Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Novel) - Chapter 98

Chapter 98

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I didn’t know with what mind I spent that night after confirming that the GripTok was cracked.

The next day, regardless of whether I was sick or not, I immediately went out and purchased a new phone.

And after transferring the USIM, with trembling hands, I attached the cracked GripTok and turned it on.

‘…It appears!’

Fortunately, the wiki operated… but something was strange.

Records of the Dark Exploration / Ghost Story

[Hell Surcharge Taxi]

Glitches popped up.

It felt just like a long-used computer, showing the stuttering unique to a machine whose lifespan was on the verge of ending…

Although it was restored to normal soon, it made my spine run cold.

‘Right. Goods can be damaged too…’

Because of the bizarre situation where buying it from a pop-up store allowed it to be used in the ghost story worldview, I had overlooked that part since I carried the smartphone around almost like my own body.

You ask if I can’t just back up the wiki content by copying it elsewhere?

‘Doing just that would take over a month.’

In the first place, copying and capturing are prohibited on the page that appears through the Memorial GripTok. One had to copy it manually line by line while looking at the smartphone page.

‘I don’t know if this GripTok will even hold out until then.’

Even so, there was no need to panic.

Aren’t the goods given by the Goods Box items of this ghost story worldview in the first place?

Since I had established a foundation here for half a year, other options were now open as well.

Either obtaining a new GripTok.

Or opening a route where it could be repaired.

Interestingly, both required the same kind of connection.

‘The Disaster Management Bureau.’

The place of origin for this GripTok, that is.

And I knew where things like this GripTok or the Silver Badge were manufactured…

Naturally, I also knew the way to enter, the password, and the necessary items.

And as it happened, I even had the Disaster Management Bureau temporary agent badge.

“…….”

I thought, pressing my temples.

‘I am currently on sick leave for three days.’

Which meant that, in this state anyway, I couldn’t go to the company to work or handle the follow-up processing related to Samangdan-gil.

But since it was only about not going to work, it was fine to overexert myself on other things as long as I could endure it. Because recovering my condition in three days was guaranteed.

‘However, artificially avoiding the pain imposed as the taxi fare is not allowed.’

Because this was a curse, it wouldn’t heal even if I poured painkillers in, and if I tried to evade the pain through supernatural methods, the duration of the curse would lengthen by the amount avoided.

Because actual suffering was required to count as the fare.

So my super-strong painkiller, ‘Happy Maker,’ should be kept away unless it was a truly urgent situation where I had to extend the curse’s duration.

In the first place…

“…….”

Also, when I thought about what I had done after inserting that in the nightmare, it made me run a bit cold.

‘It was truly not painful at all and comfortable…’

If it hadn’t been a dream, and if I hadn’t received treatment for my pollution at the Fox Counseling Room, it would have popped up constantly whenever times were tough, or I might have become addicted.

I had to be careful.

‘…Right.’

Instead of dragging it out as long as possible, let’s prepare when I can.

After very carefully separating the cracked GripTok from the phone, I packaged and stored it in my tattoo.

“Brown. I have to go out again.”

-Aha, playing through injury! That is a very attractive interview topic. Isn’t it sometimes a token that shows passion for the industry?

-However, if it is hard to endure, please tell me anytime. Your perfect colleague, friend, Brown will help you…

That was a rather eerie and reassuring remark.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

After showering my sweat-soaked body once more, I threw on a light zip-up hoodie.

And taking the rabbit doll wearing a glossy bow tie, I placed it in the front pocket of the zip-up.

-You look neat, Mr. Roe Deer! Well then, where are we heading?

Mmh.

“The place where young people gather the most in Seoul.”

* * *

I got off at Hongik University Station.

It was a neighborhood where it was fascinating that there could be this many people even on a weekday afternoon.

‘And there are many people even away from the station.’

From Mangwon to Yeonnam, the streets would be teeming with people who came out to play.

It was a crowd of a level that felt sorry to compare to the outdated alley, the downtown area that connected to Samangdan-gil, which I visited yesterday.

-There are indeed many people here! Bright, good reactions… Ah, it makes me want to invite everyone to the show and present them with joy and shock that they will never experience again in their lives!

Uaaah!

Fortunately, since Brown immediately got distracted by something else, there was no need to stop his excited voice.

-Ah, the coffee aroma is also nice! Would you like a cup, my friend? …Dear me! You are staggering. Do you need support?

‘…It’s fine.’

Having come out to downtown Seoul with a ghost story resident while carrying an illness curse, it was an unavoidable thing… haha.

Still, the feeling of abundant positive energy was not bad.

A lively street lined with cafes and bathed in sunshine, where not a single trace of gloominess could be found.

It was hard to even imagine that something mysterious or ghost-story-like could occur here in broad daylight.

‘Rather, that’s why it is safe.’

I recalled the method of approaching the place where the GripTok could be repaired.

The document of the Disaster Management Bureau, which had even been registered in the wiki with an image of a note.

! Must be destroyed after thorough reading

Place to visit: Opaque blue-roofed cafe without a sign. A commercial facility converted from a house, with a buckwheat flower wreath hanging on the door.

There it is.

With Brown’s help, I completely killed my presence and entered the blue-roofed building.

It was a large cafe bustling with customers.

There, where all kinds of lights and decorations sparkled even in broad daylight, the cafe employees were busy taking orders and serving drinks and coffee.

Instead of standing in the order line, I stepped aside slightly, bent down, and entered the kitchen space.

And going further inside from there…

The moment I turned the corner, two doors were visible.

[Staff Only]

They were identical yellow doors, but one simply led outside, and the other…

‘Was the door I had to open.’

Enter and exit through the right door among the two.

Never touch the left door. Once you touch the left door, you can never enter the ‘place’ through the right door again.

I cautiously approached the right door and knocked slightly in tune with a rhythm.

Knock-knock, knock-knock— knock-knock, knock-knock—

Jajinmori beat. It was a rhythm that was bound to be familiar if one had received public education in this country.

And without drawing attention, I opened the door just a tiny bit and went inside.

*Creak, thud.*

“….”

The inside looked like a normal space for authorized personnel.

A space where hallways, warehouses, and employee break areas were mixed together.

A worn-out sofa, desk, laptop, boxes of consumables. And on one side, out-of-season interior design props were piled up.

Find a miniature model that can be interpreted as a house, such as a dwelling, apartment, or yurt.

I carefully lifted the props and found the corresponding object.

A hanok model.

It had the appearance of something that had been used as an interior prop for Chuseok.

‘This must be it.’

I squatted down beside the hanok model, reached out, and grabbed the small gate.

And the moment I opened the gate.

*Thud!*

I fell backward, landing flat on my butt.

“Ah…”

Although spitting of blood surged up from my already aching body, I endured it.

Because this was a place where showing blood was prohibited from here on.

‘Let’s see…’

Getting up and looking around, it felt as if I had entered a very quiet tile-roofed hanok rather than a lively cafe.

Although there were walls on all sides, it was a strange space where not a single breath of wind blew. The wood and ivory-colored walls unique to traditional houses came into my view…

‘It is quiet.’

In a place where a sense of awkwardness lingered, like having mistakenly visited a spot where everyone had suddenly left during a break, right in the middle of bustling Seoul.

[Aha, who goes there! In a place where the elders are… Eh? Seobang Kim?]

With a slam, the door of the tile-roofed house opened wide, and someone wearing a tracksuit with braided hair dashed out.

And seeing the Disaster Management Bureau iron badge I had attached to my hood in advance, they pointed their finger.

I inhaled and nodded my head.

“Ah, I am sorry. It is my first time coming here.”

[A new Seobang Kim!? It seems the Seobang Kims who do state affairs are doing strange things again.]

[How could a scrawny Seobang Kim visit the dokkaebi playground alone in broad daylight! What if you run into a nasty daytime dokkaebi!]

Looking at them, they had a large frame and a loud voice, looking like a normal human, but…

[Wait, are you hard of hearing! Why are you silent, Seobang Kim!]

They were not human.

…It could also be noticed from the address of Seobang Kim.

‘That is a dokkaebi.’

And this place was where they gathered.

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Records of the Dark Exploration / Ghost Story

[Dokkaebi Workshop]

: A ghost story appearing in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>. No registration number from the Disaster Management Bureau, Daydream Co.’s identification code is undecided.

A workshop where dokkaebi gather at night to make clubs and hats, but almost all exploration records were written in broad daylight.

One of the ghost stories whose information is tightly controlled by the Disaster Management Bureau to prevent Daydream Co.’s access.

Refer to the document for usage details.

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It was like this.

Goblins gather every night to drink alcohol, eat buckwheat cakes, and play while making clubs and hats.

However, because they enjoyed the gathering so much, it was a ghost story starting from the imagination that there were night dokkaebi who did not sleep and hung around the gathering place during the day.

If you give good things to the dokkaebi loafing around the workshop in the middle of the day and ask them to make this or that, they will make it excitedly.

Currently, they threaten and expel those who are not ‘Seobang Kim doing state affairs.’

There are no cases where a person once expelled successfully entered again.

Actually, it also felt like a modern version of a fun and mysterious old folk tale rather than a ghost story.

Wouldn’t this be an urban legend.

‘That’s why even the Disaster Management Bureau quietly receives equipment while expressing gratitude.’

A few supplies issued to low-year agents, including the GripTok, came from here. Including the glass pouch I had received from Agent Bronze.

This kind of simple ghost story without casualties was not registered as a disaster even by the Disaster Management Bureau, but finished by simply labeling it as a ‘general supernatural phenomenon.’

Although there was a narrative that weighed on my mind…

Advice to watch out for the scary daytime dokkaebi was frequently heard, but there were no eyewitness accounts to date.

Since this was a plot hook that hadn’t even been resolved in the <Records of the Dark Exploration>, it wasn’t something to worry about right now.

‘Let’s just do what needs to be done quickly.’

I carefully took out the cracked GripTok packaged in several layers from my pocket, unrolled the packaging, and held it out to the dokkaebi.

“I visited in a hurry to see if you could repair this. Ah, here is a return gift…”

[Seobang Kim. This isn’t something we made?]

…….

Huh?

“Is… that so?”

[Yeah, yeah. It copied us, yeah, yeah, fun, fun…]

The dokkaebi, muttering to himself that it was fun, craned his neck and began to peer at my cracked GripTok.

…It ‘copied’?

‘The goods from the Goods Box certainly had the exact same effect as the original.’

Apparently, even the source was not treated identically. I had to be careful.

Swallowing my saliva and blood, I spoke.

“Then, is it difficult to repair even in this wonderful workshop?”

[What are you talking about! This elder can repair anything smaller than a palm… but you see.]

*Grin.*

The dokkaebi smiled.

[Seobang Kim. It seems you have a good item!]

“…! Ah, I brought some snacks made of buckwheat, but…”

[Huh? Not that!]

[A good smell is wafting from you…]

“…!!”

Am I fucked?

[That, very well-aged…]

The dokkaebi grinned.

[Ginseng smell!]

“…….”

Ah.

After covering my wrist, I pretended to take it out from my bag and carefully pulled out the object.

“Is this ginseng… what you are speaking of, elder?”

It was the wild ginseng piece whose pollution had completely vanished after being used for Brown’s bath and releasing the intelligent being.

Although the cross section where the sap emerged had hardened, it still gave off a strong smell of soil and forest.

[Yes! Oh, how desirable, my goodness!]

The dokkaebi smacked his lips, going crazy over it.

[It would be absolutely perfect to brew medicinal liquor with that. How about it? I’ll go in there and make you a fine hand plow or a broom. Or even a pretty jade ring!]

Wow.

-He is one who knows how to make a rude yet interesting offer! How about it, would you like to trust the artisan’s skill, Mr. Roe Deer?

“…….”

‘That… is a bit of a dilemma.’

You ask why I would bother to hesitate when a good-natured dokkaebi is offering an item?

‘Because I came here secretly.’

Because I was not a real agent.

Since I was only impersonating with a temporary agent iron badge without qualifications to use this place, I was in a position where I had to be even more careful.

‘My story must not reach the government.’

It would be troublesome if a report went in stating that someone had suddenly appeared in a ghost story whose information the Disaster Management Bureau was straining to control completely.

Today, if it had been around the 15th, I wouldn’t have come at all.

‘Because that is precisely the Disaster Management Bureau’s regular visit schedule.’

Even if the GripTok repair right now is passed off as a minor event, me offering superb wild ginseng and taking an item?

‘That dokkaebi will definitely go around talking about it without any malice.’

-Aha, indeed!

Even if I asked him to keep it a secret, he would probably say he would, then forget and go, ‘Oops.’

‘As expected, let’s refuse.’

“Um, I will just give you the ginseng. I hope you brew good liquor with it and enjoy it.”

[Oh my goodness! You are indeed a kind-hearted Seobang Kim!]

The dokkaebi looked at me while holding the ginseng happily.

And then…

[But here, taking something back is the correct way to respond.]

“…….”

What?

[Which team are you from? Seeing that it’s a temporary badge, are you a rookie receiving training this time?]

What does this mean?

-Ah, so one must be careful because dokkaebi have loose lips!

-It was a very plausible deduction, but there is a loophole, Mr. Roe Deer. One condition is different.

That is.

-That person is a human.

“…….”

I barely turned my head and looked up.

[Aha, why are you not answering!]

At the agent of the Disaster Management Bureau, who was pretending to be a dokkaebi.