Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The alleys in the ‘Samangdan-gil’ ghost story each have a theme.
Just like in reality, where shops dealing with similar business types or materials gather to form a commercial district.
Of course, they appear completely unpredictably, and their appearance probabilities also differ.
Alleys of Samangdan-gil confirmed so far:
1. Street stalls
2. Bookstore
3. Pets
4. Precious metals
5. Daily necessities
6. Lighting
7. Meat
…….
And the place we entered now is the alley selling daily necessities.
However, even at a glance, I was heading straight toward the shop that looked like the one I least wanted to enter in this alley.
A butcher shop where live organs and flesh were hung.
Wriggle, wriggle.
‘Let’s, let’s think of it as a haunted house.’
It’s fine. There’s nothing hung… in the exact shape it had when alive. Since they are all parts, let’s just, just think of it as an amusement park attraction using animatronics…
Wait, does mentioning an amusement park make it scarier because it reminds me of Pleasant Theme Park?!
‘L-Let’s calm down.’
I must not back down.
I took large strides toward the butcher shop, pretending to be calm with effort.
Raw Organ Butcher Shop
Under the glass window illuminated by red and blue lights, the owner, who was grinding the knife he used to prepare meat on a stone, raises his head.
A bloody apron and a massive build.
Looking closely…
A raggedly skinned cow is looking back at us with a head turned into a lump of flesh.
Nod.
Gestures.
As if saying he would treat the customer well, telling us to come closer…
“Su-Supervisor, wait a moment!”
Kang Yi-hak blocked my path.
“Haha, uh, um. It doesn’t look like we need anything from that shop, so let’s go to another shop!”
“The owner has already gestured, so it feels bad not to go in.”
-Ah, true words. That is manners!
“No!”
Kang Yi-hak immediately noticed that her voice had gotten louder, quickly lowered it, and spoke urgently.
“Wasn’t it written to absolutely not enter the alley with meat…!”
Correct.
If discovering an alley themed around meat in Samangdan-gil, absolutely do not enter and remain exactly in the existing alley.
In case of having already entered due to unavoidable circumstances (such as a chase with a merchant), block hearing with earphones or similar, and fill 1,000 steps as quickly as possible to move to the next alley.
Recommended to leave companions behind and advance at a faster pace if they are caught by food sampling invitations.
Items of the manual that made one shudder just by reading.
“That’s right.”
“Ah, you do remember after all, right? Then…”
“So?”
“…?!”
“I want to shop.”
And I walked steadily toward the butcher shop.
“M-Mr. Roe Deer…!”
I’m sorry, Jang Heo-un! You may run away…!
However, I heard the footsteps of the two following me. It seemed they both decided to follow me anyway.
Mmm. I thought they would run away.
‘Actually, I was probably the one who wanted to run away more than anyone else…’
But since it felt like I would be dragged along by that colleague’s scheme again if I stopped my steps and backed down here, I continued forward.
In the end, the three of us stood side by side in front of the intensely lit butcher shop where wriggling parts were displayed…
Naturally, I was at the very front.
Ha.
….
The skinned cow looks at me.
‘Urrrgh.’
I must not look closely.
I cleared the focus of my eyes and looked near the owner’s neck, but because the veins wriggled, I hurriedly turned my gaze to his clothes.
It would be better to just look at the bloody clothes.
“Hello. By any chance, do you offer fresh packaging?”
Nod.
“There are many good cuts. Hmm… by any chance.”
I pretended to contemplate, then pointed with my finger.
“Could I take a look at the front hoof?”
Thump.
The skinned cow head stood up from its seat and opened the glass door.
From inside, the ‘front leg’ parts were pulled out one after another and displayed before my eyes.
…Flesh that wriggled and was still alive.
A beast’s foot.
A primate’s hand.
A primate’s hand.
Tentacles?
A beast’s foot.
A primate’s hand…
A human hand, with ring-wearing fingers trembling, scratched the glass floor imploringly…
‘Ugh.’
I had to endure.
I looked down, pretending to be calm.
…Among them, there was no suitable left hand.
‘What a pity.’
I endured this mental pain, so it would have been nice to have at least that kind of harvest.
Shaking off thoughts of Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je, I pondered for a moment and said to the other party.
“Something with a sturdier bone structure is better for broth… Hmm. By any chance, do you have any with eyes?”
Thud!
Because of the one rejection, the owner’s hand became rough. I could faintly hear my colleagues holding their breath on both sides behind me.
I also take a deep breath to endure the fear.
‘Display…’
The front leg is cleared away,
and eyeballs appear in front of my eyes.
Dark pupils with violet irises.
A fist-sized blue eyeball.
A crystalline lens with flesh still attached.
A white circle trembling without focus…
Earnest dark brown eyes looking at me.
‘Ha.’
I closed my eyes and opened them.
“That one looks good.”
I pointed with my finger.
The black eyeball with a flashing violet iris, which was displayed first.
“I want to purchase it. Ah, you don’t need to slice it.”
…….
The skinned cow stares at me.
And extends its hand.
An extremely clear gesture telling me to pay the price.
Kang Yi-hak whispered in a very small voice.
“…Supervisor, should we try to feel out what we need to pay…”
“No.”
I took a box out of the tattoo.
Thud.
A heavy box filled with corn and carrots was placed in front of the shop.
“…??”
“…?!”
“I will pay with this.”
When attempting to purchase via barter at the corresponding butcher shop, one must transact with foodstuffs that a cow can consume.
Yes. Although shops in Samangdan-gil use bizarre currencies, we fundamentally do not have that currency.
‘So we must attempt bartering.’
However, because each shop accepts different items, I had filled my tattoo to the brim with various daily necessities, precious metals, and snacks…
Including the vegetable box.
Of course, there are shops that demand something a human could absolutely never give in their right mind as compensation, but this was enough here.
“How much should I give for the price.”
…….
The butcher shop owner reached out to take the entire pile of vegetables I brought out.
The complexions of my companions, who were astonished by the tattoo inventory performance, brightened.
“Ah, the transaction was a success…”
“Wait a moment. That much?”
“…?!”
I frowned and interrupted.
“That is too expensive. I mean, no matter if it’s fresh packaging, there should be a limit. It wasn’t easy for me to airlift that here while keeping it this fresh…”
“M-Mr. Roe Deer…?!”
Although my companions turned pale and began to look at me like an even bigger madman, I continued to chatter.
“You didn’t… raise the price just because I chose to buy it, right? Is it simply a supply issue lately?”
Nod.
“…You must be working hard. Still, it exceeded the budget I had in mind… Phew.”
I deliberately fell silent.
The owner fell silent too.
The skinned cow’s head seemed to stare blankly at me, and eventually went to what looked like a cash register and grabbed a handful of coins.
Rusted coins, where all numbers and letters were written backwards.
The currency of this place.
‘Whoa!’
It worked…!!
There are shops where bartering doesn’t work, and when escaping from such places, you absolutely need coins!
-Ah, it falls into place perfectly. The pleasure of a prepared script!
I accepted the coins with a smile.
“…It is sufficient change. Thank you. I will buy it like this.”
……!
The skinned owner stood up as if excited and wrapped what I purchased.
The black eyeball, which was spinning its pupil like crazy, was thus wrapped in vinyl inside a transparent liquid and came to be held in my hand.
I tried hard not to look closely at both the coins and the item.
“Th…ank you.”
Meanwhile.
Splat.
Blood splattered onto my face from the butcher shop owner’s apron as he moved heavily.
And onto Jang Heo-un’s face as well.
“…!”
Jang Heo-un, wearing the bison mask, froze stiffly and bowed his head.
He was probably desperately suppressing a gag…
‘Damn it.’
I cut in and blabbed.
“Ah. That friend lacks strength, perhaps because he is hungry. We should go back quickly and eat something.”
Please, please!
The skinned cow looked at Jang Heo-un somewhat closely.
Just before Jang Heo-un froze solid and broke into a cold sweat.
Plop.
The shop owner dropped an object for him.
…It was the corn I had paid as price.
“T-Thank you…”
Jang Heo-un accepted the corn with a trembling hand.
The shop owner stared blankly at him, then sat back in front of the butcher shop’s glass door.
‘…We got through.’
We quickly left the ‘Raw Organ Butcher Shop.’
At the same time, I looked at the face of Jang Heo-un, who was clenching the corn tightly.
Precisely at what he was wearing on it.
‘……Is it because of the mask?’
It seemed he mistook Jang Heo-un for a bison.
Sure enough, Daydream Co.’s masks seemed to be no ordinary items, much like the dreamscape collectors.
‘Phew.’
Do not give up on your body!
Remaining Steps: 7999
Our steps stopped only when the next alley appeared, and I checked Jang Heo-un immediately.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes? Ah, yes… Um, it’s not that there was a lot of blood, and since it was all prepared, I’m okay with this much now…”
‘Wasn’t it weirder that it was cleanly prepared yet still alive…?’
However, each person must have a different point of fear. Let’s respect that.
At any rate, I was glad he was okay. His complexion wasn’t bad either.
The moment we were about to move again.
“W-What on earth was that just now? How did you make such a transaction…?!”
Kang Yi-hak finally began to question.
Mmm.
‘Let’s take it one step further here…!’
I deliberately asked back nonchalantly.
“What do you mean?”
“What you just bought! Surely the manual said to avoid the alley where meat is visible, but how did you do it so smoothly as if prepared…”
I *was* prepared!
But since I couldn’t say that, I replied like this.
“It was too obvious.”
“…?”
“Looking at the description of meat-related shops in the manual, they were restaurants. It seems it usually becomes a problem when you eat it…”
I lifted what I purchased in its bag.
“But this is a butcher shop. I guessed that we would be able to just purchase it without eating it.”
“…!”
“And looking at how they were displayed…”
I rotated the bag and showed it to her.
The strange black eyeball.
“Since it is alive, I bought it thinking we could use it in a different direction.”
“…”
“For instance… like organ transplantation.”
“…!”
Yes.
Explorers do not purchase things to eat at this Raw Organ Butcher Shop.
An exploration employee succeeded in attaching a tongue purchased from the Raw Organ Butcher Shop inside their mouth. It functioned without issues, and they performed various movements that humans cannot.
If you attach that butcher shop’s ‘part,’ which was packaged alive for freshness, to a missing body part, it becomes operational.
Even the ability that the part originally possessed comes along with it.
Of course, approaching that butcher shop blindly to buy something without knowing this is indeed crazy!
Therefore, I babbled away.
“In places like this, reasoning created from limited clues is important.”
Yeah, right.
‘Trying to profit by imagining things based on limited clues is probably a perfect way to die…’
Everyone knows you only try that reluctantly when you absolutely cannot see a way to escape…!
But since I had to pretend to be calm and crazy, there was no choice. Crazy bastards originally have their own extraordinary logic.
“I succeeded in that reasoning. Is there any problem?”
Probably many!
Sure enough, Kang Yi-hak stood with her mouth wide open, staring at me.
Yes, you must be dumbfounded too…
“Wow!”
Oh, you startled me.
“You are absolutely correct!”
…?!
Her eyes flash behind the pony mask.
“No, wow, indeed. In the end, to make high profits, one must have different ideas from others… Had I been too cautious about risks and whatnot all this time.”
“…”
“Isn’t life all or nothing anyway! Hahaha! Yes!”
W-Wait a minute.
Something is strange here…
“Come on, let’s go forward. Wow, it’s been a long time since I met a boss worthy of emulation!”
“…”
In that moment, I realized.
‘Silver Heart!’
I was still wearing the Silver Heart inside my pocket.
‘I succeeded in persuading her by babbling away while wearing it!’
The problem was that it was still a strange situation.
The Silver Heart, by lore setting, is a tool of persuasion, not a brainwashing tool.
It meant it was equipment that exerted efficacy only when possessing both logical validity and emotional rapport.
‘So if I made such a ridiculously crazy remark, it should be normal not to be persuaded…’
“In the future, I will assist you well, Supervisor! Haha.”
“…”
Ah.
I get it.
This person… felt that the crazy logic I babbled was plausible.
‘Just what kind of person is she.’
Cold sweat broke out on my back.
I turned to my sane colleague, as if catching a last straw.
‘Heo-un, you at least…’
“Yes, I will also assist you well!”
“…”
Where did this one get twisted.
Jang Heo-un had a face saying, ‘Wow! I received help again! Thank goodness!’
Already fully persuaded.
-Congratulations. You have won the trust of your colleagues working with you, friend!
“…”
Yes.
But somehow… something seems to have gone wrong.
But for now, there was no choice but to walk to escape from here…
‘F-First, let’s escape.’
Do not give up on your body!
Remaining Steps: 6999
Surprisingly, the next alley was also smooth.
Even the alley after that.
“They are lighting shops. Since looking toward the windows can blind or burn us, let’s move while avoiding our gazes by pretending to converse among ourselves.”
Alleys lined with all kinds of bizarre and mysterious shops.
Still, since I already know the manual, it feels like taking a pop quiz with the textbook memorized by heart.
However, in the sense that dying if I got even one question wrong was the rule, I was still in a state of extreme tension, but…
“Oh! A pharmacy! Shall I try to make a purchase there this time? Supervisor, what do you think? It’s fine with you too, Bison, right?”
“Yes! I’m fine!”
“…It doesn’t seem to have much value, so let’s move for now.”
“Ah, indeed we must spend our resources on big targets, haha!”
The atmosphere became one where they naturally expected me to boldly purchase something again…?
And what broke me out in cold sweat the most was that my colleagues seemed poised to fully support it.
Meanwhile, the shop where the chocolate—the purpose of my entering here—would be stocked is not even in sight.
Looking around stealthily while not matching eyes with the shop owners was exhausting to death too. Phew…
It was at that moment.
Do not give up on your body!
Remaining Steps: 4999
“Ah, Supervisor. A new alley has appeared…”
I stopped my steps and looked at the gap between the medicine shops.
A stench drifted out from within…
‘Ugh.’
It was a very narrow back alley.
It looked less than half the width of the alley where the street vendors were… and it was overwhelmingly dark.
“…”
Whoosh.
Along the alley, old side doors were lined up dismally. Only one or two sparse gas lamps barely flickered…
In that dim light, thick sewage-like filth flowing out from pipes next to the side doors appeared and disappeared.
Under the gas lamps, entities with bizarre, dried-up silhouettes and curved spines stood leaning against the walls.
Glance.
Wearing dirty and worn-out uniforms, they were staring at us.
…Judging comprehensively.
‘Even without knowing this is a ghost story, it has an atmosphere where one would turn right around and escape.’
A spine-chilling creepiness, where it seemed purchase could absolutely never be made normally, hung over the alley.
“…It’s a place not in the manual.”
Those words were correct.
It is an unfamiliar, unknown alley to the employees, where actual exploration has not yet been carried out at Daydream Co. at this point.
…The problem was, though.
‘I have to enter here…’
Tears are welling up.
And for some reason… the fact that I probably won’t even need to persuade them to enter despite it being such a crazy place… also makes me cry a bit…
I turned to my colleagues and said with a complicated feeling.
“Let’s enter that alley.”
And the reaction was like this.
“Yes…!”
“It looks like a place selling stolen goods? Wow, high profit guaranteed!”
“…”
Please, let me be the only crazy bastard in this area…!