Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 110

Director Ho’s project team.

It was a secret project with an utterly unprecedented reward: if successful, every team member would receive a wish.

‘And I refused it.’

Because the risk was too great, and it was too suspicious.

But Assistant Manager Eun Hajae, who was on leave… was working there?

“Look at Roe Deer’s expression. Yes. I know you were offered it and completely kicked it away.”

The smile vanished from Assistant Manager Eun Hajae’s face.

“…You did well. Don’t ever join. It’s a pain-in-the-ass team.”

“……”

But Assistant Manager, aren’t you working there…?

“What kind of work do you do there…”

“Can’t tell you.”

“……”

Should I go for it?

Let’s go for it.

“Actually, I was offered to be the project leader candidate.”

“What?!”

“Of course, I think it was just for motivation, and I refused…”

“No, wait. I’m telling you this just in case you get tempted later…”

Assistant Manager Eun Hajae lowered her voice and whispered.

“Director Ho is a madman.”

“…!”

“I don’t know what the other team members in this project are doing. Director Ho completely prohibits employees from different departments from even talking to each other.”

The Assistant Manager swallowed.

“I think… the reason he pulled me into this was because I applied for leave. He made an offer so I could work on the project without being noticed by others.”

“…So that’s why you were hiding?”

“That’s right. He demanded it.”

Assistant Manager Eun Hajae clicked her tongue, saying that’s why she secretly broke into my private residence too.

“I was worried your roommate might find out.”

“Don’t worry about that. He’s not at the residence.”

“Really? Damn, I put in effort for nothing.”

Baek Saheon, at his tenure, cleverly took a vacation by attaching it to January 1st. He wasn’t at that house right now.

“Anyway, I really can’t tell you anything more. Just know that much.”

And Assistant Manager Eun Hajae truly didn’t answer any of my subsequent questions (why the wish was needed, what kind of work it was, how she was recruited).

He simply said:

“I’m someone who used to make a living by digging up dirt on crazy bastards. What’s so new about that?”

But there’s a crucial difference, Assistant Manager – that was humans, and this is ghost stories…!

“You just be careful, you.”

Assistant Manager Eun Hajae soon gave a bitter smile.

“Roe Deer. Don’t worry too much about others. Even if it’s not this company, there are few paths in society that will make you as tired as that.”

“……”

“It might sound funny coming from someone like me who benefited from your concern, but I’m not saying it for no reason.”

“No, it’s not funny at all. …Thank you.”

“…Haha, kid, still the same.”

Even as Assistant Manager Eun Hajae left the annex, he repeatedly told me to stop worrying and take care of myself.

“Thank you again, and remember. January 2nd.”

And he left the front of the annex as if disappearing instantly.

“……”

Director Ho’s project team.

‘Just hearing about it felt dangerous.’

For now, I have too much on my plate to care, but I’ll remember it.

-Anyway, you’ve secured a lot of interesting statements! January 2nd, a whirlpool of conspiracy surrounding Roe Deer…

-How about it, my friend? Any interesting plans to avoid the death sentence? Of course, don’t forget that your good friend Brown is always by your side when you’re in trouble.

“Yes. Thank you.”

-Don’t mention it!

And so, I had my first plan for the new year.

To find a way to escape the Darkness I would enter on January 2nd, by any means necessary.

And this plan was quite successfully executed throughout New Year’s Day, a public holiday…

The normal workday arrived.

 

January 2nd.

Indeed, as soon as I arrived at work, I was given a new Darkness exploration mission.

However, it was ‘only to me.’

“…So, Section Chief, you have an executive meeting this afternoon, so you ‘unavoidably’ have to be absent?”

“Yes.”

“If I go into the Darkness alone…”

“No. To adhere to the 3-person team manual, two support personnel are scheduled to be assigned in the afternoon.”

Yes, I thought so.

And at this point, I suspected Kwak Jegang was up to something.

‘Is he trying to foist strange employees onto me?’

Because group project villains always make the situation worse…

‘I should prepare myself.’

But the situation took a strange turn.

First, even before a Darkness was assigned to me for January 2nd, an announcement was made.

It was the reorganization of Team D into an elite team.

[Field Exploration Team Organizational Restructuring Announcement]

Director Cheong’s bold proposal had finally come to light.

And the Field Exploration Team, who realized that this much-rumored situation was indeed a radical reorganization to ‘form Team D itself into an elite team,’ was thrown into an uproar.

Moreover, the remaining spot in the elite Team D allowed even regular employees to work short-term with elite team treatment!

People who wanted to ask anyone about this personnel decision… finally found the person with the lowest rank and least experience among the relevant parties!

Yes.

That was me.

“……”

Buzz, buzz, buzzzzzz!

[Hello, Chief Roe Deer~^^ Congratulations on becoming part of the elite team! Could I ask a few questions about it…?]

[This is my first time contacting you outside of the group chat. I’m reaching out regarding the last spot in the elite team…]

‘This is really burdensome…’

It was already the seventh message.

I wish they would think logically. Why would a mere chief have personnel authority?

-Hmm? My friend, didn’t you have a chance to choose your colleagues to work with? The moment you received that interesting proposal is vividly clear to me!

That’s… a bus that’s already left…

I refused the poisoned apple, so it’s someone else’s problem now.

‘Anyway, I have no authority.’

I spent the morning vaguely replying with polite company language, essentially saying, ‘What authority do I have? I’m just a subordinate too.’

Anyway, I did realize something thanks to that.

‘I can’t just send off this expedition carelessly, can I?’

Because this new Darkness exploration on January 2nd itself had a strange symbolic meaning.

The first trial run of the elite Team D!

With all the Field Exploration Team employees watching, they couldn’t just assign random people to me, could they?

Otherwise, the image of the successful launch of the new elite team would be damaged.

‘I don’t think Kwak Jegang can pull any tricks.’

I was puzzled.

‘Who on earth will be the two accompanying employees?’

…And then, at 2 PM.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Chief Roe Deer!”

I almost broke out in a cold sweat upon seeing the cheerful employee who opened the Team D office door and entered.

It was Chief Dolgorae from Team C.

An elite team member!

“Oh, do you know who the other employee is? I’m curious!”

“…Yes. I’m very curious too.”

A sudden ominous feeling began to rise.

And 10 minutes later.

At the appointed time, the door opened once more, and that premonition became reality…

“Both of you have a sense of time.”

A cheerful pair of shoe steps entered through the half-open door.

A perfectly fitting suit, hair tied high in a single ponytail, and a flamboyant butterfly mask.

It was Assistant Manager Jin Nasol from Team A.

‘My goodness.’

They assigned two elite team members!

Moreover, my head spun at the sight of a meritocratic superior I hadn’t seen in a long time, but it was the moment I was about to bow my head and greet them immediately.

“Assistant Manager, it’s been a while.”

“Yes. You turned down Director Ho’s offer, didn’t you?”

“……”

“You made another foolish choice, but you still became an elite team member? If everyone was as capable as you, work would be easy. At least today, I won’t see anyone whining.”

…Yes.

It’s truly nice to see you too, Assistant Manager…

“Thank you for the compliment.”

I barely managed to reply.

I felt like my mind was going blank.

But my mouth was dutifully responding like a proper working professional.

“What? This expedition is to the provinces. Annoying.”

“Yes. Instead, the company says they’ll provide generous travel expenses.”

That’s right.

This C-grade ghost story had to be dealt with all the way in Mokpo.

‘Finally, a business trip to the provinces.’

In fact, urban legends naturally arise in places where many people gather. The high frequency in the Seoul metropolitan area wasn’t inconsistent with world-building.

‘Still, it’s somewhat strange that I’ve only done Darkness explorations almost exclusively in the Seoul suburbs until now.’

Anyway, I carefully watched my two elite team seniors and left the company, moving to our destination.

Chief Dolgorae even spoke to me quite amicably.

“You haven’t moved up to the higher floor yet! You’ll be doing it soon, right? I heard the elite team gets private offices, which is good for privacy too!”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Oh, you can speak informally! We’re the same rank.”

“Still, you’re my senior, and there’s a lot I don’t know, so I might cause trouble, and I can’t do that already. I’ll be more polite.”

“Wow. You’re really polite!”

Seeing Chief Dolgorae give a thumbs-up, I relaxed a little.

Yes. He seemed like a good-natured person.

‘Let’s try some small talk.’

I smiled amiably and brought up a suitable topic.

The Team C person who sat next to Chief Dolgorae during the ghost story where I almost fainted from the back-of-the-hand clapping!

“Is Assistant Manager Pyo Beom doing well?”

“Oh, he died.”

“……”

“He went off after being a jerk to a Finishing Team employee, so he got what he deserved. It’s a bit of a waste of points, though!”

“I see. May he rest in peace.”

This person’s sensibilities were clearly not those of a normal person.

‘Save me.’

Just in time, we arrived at the high-speed rail station.

I trembled inwardly and sat next to Chief Dolgorae on the train with extreme politeness.

And I began to show all due respect to the senior who had become an elite team member at the rank of chief…

‘Never challenge someone of the same rank.’

And so, let’s make sure I don’t get branded as a bad person…!

…By the way, Assistant Manager Jin Nasol, who was sitting in front of us, said…

“I’m going to sleep, so don’t talk to me.”

“…Yes.”

I was rather grateful for that…

-Oh, quite unique companions you have!

Yes…

And this means.

‘The two most successful non-executive employees in the company are my companions.’

Let me rephrase.

The two most competent and capable employees at the staff level are now sticking by my side, confirming everything I do…!

‘Assistant Manager, how on earth am I supposed to escape without entering the Darkness with these people…!’

Cold sweat ran down my back. Holes were appearing in the plan I had laid out.

‘I never thought they’d assign two elite team members, no matter what.’

I had simulated scenarios with trolls much more often.

I maintained a calm demeanor, desperately racked my brain, and quickly added a Plan B.

‘In the worst case…’

I’ll say I’m going to the restroom… and run away.

It makes me tear up just thinking about how humiliating it would be, but my life is more important, right?

And later, when I return, I can just claim that I ‘accidentally’ got caught up in another Darkness and just got out.

‘If I find a suitable Darkness from the wiki, and actually find an easy ghost story of the right grade to clear and match the solution grade… it would be plausible.’

It was a feasible plan because it was a business trip to the provinces.

‘Good, good.’

I felt like I could get through this.

I finally sighed in relief at the plausibility of the plan I had concocted, and only then did I look at the destination displayed on the train’s electronic board.

Mokpo-bound

 

Come to think of it, this was almost my first time going to Mokpo…

Mokpo-bound

 

…

Huh?

The destination text at the bottom of the flickering train car’s advertisement board, the next moment…

Changed.

Tamna-bound

 

“……!!”

I shot up from my seat.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Chief… Oh? The display board?”

“Yes. We need to get off immediately…”

…

No.

No, don’t you already know?

‘It’s too late.’

This was… something that ended the moment I got on the train, sat down, and the destination changed.

From that point on, you can’t get off.

“……”

It comes to mind.

-It was a wiki recorded as a short story, the longest document among human error accidents recorded in the Disaster Management Bureau.

What this was.

-It was the only time a major catastrophe occurred due to the Eunshimjang.

That train accident.

A desperate ghost story I knew all too well.

———————=

[Tamna-bound High-Speed Rail Incident]

This document is a record of an anomalous case that occurred at registration number ‘8008PSYA.2002.A88.’ and contains shocking details related to numerous casualties.

As it contains the detailed contents of a tragic disaster, please assess your psychological state before applying for viewing.

It can induce severe mental anxiety or trauma, so we strongly recommend reading it only in a stable state.

-Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau

Notice from Records Management Office

———————=

That insane high-speed rail, where there was only one survivor from Daydream Co., Ltd.

‘…Ah.’

I realized.

Today, January 2nd, when my death was scheduled to be processed.

‘The C-grade Darkness wasn’t the problem.’

The threat prepared for me was not the company-designated, manual-complete Darkness in the provincial business trip location.

‘This train.’

This train, which was merely a means of transportation to get there, was the very threat itself.

“……”

I looked out the window.

Instead of the outside, the display board reflected.

Tamna-bound

Departure

With a roar, the train departed.