Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel (End Part 1) - Chapter 202

An unknown underground location.

A dark, iron section, like a shelter in a tunnel.

“……”

“Ah, Agent-nim. This way.”

The Hyunmu Team 1 agent followed the guide.

There were no employees working as wardens in the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau’s glass prison.

An unknown supernatural force, without sound or form, served as the warden, and one dedicated person took turns checking the ‘warden’s’ status.

The person in charge cautiously asked.

“…Are you here to interrogate Agent Roe Deer, no, 37-999?”

“……”

“I see. This way.”

The agent followed the careful guidance of the person in charge, opened the iron door to avoid the ‘warden,’ and stepped inside. It was…

A crystal cave.

“…!”

Countless quartz crystals diffusely reflected light, making all sorts of shadows and shapes shimmer in the cave.

Yet, strangely, no light source, the origin of the light reflection, was visible.

A banquet of light and shadow with no beginning.

Click.

“The cell is here.”

The person in charge willingly opened a rusty door located in a corner.

However, there was no human figure there.

Instead…

Countless glass beads were piled up against the walls, forming a structure that diffused light.

“……”

The agent looked at it with dark eyes.

Layer upon layer of glass beads densely filled the space, forming a conical shape. It almost felt like a decorative object.

However, within each single glass bead, moving things could be seen.

Ahhh…

Let me out, let me out, please!

He betrayed me.

Am I going to die here?

Isolated prisoners.

The one standing before them became like a giant, able to observe each individual inside those glass beads. A strange structure that felt somewhat like a panopticon.

That was the true identity of the glass prison.

A secret room made of a single bead.

In this crystal cave, whose exact location is unknown to outsiders and whose mode of existence is also unknown, one cannot leave unless the gatekeeper directly moves the glass outside.

Even if one were to succeed in breaking their glass and escaping, it was not a true escape.

It was merely inside another glass bead.

A circular structure. A never-ending sequence of glass rooms.

“This is the bead at the very top. I heard you made a special request. You requested that it be a little more comfortable… since you’re a former agent, after all.”

The agent’s eyes stopped.

Exactly… 37th floor. The very top of the glass beads.

The single bead.

With that identification tag.

37-999

“……”

A black shadow could be seen inside the glass bead, but the figure, as if lying on the floor, did not move.

“My apologies for rambling. This is 37-999’s previous interrogation record.”

The agent managed to take the documents offered by the person in charge and began to read them.

Detainee Number: 37-999

Detainee: Kim ■■ (Agent Name: Roe Deer)

Affiliation: Field Rescue Team, Hyunmu Team 1 (On Hold)

Originally transferred for a simple physical and mental check-up, which was supposed to take 24 hours, but delayed return due to peculiar circumstances revealed during the first day’s interview.

Formal detention under discussion.

The agent’s hand briefly clenched on the last line, but then he turned the page.

Rustle.

Day 1.

The detainee was transferred to the glass prison as part of a procedure to examine an agent who had been under a special restriction.

The restriction was confirmed to have been lifted (Executor: Daecheongbong General Tiger), and a light interview and physical examination were conducted.

※ An anomaly was discovered during the interview process.

The detainee voluntarily refused to disclose any information regarding the identity, timing, or form of the supernatural entity that imposed the restriction.

Check-up procedure halted. Switched to interrogation.

Of course, the initial interrogation wasn’t very intense.

Why was he refusing to testify, where did it hurt, when approximately did it start, what kind of restriction was it?

They approached him slowly, believing the shocking incident had caused the agent to exhibit a trauma response.

However, the response to all questions was the same.

The detainee entirely refused to answer all questions.

That’s when the personnel began to realize the seriousness of the situation.

Suspected of trying to evade testimony, knowing the interrogation effects of the glass prison in advance.

And so, on the evening of Day 2, the true interrogation of the glass prison began.

Interrogation Intensity: 3

A professional interrogator was assigned.

Persistent and detailed questions, trap questions, implications hidden in casual inquiries, questions structured so that even silence was an answer…

The intensity gradually increased.

After three days, the glass prison eventually forced the detainee, who had persistently avoided all questions, to succumb to the situation.

Interrogation Intensity: 7

The detainee’s body was restrained. His head and eyes were fixed so he couldn’t avoid eye contact, and the premise that silence implied affirmation was confirmed.

A gag was used during questions to prevent attempts to avoid listening to questions with meaningless exclamations.

Thereafter, it became possible to determine ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from the detainee.

Fortunately, interrogation methods that altered the living environment of the prison to apply pressure were not used.

This decision was made considering the detainee’s health, but it was not very effective.

Day 5.

Detainee Status: Poor.

Politely refused suggestions for sleep and meals.

Requested to be released from prison, stating that the goblin fire given to him was ‘pitiful.’

Denied due to concerns about the detainee’s escape attempts and unexpected incidents.

However, several items preferred by goblin were brought into the cell for emotional stability.

The detainee expressed gratitude.

Peculiar Note: Personal opinion of the interrogator.

– At this level, it seems there’s another restriction. I recommend transferring him to a specialized examination institution for another exorcism or ritual, not here.

However, when asked if there was another restriction, surprisingly, a direct ‘no’ answer came from him.

And that was judged as truth by the glass prison.

– It might be an implicit suggestion making him think he is not under a restriction.

Despite the interrogator’s personal opinion, the transfer was put on hold for now.

Turn the page.

The date changed again, and the detainee’s condition worsened again.

Day 6.

Detainee Status: Poor.

Special meal provided due to concerns for the detainee’s health. (The special meal (mung bean samgyetang) was left untouched until the next day.)

No interview responses.

The introduction of the Nightmare Labyrinth for more intense interrogation was proposed but rejected due to strong opposition from field agents.

“……”

“This is the record up to yesterday.”

And from the next page onward, it was not a record but a deduction.

Speculation about the detainee’s identity.

Information marked ‘Absolute Prohibition of External Disclosure,’ currently accessible only to the person in charge and the interrogator.

Circumstances suspected of being a spy confirmed.

The agent clenched his hand.

The detainee consistently tried to maintain silence for all interrogations, but based on several truths confirmed in extreme situations, it was possible to deduce the ‘questions he most wanted to avoid.’

They are as follows:

Source of information.

Purpose of working at the Disaster Management Bureau.

The one who imposed the restriction.

Unexplained period of absence before employment.

Various traces of contamination.

Thus, a conclusion was reached.

But the sentence did not end there.

However, considering that the detainee has no moral disqualifications, has diligently performed all assigned supernatural disaster response tasks, and has confirmed ethical tendencies, this is suspected to be an act compelled by coercive means such as threats or spells.

Since information that can be confirmed with single-word answers is limited, methods to elicit more cooperative behavior from the detainee will be introduced.

The agent turned the page.

It was the last page.

A document attached as a temporary appendix was visible.

The reason he was here.

Peculiar Note: The Hyunmu Team 1 agent who transferred this detainee to prison strongly applied for the interrogator role over the past few days but was denied due to regulation violation.

Another agent within Hyunmu Team 1 who was dispatched to the same site at the time was confirmed to have applied for interrogator.

Permission pending.

“……”

“Preparations are complete, Agent-nim.”

Ryu Jaekwan lowered the record from his hand.

And for the interrogation, he approached the glass bead.

I blinked my eyes.

A transparent ceiling was visible.

In the narrow, hemispherical space surrounding him, a bed, a desk, a chair, and a few books and food were arranged according to regulations.

Beyond that, it seemed shrouded in fog, but he could tell that the material forming the wall was transparent.

‘…So this is what it was like.’

The glass prison.

Long ago, a goblin won a magnificent tile-roofed house by defeating Mr. Kim in a game of yutnori.

However, Mr. Kim, not wanting to lose his house, devised a trick. He accused the goblin of cheating in the game with strange magic and chased him away.

The goblin was angry.

So, he created a space where no one could play tricks, inside a glass bead the size of a thumb, and invited Mr. Kim into it. And they played yutnori again.

The goblin won.

He won again and again.

Until he took everything from Mr. Kim.

His house, his assets, his family, his appearance, his status, his lifespan, his name.

Finally, the goblin, who had taken the tile-roofed house and become Mr. Kim, discarded the cave where he used to live and the glass bead as a consolatory gift to his defeated yutnori opponent, who had lost everything.

The defeated Mr. Kim, no, the one who was nothing, remained in the cave.

The one who was nothing still guards the glass beads in the crystal cave where the goblin used to live, even today.

To prevent anyone from playing ‘tricks.’

The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau built the glass prison system using this.

These mysterious glass beads that block all supernatural phenomena, and the gatekeeper who guards them.

‘I heard they mixed in some supernatural phenomenon related to the underworld and judgment too.’

What did it matter?

It wasn’t important.

What was important was that only a clean and accurate reality could exist in this place where I was currently confined.

Within this, supernatural beings could only exist, and all realistically impossible actions would not occur.

Just like… reality outside the wiki.

Here, all items were useless, and tattoos were just tattoos.

‘Even during the body search, only things like the glass hand-pouch in my possession were taken.’

The inventory tattoo wasn’t activated, so there was nothing to search for.

However, in the same sense, it could also be seen as an infinitely reassuring place.

‘Because there’s no sudden risk of falling into a horror story.’

Physically, it was definitely supposed to be a ‘safe’ place to rest, as Agent Choi said. In fact, I heard there were even people who voluntarily confined themselves here to avoid curses or malevolent spirits.

However…

“……”

I couldn’t sleep.

Tension and resignation pulsed throughout my entire body.

Just like the past few days of interrogation.

The interrogation in the glass prison was gradually increasing in intensity. I was desperately trying to avoid answering, but quite a bit of information had already been extracted.

‘They must suspect something.’

That I’m suspicious.

That I might even be a spy.

‘If so, they might introduce more powerful methods now.’

The Disaster Management Bureau is an agency that can be incredibly ruthless to selected villains.

Recalling some of the interrogation methods I already knew, cold sweat ran down my temples.

‘Damn it.’

Perhaps Agent Choi had expected me to confess everything from the start once the restriction was lifted…

He might have hoped I would resign myself since I couldn’t return to Director Ho anyway.

The problem was that my secrets didn’t end there.

Among the things I knew, there were too many that couldn’t simply be explained as being a spy.

Secrets about how much I might reveal, and what my treatment would be like afterward if I did.

My original world, the dream cultivation room, various contaminations, and… even the Dark Exploration Records.

‘If I was going to tell, I should have just confessed everything at the beginning and let it be settled as a spy.’

But in that case, what about Young-eun and Heo-un, who came in with me?

And what about my wish?

‘At the time, this was the right choice.’

…However, I also knew.

This too would soon reach its limit.

“……”

Fatigue washed over me, but I had to pull myself together.

The time would soon come. The blood-curdling interrogation time, where traps and bait would swarm.

I swallowed hard, calming my anxiety as much as possible, and calmly separated the things that absolutely must not be revealed in my mind.

And then…

Rumble.

The sound of glass clinking.

Over there, beyond the glass wall, a figure approached.

The interrogator appeared, separated by the wall.

However, it wasn’t the person in charge I had seen yesterday.

“…Detainee 37-999.”

“…!!”

Agent Cheongdong.

Ryu Jaekwan stood beyond the glass with dark eyes.

Wait a minute.

‘Agent Cheongdong… is today’s interrogator?’

The interrogation method had changed.

I tensed, assessing the situation.

Agent Cheongdong spoke slowly, without avoiding eye contact.

“…I will inform you before the interrogation. You have the freedom to state falsehoods, but all falsehoods will be transparently revealed.”

I know.

If one gives false testimony in the glass prison, the true answer to that testimony is projected onto the glass.

Only silence will protect you.

– Detainee from Baegilmong.

That’s why I couldn’t say anything.

Because lying in this place was no different from telling the truth.

But my silence must have been suspicious too. They must have suspected that I already knew the mechanism of this prison. It was obvious.

‘And that too… is the truth.’

I would have suspected myself.

I gritted my teeth, looking at Agent Cheongdong.

‘So, the interrogation direction has been decided to involve acquaintances.’

It was a lenient measure, but its effectiveness could not be denied.

“The interrogation will begin.”

I swallowed a groan.

And…

A completely unexpected question came out.

“Where is your home?”