Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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The radio just now... called the name of that ghost story talk show host I know all too well... did it?
I thought for a moment that I'd misheard. Driving through a cemetery at 2 a.m. with a ghost riding shotgun—it's a reasonable assumption.
But then a voice came from the radio.
"……."
A voice I knew.
I need to turn it off.
No matter how I thought about it, listening to what was clearly an A-Grade or higher ghost story offer to recount my story "with the utmost sincerity" wasn't a smart move.
Especially not with a ghost sitting right next to me...
Hold on, wait no.
Thinking about it the other way around—wouldn't it be better for distracting my nerves...?
"Kakakakakakakakakakakakafunradiokakakakakakaka"
...The ghost in the passenger seat let out a burst of laughter.
It wasn't real laughter. Just mimicking the onomatopoeia in a mocking, grotesque imitation...
Instinctual revulsion.
Ha.
I ended up stopping my hand just short of the radio.
The smooth-voiced radio host and the upbeat talk show emcee carried on their conversation.
I let it distract me as I kept driving, eyes fixed on the dark road ahead.
It was the kind of Q&A you'd expect from a famous talk show host appearing on the radio.
Recent updates, latest events, personal jokes, fan curiosities.
The format was textbook. But listening closely, something was off—chillingly twisted.
Unrealistic nouns paired with mismatched verbs formed horrifying statements.
"……."
Cold sweat slicked my left hand gripping the wheel.
Before I knew it, the ghost was staring at me.
Staring blankly.
Gazing intently.
"Hey... enjoying this?"
"……."
"I'm asking if it's fun."
"Ah, sorry. I was focused on driving, so it came and went... But they've got some slick talkers there."
"Hehehehehehehehehehe."
I'm going insane.
Even amid all that, the radio flowed on smoothly.
"……."
Oh God.
My throat constricted. "Pardon me," I muttered under my breath.
"It's getting a bit loud in here... Do you mind if I lower the volume?" I reached for the dial, my hand trembling noticeably.
"……."
A cold sweat broke out across my back.
I finally managed to hit the power button. Click.
"……."
"……."
A moment of silence.
But the static surged as the radio forced itself back on.
"Why won't this radio stay quiet? It's so incredibly distracting. Look, if you aren't going to turn it off, would you mind letting me out... I need to get out of this car, please stop the vehicle..."
Then, the entity's voice dropped to a low, chilling rasp.
"Help me down as well... I can't do it on my own... I don't have feet."
"……."
I glanced sideways. It was only then that I realized the entity in the passenger seat was entirely legless. More precisely, her lower limbs terminated in horrific, mangled stumps at the ankles.
"I can't take a single step... I have to remain by your side."
Drip, drip.
Thick fluid was pooling below. It had been dripping silently from the start. The passenger-side footwell was now entirely saturated, dark blood spilling outward, flowing across the floor mats until it pooled around my shoes and under the pedals...
"……."
That warm, composed voice continued.
"……."
SCREEEEECH.
My foot slammed onto the brake pedal just in time. The tires shrieked, stopping mere inches from a figure on the dark road.
A pale hand pressed flat against the windshield, a thumb raised in a hitchhiker's gesture. My right arm, still flickering with the dokkaebi flame, instinctively mirrored the thumbs-up sign before I forced it back down.
No.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Apparently, I'd accidentally turned the radio off while fumbling for the wheel.
"Oh? A traveler... That's a real person, isn't it?"
The legless passenger beside me seemed to divert her focus, turning her hollow gaze toward the figure outside.
If a passenger tries to join mid-ride, it's better not to refuse. Let them sit in the back quietly.
Refusals have led to cases where the ghost follows the new passenger off the vehicle.
Knock, knock.
A fist tapped against the rear passenger window, and the door handle clicked as it was awkwardly pulled open.
It's important to note that there have been cases where the hitchhiking 'passenger' will not be human.
Remember, agent, the vehicle you're driving is itself a supernatural entity. It's possible something strange will attempt to board.
In such cases, you may refuse for your own safety. Always remember, your life comes first.
'Haa.'
Please, just don't open the door.
The dark crimson pool was still spreading across the cabin floor.
If this person screamed and ran off, I wouldn't even need to say a word. If they were normal, maybe they'd just walk away without me having to refuse...
"Pardon me," a tired, indifferent voice muttered. "Is this the right taxi? Please take me to Seoul Station... I need to catch the express train..."
......
Why is he here.
Reflected faintly in the front mirror, pale complexion, scruffy light-colored hair, a slim frame, and a face that looked perpetually bored and exhausted. 'J3.'
A sergeant of the Security Team at Daydream Inc. was trying to board my taxi, his voice full of apathy.
'What the actual hell.'
Members of the Security Team were allowed out at night after dark, but what was he doing here, in the middle of a mountain road, no less? And what the heck's at Seoul Station...
Maybe because the taxi had become part of a ghost story, it drew in someone contaminated?
I didn't know. What mattered most was... this.
—The sergeant must have been told that I died a month ago.
'...Did he recognize me?'
Did he realize who I was?
No, my head was down, messy hair over my eyes, glasses on, and he could only see the back of my head.
Odds were low.
Stay calm. Stay calm...
"Um, there's already a passenger. I need to drop her off first."
"That's fine."
His tone was indifferent, even though the car smelled heavily of incense and blood.
"Ohohoho, another traveler has joined us. How wonderful."
"Ah, thank goodness... I'll just step inside..."
The sergeant gently sat in the backseat and closed the door.
"……."
"Um... why aren't we moving...?"
Haa.
I started the car.
I'm losing my mind.
I resumed the route in silence.
– Speed-check zone ahead.
I slowed down.
"Go faster, please..."
The ghost's whisper came from the passenger seat, still flat and lifeless in tone.
I wanted to get out of this nightmare as quickly as possible too, but I couldn't.
If you break traffic laws, the ghost will clap its hands with delight, then attempt to cause a crash. Afterward, it will try to exit the vehicle. Do not let it.
Haa...
"...We might get caught speeding, ma'am, so please hang in there a little longer."
"……."
The limp, long hair turned toward me.
I felt her gaze.
"Pardon me..."
"Pardon me... I told you to speed up."
"It is pursuing us from the rear. Don't you see it?"
"I can see it. Look. It's catching up... Ah, it has caught us."
THUD.
A vivid, bloody handprint slammed against the passenger-side window pane.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud...
Handprints bloomed on every window.
The windshield. The rearview mirror. Thick, bloody marks streaked and smeared down like dripping blood.
...Inside the car.
Then I realized.
These handprints weren't being pressed from outside.
They were being stamped from the inside, as if an invisible force within the cabin was desperately clawing at the glass, trying to break free.
"……."
A chill of sweat ran down the back of my neck.
The head of the passenger beside me began to tilt back. It twisted at an unnatural, impossible angle, slowly reversing entirely until her chin pointed directly at the roof.
"I need to get out. Move faster, or I will leave right now. Drive—"
"Ahem."
A low, dry cough echoed from the backseat.
"You have terrible manners."
Suddenly, a gargantuan black tongue lunged from behind the passenger seat, dripping thick saliva and swallowing the entire seat in a single, fluid gulp.
"...!"
Crunch. The entity's dark hair was severed instantly. A massive, shadowy maw lined with rows of jagged, mismatched teeth and a singular, writhing eyeball snout completely enveloped the front passenger side.
"Such an insolent little lamb... A pig... A crimson child..."
The dark, formless beast expanded, its gaping jaw creeping slowly toward the driver's seat as sharp claws unsheathed from the shadows.
My hands on the wheel trembled, and then, at that moment.
– Approaching destination.
"……."
"……."
I managed to speak.
"We have arrived," I managed to squeeze out.
The dark mass froze. Absolute stillness descended upon the cabin.
"Ah... My apologies..." With a soft whisper, the entire nightmare dissolved.
"……."
The interior of the car was completely empty.
The grotesque, inhuman maw—gone. As if none of it had ever existed. Only a hollow, eerie silence remained.
The legless passenger was still sitting beside me, staring listlessly into the void as though her spirit had been hollowed out. It was a deeply unsettling sight, but I kept my hands steady on the wheel.
– You have arrived at Sajiyuk Cemetery. This concludes the navigation guide.
The GPS staggered and shut off.
...In the middle of a mountain road.
The headlights illuminated a sign just ahead.
DANGER!
※ Beware of Falling ※
Do not lean or climb.
There was a cliff ahead.
'Haa.'
Holding back trembling, I reached to unlock the passenger-side door.
"We've arrived, ma'am."
As I slowly turned my head...
There was no one in the passenger seat.
No pool of blood below, no burnt scent, no eerie laughter.
"……."
If the ghost disappears at the destination, you've successfully completed the mission.
Signal the handler waiting at the site, then surrender the taxi to a purification specialist before sunrise.
Thank you for your service.
Huu.
I finally let go of the steering wheel.
Just then, someone gently tapped on the driver's side window.
Knock knock.
...It's Agent Bronze!
"Just a moment, uh, um, officer!"
After addressing Agent Bronze as a police officer instead, I hurriedly rolled down the window and stuck my head out, lowering my voice as I glanced toward the back seat.
"There is one more passenger in the back," I whispered, keeping my eyes low. "I need to drop him off at his destination first. I'll return immediately."
"...! Understood."
Fortunately, Agent Bronze seemed to interpret my panic as a rookie agent flustered by civilian involvement, and let me go.
I raised the window and drove away from the strange cliffside.
Glancing at the side mirror as I pulled away, I caught a brief, unsettling glimpse of something shifting amidst the tombstones of Sajiyuk Cemetery...
"……."
Haa.
I did it.
I didn't pass out...!
I had nearly screamed at the ghost mid-trip, begging her to please kindly get out.
'My hands are still shaking.'
It had been a nightmare, but at least it was over without a crash or death.
Now, my only task was to safely deliver the sergeant to Seoul Station.
Right. He said Seoul Station, right?
I could just babble on about seeing a ghost along the way, play it off like nonsense.
I glanced at the back seat.
Still, that thing earlier... it was terrifying, but in the end, it helped me.
'If things were still the same, I probably would have stopped by with a thank-you gift or something.'
Like donuts, the kind the sergeant liked.
Now though, he wouldn't even recognize me, so I should just chatter on about ghosts, play my role as the cab driver, and—
"So... you managed to survive," he murmured. "That is quite a relief..."
...!
"What a relief..."
Ah.