Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Oh, Roe Deer is here!”
“Right. Did you receive the regeneration potion well?”
“Yes.”
Returning to the office, I greeted my superiors who had already finished lunch and were slacking off.
However, seeing the translucent reinforced plastic box held in my hand, my superiors straightened their faces and sat up.
“…!”
“Wait a minute, is that your assigned Dark, Roe Deer?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
I lifted the transport box and showed them the inside.
Inside, two black cards were rattling.
The F-grade Dark I chose.
———————=
Records of the Dark Exploration / Ghost Story
[Either-Or]
: A ghost story appearing in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>, Daydream Co.’s identification code is Qterw-F-2073.
Two patternless black cards measuring 60 mm wide and 110 mm long.
However, when the owner flips the corresponding cards at midnight, the drawings on the front are revealed. The theme is randomly selected from the Tarot Major Arcana.
The corresponding fortune-telling is actually realized in the future.
———————=
Although it was a low-grade Dark small and portable enough to be left in the charge of a single employee…
Frankly, among the three candidates given to me, it was also the most dangerous and highly uncertain ghost story.
Because it was related to the future.
Perhaps my superiors recognized it too, as their expressions turned serious.
“It is a bit tough for a rookie.”
“Right! Don’t they usually give something easy? I also received a radio when I was a rookie. You saw it on your first day of work too, right, Roe Deer? That one was even reset to Twilight grade.”
Ah, that radio.
‘Was it managed by the supervisor.’
No wonder it was sitting so blatantly in the office.
The supervisor said with slight concern.
“Is it because the higher-ups have too high expectations since you are so good, Roe Deer… Ah, Group Leader!”
Group Leader Lizard, who was entering the office, turned his head at the sound of calling him.
“The thing you mentioned about letting Roe Deer choose the Dark himself, by any chance when will… is it not yet?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“…?”
“…??”
“He chose it twenty minutes ago.”
My superiors turned to look at me.
“Roe Deer.”
“Yes.”
“Did you choose that out of the choices the group leader gave you?”
“Yes.”
I nodded with an expressionless face.
“They give overtime pay for it.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Because this Dark must be managed regularly at night.”
The faces of the two superiors became faint.
“Ah….”
“Well, it is very like Roe Deer.”
And they became tranquil.
“…….”
Where on earth is my image going…
‘Should I be glad that I am establishing my character successfully.’
Keup.
I held back my tears and turned on the PC.
“Are you registering it now?”
“Yes. I am putting in my employee number right now.”
Searching for the corresponding Dark code in the ‘Unassigned Dark List’ on the intranet and registering my account…
Completed.
Qterw-F-2073 : Kim Sol-eum (Supervisor)
With this, a Dark in my charge has been created.
“Even if it is F-grade, those are all supernatural phenomena. Be careful when managing it.”
“Yes.”
I read the management method for the corresponding Dark.
The usage method of this ghost story that I already knew.
[Flip cards at midnight / Once a month]
* * *
And a few days later, at midnight.
I came out for night shift at the company annex.
“You are working hard.”
The employee sitting at the desk, dressed as if plastered entirely in jet-black clothes, nodded and opened the hallway for me.
Following that path and opening the appropriate door…
“They are doing well.”
The two black cards I had to ‘manage’ today were visible.
I carefully stepped inside the iron door and closed it.
Then, opening the card storage box, I took out this Dark, ‘Either-Or,’ and placed it with its back showing on the round table pre-equipped in this space.
-Are you fortune-telling? Occult verification was also a regular subject on talk shows! Now, Roe Deer. Please check the future!
It is slightly different.
“I am not looking at the future.”
-Hm?
“I am choosing it.”
———————=
Interpretation
A mysterious Tarot card that, after viewing two cards in advance and choosing one, causes an event fitting that symbol to occur in the near future.
However, it must be an event likely to happen within the party’s daily life. (Winning the lottery, etc., is not allowed.)
———————=
That’s right.
This was a card that allowed one to choose what would happen in the near future in an either-or format.
Of course, that was not always a good meaning.
I reached out my hand and flipped the two cards placed on the table.
As if by magic, drawings in a luxurious style revealed their shapes.
Devil. Moon.
‘Dammit.’
Like this, that is.
-Dear. Traditionally, neither of them is a symbol with a very good meaning!
Well, depending on the field of inquiry, they were not unconditionally symbols with bad meanings… but viewing them holistically, that was indeed the case.
In other words, if both options were bad, it meant it was actually just adding a negative event for no reason.
And considering that more than half of the Tarot cards had room to be interpreted in ambiguous or bad meanings, the probability of this was at least a quarter or more.
However…
-Have you decided which of the two to choose?
“Yeah.”
Because I am going to do it in a slightly different way.
I moved in the opposite direction of the table where the cards were placed.
‘This way, naturally…’
From the opposite side of the table, the cards looked upside down.
If I picked up the cards in this state…
-Ho, it has become the reversed position.
I looked at the card held upside down.
‘They say you should absolutely never do this kind of thing when telling fortunes originally.’
Fitting for an F-grade ghost story, its power was not great and there were many loopholes, so these kinds of tricks seemed to work.
‘Even if the trick fails, it just ends with returning to being a black card.’
So I took the risk, and it seemed to have been a decent choice.
And the card I chose was…
-It is the Moon. Ah, the symbol of confusion!
I peered into the Moon card, where a yellowish full moon hung upside down.
-Originally, the Moon is a symbol of mystery and uncertainty. In the place where the sun disappears and the moon rises, vague shapes and doubts grow, and finally… madness is bound to be revealed.
-But if it is the reversed position, it would be the opposite, wouldn’t it?
Hm.
‘Is something going to be revealed clearly.’
-It’s quite decent. The resolution of uncertainty! Couldn’t you clear your mind?
I thought so too.
‘In this crazy ghost story world where it’s hard to see even an inch ahead, it would be nice if something became clear.’
-Is this the end?
“Correct.”
I put the cards back in order.
The cycle of this fortune-telling was once a month.
In other words, it meant a daily life occurrence that would happen during this month.
Although a limit was clearly attached that what would happen was at a daily life level, my daily life consisted of working at a ghost story company……
If so, I thought it might actually be quite helpful for survival.
‘Even if not, it’s nice to fix at least one slightly positive future.’
It was a blessing that the managed ghost story was a benefit rather than a burden.
I decided not to be too greedy……
Thud.
“…….”
A sound was heard outside.
This was the annex.
It was a place where relatively safe Darks were kept. Mainly Twilight grade, occasionally F-grade was included too…
But in the end, those were all ghost stories too.
Thud.
Occasionally.
Really occasionally, if an unexpected situation arose due to a management failure… one or two people dying easily was a given.
I stood in front of the iron door.
‘……How far away is that sound coming from?’
Should I wait here, or…
Craaaash!!
“…!”
I immediately opened the iron door and ran.
Because it seemed certain that something had exploded!
‘Rather than being trapped inside, running to escape this place has a higher survival probability.’
And I ran to the lobby, intending to run out of the entrance, but…
The floor was already half-destroyed.
“…….”
-Oh dear! This is a considerably messy state.
Various crazy possibilities flashed through my mind.
But immediately after, I saw a figure pressing down firmly with his foot on something shattered in the middle of the broken lobby floor.
“…!”
It was the black-clad employee who had been sitting at the front desk.
And looking at that appearance which seemed to have ‘suppressed’ the Dark…
‘He was a Security Team member!’
And the situation seemed already finished.
The sound I heard seemed to be the noise generated in the process of the Security Team suppressing it.
‘So they don’t just sit anyone at the annex desk.’
I hesitated before asking from a distance of about four meters.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
The black-clad employee shook his head.
Thank you so much……
Let’s get out of here quickly.
“Then I will go inside.”
The employee looked at me for a moment, then reached to the side and lifted something from the desk.
It was a post-it.
Have a good night.
He is unexpectedly social.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head. The completely black desk employee returned a light nod, then withdrew his foot and sat back down at the desk.
On the lobby floor, shattered pieces of glass, which were likely the medium of the ghost story, were seen glittering.
In that reflected light, the employee’s leg shadow strangely distorted to look like a cloven hoof…… before returning to human form again.
‘Whew….’
Let’s not look.
I left the annex without staring at anything.
“My word.”
All kinds of situations happen as a daily routine.
‘Indeed, fixing one good daily event to occur seems like a decent choice.’
Living was tough and hard, but because I felt I was somehow navigating it well, my mind felt a bit better.
Hm. Speaking of which, I also recall when I communicated via written messages like that employee earlier.
[Have a good day^^]
Namely, the one-on-one in-person transaction on the secondhand market where I sold ghost story food for a whopping forty million won.
I communicated in writing to hide my voice back then too.
And I sold the churros given by the blue dragon mascot of the theme park then.
‘I do have one more bag of those churros.’
I still have no intention of selling them just in case… hm.
I realized that I possessed quite a few food-related items compared to what I thought.
The quantities of this and that were quite decent.
‘As expected, it might be better to sell one or two and convert them into money.’
If he was still looking for them, that is.
Driven by the thought, I logged into Salmon Market to check.
Surprisingly, a post had been uploaded again.
———————
[Buying food derived from paranormal phenomena.]
For research.
Strong paranormal phenomena (Disaster Management Bureau wave-grade and above) preferred.
40.0
———————
-Seems like this bastard never gets tired of it
-Hahaha, at this point, the one who gets hooked is the idiot, right?
Hmmm.
‘If he already used the churros for research…’
I sent a message.
[Blue Friend : Hello teacher^^ I acquired food again, would you happen to be interested?]
* * *
And two days later, on the weekend.
Just like last time, I ended up waiting for my secondhand transaction partner at Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station.
‘As expected, is trust important for humans.’
Since I sold an item fitting the conditions once last time, he set up a time appointment without long words this time.
Surprisingly, the partner was already waiting at the exit first this time.
He was wearing dark clothing and equipped from hat to mask, just like last time.
I recognized him by the beverage box in his hand. Well, I couldn’t really say anything since I was in a similar attire.
[Hello^^]
I opened my notepad to show a greeting this time too. Perhaps the partner expected it, as he was not flustered.
[Here is the item I prepared.]
And inside the box I offered, two cookies from the Alice Picnic Set were inside.
Why did I choose this? It is simple.
‘The expiration date is running out.’
Fitting for snacks, an expiration date was set!
Because it was an item that halved or boosted effects, there was not much use for it compared to what I thought, so the quantity remained quite large.
Still, because using the beverage in the Tuesday Quiz Show was such a super-save, I couldn’t bring myself to take out the beverage and brought the cookies instead.
‘And the cookie form is harder to use too.’
Isn’t it a waste to just leave it like this until the expiration date ends.
Then again, using an expired item? I don’t particularly want to see what would happen.
In any case, I presented the item and waited for the buyer’s evaluation.
The buyer swept his hand in a glove over the box once like before, and then…
He shook his head slightly.
“It is not what I was looking for.”
Hm. As expected.
‘It indeed didn’t seem to be up to wave-grade.’
Manufactured goods-type items felt relatively low in risk and passive, so they differed in texture from strange objects directly obtained from high-grade ghost stories like this…
‘Regrettable, but it can’t be helped.’
Still, the negotiation is worth trying…
“So I will purchase them at half price each.”
Thank you for the cool transaction.
‘If this person finds out about the existence of the Alien Shop, wouldn’t he try to kill me out of regret….’
Just in case, I resolved to lay some groundwork.
I hastily scribbled words on my notepad.
[Thank you. I really needed the money.]
“…….”
[It didn’t seem like dangerous food this time, but the expiration date is running out, so it would be good to research it within that time. I will give you a few more.]
Saying so, I tucked in a small envelope containing one or two additional cookies on top.
‘Shall I call it a bonus.’
It was for building trust to continue the transactions. I brought them for negotiation, but I ended up using them like this.
Wouldn’t this make me a truly friendly secondhand trader. Even more so in a ghost story worldview.
Just when I received the beverage box containing the cash from the buyer and was about to leave the spot like that.
The buyer’s voice was heard.
“Excuse me.”
Hm?
“How do you possess these kinds of things?”
Hm.
[Because I cannot tell you. I am sorry.]
This should be enough.
It was a platform for trading supernatural items, so everyone was bound to have their own stories. Let’s let him imagine on his own.
‘As for the Alien Shop, even if they connect to it, it appears as a non-existent page unless they saw the advertisement directly.’
Still, I was preparing to flee in case he pried further.
“…….”
The buyer took a pen out of his pocket and wrote something on the notepad I was holding.
“If by any chance a dangerous situation arises, contact me there.”
Oh?
“Well then.”
The buyer left, and I checked the notepad.
1717 8282 42
“…!”
‘This is a government number.’
It was an emergency rescue request call routed directly to the Disaster Management Bureau.
In short, a 119 for ghost stories.
‘Was he an official from that side?’
No wonder he used their grade terminology too.
Shrugging my shoulders, I packed the money and notepad well.
Daydream Co. was on bad terms with the government like a malicious major corporation. Yet for me, who was an employee working there, to go as far as calling here and getting involved…
‘Wouldn’t there absolutely be none.’
Yes. There was!
It was that very evening, when I returned to the company housing.