Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work - Chapter 191

Chapter 191 – 191

So.

I opened the motel room door, and there was Chief Gwak Jegang, tied up on the floor, with the Security Chief sitting on top of him? And Park Minseong was there too—why?

I mean, I’m glad to see him after so long, but what kind of combination is

this…?

“Mmph!”

At that moment, Gwak Jegang, pinned to the floor, began struggling again.

Wait a second!

No way.

If he lifted his head and saw my face, things would spiral out of control. I immediately tried to pull myself together and turn around to leave.

But the Security Chief, having noticed my movement, seemed to realize something first.

“Ah.”

He smacked the struggling Gwak Jegang’s head.

And just like that, Chief Gwak passed out.

—What a complete mess! My goodness! Such disorder! And yet, there’s a certain chaotic charm to it, isn’t there? Please no…

“What on earth is going on here?”

“Ah… I was following someone…”

“…??”

To summarize the hurried explanation that followed: The Security Chief had been going around various parts of the company, collecting stories likely to relate to the “Cheerful Research Lab” he’d promised to investigate for me.

And in the course of exploring, he ended up at…

“I went to… the special research division in the annex…”

“…Wait a moment. Isn’t that a restricted zone—off-limits to all non-authorized staff?”

“Ah… for the Security Team… it’s okay for work-related stuff. Like

patrols…”

Ah, right.

“So you waited until you were assigned patrol duty?” “No… I just covered for another guard…” “You said… you needed information…”

Now I feel bad…

The Security Chief wore a satisfied expression that left me speechless.

Anyway, based on how closely their movements overlapped, it was now

obvious that the Security Team Baek Saheon once mentioned was indeed

this very Security Chief.

Wait, now that I think of it…

“I heard you got into a fight with Chief Gwak—was that related to today’s incident?”

“I didn’t fight him… he just kept provoking me—”

“Ah, so you got dragged into it.”

“No… I ignored him…”

“He tripped over himself… yeah. Anyway.”

The Security Chief scratched his head and returned to the main point. Today, while patrolling the special research zone, he noticed something strange among the equipment and documents. “I felt like someone was following me…”

“…!”

At some point, he’d picked up on a lingering gaze.

He said it had a strange malice to it.

“So I left the area entirely… and they still followed me in secret…”

And then you subdued them…!

“Well… no one else was around…”

I dropped my head into my hands.

“So you didn’t know it was Chief Gwak?”

“No, I knew…”

AAAGHHH!

“Well… it didn’t really matter… I just didn’t expect him to call the Security Team…”

My eyes turned to Park Minseong.

His pupils trembled.

“Yeah. I was the one dispatched…”

“When I got here… it was already… y’know.”

And thus, this bizarre situation was born.

—Ahaha! My goodness! It’s like a sitcom!

Life is a comedy when viewed from afar. The problem is, I’m stuck right in

the middle of it!

This is insane.

I swallowed back the urge to yell and barely managed to speak.

“If we let Chief Gwak go like this… won’t he report Mr. J, or otherwise blow the situation out of proportion?” “…Probably?”

Park Minseong and I exchanged a cold, nervous look before turning to the Security Chief.

He looked utterly done with everything.

Like he was ready to let fate take the wheel.

Hey, this is about your criminal record…!

“So, then… should you be arresting the Security Chief?”

“In principle, yes… but… hmm, if you just let him go, I’ll figure something out… I’ll say Chief Gwak was alone here.”

Park Minseong laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. “He’s kind of infamous for doing weird stuff, so maybe I can swing it…” “Probably not…”

The Security Chief stared at him flatly.

“You just joined the Security Team… that’s when the prohibition clause is

strongest…”

Prohibition clause?

“You haven’t even passed your 100th official workday yet, right? Lying to

the company would be… difficult…”

“Clock’s ticking, right…?”

Park Minseong’s face stiffened.

Then, suddenly, a perfectly staged smile bloomed on his face.

As if on reflex, he brought his hand to his wrist. Beneath his uniform, a

shape like a watch glinted faintly.

Yes. A wristwatch.

…The prohibition clause for Security Team members.

I remembered.

At Hundred Dreams, once a rescued employee was moderately restored from contamination, they came up with a method not to protect them, but to put them to use.

The Darkness Exploration Records never specify this clause in detail—

because leaving it to the imagination is more evocative and chilling.

But there were hints.

For example…

‘Wristwatches.’

Yeah. The Security Team members all wear wristwatches. What for? I don’t know. But here’s what I do know: when they act weird? Like, try to leave the company during the day?

That’s when you hear it. A ticking sound.

Tick-tick-tick.

Why was that weird? Because they looked like digital watches.

So why did they sound like analog second hands ticking?

And worse…

The ticking would speed up, and eventually there’d be a chime—like a notification.

And then they’d disappear.

Not the watch. The Security Team member.

—Excerpt from Interrogation 26, Glass Prison Inmate GA56 (Affiliation:

Hundred Dreams Corporation) “Supervisor.”

“…Ah! Yes.”

Park Minseong snapped back to attention and took his hand off his wrist.

The motel room fell quiet.

But the Security Chief spoke casually.

“Hey, don’t worry… It’ll probably just be a reprimand… I didn’t kill him or

anything…”

“…?!”

“I’ll just… go tell them… but wait a sec.”

He looked down at the restrained researcher and muttered seriously.

“Kind of… a waste, isn’t it…?”

“This guy… knows a lot… maybe I should, y’know, get some intel out of —”

“No, thank you.”

Suspicious as hell!

Why would you make your punishment worse on purpose?!

Let’s end this now.

As long as he didn’t see my face—wait.

Even if Gwak Jegang didn’t see me, someone else did.

“Supervisor Park Minseong.”

“Yeah?”

“If it’s difficult to lie to the company, then during your report… will you have to say you saw me?”

Park Minseong’s face turned pale again.

“Well… if the company asks… I might have to…”

Damn it!

At that point, it’s not just a problem of my identity being revealed.

…And cleaning that up will definitely reach Director Ho’s ears.

If he asks why I was meeting with the Security Chief, the dream incubator room might even get exposed— “I’ll do my best to avoid that—” “Excuse me……”

The Security Chief raised a hand.

“Uh… honestly, I don’t feel like it… and it’s a pain…” Then he pointed to Gwak Jegang. “Should I just… kill him?”

“!?”

W-wait, the lethal immunity clause!

Come to think of it, the Security Team did have that clause!

“If I kill him… and the Security Team reports ‘no subject found’… it’s not even a lie… it’ll all blow over. I’ll buy us some time, too…”

“No.”

“P-please calm down, Chief!”

No—lethal immunity wasn’t meant for personal vendettas!

It was created to avoid compensating victims if company employees died during horror suppression.

And really, it was more like: “Since we have immunity, don’t get in our way

and drive up operational costs.”

From the beginning—

“Lethal immunity is the right to kill interfering employees during official duties. You’re not on duty right now!”

If you could just kill whoever, Gwak Jegang would’ve been reduced to a puddle by some other Security Team long ago. “Well, that’s true… hmm.”

“L-let’s think of another way.”

“Yeah! We’ll figure it out!”

“…Alright……”

I was sweating bullets.

L-lucky the Security Chief has no motivation…

No wonder he used to lead an elite squad—his decisiveness was no joke. …Honestly, the fact that he thought about it more like “erase the evidence” than “lethal immunity” makes it even scarier.

Thankfully, he’s not a bad person at his core. I wiped my forehead.

…And really, this was kind of my fault.

I’d gotten too greedy when he said he’d investigate the Cheerful Research Lab.

—A moment of decision, my friend! A risk for a clean win with no losses, or a safer route with a small cost!

—Oh! If you’d like, this show host is ready to offer advice!

‘…You mean we kill him and cover it up?’

—Correct!

Damn it.

As I pressed my fingers to my temples, a thought suddenly came to me.

No.

—Hm?

There’s… another way to erase the evidence!

“I’ll handle it.”

I pulled out an item I’d stored in my inventory.

Children’s Grape-Flavored Disguise Syrup

☆☆☆☆☆

After a while—

“…Hmm?”

Gwak Jegang opened his eyes.

Or at least, that was the assumption—because we had blindfolded him.

“Wha—? Am I in the Dark? …No, wait. Just a blindfold.” The excitement in his voice faded immediately, turning dull.

But soon after, his tone changed again—as if he’d realized what had happened.

He’d followed the Security Chief, been restrained and knocked out—and now had woken up.

“Seriously! Just blindfolding me won’t erase what I saw! Ha ha! My god, how are you gonna explain this to the company?”

“The company isn’t gonna treat you specially anymore, you know. Do you still think they’ll cut you slack like they did back when you were Group B’s golden boy?”

He spoke with the air of someone irreplaceable, laying out subtle threats

and grim implications.

But then—

“Or… maybe this really is a desperate situation.”

“What were you looking for in the special research lab? Wait… are you thinking the Dark you disappeared into might be there?”

“Hey, that entry path collapsed! Even if I wonder what horrible state the trapped staff are in, there’s no way to know now—” That was enough.

I ripped off the cloth covering his eyes.

Gwak Jegang’s face lit up—he looked like he was about to say something. But the person before him wasn’t the former Elite Team captain he remembered.

Instead—

It was me, wearing the Security Team suit.

I stood in front of him and raised a call device silently.

“…Ah, so you responded to the alert. This is… hmm, Security Team

territory?”

Silence.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a guard stationed here?” Silence.

“…You’re the quiet type… wait a minute.”

His eyes sharpened.

“That’s a special suit.”

He’d recognized my uniform.

The elite security division gear.

“What’s going on? You, responding to a mere research team summons? Someone like you shouldn’t be doing grunt work! Ha ha… unless—” Then his expression changed. He realized something. Yeah.

“Unless there’s another objective.”

I silently lifted my hand and placed something on the office desk in front of him.

[Let’s Play a Truth Game!]

[Shall we start a round?]

A carrot-shaped plastic voice toy that cheerfully chirped.

It looked cheap and childish—totally out of place.

But Gwak Jegang’s face froze.

So he knows.

One of the most infamous interrogation tools from the

Exploration Records>.

=================

Darkness Exploration Record / Horror

[Everything the Carrot Can Do]

1 Daydream Corporation ID: Qterw-E-2525. A party toy that helps with truth games.

If the subject lies, it instantly detects it and issues brutal, extreme missions.

If the mission isn’t completed, other participants are allowed to punish the

one who failed.

=================

So.

Where did I get it?

To be honest—

It’s a fake.

I poured the Children’s Disguise Syrup over my smartphone and used it to mimic this toy.

Why is it five-star rated?

Because it doesn’t disguise the user—it disguises whatever you want. That’s why it works on objects. It flawlessly mimics the look and functions the user imagines.

And even if it’s a fake copy of the original—doesn’t matter.

What matters is that the target believes it’s real.

A flicker of confusion crossed Gwak Jegang’s eyes for the first time.

“…What is this? You didn’t have to go this far, did you? I…”

Good. He’s ready.

Now I just have to push him through the situation—and steer it toward

something that benefits us a little more.

[If everyone is ready, let’s begin.]

[Now, the first question!]

As the carrot chattered away, I subtly stepped aside so Gwak Jegang could see more clearly.

Behind me, the prototype dream incubator from the Cheerful Research Lab

was now in full view.

“…!”

Gwak Jegang’s eyes trembled. But the carrot continued with its prerecorded voice: [What do you know about the machine in front of you?] Thus began the most cost-effective cleanup operation of all time.