Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 6

“New goods?”

And if it’s an unlock of usage rights, it seemed I could use one of the goods I bought again.

“What’s the criteria?”

I wanted to click on the unrealistically floating notepad in mid-air, but I realized I was still sitting in the middle of the lecture hall.

Even worse, the host called me “chief” or something, so I’m getting a few sidelong glances.

“Let’s leave and check it out.”

The event seems to be over, so I’ll go home… Wait a minute.

I realized a very fatal fact.

“…….”

Do I even have a home here…?

I quickly opened my smartphone and started checking my records.

Like a lie, all the records of me getting a job and working have disappeared.

Even my family contacts are gone.

“Oh, please.”

The only thing I have left are my college records, which are similar to what I remember, so I was momentarily relieved.

The problem is… I lived in a dormitory during college.

“So, I had a hard time finding a place to live after graduation.”

Sure enough, the most recent record is a text message making an appointment to see a room at a real estate agency and a KakaoTalk with a friend saying their one-room contract fell through and they’re staying at a motel…

“…….”

I unconsciously looked up and checked the lecture hall screen, which was still on.

To be precise, only one word at the bottom was displayed large.

Welfare… I should take good care of it, right?

And this “company housing support” was processed surprisingly quickly.

“Oh, hello!”

“Hello.”

Within an hour of inquiring at the desk, I received a room number, key, and address, and moved, and the location was even good.

Of course, it’s not out of good intentions to consider the convenience of the employees.

‘To work me day and night on 24-hour call, they need a live-in servant nearby…’

Anyway, the building was a pretty nice officetel. It was clean and secure, as if it had been recently remodeled.

Considering that ‘company housing support’ is a welfare benefit that usually comes with work in a local area, it was unbelievably good welfare…

‘The company just made us go through a death survival game, and yet, I’m moving in.’

But this sarcasm comes true.

When I greeted Go Youngeun in front of the officetel, she said this to me.

“Did you hear? Seven people received company housing support.”

“….?”

It’s more than half, isn’t it?

Come to think of it, Go Youngeun seems to be moving in here too.

She seemed to notice my gaze and made an awkward expression.

“It’s a bit scary, but since I’ve already joined the company, it’s a bit much to refuse free housing in a well-located officetel…”

“….Yes.”

 

Right. In capitalism, money is the scariest thing.

‘I’m saving about 1.2 million won a month, so it’s worth moving in like crazy.’

Of course, there was a more fatal reason.

“It seems that those who came up from the provinces received instructions and registered as soon as they passed.”

“I see.”

Now I understand the situation. The new hires who cheered and said okay couldn’t pull the rug out from under them. This is it.

I wondered how they got me a room so quickly, and now I understand.

‘The room I got was from a new employee who just failed the death survival game…’

Thinking that way, I’m just embarrassed by how creepy it is.

Anyway, I said goodbye to Go Youngeun and went up to the 12th floor where my room is.

That was fine.

The problem is that the officetel is a two-room apartment.

And my company housing roommate is Baek Saheon.

“…….”

“…….”

Baek Saheon was sitting in the living room.

Seeing that he had a medical eye patch on one eye, it seems he received some kind of treatment. Judging by the time, it seems that he received some kind of treatment from the company, not the hospital.

Without speaking, I bowed slightly and tried to go to my room…

“Hey.”

What?

“Hey?”

I stopped in my tracks.

Baek Saheon flinched when I answered, but his anger seemed greater, and he glared fiercely and said,

“You must have had a lot of fun watching me get my eye gouged out while you knew about my lost item, right?”

It seems he thought that I knew about the lost item and let him get his eye gouged out.

‘No, he ran away on his own, what…’

He came up with the novel idea that he could poke someone else’s eye out with his fist, yet expect someone else to take care of his own eye. Where did he even get that idea?

However, at the same time, I knew. If I approached him in a subservient manner, saying things like, “It’s not like that, you suddenly left…” or “Why are you suddenly talking informally to me, sir…”, he would only become more arrogant and spew nonsense.

Years of experience dealing with clients had taught me how to identify difficult people. There’s a term for types like Baek Saheon. They’re called “Creation-Type Difficult People.” They arbitrarily imagine situations and stubbornly insist on their version of events. Reasoning doesn’t work with these people. Rather…

“Oh, it was fun.”

“…!”

A strong approach was the answer.

I approached Baek Saheon without hesitation and firmly pressed down on his shoulder.

“Thanks. I had fun thanks to you. Is this what they call dopamine?”

“Wh…what…”

“Give me more good news in the future. No, I’d like to work with you.”

“…….”

“Company life will be fun.”

That’s it.

‘At this point, he’ll just think I’m crazy.’

Considering my past behavior and the exploits detailed in <Darkness Exploration Records>…

‘If Baek Saheon finds out I’m a coward, he’ll probably push me into a desperate situation.’

Then it’s better to give him the impression that, ‘Ah, I shouldn’t get involved with this guy!’

‘I’ll bluff as well, kill two birds with one stone.’

I patted Baek Saheon’s shoulder a couple of times, stood up, and went to my room without looking back.

‘As long as it’s not as bad as being stabbed in my sleep.’

Actually, I just committed a bit of fraud.

During this period, the probability of working with colleagues is extremely low.

Which company would group new employees together to form a team? They always split them up.

Moreover, it’s like a ninja manga – a balanced allocation based on performance.

And in any case, I was called first, and Baek Saheon was called second.

‘He must have also been judged to have good performance, so it’s even less likely that we’ll be on the same team.’

So we won’t be working together for a while.

Let’s just treat each other as if we don’t exist.

Tap.

With a relieved heart, I entered my assigned room.

“Whew.”

The clean room had newly replaced bedding, a desk, and even a door leading to a private bathroom. There was even a guidebook on the door.

“They offer bedding replacement and cleaning services weekly for 100,000 won a month?”

The company is insane, with benefits that are way beyond expectation. I can sense their plan to bewilder new employees with such lavish rewards.

The clean and friendly reality will confuse many new employees, as if the previous death-survival competition was a lie.

Knowing the company’s intentions, it’s all too obvious…

‘Right. It’s hard to fill the Field Exploration Team with usable personnel.’

They want to make sure that none of the new employees who have been judged as capable of ‘work’ desert.

‘Well, might as well make good use of it.’

I’ve decided to stay, after all.

On the desk was a small welcome gift package. Expensive snacks and office supplies with the company logo.

Furthermore, inside a half-opened drawer was a diary.

Judging by the company logo on the cover, it seems to be a company-provided item.

‘But it was made last year.’

Did the previous resident leave it behind? I flipped through the diary.

The first page had huge letters…

– Run Away

‘Oh, dear.’

Thank you for the senior’s insightful advice, but I’m already doomed.

I wasn’t even that scared.

‘It’s just… isn’t this just the cruel reality of being a corporate employee?’

My sense of humanity surged. I closed the diary and carefully placed it back in the drawer.

It seems I’ve seen everything I need to, so it’s time to get to work.

[Darkness Exploration Records Real Goods Box]

– New goods usage rights unlocked! (!)

Since I’m alone, I can check it out!

‘Whew.’

With a trembling heart, I sat on the bed, comfortably reaching for the notepad.

Thump.

Just like when I dropped the grip holder, the notepad opened, and something fell out.

OPP transparent film packaging.

Inside the bag commonly used for packaging fancy goods was a bunch of stickers.

“This is…”

I lifted the plastic bag.

A sticker with a yellow circle and a typical smiley emoticon.

A so-called bribe item.

———————

Darkness Exploration Records / Daydream Corporation

/ Item

Smile Sticker

A friend to sales staff! 🙂

When attached to an intelligent being, it makes them feel a slight sense of friendliness towards the user.

Item Usage Condition: Daydream Corporation regular employee or higher rank.

(ps. Disciplinary action will be taken if used for inappropriate personal purposes such as hunting.)

———————

“Huh.”

This poorly packaged sticker with shoddy finishing was, surprisingly, an iconic item used in several <Darkness Exploration Records>.

Evokes friendliness? It’s practically manipulation of favorability.

‘Was it when I was persuading people from other organizations to collaborate?’

And I understand why this was unlocked.

Item Usage Condition: Daydream Corporation regular employee or higher rank.

“Is it because I successfully joined as a regular employee?”

In <Darkness Exploration Records>, items created by organizations or specific groups were mostly restricted to use by certain ranks or affiliations.

In terms of world-building plausibility, it’s to prevent indiscriminate theft.

‘And from the perspective of people creating urban legends, it was to prevent novice users from interfering with all sorts of urban legends and causing a nuisance by using all sorts of tools in a “Mary Sue” style.’

Anyway, the fact that I now meet that condition…

‘Does this <Goods Box> dispense goods one by one when I get promoted or change affiliations?’

It definitely seemed like it would help with survival.

But it would have been much better if I hadn’t been drawn into this world in the first place. Thinking about it, this itself is like an urban legend.

‘Ugh.’

Feeling uneasy, I looked up at the glowing notepad a few times before finally shifting my thoughts.

“At least I got something.”

Smile Sticker. Having to stick it directly on the other person is a bit burdensome, but the fact that it can gain favorability in an emergency is definitely an advantage.

However, there’s a problem.

‘…this clearly appeared a few times before being completely discontinued.’

The creators fought tooth and nail over the sticker’s power, staging a verbal Colosseum, resulting in the item itself disappearing into the annals of history…

I don’t know the exact point in time, but maybe the one in my hand might be the only remaining sticker set in this world.

I looked down at the newly packaged Smile Sticker.

Hmm.

I absolutely must not be found out.

Still, just in case, I put five aside in the front pocket of my suit.

This way, I won’t forget to bring them on my first day.

‘…first day.’

My mood was becoming restless, but I needed to sleep first.

After experiencing such a spectacular and unbelievable event, my body and mind were completely exhausted.

‘I need to recover.’

I changed into the provided gown, locked the door, and went to bed.

It was my first rest since falling into the urban legend.

Honestly, I didn’t sleep well.

The sight of people exploding and the bizarrely altered subway station replayed in my mind like surround sound, fueled by my imagination.

I thought I had bought a home theater speaker system or something.

But thankfully, after a day or two, I recovered to the point where I could sleep even while suffering from nightmares.

Several days passed like that.

I checked my bank account, the meager amount of savings, and somehow managed to divide it to buy clothes and necessities, preparing for daily life.

Of course, I didn’t forget the most important thing.

‘I need to memorize it all.’

Using the ‘Memorial grip holder’, I continued reading all the <Darkness Exploration Records> wiki pages, memorizing them to the point where they’d pop into my head at the slightest trigger.

It’s my lifeline.

And Monday came.

My first day at <Daydream Corporation>.

“…….”

Monday morning.

I headed to the <Daydream Corporation> headquarters building with a face that didn’t look very pleasant.

It was so bad that even Go Youngeun, whom I met on my way down from the officetel, was surprised.

“Oh, Soleum, are you okay? Did you… not sleep well?”

“…A little, yes. I’m fine.”

“Oh dear…”

Two new employees walked to the headquarters building, a 15-minute walk away, exchanging brief small talk. They encountered several other new employees from the field research team, all looking tense, but only exchanged nods. They then scanned their employee cards and boarded the elevator.

“I heard the field research team uses floors 10 to 15… Ah, I’ll get off here. Soleum, fighting!”

“Yes, fighting.”

I saw Go Youngeun off at the 10th floor, then looked at the floor number I had pressed on the elevator.

13th floor.

‘Even the number seems to foreshadow the future…’

I just hope it’s my imagination.

I checked the assignment text message I received the day before yesterday again.

[New Employee (Field Research)_Assignment.pdf]

– Kim Soleum / D Team

Ding.

As the elevator doors opened on the 13th floor, a hallway divided into sections marked with letters appeared. I found the automatic door printed with ‘D’ and pressed the button. At the same time, I greeted them.

“Good morning.”

“Oh!”

“You’ve arrived, you’ve arrived.”

Several adults sitting in a rather spacious office looked up and greeted me. One man stood up and offered his hand.

“Welcome to the 15th generation D team.”

A woman with short hair and an impassive expression standing behind him nodded and added,

“Just so you know, there’s a nickname for D team: where new employees get wiped out.”

“…….”

“Just kidding.”

Should I quit now?