Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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Kim Sol-eum's body raced down the maze-like, disorienting corridors of the studio.
Ku-gu-gu-gung.
Amid the rumbling roar, Lee Jaheon traversed the narrow indoor space at an absurd speed once again.
Even the original owner of the body, watching through CCTV-like vision, held their breath and gripped their hands in tension at the speed and daring movements.
And before long…
"A door."
A double door with a sign hung on it came into view. Squad Leader Lee Jaheon smashed the lock without hesitation and entered.
Kwang!
Beyond the kicked-open door.
-…!
An astonishingly vast studio set appeared.
The space itself was overwhelmingly immense, exuding pressure.
However, the central main talk show stage set…
…looked like it could no longer fulfill its purpose.
-…….
The ceiling, once twinkling with lights, had half collapsed. Debris from shattered lights and steel beams, along with dust, filthily covered the stage furniture and floor.
And even through those gaps, the holy fire barrage continued endlessly.
The audience seats were plunged into chaos, buzzing with murmurs. Those unable to flee, contaminated, seemed to find the situation amusing at first, but soon they would likely scream for help.
Kim Sol-eum swallowed a groan.
-…The live broadcast seems completely ruined.
Traces of the destroyed show variety were there…
And.
On the half-destroyed stage, standing alone was the entertainer.
The host.
He merely leaned against the desk, using the falling holy flares like shooting stars in the ruined, half-darkened studio as his lighting.
He seemed to already know who had dared to destroy the set. Yet he didn't scream in rage.
He simply gazed quietly at Kim Sol-eum, who had burst into the set.
As if aware that the one moving his friend's body was not a friend, but a mercenary summoned by the emergency call device.
-…….
Feeling their eyes meet across the view, Kim Sol-eum swallowed hard.
-Squad Leader.
"Yes."
-From now on… something utterly ridiculous is probably going to happen.
The host extended a hand.
As if still proceeding with the talk show.
Pick.
One surviving spotlight clicked on, shining down on Kim Sol-eum.
Instantly recognizing the identity of Squad Leader Lee Jaheon controlling Kim Sol-eum's body.
The stage grew progressively darker.
The silhouette of the host raising both hands in the darkness
grew larger and larger.
Like a shadow cast behind a wall.
Even larger, more immense.
Kung.
The set walls surrounding them vanished into the darkness.
On the stage floating in empty space,
a gigantic CRT TV head descended.
Kung!
The CRT TV, now as large as the stage.
Its head crushed the central guest entrance door, settling in as if replacing the studio's backdrop wall.
The gloved host's massive hand propped up under the TV like a chin rest, while the other hand pointed precisely at Kim Sol-eum's body like a gun.
The TV screen sparkled with a new sign lit by dozens of ecstatic bulbs.
Kung-kung-kung-kung-kung-kung-kung….
A drumroll echoed.
The gloved host's finger joints drummed on the set.
The beat right before a circus feat.
-…He definitely won't try to kill you right away.
Lee Jaheon raised his head while listening to the body owner's advice.
-It's still live on air, after all.
The black TV screen
swirled.
Kung.
It swallowed Kim Sol-eum's silhouette.
…….
…….
The CRT TV lifted its head again.
Now, Kim Sol-eum's silhouette was trapped inside its screen.
The audience cheered and clapped, excited and amused by this wondrous magic trick.
The lights flashed.
Subtitles appeared.
Teddy bear-shaped monsters baring their teeth poured toward Kim Sol-eum inside the TV, trying to peel off his skin.
Just as they had done to their former owner who had neglected them.
However, Kim Sol-eum's body displayed astonishing strength, grabbing the teddy bears' jaws and making them bite each other to escape the danger.
He ran.
The scenery inside the TV shifted, a background suddenly appearing.
The city at night. An alleyway.
A manhole in the ground.
Crushing the bizarre arms surging from the manhole, Kim Sol-eum acrobatically hung from a streetlamp and climbed upward.
Slim, elongated arms barely grazed behind him.
The punishments took the forms of the guests Kim Sol-eum had selected to invite.
Mercilessly yet comically, they tried to corner him…
Kim Sol-eum barely broke through everything.
Even as his left arm fractured and his forehead nearly split open, he wasn't caught, and the punishments continued.
But as the numbers increased, the punishments grew more violent and horrific.
Punishment 3, 4, 5…
Cheol-keng!
Kim Sol-eum slipped out from under the knife of a gourmet restaurant that cooks intelligent beings, sacrificing some hair instead of his head…
And.
A vast cornfield.
From between the thick stalks and leaves, grotesque shapes with countless limbs writhed like centipedes, chasing Kim Sol-eum.
At this point, escape seemed impossible…
But the one controlling Kim Sol-eum's body was Employee D, a named field explorer from Darkness Exploration Records.
Dodging acrobatically while counterattacking. A flashing vampire knife.
Seok-kwak. It sliced off three or four of the scarecrow's arms. Gasps erupted from the audience.
However, it was only a matter of time.
You couldn't win against a monster from a cornfield ghost story with raw power in the cornfield, ignoring its gimmicks.
The already injured body clearly had limits…
'…Did he set up these punishments expecting death here.'
Kim Sol-eum waited.
Waited, and waited… until the scarecrow lunged like it was pouncing.
-Now!
Following Kim Sol-eum's advice, Lee Jaheon turned at a right angle.
And began running at terrifying speed.
Toward the TV screen.
"Whoa!"
"It's growing!"
And.
He succeeded in leaping out of the TV.
Kim Sol-eum's body rolled on the floor, and Lee Jaheon used a landing technique to safely touch down.
Waaaaah!!!
Insane!!
The audience's cheers poured out.
The host seemed to have forgotten his anger already.
With a bright voice as if the only important thing was that a great show had been made, a laughing emoticon appeared on the TV screen.
Yes!!
Cheers and responses came from the audience seats.
And the host responded from within the massive TV with a smooth voice.
The TV head drew closer again.
At that moment.
One faceless staff member, barely pulling out a sketchbook from the collapsed debris, held it up from below the stage.
Emergency alert.
The TV stopped.
The audience's disappointed groans.
The laughing emoticon in the massive TV bowed its head.
Toward Kim Sol-eum's form.
"……."
Dduk.
The camera light went out.
The staff didn't come up to clear the half-destroyed stage.
In the dark stage where the audience's murmurs rang clearly.
The host raised his hand.
Gazing at the performer of the now-useless surprise corner, whose allotted time had ended.
Toward the scoundrel who had dared destroy the set and smash his friend.
And then, his massive fingers slowly began to snap together with a sound…
"Brown."
The hand stopped.
"Did you incinerate my 'stuffed body'?"
…….
"No."
Lee Jaheon emotionlessly recited what Kim Sol-eum said.
"I had a question I wanted to ask."
The emoticon vanished from the TV head.
'As expected.'
Kim Sol-eum was certain.
Right now, Brown couldn't peer into his inner thoughts.
Because the one out front talking to Brown was Lee Jaheon.
Just as you can't read the scriptwriter's every thought from someone reading a script aloud.
And he was the same.
'I'm not there.'
He was experiencing everything indirectly.
Contextual factors play a big role in persuasion.
But with information filtered purely through screen and dialogue, Kim Sol-eum could withstand the great host's 'persuasion' without being overwhelmed.
Thus, true conversation was possible.
A 'conversation' where, without knowing each other's thoughts, they listened to what the other said, trying to grasp and understand the meaning…
"Want to hear it first? It's probably a question you didn't expect…"
The master of the talk show ghost story stared at him without eyes.
But.
"It's not that. Just a personal question."
The voice was calm.
"Yeah."
Kim Sol-eum's mouth opened.
"Was it frustrating being the 'good friend'?"
The TV screen froze.
Yet a smooth voice still emerged.
"I see. Earlier, while I was a stuffed doll, it felt pretty frustrating and scary. I wondered if you felt the same."
"……."
Kim Sol-eum thought.
He was standing here, betting that if he escaped as is, a far more horrific end awaited soon.
But betting required possibility.
Kim Sol-eum wouldn't bet without basis.
The possibility he grasped was this.
"Then, was it fun being the 'good friend'?"