

“Read it again. Near the end of page 3.”

Baek Sa-heon unfolded the paper.

+++

This exhibition is conducted free of charge for one hour under an open mind that admires art.

+++

“A one-hour free viewing implies that they will either collect fees or kick you out after that.”

“…!”

“However, seeing as they gouge out eyes instead of kicking you out, it means fee collection. That thing earlier must be… some kind of ‘staff’ in this exhibition.”

Surprisingly, it was persuasive.

Baek Sa-heon asked involuntarily.

“Why of all things do you think human eyes are the fee?”

“Well. Perhaps because among what humans possess, body parts are at least the most valuable?”

“……!”

“Apparently, all the objects we possess have no value from their perspective.”

“…What do you mean by ‘their perspective’?”

Kim Sol-eum shook his head expressionlessly.

“I don’t know.”

And, nobody among the people swept inside would know either….

A chill ran down his back.

“Anyway, whoever operates this exhibition seems to think that the human body is at least the most valuable thing humans have.”

“…….”

“And at first, the eye seems like the most appropriate value.”

The eye.

He possessed only one.

Baek Sa-heon almost pressed his one eye wearing an eyepatch involuntarily.

He still remembered.

The appearance of Kim Sol-eum staring intently at him who had left the subway, holding up the other eyeball that was the ‘answer sheet.’

That bizarre calmness and observation while waiting for him to realize that his eye had been gouged out in vain.

That mocking gaze.

At least this Dark used it as a fee, but what on earth did that bastard grow up eating to act so creepily?

“But….”

“…!”

Kim Sol-eum stared intently at Baek Sa-heon.

“You dropped the polite language again.”

Goosebumps rose all the way up.

Baek Sa-heon forced a calm voice.

“Yeah. Shall we just do it comfortably instead? We are peers, let’s escape together….”

“I don’t want to.”

“…….”

For a moment he surged with anger, but forced a smile.

“Don’t be like that. Seeing as you hid me in the vent too, didn’t you have a heart to keep a peer alive?”

“Yeah. To use you as bait in a pinch.”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon completely gave up on gaslighting and shifted his words to a persuasive tone.

Because it felt like Kim Sol-eum grasped this terrible exhibition ghost story even better than expected.

“If there is one more person, exploration will become easier too. In a dark place like this.”

“No particular need for that.”

“…….”

“But let’s accompany each other for the sake of dopamine. The more people there are, the more variables there are, after all.”

He is a madman.

Baek Sa-heon was certain.

A madman this openly blatant was a first even in his own turbulent life.

However…….

‘Is it only that kind of human that can adapt to this company.’

At the sense of defeat felt for some reason, he gritted his teeth beneath his black goat mask.

“Moving out.”

Kim Sol-eum ignored the stiffened Baek Sa-heon and began moving his feet just like that.

And he spoke abruptly.

“Thank you. If so, then it’s a relief.”

“What?”

What is he thankful for at the end?

It was just when he was about to add some more words in confusion.

Kim Sol-eum put his hand to his mouth.

“Quiet. I am in the middle of talking to Brown.”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon barely managed to open his mouth.

“Brown?”

“Yes.”

Kim Sol-eum put his hand into his suit pocket, then pulled something out.

It was a key ring with a cute, fluffy rabbit doll attached.

“Right now, Brown is greeting you.”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon now gradually wanted to run away!

Of course, he had absolutely no inkling that Brown was actually saying something like ‘Oh, greetings, Mr. Soon-to-Die-Victim in the next room!’

And that Kim Sol-eum was thinking like this.

‘Whew. Still, since there is one more person, it is at least slightly less terrifying.’

Because thinking about roaming this place alone with just the doll Brown was as chilling as during the Changwi time.

‘It seems to have been a decent choice!’

“Are we going to search this place to secure more places like that vent from earlier?”

“No.”

Kim Sol-eum intentionally stared at Baek Sa-heon with eyes that looked like he was viewing a truly absurd person.

“We should look for the exit door. Why look for a vent.”

“…….”

“If you like the vent, you can stay inside. Then when you get caught, pay the fee.”

Kim Sol-eum knew.

‘That fellow is the type of person who must not be let loose.’

That Baek Sa-heon was a person who would play dirty tricks if given even a tiny opening!

Baek Sa-heon was someone who suddenly attacked a person he met for the first time to make their eyeballs burst without even batting an eye.

Let’s not forget that fellow’s alias in the <Records of the Dark Exploration> is Viper.

Being off guard is strictly forbidden!

‘Let me act like a madman too.’

Thus, the uncomfortable Dark exploration of the two madmen began.