Even if I fall into a ghost story, I still have to go to work
Chapter 49
The light green magical elixir flows into Go Young-eun’s mouth.
Gulp. Gulp.
The liquid disappears, and just as the glass bottle becomes empty—
“…!”
Go Young-eun set the bottle down.
With her eyes wide, her hands flew to her ears….
And within her trembling hands.
As if new skin were budding from a wound, a rounded mass of flesh began to grow where Go Young-eun’s ear had been torn away.
It took shape in an instant.
The helix, the tragus, and the earlobes revealed their distinct forms over a foundation of cartilage, and then….
It became whole.
“…….”
“Wa—Waaah…!”
My god.
“Go Young-eun-ssi?”
“Yes! Ah! I can hear! This—this actually worked….”
Go Young-eun touched her new ear, crying out in disbelief, before turning on her smartphone camera app to examine it.
She claimed it looked exactly like her original ear, as if it were only natural.
“Does it hurt at all?”
“Not at all! It was just a bit itchy for a moment and then it was fine… Wow, no, I think I can actually hear better than before?!”
It was a very good thing.
It felt truly, truly amazing, even miraculous, and I was deeply relieved, but….
‘…She might make even more reckless choices now.’
In this company, if the manual determines that clearing a high-grade Darkness necessitates a permanent physical loss, low-grade Regeneration Potions are sometimes issued as supplies.
And what happens when you get used to that?
Employees gradually become indifferent to losing parts of their bodies.
The first time is hard; the second time is easy.
‘Is that really a good thing?’
I looked to the side with a strange feeling.
Baek Sa-heon was staring into the ornate box containing his Regeneration Potion with a dark expression….
With his one remaining eye.
“…Um. Baek Sa-heon-ssi.”
“…….”
Go Young-eun hesitated before speaking cautiously.
“Having trouble with one eye has a bigger impact than you’d think. It affects your depth perception, field of vision, and even your sense of balance. Even if it feels like a waste, it might be better to just use it and regenerate.”
“Mind your own business.”
Go Young-eun almost made a face that said ’What is wrong with this guy,’ but she chose to ignore him, likely bolstered by the relief of having her ear back.
I thought for a moment and added my own piece.
“Since our work is dangerous, you might suffer another physical loss later. It might not be a bad decision to save it for an emergency.”
“Ah… that’s true too.”
“……!”
Baek Sa-heon’s pupils suddenly trembled as he stared intensely into the box.
‘Hey.’
Why do you look like you’re about to use it right now just because I took your side?
Regardless, I ignored him and tucked my own box away securely.
My heart fluttered slightly.
This was the first time I had seen such a famous, powerful, and non-threatening symbolic item in person.
The symbol of Baekilmong Corporation.
The magical elixir.
‘I should keep this safe.’
It was then.
“Um, Sol-eum-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been meaning to say this… but I wanted to formally thank you now.”
Go Young-eun looked at me and bowed her head.
“Really, truly… thank you.”
Pardon?
“Back then, you faced that machine alone so we could escape.”
“…Go Young-eun-ssi, you weren’t in that much danger to begin with.”
She had already had her ear collected, so she didn’t need to pay the fare. Wasn’t it effectively only Baek Sa-heon I saved?
‘And that bratty guy hasn’t even said thank you once….’
His personality really is trash.
However, Go Young-eun shook her head firmly.
“No. You came back for us again after that to save us. You even lied and said the candle was ours.”
“…….”
“No matter how I think about it, there was no reason for you to do that. You could have just gone with the Team D members.”
“Well.”
Actually, there was….
‘Give the candle to those daredevils?’
Oh? Our safety is guaranteed now? Okay. Then let’s try this and that. Let’s put it in the manual review and grind some points.
I could only imagine myself collapsing from a heart attack while following behind them as they pulled all sorts of stunts.
I didn’t brave the terrors of that insane exhibition to find those two for no reason.
It was because an even greater horror was right behind me…!
‘And…… if you can save someone, it’s only right to do so.’
I simply did what I could.
So I just shook my head.
“Anyone would have done the same.”
“Are you serious? I don’t think so….”
“If we’re talking about contribution, I think you two should have been promoted as well. I feel a bit apologetic that I was the only one.”
Go Young-eun’s expression turned serious.
“Ah, no. I… I don’t want to be promoted yet.”
“…….”
“Oh, of course, I’m sure you’ll do great, Sol-eum-ssi!”
I feel like I’m going to cry for some reason….
“But, why do you think we should have been promoted? In that exhibition, the items and everything else came out of your pocket, Sol-eum-ssi… you remember that, right?”
Go Young-eun looked at me with eyes that seemed to pity me for some reason.
“Um. If you seem too nice while working at a company, people will look down on you. Maybe you don’t need to speak so highly of others….”
What?
No matter how I looked at it, she seemed to be seeing me in an overly positive light due to the ‘life-saver effect’… but thinking of the Silver Heart, I just lowered my head.
Let’s be kind!
“……Thank you for the advice.”
Baek Sa-heon looked between Go Young-eun and me with an expression of disbelief but remained silent.
Then he stood up and left without a word of goodbye.
Well, whatever.
I exchanged polite farewells with Go Young-eun and turned around.
Then I thought.
‘When should I start wearing the Silver Heart?’
Should I only wear it when I’m on a mission?
I rolled the badge between my fingers inside my pocket, making various plans.
Just then, a now-familiar figure walked toward me from the other end of the hallway….
A white lizard head.
“Section Chief.”
“Kim Sol-eum-ssi.”
It seemed he had been speaking with the Team Leader while I was receiving my reward.
Now, even those vertical pupils felt somewhat familiar.
‘Is this also the life-saver effect?’
I paused for a moment, recalling the lizard’s brutal knuckle-duster strikes that had snapped the guide machine’s needle in half.
Then, the lizard’s vertical pupils turned toward the empty regeneration bottle and the box.
“Did you use it?”
“Pardon? Ah. It wasn’t mine. My colleague here… Ms. Go Young-eun used hers.”
“Hello, Section Chief! I’m Go Young-eun!”
Go Young-eun bowed her head toward the strange lizard… no, the Section Chief of another team.
The lizard looked at Go Young-eun with lidless eyes.
“I have a question.”
“Ye—yes.”
“Are you the owner of the escape item?”
“…Pardon?”
“In the B-grade Darkness in the form of an exhibition three days ago, did you possess a cognitive-disruption item in the shape of a candle?”
Ah.
“Ah… um. Something like that….”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Go Young-eun trailed off as she caught my eye and grasped the situation, but she was quick enough not to deny it.
However, she must have felt the need to leave quickly.
“Yes. Well then, I’ll be going now.”
With that polite farewell, she quickly slipped away down the opposite end of the hallway.
‘Good judgment…….’
Relieved, I took a bottle of water out of my bag and took a sip….
“Kim Sol-eum-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“Refrain from repetitive lying.”
I almost sprayed water out of my nose.
“The more often it is mentioned, the less effective it becomes.”
“…….”
When did he notice?
But first, I bowed my head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it would be difficult to persuade them to spend precious escape time unless they believed a colleague had the escape item.”
“Yes.”
To say he was answering with short sentences because he was furious….
‘His voice is too calm.’
This is just the kind of person—no, lizard—he is.
I carefully lifted my head.
Surprisingly, the lizard was… smiling slightly!
“All humans lie.”
“…….”
“What matters is the purpose and the result of the act.”
The statement felt almost philosophical.
‘…Is he saying it doesn’t really matter because I lied with good intentions and the result was good?’
“…….”
Forget it.
“I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Yes.”
That was the end of the conversation.
Section Chief Lizard returned to being a stoic reptile with vertical pupils.
‘I thought his personality was somewhat removed from that of an ordinary person….’
I felt that even more deeply now. In a good way.
I picked up the box containing the Regeneration Potion from the chair.
-
Friend
, is your work finished?
Just then, Brown spoke to me from inside my pocket.
We had agreed to refrain from small talk while I was working in the office so as not to get caught with the ‘Good Friend,’ but… the timing was right, so why not ask?
I pulled the stuffed toy slightly out of my pocket.
‘Brown. About the employee standing next to me right now.’
-Ah, you mean the tall superior of the Roe Deer?
‘Yeah. What does he look like to you?’
-Ho-oh.
A short silence followed, as if he were examining him.
-His eyes, nose, mouth, and even his auditory organs all look perfectly normal!
‘…As a lizard?’
-A lizard? Haha, Roe Deer-ssi, you certainly have a mischievous way with metaphors. Who are you trying to tease? A lizard, of all things!
“…….”
Even Brown doesn’t see him as a lizard?
Could it be… that I’m really the only one who sees him as a lizard?
“Kim Sol-eum-ssi.”
“Yes, Section Chief.”
I made up my mind again. From now on, I won’t even breathe a word about lizards.
“We are moving.”
Section Chief Lee Ja-heon headed toward the elevator.
I followed the lizard, acting as natural as possible, and asked.
“Should I return to the office?”
“No.”
Hmm?
“…Then where are we going?”
“To a restricted area where access is granted starting from the rank of Assistant Manager.”
“…!”
“I will explain the usage protocol.”
Here it comes.
In this company, as an employee’s rank increases, various authorities are granted.
These could be benefits, abilities, or access to certain locations.
“As you have been promoted to Assistant Manager, Kim Sol-eum-ssi, you are now authorized to use three additional facilities.”
In front of the annex, I received a file from Section Chief Lee Ja-heon.
- Security Team Rental Warehouse
- Annex (Two free equipment fabrications per year)
- Fox Counseling Room
“From now on, Kim Sol-eum-ssi, you may check out equipment from the Security Team Rental Warehouse.”
“…….”
“In the annex, you may customize your own equipment using Twilight-grade Darkness without the supervision of a superior, and if necessary, you may register for the Fox Counseling Room.”
Benefits I already knew about.
And several spaces I didn’t know about, but that I had information on through the Wiki, were being opened to me.
A slight sense of achievement and a thrill.
And anticipation.
‘The number of ways I can survive in this crazy world has increased…!’
But everything has two sides.
Better treatment means the company wants more from the employee.
In the case of this company….
‘Danger.’
True to a company that deals with ghost stories, the fact that only high ranks can access these things means they likely contain dangers that civilians cannot handle.
Like this.
“Also, an Assistant Manager in the Field Exploration Team is assigned one point of Darkness to manage.”
“…….”
That’s right.
Separately from the team, I now had one ghost story that I had to manage directly!
“Usually, even if an individual is in charge, the team manages it together, but the primary responsibility lies with the employee themselves.”
Distributing responsibility among field staff.
A very corporate move. I’m getting a taste of the familiar 21st-century salaryman life here….
According to Section Chief Lee Ja-heon, as years of service accumulate and rank increases, the assigned Darkness becomes more numerous and dangerous.
Fortunately, I was still a rookie.
“Since you have less than a year of service and are an Assistant Manager, an F-grade will be assigned to you.”
Phew.
“Manage it according to the schedule and register any anomalies in the checklist.”
“Yes.”
Since it was a situation where I had to do it whether I liked it or not, I decided to say a meaningful prayer instead of wasting energy whining.
‘Please! Please! Let it be a normal, low-grade Darkness!’
If it turns out like the Tuesday Quiz Show, I’d rather just quit and study for the Disaster Management Bureau exam!
But then I heard something surprising.
“Are you saying I can choose?”
“Yes.”
Section Chief Lee Ja-heon said he would show me a few candidates and let me choose from among them!
“Is it usually like this?”
“No.”
The lizard stared at me.
“This is my authority.”
…?!
So, he was using his official authority to flexibly give me options?
That lizard?
“Thank you very much for your consideration. But… may I ask why you are doing this for me?”
“It is a reward.”
“Pardon?”
“It is a reward for your actions in finding the correct exit in the B-grade ghost story and leading all of Team D back without injury.”
“…But Section Chief, you also saved my life from the guide machine.”
“That is a matter of responsibility.”
The lizard said matter-of-factly.
“A Team Leader has the duty to take responsibility for their members within the scope of their abilities.”
“…….”
Wow, he really is a good boss.
‘I almost felt touched.’
If I were truly a fresh graduate in my first job, I would have postponed my decision to quit for at least a month.
Was this why Deputy Manager Eun Haje and Assistant Manager Park Min-seong tried so hard to look favorably on the Section Chief’s work?
Even I felt like I should do my best.
“…Thank you, nonetheless.”
“Yes.”
After bowing my head, I headed toward the F-grade Darkness containment room that the lizard was leading me to.
It was an unexpectedly great situation.
‘If I play this right, I could actually benefit from this.’
The Wiki is a wiki.
What that means is that because various creators made entries while only following the rules, the standards for each grade could vary slightly.
‘Even for the same F-grade, the range of utility could be very high.’
If only one knows the proper way to handle it, that is.
And through the Wiki, I already knew those ways.
If it was a Darkness recorded there.
“These are the three points of F-grade Darkness.”
I looked up.
Three objects were visible before me….
A worn-out teddy bear.
Two black cards.
A model airplane.
“…!”
‘I know all three.’
It was a jackpot.
-Ah, what a worn-out and ugly doll.
Meanwhile, Brown spoke with a somewhat displeased voice. Was he wary of the doll because of the influence of the ‘Good Friend’?
-Anyway, the time for choice has come, Roe Deer-ssi!
I contemplated.
And I reached out my hand.
“I will take charge of this Darkness.”
