Even if I fall into a ghost story, I still have to go to work
Chapter 82
Even if you fall into an urban legend, you still have to go to work.
Even if you fall into an urban legend, you still have to go to work. Chapter 82.
Even if you fall into an urban legend, you still have to go to work. Chapter 082.
The morning after clearing a high school urban legend inside a horrific horror game.
The fact that I still had to go to the office—a reality more terrifying than any ghost story—drove me to get ready for work.
However, the commute didn’t feel quite as heavy this time.
I had something to rely on.
An A-grade solution filled the Dream Collector to the brim.
‘Reassuring.’
I carefully packed the Dream Collector, brimming with the golden liquid, into my briefcase.
It was the harvest of last night’s labor.
Furthermore, the moment I fully pushed myself up from the bed, I confirmed a rather unique ‘additional harvest.’
Clatter, clatter.
Something that had been covering my body spilled onto the floor.
Dozens of… beads?
They were transparent beads that looked like they could be loaded into the Glass Hand Cannon.
I picked one up to examine its appearance and read the single Hanja character inscribed inside.
護
Is that… the character for ‘protect’?
-Aha, it is a character that frequently appears with the meaning of guarding or protecting someone. Quite predictable and intuitive.
Ah.
I realized what it was immediately.
‘This is the clear reward for the game’s final chapter!’
[Graduation Ceremony successfully held (Deaths: 2, Survivors: 1)]
[Confirmed that Field Exploration Team staff who died as students woke up safely in the morning.]
[A large quantity of reward items found in the bed of the sole survivor. (Analyzed as a type of protective charm somewhat effective for exorcism and protection.)]
In other words, I had brought items from the dream game into reality.
Just like Baek Sa-heon, who had snatched the fountain pen item from the Faculty Office.
“…Hmm.”
Come to think of it.
When I stepped out into the entryway, Baek Sa-heon’s shoes were already gone.
‘He rushed off to work to avoid me.’
We’ll see about that later.
At any rate, it meant these dozens of glass beads functioned as ‘protective charms’ to some extent.
‘I think I’ll have a use for these.’
I swept the ‘charms’ into my tattoo storage, tucked one or two into my pocket, and continued getting ready.
However.
-…….
-…….
An unusual silence seemed to hang in the air.
‘…Brown.’
-Oh, you are calling for me, friend?
‘By any chance…’
‘Was it… very uncomfortable last night?’
The host of the Tuesday Quiz Show, whose stuffing had nearly been flattened because I used him as a pillow….
-Haha, it certainly wasn’t the best feeling of my life!
-It seems my friend had a very interesting experience alone last night, and it never feels particularly good for anyone when I am the only one not invited….
Oops.
-Ah, but it is a relief. While this Brown was having the special experience of feeling like a waffle, it seems my friend at least felt something special as well!
“…….”
Well….
‘I did feel something special.’
-Indeed!
‘I held a graduation ceremony with a bang.’
-A graduation ceremony? Did you perhaps give a congratulatory speech?
No.
‘A teacher who didn’t like my hosting attacked me. I held out until the end while my limbs were popping off one by one.’
-Goodness!
Brown, who had seemed somewhat offended, quickly became excited once I explained the events of the dream in detail.
I should give him something like that… aroma massage the tattooist did for him later tonight.
-An excellent attitude, Roe Deer-ssi! I wish to hear more.
Right, right.
I continued explaining what had happened to me on the way to the office.
From being chased by students to becoming one myself.
-Ho-oh!
And finally, just as I arrived at the building and was heading up to my office.
“Sol-eum-ssi!”
I ran into a familiar face.
“Ah, Section Chief Lee Byung-jin.”
Lee Byung-jin, the manual review manager whom I had rescued from the Window Ghost urban legend, greeted me with delight.
“I heard the entire Field Exploration Team tried to enter an urban legend with a decent yield this time!”
Ah, so he already knows about the high school urban legend.
Well, an official notice had been sent out for all Field Exploration Team members to attempt entry.
“How did it go for your team?”
“Ah, well, I did go in and come back… but I’m not sure about the others.”
I suspected the Lizard Section Chief hadn’t been able to enter.
‘If he had entered, it would have definitely been recorded in the Graduation Album….’
No, the record wouldn’t have even been written in the first place. This urban legend was the perfect counter to Lee Ja-heon.
‘There’s no way a chase would mean anything to someone who can just crush everything with physical attacks….’
It would ruin the legend.
Even if a butterfly effect had occurred because I intervened in the exploration, I would have noticed Section Chief Lee Ja-heon’s presence if he had been there.
‘He wasn’t there.’
……And.
The other person from Team D…….
Died.
‘Phew.’
Just as I was about to open my mouth to say that.
“Ah, Team D only consisted of the Team Leader and Assistant Manager Sol-eum, right? I guess you guys didn’t run into each other.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Still, it was an individual match, wasn’t it? I’m sure you didn’t get in the way of our company’s future! The talented Assistant Manager Sol-eum, haha!”
…….
What?
“Wait a moment. When you say Team D only has two people…”
“Huh? Didn’t the personnel appointment get put on hold for a bit?”
The Section Chief spoke to me with a puzzled expression.
“Since that person in Team D was contaminated and might recover, didn’t they send a separate notice to skip this season and focus on support duties…?”
“……!”
Ah.
In the next moment, I realized.
Assistant Manager Yun Jo-hun.
The newly appointed man had been removed as an error by the ‘Teacher’ in the dream….
And was removed from reality as well.
He had been literally deleted.
As if he were a person who had never existed in reality from the very beginning.
“…….”
Right.
‘That’s why people mistakenly thought there were no deaths in that urban legend.’
They understood it as being dragged back to that school on the night of the new moon even in the worst-case scenario.
Everyone!
Because….
Those who collected many name tags and stubbornly held out on the high floors without being retired were all ‘deleted.’
Because they became people who never existed in the first place.
……It was a terrifying ability to manipulate reality.
‘……No wonder the solution came out as A-grade.’
I could feel that something even deeper and darker was involved….
Chills ran down my spine.
Objectively, this might be a situation that wasn’t bad for me.
A person who was clearly difficult to work with had naturally disappeared.
But…….
‘It’s no different from a damnatio memoriae.’
My stomach churned. Moreover, this feeling that only I remembered was truly strange.
No, wait.
‘Why am I the only one who remembers in the first place?’
Shouldn’t everyone have forgotten together?
Was it because I witnessed the death directly?
Ah!
Or perhaps the influence missed me because I was eating a Nostalgia Candy at the time?
Come to think of it, when I ate the Nostalgia Candy, I…….
…….
…….
“So, Sol-eum-ssi?”
“…Ah. I must have been mistaken about something.”
Anyway, it wasn’t important right now, so I focused on the conversation.
Even if he was from a different team, a superior was still a superior.
Just then, Section Chief Lee Byung-jin asked me with an expectant look.
“Ah, come to think of it, Sol-eum-ssi, how did it go? What grade did you clear it with? If you show me the collector, I can probably tell you the grade based on the concentration of the liquid….”
“Ah.”
I readily took the collector out of my briefcase and showed it to him.
The golden liquid sloshed inside.
“It’s this.”
“…….”
After a silence.
“…?!”
Rub, rub. Lee Byung-jin wiped his glasses.
“Haha, I must be getting old, my eyes are dim, it looks like the light is over-reflecting…?”
“Ah.”
I spoke in a cheerful voice.
“Does it look like an A-grade to you as well, Section Chief?”
“…….”
Lee Byung-jin put his glasses back on.
“……Right now,”
“…?”
“You should be going to report this right now! What are you doing?! Hurry!”
I was summoned and called in an instant.
It meant the people in charge had snatched my collector before I could even clock in at the Team D office.
“My goodness!”
The looks from the staff, which seemed to say ‘It’s you again?’, well, I suppose good news is good news.
And the measured grade was…….
“Kim Sol-eum-ssi.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“The grade of the solution you collected from the darkness last night has been confirmed as A.”
That afternoon, while I was sitting in the office writing the exploration report, Section Chief Lee Ja-heon calmly informed me.
I had guessed as much.
The problem was what he said next.
“And a request for a solo interview has come in for Kim Sol-eum-ssi regarding this exploration.”
“…….”
Well, I couldn’t avoid this one….
The second A.
Especially since this one had popped out of an unprecedented urban legend again.
‘An A-grade in that urban legend probably only existed in name.’
Most were D or F.
Someone who held out for a long time, sweeping up items and name tags, might have pulled a C-grade solution once or twice, but that would be it.
It seemed the higher-ups were buzzing again, saying a jackpot had been hit in an urban legend that was usually just used for item farming.
But the thing was.
‘This is actually the end.’
Only the first clear counts for that….
[Attempted a clear in a similar manner afterward, but the solution extracted was one or two grades lower than the same grade ending (B).]
‘That’s just how the game format is.’
If it’s not the first time, it’s a repetition, so it doesn’t count as an achievement….
Of course, I didn’t intend to say all of this, but I had to drop some hints so I wouldn’t face the ridiculous blame of ‘We invested in you and another A didn’t come out!’
‘I’m going to be run ragged all afternoon….’
It was just as I was anticipating this with a heavy heart.
“Kim Sol-eum-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“Do you not want to do the interview?”
Are… are you going to let me out of it??
But after a moment’s thought, I shook my head.
“No. It’s fine. I should do it.”
If I wanted to avoid being told something absurd like ‘You tried to end it with just a status report, so we couldn’t get an A-grade clear!’… Ugh.
“Understood.”
Section Chief Lee Ja-heon didn’t ask twice. He was truly lizard-like.
And a short while later, at the appointed time.
I left the Team D office for the interview.
‘They called me to a high floor.’
I got off at the 31st floor as designated and sought out the meeting room.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
At the permission from inside, I opened the door very cautiously.
It was a grand meeting room with sunlight pouring through the gaps in the blinds.
And a massive black circular desk.
However….
“Hmm.”
The research team members who were supposed to be there for the interview were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, at the very head of that giant desk sat a single person, alone.
A woman with dark blue hair, wearing a sharp three-button suit, looked at me with a benevolent air.
She didn’t look frail, but her aura made it difficult to gauge her age.
And on the desk sat a striking black mother-of-pearl nameplate.
[Executive Director Cheong Dal-lae]
“…?!”
A-An Executive Director??
Wait, right now, in the meeting room I was called to… the Executive Director is sitting here alone?
It wasn’t even Section Chief Lee Byung-jin’s superior or that Executive Director Ho who was associated with Team A.
However, the surname itself…….
‘I’ve heard it before….’
Back when Section Chief Lee Byung-jin, who was in Executive Director Ho’s line, went missing.
In the gossip of the office staff speculating who would come as his successor.
-To be honest, it’s a mystery what the new person will be like… but the chances of someone from the same line being appointed are low. Someone from Executive Director Cheong’s side will probably come.
Executive Director Cheong.
A distant superior I had never been involved with until now, one of the executives of this company’s development department, had called for me…!
‘This is insane….’
Of course, while reeling in shock, I was bowing my head deeply.
Just because I was surprised didn’t mean I could forget my social graces!
“…! It is an honor to meet you, Ma’am.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.”
Accepting my greeting, Executive Director Cheong waved her hand toward the chairs lined up around the circular table.
“Let’s have a seat first.”
“Yes.”
Where on earth should I sit?
After some deliberation, I sat at a spot that wasn’t the head of the table but wasn’t too far to hold a conversation with her.
Then, someone who appeared to be from the secretariat entered the room, placed some documents in front of the director, and left.
I felt like I was breaking into a cold sweat.
‘What is this situation?’
Since I couldn’t grasp the context, I decided to focus on that first.
“So… Assistant Manager Sol-eum? Are you still in your twenties?”
“I was born in the year XX.”
“Young. I’ll speak comfortably, so you should be at ease as well. I’ve called you here for something good.”
“By ‘something good,’ do you mean…?”
“It means I’ve heard many rumors about you, Assistant Manager.”
Executive Director Cheong smiled thinly.
“It was very impressive. If only more recruits like you joined, we wouldn’t have any issues with raw material procurement.”
“Thank you.”
When a high-ranking person says something like that, it’s best to just sit politely and maintain a listening posture.
Trying to actively engage by saying I’ll perfectly meet her needs might just end up looking like I’m overstepping….
‘Is she here personally to grace me with her presence while telling me to write the A-grade manual well?’
To make sure I know who to thank.
“So, Assistant Manager Sol-eum.”
But the main point started from there.
Without warning.
“By any chance, are you interested in the elite teams?”
I almost choked on my own spit.
“Well…”
“Ah, I know you received an offer from Section Chief Seok of Team A last time and turned it down.”
“…!”
“’I will build from the basics’…. A good excuse. You handled it well.”
Oh, boy.
“That team… hmph, it’s good that they try to maintain the hierarchy, but sometimes their priorities get swapped, and they value hierarchy over exploration.”
“…….”
“It’s not a pretty sight, but well, isn’t knowing how to pick the right side also a skill? Haha!”
You’re very blatantly revealing that Team A is from a different faction.
‘I will not react to that statement with a single word, Ma’am….’
I’ll just nod with a clumsy smile.
If I get caught in this, it’ll go down as me badmouthing Team A with the Executive Director.
The Director would be fine, of course!
But a fresh recruit like me who hasn’t picked a side would be screwed….
I tried to look like I was struggling to find the right words while attempting to remain calm.
“Um, it was clear to me that I needed the basics since it hasn’t been long since I joined… so I am currently learning diligently…”
“Hahaha! It’s alright, it’s alright. Yes, it’s a situation that would make you nervous, Assistant Manager Sol-eum.”
Executive Director Cheong let out a hearty laugh before her expression turned serious.
“You don’t need to agree with everything I say. I don’t like sycophants.”
“…….”
“Right. I should be more precise with my word choice. Shouldn’t I?”
Executive Director Cheong paused as if lost in thought for a moment, then closed the documents and spoke.
" I’m not saying I’ll put you into one of the elite teams.”
“…?”
“I meant, are you interested in receiving the treatment of an elite team? Yes… I suppose I could ask it like this.”
Executive Director Cheong smiled thinly.
“How would you feel if Team D became an elite team?”
“…!!”
“The whole team, with you adding one team member of your choice.”
My god.
