Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 130

That evening, on the day Kim Soleum agreed to infiltrate the Disaster Management Bureau as a spy for his superior.

Meanwhile, at the company housing, Baek Saheon was enjoying an unprecedentedly peaceful private life.

All thanks to the disappearance of his psychopathic roommate.

“That bastard, I knew he’d die doing something reckless.”

Baek Saheon smirked with satisfaction.

Of course, the psychotic D-Class supervisor, who bore an uncanny resemblance to his former roommate, had persistently requested interviews with him about the "Tamna-bound High-Speed Train" incident.

And sure, that had worsened his already dreadful contamination. But now things had calmed down considerably. At least thinking about that damned Great Talk… no, screw it, he could think about it without vomiting or suffering a mental breakdown.

Thanks to that, he could finally access the Fox Counseling Room.

For free!

"Normally, you’d have to be a supervisor to get this kind of benefit… not a bad exchange, is it?”

Because the D-Class supervisor handled it, Baek Saheon had been granted a separate nameplate for the counseling room—a clear win.

Even better, the counselor within the ghost story gave out an additional nameplate every time you had a session. Thanks to the "treatment" he received from the company, he could use it "until he recovered sufficiently."

"And I can always sneakily lend it to someone else, right?"

If he played his cards right, of course.

“At least until my promotion to supervisor… I can probably milk this for another three months.”

Today, however, he planned to use it for himself again.

Whistling cheerfully, Baek Saheon headed to his deceased roommate’s room to hang the nameplate.

And when he opened the door...

“Oh. The counselor’s off duty today.”

“…?!?!”

Standing beyond the doorway was a sharp-looking office worker with black hair. He spoke as if nothing was amiss.

Then he stepped out of the room.

It was a face Baek Saheon would never forget.

That face, that…

“K-Kim Soleum.”

The former roommate, declared missing and presumed dead, smiled faintly as he looked at him.

Huh?

What…?

“……?!?”

Baek Saheon began to seriously question his reality.

‘Am I dreaming?’

Was he caught in a hypnosis-type Darkness?

Otherwise, why the hell was the insane bastard, declared dead after disappearing, walking out of the Fox Counseling Room?

Smack!

Baek Saheon slapped himself.

It hurt.

Okay, not a dream.

“Dammit.”

He felt a pitiful gaze directed at him—a gaze one reserves for fools who hit themselves in the face.

“Hmm… I see why you wanted to get counseling.”

“…!?”

“But like I said, it’s closed today. Take the nameplate off and come back later.”

Thud.

Kim Soleum fully exited the room and shut the door behind him.

Then, with clear physical force, he ripped the nameplate off the door that had once been his and tossed it at Baek Saheon.

“…!”

Baek Saheon caught it reflexively.

“But… you just had to open the door now?”

“……”

“Didn’t think I’d see you here, of all places.”

Baek Saheon swallowed hard.

At the same time, his brain kicked into overdrive.

Faced with this absurd and unexpected situation, one thing became painfully clear.

From beneath the blindfold-like mark over his eye, a dark halo emanated—his artificial eye’s warning alarm.

-You’ve seen something you weren’t supposed to see.

The fact that a presumed-dead employee was standing here, alive and well, implied a conspiracy at the company level—or worse, something beyond that.

‘They even used me as a witness to his disappearance…!’

Baek Saheon swallowed again, trying not to recall the horrifying experience that came from attempting to track Kim Soleum’s whereabouts after he vanished in the bathroom.

His head swam with a mix of anger and confusion, but the warning in his mind overrode everything else.

‘…Wait, but if that psycho is alive and standing here, does that mean…’

Should I even be seeing this?

“……”

“……”

The simplest and most efficient way for that psycho to handle this would be...

-Kill me outright.

‘No, no, that’s ridiculous!’

Baek Saheon shook the absurd thought from his mind.

Why would anyone resort to such an inefficient method in modern society?

‘My hypnosis pen… that bastard still has it….’

The very item he had traded for this artificial eye. Baek Saheon clenched his fist.

Yeah. He’d probably just hypnotize me and make me forget. That would be the simplest and cleanest solution. There’s no need for anything drastic…

“You’re thinking I’ll just erase your memory with the pen, aren’t you?”

“…!!”

“Not gonna happen.”

Baek Saheon’s mind raced through potential responses—throw a punch, use his specialized gear, call for help, beg for mercy—all in a split second.

And then discarded them all just as quickly.

‘No, no way.’

Acting recklessly would only get him into deeper trouble.

As much as he hated to admit it, the psycho standing in front of him was disturbingly competent, with a talent for exploiting people without a shred of empathy.

If he didn’t want to get dragged into a nightmare or worse, he’d have to keep calm.

What does he want?

Surely he’s not here to kill me…

-He wants something.

That psycho… must have some kind of ulterior motive for confronting me like this!

Finally regaining a shred of composure, Baek Saheon crossed his arms, feigning nonchalance.

“…Supervisor, it seems you want something from me.”

“Hmm.”

Of course!

“…Oh, could it be you need my testimony again, like last time when you went missing? Maybe you want me to report to the company that I think I saw Supervisor Kim Soleum at the company housing…”

“No.”

Damn it.

Barely suppressing a curse, Baek Saheon maintained as neutral a face as possible while meeting Kim Soleum’s gaze.

Kim Soleum, for his part, was studying him intently.

Only now did Baek Saheon notice that, despite the formal attire, Kim Soleum had slightly disheveled hair and a splint on one arm. He wasn’t exactly in "pristine" condition.

‘Where did he get hurt?’

Even the suit he was wearing seemed unusual.

It was too high-quality and stylish for a regular office worker—more like something designed to be shown off.

‘Like something you’d wear on a broadcast…’

Wait, what?

As Baek Saheon’s mind flickered with the beginnings of a connection, Kim Soleum casually dropped a bombshell.

“You seem like someone who’s greedy for items.”

“…!”

“I’m talking about real ones, not the junk. Hypnosis, suppression, healing… those kinds of useful items. You want more of those, don’t you?”

Desire and need flared at the top of Baek Saheon’s priorities.

He immediately looked up.

Kim Soleum was smiling.

“Then keep me updated on everything that happens at Daydream Corporation from now on.”

“……”

What he proposed was a deal.

An exchange of information.

“…Are you talking about something like the high-grade Darkness exploration manuals the company has in storage?”

Kim Soleum gave him a look of utter disbelief.

“No, why the hell would I want something that boring?”

“……”

"Rumors circulating within the company are fine. Personnel changes or employee gossip are good too. Just bring me what you think would be ‘valuable information’ for someone on the inside.”

“…Why?”

“Because I’m curious?”

“…!!”

“No, actually, because I got fired and can’t hear anything anymore. I’m bored.”

What the hell?!

Baek Saheon felt like he was going to lose his mind.

Anyone else would’ve taken the hint if he didn’t want to share, but this was Kim Soleum.

‘That bastard might actually mean it!’

He couldn’t tell if Soleum was genuinely a psycho who just wanted company gossip for a dopamine hit, and that made it even harder to figure him out.

‘Ugh…’

“So, are you going to bring me the information and trade it for items?”

“Information…”

…

…

“I can bring it, sure.”

Baek Saheon made up his mind.

‘Who cares?’

What if the company finds out?

He’d just say he was blackmailed or hypnotized.

After all, unless you were selling masks or collectors, the Field Exploration Team could get away with almost anything without issue.

Answering questions about “office atmosphere” for an ex-employee? No big deal!

Sure, that ex-employee was presumed dead by the company, but honestly, not his problem.

No way the company would punish him for something like this.

‘It’s not like I’m selling information to the Disaster Management Bureau, right?’

He wasn’t in a managerial position, nor was he part of the research team, so it’s not like he could leak developmental know-how.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

‘Alright.’

This was clearly a deal worth taking.

…As much as he hated to admit it, Kim Soleum wasn’t the type to screw someone over by withholding promised compensation in these kinds of transactions.

‘Let’s do it.’

Might as well cash in while he could! The moment Baek Saheon realized he could work this to his advantage, a sly grin spread across his face.

“But, Supervisor—oh, wait, you’re not a supervisor anymore, are you?”

“…….”

“Anyway, I don’t know why you’d trust me with this. I could just lie to you, you know. Maybe I’m scared enough to try that.”

It was a roundabout way of asking for a little advance payment to build trust.

Kim Soleum smiled broadly.

“You lying to me? That sounds fun. Go ahead and try.”

“…….”

No chance.

‘Bastard.’

“But wouldn’t it be more fun if you brought me something interesting and valuable? Naturally, the better the information, the better the items I’ll give you. That’s basic business.”

“…!”

The implication was clear: as long as the information was good, he wouldn’t skimp on the reward.

In the end, Baek Saheon broke into a nervous, forced smile and extended his hand.

“Fine. I’ll see what I can bring. Something… ‘interesting.’”

“Good.”

Kim Soleum shook his hand.

And with that, Kim Soleum had successfully planted a sharp and calculating spy within the company.

‘Phew.’

He sighed in relief inwardly.

‘Unofficial informant secured.’

Director Ho had cleverly mentioned "colleagues he’d be working with" to make it seem like he wouldn’t be isolated, but Soleum knew better.

He and those “colleagues” were under very different terms.

‘I’m the only one who’s officially dead.’

Plus, he’d been fired.

What that meant was that all the natural channels for keeping up with company news had been shut off to him.

‘And Director Ho is the kind of boss who would happily exploit my isolation to his advantage.’

Kim Soleum remembered what Deputy Eunhaje had said precisely.

"I don’t know what the other team members are doing on this project. Director Ho makes sure we’re not allowed to talk to each other at all."

There was no way Ho would help him out deliberately.

That meant Soleum needed another source.

‘But D-Class is out of the question.’

It was clear Ho had already figured out that connection. The way the nameplate was passed through Deputy Eunhaje had been far too obvious.

This was why he’d already planned to target someone like Baek Saheon or Kang I-hak.

Fortunately, things had worked out perfectly.

‘Honestly, Kang I-hak… if someone paid him more, he’d probably sell all my info without a second thought.’

Just imagining it made him break into a cold sweat.

In that sense, Baek Saheon was the right choice—someone who feared him just enough, distrusted others, and had strong survival instincts.

Kim Soleum glanced over his former roommate and nodded to himself.

“Well, I’m off.”

“Huh? Oh… uh, busy, I guess?”

Kim Soleum nodded at Baek Saheon’s empty remark.

“I’ve got work to do.”

There were only a few weeks left until he was deployed to the Disaster Management Bureau.

‘Not much time.’

He needed to start preparing now.

Not as a rookie employee of Daydream Corporation, but as a new character befitting a Disaster Management Bureau agent.

***

February 22nd.

"Agent Bronze, the aptitude test for new recruits is ready."

"Understood."

Ryu Jaegwan, known by the codename "Bronze," an agent of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, stood by the glass pane with a set of documents in hand.

The glass was one-way, appearing as a mirror to those on the other side.

Behind it were the candidates, soon to become new recruits for the Disaster Management Bureau.

Sitting around the room with a mix of tension and resolve, they awaited their turn. Their faces betrayed a subtle determination.

All that remained was the aptitude test.

But this was the most critical hurdle.

Failing the aptitude test meant they'd leave, forgetting they even applied.

There were no second chances.

Because retrying was meaningless.

Failing the test implied they lacked the temperament to handle the bureau's work or held unethical views. Either way, they were deemed unfit to serve.

They could never be allowed to join.

"……."

Yet, knowing that most of these applicants had personal reasons for being here, Ryu Jaegwan secretly hoped many would pass.

Especially those searching for missing loved ones or driven to eliminate a particular supernatural disaster.

"Let’s begin."

"Yes, sir!"

Still, he wasn’t one to grade generously, so his hopes never showed on his face.

The assistant interviewers seated beside him could only swallow nervously, glancing at Agent Bronze.

"I heard his standards are insanely strict."

"Those poor candidates in there."

Exchanging glances, they followed his lead and initiated the aptitude test.

“Group ‘Da,’ candidates 1 through 4. Please step forward.”

The announcement echoed into the room beyond the glass.

Four finalists stood up and walked to the center of the room.

Candidate 1, aged 25, was visibly tense. Candidate 2, aged 38, appeared calm but pale. Candidate 3, aged 31, had eyes blazing with determination. And then…

"Pfft!"

"A-Agent Bronze?!"

Ryu Jaegwan quickly coughed to stifle his reaction.

He thought he might have imagined it, but the figure on the other side of the glass didn’t change.

The peculiar, seemingly kind person he had encountered unexpectedly multiple times amidst supernatural phenomena over the past six months.

…Agent Grape?!

Kim Soleum.

The former employee of Daydream Corporation stood there, fiddling awkwardly with his glasses, looking slightly hunched, directly across from the mirror!

As Candidate 4 of Group "Da," a potential recruit for the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.