Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Clop clop.

I was currently walking quietly through the exhibition that gouges out people’s eyes.

Even with a human-trash-type character of the ghost story universe by my side.

‘I hope Baek Sa-heon just keeps his mouth shut and acts as a human totem.’

Several times on the way, I saw from afar the shadows of terrible figures crawling on the floor. Every time, I couldn’t be more grateful to have a person next to me….

‘Just don’t lower your guard. Just don’t.’

Brown spoke to me in a somewhat amused tone.

-Mr. Roe Deer, you converse with this fellow in a very interesting way. It is as if you are a different person.

‘Do you not like it?’

-Of course not! It is very intriguing. It feels as if you have created a somewhat more exaggerated… persona for the sake of the show.

Mmh. Similar.

-So, is it your goal to quickly leave this grand exhibition at all costs?

Exactly.

And….

‘I have already set up the escape plan.’

Since I also confirmed that it was registered as the seventeenth exploration record in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>, I structured the escape method according to that case.

I also decided which among the items I possess to use.

-Oh!

-But is there a need to use the word escape? Although it feels like if you just grab any staff member and ask them to guide you to the exit, they would kindly tell you!

The problem arises from there.

‘In this exhibition, they use machines as guides.’

Namely, that monster wielding spider-leg-like things.

-Mmh. And?

‘And each machine only knows the information about the area it is in charge of.’

———————=

In our exhibition, a guide is arranged for each area for the visitors.

Among the testimonies of past visitors, cases of referring to this guide as a ‘monster’ are frequent, but this is a Metril kiosk-type automatic steam doll.

As a vintage model from the Imperial Calendar year 62627, its memory device is somewhat poor, so it only learns information about its designated area, but it is a time-honored and meaningful artistic collectible.

Please refrain from using derogatory expressions for healthy viewing.

———————=

What this means is that to ask about the exit, you have to go all the way to the area where the exit is located and speak to the staff.

And if too much time has already elapsed by then… you will get ‘fee collected’ and suffer the terrible fate of being reborn as a human grub.

And in the first place, realizing which area the exit is located in is an extremely difficult task.

‘But there is a hint.’

I stopped walking.

Because I discovered what I was searching for.

“…An elevator?”

Before the eyes of Baek Sa-heon and me, a very classical, early-modern-style elevator stood.

In front of the brass-colored elevator, iron bars were set up, and a small light bulb flickered.

And like any elevator, a guide board regarding the floor numbers and usage was attached to the side wall.

Except for the fact that it was in characters that we couldn’t read at all.

‘One of the things that raises the exploration difficulty even higher.’

The discrepancy of characters.

Baek Sa-heon knitted his brows.

“……Are you going to ride this?”

“We’ll see.”

“We can’t even check which floor it is? Are you in your right mind?”

I stared at Baek Sa-heon speechlessly. The other person quickly averted his gaze.

‘As if that would be the case.’

But I have the ghost story talk show host who claims to be fluent in all languages!

‘Brown. Could you perhaps read this elevator description?’

-It is no difficult task, friend!

-Mmh,

Brown cleared his throat, then explained in a kind voice….

-It says that a guide resides in the corresponding elevator, and you can enjoy the service of having them press the floor for you if you state the floor you wish to go to. Ho, it is a quite classical method….

It meant that to ride the elevator, you would unconditionally meet the guide and have your eyes gouged out.

Though I knew it, I swallowed my saliva involuntarily.

‘Is there perhaps any explanation about the exit?’

-Unfortunately, there is none! It is mainly explanations about the floor numbers and the exhibits.

-And where Mr. Roe Deer is right now is the 2nd floor. …Oh, wait a moment. There is also an explanation of the history of this mansion.

“…!”

This was information that wasn’t even in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>.

‘Keep explaining.’

-Of course, friend!

-It says that this place is the villa of a noble collector of very high status… and thanks to his charity wishing to share his art and philosophy, an endless exhibition is being held!

-Also, it is said that this time-honored grand mansion consists of 7 floors above ground and 7,221 floors below ground.

“…….”

Wait a minute.

What?

‘Below ground… 7,221 floors?’

-Indeed. Mmh, it seems he collected the collectibles for quite a long time!

I froze.

‘…I did know that there were underground floors.’

At first, it wasn’t depicted.

The early exploration records of this ghost story called <Mansion of the Blind> are records of people who luckily escaped from the floors above ground, or died without being able to get out.

This gains popularity among readers.

With that, the records are frantically updated and lengthened, and the universe of the story grows.

One of the explorers comes to realize it.

———————=

The 23rd record is a testimony left by a visitor who entered the underground floors through the elevator.

———————=

The existence of the underground floors.

Thus, records follow of people who could not find a path to survival above ground going down to the underground.

The bleak and chilling terror of watching them go down, further down, continuously down in search of an exit.

From then on, this ghost story was classified as cosmic horror.

Exploration records aiming to make the reader feel suffocated and remote.

In some records, there were even people who gave up on escaping, became half-insane, and continuously went down underground.

———————=

This is the testimony of a visitor who viewed the exhibition area on the 105th floor below ground.

Staff 753: The disastrous and terrible things that cannot be seen with my ears are truly beautiful. Forming a framework with ■■, a person’s ■■ does ■. Die for this.

There are no records after this.

Thank you for the meaningful review. We will strive for exhibition management for a more deeply moving experience.

———————=

As one went further underground, stranger and more grotesque collectibles that humans could not bear were closely packed. Amidst that terror where at some point, words that could not be left in human language were countlessly censored, leaving only a bleak blank space….

Beneath that, thousands of unknowns, exist…….

Slap.

I slapped my face.

“…?!”

Get it together.

‘There are multiple exits.’

Even if the locations change every time an exhibition starts, that does not change.

Had I not also seen records of people who escaped respectively through exits on different floors in the same iteration?

‘I can do it.’

It doesn’t matter how astronomically wide this place is, or if space incomprehensible to humans continues.

An exit might be open nearby as well.

I have over a hundred iterations of exploration information, and even have the record of this iteration, so I would be a fool to be in despair.

‘Even if specific floors aren’t designated, I already knew all the hints.’

Rather than being overwhelmed by the scale of the ghost story, I had to move quickly.

Let’s not act foolishly… get it together!

‘…Okay.’

I took a deep breath and moved my feet.

Toward the stairs that were next to the elevator.

“Wait, then we aren’t riding the elevator… where do you think this place is to move like that!”

“The 2nd floor.”

“…?”

“From now on, we move to the 1st floor below ground.”

“Below ground? There is an underground… no, this place is the 2nd floor? How are you certain?”

“Brown told me.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you grateful?”

“…….”

-Don’t mention it!

Surprisingly, Baek Sa-heon did not run away this time either.

Mmh. I should treat him with this level of severity in the future.

* * *

Even when going down the stairs, it was the same grand mansion of identical illumination, where not a single decoration changed.

A dark brassy, shaded landscape continued. It felt as if I was repeatedly looking at the same floor over and over again.

Although even that staircase disappeared one floor below.

‘…This staircase doesn’t connect below ground.’

For now, I decided to look for a new staircase or means of movement on the 1st floor.

Of course, there was no more chitchat with Baek Sa-heon either.

Because the occurrences of hearing mechanical sounds nearby were gradually becoming more frequent.

‘The main exhibition hall, where guides practically reside on rotation, is drawing close.’

While moving with mouth shut, practically crawling.

I raised my head and saw a massive guide board that appeared right below the ceiling.

‘It’s here.’

The main exhibition hall sign.

Engraved with classical carvings, it was written in very elegant… unknown characters.

-‘The Power of Emotion.’ A unique exhibition title!

“…!”

It was the exhibition I read about in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>. Just reading the type was chilling…….

‘This is crazy.’

I tightly grabbed and suppressed the urge to turn my steps away immediately.

‘If I’m going to explore in search of an exit, I have to see it once anyway.’

In a situation where I had to secure the route of movement, avoiding a ‘safe’ exhibition was a foolish act.

So gritting my teeth, as I approached slowly….

The moment I looked inside the open door, where brilliant embossed decorations flashed.

The exhibition space unfolded.

Along with a sound washing over like waves.

Aaaaaaaah

The mouths of countless shouting people were visible.

To be precise, teeth and tongues.

Beautiful Baroque-style frames containing human oral cavities closely filled a single massive wall surface.

Perhaps because artificial vocal cords were attached, they recited poems in their respective voices, respective languages, and respective ways.

Those hundreds and thousands of frames achieved harmony, creating an amazingly strange chord and scale.

And….

The grubs struggling on the floor below it.

Heeerr, gasp.

People who had become unable to spit out human language were struggling with unlit buttons attached to their eye sockets.

They were people who had been fee collected multiple times, almost losing their human shape.

Contrasted with the frames containing only oral cavities displayed in a clean and beautiful appearance, it was even more… more…….

‘Ah.’

I feel like throwing up.

Chilled to the point where my head was dizzy, I looked at the ground.

Calm down, I must calm down.

‘They aren’t company employees either.’

They must be people who got swept in here several days ago.

Those pitiful… no, I must not consciously think about them right now. As much as possible, let’s let it drift out of my head…….

Screeech.

Eventually, the shadow of the guide machine drew closer from far away.

With our breaths held, Baek Sa-heon and me went inside a nearby vent and lay flat.

The shadow of the guide machine moved among the grubs.

It seemed to look for corpses whose movements had stopped, clenching and moving them….

The sound of a corpse dragging and mechanical sounds crossed.

“…….”

“…….”

After a suffocating few minutes.

“Hey.”

“…….”

“It took away the corpse. A corpse is also valuable, right? As a fee?”

What is wrong with this fellow?

“Because it has no value as a fee, they probably just left it alone while it was struggling before dying. Without collecting.”

“Ah, indeed.”

Do I have to listen to this kind of crazy talk even in the midst of this? Fatigue surged.

To think that I even have to make up lies.

‘To speak truly honestly… it would be valuable. Of course!’

Because they treat us as ‘visitors,’ when we are alive, it seems they only collect parts that don’t hinder life, like eyes, nose, and mouth, as the fee!

What I mean is that I wonder if they wouldn’t also judge things like the brain or spinal cord as valuable. It felt like there were floors where such things were displayed too.

But I cannot say that to this bastard. He is a fellow who would carry around those people’s corpses in a pinch and suggest paying them as the fee.

So it was when I was keeping my mouth shut.

“…!”

The main exhibition hall on the 1st floor above ground, empty once the guide machines vanished.

Here and there, people who had been hiding in the darkness beneath corner tables quickly emerged, whispered, then scattered and began running.

While wearing masks.

‘Employees…!’

The mask shapes and suit attire, it was certain.

They were our company’s field exploration workers deployed together. It seemed they were hiding in areas outside the route of movement by using their wits, narrowly avoiding the machines.

“Hey.”

What.

“If we see a rookie among them, let’s have them join us. It’s better to have about one or two more people.”

“Why?”

Baek Sa-heon stared at me as if asking why I was questioning something so obvious.

“We need to have bait to use if we meet a monster.”

Ah, this fellow seriously.

I tilted my head as if puzzled on purpose.

“I already have one.”

“What?”

“You.”

Baek Sa-heon’s face stiffened, then relaxed again.

“Right. I’m also going to bring a human to use as bait.”

“Nice. Tell them you’re going to use them as bait.”

“…….”

“I told you, didn’t I? Someone of my level has to be kind.”

Baek Sa-heon shut his mouth again with a fed-up face.

I am the one fed up. This tiresome fellow…….

‘I miss you, Group Leader Lizard.’

I miss the short-answering member of society.

However, at the moment I saw a figure emerging from behind a sofa outside the exhibition hall and running, I was startled.

“…!”

It was an employee I knew.

“…….”

“…! What are you doing right now….”

After agonizing, I crawled out of the vent.

And when I waved my hand at the other person, they also saw me, startled, then hastily lowered their voice.

“…! Sol… no, Mr. Roe Deer? Would it be fine to call you that?”

“Yes. Ms. Mountain Sheep.”

Go영은. -> Go Yeong-eun.

The rookie employee who had fully supported my words on the subway was standing there. Did they say she dropped out of medical school?

“Were you deployed too, Mr. Roe Deer? No, for now, I’m glad you are safe.”

“…Thank you.”

Anyway, Go Yeong-eun wearing the sheep mask given to her looked much more calm than when I met her back then.

Though her eyes were a bit bloodshot.

‘Did she adapt to the work…….’

I was almost slightly moved by the fact that rational conversation was possible even in this crazy situation.

Go Yeong-eun sensitively scanned the surroundings, heavily lowering her voice to speak in a whisper.

“Um, there was a blocked window nearby so I was trying to open it. By any chance, did you see something like a crowbar on your way? It felt like we shouldn’t use the exhibits….”

“You must not.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you not trying to go out through the window?”

“…Is that not allowed?”

It is not.

In the exploration records of this ghost story, windows are mentioned exactly only once, and do you know what that is?

———————=

The 19th record is a testimony left by a visitor who attempted to pass outside through the window, but we will omit it arbitrarily due to credibility issues.

Because there are no windows in this exhibition.

———————=

It’s a landmine.

I squeezed out a suitable reason.

“Somehow I feel that if you go out through the window, you will physically go outside the mansion. …Not returning to the original world.”

“……Sigh.”

Go Yeong-eun’s face turned pale.

“Indeed. Since this is not reality… is it correct to find a door recognized as the exit.”

“I also think so.”

“But in a situation where we don’t even know which floor this is….”

“I checked, and it is the 1st floor.”

“…! How… no, wait a moment. The 1st floor?”

A light of hope flashed in Go Yeong-eun’s eyes.

“Then there seems to be a high probability that there is a door near here! Since usually exhibition entrance doors are on the 1st floor, if we search well….”

I forced my tightly closed mouth open.

“……Usually, the reason why entrance doors are on the 1st floor is because we step on the ground and live.”

“That is,”

“Would that really be the case for the original visitors of this ghost story too.”

“…….”

Go Yeong-eun shut her mouth tightly.

It seemed she understood what it meant right away.

‘How can you be certain the monster would place the door on the 1st floor.’

And soon, bleakness cast heavily on her face. Just like me a few minutes ago.

“Then… wh-what do we do? Was asking that monster machine earlier really the answer? B-but, I must not meet the machine now. I no longer have any chances left…….”

“What do you mean by no chances left…….”

“…….”

Go Yeong-eun hesitated, then gently swept her hair back.

At the place where an auricle should originally be to hang her hair…….

There were only stitches sewn with thread.

“They, they tore off my ears.”

“…….”

“Since I gestured with my hands saying ‘ears instead of eyes, ears instead of eyes!’… they granted that. It doesn’t even hurt. Truly strangely….”

Go Yeong-eun trembled slightly.

“And it seems they put something strange in… s-sound is heard, though? Uh, I don’t know what on earth the principle is… is it an artificial cochlea or eardrum?”

Ah, damn it.

“It will be fine, right? I mean, uh, in the employee benefits mall… organ regeneration potion? They sold things like that too… Packs of three, right?”

“It will be fine.”

I immediately asserted.

“It will be fine. Let’s just focus on getting out.”

“…Yes.”

Go Yeong-eun’s breathing became calm again. For someone whose ears suddenly vanished, it was super-human mental strength.

Honestly, I respect her a bit.

But apparently, someone was not like that.

“Shall we move out gradually? Let’s not waste too much time.”

“…! Baek Sa-heon.”

The moment Baek Sa-heon wearing the goat mask emerged from the vent, alertness sharply entered Go Yeong-eun’s eyes.

“Wait a moment, are you going around with that person?”

“As it happened, yes.”

“…I see.”

Go Yeong-eun stared at Baek Sa-heon wearing the goat mask as if monitoring him, but did not cut me off and accompanied us.

‘Thank you….’

I don’t know how long it has been since I had a normal companion.

After experiencing everything from a psychopath to a ghost-possessed person, tears cover my eyes.

Only, Go Yeong-eun did mutter quietly.

“That person chose a mask exactly like himself… do you know that goats are symbols of the devil in Western culture?”

“Wow, do you know that sheep are symbols of scapegoats?”

“It is more helpful to mankind than the devil.”

Baek Sa-heon stared at Go Yeong-eun mockingly with a face that looked completely unconvinced, and Go Yeong-eun ignored Baek Sa-heon.

-Is this an interlude? It is like a comedy sketch.

Yeah.

But the problem is that it is a real situation, not a comedy sketch….

‘It seems the party member compatibility is ruined.’

However, the destination was steadily drawing closer.

‘…!’

Found it.

Stairs leading below ground appeared at the end of that hallway.