Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 51

Chapter 51

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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‘It was a fruitful day.’

An additional income of forty million. The best choice.

‘It seems like a connection has been established to regularly draw side income without standing out.’

First, various options of where to spend today’s forty million won arose in my mind.

Along with the company areas newly opened as I was promoted this time.

And a stuffed doll, which had sharply noticed that I made a profit, was also gradually appealing what it wanted subtly.

-Sigh, my body feels stiff since I’ve been out frequently for a few days. I want to take a bath….

Bear with it. I can’t exactly go and steal blood packs from some hospital, can I…

-Of course. I can bear with it sufficiently. Because I am a good friend….

Well, taking a bath in a blood tub is impossible, but wouldn’t I be able to wash it by hand at least.

Like that, I intended to spend the evening tossing silly small talk to Brown.

That was, before someone flung my door open and burst inside.

“You!!”

“…!”

It was Baek Sa-heon.

No, why did a bastard who barely even came out of his own room suddenly enter someone else’s room without knocking.

But even before pointing out Baek Sa-heon’s rudeness, I realized his state.

He was practically in a state of panic.

“What on earth does this mean…! Where have you dragged me into!”

In his hand, a smartphone was held, and what was displayed on the screen was…

[Kim Sol-eum : Watch out for the serial killer]

It was a message I sent.

I did send one message as I was coming in earlier.

But the thing is.

“I am not the one who dragged you in.”

“…….”

“You likely made a wrong choice.”

-Roe Deer’s ‘company colleague’ picked up the item, and he will soon die miserably!

Baek Sa-heon’s face turned pale.

‘It seems something just erupted in line with my message.’

Since he wasn’t dead yet, he could likely handle it by contacting the company on his own or something.

Anyway, the moment I was about to go outside as I couldn’t afford to suffer uselessly by getting entangled…

-Oh dear, do you hear it?

-It seems time has run out for Roe Deer’s ‘company colleague.’

“…….”

What?

Hmm, hmmm, hummm, hmmm.

Humming began to be heard.

The source was clearly Baek Sa-heon in front of me.

But Baek Sa-heon had not even opened his mouth.

……If so.

“You, it seems you possess something you shouldn’t have.”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon put his hand into his pocket with a pale complexion and pulled something out.

It was a cassette tape.

Over its stained, old ivory body, traces of a title attached as a sticker being roughly scribbled out with a pen remained.

Hmm, hmmm, hummm, hmmm.

The humming resounding from the tape grew louder and louder.

A very intuitive… signal.

-The time has come.

Let’s flee.

I immediately got up from my seat and rushed out of the company housing.

The problem was that Baek Sa-heon also followed me out in a hurry!

“Throw away the tape first!”

“I threw it! Outside the window!”

Then stop following me!

-It is too late.

-Oh dear, Roe Deer… you have seen the object too. You have been entangled in this story. I mean, you became part of the scapegoat selection.

-Although it is an unavoidable thing for a competent guest gifted in entertainment like you!

Ha.

‘Why does this bastard Baek Sa-heon cause such a nuisance to others instead of handling it himself…!’

If I even gave a warning, you should have taken it on your own! Are you really a named employee of a ghost story company?

Curses surged up to my throat. But since there was no time to curse, I ran faster.

‘Let’s physically distance ourselves first.’

If we haven’t completely fallen into the ghost story yet, then keeping a distance would likely be helpful for the most part!

Distancing myself from the company housing in one breath, I headed to the bus stop.

And I caught the incoming bus right away.

Beep.

As I tapped my card and boarded, the sound of Baek Sa-heon tapping his card was heard behind me.

‘Why are you following me, you crazy bastard!’

Do you not have the human conscience to at least not drag in the person who even gave you advice?

Come to think of it, he wouldn’t. Because that bastard was a pure sociopath!

In any case, the bus doors closed, and it departed well without any problems.

“Hah.”

“Hah……”

The humming is not heard now.

I went to the very back and sat right next to the emergency escape hammer for smashing the window. Just in case.

Baek Sa-heon seemed to hesitate, then sat right near me.

“…….”

“…….”

It was not commuting hours and also avoided lunchtime, so there were barely any passengers inside the bus on the weekend. About two or three in the front seats.

After checking the surroundings, Baek Sa-heon asked in a lowered voice with an anxious air.

“Hey, you… how on earth did you know and send that message,”

“You?”

“…We agreed to speak casually…… no, I mean… yeah. Supervisor. How on earth did you know?”

“How I know is not the important thing.”

I spoke while holding back my desire to scream at Baek Sa-heon, who was reading my expression.

“What is important is how you possessed that.”

“…….”

If this bastard kept his mouth shut like this, I intended to get off at the next stop and catch a taxi. Even if I had to throw him out of the taxi so he couldn’t follow.

But perhaps he noticed my air like a ghost, as Baek Sa-heon opened his mouth.

“…It was an object that was at my home.”

Home?

“I inherited it from a relative. I was told to use it if I wanted to aim for a turnaround in a crisis situation, so I was carrying it around….”

-Ah, it’s a blatant trick. The heirloom thought to be a symbol of protection was actually an evil-spirit-possessed object… this is indeed a cliché of horror movies!

Tell me about it.

I asked seriously, not intending to scrape his nerves.

“You work at a company that grades ghost stories, and you never once thought of examining that?”

“…Because if the company thinks it’s usable, they might not return it during the examination! I thought it all through.”

“It seems you didn’t.”

“…….”

“Live with some thought starting from next time.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Baek Sa-heon’s face turned red and blue, and he put on a forced smile to the point of his mouth corners twitching.

This guy behaved like a sociopath and snapped, yet when scared, manners were suddenly injected into him, making him a truly transparent human being.

In any case, holding back my sighs, I grasped the situation.

It was a typical intro of getting swept up in a ghost story.

“It would be better to go to the terminal first, get off, and contact the company Security Team….”

“…….”

“…….”

“……Why, why are you doing that, Supervisor?”

It was strange.

The stops of a city bus are usually within a three-minute distance.

But this bus,

Why does it keep running?

-Oh dear, it caught up.

I looked out the window.

……Fog was rolling in.

The outside landscape of the city bus, which had been running on a pleasant four-lane road in downtown Seoul, began to change into a winding unpaved road before long.

“…!”

I stood up from my seat.

The passengers in the front seats had disappeared.

…The only one still there was the driver operating the bus.

“…….”

Before long, the driver was wearing an old hat pressed down.

The kind of hat that would likely be worn back when traces of the bus being a formal mode of transit remained.

And with a gloved hand, humming, he reached out and turned on the radio.

Click.

And what flowed out was…

Hmm, hmmm, hummm, hmmm.

That humming of the cassette tape.

“…!”

Hmm, hmmm, hummm, hmmm.

Humming filled the bus.

The low-floor bus that had been running in modern Seoul had before long become an old, vintage bus with seats lined up in a row.

Hmm, hmmm, hummm, hmmm.

“Do not look back.”

It was already too late.

Baek Sa-heon grabbed the handle with a stiff face while looking straight ahead. I tried not to stare too closely at the outside where the fog was clearing, fixing my gaze on the front.

The path changed into an old paved road.

The old bus that had been running, rattling on a rough country road, eventually slowed down…

[This stop is ‘Horizon Lodge.’]

“…….”

The destination was visible.

Hmm, hmmm, hummm, hmmm.

The humming was now flowing out of the radio in an undeniably clear melody.

Listening to the lively pop melody in a minor key that was popular in the 1980s and 90s, I looked at the sight outside the opening doors…

[Horizon Lodge]

The appearance of a high-class mountain lodge-style mansion, with a signboard in a classical font attached, standing in the middle of the mountains.

“…….”

Hah.

“…Are we getting off?”

Yes.

Although I hate it enough to swear.

I got up from my seat and stepped toward the open doors. Behind me, the sound of Baek Sa-heon muttering something like a curse and hastily following me down was heard.

Behind us, the bus doors closed, and it departed.

Together with the humming melody.

“…….”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon muttered in a slightly relieved tone.

“Still, the song is not heard, and there is no tape, so the situation is better than earlier…”

“Check your pocket.”

“What?”

“Your pocket, put your hand in and check.”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon looked at me with a blank expression, then suddenly put his hand into his coat pocket.

And what came out was…

The old cassette tape he said he threw away earlier.

“…!!”

I grabbed and pulled down Baek Sa-heon’s arm, which was trying to throw the cassette tape away again.

“It is already too late, so prepare to enter.”

“Enter….”

“There.”

I pointed to ‘Horizon Lodge.’

Since we have come this far, fleeing is useless.

We would only waste physical strength in vain and, after all kinds of suffering, end up returning to this ‘place that serves as the background of the story’…

‘We might as well enter early and at least grasp the situation.’

-Roe Deer, you are somehow moving as if you know the future! Could this be a story you already knew this time too?

Brown, who noticed that I knew information about bizarre phenomena quite broadly, prattled.

And… it was correct.

‘…Right.’

The keywords had combined.

Serial killer.

Fishing utilizing a means of transportation.

An object that keeps returning to the pocket as if cursed.

And….

I raised my head and looked at the destination.

‘……Horizon Lodge.’

———————=

Records of the Dark Exploration / Ghost Story

[And Then Someone Was There]

: A ghost story appearing in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>, the Paranormal Disaster Management Bureau’s registration number is 1489PSYA.1991.라84.

A ghost story where people are murdered one by one by a serial killer in a suspicious place isolated from the outside. A variation of a classical closed-circle mystery novel and a B-grade slasher movie.

A Casket-class disaster that can be sealed with nine humans, the Disaster Management Bureau must recruit members once every four years through volunteering or conscription.

———————=

The identity of the ghost story deduced through analysis that was no different from my job experience of the past few months.

But there was also a point that was slightly different from up until now.

‘Affiliation…!’

This is not a Dark of Daydream Co.

A ghost story isolated by the government, or to be isolated in the future.

The so-called ‘Disaster’!

What is different?

Because the rules of operation themselves are different from a major corporation trying to extract raw materials using the Dark to conduct business.

The government created the Bureau to prevent casualties or enormous property damage, first and foremost.

At least, that is the pretext.

So, the Disaster Management Bureau isolated what absolutely must not exist among the civilians as a top priority.

Namely….

Unconditionally, someone dies.

Whether you clear it, get trapped, fail, or succeed.

In all cases.

‘The moment you are caught up here, there is a confirmed kill.’

Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

The government judged that to clear this, someone must unconditionally die….

And I am right on the verge of entering the middle of it right now.

And they aren’t even giving points!!

‘Baek Sa-heon, this damn bastard!’

I wanted to pour double curses on Baek Sa-heon here and give him a bruise on his remaining eye, but….

‘It is a waste of time….’

“Excuse me, Supervisor!”

Ignoring Baek Sa-heon, I let out a sigh and walked to the front door of the lodge.

And the moment I took a deep breath and was about to knock on the door….

Ring.

A bicycle bell was heard behind me.

As I turned my head, I saw a bicycle stopping in front of this isolated house in the woods, and a person riding on it.

-Oh, another one has arrived. The one who picked up the object!

Tell me about it.

One more pitiful person swept up in this damn ghost story has increased.

Holding back a groan, I looked back… and was surprised.

“…!”

A familiar face was getting off the bicycle.

To be precise, it was a person whose face I did not know, but whose attire I recognized.

A figure wearing dark clothing, equipped with a mask and a hat pressed down.

‘…Salmon Market!’

The person who had done the secondhand transaction of ghost story food with me at Gwanghwamun Station this morning was standing there!