Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 75

A government official and I pressed our backs against the wall, facing down the hallway.  The end of that hallway, where we escaped from, was the classroom of 1-5.  Finally, I saw it then.

 

Flicker.

 

A mannequin-like figure appeared at the far end of the hallway.

 

‘…Three?’

 

One more had appeared. Two male students, one female.  The two who came from the classroom were covered in blood, laughing as they stared at us. The other one, still in a clean uniform, stood silently.

 

If the lights were on, they’d look like bizarre, realistic wax figures, or people preserved in a photograph.  But whenever the lights went out…

 

Flicker.

 

They appeared closer.  Again and again. Even when we moved further back.

 

Flicker.

 

Only as far as the emergency flashlight beam could reach.  They reappeared closer, frozen in place under the light. They didn’t move away.

 

Flicker.

 

“…”

 

Once the flashlight batteries died, I imagined this standoff would end.

 

‘Ha.’

 

Even as I carefully and slowly moved my feet, that thought gripped me.  Finally, we stopped at the end of the hallway, a dead end.  And then.

 

[Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong]

 

“…”

 

[A fatal accident has occurred in class 3-2.]

 

Shit.

 

[The deceased student is Park Chaeah of grade 3.]

 

[Let us observe a moment of silence for 5 seconds.]

 

“Prepare yourselves.”

 

I gripped the flashlight tightly, pressing myself against the wall behind me.

 

[5]

 

I quickly shook the flashlight, illuminating all three.  Each time the light swept over them and returned, they got closer.

 

[4]

 

The official and I simultaneously shone our lights on two figures. …Where’s the other one?

 

[3]

 

The other one… where did it go?  I couldn’t find it, no matter how much I swung the flashlight from side to side, even checking the corners.

 

[2]

 

My anxiety accelerated the passage of time.  Where, where exactly, where…

 

Ah.

 

Whizz.

 

I lowered the flashlight.

 

[1]

 

The light brightly illuminated my feet… and a blood-stained white hand, just about to grab my ankle. A hand in a school uniform.

 

“…”

 

A student from Sekwang Industrial High School, lying on the floor, looked up at me and smiled wickedly.

 

[The moment of silence is over. May the deceased rest in peace.]

 

“…”

 

Slowly, I pulled my foot away.

 

‘Ha.’

 

Crazy, crazy!! If my reflexes had been even a fraction of a second slower, I’d be dead.

 

‘I’ve never played a VR horror game in my life…!’

 

I never thought I’d experience this in reality.  To avoid blinking both eyes simultaneously, I very slowly alternated my gaze, backing away. My limbs were trembling.  Staring intently at the remaining two figures, the official said,

 

“Once we leave this floor, the students of that grade usually don’t actively pursue us.”

 

I know.  If there’s still prey on that floor, there’s a high probability they’ll go there…

 

“Let’s go up the stairs.”

 

“…We’re not going up from the first floor?”

 

“Yes. This mission is to reach the 5th floor, and ideally, enter the auditorium.”

 

The first thing that came to mind was the school announcement I heard earlier.

 

– Students of Sekwang Industrial High School! Graduation ceremonies will begin shortly. Please gather in the auditorium.

 

“…What’s in the auditorium?”

 

“We have no information yet. That’s why we need to investigate.”

 

Of course.

 

‘The exploration records accumulated up to this point are still in the early to mid-stages according to the <Darkness Exploration Record>.’

 

In a school that was a nightmare, there’s no way many people would have blindly gone to where they were told to gather. Those who tried to go up probably got caught by the students and died. The higher we go, the more aggressively, unpredictably, and intelligently the students will hunt us…

 

And the bigger problem is,

 

Never come to the 5th floor!! Die below instead, never come up-

– 12th Exploration Record, final recording

…This happens when you avoid all that and reach the 5th floor.

 

‘Ha, I really don’t want to go…’

 

But the most heartbreaking part is that I have to go anyway.

 

Should I at least take comfort in the fact that I have a companion?

 

But we can’t just go straight there, so let’s slightly adjust our plan for thorough preparation.

 

“If it’s alright with you, could we stop briefly on the 3rd and 4th floors to check things out?”

 

“Why?”

 

“It feels like a horror game structure.”

 

“…!”

 

“In games, obtaining essential items is necessary for progression.”

 

I slowly climbed back up the stairs as I spoke.

 

I’m not sure, but if I were you, I’d search special classrooms first… like the music room, science lab, or faculty office.  I’d also check the yearbook and student records.

 

……

 

I think there might be clues or keys among the small items and objects.

 

They continued up the stairs.

 

As they distanced themselves from the ‘students’ who had surrounded them, the area illuminated by their single flashlight expanded.

 

It was then that the civil servant spoke.

 

“Our analysis team came to a similar conclusion… that it’s like a game-based urban legend.”

 

Oh.

 

“The fictional high school name and the structure of running away from monsters are very similar, they said.”

 

“Ah, I thought similarly.”

 

“But this suggestion is new.  An investigation focused on objects, not monsters or people…”

 

The civil servant’s eyes seemed to sparkle.  Since it was their high school appearance, the lack of dark circles didn’t make them look strange.

 

“Good. Let’s examine the rooms as much as possible.  We’ll also inform the other agents as soon as they arrive…”

 

More agents… I’d rather not.

 

But the civil servant, seemingly excited, continued.

 

“Now that you’re a temporary agent, it’s better to call each other by codenames.  Do you have a preferred codename?”

 

Good heavens.

 

“Ah, we usually use historical terms. We need uncommon words for better distinction.”

 

‘They’re even giving us codenames?’

 

It seems they’re fulfilling every single trope imaginable.

 

……Ah. If I were creating a Disaster Management Agency named agent in <Dark Exploration Records>, I had a codename I wanted to use.

 

Yes.

 

But I have enough self-respect to not mention it now….

 

“…Grape.”

 

“A fruit.  Clean and good.”

 

I briefly imagined what Brown would comment.

 

‘I miss him a little.’

 

I shook off the emptiness left by my ‘good friend’ and continued the conversation.

 

“What should I call you, Agent?”

 

“My codename is Bronze.”

 

“Yes, Agent Bronze.”

 

The agent, codename Bronze, nodded quite pleased with a faint smile.

 

As if looking at an intern.

 

‘I seem to be getting a lot of new members welcoming lately… Is it just me…?’

 

Anyway, we persistently checked for pursuing students by crouching low until we completely left the stairs.

 

Of course, one person continued to monitor the upper floors during this time.

 

And finally arrived at.

 

[3F]

 

3rd Floor.

 

The floor where the second-year students live.

 

“……Quiet.”

 

The students on the lower floors also naturally disappeared from our sight, but didn’t appear from above the stairs.  They seemed to have found someone else and gone that way…

 

Still, just in case, while glancing at the stairs, we entered the 3rd-floor corridor.

 

It was surprisingly clean under the bright lights.

 

No blood, filth, corpses, or people frozen stiff, streaming tears while desperately looking at a student.

 

……

 

No student figures were visible.

 

And I think I know why.

 

‘All the doors are sealed.’

 

Someone had already locked all the classroom doors.

 

Even padlocked them with iron chains.

 

‘…! This is definitely the work of the Daydream employees.’

 

It was in our manual.

 

Students wearing the Se-gwang Industrial High School uniform show some resistance to damaging school property.

 

If the doors are quietly closed and locked without stimulation, they have been observed to return to an inactive state while sitting at their desks.

 

Furthermore, doing that to the doors will inevitably make a noise when exiting.

 

They can perceive it through sound and immediately turn around.

 

‘A primary safety measure.’

 

When there are still quite a few people, making the dolls move is restricted, so if you move secretly, it’s quite feasible.

 

……

 

But, just as the corridor was quiet, we had to be quiet as well.

 

Because those students are attracted by noise.

 

‘The second-year faculty office is around the corner.’

 

‘Should we crawl there?’

 

Nod.

 

With a very small whisper and a nod, we quietly moved, pressed against the wall, to remain unseen.

 

Even amidst all this, I didn’t stop glancing at the corners where someone might silently appear, like the end of the hallway or the stairs.

 

Cold sweat soaked my back.

‘Just a little, just a little further.’

Slowly.

I just have to pass without rushing.

 

When I was more than halfway there,

Aaaaaahk!

…….

From beyond that hallway, someone screamed.

‘No.’

If there’s a sound….

Click.

Click click click click click click click.

I couldn’t bring myself to look up.

The sound of someone turning doorknobs on every locked door was echoing.

…The students, they heard the sound too.

Click click click click click click click.

 

The civil servant and I crawled madly on our stomachs, escaping the hallway.

Then we looked back.

Click…….

“…….”

“…….”

Whew.

Fortunately, the scream was only once, and the sound of turning doorknobs disappeared.

However, I saw a few shadowy figures looking out from behind the doors…….

“…….”

This is terrifying.

It’s a blessing that they’re not looking at us.

 

I swallowed my saliva.

Still, the comforting point is that we reached our primary objective.

[Grade 2 Faculty Room]

It appeared immediately as we turned the corner.

However, this faculty room also had locks on all the doors, and the windows were covered with something like newspaper, making the inside invisible.

It was eerily creepy, but I couldn’t be happier.

 

“Please stand guard for a moment.”

The agent attached a thimble-like item to their finger and probed the keyhole of the faculty room lock.

Then, despite the size difference, the thimble fit into the hole, and the lock clicked open.

‘Wow.’

Disaster Management Agency-issued items are really something.

 

“There might be students inside the faculty room, so let’s go in carefully.”

And when we opened the door.

“…!”

“…?!”

An unexpected scene unfolded.

 

“Quietly close the door.”

“….”

“Hurry.”

I closed the door behind me.

 

There were no students inside.

Instead, about seven people were facing each other, glaring.

Suspicious high school students wearing animal masks and suspicious high school students with transparent pistols.

Disaster Management Agency agents and Daydream Corporation employees.

‘They’re fighting!’

 

And on the table in the middle of the two confronting groups, there was a fountain pen.

‘…It’s an item.’

I knew it.

Grade 2 ■■■’s fountain pen.

They seemed to be trying to deter each other from approaching, to claim it.

‘Instead of doing the ghost story investigation, they’re wasting manpower…!’

They seemed to have noticed our presence a little late.

 

“Agent Bronze.”

A few people who looked like agents finally noticed and looked at Bronze, who was next to me.

But someone as rational as the agent next to me probably won’t understand the situation….

 

“Let’s join them.”

“…??”

Just a moment.

But the agent had already approached and stood in front of the group of agents.

And I….

“…….”

 

I am receiving fervent stares from the people from my company wearing animal masks.

Especially from my two colleagues who know my face.

“??”

“??!”

To see Baek Saheon and Jang Heoun making the same expression.

Their eyes, alternating between my Disaster Management Agency iron badge and the translucent pistol, seemed to say:

‘Why are you here…?’

 

Meanwhile, the civil servant called me again.

“Agent Grape.”

“Gr, Grape?”

The civil servant replied coldly.

“The audacity to mock your codename is so typical of that company.”

“……??”

I’m going crazy.

 

“Come this way. It’s better to stay away from the door.”

“…….”

‘What to do.’

I carefully weighed the situation.

And I decided.

‘I can’t betray them.’

 

I finally walked over and stood next to my acquaintance.

“Yes, Agent.”

Right next to Agent Bronze.

“What, what is this…!”

“…….”

Right. I can’t betray them.

‘I can’t betray my own safety…!’

That’s how it is, my colleagues.