Even if I fall into a ghost story, I still have to go to work
Chapter 79
I Guess You Still Have to Go to Work Even if You Fall into an Urban Legend
I Guess You Still Have to Go to Work Even if You Fall into an Urban Legend Chapter 79
I Guess You Still Have to Go to Work Even if You Fall into an Urban Legend Episode 079
The 13th exploration record I added.
- If you obtain and wear the school uniform through appropriate means, you can be treated as a student.
In truth, this was quite a radical piece of content.
If handled poorly, it was a choice that could spoil the flavor of the existing urban legend.
A school horror story.
Monsters that only move when no one is watching.
“Under the Dark Shadow,” created by playing with these two clichés, was originally a classic “terror of the pursued” themed urban legend.
A nightmare where familiar places and people from daily life become incomprehensible, grotesque entities that hunt you until you die.
However, once more than ten exploration records accumulate, the world-building starts to piece together bit by bit.
‘It adds the fun of imagining the background of the world in detail.’
Exploration Record #5
Writing found on the blackboard:
Avoid the teacher. The teacher is— (The rest of the text is roughly erased.)
In that way, the lore builds up layer by layer.
For twelve records, it had only been building up, and since this urban legend was quite popular, the atmosphere suggested it would just keep “building up” indefinitely.
‘At that point, it starts to get frustrating.’
It becomes difficult to maintain the original theme of feeling horror from a void of information.
But you see.
‘If you can explore as an insider—as a student—it adds the fun of resolving those very pieces of lore…!’
The 13th exploration record I wrote met the demands of the urban legend’s creators perfectly.
Thus, the “Under the Dark Shadow” urban legend reached a new turning point.
From the mid-to-late stages of exploration, the eerie lore scattered throughout the records began to be resolved, revealing shocking twists.
The latter half became filled with exploration records that had deeper story elements…
It was a truly marvelous indirect experience.
Watching a seed I planted grow into a larger, newer story through the participation of many people.
‘But to think I’d actually experience it for real.’
Yes.
I was now planning to experience the climax of that story a bit early.
‘Let’s go.’
Dressed as a student, I walked the dark corridors of the third floor of Segwang Industrial High School.
In the distance, I saw “monsters” trembling in fear, slowly disappearing around the corner of the hallway…
The urge to pursue flared up for a moment before vanishing.
Whew.
Existing in the school as a student was strangely comfortable.
It felt like I was standing exactly where I was supposed to be.
To that same degree, the revulsion and destructive impulse I felt when witnessing an alien “monster” roaming the school were even more intense.
Especially…
[A fatal accident has occurred in Class 2-2.]
The moment I heard that broadcast, I felt my heart drop.
A stinging sadness and a cold emptiness.
And a sense of duty to find the cause of the accident!
[Let us all observe five seconds of silence.]
I wanted to run out into the school, which had become as bright as day, and gladly eliminate the cause of this error to “observe silence,” but…
‘I’m not a student.’
I mustn’t forget.
Kim Sol-eum had a lot to do.
First, I had to go up to the fourth floor. I set foot on the stairs—
‘Ah.’
Wait?
The classroom for Class 1-5, which I belonged to, was on the second floor.
There seemed to be no reason to go up to the third floor.
The thought popped up like a notification.
“…”
So that’s why the setting that “students do not often leave their respective floors” was attached to them.
Of course, it wasn’t something I couldn’t overcome. I had only borrowed the uniform; I wasn’t actually a student here.
Whew.
I moved my feet again.
One step, then another.
[4F]
Long before the blinding “Light of Silence” filling the hallway vanished, I reached the fourth floor.
The place that had been pitch black with broken and flickering light bulbs.
The fourth floor, where dozens of students once stood frozen like mannequins staring at people, was now…
Lively.
“…!”
The students now had vibrant expressions, glancing at each other or gesturing as they shared wordless chatter.
I bit my tongue to make sure I didn’t make a sound.
The students of Segwang Industrial High School have no voices.
If you speak out loud while wearing the borrowed uniform, ■■■ ■■■■.
Afterward, you wake up and regain consciousness.
To think I’d be bound by a sentence I wrote myself.
I continued walking through the crowd of students, who either glanced at me with little interest or gave me an awkward smile when our eyes met.
Don’t look out of place…
’Naturally…’
I passed the corner of the hallway and stopped just before the stairs near the 3rd Year Faculty Office.
There was a small iron door.
[Faculty Office Storage]
It was a small space usually used for storing cleaning supplies in schools.
And right in front of it, five or six students were gathered, sitting in a circle.
It was a dense formation I never could have approached if I hadn’t been wearing the Segwang Industrial High School uniform, but…
’Now, I can enter.’
I stepped inside the circle.
The students looked at me with puzzled expressions.
Why did a freshman come all the way up here?
They seemed to be saying that.
I took out a piece of A4 paper I had brought from the Infirmary and slowly wrote.
[The seniors asked me to find a ladder in the storage room.
Would it be okay if I took one?]
One of the students smiled, took my pen, and wrote a reply.
[Okay lol]
Jingle.
When I looked up, another student was already dangling a ring of keys in front of me.
I took the keys.
And using the key labeled “4th Floor Storage,” I opened the door and went inside…
A place only a student could enter.
Creeeeeak.
A brilliant light pierced my eyes through the gap in the door.
It was because various objects inside the storage room were glowing as if asserting their presence.
Just like the Name Tag I received from Jang Heo-un.
‘My god.’
I had expected it, but it was even more bizarre and eye-catching than I thought. After closing the storage door firmly, I immediately reached for the items…
It doesn’t seem to be an item I can take yet.
Ignoring the thought that popped up once more, I rummaged through various glowing objects—buckets, mops, a small whiteboard, etc.—and finally…
I found what I was looking for.
“…”
It was a decorative brooch.
A slightly clumsy-looking ornament made of laminated thick paper, looking like it was handmade by an amateur.
[You have obtained a ’Name Tag Decoration’!]
Name Tag Decoration: A flower decoration with the words “Congratulations on Graduation” written on it. It seems to be modeled after the royal azalea, the school flower of Segwang Industrial High School.
Is it intended as a gift for graduates?
I took this “Name Tag Decoration,” which glowed the brightest, and tucked it safely into my pocket.
‘Good.’
I now had the essential item to “clear” this urban legend.
Afterward, I visited various places only students could use, checking if there were any discrepancies with the information from the exploration records I knew.
Borrowing a book from the library, tapping on the piano keys in the music room for a moment…
‘If even one thing is off, it’s better to die quickly and wake up.’
But fortunately, everything matched.
‘…Good.’
During this process, I absolutely did not go up to the 5th floor, where the Auditorium was being prepared for the graduation ceremony.
Because it wasn’t time yet.
‘I wonder when the notification will come.’
I caught my nervous breath and waited slowly…
It was then.
Aaa
aaack!
!! !
Th
at w
ay!
! ! Th
at w
ay.
..
A massive roar struck my ears.
“…!”
Is this what a glitch would sound like if it were a noise?
This insane racket, like hundreds of people scratching a blackboard with their fingernails!!
I knew exactly what it was.
‘…It’s the monsters!’
To me, it was clearly the voices of explorers who appeared as glitched monsters!
Whatever they were shouting to each other on the floor below, the massive noise struck my ears—no, it struck inside my brain.
An overwhelming impulse enveloped my body.
‘So this is why they tracked down the noisy ones first!’
I wanted to at least eliminate the noise…
‘…! Calm down, let’s calm down…’
Instead of running down the stairs, unable to endure it any longer, I suppressed the impulse as much as possible for a few seconds.
‘Let’s go now.’
Only after I had become sufficiently calm did I move to check the monsters at the other end of the 4th-floor hallway.
The monsters were in a standoff with a student.
No, it was already almost over. The student was lying face down on the floor, immobilized.
However, the monsters had not all retired.
‘Damn it.’
I prepared myself.
There was only one monster left standing.
It looked at the student face down on the floor, and then…
It turned toward me.
It stopped me.
…….
I looked at the monster that had stopped me in the distance. A human figure with a horrific shape, its face melting into pixels.
However, there was one thing different from the other monsters.
‘It’s wearing a mask.’
And the shape of that mask was…
A mountain goat!
‘…Ms. Go Young-eun!’
“Wow.”
I’m the only one left.
Go Young-eun leaned against the wall in the hallway, catching her breath.
Before her eyes lay the last student of this 3rd floor (presumably), face down and immobilized.
The student seemed to be still alive, but she didn’t feel like killing it.
‘If I kill it, the power goes out again and they swarm… ha.’
The civilians who had been traveling with her were already all dead.
‘Still, at least the last three went back with their Name Tags…’
According to the company manual, you can live your daily life normally even if you die, but it felt unsettling that the liquid in the Dream Collector only filled up if you obtained a “Name Tag.”
‘…I think there’s something more to it.’
Go Young-eun had given up on collecting Name Tags to achieve a high-grade clear and had instead subtly talked about the Name Tags to the group, sharing them.
And those people had all just died.
‘Sigh…’
Whether it was because she had become quite accustomed to these gory slaughterhouses, monsters, and ghosts while working at this company, she wasn’t overwhelmed.
To begin with, she had completed her anatomy studies and cadaver labs without issue, so she was likely strong to begin with.
‘It’s a relief they didn’t actually die for real…’
She was now at a point where she could think such things quite nonchalantly.
‘…Now, shall I try going upstairs?’
It was the moment Go Young-eun decided to catch her breath before moving.
Flicker.
“…!!”
Beyond the hallway.
Another student appeared.
A student of Segwang Industrial High School with a tall stature and a somewhat rebellious way of wearing the uniform.
‘Ha.’
Wow…
I can’t do this anymore!
‘Let’s just go.’
If I’ve lasted this long, there shouldn’t be an issue with my performance review.
Exhausted, Go Young-eun felt like just taking off the powerful headlamp she was wearing on her head.
She was about to prepare to wake up from this wretched nightmare…
Flicker.
…Huh?
‘Wa-wait a minute.’
Under the dim light, the student’s features were faintly visible.
A cool, sharp, and neat impression.
“…Roe Deer?”
It was Kim Sol-eum.
She wondered if it was just a student who looked like him, and although he looked a bit younger than usual, she was certain.
It was him.
A chill ran down Go Young-eun’s spine.
‘Wa-wait…!’
What on earth was going on?
Could it be?! If you met certain conditions in this urban legend, did you become “contaminated” and get caught like that…?
As a monster called a student?
“Ah…”
Because she had worked for several months and knew to some extent about the contamination of urban legends, terror surged through her, but…
In the next moment, she made a decision.
‘Let’s check.’
If she woke up like this and things had truly gone wrong, she thought she would hate herself for just running away in the middle.
‘It’s fine if I die now and wake up from the dream anyway.’
She struggled not to blink both eyes at the same time as she approached the hallway.
The appearance of the student standing frozen only reinforced her conviction that it was definitely Kim Sol-eum as she got closer…
‘…That rabbit doll is gone too.’
Perhaps there was a reason, but the stuffed animal keychain he used to carry was nowhere to be seen. Go Young-eun felt a sensation that was either bitterness or gloom as she advanced further.
Flicker.
The light flickered, but thanks to the headlamp on her head, there was no problem.
‘Just a little more.’
Let’s get closer.
But.
Thump.
Suddenly, a flash of light pierced Go Young-eun’s eyes.
“…!!”
Her vision temporarily vanished.
The cause was the flashlight in Kim Sol-eum’s hand.
He had set it to go off after a few seconds using a timer.
So that the eyes of anyone approaching would be temporarily paralyzed.
Go Young-eun, who couldn’t identify exactly what object it was, grasped the situation and was dumbfounded.
‘He set it up… in advance?!’
It was a trap.
For a moment, she felt a dizzying emotion, but she quickly composed herself.
‘It can’t be helped.’
She only regretted not being able to figure out exactly what kind of bizarre thing this was.
But she wouldn’t be able to think this for long. Those monsters were incredibly fast.
In the next moment, I will di—
“……??”
I’m not dead?
There was no pain, nor the floating sensation of waking from a dream.
…I was fine!
‘What?’
Go Young-eun, having adapted to the aftereffects of the flash, looked up at the “student” with a startled expression and “froze” him.
…….
Kim Sol-eum, wearing the Segwang Industrial High School uniform, was not looking at Go Young-eun.
Instead, he was looking down at the floor.
‘The floor?’
Go Young-eun stepped back slightly so she could see both Kim Sol-eum and the floor in her line of sight…
“…!”
Words had appeared on the floor.
A piece of A4 paper that had been laid down at some point, and the writing on it.
[Ms. Mountain Goat?]
Aaack!
