Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 92

Chapter 92

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The mannequin employees stood in a neat line and clapped in unison. They reacted enthusiastically to my declaration that I would buy the ring.

And the two colleagues who had followed me looked at this situation blankly.

Two humans who possessed the appropriate value for a barter exchange with the ring I chose.

*Clap, clap, clap…*

The mannequins stopped clapping. Then, as if to proceed with the payment, they walked in unison toward the two standing behind me…

I raised my hand.

“However, I would like to change the payment method slightly.”

*Stop.*

The mannequins, who had come to a halt, turned to look at me.

Yes. Of course, this boutique did take humans in barter exchanges. And transactions were possible that way even now.

But why did they take humans?

If we were to examine the fundamental reason…

‘It’s labor.’

Whether they were used as employees doing menial tasks, or promoted due to good work to become mannequins like that, it was a fact already described in the wiki.

In other words, because it was of clear help to the shop’s operation, they accepted human trafficking for bartering.

In that case, what else would be of ‘clear’ help to the shop’s operation besides labor?

Doesn’t something immediately come to mind just by thinking of Daydream Co.?

‘Raw material procurement.’

I put my hand into my tattoo and pulled out an object.

The most expensive substance among the things I had brought.

“I want to pay with this.”

It was a gold bar.

“…!”

At the star of capitalism that suddenly popped out in a ghost story, I felt my colleagues standing behind me become agitated.

Honestly, because my balance was tight after clicking purchase on all items in the Alien Shop, I had hesitated whether to buy this or not, but…

‘As expected, it was a good idea to go to Jongno and bring it along.’

Since gold and silver were regular themes in ghost stories.

Unlike silver, which was mainly used for exorcism, gold had a slightly more versatile image. It was often symbolized as a representation of desire or magical compensation, making it work well anywhere.

Therefore…

“Is payment possible?”

One of the mannequins with a more formal uniform approached me. And after bowing its head deeply toward the small gold bar…

It reached out both hands politely and respectfully.

‘…It worked!’

It was accepted.

In the worst-case scenario, I had even thought of just running away, so this was a very good situation.

I dropped the gold bar into the mannequin’s hands. The mannequin slowly backed away, then emerged from behind the glass case with the ring packaged further.

It held out the silver ring I purchased, placing it on top of a velvet cushion engraved with a strange snake pattern.

‘Is the cushion… a set too?’

Since there was no reaction even when I took them together, I immediately stored all of it in my tattoo.

Next, other mannequins stepped forward from both sides, each holding a rectangular velvet box.

Both boxes looked identical, but each contained something different.

The left one was an elegant and traditional pouch, and inside the slightly loosened opening, coins printed in reverse were visible.

‘Change!’

It was additional currency exchange income.

I could see at a glance that it was a much heavier amount than what I had received at the butcher shop earlier. Moreover, the coins were large and thick. It was obvious that the denomination was different.

‘It’s right to take all of this.’

With my mind already inclined, I looked at the opposite side.

What was displayed in the box held by the other mannequin was… hmm. Small miscellaneous goods that were ambiguous to even call accessories.

It was to the extent that it was even ambiguous to judge whether they were worn on the body, so to speak, it was not worth taking a risk to see if those also had an effect on mental defense.

It seemed they wanted to do a sales promotion once before giving the change, didn’t it?

‘As expected, the versatile currency side is better.’

…It was the moment I thought up to that point.

A certain item caught my eye among the miscellaneous goods.

It was a small ribbon hair tie.

It was of an unknown material, but the dark brown strap was glossy and luxurious.

“…….”

Hmm.

“Can I take that as well?”

I pointed at the hair tie.

The mannequins clapped again, pulled out half of the change contained in the pouch, and handed it to me politely.

“Thank you.”

I received the well-packaged goods and stored them in my tattoo.

“Wow. I’ve been thinking about this since earlier… that ability looks really good! What equipment are you using?”

“Yes.”

I turned to look at Kang Yi-hak, who was grinning.

Did she not realize that I could have trafficked two of my colleagues, including herself?

‘Phew… let’s try one more time.’

I tried just once more to ‘appear like a crazy person so as not to be picked on.’

Specifically, looking intently at Kang Yi-hak, I spoke like this.

“I am curious.”

“Yes?”

“If we sell one intelligent being, how much gold can we get back?”

After a brief silence.

“Eh? Why do you think of such unprofitable calculations~ haha!”

Kang Yi-hak laughed heartily.

“Taking out kidneys or corneas would yield a few more gold bars.”

“…….”

Was this the mindset of a normal person?

No matter how much I thought about it, it wasn’t. So I gave up on refuting.

Because it was starting to get really scary…!

‘I must endure until we get out of this ghost story.’

Instead, I decided to offer carrots to my colleagues.

“Take this.”

“Oh…?!”

I divided the change in the pouch into three parts and shared it with my colleagues.

“I am lending it to you. If you use it, pay me back in gold, and if you don’t use it by the time we leave, I will retrieve it.”

“Th-thank you…”

Jang Heo-un bowed his head first.

No, I could understand Ms. Kang Yi-hak since she seemed like a crazy person I couldn’t associate with, but I didn’t know why on earth Mr. Jang Heo-un was so calm.

‘What on earth did you go through in the cleanup team…’

Surely, even at the start, I had thought, ‘It will be a reliable exploration with normal colleagues!’ but we had come too far, to the point that I actually missed Baek Sa-heon.

‘At least that bastard was comfortable because he only did predictable things…’

Here, I was simply bathing in cold sweat.

In the midst of that, I also hastily restrained Kang Yi-hak, who was trying to lift the coin to look at its surface.

“Do not look closely.”

“Yes~”

Kang Yi-hak muttered in a slightly hazy voice.

“Indeed, gold… never fails.”

“…….”

“Um, Ms. Pony. Wouldn’t making definitive statements be dangerous?”

Jang Heo-un spoke quietly.

“Because there are many things in the world more precious than gold.”

“Haha, well, Mr. Cow. I’ll give you a tip as a colleague. What do you think is the most valuable use for the Wish Ticket?”

“Yes? …Saving people, benefiting the world… isn’t it?”

“Ayy~ There are so many people in the world, how could you say that! Endlessly printing out scarcer and more valuable things is the efficient choice!”

Kang Yi-hak spoke, spreading her hands wide.

“It is none other than Midas’s touch!”

“……!”

What?

“…A hand that turns everything it touches into gold, you mean? The one from Greek mythology?”

“Yes! As expected of Koreans~ we are well-versed in Greek and Roman mythology!”

Kang Yi-hak smiled widely.

“Of course, I don’t intend to ask to turn everything my hands touch into gold, but I’ve thought of parts that wouldn’t interfere with daily life~”

“…….”

Surprisingly, Jang Heo-un’s eyes sank coldly.

Just like when he raised his hand and asked about the Wish Ticket with his suit and hair covered in blood during the freshman orientation.

“…Then just receive ten billion or a hundred billion in your bank account.”

But Kang Yi-hak was unstoppable.

“Huh? Why would I make a one-time wish? Even the won will become scrap paper if this country collapses. But gold is!”

The one wearing the pony mask leaned their head toward Jang Heo-un.

“Gold never crashes.”

“……!”

“Diamonds, dollars, even if all currencies in the world fail, gold is the perfect capital that has never once deviated from a macro upward-trending graph, you know?”

“…….”

“Let’s hear it. The valedictorian of our class, the shortest-time promotion to supervisor, and the one breaking the record for the fastest point accumulation… Supervisor Roe Deer also agrees with my words, right? Yes?”

Kang Yi-hak shouted.

“No, there is no need to even listen~ That’s why you brought gold! You just saw it. Gold becoming an item, that is!”

Only then did I realize.

“Gold is money, and money is power. In human society!”

Kang Yi-hak had no ulterior motive.

‘This person… is just someone crazy about money…!’

Of course, people usually want to make money, but it was extremely rare to act as if they would even weigh and sell their soul, to the point of being overwhelmed.

Although the Silver Heart and the surrounding environment of ‘commercial district’ probably influenced her to make her look crazier, this appearance seemed to be her more genuine and honest true feelings.

Even beneath that good-natured attitude before entering the ghost story, she was thinking like that.

‘…It is dangerous.’

As soon as we leave this ghost story, let’s not get involved with her…!

But for now, I folded my arms nonchalantly.

“I heard you well. I hope you make a lot of money.”

“Hahaha, yes!!”

Let’s escape from this shop first.

I stopped the employees from seeing me off, saying, ‘I will look around a bit more and head back on my own.’

And as soon as the employees returned to the working form with only floating hands, I hurriedly came out through the back door.

‘Whew.’

The dark back alley cluttered with small doors.

To think that this bizarre place would bring a moment of relief.

‘Once I achieve my goal, let’s quickly find one alley that is at least safe and decent to walk in, and fill the remaining steps on that path.’

Before the road gets narrower, that is.

Fortunately, thanks to easily completing a thousand steps in the boutique, a new alley smoothly appeared.

Do not give up on your body!

Remaining steps: 3999

The path that appeared through the gap in the door was similar in width to this back alley, but much better.

“Somehow it feels nostalgic?”

First of all, the light of the telephone pole was twinkling faintly.

A night where starlight was visible. A yellow light shone from the signs and inside of each shop.

‘It feels strangely nostalgic…’

With an atmosphere like a small alleyway between houses in an old downtown area, it was a scenery good for relaxing one’s mind comfortably.

That said, if I let my guard down, I might get caught by the solicitation of some shop and go completely missing or crazy, though.

“It’s a place I know!”

The alleys of Samangdan-gil identified so far:

12. Old Shopping District

It was frequently mentioned in the manual, and was a relatively safe alley with a fairly high frequency of appearance in the employees’ exploration records.

And…

It was also my destination.

“Let’s move to the next alley.”

“Yes!”

We stepped into the nostalgic small alleyway.

There were almost no crowds.

Perhaps because of that, it felt somewhat mysterious, like Christmas or New Year’s Eve…

I walked with my colleagues, passing by the small and simple shops on both sides.

Then I stopped in front of a shop.

“…….”

It was none other than a stationery store.

Even though it was called stationery, it was the kind of neighborhood stationery store that sold only a few school supplies and toys that students would like, and sold far more snacks.

It looked just like a shop that sat in front of a school in the 2000s, selling tteokbokki and junk food.

I looked at the street stall. In the place where fish cakes and tteokbokki should have been, buckwheat jelly engraved with a strange lotus pattern was piled up…

And the sign above it.

Sweet Stationery Store

‘Found it.’

The shop that allegedly sold chocolate bars with my appearance drawn on the wrapper.

‘Whew.’

I feel nervous now that I’m actually here.

I looked back at my colleagues…

“Mr. Roe Deer.”

Uaaah!

I almost jumped into the air…!

Barely holding it back, I turned my head and saw a white lizard head staring blankly at me, standing in the shadow of the telephone pole next to the shop.

…Group Leader!

“How many steps do you have left?”

I looked alternately at the stationery store and the lizard, then suddenly snapped back to my senses.

“By any chance… were you waiting for us in front of this place?”

“Yes. How many steps do you have left?”

“…We have about 3900 steps remaining. Have you almost filled the ten thousand steps, Group Leader?”

“Yes. I judged that this alley had the highest probability of encountering the explorers who entered together. That is why I was waiting with 500 steps left.”

It seemed he had guessed that the possibility of me appearing at this stationery store was high.

Since the reason for entering this ghost story in the first place was because of the new snack witnessed at this stationery store.

‘I thought my heart was going to drop!’

Still, answering at length was quite alright. As a boss, Lizard’s rating fell and rose repeatedly once again.

At that moment, Kang Yi-hak stepped forward.

“Wow, you are truly reassuring, Group Leader! Oh, then is it okay if we temporarily step into the next shop to fill our step counts as well?”

The next shop my colleague pointed at was a place that sold knitted yarn goods, where a purchase record already existed in the manual.

Furthermore, Kang Yi-hak even shook the coins received earlier to appeal.

Lizard stared at my colleague with his red pupils.

“Do you have the currency of this place?”

“Yes, yes! Supervisor Sol-eum got it for us~ He is truly an amazing person. The Group D members are all capable, so there are many things to emulate. Haha!”

“True.”

Lizard spoke quickly.

“Enter in pairs. Actions contrary to the manual are prohibited. Do not stay for more than 10 minutes and come out into the alley.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ah, uh… Yes.”

Kang Yi-hak hurriedly dragged Jang Heo-un to the shop selling gloves and mufflers.

Hmm. It seemed Lee Ja-heon also let them go like that because this was a relatively less dangerous alley and shop according to the exploration records.

It was actually a good thing.

‘Because I could enter the destination without having to share the ‘secret.”

“…….”

I stood before the glass door of the stationery store.

Manager Lee Ja-heon followed behind me.

“I will enter.”

“Yes.”

*Chime.*

I stepped inside the stationery store.

To see the ‘Good Child Chocolate Bar.’