Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 122

Just before the live talk show begins, the backstage is bustling.

The silent staff move in perfect coordination, checking and responding to the situation in real-time.

“Phew.”

I exhaled.

I could now understand their expressions more concretely to some extent…

The whispers of the faceless ones.

-Add light #5.

-Host’s shoes need changing.

-Check guest cushion placement.

Each person worked diligently in their place, contemplating how to make a good show.

And since the host was the type who never spared praise for individuals, the atmosphere was even more easily heightened.

It truly was a good workplace. The fact that my colleagues had no faces was a bit unsettling at first, but now I seemed to have fully adapted!

‘Indeed, humans are creatures of habit, aren’t they?’

Entering ghost stories never got easier, no matter how many times I did it, so perhaps Brown was right, it might have been a matter of aptitude after all.

‘It’s okay.’

I habitually checked that I was wearing my silver ring, then finally stepped onto the stage.

“…Phew.”

Today was the day.

The day I would appear in a segment on ‘Brown’s Late-Night Talk Show’ for the first time.

[Soleum-ssi!]

The host, who had already finished his preparations, approached.

[The outfit suits you very well. Yes… Oh my! Makeup, let’s cover this tattoo more thoroughly.]

The host meticulously checked even the tattoo peeking out from under my suit sleeve near my wrist.

In an instant, the tattoo on my wrist vanished without a trace.

And I safely took my designated seat before the live broadcast time.

[Good. Good… Now. Soleum-ssi. The camera light will come on soon.]

“Yes.”

[And soon the audience will be seated, so just think about entertaining them. Alright, it’s starting….]

The countdown spun on the classic teleprompter in front of my eyes.

[Good evening! The joy of this night, new faces every day, and… your friendly host!]

Brown’s Late-Night Talk Show

The studio sparkled with the band’s sound.

The live broadcast began.

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“W-what is this….”

The audience seats filled up.

The audience, who had been sitting there preparing to sleep, were startled or surprised by the dazzling set that suddenly appeared.

“Why are my clothes like this?”

Everyone was sitting in various work outfits, truly like a special feature for office workers.

[Welcome, hard-working office workers! For you today, we will show an interesting, thrilling, and terrifyingly fun talk show that will relieve your daily fatigue and keep your eyes glued!]

Clap, clap, clap….

The host clapped alone, then displayed an awkward and sad emoticon on his TV head.

[…No applause? None at all?]

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!!

The audience, caught off guard, applauded.

“What is this, seriously….”

“Well, he’s handsome. Let’s go with it.”

Two office workers next to me, who seemed to be acquaintances, whispered to each other and clapped again.

The host greeted each audience member, leading the atmosphere.

It had an eerie side, but fundamentally, it was filled with fun and enjoyable jokes, and horrible, strange news they had never heard before.

“Ah.”

Eventually, the tension eased, and people naturally accepted the surreal space.

Like watching a magician or a sci-fi movie, the minds of people accustomed to surreal content blurred and collapsed the boundary with reality.

And then appeared.

[Today’s guest is… Ah, here they come!]

A splendid door, studded with star-shaped bulbs, opened, and the guest emerged.

It was the guest I had selected!

It was….

Waddle, waddle.

A rag bear doll.

It had mismatched button eyes and was raggedy, but quite cute.

[Isn’t it quite adorable? Let me introduce today’s guest… ‘Happy Ending Bear’!]

Gasps erupted from various places as the small bear doll sat on the sofa.

What on earth is that, it’s really cute, it moves, where is this? Is it a dream? What kind of talk show… Oh, I applied to be in the audience here!

The chaotic murmuring soon subsided, converging into one.

Interest and concentration on the surreal talk show.

[Sponsored by Delusion Home Shopping. Oh, it’s a limited edition product from 1999, no longer for sale, and the most iconic companion doll in the industry.]

[For owners who cherish it until their death, it creates a ‘life’s ending’ like a comfortable sleep, and for those who abandon it, it visits them in the middle of the night and turns them into a doll just like itself!]

Brown approached and held the microphone to the teddy bear.

[How do you feel? ……Oh, it says it’s so nervous it feels like going to its first owner’s grave and weeping profusely.]

“Hahahaha!”

The reaction is good.

I felt at ease.

Cute and friendly, yet the eeriness of an inanimate object having a will and seeking revenge had always worked.

That’s why I also have a good friend… no, stop.

‘Anyway, if the audience reaction is good, the viewer reaction is often good too.’

It was reassuring.

The talk show structure was designed so that non-human viewers could enjoy the audience reactions themselves, almost like watching reaction videos.

Interesting. Indeed, stories are enjoyable and reassuring when you’re a step removed!

[Alright, then let’s hear our guest’s story and recent updates!]

The show proceeded smoothly.

The ‘Happy Ending Teddy Bear’, through the host’s mouth, spoke of its painful but warm farewell with its kind owner, and the chilling abuse and refreshing revenge against a terrible owner.

And it displayed props, photos, and illustrations from that time to enhance immersion and atmosphere.

The final climax.

[Ah, so the father who used to burn you with cigarette butts and beat the child you played with… is in the audience?!]

[That person is… you!]

Bam!

A spotlight shone on an audience member.

[Please come up… Hahahaha! Let’s welcome our second guest with applause.]

It was the previous owner who had abandoned the doll, planted among the audience.

They were brought onto the stage, and the ‘Happy Ending Bear’ demonstrated the process of turning that audience member into a teddy bear directly.

Screams and blood ran rampant, but the engrossed audience found it a little gruesome yet satisfying. Some people in the front row, who had received raincoats from the staff, even clapped.

Just like reading an entertaining ghost story.

[Ah, excellent. We have one more cute teddy bear.]

[That’s truly a good thing. A wonderful value creation, let’s give a big round of applause to our Happy Ending Bear guest!]

Woaaaaah!

The Happy Ending Bear trembled and happily greeted the people.

And at this point….

[Then, let’s move on to the next segment. Q&A!]

Brown raised one hand as if listening, bringing it to his speaker part.

[Are you there? My friend!]

Now!

“I’m here, friend!”

I raised my hand high and stood up in the middle of the audience section.

Gasps erupted from the people sitting around me.

And above my head, a shining sign.

To Brown’s friend

Let us know!

[For 100 seconds, my friend can ask the audience for their impressions of the talk show or interesting questions! We’ll give a wonderful prize to those who answer correctly, so let’s give it a try. Alright….]

A clock appeared on Brown’s TV face.

[Starting now!]

Whoosh.

Audience members raised their hands.

I pointed to myself with a slightly flustered expression.

“Excuse me, are you raising your hands without even hearing my introduction or question…?”

Laughter.

“Oh, no time? All… ri… ght… th-thennnnn.”

I deliberately spoke very slowly, dragging out my words.

The laughter grew louder. Good.

“First question. ‘The most uninteresting moment in this show?'”

[Friend!!]

“The moment you yawned so much you thought, ‘I could do better than this?'”

Planned, exquisite reactions sporadically erupted in laughter among the audience.

Some of the people in the very front, covered in the blood of the former owner who had become a teddy bear, enthusiastically took off their raincoats and waved them.

I quickly approached them and held out the microphone.

“Right now.”

[Ooooh!]

Explosive laughter erupted again. I deliberately looked at the person with a betrayed expression, as if to say, ‘How could you say such a thing?!’ and then moved on to the next question.

Perhaps because the previous segment was fun, people’s reactions were much better than I had expected.

They were almost mesmerized.

‘Is it… fun?’

I felt a little excited, somehow.

100 seconds flew by in an instant, and it was the moment the microphone was passed to the audience member whose turn was almost the last due to time constraints.

“If you could ask for just one thing from this talk show, what would it be?”

I shouted the question excitedly, and the audience member shouted back excitedly.

“I want to take that bear!”

Ah.

“No, you can’t.”

…….

Instantly, the audience seats grew cold.

The stage too.

“……”

W-why did I do that? No, first, I need to fix this.

I raised my eyebrows as if I had deliberately given a short answer.

And then, nodding as if I understood, I said,

“Our dear guest, Mr. Bear, says he’s too busy with overtime as an office worker and doesn’t want a serious relationship.”

“Huh?!”

Happy Ending Bear frantically waved both arms from the sofa as if to say no. I watched it, then nodded seriously and conveyed it to the audience.

“He still says no.”

“…?!”

The bear fell over. Laughter erupted from the audience.

“Just kidding. He says he’d be happy to go.”

“Wow! That’s great. A natural death was my dream.”

“Really? Me too.”

I laughed and high-fived the audience member.

Phew. I managed to get through it somehow.

‘Next!’

And I quickly turned my head for the next question. The next person who raised their hand fastest was….

He was dressed in familiar attire.

“…!!”

For a moment, I stared blankly at the sight.

An office worker wearing a mask and a suit.

‘…It’s the field investigation team from Baekilmong Inc.’

My old workplace.

Among them….

‘…It’s the people from Team D.’

The three people I knew were sitting side by side.

How could those three, no, surely now only Section Chief Lizard is in Team D, how on earth…

[Ding! Time’s up.]

Ah.

[Alright! Then let’s ask my friend. Who is today’s MVP audience member?]

“Today’s MVP is…”

I pointed to the last audience member.

“The guest adoption applicant.”

“Ooh ooh ooh!”

[Hahaha! May you have a happy natural death!]

The selected audience member happily sat down with a beautifully wrapped gift.

The Happy Ending Bear stared intently at that audience member.

“……”

And so my segment concluded, and I exited through the door to the applause of the audience.

My heart was pounding.

‘I did it.’

And then.

[Let me introduce our next guest. Oh, wait, before that….]

[We’ll be right back after these messages!]

Ughhh!

Brown smiled and waved to the booing and cheering audience, and the commercial break began.

Phew!

[Soleum-ssi!]

Brown came backstage with a huge smiling emoticon on his face, then changed to an emotional emoticon and high-fived me.

And he patted my shoulder as if proud.

[Friend. You did very well! Your first hosting was unbelievably excellent. It was a very impressive 100 seconds. Oh, truly admirable….]

“I don’t think it was that good…”

[No! This is not flattery or empty words, but pure admiration. When you start to have passion for this show, you achieve even better results.]

It was good news.

“Excuse me, but.”

I said with a smile.

“…I saw some familiar faces in the audience. Can I go talk to them for a bit during the break? Just for a short while….”

[Ah.]

The host stopped.

And then….

[Of course. It’s a break, isn’t it? Feel free to go chat.]

Phew.

I got permission! That was a relief.

“Then I’ll go….”

[Wait.]

My shoulder was grabbed.

[However, you must not make any remarks that might make other audience members feel out of place… Oh, don’t forget. Even when the camera is off, the audience still sees you as a cast member of the show.]

“…Understood.”

The TV head drew closer.

[Did you keep that in mind?]

“…I will keep it in mind.”

[Good!]

I backed away from the host.

And then, walking past the staff, I went around the backstage, thanking the audience as if checking if they were uncomfortable.

And then… I finally arrived at the familiar masks.

Familiar masks.

“Roe Deer…?”

“…Assistant Manager.”

Section Chief Lee Jaheon, Assistant Manager Eun Hajae, and… even Assistant Manager Park Minseong were sitting there.

‘Wow.’

It felt strange seeing them like this.

It was as if we had returned to the time before entering the Hungry Hangman’s darkness.

“To see you here! It’s good to see you all. Are you all doing well?”

Section Chief Lizard and Assistant Manager Eun Hajae nodded.

Assistant Manager Park Minseong also smiled and waved when our eyes met. He looked a little pale, but still healthy.

It was truly a relief that he had recovered enough to do outdoor activities comfortably at night like this.

“Yes. We’re doing well, but… Roe Deer. Are you okay? How are you doing?”

“Ah. I’m doing well.”

I could guarantee that.

However, I couldn’t help but ask.

“But today is my first appearance… May I ask how it was? I’m a bit nervous.”

Silence.

“It was very good.”

“…Thank you.”

Phew.

The silence was a bit unnerving, but Assistant Manager Eun Hajae wasn’t one to give empty words, so it should be fine.

“By the way, did you eat today?”

“Eat? Eat…….”

Ah.

Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I last ate.

So… before preparing for the broadcast?

Was the last time I ate on the train before transferring here? Something similar.

Anyway, my body is perfectly healthy, so it’s fine!

And it’s too personal a story to discuss during a talk show break.

I smiled and waved my hand.

“It’s okay if I don’t.”

“……”

Assistant Manager Park Minseong quickly rummaged through his pocket and pulled something out.

“Roe Deer. But still. It’s a break, right? How about a snack? This…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. We can only receive gifts from the audience through official channels. For clean operation.”

I politely declined the old-fashioned candy Assistant Manager Park Minseong offered.

The Assistant Manager’s expression, holding the Nostalgia Candy, clouded over.

“Ah….”

…Did I do something wrong?

I thought hard, then remembered an alternative.

“Don’t worry. I have the same candy as my own, so I’ll eat that.”

“…!”

“Good.”

Assistant Manager Eun Hajae extended his hand and shook mine.

His hand was warm.

“Make sure you eat it.”

“……”

“Mr. Roe Deer.”

Ah.

Section Chief Lizard was looking at me.

“Press the button.”

“……?”

I don’t quite understand what he means….

But showing my confusion wouldn’t be professional.

“Yes. I will definitely do my best. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the show. Sleep well and fight on tomorrow.”

I hoped today’s viewing would bring a small joy to their difficult daily lives.

Is this the heart of a show creator? What Brown was talking about?

I observed the reactions of the three.

‘Since they’re wearing masks, their expressions aren’t very visible….’

Wait a minute.

If they’re wearing masks, could they also be in the middle of a darkness exploration right now?

If so, I should reassure them!

“Ah. If you come here for ‘work’, there will be no problem. You can just enjoy the show and go back.”

“…Really?”

“Yes! It’s very safe here.”

It would be rare to find a darkness that was this easy to clear. Hasn’t it become even easier than the Tuesday Talk Show?

‘Because no regular audience member dies!’

In fact, if they wanted to make it more provocative, they could have given even more gruesome penalties like the Tuesday Talk Show.

Now, it was rather a comfortable atmosphere, to the extent that other audience members could enjoy watching people get their just desserts.

I felt a brief gratitude to Brown.

But Assistant Manager Park Minseong shook his head slightly.

“I didn’t come for work.”

Oh?

“…I came to see you, Roe Deer.”

……Me?

“Roe Deer. How on earth did things get to this point….”

[Oh, friend!]

“…!”

The host gestured from the stage.

Right. The commercial break will end soon. That means the show will continue!

“I’ll go up now. I’ll see you again next time. Oh! This one is going to be really fun… You can watch it comfortably.”

“That…”

I didn’t hear the answer and ran to the stage, bowing to the audience.

The lights were dazzling.

The talk show ended today with tremendous applause and cheers, as well.

[Thank you. Then we’ll see you again tomorrow at 11:33 PM, everyone!]

Brown skillfully ended the broadcast and, as always, took care of the staff and associates on the darkened stage.

I did, too.

I looked at the empty audience seats, then suddenly came to my senses and received praise.

[How was it, was it more fun than you thought, Soleum-ssi?]

“Yes. Hmm… It was better than I thought.”

[I’m very pleased. Good. I’ll talk to the writers about Soleum-ssi appearing once or twice a week in the future. ‘Brown’s Friend’!]

“Ah, yes.”

Perhaps because I was recognized, my stomach churned. I should accept it happily!

And the host asked casually,

[Ah. Was your conversation with your former colleagues enjoyable, my friend? I saw you talking to them in the audience.]

“…! Yes. It was good to see them after a long time.”

[I see. I’m curious what enjoyable conversation you had!]

“Oh, they asked if I had eaten.”

[Aha, our show always has dedicated catering services for the staff’s dietary needs….]

The TV screen blurred.

[…You haven’t touched your meals all this time, Roe Deer. You didn’t even apply for the private catering service. How could this be! I told you on the first day.]

Because it was annoying, somehow. I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck.

“It’s okay not to eat.”

[My goodness! To make me out to be a wicked business partner who doesn’t even take care of meals. No, it’s my fault. A new crew member might miss things while adapting, so I, Brown, should have paid more attention as a friend….]

Brown extended his hand.

[They say inspiration and ideas come from physical stamina. Let’s promise me you won’t do this again.]

Well. There wasn’t much difference, and I actually felt better…

“Hmm. I’ll try.”

[Oh, my friend has even learned bad industry habits!]

Brown chided playfully, but didn’t press me further.

It was break time now.

[Just in case you forget to rest, to create the best show, sufficient rest is also necessary, Soleum-ssi!]

“I know. See you in a bit, then.”

I parted ways with Brown for a moment.

And passing the staff, I went around backstage to my dressing room.

Click.

And opening the door, I stepped inside, rolled up my sleeve, and looked at my arm.

My tattoos, covered by makeup and invisible.

“…Hmm.”

It’s strange. It seems the tattoos, covered to be invisible, weren’t working.

‘Now that the live broadcast is over, I can remove the makeup.’

I rubbed off the makeup.

: Socius :

: Benefactor :

And I put my hand into the tattoo, which served as an inventory, and took something out.

‘This too, it’s been a while.’

In my hand was a Nostalgia Candy.

‘I said I’d eat it, after all.’

Hmm… Well, I’m not particularly hungry or lacking in energy, but.

I thought for a moment, then opened one candy and put it in my mouth.

Chomp.