Chapter 231
Chapter 231
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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The silence that had settled inside the elevator dragged heavily downward, matching the terrifying speed at which the metal box descended.
Downward.
Sinking directly into an unfathomable, pressurized abyss.
To Basement Level 96.
"...You actually pressed it?"
That's right.
I had deliberately chosen to plunge into the ghost story's most distant, unmeasured deep stratum.
...It would be a lie to claim I hadn't hesitated.
Deep down, I still didn't possess the psychological confidence to face the massive dream incubator I had originally emerged from without completely losing my sanity.
But... .
'To put it another way, aside from that specific trauma, there is absolutely nothing left in this world for me to fear.'
Right now, due to my anomalous physical state, I was entirely incapable of feeling fear.
If, as Brown had warned, my human emotions would gradually recover in tandem with my cognitive rationality from here on out, then from that tipping point, I would start trembling in absolute terror every single time I set foot in this basement labyrinth.
'It is far more tactically sound to scout out whatever information I can before my defense mechanisms fade.'
It was a calculated, preventive inoculation.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
Ho Yu-won.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
......
No, for now, I will keep him along on the leash.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
'The specific employee ID he's wearing is bothering me too much to leave behind.'
The Jolly Lab employee ID badge hanging loosely around Ho Yu-won's neck.
I glanced at it again, analyzing the design.
Surprisingly, I had already encountered an item printed in that exact, proprietary format.
It was the card key gripped tightly by the mummified researcher in the hidden dream incubation room where the prototype incubator rested—the key required to activate the device's main matrix.
Jolly Researcher
■■■
On that card, the part labeled 'Jolly' and the researcher's name had been violently scratched out with a ballpoint pen. I had used it to initiate the activation sequence.
It was likely still slotted into that incubator right now... assuming no other entity had breached the room and pulled it out.
'...Even if I wanted to, I'm not entirely certain I could safely retrieve that one now.'
In any case, observing exactly how that specific employee ID functioned within the parameters of this Jolly Lab ghost story would yield invaluable data.
Ho Yu-won, meeting my cold gaze, immediately wiped the brief hint of bewilderment from his features and forced another empty smile.
His face was still horribly half-smashed, the bone structure visibly crushed beneath the flesh.
"That genuinely startled me. You are incredibly brave, Deer."
......
"But then, the more courage you possess, the more successfully you'll explore the deeper zones, right? I'll make sure to follow along diligently."
What a thoroughly exhausting, annoying bastard.
I completely ignored his commentary.
The elevator, descending with a gravity-defying, sickening speed, finally shuddered to a halt as it reached its deep destination floor.
Basement Level 96.
Ding-dong. The heavy steel doors slid open with the exact same cheerful, nostalgic chime... .
And then.
A remarkably peaceful, pristine hallway came into view.
"......"
The distant sound of soft laughter and the lively, rhythmic tapping of office keyboards occasionally drifted from the closed offices... and that was it.
It looked exactly as if we had traveled back up to Basement Level 2—utterly, boringly normal.
Which made it feel infinitely more dangerous.
There was no logical way this was correct.
"Deer?"
......
"Deer, aren't you going to step off? It's just a normal office corridor... Don't tell me you've suddenly lost your nerve? If you're genuinely terrified, you can cover your eyes. I can give you a gentle little push from behind... ."
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
Warning 1
Reason: Interference with duties (intentional)
Cumulative Warnings: 1 / 2 until disciplinary action
"What? I was only trying to assist a colleague... That is incredibly disheartening."
Sigh.
"And I am genuinely concerned that you might not possess the stomach to properly enforce company discipline down here. You failed so miserably last time... ."
✅ DISCIPLINARY EXECUTION SUCCESS
Evidence: Confirm your own left face
Finally, the threat of physical distortion shut him up.
'Please, just keep your mouth permanently sealed... .'
How was he still capable of maintaining this smug, provocative attitude even after half of his skull had been structurally pulped?
In any case, I stepped forward cautiously, keeping a close eye on the layers of undisturbed dust on the floor and monitoring the distinct, hidden presences lurking behind the office doors.
I exited the elevator cage.
Step, step.
I muffled the sound of my footsteps as much as physically possible. I felt no primal fear, but my tactical vigilance remained razor-sharp.
The thick black smoke of my performance enveloped me like a protective shroud.
'There is definitively something waiting for us here.'
I slowly navigated the silent corridor, walking toward the far end of the hallway.
......
However, the peaceful hallway of the Jolly Lab, bathed in a warm, artificial sunset light... yielded absolutely no visible anomalies.
Just a quiet, sterile office corridor.
"This is exceptionally bizarre... isn't it?"
I reached out and grasped the metallic doorknob of the office displaying the weakest physical presence.
"Oh. Are we actually going to breach that office? But who knows what lies waiting on the other side... ."
Suddenly, the delicate, chilling melody of a music box began to echo through the space.
Ho Yu-won and I snapped our heads toward the sound in unison.
But no physical entity had spoken to us.
Instead, a heavy fire door at the very end of the corridor, right next to the elevator shaft, had swung wide open...
The emergency exit.
Beneath the buzzing, crimson glow of the emergency light, something was violently emerging into the clean corridor from deep within the pitch-dark, windowless staircase.
Fire.
A roaring wall of white-hot flames violently erupted from the emergency stairwell, instantly filling the office corridor with thick, toxic smoke.
"...!!"
A deafening, high-pitched evacuation alarm began to wail throughout the hallway, piercing the silence.
And then, simultaneously, every single office door along the corridor flew open.
"Ah."
I immediately pressed my back flat against the wall, fading into the shadows. Beside me, Ho Yu-won mirrored the motion, flattening his body along the corner angle.
A massive multitude of panicked presences came flooding out of the offices into the smoke.
These were the active, living inhabitants of the Jolly Lab—entities normally completely invisible to Explorers under standard conditions.
Under normal circumstances, during a high-rise fire, the basic safety protocol is to immediately evacuate using the stairs. However...
In this specific timeline, that path had already been converted into a blazing furnace of death.
You could physically feel the heavy tremors of desperate footsteps made by those now completely barred from reaching the emergency exit. They were disoriented, screaming, and entirely consumed by primal panic.
One of them desperately tried to pry open a sealed window—the loud, screeching sound of metal scraping against a window frame echoed through the chaos. Another boldly dashed into the nearby restroom to wet a coat—the sound of the faucet clicking on echoed briefly.
But the vast majority of the staff made an instinctive, fatal choice.
They ran blindly for the elevator.
Ding.
The elevator doors slid open, and a heavy, wet thud echoed as a mass of human bodies violently slammed into the interior cab.
An alarm tone blared, followed by the elevator’s automated, repeating announcement:
—Maximum occupancy exceeded. Maximum occupancy exceeded...
I wondered—where could that elevator possibly take them?
No, the horrific reality was that they wouldn't even be able to depart the floor.
The doors refused to close.
Even without physically stepping into the smoke, I could easily picture the scene.
Scores of Jolly Lab researchers crowding into the metal box, getting limbs caught in the sliding doors, the massive weight limit constantly triggering the safety sensors...
Eventually, they would simply suffocate in place from the smoke, or burn to death as the flames slowly licked down the corridor.
And then—
I realized I didn’t need to rely on my imagination at all.
Thud.
It started with a single, charred corpse rolling out of the smoke.
But with each passing second, the bodies multiplied exponentially. Two, five, eight, fifteen, thirty...
The dead researchers of the Jolly Lab.
Their bodies rapidly began to pile up, cluttering the elevator cab and spilling across the corridor floor.
The deceased...
Were systematically classified as mere physical objects by the system.
And the corpses of these "Jolly Lab Inhabitants"—long recorded in historical logs as terrifying, highly lethal anomalies capable of causing instant disappearance upon physical contact...
Now looked exactly like ordinary, tragic human beings.
Broken fingernails that had desperately scraped at the metal elevator doors, disheveled, ash-covered hair, bodies collapsing over one another in the hallway as they tried to shield their colleagues with their white lab coats, both ultimately consumed by the fire.
Until the very last one perished.
Until there was only death.
"Mr. Deer."
.......
"You can see them, can't you? You can see the truth of this floor now."
Ho Yu-won frowned slightly, his smashed face twisting into an expression that resembled pity.
"Incredibly tragic, isn't it?"
.......
"But congratulations are in order. You chose an exceptionally good floor to descend to. The 96th level should be infinitely easier for us to navigate now."
I realized in that moment that I had just successfully recovered another primal human emotion.
Revulsion.
In a physical body that was no longer susceptible to the choking toxic gas or the searing heat of the flames, I stood entirely still and endured the crushing wave of revulsion...
Standing alongside the equally unscathed counselor from the Fox Counseling Office.
Ssssshhhh.
The overhead sprinklers finally activated—far too late to save anyone.
Strangely, it wasn't water that sprayed down, but a thick, black liquid.
It reeked of copper and iron—fresh, metallic blood.
The raging flames in the corridor slowly subsided as they were soaked by the black deluge, and a completely charred office door collapsed forward, crashing into the hallway.
The heavy smoke lightened just a little.
Cough.
Ho Yu-won coughed politely.
It felt entirely deliberate, a staged physical reaction. If you actually turned your head to look at him, not a single hair on his head had been singed by the heat.
It was impossible to believe he had just been breathing in thick, toxic smoke in the middle of a literal firestorm.
I posed a direct question to the parameters of the ghost story:
Question: Identify the source of the sounds made by those trying to evacuate.
"Hmm. My apologies, but my hearing isn't particularly sharp... Also, I believe every single one of them is entirely dead now."
.......
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
Warning 2
Reason: Non-cooperation
Cumulative Warnings: 2 / 1 until Disciplinary Action
"You are exceptionally cruel, Deer..."
Do whatever you want. I don't care.
I peeled my body off the wall and stepped forward, walking directly into the ash-covered scene of the Jolly Lab cataclysm.
Squelch.
...A wet, sickening crunch echoed from beneath the scorched floorboards as I walked.
'So my feet are touching such a filthy, blood-soaked surface.'
It didn't matter. I was incapable of feeling fear.
Where should I begin searching?
I looked upon the devastated ruins of the Jolly Lab—glass partitions shattered, concrete walls scorched black, the entire interior of the office suite now laid bare like a single, hollowed-out space...
And that was exactly why the target came into my view immediately. Over there—resting beyond the collapsed, broken right wall of the main office.
That familiar, transparent cylindrical device, resting inside a sealed, reinforced room that was now completely exposed to the elements—
The Dream Incubator.
The Dream Incubator was here.
'I—I—I have to confirm it... My body is... currently resting inside the incubator...'
A sudden, violent wave of dissociation hit my mind. Am I currently walking this corridor, or is my physical body still asleep inside that glass chamber?
"Mr. Deer."
Deer?
"That chamber doesn't look like the specific one you were incubated in."
.......
Ah.
"It's completely broken."
I stumbled, my balance faltering, before quickly forcing myself to straighten up.
At some point during the dissociation, I had nearly collapsed onto the soot-covered floor.
Next to me, Ho Yu-won was calmly brushing ash from his pristine hair and adjusting the collar of his suit. He leaned down kindly, extending a hand to help me up.
"You sat down suddenly. You must have an incredibly heavy amount of thoughts on your mind."
I rose to my feet on my own, completely ignoring his hand.
Ho Yu-won looked at me with a fabricated expression of disappointment, but I already knew he was entirely incapable of feeling such a human emotion.
Instead, he glanced at the embers slowly beginning to spread through the dry corridor again and asked:
"Ah. Were you perhaps worried that the fire might ride up the elevator shaft and spread to the upper floors of the building?"
.......
Denial.
No.
I wasn't worried about that logistical chain at all.
From the very beginning, these subterranean floors weren't physically connected in a linear fashion. Because—
Reason: Separate temporal zones.
"...!"
Yes.
Do you remember? The Jolly Lab possessed identical architectural layouts on every single floor.
So identical, in fact, that even the microscopic scratches and dents on the concrete walls matched perfectly from floor to floor.
The Guard Captain had explicitly mentioned this phenomenon during his debrief. And at that time, he had formulated a theory...
—The exact same offices... Same layout, down to the tiniest scratch, so it has to be the exact same physical space, but... It feels like... each floor belongs to a completely different point in time?
"Ah. So you had already deduced that much before descending?"
No.
Actually, I didn't stop at his simple observation...
I had built a far more complex hypothesis on top of his testimony even before stepping into the elevator.
If all of these underground levels were localized reflections of different time periods within the exact same physical space—
And if that physical space was the heart of the Jolly Lab—
Then descending deeper into the basement levels didn't just mean the landscape would become more grotesque and anomalous...
It meant we were actively descending into the Jolly Lab's most critical historical moments.
Because there was a clear, documented pattern to the floors.
On the upper floors—
The Jolly Lab was always sparsely populated, the environment matching off-peak working hours.
A quiet lunch break, a vacation season, or late-night shifts after hours.
But as you descended deeper, work-related keywords and evidence of intense operations began to systematically appear.
By the mid-levels, the entire nuance of the space shifted. Corporate celebrations, high-level meetings... the population density of the spectral entities began to rapidly multiply.
So then, what lay waiting at the deepest, most restricted floors?
Following that logic, the answer became glaringly clear.
You would inevitably encounter the moments most directly tied to the core of the lab's research—the most intense, critical operations.
The defining, catastrophic incidents of the Jolly Lab.
Which meant it was highly possible to make a similar deduction about this fire.
This fire was a key historical incident directly related to the final research project of the Jolly Lab.
A cataclysm so monumental that it had ultimately determined the tragic fate of the entire facility.
And thinking back to the ancient experiment log that had summoned me here in the first place...
This must have been the final, desperate research project conducted by the scientists of the Jolly Lab.
There was an incredibly high probability that this incident was tied directly to the exact reason I had been summoned to this world.
I needed to document this.
I took a deep, mental breath, steeling my focus, and slowly stepped toward the shattered casing of the Dream Incubator.
I reached my hand out toward the mechanical slot I remembered—
The card key registration slot mounted on the incubator's front panel.
Click.
With a clean mechanical sound, a plastic card key slowly slid out from the registration slot, and a perfectly intact, unscratched Jolly Lab employee ID card began to emerge into the light...