Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 9

A rainy Monday afternoon.

Team D of the Field Investigation team wrote their situation reports at an unprecedented speed, even completing proxy payments through the team leader’s ID.

The reason is simple.

A newbie who ignored the time-limited urban legend and cleared it!

“Surely… wasn’t the deadline three days?”

“Yes, it was.”

The newbie sat on the sofa, with snacks from the break room spread out in front of them. A senior associate and an employee sat opposite.

They exchanged glances and nodded.

It was finally time to ask the real questions.

“But how did you get it done so fast?”

“Ah.”

The newbie seemed to think for a moment, then answered with an understanding expression.

“I sped up time.”

‘They’re answering as if it’s nothing, like they just had lunch…!’

…Before that thought could be voiced, the newbie calmly explained their method.

“Since there was a time limit, I figured there would be an event that would determine ‘time has passed.’ I focused on that part…”

Even the method of using expiration dates to trigger a ‘time alarm.’

The supervisors, who had been listening silently, thought:

‘Genius.’

‘No resignation allowed.’

Intuition and logic that pierces the essence of the urban legend at once? This was a talent born for the Field Investigation team. Absolutely can’t let them escape this team… no, we have to help them adapt well!

“I’m not the one to say welcome or anything, Mr Noru.”

“Seems like you’ll be promoted to senior associate before me.”

“…!?”

This kind of newbie is irreplaceable…!

“When you succeed, don’t forget us… and show off when you get your wish granted…”

The newbie seemed a little flustered.

“No. Uh… actually,”

“Hmm?”

The newbie added, as if making a big confession.

“I did it because I was scared.”

“…….”

Was it possible to escape quickly just because an urban legend was scary…? It felt like an escape room, or like cognitive contamination was occurring.

‘Their modesty is excessive…!’

But the newbie was resolute.

“Next time, please give a warning. I almost fainted from fear.”

“That’s what someone who cleared it in an hour says…?”

The newbie, with a strange expression, said:

“I thought I was going to die.”

‘Liar!’

How could someone who thought they were going to die achieve a record-breaking time attack? That’s the kind of insane thing only veteran employees would do.

However, separately, the betrayal was understandable.

‘Honestly, it was pretty rough.’

Being alone with a paranormal phenomenon, even if it was deemed safe, wasn’t an ordinary experience.

And they knew just the way to soothe this heartbroken feeling.

The cure for office workers!

The senior associate asked while drinking coffee.

“Noru, how much did you get?”

“Huh?”

“The money you get when you clear it.”

“Oh, yes. I got ten million won.”

That’s right, this F-grade darkness gives a reward upon completion.

And the manual clearly states:

– When clearing a darkness of grade F (shade) for which the company has a complete manual, 50% of the additional income generated is paid to the employee as a bonus.

In other words, the company takes 50% of the money the employee earns from the darkness with a completed manual.

Furthermore, the darkness initially assigned to newbies doesn’t fall under this clause!

The company’s explanation was that they couldn’t pay hazard pay because the urban legends assigned were deemed safe after dozens or hundreds of attempts.

The newbie had already read this manual.

But…

“The company usually takes all of that… just keep it.”

“…Huh?”

Once you gain experience and expertise, there are always ways to handle things informally!

‘Since they cleared it with a new escape method, it doesn’t fall under the manual’— there’s even a wonderful clause allowing for exceptions to the rules so everything can be taken care of. Yes.

Getting a large sum of money on your first day makes everything beautiful!

The senior associate and the team leader showed the newbie the techniques they had experienced themselves, with warm smiles.

“Hey, keep it, keep it. There are ways to handle it.”

“…….”

‘It was actually twenty million won.’

Kim  Soleum, who had internally intended to take half, broke out in a cold sweat.

The joy of suddenly having an extra ten million won of unexplained origin, and the pangs of conscience were fleeting, as he got up to follow his superiors.

“Successfully explored the darkness, so now it’s time to collect the most important thing.”

“Collect… what do you mean?”

“Yeah.”

The supervisor smiled.

“Employee welfare mall points!”

“Whew.”

Being in the middle of a crowded city in broad daylight felt incredibly happy.

The future worry of not being able to sleep even with all the lights on was, for now, gone.

‘Having 20 million won in my pocket creates peace of mind….’

Even after falling into a horror story, this is 21st-century Korea, a capitalist society.

I finally sat down at my assigned desk, turned on the computer, and accessed the intranet.

Sitting in a brightly lit office in an ergonomic office chair, the crazy reality of facing a ghost moments ago felt like a lie.

There were even some cute stationery and a round-eyed lizard doll on the desk.

‘…Why does it look used?’

Well, I can only hope that the previous user left the desk uncleaned due to an immediate resignation because of a lottery win.

Anyway, the welfare mall was already bookmarked on the PC, so I could access it easily.

[Daydream Co., Ltd. Employee Welfare Mall]

I entered my employee ID and quickly completed the registration, and clicked the ‘Point Registration’ tab as my superiors had instructed.

– You select the darkness level you cleared, enter your name, and submit it with the attached PDF.

I did as instructed.

And 5 minutes later.

[Kim  Soleum, Employee / Accrued Points: 100p]

“!…”

The review was completed and the points were accrued at a surprisingly fast speed.

‘So clearing F-rank alone gives you 100 points.’

Well, regardless of my hard work, it’s F-rank, so it won’t be a lot of money… Let’s not get our hopes up.

Still, since I got points, I wanted to check if there was anything I could buy with 100p.

And I was surprised from the first page.

“…A robot vacuum cleaner?”

The items were better than I expected.

Most of the items on special offer were 100p, and high-end large home appliances usually bought as wedding gifts cost around 500p.

Furthermore, Daydream Co., Ltd.’s unreleased reagents were sold for around 1000p, and among them were over-the-top technologies like cornea regeneration potions.

Oh, by the way, hair loss medication, which costs around 500,000 won uninsured on the market, could be purchased here for 100p.

‘This is really good.’

With a little anticipation, I moved the mouse.

It was time to check the most important thing.

The glorious name that appears when you sort by ‘High Price’ in the ‘Company Products’ tab.

‘Wish Granting Potion.’

The price of that miraculous potion introduced as a top welfare benefit right after the Death Survival was….

Wish Granting Potion: 500,000p

“…….”

Are you kidding me?

‘Five hundred thousand?’

I just cleared a horror story and got 100 points….

500,000 points?

‘Theoretically… assuming I go into F-rank alone every day, it would take 15 years.’

But that’s not as easy as it sounds.

‘If my plan goes according to plan, it’s not going to be that easy.’

It’s not possible to clear only F-rank darkness every day, and there are bound to be many irregularities.

‘There will certainly be many cases where I’ll be forcibly deployed to high-level darkness with colleagues.’

Wait, is that divided into N parts too?

I searched the welfare mall’s point registration tab and found out the basic points given for each darkness level.

F-rank: 100p

D-rank: 1000p

C-rank: 2500p

B-rank: 10000p

A-rank: 100000p

S-rank: Separate review

Additional bonuses were added depending on the special circumstances measured internally by the company.

Such as urgency of clearing, lack of information, or additional risks.

‘Since it’s a team of 3, if 3 people clearing is the standard….’

……I have to clear B-rank 150 times to get it?

‘Are you kidding me?’

Even at B-rank, the survival rate of civilians drops to about 2%.

From there, no matter what choice is given, you either die or end up worse than dead!

If you go in there 150 times, an ordinary employee is as good as dead.

A crazy situation where you have to beg to not be sent.

This means that a speedrun targeting only high-level ranks is impossible.

“So, to even slightly increase the survival rate, you need to invest more than 10 years.”

This isn’t some kind of gentleman’s revenge…

But if the Field Exploration Team is the fastest department, then people in other departments have a higher probability of never getting their wish granted during their tenure.

There are many various products in the welfare mall, so many people in other departments would resign themselves to it and be satisfied…

But I can’t.

My goal is very surreal and clear.

Return to the original world.

But I’m supposed to live here for 15 years? I’ll have a heart attack and die of shock before that?!

“No way!”

I needed a plan, a plan.

“I need to figure out exactly what kind of rumors I have to get involved in, and what I should avoid.”

So I had to gather 500,000 points in the shortest amount of time while maintaining a golden balance of safety.

I was on the verge of serious anguish when my supervisor patted my back and asked,

“Noru, did you register? Is your computer working well?”

“Yes. Ah, the personal belongings here…”

“Ah, that’s Team Leader Lee’s desk.”

“…”

No wonder it looked used!

“Just don’t break the monitor. Use it comfortably today, comfortably.”

Is this company… really alright?

Is it okay to let a newbie temporarily use a superior’s desk?

“Come to think of it, there’s no way it’s alright.”

This is a company that grinds people up to make potions out of rumors, isn’t it? Wouldn’t situations that would make a normal 21st-century Korean office worker gasp keep happening if I applied common sense?

…Maybe I should use a little trick.

“Ah, Noru, you smoke too?”

“It’s alright.”

I didn’t follow the superiors’ smoking breaks.

Instead, I looked down at the desk I was using, took a deep breath, and flipped the keyboard over.

As expected, there was a Post-it note stuck there.

[Team Leader Lee Jaheon / 105105301]

ID : yongj1111

PW : dydajflgodks!111

It’s too common a sight in the company to criticize the lack of security awareness.

“If he’s a team leader… he must be a section chief.”

And in fact, in this company, there’s a certain website that only section chiefs and above can access…

That would really help in clearing high-level darkness.

“…”

After seeing the crazy target number of 500,000 points, it really feels like a waste to miss it.

Okay.

“Let’s do it.”

I made up my mind and logged back into the welfare mall.

But this time, it’s not my ID.

ID: yongj1111

Password: dydajflgodks!111

I tried to log into the welfare mall with Team D’s team leader’s ID.

Incorrect password.

“Hmm…”

It’s okay. I expected this kind of obstacle.

Let’s see. If I click on member registration, I can check the password setting requirements.

“It needed a capital letter.”

Then, if I change only the first letter of the password written under the keyboard to a capital letter, ‘Dydajflgodks!111’, and try logging in…

Beep.

[Welcome, Section Chief Lee Jaheon]

“Got it!”

I clenched both fists under the desk. It’s a ceremony I can do in the office without attracting attention. Although, right now, I’m the only one in the office.

Anyway, what I need to find on this page is… a kind of phishing link.

Also known as the ‘Alien Shop’.

There were quite a few alien rumors in <Darkness Exploration Records>, and among them were those who tried to sell things to earthlings with a clumsy communication method.

“They didn’t have malicious intent, but they also sold things that were creepy or dangerous from an earthling’s point of view.”

Well, it was mostly close to a gag, so it was a rarely heartwarming rumor.

And they had a kind of commercial mind. They seemed to want to target people who had a demand for their goods as customers…

They even planted ransomware on the Daydream company intranet.

“Only those with section chief level or higher could see the shopping mall advertisement phishing link.”

I also remember well how to see that phishing link.

“Just keep clicking randomly on the welfare mall, and then press the back button five times in a row…”

Click, click, click…

Beep.

Suddenly, a small green hand appeared in the corner of the welfare mall screen.

A pixelated left hand that waved, as if to greet, to attract attention.

A speech bubble appeared above it.

“Cheap.”

It looked like an old internet banner ad.

But surprisingly, when you click this clumsy thing!

An external internet miraculously opens from the intranet, and you’re kidnapped to an alien website.

I want to click it right now, but!

‘Hold back.’

Instead, I right-clicked to copy the link, then pasted the link address into Excel and took a picture with my smartphone.

‘Company PCs record all access logs.’

It wouldn’t be good to leave a record of clicking an alien ransomware. Especially using someone else’s account.

After a while, seeing my superiors return from their cigarette break, I nodded my head as if nothing had happened and greeted them.

“Noru ya~ Let’s have a welcome party when Team Leader Jo returns from his business trip. Use the company card.”

“Yes, thank you.”

And I waited until the end of work.

The evening after my momentous first day of work.

But my work wasn’t over yet.

“Let’s do it.”

I deposited 20 million won and went home.

And now, in my bedroom, I’m copying the captured ‘Alien Shop’ phishing link from my smartphone gallery using image analysis.

After correcting some parts that weren’t properly read, I opened an internet window and pasted it into the address bar.

“Whew.”

Deep breath… Enter.

Click.

The page turns, following the complicated link address written in the address bar.

Then, a screen similar in format to Daydream Corporation’s welfare mall page appears… and breaks down.

And a new page appears.

Like the early 2000s internet, a screen with underlined text and blatant fonts.

Beep beep beep. A green spaceship rotated in the corner.

‘It’s really crappy.’

But don’t be careless because of its dated appearance.

Clicking ‘Items’ here will allow you to see extraordinary supernatural items for sale.

…but the prices are also extraordinary.

They started from at least one million won.

……’I should use something more expensive!’ This is the result of an imaginary inflation stemming from the self-aggrandizement of the rumor creators. That was yesterday’s me.

If it were me from yesterday, I wouldn’t have been able to buy even one of these items….

‘I have 20 million won.’

My heart beat a little faster. Being able to actually buy items from a fictional world is definitely a dopamine rush.

“Whew.”

I finally clicked the ‘Items’ tab.

The screen appears.

Items

Bloodsucking Cutlery – ₩14,999,999

Wider radio – ₩4,999,999

Alice Picnic Set – ₩11,999,999

We Need Help! – ₩66,666,666

※Discount!※ Silver Snake – ₩4,999,999

₩19,999,999

“…!”

More than half of the items are familiar.

My luck has finally changed!

‘Good.’

In my excitement, I quickly recalled my memories.

Bloodsucking Cutlery.

A weapon consisting of a small fork and knife that sucks the victim’s blood to grow larger and sharper. It can be called a growth-type weapon.

Wider radio.

A toy radio from the rumors that allows remote communication with others. It will be very useful when there are colleagues.

Alice Picnic Set.

As the name suggests, it’s food based on Alice in Wonderland. It’s a set of a drink that temporarily doubles the effect of an item, and cookies that halve it.

Those were the items I knew.

I don’t know about the remaining two, but for now, ‘We Need Help!’ far exceeds my budget, even ignoring the intriguing title.

‘The Silver Snake is on sale.’

Buying something on sale will make me feel like I’m getting a good deal.

“……Hmm.”

I crossed my arms.

A weapon, communication device, buff potion, and a discounted item… I guess.

My budget is 20 million won.

What should I buy to get the most out of it?

“Okay.”

I made up my mind and clicked.