Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 18

Honestly speaking,

One month into the job.

Surprisingly, this infamous, rumored large corporation… is bearable…!

“Wow, crazy, I cleared it again in 30 minutes!”

“Aren’t they seriously performing better than Team C?”

To actually hear these lines, which sound like something an extra in a cheap YouTube web drama would say…

“Hey, enjoy it. It’s all your achievement.”

Lunchtime.

A supervisor confidently brought back both menu A and B from the company cafeteria.

For reference, they already handled one case this morning.

“Thanks to Roe Deer, I’m even managing crazy feats like clearing 12 new Dark missions a month.”

“No, it’s all thanks to your excellent leadership.”

“Leadership? You’re just riding the bus.”

“Yes, I’ll buy you beef today, Soleum senior.”

“Minseong… even so, that’s a bit much.”

“Aw, why? If we’re doing well, you’re still my senior, right?”

When a superior makes these kinds of jokes, it’s surprisingly hard to react without getting offended….

But instead of waiting for my reaction, the Team Leader, seemingly genuinely excited, shows me a screenshot of their monthly points accumulation.

“It’s already 5000p!”

Right.

[Team Leader Park Minseong / Accumulated Points: 5200p]

That’s how many points I earned in a month.

‘Speedrunning worked….’

My survival strategy has become this.

It was possible because most of my ratings were F or D.

‘High-grade ones don’t seem to appear often.’

Well, if they did, the world would’ve already ended, like in “That’s How the World Ended.”

Anyway, my superiors are more excited than me. It seems more fun when it’s someone else’s achievement.

“Probably the fastest record for a new hire in our company’s history?”

“Ooooh!”

Oh, come to think of it, I barely see my fellow new hires.

Since I’m always going back and forth to the 17th-floor research team office, I rarely see other field investigation teams.

‘Baek Saheon and I are basically ignoring each other.’

To maintain the crazy person persona I initially established, I sometimes make inappropriate jokes related to work.

– You’re going on a Dark mission today too? Wanna bet on how many civilians die?

– …….

A gambling researcher gave me that inspiration. Thank you.

Anyway, Baek Saheon doesn’t respond and just grits their teeth in silent contempt, so it seems the performance is solid.

‘Smooth sailing.’

I finished the last drop of galbi-tang (short rib soup) and put down my spoon.

I leave on time, and get a bonus.

‘The company cafeteria’s not bad either.’

The benefits are such that it would probably get a 3.5 or higher rating on sites like ‘Employment Korea’.

Except for the overwhelming stress of feeling like you’re spending every night in a haunted house….

‘Before, I would have never done this, even if I died, but now I do it to make a living… Hmm. A normal work life.’

Even the feeling of accomplishment from achieving results makes me mistakenly think it’s bearable.

“Roe Deer.”

Supervisor Eun Haje said softly and quietly.

“Upper management must have heard about it.”

“…Yes?”

“Your achievements.”

“…….”

“Once might be skill or luck, but ten times is different.”

The supervisor smirked with narrowed eyes.

“Someone higher up will definitely want to see you, so be sure to tell us. Tell the team leader too.”

Hmm.

At a normal company, I would have been worried about getting my achievements stolen, and would have secretly avoided mentioning it.

But here, it’s the words of a superior whose life I saved in this world of rumors.

I nodded obediently.

“Yes.”

“You know… even looking like this… no, just looking at him, our team leader is extraordinary.”

Our eyes turned towards Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who had quickly finished their meal and was leaving the cafeteria.

“If you get any strange proposals, you can ask me for help once.”

That lizard?

“…Yes.”

“Okay. I told you Roe Deer understands what I’m saying.”

I actually didn’t really understand, but I only nodded, and I need to keep that a secret.

That reminds me… upper management might hear about it.

I cleaned my food tray and stood up, thinking.

‘At this point, I can’t help but stand out.’

I’ve more or less accepted that.

So, if I’d seen a clown from a portrait crawling around on just its upper body, I would’ve fainted already….

But I have a trump card.

‘It’s hard to give a newbie a harder task than this, right?’

If it goes beyond this level, it’s no longer a simple task but a core business function.

Giving a core business function to a newbie who’s only been here for a month, and not even a seasoned employee?

That’s insane, even for a YouTube video. That’s also completely impossible by the unspoken rules within a large company.

 

I’ll just consider myself lucky that my workload developed into ‘manual-less ghost stories.’

If this becomes chronic, they’ll get used to it and think, ‘Oh, this person specializes in this,’ and it’ll probably be easier to overlook.

“Shall I return then?”

“Yes.”

I concluded and returned the tableware.

However, at this moment, I was so accustomed to my worldview and my life as a salaried worker that I had forgotten one thing.

An unchanging truth of social life.

Namely….

A square peg doesn’t fit in a round hole!

At the same time, the Research Team 1 office.

‘Escaping in under an hour again….’

A researcher chewed his teeth, looking at Team D’s record and wasting his salary.

‘About 5000p earned so far?’

At this rate in a month, he might really break the shortest time record within a few years and receive his wish….

“…….”

“Lucky you, huh?”

The researcher grumbled.

“Some people work seeing all sorts of terrible things in the lab and don’t even get hazard pay, making it hard to even save 500p a month.”

“…….”

“Some newbies earn 50,000 points in a month….”

“Alright, let’s stop.”

The researcher clamped his mouth shut.

His insides boiled over at the reality of not being able to complain in this situation.

Something was wrong.

‘Some people get lucky, draw good weapons and easily earn points.’

Some people don’t even have access to points or the right to access them, let alone dream of it.

‘Research is more elite than field exploration and should be better compensated. Is this right?’

It was truly unfair.

The researcher thought sincerely.

Conveniently forgetting that he had mocked the field exploration team members, calling them lab rats.

“Well, if the timing is right, sometimes dark explorations go smoothly like this.”

Supervisor Kwak Jegang smiled and casually said to the researcher.

“Even so, this is amazing.”

“…….”

Ignoring the researcher’s sour expression, Kwak Jegang flipped through the documents again.

“Ah, this darkness needs more than 10 people, right?”

“…….”

“Lee Jooim?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. It says 10 people need to be together to enter the darkness.”

“Hmm.”

 Kwak Jegang smiled and picked up a pen.

“Then it’ll be teamwork this time.”

– Teams A, D, and Y deployed.

“…….”

The researcher watched Kwak Jegang take out the field exploration team’s organizational chart and check those teams.

That’s when.

“Lee Jooim.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what the alphabetical order of the field exploration teams means?”

He didn’t. Someone who only focuses on their own work and maintaining their position wouldn’t be very knowledgeable about another department’s organizational structure.

 Kwak Jegang smiled and tapped the document. It was a strangely ambiguous smile.

“Simply put, it’s ranked by performance.”

“…!”

“You know, like in school. Honor class, regular class, remedial class.”

The researcher suddenly remembered.

“So… Team D is the honor class?”

“No.”

A firm denial came back.

“A to C. These are the elites.”

 Kwak Jegang tapped those teams with his pen.

“The rest are expendable.”

“…Ah.”

Just as his mood was about to improve slightly.

“But, well, since it’s just us…Team D has such a great performance, you know. There are rumors that if they keep this up, things will turn out well at the next assignment? Haha.”

“…!”

Like company gossip, extremely drastic rumors aren’t usually reliable.

Still, the researcher felt uneasy.

‘Is there some bad news?’

As if fulfilling that expectation, Supervisor Kwak Jegang’s mutterings were heard.

It was a pretense of being sorry.

“But it’s unfortunate they got paired up like this. With Team A… hmm.”

“…! Oh, wouldn’t it be bad if we went in with the elite team?”

“Isn’t that right? Why, even Supervisor Lee knows that.”

 Kwak Jegang touched his chin.

“There are some dark places where sacrifices are needed to open an escape route.”

Especially…

Even more so if it’s a darkness that requires a large number of people.

Kwak Jegang shrugged.

“There will be a lot of stories in this exploration record.”

A few days later.

As naturally as the past month, Team D went up to the 17th floor after receiving a call and saw an unexpected sight.

“Good day.”

“…?!”

There were visitors in Research Team 1’s office.

People wearing various masks.

‘Are they other members of the field exploration team?’

I quickly counted the number of people.

About seven people.

Among them was someone I knew.

– Can you save a dead person?

The new employee who asked that question about the wish-granting right at the welcome party.

The new employee wearing a cow mask silently bowed their head and stood leaning against the desk.

There was a slightly gloomy atmosphere.

It was long hair for a man, to the point that he might get side-eyes for his attire at the company.

Of course, no one here seemed to care about that.

“Ah.”

“This… hmm.”

As the Team D seniors reacted with a short response that was either admiration or a sigh while looking at the people filling the office space.

“Ooh, Team D has finally arrived. Welcome~ Now then, let’s get started with today’s briefing.”

Supervisor Kwak Jegang appeared and started leading the people to the adjoining meeting room.

While walking, I heard the deputy ask a question.

“Are we going in together with other teams?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“…….”

The deputy looked around before returning to my side and whispering quietly so that the others couldn’t hear.

“See those employees with the gold-marked masks?”

“Yes.”

“That’s Team A.”

I know.

‘That’s the elite team.’

At Daydream Corporation, the company ran on a system where someone had to clear a rumor in order for the raw materials to come out.

‘To avoid the plot hole that the company should be bankrupt, they need a field exploration team that performs inhumanely well…’

That’s why <Darkness Exploration Record> is particularly famous. I nodded slightly.

Team A consisted of three people wearing bizarre butterfly, mantis, and mallard masks.

At that moment, the person wearing the mallard mask from Team A acknowledged me.

A vigorous voice of an elderly woman.

“Ah, you’re Kim Soleum, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

I nodded reflexively, but broke out in a cold sweat.

‘That’ Kim Soleum, what kind of rumors are going around?

“Right, right. Let’s catch up sometime if we get the chance. You’re a bright young man.”

And she passed by and sat in her seat.

…That person must be the leader of Team A.

The deputy continued to explain.

“And… those wearing masks without the gold mark are Team Y.”

“…….”

Three people wearing masks without the gold mark, and the new employee with the cow mask whom I know.

It was a team with a somewhat gloomy aura.

“Team Y’s leader is not a supervisor but a regular employee, just ignore that for now.”

“Yes.”

I know that too.

The supervisor whispered to me.

“Um… Roe Deer. Today, just treat the people from other teams, especially Team Y, casually. Okay? I’ll tell you the reason later.”

“Yes.”

I nodded without a word.

Because I had a rough idea of what they would tell me later.

Suddenly, the supervisor sitting next to me was moved.

“Ha. I really… I like you so much because you’re like a perceptive version of the supervisor?”

“Me too.”

“…….”

Is that… praise?

“Now then, once everyone is seated, we’ll begin the briefing.”

Kwak Jegang stood in front of the meeting room board without even turning on the prompter.

“I was going to talk about the darkness we’ll be entering today… but!”

Supervisor Kwak Jegang chuckled.

“Actually, we don’t know either.”

“…??”

“What do you mean, Supervisor Kwak?”

“It means that there’s only one piece of information about civilian escape!”

“……Huh.”

Documents were distributed in silence.

I also looked at the page, which was almost like a note.

– Twelve university students who were in a club MT at Gangwon-do Hanmaeumgaduk Pension disappeared after playing a board game.

The board game, marketed as “Cheerful Theme Park! ~A Fun Fantasy Land Trip~,” is presumed to be developed by Cheerful Research Institute*.

A survivor explained that the board game was “already placed inside the pension.”

The pension owner denied this.

Result: Some personnel returned after 17 hours.

They testified that they “stayed at the theme park inside the board game.” They showed various symptoms including mental confusion, PTSD reactions, and mild neuroses.

– Survivors: 4, Missing: 1, Deceased: 7

The next chapter contained short statements from each survivor about the “theme park inside the board game.” The descriptions were extremely fragmented, possibly due to severe psychological trauma.

However, it was familiar enough.

I swallowed.

“It was about time this came up.”

It finally arrived.

Darkness! Requiring a large number of participants.

“It seems there are more than 10 people for the board game, huh? That’s why you gathered so many people.”

“Yes, yes, we tried to create the most similar environment possible.”

Kwak Jegang winked.

 

“But! Under these harsh conditions, our team members have figured out a reliable entry method, haven’t they?”

“You just brought a board game, didn’t you?”

“Haha! Don’t say that, Assistant Manager Jin. We even learned the rules.”

The employee from Team A wearing a butterfly mask didn’t reply, and Kwak Jegang, unconcerned, placed the board game on the table.

“Here it is.”

[Cheerful Theme Park!]

~A Fun Fantasy Land Trip~

:Team up with your colleagues to be the first to ride three fantasy attractions and win a prize!

The almost brand-new box showed a colorful image of a fantasy land on the front.

Opening the box revealed a thematic map of the park divided into sections and colorful coins.

“Now, let’s divide into teams and start the board game.”

He says to quickly enter the haunted story where more than half the people died, so cheerfully.

“Then can we just form teams however we like?”

“Ah, that’s… you draw a game piece from this gacha capsule, and you’ll be assigned to a team based on the color!”

Kwak Jegang, the supervisor, took out and showed a small capsule-like object from the side of the box.

“If you shake this, a piece will come out of the hole.”

“It’s random.”People sighed and shook the capsule, drawing one game piece each.

“Blue, yellow, red… I guess.”

Naturally, this tends to go in order of seniority, so my turn was almost last.

The one I drew was…

“Kim Sawon is red.”

It was, unfortunately, a red piece.

It wasn’t a good feeling, as it was an ominous color in the haunted story’s world.

‘Well, in this haunted story, the color isn’t very important.’

Because even if you draw the same color, different things happen.

I swallowed, tense.

Anyway, are we entering now?

“Now, if we spread out the game board, we enter!”

However, nothing happened even when Lee Jaheon, the supervisor, spread out the game board.

“…….”

Huh?

A thought flashed through my mind, and I checked the number of people.

Four yellow, four blue.

And those who drew red, like me…

The butterfly-masked ‘Assistant Manager Jin’ from Team A, and a familiar new employee from Team Y.

A total of three, including me.

“…….”

Ah.

‘Only the red team doesn’t have a match.’

“One person is missing.”

Lee Jaheon, with narrow pupils, looked at Kwak Jegang.

“It seems we can’t enter with 11 people. We need to fill all 12 spots and try again.”

“Oh, that?”

Kwak Jegang answered nonchalantly, then tossed the capsule containing the game pieces.

“Lee Jooim. Catch!”

To the gambling addiction researcher standing right next to him.

“Ah, ah…?!”

The researcher caught the capsule without realizing what was going on.

And then.

The remaining red piece came out.

“…!?”

“I… I got one!”

Wait a minute.

– Departing for Fantasy Land~

The board game board soared into the air and swallowed me whole.

“Aaack!”

“Hahahahaha!”

I heard the researcher’s scream in my ears.

And Kwak Jegang’s laughter.

“…….”

I recalled the back page of that man’s <Darkness Exploration Records> wiki.

———————

A psycho fascinated by haunted stories.

A mad scientist.

 

When exploring rumors with insufficient information, he’s the top contributor to enriching the exploration records with his insane habit of encouraging obviously deadly combinations and actions to extract unusual data.

Kwak Jegang’s disciplinary record

is available on the

#ExplorationRecord(Extra) page.

———————

…I had a feeling this day would come.

“What is this, what is going on?!”

I suspected it from the moment a large group, with Team A and Team Y together, arrived….

‘He deliberately lowered the survival rate.’

This isn’t aiming for a ghost story clear with maximum survival.

This is a setup to kill everyone except Team A.