Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 54

The promised three days.

The last day at ‘Horizon Mountain Lodge’ dawned.

“…….”

The civil servant got out of bed.

He wasn’t in a good mood.

Because he felt things had gone wrong at some point….

If even the job itself wasn’t very pleasant, anyone would feel that way.

But since his work wasn’t over yet, he put on his prepared work clothes, put on his equipment, picked up his tools, and went out of the room.

And he saw a very unpleasant sight.

“……huh.”

The first-floor living room was covered in blood.

As if someone were making an offering, a pentagram was drawn in blood, and dismembered body parts were placed at each point.

And on the only clean sofa, a woman lay unconscious.

The wife of the couple.

“…….”

The civil servant hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to proceed as planned.

Knowing the dangers of arbitrary judgment.

And….

“Ugh… w-what, what?!”

The woman, suddenly regaining consciousness on the sofa, screamed.

Before her stood a man of strong build, wearing a waterproof black raincoat, and in his hand he held a butcher knife that was at least 35cm long!!

The man with the butcher knife sighed.

‘Just my luck.’

She has regained consciousness now.

He was tired.

More than usual.

No, how could this situation go so far off-plan……!

The civil servant reflexively recalled the first day he spent at the lodge.

The first person he targeted was one of the couple.

They were an easy target because of their greed, and the Disaster Management Agency’s analysis was that if one of the couple died, it would create fear, making the subsequent work easier.

He intended to lure him to the kitchen, following the impulses whispering in his mind, to realize the foreshadowing in the picture frame…….

‘I’ll have to burn it in the hearth.’

But someone beat him to it.

‘…!?’

A body was already in the hearth.

In a rather avant-garde pose, at that.

…??

Only question marks floated in his head.

The Disaster Management Agency had clearly obtained and assigned the relevant cassette tape beforehand, using their accumulated know-how to select him for the role of serial killer.

But why was another killer suddenly appearing?

Even then, he thought that the irregularity of the supernatural disaster had broken out again.

Until he found the clothes of two college students who had been turned into ground meat in the backyard at lunchtime that day.

‘…….’

He had no choice but to carefully hang the large hammer he had prepared back in the closet….

By this point, he had to understand.

Some crazy bastard knew everything and was killing people first.

It was maddening.

Since today was the last day, he even went so far as to do a dismemberment murder, so he couldn’t help but have a headache.

What kind of insane situation was this?

But his job hadn’t changed. So, even in this maddening situation, he had to carry out the last task according to priority.

That was a Disaster Management Agency-like judgment.

“Hick…”

The brief flashback ended.

The civil servant saw his prey, unable to resist.

As he felt deep fatigue at what was about to happen and was about to wield his knife sharply.

“Agent 007.”

“…….”

He turned his head at the sound of the voice.

He saw someone leaning on the railing on the second floor, looking down at the living room.

The office worker.

The seller he bought from at the Salmon Market.

“You don’t have to kill her.”

Kim Soleum looked down.

The person in question comes to firmly believe that they are the inheritor of the inspiration and legacy of a legendary killer, experiencing mental and physical changes.

Indeed, the civil servant, from his black raincoat to his gleaming butcher knife, was dressed like a full-fledged killer.

Anyone could see he was the serial killer appointed by this disaster.

However, Kim Soleum knew.

‘Even if he looks like that, we can still communicate.’

– Are you sure, friend?

I’m sure.

‘Disaster Management Agency agents prepare countermeasures for disasters.’

Like the holster slightly visible through the raincoat near the civil servant’s chest.

———————

Darkness Exploration Record / Supernatural Disaster Management Agency

/ Items

Line Holder

A black holster-shaped equipment item.

When worn, it grants resistance to supernatural mental disorders of a level below solid.

Item usage condition: Supernatural Disaster Management Agency employees, rank 8 and above.

———————

That was a mental defense equipment.

Are the officials all fools? Would they send people into a ghost story where they could be brainwashed and reborn as murderers without any protection?

‘They would never send them in a completely sane fashion.’

The officials were already being deployed to dangerous ghost stories where death was a given.

‘If they meet even one evil pharmaceutical company employee using a likeable item like a smile sticker, it would be a big problem.’

That’s why.

Kim Soleum spoke to the impassive official.

“You really don’t need to kill anyone. All the foreshadowing has already been fulfilled.”

“…….”

“I did it all.”

Silence.

“Did you kill them?”

Um.

Certainly, this disaster won’t end unless a series of murders occur.

According to the <Darkness Exploration Records>, if artificial intervention prevents murders from happening, it ends messily with the inheritance part, with everyone killing each other and ending in a catastrophe.

‘So, they set the stage for the official to kill, right.’

Since it’s not okay if the official accidentally dies, they designate and manage someone to become a serial killer instead.

That was the rule.

Commit serial murders, or…

“No.”

“…!”

“I made them think I killed them.”

Or make them think it’s the same as serial murder!

“There were corpses, weren’t there?”

“That’s true, but…”

Kim Soleum, the company employee, touched the back of their neck.

“But I didn’t create those corpses.”

“…!”

“Do you know? This lodge has a basement.”

Kim Soleum recalled.

A part of the poem that was in the pure gold frame.

It didn’t only contain foreshadowing of the murder method.

There was other foreshadowing too.

The sound of hopping and laughing

Thump thump on the wooden floor beneath their feet

The table is abundant

A humming tune is heard

This paragraph was a hint.

Thump thump on the wooden floor beneath their feet

Meaning there’s an empty space under the floor, causing the sound to echo.

And…

‘This poem uses food as a metaphor for murder…’

The table is abundant

Something related to the serial killings is abundant.

As expected.

“There were preserved body parts and organs displayed in the basement.”

“…!”

There was a workshop.

“As you said, it seems serial killings happened in this lodge before… I almost fainted.”

Seriously.

Perhaps they were accessories from the serial killings that occurred in the previous rounds.

Anyway, after going to the basement at night, repeating ‘no ghosts will come out’ to themselves and bracing themselves, Kim Soleum’s feelings upon seeing that… um, I’ll skip over that.

Anyway, the important thing is that they created a new way to use those crazy props.

The official realized.

“…The corpses found so far.”

“Yes.”

Kim Soleum said awkwardly.

“Not many were in one piece, were they?”

Because they reused the body parts from the basement to make it look like they were killed recently!

That’s why Baek Saheon needed to be the first victim.

‘……Couldn’t have done it without assistance.’

Preservation or whatever, to knead dismembered corpses alone at night with bare hands and recreate the murder scene?

Just imagining it made me want to quit the world…

Anyway, Baek Saheon had a face that made them want to curse, but they succumbed to the ultimate choice of ‘this is how you survive, or do you want to die?’

Meaning they obediently became a good murder trick assistant.

They diligently fabricated the murder scene.

They put firewood on the kitchen stove and burned it, then put Baek Saheon’s sneakers on their feet.

The crushed bones and meat in the backyard were reused ingredients from the freezer in the back of the warehouse, and only the clothes were stripped and scattered appropriately.

The same goes for the current living room littered with body parts.

However, Kim Soleum did kidnap and abduct the victims all by themselves.

‘I needed Braun’s abilities for the abduction to be easy, so there was no other way.’

Anyway, Kim Soleum shrugged and finished speaking.

“I hid the people secretly and made it look like I killed them. Because I used real corpses, I didn’t receive any suspicion.”

“…….”

“I thought the murderer would be so surprised they’d stay still.”

But, however…

“But… someone did kill people, didn’t they?”

“…….”

“The allergy and the landslide, I mean.”

Both died before Kim Soleum could intervene.

The landslide could be attributed to being caught in this supernatural phenomenon, but the allergy wasn’t something that could happen by chance. Only someone like Sherlock Holmes could figure out someone’s fatal allergy just from observation, having met them less than a day ago.

‘Actually, I didn’t know until I talked to them.’

So it’s even more impossible that he would have brought peanuts, the allergen, to the cabin beforehand for the purpose of murder.

Then….

It means someone who knew the profiles of those who would enter here beforehand and prepared for the murders.

“Was the allergic shock caused by the agent?”

“…….”

The government official didn’t deny it.

And Kim Soleum….

‘Hmm, as expected.’

I wasn’t shocked at all!

Shouldn’t one express some condolences when innocent civilians die and are sacrificed?

Actually, they weren’t ‘innocent civilians.’

‘The government doesn’t pick victims at random like Russian roulette.’

The Supernatural Disaster Management Agency’s conscripted civilians are selected through the ‘Scale of Evil’.

The scale’s weight is measured by ‘unprovoked murder’, and those who weigh more are classified as conscription targets.

In other words, only those deemed to have committed acts more heinous than random killings, insane acts, are selected by the government and placed in this ordeal.

‘If this disaster must be run periodically, you gather those who deserve to die and put them in.’

A judgment made to uphold the minimum level of ethics. Typical of a formal organization.

‘This time too… are they all people who deserve to die by the government’s standards?’

And Kim Soleum’s guess was correct.

The couple were actually having an affair, and the original wife and young son of the married person committed suicide as a family due to shock and financial hardship.

University students who were charged with the murder of a classmate through group bullying but released due to insufficient evidence, and subsequently enrolled in the same university and joined the mountain climbing club.

A child gender offender who worked as a designated driver, and who hasn’t been caught yet.

Even without knowing these specific details, Kim Soleum, having roughly guessed, nodded inwardly.

‘Hmm. It must be a dream lineup.’

Clearly, the government intervened to ensure those tapes ended up there.

‘And they insert one government official to manage and supervise it all.’

The person answering Kim Soleum right now.

The government official spoke without hesitation.

“They are all criminals.”

“…….”

“Everyone in this cabin is an evil person whose crimes are so heinous that they would receive the death penalty in other countries, if the legal system functioned properly.”

Except for you, who doesn’t have the tape.

However, the official secretly wasn’t sure how much this would resonate. Especially considering his experiences with civilians he’d encountered during his duties.

He lifted his head, feeling deep fatigue.

However….

“Hmm… I see. I had a hunch.”

“…!”

Surprisingly, the office worker on the second floor nodded readily.

“Anyway, the other people besides those two are alive and well.”

Kim Soleum said casually, slightly embarrassed.

“Well, even for evildoers, there must be some mental burden on the person who kills them directly, so it doesn’t seem like a bad outcome…”

“…….”

The government official finally asked.

“Who are you?”

To worry about a murder, to prepare the murder scene in advance, and even to have someone rationally trust someone who looks suspicious at first glance? This wasn’t the mental fortitude of an ordinary person.

“Hmm.”

The man in front of him sighed deeply.

“I’m just… someone who gets unfortunately involved in situations like this.”

“Are you a Disaster Management Agency official?”

“No way. I’ve heard rumors, but… it’s amazing to see you in person… Oh,”

The office worker turned his head.

Creak.

The back door of the kitchen was opening.

Just like on the first day.

“It seems the lodge keeper is back.”

The ending scene of the disaster was approaching.