Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 75
Chapter 75
===================
Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
The public official and I pressed our backs to the wall and looked down the hallway ahead.
Toward Class 5 of the 1st Grade, at the end of the hallway we had escaped from.
Just as I finally looked,
flicker,
a mannequin-like figure appeared at the far end of the hallway.
‘…Three of them?’
Their numbers had increased by one.
Two male students and one female student.
The two who had come out of the classroom were grinning toward us, covered in blood, while the remaining one stood still, wearing a clean school uniform.
When the lights were on, they simply looked like grotesque and lifelike wax dolls, or people stuffed inside a photograph.
But every time the lights went out,
flicker,
they appeared further forward.
Continuously.
Even as we moved further back.
Flicker.
Just as far as the emergency flashlight’s beam could reach.
They stood revealed under the light, frozen close to us again.
They did not drift away.
Flicker.
“…….”
Once the flashlight battery ran out,
I could imagine… that this standoff would also end.
‘Sigh.’
Even as I carefully and slowly moved my feet, my imagination gripped the back of my neck.
In the end, we only stopped walking when we reached the dead end at the end of the hallway.
And it was then.
[Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong]
“…….”
[A fatal accident has occurred in Class 2 of the 3rd Grade.]
Damn it.
[The deceased student is Park Chae-ah from the 3rd Grade.]
[Let everyone observe a five-second moment of silence.]
“Prepare yourself.”
I gripped the flashlight tightly and pressed myself against the wall behind me.
[5]
I quickly waved the flashlight to shine it on all three of them.
Every time the light swept past and returned, they drew closer.
[4]
The public official and I shone our lights on two of the entities simultaneously.
Where… was the other one?
[3]
The remaining one,
where did it go?
No matter I turned the flashlight from side to side, even illuminating the blind spots, it wasn’t there.
[2]
Time seemed to accelerate with anxiety.
Where, where on earth, where…
Ah.
Swoosh.
I lowered the flashlight.
[1]
The beam brightly illuminated my feet and…
a bloody white hand just about to grab my ankle.
A hand clad in a school uniform.
“…….”
The student of Sekwang Technical High School, lying prone on the floor, looked up at me with a broad grin.
[The moment of silence is over. We offer our deepest condolences to the deceased.]
“…….”
Slowly, I pulled my foot back.
‘Sigh.’
Crazy, crazy!!
If my reflexes had been even slightly slower, I would have died.
‘I’ve never played a VR horror game once in my life…!’
I never knew I would experience something like this in reality.
I backed away, blinking one eye at a time very slowly to ensure I never blinked both eyes simultaneously.
My limbs trembled.
Staring intently at the remaining two student entities, the public official spoke.
“Once we leave the floor, it seems the students of that grade usually do not actively pursue us.”
I knew.
If prey still remained on that floor, there was a high probability they would head there…
“Let’s go up the stairs.”
“…Are we going up instead of to the 1st floor?”
“Yes. This mission is to enter the 5th floor, specifically the auditorium if possible.”
What immediately came to mind was the in-school announcement I had heard at the very beginning.
-Attention, students of Sekwang Technical High School! The graduation ceremony will begin shortly. Please gather in the auditorium.
“…What is in the auditorium?”
“We have absolutely no information yet. That is why we must investigate.”
Naturally, that would be the case.
‘The exploration records compiled up to this point are still in the early-to-mid stages based on the <Records of the Dark Exploration>.’
There was no way many people had actually gone straight to the place they were announced to gather in this nightmare school.
The few who had tried to go up probably got caught by the students and died.
Because as we went higher, the students would try to hunt us in even more daring, unpredictable, and intelligent ways…
And the even bigger problem,
Never come up to the 5th floor!! Better die down there, absolutely never come up—
-The last recording of the 12th exploration record
…occurs when you manage to avoid all that and reach the 5th floor.
‘Sigh, I really don’t want to go…’
But the most tear-inducing part was that I had to go anyway.
Still, should I find comfort in having a companion?
However, since we couldn’t just go like this, let’s deviate slightly for thorough preparation.
“If you don’t mind, could we stop for a moment on the 3rd and 4th floors to look around?”
“Is there a reason?”
“It just feels somewhat like a horror game structure.”
…!
“In a game, the process of obtaining key items is essential to progress.”
I said, slowly walking backward up the stairs.
“I’m not sure, but if it were me, I would first search special classrooms… like the music room, science lab, or the teacher’s office. I’d also check the graduation album or student records.”
“…….”
“I think there might be hints or keys in the props and items.”
We kept climbing the stairs.
As the distance between us and the ‘students’ who had surrounded us grew, the flashlight’s beam alone was enough to cover our field of vision and keep them captured.
Only then did the public official speak.
“Our analysis team came up with a similar answer. …They said it seems like a game-based ghost story.”
Oh.
“They said the fictional high school name and this structure of fleeing from monsters are identical.”
“Ah, I thought similarly.”
“But this is the first time I’ve received such a suggestion. An investigation focused on items rather than monsters or people…”
For some reason, the public official’s eyes seemed to sparkle.
Since it was his high school appearance, he didn’t have dark circles under his eyes, so he didn’t look bizarre.
“Very well. Let’s look around the rooms as much as possible. We can also pass the word along as more agents join us…”
More agents… I would rather decline.
But the public official went a step further, speaking as if he had grown excited.
“Now that I think about it, since you’ve become a temporary agent, it would be better to address each other by code names. Do you have a code name you want?”
Good grief.
“Ah, we mostly use historical substances. Since we need to use uncommon terms for easy distinction.”
‘He’s even going to let me use a code name?’
It felt like he was letting me fulfill every romantic notion imaginable.
…Ah. Did I have a code name I wanted to use if I ever created a named Disaster Management Bureau agent in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>?
There was.
But I had enough shame not to bring it up now…
“…I will go with Grape.”
“A fruit. Clean and nice.”
I briefly imagined what Brown would have commented.
‘I miss him a little.’
I shook off the absence of ‘Good Friend’ and continued the conversation.
“What should I call you, Agent?”
“My code name is Bronze.”
“Yes. Agent Bronze.”
The agent with the code name Bronze smiled faintly and nodded quite proudly.
As if looking at an intern.
‘It feels like I’ve been receiving a lot of new hire welcomes lately, or is it just my imagination…’
In any case, we persistently ducked below the stairs to check if the students were pursuing us until we completely cleared the stairwell.
Of course, during that time, one person kept watching the upper floor.
And finally, we arrived.
[3F]
3층.
The floor where the 2nd grade lives.
“…It is quiet.”
The students from the lower floor had naturally faded from our view, and none appeared from the stairs above. It seemed they had spotted someone else and headed that way…
Still, just in case, we kept glancing back at the stairs as we stepped into the 3rd-floor hallway.
It was remarkably clean under the bright lights.
There was no blood, no filth, no corpses, nor any people frozen stiff, tears streaming as they desperately watched the students.
“…….”
Even the student entities themselves were nowhere to be seen.
And I thought I knew the reason.
‘They barricaded all the doors.’
Someone had already locked all the classroom doors.
They had even hung chain locks in front.
‘…! This is definitely Daydream Co. employees.’
It was content from our manual.
The students wearing the Sekwang Technical High School uniform show a certain aversion to damaging school facilities.
It has been observed that if the doors are closed and locked quietly without provoking them, they return to an inactive state, sitting at their desks.
Furthermore, with the doors secured like that, a sound will inevitably occur when they try to come out.
This allowed us to perceive them by sound and immediately look back.
‘It is a primary safety measure.’
When there were still quite a few people and the dolls’ movements were heavily restricted, it was a fairly doable task if one moved stealthily.
“…….”
But just as the hallway was quiet, we had to be quiet too.
Because those students are drawn by sound.
‘The 2nd-grade teacher’s office is around the corner.’
‘Shall we crawl to that spot?’
Nod.
Completing our conversation with faint whispers and nods, we moved quietly, crawling flat against the wall to remain unseen.
Even in the midst of that, we never stopped staring at corners like the end of the hallway or the stairs, where someone could silently appear.
Cold sweat soaked my back.
‘Just a little, just a little more.’
Slowly.
We just need to pass through without overextending.
When we had covered more than half the distance,
Aaaaack!
…….
From beyond the hallway, someone shouted.
‘No.’
If a sound occurs…
Rattle.
Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle.
I couldn’t bring myself to raise my head.
The sound of door handles being rattled echoed from every locked door.
…The students had also heard the sound.
Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle.
The public official and I crawled frantically on all fours to escape the hallway.
And we looked back.
Rattle…
“…….”
“…….”
Phew.
Fortunately, perhaps because the shout was a one-time occurrence, the rattling sound ceased.
However, several shadowed figures could be seen peering outside the doors…
“…….”
This is insanely terrifying.
It was a massive relief that they weren’t looking in our direction.
I swallowed hard.
Still, the comforting part was that we had reached our primary destination in any case.
[2nd Grade Teacher’s Office]
It appeared immediately around the corner.
However, this office also had locks on all its doors, and the windows were lined with newspaper from the inside, blocking any view of the interior.
Though it was strangely eerie, I had never been so glad to see it.
“Please keep watch around us for a moment.”
The agent equipped a thimble-like item on his finger and jiggled it inside the keyhole of the teacher’s office lock.
As the thimble entered the keyhole that didn’t even match its size, the lock slipped open.
‘Wow.’
The Disaster Management Bureau issues really have that romantic appeal.
“There might be a student inside the office as well, so let us enter carefully.”
And when we opened the door,
…!
…!
a completely unexpected sight unfolded.
“Close the door quietly.”
“….”
“Hurry.”
I closed the door behind me.
There were no students inside.
Instead, about seven people were facing off, glaring at each other.
Suspicious high schoolers wearing animal masks and suspicious high schoolers holding transparent pistols.
Disaster Management Bureau agents and Daydream Co. employees.
‘They’re fighting!’
And on the table between the two confronting factions lay a single fountain pen.
‘…An item.’
It was something I also recognized.
2nd Year ■■■’s Fountain Pen
They seemed to be checking each other, demanding the other side back off to claim it.
‘Instead of doing the ghost story exploration they are supposed to do, they are wasting manpower for nothing…!’
They even seemed a step late in noticing our entrance.
“Agent Bronze.”
A few who appeared to be agents brightened up only then and looked at the one beside me, code name Bronze.
But it was a situation that a rational person like the agent beside me probably wouldn’t sympathize with…
“Let us join in.”
…?
Wait a minute.
But the agent had already approached and stood at the front of the group.
And I…
“…….”
was receiving intense glares from our company people wearing animal masks.
Especially from my two peers who knew my face.
“??”
“??!”
To think the day would come when I’d see Baek Sa-heon and Jang Heo-un making the exact same expression.
Their eyes, glancing back and forth between the Disaster Management Bureau’s iron badge and the translucent pistol I wore, seemed to say this:
‘Why are you coming out from there…?’
In the midst of that, the public official called me again.
“Agent Grape.”
“G-Grape?”
The public official answered coldly.
“Even their character, scoffing at a code name, is just like that company.”
“……??”
This is driving me crazy.
“Come over here. It would be better to step away from the door.”
“…….”
‘What do I do?’
I intensely weighed the situation.
And I judged.
‘I cannot betray.’
I eventually walked over and stood beside my acquaintance.
“Yes, Agent.”
Right beside Agent Bronze.
“What on earth is this…!”
“…….”
Yes, I cannot betray.
‘I cannot betray my own safety…!’
That’s how it turned out, my peers.