Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 83

Chapter 83

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Elite Team.

At Daydream Co., which valued the lives of the Field Exploration Team less than a Grade B dreamscape solution, this was the rank where they slowly began to evaluate you as an “employee of long-term value.”

You are given a private office and a separate salary table is applied. On top of that, new usage items are provided in the benefits mall.

Above all…

They assigned you employees from the Cleanup Team to use as extra lives if necessary.

It was a policy that made one feel dirty, but at least there was no disagreement that it increased the survival rate…

And now.

The Development Department director in front of my eyes was making a proposal to me.

“An agenda to increase the number of Elite Teams has coincidentally been coming up consistently… wouldn’t it make a good picture if that became Group D?”

He was saying he would make Group D itself into an Elite Team.

It meant they would keep my environment exactly as it was and only overwhelmingly improve my treatment.

“Coincidentally, the alphabet matches the order perfectly, and it’s convenient for administrative procedures in many ways.”

“…”

“Decide on one employee you want to work with and come back. It would be fine to write down two or three and give me a list of candidates.”

Hold on.

I really couldn’t follow the current flow…

“Thank you, but… why are you giving such a major proposal to me?”

To put it bluntly, I would understand if they wanted to send Leader Lee Ja-heon to the Elite Team.

According to my memory, he was originally scheduled to serve as an Elite Team leader for a short while before promoting through another route anyway.

But why… are they talking with me as the standard?

‘It’s weird to call in a rookie and say things like this while leaving the leader aside.’

I knew I had achieved out-of-spec results by creating manuals and bringing back Grade A solution twice, but there were other named individuals who cleared ghost stories in ridiculous ways.

And it was also because those exploration records had to accumulate to become a manual.

However, no one had ever heard something like, ‘I’ll make your whole team into an Elite Team just for you~’.

‘It’s strange.’

It was a situation that looked unnatural to anyone.

“I am just a mere rookie. I am already receiving enough points and allowances within the company for the work I do, and just the fact that my promotion is extremely fast…”

“Supervisor Sol-eum. Have you by any chance heard the name Yoon Jo-hoon?”

My back almost froze.

I barely managed not to show it. I only succeeded in replying with a tense tone suited for the situation.

“…Are they perhaps an employee?”

“That’s right.”

Director Cheong, who answered readily, smiled warmly at me.

“Actually, he was a supervisor who was newly appointed to Group D in this regular personnel transfer.”

“…”

“But even if you check the company database now, he won’t show up. He probably isn’t in your memory either.”

I did not react.

“In high grades, there is sometimes such Dark. The kind where a person who ‘fails’ has their very existence erased. But…”

Director Cheong laid down the documents, then lifted something from beneath the desk.

A dreamscape collector.

“A deceased employee’s dreamscape collector is repatriated back to the company.”

“…!!”

“It’s a pity, but it’s a self-powered type that uses the dreamscapes collected right up to death as its power source. And…”

Director Cheong lightly flicked the edge of the recorder.

“A simple recording function is also included here.”

“…”

“So, the exploration records of employees who have been erased from reality can also be checked and referenced in this company.”

My goodness.

“I think if it’s you, you might have questioned it before. ‘Just how are the records of deceased employees referenced in the manual?’”

Hold on.

Yes. Naturally, the exploration results of deceased employees were also written in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>.

It was only natural. To build the atmosphere of a ghost story, they obviously had to write records where the explorers were wiped out. Because that was effective in evoking fear!

Records of employees or items whose very existence had been erased were all perfectly intact as well.

But…

‘A wiki is bound to be recorded from an omniscient point of view anyway.’

And the conceptual reason why that was possible was roughly rationalized.

Upon the death of field exploration employees, their exploration records are transmitted to the company.

Just like this.

Specifically, they didn’t bother to describe what items or methods were used in order to avoid setting conflicts…

So even when I fell into this place, I just naturally passed over that blank space.

Since this was originally a wiki-based creative worldview!

‘But to think there was such a concrete and clear lore setting…’

In an instant, all the questions I had dismissed until now as ‘just that kind of worldview’ poured back into my mind.

Could it be that all of those also had ‘plausible additional background settings’?

In this manner?

It was the moment my head was about to get complicated.

-Roe Deer! The opponent is still looking at you. It seems they want to continue the interview.

‘…!’

-They seem to be the type who wants a humble attitude from a star, so let’s focus…

Right.

Now was the time to focus on the conversation immediately.

Fortunately, my agitation ended at a level fitting for an ’employee who realized the company’s secret know-how,’ and the director continued talking.

“Based on this recording, it seems Supervisor Kim Sol-eum explored and took control of the Dark in a fairly unique way.”

“…”

It seemed Supervisor Yoon Jo-hoon had recognized that I became a student.

“Becoming a part of the urban legend yourself. ‘Assimilation’ is a method that ordinary people, being cowardly and lacking wisdom, cannot choose…”

Just what kind of scary things are you saying…?

“Anyway, even those exploration records are being collected without any gaps… I wanted to tell you that story.”

Director Cheong looked at me.

“How is it, is it more systematic than you thought?”

“…”

“I heard there are employees who say this company runs in a haphazard manner.”

T-This… broke me out in a cold sweat of a salaryman.

“I’ve also met and listened to their stories. Most of them are smart kids.”

An somehow benevolent voice.

“But as you stay, you will find out that there is no corporation in this world where rewards and punishments are as clear and rational as this one.”

“…”

“As long as your ability is outstanding, you can smoothly climb up even if you make a mistake or two.”

I never agreed.

However, Director Cheong dismissed me with a smile, as if I had replied, ‘I will think about it positively, Director!’

“Go on. And give my regards to Manager Lee Ja-heon.”

* * *

-Friend. Do you by any chance know this proverb? ‘Cream always rises to the top.’

-It means that the outstanding will eventually stand out anywhere. It is a proverb perfectly suited to describe my friend right now!

Wouldn’t it be closer to ‘the peg that stands out gets hammered’…

I returned to Group D’s office feeling like my soul had been sucked out.

It felt like I had read a plausible pseudo-scientific book, only to realize that it was actually reality…

In the end, unable to hold it in, I spoke to Manager Lee Ja-heon.

“Manager.”

“Yes.”

“What I just did was not an interview.”

“I see.”

“…”

“…”

“Do you need help?”

“Yes.”

“Explain.”

I poured out the things that had happened as if I were rapping.

Director Cheong’s remarks, the dreamscape collector, the vanished Group D employee.

And even the proposal I received!

‘Anyway, information about the dreamscape collector is probably knowledge that someone of manager rank already knows.’

Furthermore, I knew Manager Lee Ja-heon was not the kind of person to get angry that a rookie dared to bypass him to receive an exceptional offer, or to gaslight me in order to become the elite team himself.

Well, because… he was Lizard.

“I see.”

Sure enough, Lizard just nodded his head.

“Do you need my advice?”

“Yes.”

“Refuse.”

“…!!”

A conclusion comes out this instantly?

“I would like you to tell me the reason.”

“Yes. Director Cheong Dal-rae is an entity with a strong sense of ownership over the company.”

“…”

Did it mean he thought of this company as his own?

No, wait.

“Did you just say ‘entity’?”

“Yes.”

It was an extremely suspicious designation.

“…By any chance, is Director Cheong not human?”

“I cannot answer.”

“…”

That was practically no different from answering yes…!

At the very least, I knew for sure that there was something fishy about Director Cheong.

Well, that’s how directors of ghost story companies are!

“A-Anyway, please continue.”

“Yes. Therefore, if an opportunity arises to subordinate a competent entity to this company that he believes he owns, Director Cheong Dal-rae will not hesitate.”

“…!”

“In this process, there is a high probability that actions will occur which will cause extreme repulsion based on Supervisor Kim Sol-eum’s ethical standards.”

My goodness.

“Do not take risks. There is also a high probability that you will be placed in an Elite Team within half a year.”

“…Even though I will leave Group D and join another group?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“Do you want to remain in Group D?”

“I would like to do so if possible.”

“I see.”

Whether it’s a rookie or whatever, you really don’t seem to mind at all, Manager…

He was a truly consistent human… no, Lizard.

‘Well, I didn’t expect much anyway.’

At any rate, he wasn’t a lizard who would deliberately try to deceive me, so I could just believe him literally.

“Thank you for kindly letting me know, Leader.”

“Yes.”

Hmm.

I hesitated before asking.

“Um, by any chance, do you not want to become the leader of an Elite Team, Leader?”

“I have no preference.”

It meant it didn’t matter either way.

It also meant it didn’t help my decision at all…

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I had a few more conversations with Leader Lee Ja-heon after that, but there was no clear harvest.

My worries only deepened.

‘An Elite Team…’

Although Manager Lee Ja-heon advised me to refuse in the name of logic and rationality, corporate life often ran on irrationality and emotions.

Why else would Manager Lee Ja-heon have so many enemies in the company, and why would Leader of Group A look at him as if she wanted to kill him every time they met!

‘Thanks for the advice, but it’s hard to approach it in that way…’

In the first place, the executives and employees of the ghost story company seemed to be opponents against whom refusal would not work.

It didn’t seem like slipping away like I did with the Group A leader would work. For Director Cheong to openly mention it meant that doing it would get me screwed.

“Ha…”

No, why do I have to worry like this even though I was promised a promotion and exceptional treatment…!

‘I want to resign from this ghost story company so badly…!!’

Eventually, that evening.

I ended up leaving work mentally exhausted like a limp green onion…

“…”

It had been a long time since I felt my energy completely drained even though I hadn’t gone on a Dark exploration but just holed up in the office writing reports.

-My word, it seems my friend’s mind and body are very exhausted.

-First, let us go inside the house quickly. Is not rest also important for a good performance!

‘…Right.’

Meeting a high-ranking person, hearing information about the worldview, receiving an exceptional offer…

‘I’m exhausted…’

I stretched out on the living room sofa as soon as I washed up.

-Friend, how about we have a cup of hot chocolate and talk this evening? Let us relieve the day’s fatigue like that!

There was no… hot chocolate in this house, but having a cup of honey water didn’t seem bad…

After placing Brown on the dining table, I boiled water in the kettle to produce honey water.

I drank it mechanically, intending to lightly continue the conversation with my back slightly turned to Brown, but…

-Friend. This Brown will tell you a secret.

A secret?

-Indeed. Although it was probably hard for Mr. Roe Deer to notice because I hid it well with my professional cheerfulness, actually…

After sucking in a breath, Brown spoke dramatically.

-I was quite shocked by the events of last night!

“…”

A secret……?

Since his intention to comfort me seemed unmistakable anyway, I reacted sincerely.

“What… was so shocking?”

-‘Good Friend’ accompanies a friend wherever they want… However, this Brown was unable to do so.

For some reason, the shadow of the rabbit doll that caught my eye seemed to droop.

-It is truly a shameful and embarrassing matter.

Is it really that much of a deal?

It was just a dream anyway.

My guess was that because Brown was not just my possession but an entity of equal standing, we had to perform a separate ritual.

‘Anyway, you don’t have to worry about it. Things like that won’t happen often in the future.’

-My, my friend is very considerate. Then let us think about it like this…

-If I, your kindest friend, had accompanied you even to last night’s intense dream graduation ceremony, wouldn’t the embarrassment you experienced today have been much better?

……

That… might be so.

In the first place, I might not have been caught by Supervisor Yoon Jo-hoon at all.

If Brown had turned off the lights.

-That is exactly it! My role!

-…It has been a long time since I felt this kind of anxiety. For our friendship, and for this Brown to fulfill his role, hmm…

Behind my head, a sound like leather shoes walking on the floor in anxious thought was heard…

Then, it came to a sudden halt.

-Of course! It would have been wonderful if I could do it myself… but with this cotton-filled body, I need Mr. Roe Deer’s help.

-With just one very simple action, we will be much better, friend. May I ask you a favor?

Brown spoke in a polite and friendly voice.

-If you would help me bathe in the bathtub of youth just once more, it would be an unparalleled joy!

Ah.

‘That.’

……

……

“Shall we do that?”

-Ah! Thank you so much, friend…!

I readily gave permission!

Seeing my kind friend happy made me feel a bit better.

-You will never regret this choice.