Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 80

Okay, let’s summarize.

The monstrous figure before me, pixelated and horrifying, is clearly my coworker, Go Yeongeun.

The goat mask was unmistakable.

‘I feel bad about shining a high-powered flashlight in their face…’

I gritted my teeth, focusing on the mask instead of my revulsion.

The problem is the impossibility of normal communication!

I can’t speak, and I can’t understand what they’re saying.

‘Ugh.’

My mind feels like it’s overflowing with errors. This is driving me crazy.

 

Eventually, while pondering communication methods, I took out a pen from my pocket and wrote on the floor, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

 

Ms. Goral?

 

And waited silently.

 

The moment ‘Go Yeongeun’ looked at me and I stopped writing. An answer arrived on an A4 sheet of paper on the floor.

 

Mr. Roe Deer?? Are you self-aware? Are you capable of independent movement?

 

‘Whew.’

 

Okay.

 

I looked at the monster… no, ‘Go Yeongeun’, and wrote my reply.

 

Yes, I can.

 

Don’t worry, I’m not contaminated. I’m a bit worried about how this will sound, even if a truly contaminated person would probably say something similar…

It’s a gimmick from an urban legend.

 

Gimmick?

 

Yes.

 

How should I explain this…

 

‘Here, a direct answer is best.’

 

My colleague is clearly intelligent. After some deliberation, I wrote directly, without any circumlocution.

 

The answer to the urban legend hinted at by all the world-building clues.

 

This is a school where a horror game has become reality.

 

<In the Black Shadow>.

 

This is the name listed in the urban legend’s wiki entry, and also the name of the game responsible for all the events happening at this nightmarish Sekwang Industrial High School.

 

The hints are in the exploration records where I found world-building clues in the staff room and certain classrooms.

 

■ Month ■■ Day Confiscated Items List: Game console

 

The game console was obtained from the first-year staff room. When activated, a pixelated image of the school at night briefly appeared on the screen before turning off.

 

3rd Year, Class 2, Blackboard, Right Corner Memo:

Is that a teacher?

 

Music Room Floor, Dropped Notebook:

There’s a small doodle in the corner.

-Woke up, why am I at school? (Drawing of a surprised dog) Graduation preparations? What’s going on, it’s May?

 

Etc., various notes and items.

 

You can even find the student’s class and seat whose game console was confiscated, and if you search their bag, you’ll find an empty game case and the plot summary written on the back…

 

———–

 

The day before graduation.

 

Students who volunteered to help prepare for the graduation ceremony at ■■■■ High School spent the night at school.

 

Of course, the preparation was more of an excuse, and the students happily enjoyed a late-night camping atmosphere.

 

New couples formed, close friends fought, and someone’s secret was revealed…

 

Suddenly, the school intercom announced.

 

[The graduation ceremony has begun.]

 

[To penalize absent students, teachers are now departing from the auditorium.]

 

The bloody graduation ceremony began.

 

Will they escape the nightmarish school safely?

 

———–

 

That’s how it naturally unfolds.

 

This urban legend is a nightmare where the horror game has swallowed up the real school, and the game’s playthrough is being repeated.

 

That’s why the students are silent.

 

‘Because it’s a game without voice acting.’

 

That’s why the third-year students on the fourth floor can’t leave their seats.

 

‘Because the main game hasn’t started yet.’

 

That’s why… the students don’t move when the investigators look at them.

 

‘…It’s a bug that wasn’t originally in the game.’

 

That’s right.

 

The investigators weren’t even participants in this game.

 

‘We’re not even playing the game.’

 

We were just drawn in after looking at the game’s story through an unofficial download of a text file….

 

‘Whew.’

 

Of course, I didn’t explain all of this to my colleague in detail. I selected relevant clues, and conveyed only the logic.

 

Here’s the point.

 

I obtained a student uniform in a rather unique way, intending to become a participant in this horror game.

 

And it seems I succeeded.

 

A game? Oh, that sounds like it! Like that horror game where you’re trapped in school on White Day’s eve!

 

However, wouldn’t it be rather dangerous to become a participant in the game from the urban legend? Besides, you don’t know what will happen if you keep wearing that uniform for a long time.

 

Go Youngeun’s handwriting, which started out somewhat excitedly, becomes hastily scribbled towards the end.

 

It was a reasonable concern.

 

Yes. If it becomes dangerous, I’ll stop immediately.

 

I also planned to run away if things didn’t go as expected.

 

But so far, it’s gone as expected…

 

Still, it could become the clearest route that can be clearly indicated in the manual.

 

I’ll give it a try.

 

After a brief silence.

 

Um, okay. Mr. Roe Deer is so strong against urban legends…

 

……

 

Really, it’s a misunderstanding…

 

Still, I hope you don’t do anything too dangerous.

 

I wish I could, but things don’t always go as planned…

 

Ah, well, if I stay with you like this, you might be suspected by other students, so I’ll go now.

 

Uh, uh, uh?

 

You really have to be careful!

 

That was the last message.

 

The moment my suspension was lifted, I saw Go Youngeun slowly turning around and walking away in the distance down the hallway.

 

W-wait a minute, Youngeun…!

 

‘I still have more questions!’

 

Please help me!

 

I quickly chased after her, gently tapped Go Youngeun’s back, and hurriedly wrote a new message.

 

Wait a minute, I have a question I’d like to ask Ms. Goral.

 

This is probably specialized knowledge that only Ms. Goral can answer here.

 

Yes, yes! Ask away!

 

Fortunately, Go Youngeun turned around and kindly answered.

 

Phew!

 

With a grateful heart, I quickly wrote down my question.

 

Please tell me where each organ is located in the human body.

 

Huh??

 

Oh, oops.

 

Fortunately, Go Youngeun didn’t cut me off…

 

She just asked me about company life, accounting, and other realistic details, calmly and rigorously verifying several times whether I was sane.

 

And after she was convinced that I wasn’t a science lab student who was completely consumed by corruption and had developed a peculiar hobby of dissection, she became kind again.

 

Okay! I’ll answer as much as I know. Haha

 

Thank you… sob.

 

So I spent the remaining time intensely questioning and answering with Go Youngeun.

 

Thanks to her, I finished my ‘clear preparation’ in a safer and more reliable way than I expected.

 

Good luck.

 

I will too. Thank you!

 

…Um.

 

Just in case, I added this as well.

 

If you plan to stay in this dream for longer, it’s best to stay on the first floor.

 

Because soon, the ‘In the Black Shadow’ will truly begin.

 

……

 

Then,

 

A few minutes later I saw Go Youngeun off.

 

[Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong-]

 

[Graduation ceremony has begun.]

 

A new announcement is made.

 

…Just like the thirteenth exploration record I wrote.

 

Exploration Record #13

 

Wearing the Sekwang Industrial High School uniform, I spent 2 hours and 13 minutes on campus.

 

A new campus announcement not mentioned in previous records was made. Its content matches the plot on the back of the ‘In the Black Shadow’ game title.

 

I went up to the fourth floor.

 

The numerous third-year students who had filled the hallway on that floor…

 

All disappeared.

 

……

 

The announcement echoes in the empty fourth-floor hallway.

 

[To give penalty points to absent students, the teacher is now departing from the auditorium.]

 

Exactly as I wrote in my exploration record.

 

The main story of the horror game begins.

 

It is realized.

 

……

 

I swallowed my saliva.

 

First of all, the atmosphere on campus changed drastically.

 

The campus, which had been so comfortable as a student, now has an ominous and uneasy atmosphere.

 

No…

 

Really, I can hear the BGM…!

 

Classic 8-bit game music began to descend into my ears in a gloomy and steep minor key.

 

And pop-ups too.

 

Something feels wrong.

 

Let’s find the other students before it’s too late.

 

‘No.’

 

I won’t do that.

 

Because I know a faster route, I’ll brace myself first…

 

‘Hide.’

 

I ran towards the third-year faculty room.

 

Hiding in this locker is standard procedure…

 

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“…!!”

Again.

‘Monster!’

I quickly ducked into the faculty room locker, rejecting the ear-splitting, insane noise.

The problem was that a monster was in one of the fourth-floor classrooms right next to the faculty room.

The monster opened the door, hesitated, and then looked straight at me.

At my shadowy face beyond the locker.

‘…It seems to be wearing a mask.’

Because I was stopped, I couldn’t move my face, and my vision, obscured by the locker door, couldn’t discern what kind of mask it was.

‘Anyway, it’s one of our company’s employees.’

However, I barely noticed the error because of how many name tags it had and the light emanating from them.

‘…Wait.’

Light?

If it’s that noticeable…

Thump.

“…….”

There.

Small and large sounds came from the floor above.

That is, that is, the sound of something large walking with small footsteps, that was it.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump

It’s coming down, coming down, it’s coming!!

…‘The Teacher’!!

‘Damn it.’

I’m terrified. I held my breath.

But the error, as if targeting my name tag, quickly approached me as I stood still…

‘Can’t you hear this??’

No, it’s only natural that it can’t hear. That thing isn’t a game player!

‘In the first place, the error doesn’t recognize the Teacher, nor can it be attacked…!’

The setting is that it doesn’t even notice the game starting.

However…

Caution.

In this game.

One of the ways the ‘Aberration’, which pursues the player, the Teacher, recognizes the students is through name tags.

But since the investigators are essentially errors, having one or two name tags didn’t make them recognized as players.

That is to say, unless the investigator is exceedingly greedy, they won’t be caught.

……For example.

By collecting a huge number of name tags, the symbol of the player.

Thump.

I held my breath, still motionless.

The approaching error grasped the locker door where I was hiding.

And pulled the door open.