Even if I fall into a ghost story, I still have to go to work
Chapter 65
A black booklet hologram is overlaid onto Assistant Manager Park Min-seong’s head.
The hologram, clinging like tar, oozes down as Assistant Manager Park Min-seong struggles, clawing at the floor.
Behind his flailing form, the cheerful voice rings out from the TV again.
[Now, I’ll announce the new teachers who failed to actively participate in the Hangman game!]
Soon, similar scenes repeated all around.
The problem was, the problem was…
[New Teacher Park Min-seong, you didn’t get a single alphabet right!]
One previously accumulated penalty.
One penalty for standing on the podium.
And…
One penalty for failing to guess a letter.
That meant,
[Accumulated Penalties: 3]
The TV pronounced the sentence.
[New Teacher Park Min-seong has been designated for remedial learning.]
[You will receive eternal instruction at the kindergarten and prepare for the grand opening until you become a perfect teacher of the ■■ Affiliated Kindergarten.]
Of the black booklet holograms covering the faces of those who failed to guess the letters, only Assistant Manager Park Min-seong’s turned blood-red.
Then, it enveloped his entire body.
“■!!”
The Assistant Manager’s scream was eaten away into a strange form.
“No■, ■elp, ■■■■…!”
A human being rolled and twisted on the floor in a horrific state.
Passages from a manual recited in an unrecognizable voice intersected with the text popping out and the sounds of sobbing.
Yet, those around him paid no mind.
They merely glanced and moved away as if to avoid any involvement, waiting for the next step written in the manual.
Specifically…
[You all worked hard during today’s mock play! Goodbye, new teachers!]
Clear confirmed.
“…….”
“Ah, fuck, finally!”
“Move!”
The moment they realized the game was over, people who were now free to swear and run rushed out of the Playroom.
Soon, even the employees whose ten-minute penalty education had ended vomited up the tar-like holograms; clutching their foreheads, they staggered up and ran, limping.
Some even bumped into me.
“Huh?”
“…….”
“Wh-what?”
“…….”
“The door is only open for exactly 30 minutes! If you don’t get out now, you’ll be processed as an applicant too! Damn it!”
And then they ran past me again.
“…….”
I was left alone.
With the ‘contaminated’ Assistant Manager Park Min-seong rolling on the floor.
-My goodness, to think my friend was misunderstood as having applied to such a stale place! Let us leave at once, Roe Deer-ssi!
“…No.”
-Roe Deer-ssi?
The game is over.
That means….
The rules of this horror have also ended.
‘In the worst-case scenario, even if I run alone, ten minutes is enough to get out the door.’
So.
“Assistant Manager… I should at least try to take him with me.”
I can hold out.
I have to try as much as I can.
It worked before.
‘I don’t want to give up right away.’
I saved a man who had become the Hangman by finding a sliver of an opening; I didn’t want to accept an ending where the person who tried to save him ended up missing in the horror.
I didn’t want to leave a trivia note on the wiki like, ‘That’s an exploration result worthy of the Hungry Hangman.’
‘…I can do it.’
I lifted my head.
And immediately reached my hand into the tattoo on my wrist.
: 恩主 :
Items I had stored inside emerged from the glowing tattoo. The Candle Making Kit, apple juice, the Blood-Sucking Knife, stickers, dozens of bundles of 500-won coins….
-Oh, what interesting item do you plan to use this time, friend?
“I’m not going to use anything.”
-Hmm? Then that action is….
I stuffed all the items I had taken out into my briefcase. Since the Blood Bath Tub wasn’t there, they barely fit.
I pulled out things like the Blood-Sucking Knife that looked like they might pop out and tucked them into my back pocket.
‘…Done.’
The resulting briefcase was heavy, but not so much that I couldn’t run with it.
And what remained.
Was the empty space inside my wrist.
-It was to clear out space?
Correct.
I lightly reached my hand into the space connected through the wrist tattoo and pulled it out.
“This, you said the size was a volume equivalent to a cube with 60cm sides, right?”
-Precisely.
“But it’s atypical, isn’t it?”
-…! That too….
Interest and a hint of a smile mixed into Brown’s voice.
-Is correct.
Good.
‘It’s all or nothing anyway.’
I clearly heard that being trapped forever in this horror, contaminated and unable to even die, is more terrible than death.
‘Let’s try it.’
I gritted my teeth and waited.
For Assistant Manager Park Min-seong’s third penalty to end.
‘Trying to grab him and do something right now would be foolish.’
If I make contact with someone undergoing a penalty, that holographic manual will be kindly ‘shown’ to me as well.
Then I would also be in a retired state for 10 minutes, reciting the manual.
‘That would be the end.’
I suppressed my anxiety and waited calmly.
‘Time remaining until the penalty ends… 7 minutes.’
6 minutes.
5 minutes.
4 minutes.
3 minutes.
2 minutes.
1 minute….
0.
“…….”
The red, tar-like viscous substances around Assistant Manager Park Min-seong, who was collapsed on the floor, vanished.
And he slowly stood up.
With the appearance of a neat kindergarten teacher.
On the body that had been wearing a black suit, I now saw soft beige-tone pants, a white T-shirt, and a light green apron.
In one hand, he held a brown folder with a red title.
And revealed on the bare face where the mask had completely melted away….
Was a brand on his forehead.
[Sprout Class]
A soft smile appeared on Assistant Manager Park Min-seong’s fully revealed face.
“Teacher Sol-eum!”
Fuck.
“Did you wait for me while I was reciting the manual? Thank you so much.”
“…Of course I had to wait.”
Don’t be shaken. Don’t show it on the outside, or I’m fucked.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Of course. I couldn’t be better!”
Assistant Manager Park Min-seong smiled softly and nodded.
“…I’m glad to hear that. Shall we go now?”
“Go? Ah… home?”
“Yes. Let’s go together.”
“Ah, I don’t have a clock-out time! I’m not a new teacher anymore. I’ve finished reading the manual!”
“But going home is….”
“I told you, there isn’t one.”
“…….”
“Hmm. It’s time for me to go to the Sprout Class and help prepare for the opening….”
Then Assistant Manager Park Min-seong shouted with a bright expression.
“Ah, that’s right! Teacher Sol-eum, do you want to come with me?”
Chills ran down my spine.
“Teacher Sol-eum, you don’t know which class you’ll be assigned to yet, do you? You haven’t read the manual yet. You’ll know once you read it. Your assigned class!”
Assistant Manager Park Min-seong reaches out his hand.
“Where could it be? It would be great if we were in the Sprout Class together. Since we were originally in the same team,”
Damn it.
Damn it!
I naturally took a step back as if considering the proposal.
The teacher’s outstretched hand brushed through the air.
“Oh….”
“I appreciate the offer, but… I think I need to drop this off outside the entrance first.”
I lifted the briefcase.
“There are some borrowed items, and I think I need to return them on time.”
“Teacher Sol-eum, I wondered why you had so many interesting items; they were borrowed?”
“Yes.”
Please don’t get caught.
‘Please.’
The thing that… used to be Assistant Manager Park Min-seong replied with professional courtesy, kind and gentle.
“Then shall I ask the other teachers to help move it?”
“It’s just a briefcase. If it’s alright, I’d just like you to guide me to the entrance for a moment. …Assistant Manager Osori.”
Assistant Manager Park Min-seong froze.
“…….”
Could it be.
“…Assistant Manager Osori?”
…….
The Assistant Manager’s mouth opens.
“That….”
…!
But in the next moment.
“Sure! Let’s go to the entrance together.”
The voice of the gentle teacher returned.
“…….”
“Teacher Sol-eum?”
“Yes, please just accompany me to the entrance. I’ll move quietly so as not to be a disturbance.”
“Great!”
I turned my body and headed out of the Playroom.
With the completely contaminated ‘Teacher’ Park Min-seong right behind me.
‘Ha.’
Slowly, I moved my feet.
Step. Step.
From right behind me,
I could hear the sound of him following closely.
Not the sound of dress shoes, but the sound of soft fabric indoor slippers.
Step. Step.
“Ah, I’ll help you carry the briefcase.”
“It’s fi—”
Before I could even finish saying it was fine,
The teacher’s hand grabbed half of the briefcase I was holding.
And the cover of the perfect teacher’s manual he held in the same hand, tap, brushed against my hand.
Step. Step.
“…….”
It’s okay.
I don’t hear any sounds piercing my mind suddenly, nor does a maddening fear or dread rush in.
‘I can get out.’
There isn’t much left until the entrance.
I just have to walk.
But at the same time, a thought occurs to me.
Is it right for me to sneak out of the entrance like this?
Fuck.
Look at me, swearing.
Is it because I haven’t recited the manual even once? It’s a bit of a shameful thing….
Actually, isn’t it an opportunity for education bestowed upon me under the name of a penalty, rather than a punishment?
This is crazy.
Wait a minute. Let’s not just dismiss it as contamination and think about it seriously.
This is a wonderful workplace. Preparing for a perfect opening with polite and obedient people would be a supreme joy.
I have an aptitude for becoming a perfect teacher.
The ■■ Affiliated Kindergarten told me!
No.
What do you mean, no.
I mocked myself. I know it’s a penalty even if the lie is caught. Let’s just efficiently give up on the entrance.
That’s the right thing to do.
Let’s voluntarily recite the manual here. I think I can ask Teacher Park Min-seong to look at it with me.
I can’t.
If I borrow the manual
No.
Don’t think of anything else.
Because the deeper the thoughts get, the more I’ll admit that this is quite a good idea—
That will never happen!
Focus on moving your feet. If you move your feet one by one, the entrance gets closer and closer.
Step, step.
“…….”
I’ve arrived.
It’s the entrance!
Instead of the messy entrance we first came through, there’s a neat-looking entrance, and
I don’t want to leave—
Shut up.
“You’re going to throw this bag now, right?”
I pulled on the briefcase. In that gap, the manual that had been touching my hand
Regrettably
Fell.
“Shall we throw it together?”
Please.
“Fine.”
Let it work.
“You just need to hold here….”
And only then did I turn my head.
The sight of Assistant Manager Park Min-seong, smiling with the face of a ‘Teacher,’ filled my vision.
As did his leaning torso and outstretched hands, reaching to grab the briefcase as I suggested.
’Now.’
I grabbed the ‘Teacher’ by the head.
“…!!”
And I violently shoved him into my forearm.
‘He’s going in.’
The size of the space attached to my tattoo is a cube with 60cm sides.
But it’s not actually a fixed cube shape. It’s a non-fixed, atypical space.
So if I were to convert this to another volume….
‘It’s more than enough to fit one adult male.’
I kept my gaze fixed upward.
Crr-ack, crunch.
I could feel the humanoid body being stuffed into the tattoo on my wrist resisting, as if joints were shattering…!
‘I intentionally tried to put him in face-first.’
It was because if we spoke, I would surely be influenced, and the contamination would intensify.
I kept pressing down with one hand. The space inside the tattoo continued to swallow it without trouble—
Ah! The manual touched me! I should take this separately and—
I absolutely will not.
Once I finished cramming even his last foot in, now….
Grab!
“…!”
Something suddenly shot out and grabbed my left forearm.
The right hand of Assistant Manager Park Min-seong, his knuckles white with force.
“Ugh!”
Damn it!
I tried to pry the fingers off one by one, but it was no use.
‘I must not let the teacher be harmed.’
I didn’t know how this darkness would react.
‘Quietly…!’
Holding my breath, I pulled out the Blood-Sucking Knife and stabbed it into my own arm.
“……!”
As the fingers were torn away, chunks of flesh from my forearm were also ripped out. It was a pain that should have made me scream like a madman, but it was blocked by tension and adrenaline.
At the same time I shoved the last finger into the tattoo, I hurriedly stepped through the entrance.
Thud.
The final step.
“…….”
I lifted my head.
A blue midday sky.
Before I knew it, only the dilapidated, closed-down private kindergarten building stood behind me.
The sparkling sunlight shone on the weeds in the open outskirts of Seoul.
“…….”
It was a clear.
I looked down.
I saw Deputy Manager Eun Haje collapsed on the ground, missing a wrist.
The other employees were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had already left….
I pulled my smartphone out of my pocket.
And I pressed the buttons as arranged.
A signal goes through, proving it’s reality, and the other party picks up the phone….
“Is this… the Security Team Rental Warehouse?”
The prepared words barely came out of my dry mouth.
“I need equipment to contain a contamination….”
Because.
“I have rescued a contaminated employee.”
…….
…….
I did it.
I lost consciousness right then and there.
