Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work [Novel] Chapter 2 - Chapter 2 is available as a full text chapter. Published May 16, 2026 and updated May 16, 2026.
Translator: Nox
Chapter 2
Even After Falling Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
Even After Falling Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Chapter 2
Even After Falling Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work Episode 002
[This stop is Wonhan, Wonhan Station.]
[The doors are on the right….]
A subway shrouded in a ghost story, where a suffocating silence reigned.
I was doing my part to contribute to that silence.
A person like me—someone who, even when knowing a ghost story is fake, gets startled by the thumbnail of a related YouTube video and clicks ’Not Interested’—is supposed to survive inside one?
‘Just kill me instead….’
That would be a peaceful death by comparison.
I didn’t even have the energy to deduce how this had happened. I pressed my face into both hands, wanting to deny the world.
It was then.
Blink.
[1st Place: Dark Exploration Records Real Goods Box]
“……?!”
I lifted my head.
Something resembling a notepad was floating, following my line of sight.
I could see it whether my eyes were open or closed.
Scraps of paper, looking as if they had been torn from a notebook and folded, were fluttering about….
“This is….”
Wait. No one else seemed to see it.
I immediately shut my mouth. Standing out in a situation like this was a foolish move.
Instead, I reached out and tapped the floating notepad as casually as possible.
Flutter.
To my surprise, the notepad moved as if unfolding and spat out a small object.
“……!”
I hurriedly caught it, shielding it with my hands.
It was… a Griptok.
A very simple-looking black Griptok. The only unusual thing about it was a golden ‘X’ marked in the center.
But that very pattern made me realize exactly what this Griptok was.
‘It’s the merch.’
The merchandise sold at the Dark Exploration Records pop-up store, the place I had visited just before waking up in this strange situation!
It was one of the items I had purchased today.
With trembling hands, I picked up the Griptok.
As for its function in the story….
[Memorial Griptok]
: A C-rank item appearing in Dark Exploration Records.
When attached to a smartphone, it organizes and displays text from the user’s memories into clear, readable pages.
A 9th-grade supply issued by the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau under the Ministry of Environment.
‘Displays memories as text….’
Then, perhaps?
With shaking fingers, I peeled off the adhesive backing and stuck it onto my smartphone immediately.
In that instant.
The prose of Dark Exploration Records that I had remembered in fragments began to take clear shape and structure, appearing on the phone screen as a page.
======================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Welcome to the Abyss Transit Corporation]
: A ghost story appearing in Dark Exploration Records.
The identification code for Baekilmong Corporation is Qterw-D-16.
An Early-phase Eerie (D) Grade.
A legendary ghost story that boasts an overwhelming escape difficulty despite being a lone darkness.
And the eternally suffering Field Exploration Team.
Exploration has been recorded up to 56 times.
======================
“…!”
So this means….
‘The merch I bought actually works?’
Come to think of it, the black goods box that had been on my lap was gone.
‘That box… turned into that notepad and spat out the merch I bought?’
What kind of insane situation was this?
No, but it was definitely an advantage for me.
The world of Dark Exploration Records that I had fallen into.
Do you know how many internet veterans had poured their creative passion into this setting? There were literally hundreds of ghost stories.
Naturally, it would be impossible to recall them all as clearly as flipping through a book.
Furthermore, true to the genre, the stories never explicitly stated the method of survival, forcing readers to deduce it for themselves. This made deriving the correct answer in a new situation even harder.
‘But I can check everything I’ve read in plain text all at once.’
If this was possible, the first thing I needed to see was….
‘Past escape cases!’
I immediately scrolled down the wiki page.
After breathlessly reading down to ‘3.2 Exploration Records.’
“…….”
I quickly reached a deduction.
‘I’ve got it.’
I had found my own answer for which station to get off at.
But there was a problem.
“…….”
I turned my head toward the people in the same car.
Including myself, there were eight young new recruits.
The people who had been panicking after seeing two humans being dismantled live were finally regaining their composure and starting to talk.
“Just now… that Wonhan Station thing. It sounds like the word for ‘grudge’ when someone is angry… right?”
“Yes….”
“Ha, no signal, no data, seriously… Argh, what on earth is happening….”
“…….”
Right. The problem was how to convince these people—strangers who didn’t trust each other—to get off at the correct station.
‘I have to make sure as many people as possible get off together.’
I clenched my fists.
Was I suddenly filled with a noble sense of mission to save their lives, realizing that the extras sacrificed in this world were real people?
Well… I mean, of course, I felt that way on a human level, but that wasn’t the top priority.
The reason that made me most desperate was….
‘I can’t get off alone!’
Exactly.
The stations here were mostly out of their minds.
Walking out alone into a station full of eyeballs, a pitch-black station, or a station where up and down were inverted?
Just imagining it made me break out in a cold sweat so bad I felt like I’d end up crawling on all fours.
‘The probability of fainting halfway and failing to escape is over 90%!’
No. Save me.
‘I have to persuade them somehow!’
I was about to open my mouth but closed it again.
‘It would be foolish to start blabbing about supernatural phenomena and darkness out of nowhere.’
Who would want to admit they were trapped in something like a horror RPG? They would either refuse to believe it and mock me intensely, or believe it and spiral further into panic.
‘Slowly… build trust first.’
Just one person.
If I could firmly convince just one or two people, the herd mentality would kick in, making it easier for the others to follow.
‘Let’s see. Is there someone who looks like they need help or has a clue for building a bond….’
“Ha… this isn’t some YouTube ghost story.”
Found one!
“Did you say… ghost story?”
“Ah.”
A woman with a calm impression and short hair nodded with a slightly flustered face.
“Yes. Well, I, uh, watch some ghost stories on YouTube, and this reminds me of them.”
“Could you tell me more about that? This clearly isn’t a normal situation, so I think it’s best to share as much information as possible.”
“Oh, it’s not exactly information… it’s just that everything feels like a ghost story. The lecture hall suddenly turning into a subway, and people… dying like that.”
Her face turned pale, likely remembering the insane dismantling show from moments ago.
I understood. I felt like throwing up myself.
Let’s both try to erase that from our minds as quickly as possible.
“Ah, I’m sorry. Suddenly talking about….”
“No. I feel the same way. It’s so absurd I can’t wrap my head around it.”
The woman gave a weak chuckle.
“Man, you seem like the most cool-headed person here.”
She only said that because she hadn’t seen me cool-headedly fainting yet.
“Oh?”
And surprisingly, around this time, someone spoke to me first.
There was a very valid reason.
“Oh, you’re the person who was sitting next to me earlier, right?”
It was a man with curly hair and a fairly innocent-looking face.
‘Come to think of it, was he sitting next to me in the lecture hall?’
The new recruit seemed unable to join any of the talking groups. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking between me and the woman I was talking to, then held out his hand as if to shake.
“My name is Baek Sa-heon.”
“…!”
For a moment, I almost forgot to shake his hand.
Baek Sa-heon?
‘He’s a named character.’
======================
Dark Exploration Records / Baekilmong Corporation
/ Characters
Baek Sa-heon
: An employee of Baekilmong Corporation appearing in Dark Exploration Records.
Final rank: Section Chief. Total exploration records: 106. Among them, 17 special cases are recorded in the wiki.
Alias: Viper.
======================
He was an employee who had been active several times in Dark Exploration Records.
I looked up at the curly-haired man with the somewhat weak impression and groaned inwardly.
‘This man… is Baek Sa-heon?’
The image didn’t quite match.
Regardless, it felt truly strange to see an employee from the ghost story world I had only read about in text.
Meanwhile, Go Young-eun, the short-haired woman who first brought up the ghost story, held out her hand.
“Given the situation, let’s at least introduce ourselves. I’m Go Young-eun.”
It was a name I had never heard. And there are only two possibilities for an employee’s real name that I don’t know.
Either they handled the ghost stories relatively easily and resigned early.
Or they died quickly.
‘Dammit….’
There were named employees who only went by aliases or codenames, but in those cases, their character traits were so distinct that I would have recognized them instantly.
This felt uneasy. I quickly shook off the lingering thought and hid my reaction.
“I’m Kim Sol-eum.”
The handshake ended quickly, and we naturally sat down in the subway seats to continue our conversation.
In the meantime, the groups of people seemed to have split up.
“Ah, those people… they seem to be trying to talk to the front car somehow.”
“So it seems.”
In this ghost story, moving between cars is forbidden. Sure enough, they soon gave up on their gestures and returned.
“What should we do? We can’t communicate with the front car at all. Besides, it looks like a fight broke out over there….”
To the anxious and uneasy people, the station arrival announcement came once again.
However, the vibe of the keyword was different this time.
[This stop is Hwanhui, Hwanhui Station.]
“Oh?”
The murmuring crowd stopped all at once.
“Hwanhui? (Glory/Ecstasy)”
“Um, isn’t Hwanhui a bit of a positive feeling? Maybe…….”
It wasn’t.
‘They shouldn’t judge it so simply…!’
I grit my teeth, recalling the exploration records I had just read.
First of all, the theme of the station names in this ghost story changed every time it appeared.
Therefore, it was impossible to escape by finding exact words in the cases like ‘You must get off at X station’ or ‘Y station is the correct answer.’
‘But I can look at the trends.’
Like this.
======================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
/ Welcome to the Abyss Transit Corporation
3.2 Exploration Records
(Recorded up to No. 56)
- Station names indicated by colors such as Red, Yellow, Blue, etc.
: 2 people successfully escaped (Attempted: Blue Station)
- Station names indicated by body parts such as Left Arm, Cornea, Heart, etc.
: Escape failed (Attempted: Cochlea Station)
- Station names indicated by names of serial killers such as ■■, ■■■■, ■■■, etc.
: 12 people successfully escaped (Attempted: ■■■■ Station)
- Station names indicated by years such as 2008, 2012, 2016, etc.
: Escape failed (Attempted: 2024 Station)
- Station names indicated by diseases such as Asthma, Stroke, Glaucoma, etc.
: 3 people successfully escaped (Attempted: Common Cold Station)
[See More]
======================
See? Even going up to case 56, the positive feeling of a station name had zero correlation with the probability of escape.
But at this Hwanhui Station, it looked like people were about to swarm out.
[The doors are on the left….]
This was because the scenery of the platform they had arrived at was bright and pleasant.
‘Dammit.’
I could feel the atmosphere shifting as people looked at the clean, bright station that looked like a brand-new stop in a planned city.
“Ah…!”
“Sh-should we get off here and look for someone? This place looks really normal….”
The people, brightening up, began to hover near the doors.
No!
‘My companion headcount!’
And my mental state witnessing that sight!
‘Bloody hell.’
In the end, I ran and blocked the door again.
“…!”
“Wh-what the?”
“Please wait.”
[The screen doors are opening.]
“Are you certain?”
“Pardon…?”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Certain that this place is safe. Or at least have a deduction.”
I intentionally shifted my gaze.
“I think most of you will agree that this situation is like a ghost story.”
Go Young-eun, who caught my gaze and the attention of the others, was startled but didn’t retract her words.
[The doors will close in 30 seconds. There is no turning back.]
“But in a ghost story or a horror movie, have you ever seen anything good come from choosing based on luck and feelings?”
“……No, well,”
“Are you really going to gamble your lives like this without any reasoning or deduction?”
The anxious people hesitated for a moment, but soon flared up in anger.
“No, and what about you? Have you made some grand deduction?”
“This guy’s been saying nothing but frustrating stuff for a while now….”
“Ah, get out of the way! Reasoning, deduction… what is this, a quiz show? Did someone give you a hint?”
“Yes.”
“…?”
“They are giving us hints.”
I caught my breath.
Then I raised my hand and pointed upward.
At the subway train display board where the speaker was located.
“The announcements.”
—Please listen carefully to the announcements for a pleasant journey to your final destination.
From the beginning, the in-train announcements had been kindly notifying us of that fact.
“They keep telling us to focus on and follow the announcements. Quite blatantly.”
In that sense.
I asked as I heard the announcement that was just being added.
[Passengers whose final destination is Hwanhui Station must disembark according to the announcement.]
“Is there anyone here whose final destination is Hwanhui Station?”
“…….”
“…….”
The people stopped moving.
“Well, it’s true that it sounds like a good place.”
“Living ‘Hwanhui-ly’—that is, living happily—is the purpose of life….”
“So, is your final destination Hwanhui Station right now?”
“…….”
“…….”
It seemed everyone felt the eeriness.
However, one or two people started to get angry at me instead.
“No, do we even have a destination? Why are you meddling when you don’t even know for sure?”
“If we can’t get off here because of you and fail to escape, are you going to take responsibility? Are you?!”
Can I take responsibility?
“Yes.”
“……!”
“Uh…?”
“I will take responsibility.”
That was an easy question.
‘I was planning on escaping together anyway.’
Besides, getting off here is a guaranteed wrong answer. So there’s no chance my answer is worse than this.
But perhaps because it was an unexpected answer, the other person froze with their mouth open.
“…….”
Seeing me act so strongly, they seemed to waver, their conflict visible.
[The screen doors are closing….]
In the meantime, the doors shut.
“Ah…….”
I moved away from the door. A few people who had been looking at the door with hollow eyes clung to it.
But no one was angry anymore, asking why I hadn’t let them off.
‘Is this… enough?’
It was when I was feeling somewhat satisfied.
An urgent cry was heard.
“Uh, uh! The people in the front car all got off!”
“…!”
They all got off?
I immediately looked out the train window.
Maybe not everyone, but it really looked like about five or six people had gotten off at once.
“…….”
Phew.
I really didn’t want to see what was about to happen.
But I had to see it so I could be persuasive when I talked to them. Dammit…….
Restraining my curses, I narrowed my eyes and looked through the blurry window.
“Oh? They’re running!”
The people who got off seemed to have made up their minds to move quickly without delay. I could see the silhouettes of five or six people running toward the exit and the stairs of the platform.
But it was too late.
“Agh!”
The platform floor began to seethe with a golden light, and the feet of the running people began to sink into the floor as if melting.
“G-gold…?”
It was a bizarre sight, as if their lower bodies were turning into gold and sticking to the floor.
The people seemed to be struggling to run while screaming, but their speed became slower and slower….
Eventually, the torsos that were all that remained of their bodies teetered before thudding down in front of the stairs.
Even those turned into shimmering gold.
Becoming the easiest means to achieve ‘Hwanhui.’
“Heek.”
“Gasp.”
[The train is departing Hwanhui Station.]
Inside the departing train car, only the sounds of people gasping in shock and sobbing echoed.
One of the people who had tried to get off grabbed me urgently and asked.
“Y-you said you’d take responsibility. Can you really guarantee that we can find a safe place? Can you?!”
“Yes.”
I answered firmly.
I was baffled by how the logic had jumped to the assumption that I would provide the correct answer, but that was the only answer I could give in this state.
‘I’m gonna die, seriously.’
My legs are shaking so much I feel like I’m going to collapse…!
The sight of people’s lower bodies bursting kept replaying in low resolution in my head, making my stomach churn.
One thing was for sure: even if I made it out of here alive, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
In the midst of this, Baek Sa-heon also spoke up, sounding impressed.
“You’re amazing, Teacher.”
“…Teacher?”
“Ah, I tend to call people ‘Teacher’ when I meet them.”
Then he smiled sheepishly and added.
“People like you are rare in the world these days. You know, people who can’t say ‘yes’ or ’no’ firmly and use phrases like ‘I think it’s like ~’ instead.”
“…….”
“I really hope it leads to a good result, just as you guaranteed.”
Uh… thanks for the well wishes, but this isn’t a situation where I can afford to use lukewarm, detached speech.
‘Because if there’s no good result here, you’ll die too….’
Wait.
No.
In my whining about being scared, I had missed something.
‘If there’s a record of Baek Sa-heon working as an employee in Dark Exploration Records, it must mean he passed this entrance exam?’
In that case, couldn’t I just stick to the station Baek Sa-heon wants to get off at?
If I persuade him and Ms. Go Young-eun to leave, that’s three people. Usually, if there are people actively agreeing and getting off, there’s a high probability that others will follow in a swarm.
‘Such an easy way?’
“Mr. Baek Sa-heon.”
“Yes?”
“Is there a station you want to get off at? I mean… I was wondering if there’s a specific word you’re thinking of, like ‘I should get off if a station with this kind of name comes up.’”
“……Uh, all of a sudden?”
“I want to hear various opinions.”
“Ah.”
Baek Sa-heon seemed to ponder for a moment, then shrugged.
“Not really. I don’t know much about this kind of thing.”
“I see.”
He hasn’t gotten a particular feel for it yet.
I nodded readily. At any rate, this seemed like a pretty good idea, so I would keep an eye on….
Ding-dong.
[Dear passengers, this is an announcement from Abyss Transit Corporation for a pleasant journey. Please listen carefully.]
“…!”
The announcement began again.
Everyone stopped talking and immediately looked up.
[From now on, our train will pass through a curved section, which may cause noise and shaking.]
[Please remain seated to prevent accidents.]
Oh, for f—’s sake, seriously.
“Everyone, let’s sit down.”
No one objected and they quickly took their seats.
The speed was such that my earlier words about the announcements had paid off.
Even the person who had been throwing a tantrum about getting off shut their mouth and was the first to sit in a nearby seat.
However, it seemed not everyone was like that.
“Uh, uh! The front car!”
“Those people….”
In the front car, people were all standing, seemingly busy having a heated argument.
The specific words weren’t clearly audible, but it seemed the announcements were drowned out because they were shouting at each other.
I could tell just by looking. Having seen the people they were with just moments ago die in a way they couldn’t have imagined in their wildest dreams, they had completely panicked.
“Sh-shouldn’t we say something?”
“Hey! Can you hear me?!”
“Sit down!”
The new recruits sitting near the front car shouted. But the people in the front car barely looked, and one person who happened to make eye contact actually approached this way.
“I said sit down!”
“No, don’t come over here, just sit…….”
Too late.
[Entering the curved section….]
The lights went out.
“…!”
In the darkness, the train began to shake with a loud roar.
And overlapping with the roar, a sharp sound rang out.
A scream.
—Aaaaaagh!!
—Ack, ah, aaack….
The sound of something full of moisture bursting.
The sound of a ripe grape being squeezed hard.
It echoed dully.
…As if separated by only a single door.
“…….”
“…….”
I could hear the people in this car, who had instinctively silenced themselves, breathing while trembling slightly.
And when the lights came back on.
—…….
Through the narrow window of the front door of the train, the state of the front car was revealed.
It was entirely covered in blood and filth.
As if only living things had been put into a blender and ground up, no trace of a human being could be found in that insane state.
Everyone was dead.
[It is now safe to stand up. Thank you very much for your cooperation.]
The sounds of people panicking echoed in the train, contrasting with the neat announcement.
“Let me out! Let me out!”
“Heuuuu, heuuuu… what is this. What the hell is this…… Mom.”
But even in that state, the new recruits covered their mouths and lowered their voices, struggling to listen to the announcement.
Because it had been proven to be their lifeline!
‘Dammit.’
It was certainly moving in a direction advantageous to my survival, but seeing it become reality was so horrific that cold sweat formed on my brow.
Ignoring my trembling hands as I wiped it away, I grit my teeth.
I shouldn’t look at the front car door anymore.
‘Persuasion, just think about persuasion….’
In a few stations, when a proper correct station appears, people will surely get off with me…….
[Dear passengers, this is an announcement from Abyss Transit Corporation for a pleasant journey. Please listen carefully.]
The announcement began again.
“Again?!”
“Sob, sob….”
Cutting through the wailing of the fed-up people, the recorded voice in a neat and mechanical tone continued the announcement.
A completely random story.
[There is a lost item.]
Wait.
I suddenly lifted my head.
[If you find the lost item, please disembark at the next station and hand it over to a station employee.]
I knew this case.
‘…The escape case from the miscellaneous records!’
======================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story /
/ Welcome to the Abyss Transit Corporation
3.4 Miscellaneous Records (Escape)
Documents recording irregular survival where escape was successful other than by disembarking at a station.
A few methods are repeatedly observed. (The most frequent records are ‘Temporary Stop for Train Interval’ and ‘Lost Item Announcement.’)
======================
An unconditional escape ticket.
As long as you have the announced lost item, you can safely go outside!
However….
‘The number of people who can escape is exactly one.’
……In my case, where I can’t leave alone, it was a survival ticket I was disqualified from from the start.
I clenched both hands.
‘Then, who on earth should I send out?’
No, is sending someone out even the right answer?
And….
[The lost item is ‘the left eyeball of a male in his 20s with type A blood.’]
An unimaginably gruesome lost item was announced.
