Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel (End Part 1) - Chapter 126

Kim Soleum’s body ran down the long, dizzying, maze-like studio corridor.

Kuguguguung.

Through the narrow indoor space, shaking with a loud roar, Lee Jaheon once again sped through at an unbelievable pace.

A speed that even the original owner of the body, watching through the CCTV-like view, held their breath and clenched their fists, a daring movement.

And soon after…

“It’s the door.”

A double door with a “FILMING IN PROGRESS” sign was visible. Manager Lee Jaheon broke the lock without hesitation and entered.

Bang!

Beyond the forcefully opened door.

-…!

An astonishingly vast studio set appeared.

A space so huge it felt overwhelming just by its presence.

However, the main talk show stage is set in the center…

It already looked like it couldn’t function properly.

-…

The ceiling, which had flickered with lights, was already half-collapsed. The wreckage of damaged lights and steel frames, and dust, messed up the stage furniture and the floor.

And through those gaps, the holy fire bombardment continued to pour down relentlessly.

The audience was in chaos, murmuring. Unable to leave their seats, they found the entire situation amusing due to the contamination, but soon seemed about to scream for help.

Kim Soleum suppressed a groan.

-…The live broadcast seems to be completely ruined.

Traces of a ruined show variety were there…

And.

[Oh.]

On the half-destroyed stage, standing alone, the entertainer.

[So you came to me.]

The host.

It merely stood, leaning against a desk, illuminated by the meteoric holy fires falling through the ruins of the half-destroyed studio where the lights had gone out.

It seemed to already know who dared to destroy the set. Yet, it didn’t scream in rage.

It merely gazed calmly at Kim Soleum, who had burst into the set.

As if knowing that the one moving that body was not a friend, but a mercenary imbued by an emergency beacon.

-…

Kim Soleum swallowed, feeling as if their eyes had met with the host beyond the view.

“-Team Leader.”

“Yes.”

“-Something absurd is about to happen now…”

The host extended a hand.

As if still hosting a talk show, it continued.

[It is my pleasure to introduce. The culprit behind this incident!]

Pik.

One of the remaining, unbroken spotlights shone on Kim Soleum.

[The one who destroyed the talk show set and caused chaos during the live broadcast… Oh, surprisingly, it’s an audience member who attended the last show!]

[Please welcome them with applause. Oh, boos are also a fine choice!]

It instantly recognized the identity of Manager Lee Jaheon, who was controlling Kim Soleum’s body.

[Don’t you think such a heinous criminal deserves appropriate hardship, challenges, and… punishment!]

The stage grew darker and darker.

[Yes, in the Middle Ages, executions were festivals, they say. Of course, our talk show doesn’t do boring things like hangings!]

[Today, we’re introducing a surprise new segment! It’s…]

In the darkness, the silhouette of the host with both hands raised,

grew larger and larger.

Like a shadow cast behind a wall.

Ever, ever larger.

Thud.

The set walls that had surrounded them vanished into darkness.

On the stage, suspended in mid-air,

a gigantic spherical TV head descended.

Thud!

The spherical TV, now as large as the stage.

Its head crushed the central guest door and settled, as if replacing the studio’s background wall.

The host’s giant gloved hand propped up the TV’s lower edge as if resting its chin, and the other hand pointed precisely at Kim Soleum’s body as if firing a gun.

[Amazing stunts! Dizzying danger! Terribly entertaining and chillingly thrilling… Punishment Acrobatics!]

On the TV screen, a new sign, sparkling with dozens of enchanted light bulbs, glittered.

Brown’s

Exciting Punishment

Thump thump thump thump thump thump…

A drumroll sounded.

The gloved host’s finger joints tapped the set.

Drumbeats like just before a circus act.

“…Surely, it won’t try to kill me immediately.”

Lee Jaheon listened to the body owner’s advice and raised his head.

“-Because it’s still live broadcast.”

The black TV screen.

Poured forth.

[It starts now!]

Thud.

It swallowed Kim Soleum’s figure.

…

…

[Now…]

The spherical TV lifted its head again.

Now, Kim Soleum’s figure was trapped inside its screen.

The audience, excited and amused by this strange magic, applauded.

[Then, shall we see a trick?]

Lights flickered.

Subtitles appeared.

Punishment 1

Happy Ending Bear

Inside the TV, countless teddy bear-shaped monsters with bared teeth poured towards Kim Soleum, trying to peel off his skin.

Just as they had done to their former owner who had neglected them.

However, Kim Soleum’s body displayed surprising power, grabbing the teddy bears’ muzzles and making them bite each other, thus escaping the danger.

He ran.

The scenery inside the TV changed, and suddenly a background appeared.

City night. Alleyway.

Manhole in the ground.

Punishment 2

Manhole Arms

Trampling on bizarre arms that shot up from the manhole, and clinging acrobatically to a streetlight, Kim Soleum ascended.

Behind him, a long, gaunt arm narrowly brushed past.

These were the punishments, taking the form of guests Kim Soleum had chosen to invite so far.

Ruthlessly and comically, they tried to corner Kim Soleum, but…

[Oh dear.]

Kim Soleum narrowly broke through everything.

Even if his left arm fractured and his forehead cracked, he wasn’t caught and the punishment didn’t end.

But as the number increased, the punishments became increasingly violent and horrific.

Punishment 3, Punishment 4, Punishment 5…

Clank!

Kim Soleum escaped by sliding under the knife of a gourmet restaurant that cooked intelligent beings, losing only a part of his hair instead of his head…

And.

Punishment 6

Red Scarecrow

A vast cornfield.

Among the densely grown stalks and leaves, a grotesque figure with countless limbs entwined everything, chasing Kim Soleum like a centipede.

At this point, it became impossibly difficult to escape, but…

The one controlling Kim Soleum’s body was Employee D, a named field investigator from Records of Darkness Exploration.

He dodged acrobatically and counterattacked. A flashing vampiric knife.

Slash, he cut off three or four of the scarecrow’s arms. A gasp erupted from the audience.

But it was only a matter of time.

It was impossible to defeat the monster from the cornfield horror story in the cornfield through brute force, not just a gimmick.

There was clearly a limit to a body that was already injured…

‘…Is this a punishment designed for me to die here?’

Kim Soleum waited.

Waited and waited… The moment the scarecrow rushed in to pounce.

“-Now!”

Lee Jaheon, following Kim Soleum’s advice, turned at a right angle.

And began to run at a terrifying speed.

Towards the TV screen.

“Oh, oh!”

“It’s getting bigger!”

And.

[Oh!]

He succeeded in leaping out of the TV.

Kim Soleum’s body rolled on the floor, and Lee Jaheon landed it with a breakfall.

Waaaaaah!!!

Crazy!!

The audience erupted in cheers.

[Amazing! My goodness!]

The host seemed to have forgotten its anger by now.

With a bright voice, as if the only important thing was that a good show had been completed, a smiling emoji appeared on the TV screen.

[To have passed six punishments, what a nail-biting thrill! Ah, truly wonderful. Did everyone enjoy it?!]

Yes!!

Cheers and answers came from the audience.

And the host, from within the giant TV, responded in a gentle voice.

[Now, then…]

[Go back in and receive Punishment 7.]

The TV head drew closer again.

[The audience’s cheers were sweet, weren’t they? You must reciprocate that enthusiastic applause. Oh, with such a good reaction, we can’t end it. Keep going. Keep going…]

At that moment.

A faceless staff member, who had managed to retrieve a sketchbook from the collapsed debris, raised it from below the stage.

Emergency Alert.

[…Aha!]

The TV stopped.

[It’s commercial time.]

The audience’s disappointed shouts.

[Haha, I’m disappointed too, but this surprise segment must end here. Instead, a spectacular show ending awaits you all!]

[A short commercial before that will only heighten the anticipation!]

The smiling emoji inside the giant TV bowed its head.

[That’s right. When the cameras turn off, when the audience’s gaze vanishes, and when the stage lights go out…]

To Kim Soleum’s form.

[Who can guarantee what wonderful things will happen to the performer of a finished segment.]

“…”

[To be continued in a moment.]

Click.

The camera light disappeared.

The staff did not come up to clear the half-destroyed stage.

On the dark stage, where the murmuring of the audience was clearly audible.

The host raised a hand.

Gazing at the surprise segment performer, whose allotted time was up and whose usefulness was exhausted.

Towards the ruffian who dared to break the set and smash his friend.

And, the giant fingers slowly came together, making a sound…

“Brown.”

The hand stopped.

“Did you incinerate my ‘cotton-stuffed body’?”

…

[Aha, back to that. ]

[Are you perhaps here to ask for help? How shameless. But that’s also a virtue of broadcasting…]

“No.”

Lee Jaheon monotonously recited what Kim Soleum was saying.

“I had something I wanted to ask.”

The emoji disappeared from the TV head.

‘As expected.’

Kim Soleum was certain.

Brown couldn’t see into his true thoughts right now.

That’s because Lee Jaheon was the one front and center, talking to Brown.

Just because someone reads a script doesn’t mean you can read all the thoughts of the scriptwriter.

And the same went for himself.

‘I’m not there.’

He was indirectly seeing and hearing everything.

In true persuasion, situational factors usually have a significant influence.

But since information was filtered to him only through the screen and dialogue, Kim Soleum was able to resist the great host’s ‘persuasion’ without being helplessly swayed.

If so, a conversation in its true sense was possible.

A ‘conversation’ where, without knowing each other’s thoughts, they listened to what the other was trying to say, grasped its meaning, and tried to understand.

“First, will you listen? I think it might be a question you didn’t expect…”

[Ah. On stage, bluster sometimes has substance.]

[But that only works for those who are not entertainers.]

The owner of the talk show horror story gazed at him with its eyeless face.

[To this Brown! If you think the idea of appeasing the situation with a common script, dialogue, urban legend, or discourse that I’ve heard before will succeed, that is truly a regrettable misunderstanding…]

But.

“It’s not like that. It’s just a personal question.”

His voice was calm.

[‘Personal question’?]

“Yes.”

Kim Soleum’s mouth opened.

“Was it suffocating to be a good friend?”

[ ]

The TV screen stopped moving.

Yet, a smooth voice still came out.

[A being who feels suffocated by a given mask is not worthy of being on stage.]

[In that sense, this Brown has never felt that a mask was suffocating…]

“I see. I felt quite suffocated and scared when I was a plush doll just now. I wondered if you felt the same.”

[Oh, the formation of sympathy and empathy. How typical. You’ve made a hackneyed and old-fashioned judgment.]

[Now, eloquently ramble on about why I shouldn’t incinerate you and that knife-wielder whole.]

[Before the commercial break ends.]

“…”

Kim Soleum thought.

He was clearly standing here, gambling, filled with fear and the prediction that if he simply escaped, he would face a more terrible outcome in the near future.

But gambling also requires a possibility.

Kim Soleum himself didn’t bet on this position without any basis.

The possibility he grasped was this.

“Then, were you happy being a good friend?”