Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 108

The Security Chief handed me a towel to clean the blood off my uniform.

Mechanically, I wiped at the stains, doing my best not to look at the space beside me.

I knew what lay there—a grotesque corpse, head crushed by the Chief, belonging to the Nameless Radiance Cult member.

—Hmm. Quite the unsightly scene! Spreading filth on the floor without any sense of aesthetics... Oh, Soleum! A fascinating phenomenon is occurring!

"...??"

Instinctively, I turned my head.

Where blood, flesh, and a crushed head had been moments ago, the scene was changing.

It was melting away, as if time were rewinding rapidly, the dried remains transforming into the desiccated body of someone long dead.

A human corpse.

The figure was so emaciated it was impossible to identify, and from its hollowed mouth, a dried, rolled-up piece of parchment fell to the floor.

The interior of the parchment bore illegible golden letters, but as soon as my gaze landed on it, the writing shifted and rearranged itself into Korean.

"Mimicry Scripture, Verse 4"

"Story Usurper"

"...!"

A sacred scripture.

In other words, it was a tool for generating ghost stories—a core aspect of the Nameless Radiance Cult.

Cult members swallow fragments of these sacred scriptures during rituals at an altar, granting them supernatural powers.

The Security Chief approached it slowly, crouching down as if to pick it up.

"Grade 4... Want it?"

"Huh?"

"The company... buys these at a decent price. You could just say you found it elsewhere and sell it later..."

"...Are you sure it’s okay for me to take something you handled yourself?"

"What’s the big deal...?"

"......."

"I don’t really... need the money..."

That wasn’t what I meant—I was asking if it was appropriate for me to personally claim something that a company security team dealt with...

But since he was offering, I didn’t hesitate.

"Thank you."

Beyond selling it to the company, a few immediate uses for the item popped into my head.

"It’s always good to have more cards to play."

Besides, after all this trouble, taking a reward felt justified.

To avoid any potential influence, I wrapped the item in a sheet marked Packaging 12B357na and pretended to put it in my pocket, instead storing it in my inventory.

"Phew."

"Thank you again... for your help. You saved my life."

"Don’t mention it..."

Meanwhile, fragments of the past two days began resurfacing in my mind.

The uneventful monotony.

Moments that passed in a blur, devoid of anything remarkable, not even worth writing in a journal.

Days that would likely fade from memory within a year—scenes that, in a novel, would fall under the category of "narrative omission."

And that’s what was chilling.

The feeling of having time drained away.

"The Nameless Radiance Cult... truly the worst."

Of the three major factions, they were the one I least wanted to cross paths with.

"Ghost stories that blend seamlessly into reality—"

I never thought I’d encounter one while cleaning. Sure, I knew the Nameless Radiance Cult operated within Daydream Inc., but I hadn’t expected to run into an escaped isolation room entity with no preparation.

"I’m just lucky to be alive."

I exhaled a deep sigh of relief. Now I just wanted to go home and get some rest—

"Oh, over here... in the corridor."

Click.

The Security Chief opened the door to Isolation Corridor B. Beyond it, a man in an orange uniform slumped to the floor unconscious.

It was the cleaner who had entered with me.

"...Senior Osori!"

Oh no!

You were here all along, even on the third day?!

***

Fortunately, Senior Park Minseong regained consciousness shortly after being moved to the break room.

"...Huh? What? Someone pushed me, but—"

"There was an escape incident in the isolation room," I explained.

"Wha—?!"

I recounted everything that had happened to me up to this point.

Throughout my explanation, the Security Chief occasionally nodded when prompted but showed no interest in questioning how I already knew about the Nameless Radiance Cult.

Honestly, he just seemed like he didn’t want to deal with it.

"...Lifetime employment can do that to a person."

I could understand that.

Senior Park, however, seemed to process my explanation quite differently, his expression growing darker.

"Now that you mention it, I barely remember what you did on the first and second days... Just that everything seemed fine, and we finished cleaning as usual."

"......."

"Scary, huh? That cult."

"Exactly."

The Nameless Radiance Cult’s mimic had stolen even the events it had caused, absorbing them and leaving everything feeling unremarkable and mundane.

"And that was just a Grade 4?"

It was a form of reality manipulation.

In the hierarchy of Daydream Inc., that would fall somewhere between Grade B and C, meaning it wasn’t low-level.

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The real issue, though, is that the Nameless Radiance Cult is full of fanatics wielding ghost stories ranked Grade 4 or higher as their "powers."

Thinking back to that mimic, which barely resembled a human anymore, I swallowed hard.

"I just hope I don’t run into them again before I gather enough Wish Tokens."

"Anyway... Since we’re done cleaning, you should go change as well."

"Oh, right. Thanks, Soleum. I’ll be back in a moment!"

"Sure."

I waved goodbye as Senior Park left the room.

Beside me, the Security Chief was sweeping up the paper Senior Park had dropped and tossing it into the trash.

It was that strange work tip note.

"......."

"So, about that note..."

The Chief spoke first, sparing me the trouble.

"I was going to ask anyway—are those tips really something circulated within the Security Team?"

"Yeah... They are. But no way was that ever given to him."

"...Excuse me?"

"I mean Senior Park..."

The Security Chief muttered softly, staring at the door Senior Park had just exited through.

"He’s a fully contaminated ‘Hungry Hangman’ case. He’s not supposed to come into contact with any form of work guidelines... It’s too similar to the Darkness that contaminated him."

"...!!"

That’s right.

"Senior Park’s contamination from that kindergarten manual meant anything resembling it could be dangerous to him."

It made sense to keep him away from anything reminiscent of the contamination, no matter how faint the similarity.

But what the Chief said next was even more chilling.

"Senior Park can contaminate guidelines just by reading them."

"......."

What?

"If he realizes it, he’ll overthink it and accelerate the contamination. So he probably doesn’t even know..."

Which meant—

"Someone deliberately gave him the prohibited note? To make him contaminate it and have me read it?"

The Chief nodded slowly.

—Ah, a trap! A classic move.

I responded with an equally classic and straightforward question.

"Can we check the CCTV footage?"

"There’s no CCTV in the Security Team’s dormitory area. Too high a chance of recording something... unpleasant."

"...So someone took advantage of the lack of surveillance."

"Yeah, probably..."

Who could it be?

This was a direct attack on Senior Park’s work. It wasn’t just a coincidence or bad luck that the mimic escaped; it was intentional.

"Was another Nameless Radiance Cult member within the company involved?"

But such a method wouldn’t ensure the mimic’s escape—it would only create chaos.

"If escape wasn’t the goal..."

If the real target was one of the cleaning staff that day—

"If they were trying to mess with me?"

"Chief J."

"Yes...?"

"Do you think the Research Team employees might know much about the Security Team’s underground zones?"

"Some of them, depending on the team..."

The Chief’s eyes narrowed.

"Do you suspect someone in the Research Team?"

"...A little."

"Who...?"

"......."

I hesitated briefly but reminded myself that the Chief was responsible for the security of this area today and could serve as a witness.

"Fine."

"Manager Gwak Jaegang."

"......."

"Frankly, I got this punishment because I disobeyed his orders. He told me to leave a Cleanup Team rookie in a deathtrap, and I refused."

"......."

"Not that I’m accusing him outright. It’s just speculation based on the circumstances..."

"Got it."

"...??"

"Hold on."

Beep-beep-beep.

The Chief walked to a corded phone in the corner of the break room, picked up the receiver, and pressed a few buttons thoughtfully.

After a few short rings—

[Yes, this is Gwak Jaegang!]

"...!!"

I gawked as the Chief directly called the Research Team Manager in the middle of the night.

But the Chief’s face remained blank.

"This is Security Team, J3 speaking."

[...J3? Oh, wait, you’re the Team B leader—ah, no, you’re not in the Elite Team anymore, are you? Ha, not even Field Exploration? My mistake!]

"......."

[I heard you’re a Security Team Chief now. Impressive! Too bad you can’t join Darkness expeditions anymore.]

"Is he trying to provoke him?"

No, it’s not even subtle. He’s absolutely provoking him.

[So what’s the call for? Something happen? Wait, are you asking to go into a Darkness? Sorry, can’t help with that, ha!]

I tensed, watching the Chief.

"Hey."

[Hmm?]

"I may not be able to go into Darkness zones anymore, but..."

The Chief’s voice dropped, calm and deliberate.

"I can still kill people."

[......!]

"Just saying."

Click.

He hung up.

"......."

"Is... that really okay?"

"Yeah, it’s fine."

The Chief shrugged.

"Won’t really affect him. Research Team higher-ups are... hmm."

He paused, choosing his words.

"They’re insane."

"......."

Not much effort in choosing, apparently.

I forced myself to respond.

"Well, based on his reaction, my suspicion seems justified..."

It had been a subtle probe: "What happened in the Security Team zone today?" Gwak’s evasiveness confirmed my hunch.

"I thought he’d lost interest in me after my rebellion."

Apparently not.

"What a pain..."

I’ll need to rethink my countermeasures.

For now, I nodded at the Chief.

"Thank you, Chief J."

"Sure. And... be careful. He’s capable of anything."

"......."

After a moment’s thought, I asked,

"Have you had bad experiences with the Research Team yourself?"

The Chief avoided my gaze.

"Not... a fun story."

A short silence.

"I ended up in some strange fairy tale once. Took me a long... long time to get out."

He said nothing more.

"......."

‘A fairy tale ghost story caused by the Research Team.’

That one sentence was all I needed to connect the dots.

I had a good idea which Darkness the Security Chief had been contaminated by.

And naturally, a certain famous name from the Elite Team came to mind.

A character whose descent into the Security Team had been immortalized in a harrowing exploration record.

The recorded logs from Qterw-A-37, filed under "And They All Lived Unhappily Ever After," painted a grim picture.

"I could pretend not to know and press for more details..."

I could confirm yet another named character this way.

"......."

But I chose to remain silent.

I decided to respect the Security Chief’s silence.

Not long after, Senior Park Minseong returned, now dressed in a fresh uniform. The Security Chief addressed him.

"Anyway... you’ve completed the three days of cleaning... safely... so... hmm, you’re probably... good to resume working with the Security Team..."

A tentative green light for Senior Park’s recovery.

"...! Really?!"

"Yeah... And you’re likely... cleared for outdoor access now, too."

"Huh?!"

"But only after sunset."

Well, that makes sense.

"Then... could I possibly go out tonight? It’s already dark."

"N-No, Soleum, it’s fine! I can go another day—"

"Hold on..."

The Security Chief typed up a report on his outdated computer, then turned back and announced:

"Go today."

"Really?!"

"And starting now... you’ll likely be allowed out once a week."

"Wow!!"

Senior Park’s previously tired complexion flushed with color, and a wide smile lit up his face.

It was the expression I remembered from his time in Team D.

"......."

"Just make sure... you’re back before sunrise. And, um..."

"What happens if the Senior doesn’t return on time?" I asked.

"The company will... activate a retrieval service..."

"......."

"But don’t do that... unless you want... a lifetime contract."

Senior Park quickly bowed his head.

"I understand. I’ll stick to the time strictly. Thank you."

"Sure..."

The Security Chief scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Moments later, Senior Park and I, having completed his hasty preparations, climbed the stairs to the exit.

"See you..."

The Security Chief gave us a small wave as we left the underground.

***

"Wow! It feels amazing to walk outside!"

Senior Park Minseong raised his arms and grinned.

Though it was past 3 a.m. and the streets were mostly empty, the city lights of Seoul still twinkled, and there were people here and there.

"It’s been so long since I’ve felt fresh air... and seen stars!"

Senior Park wore a mask and pulled his cap low, as if trying to hide his face as much as possible.

His permitted time outdoors was conservatively set to three hours—until dawn.

"At least it’s winter."

"Are you heading home, sir?" I asked.

"Ah, well... I was thinking of stopping by the hospital."

"......."

"My family is there. They’re probably asleep, but I thought I’d at least check in."

He scratched his cheek with a sheepish expression.

"You see... I’m actually collecting points for my family."

Damn.

"May I ask which family member?"

"My younger sibling. They’re so kind! And a genius—a violin prodigy!"

Senior Park enthusiastically described his sibling, recounting their childhood and how much they loved and excelled at playing the violin.

But he didn’t say a word about their current condition.

"......."

"Anyway... that’s why I need those points. I really don’t want to quit, if I can help it."

"Are you planning to return to the Field Exploration Team?"

"...Hmm. That feels like it’d take too long, honestly."

He trailed off but then added in a brighter voice, "Oh, apparently there’s a department in the Security Team that gives out even more points than the Field Exploration Team!"

"...!"

Oh no.

"...There must be a reason they give out so many, don’t you think?"

"Yeah, I suppose... but sometimes," he muttered, "you have to take risks to make your wishes come true."

"......."

"Ah, looks like we’re at your dorm, Soleum!"

He gave me a pat on the back.

"Go on in. I’ll catch a cab from here. Thanks for everything, Soleum. Really, you did great!"

Then, in a quieter voice, he added,

"Don’t worry about me too much... Honestly, I came into this prepared. This outcome is better than I expected, and it’s thanks to you. Soleum, thank you."

"......."

I managed a faint smile and shook his hand.

"Wherever you end up working, I’ll cheer for you. But if possible, I hope we get to work together again."

"Yeah... I’d like that too."

We said our goodbyes, and Senior Park took a taxi to the hospital.

"Phew..."

I sighed as I stepped into the dorm building.

Unless I was imagining things, there was a hint of unsettling fervor in the way Senior Park spoke about his wish.

—Ah, a once-ordinary man, now with an intriguing touch of madness. How delightful.

"Don’t say scary things like that, Brown."

"Anyway, I can finally get some sleep..."

Having the last day of the year off wasn’t bad, but spending it asleep felt anticlimactic.

I entered the dimly lit dormitory, turning on my phone’s flashlight to banish the eerie atmosphere as I made my way to my room.

Finally, I collapsed into bed.

"I’ll figure out my countermeasures for Gwak Jaegang after I’ve rested... Just let me sleep for now."

Exhausted from the grueling physical and mental toll of the night, my body eagerly welcomed sleep.

For the first time in a long while, I didn’t need to watch cartoons or comedies to settle my nerves before bed.

I drifted into a deep, dreamless, and blissfully sweet slumber.

It felt like I had barely closed my eyes when I woke, refreshed and slightly dazed.

"Ah. You’re awake."

"...!"

I shot upright immediately.

—Ah, an unannounced guest has arrived, Soleum.

Someone stood by the faintly lit window.

A tired face, casual clothes, hair tied back tightly...

And an empty left hand.

"It’s been a while, Soleum. ...I heard you cleaned with Minseong."

It was the real Deputy Eun Haje.