Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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A corpse hanged from a tree dangled its bluish-green foot right above my head.
Though it was clearly desiccated, the foot was oddly swollen, as if bloated.
It swayed.
It slapped my cheek.
"……."
"Deer?"
"Yes."
I'm losing my mind.
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut against the cringe wracking my whole body, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
'With this crew, anyone who could break down crying and say they can't do it would be impressive in their own right...'
No one, absolutely no one, was scared or fazed—could I really be the only one freaking out?
'It's not like this is my first day exploring Darkness!'
And besides, this wasn't even an Extinction-Grade disaster.
'Gotta pull my weight somehow, do something...!'
"I'll check it out."
Suppressing the urge to cling to someone's pant leg and beg them to take wiki info as a bribe, I gritted my teeth and reached out.
Then I examined the (please no) corpse that had bumped into my head.
The realization that I had to touch it made me want to faint, and recalling how I'd calmly stood next to that eyeless corpse back during 130666 only made it worse, but my mind kept turning anyway...
'...Cold.'
For starters, touching it didn't trigger any ominous transference, suicidal urges, or bizarre hallucinations.
"Just feels like a regular corpse."
"...Yes."
But there were just so damn many.
I caught a flicker of dismay cross Agent Choi's face as he peered into the fog.
"Not working well. The talisman has zero effect. But... one thing's for sure."
"……."
"Can't see the end with the naked eye. ...Trees with corpses hanging from them."
Horror mingled with dismay on everyone's faces.
"Are these really dead people?"
"Could be some kind of staging, but if a disaster really hit this city... they're probably real."
"Bronze, you're too blunt with civilians."
"It's fine. They're already dead anyway—what can they do? We'll just make sure we don't end up like that!"
Swallowing nausea from the overwhelming sight, I forced my feet to move.
Most corpses had years of dust on their clothes, as if they'd been there for ages.
'Something useful...'
"Could you check their hands? If they're real bodies, there might be clues about what happened when they died."
"Already on it. Grape. Here we go."
And soon enough, we found something.
On the hand of a corpse in a checkered shirt and glasses.
"...A bit smudged, but there's writing."
Words scrawled on the palm with a pen.
No one comes to save us Seven thousand abandoned Want to run
But no way out So we become the trees
"……."
The dried ink marks painted a vivid picture.
'...They realized no rescue was coming.'
Phones cut off, no food, countless people trapped in a collapsed station.
Some horrific disaster raging outside, no way out. No hope of rescuers amid the ongoing terror.
And so...
"Hm. Pretty tame way to go, though. Instead of killing each other, they all just died together?"
"Could be influenced by the Darkness. Or conversely, this oddity could be what spawned the Darkness."
"Aha."
The Daydream employees chatted calmly by contrast, while the two from the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau looked somewhat stiff.
But as veterans, composure soon returned.
"...We've got the disaster's backstory. Shall we go find the guidance board?"
"Yes."
After some thought, to avoid stirring up trouble, we left the corpses hanging as-is and moved on.
And 17 minutes later by smartphone clock.
"Found it."
The guidance board came into view.
A typical public institution signboard, black and yellow frame around neat blue letters damp with fog...
"Hm. Pretty creepy. Right, old-timer?"
"Old... Hmph. Yes. Typical supernatural manual."
As they spoke, I inferred the rules from the phrasing...
"We can classify by speech patterns."
Sentences with periods vs. without showed a trend.
"Splits into forest and subway station."
Subway ones resembled announcements, forest ones were imperatives.
"Hm. Maybe there was originally a forest outside, and it merged with the station?"
"Or 'nearby forest' shaped this station's identity. Darkness is influenced by human perception, after all."
The deputy manager lightly tapped the board.
Thud. A corpse hanging behind it slid into view right before my eyes.
"...!"
I almost swore.
"Aigoo, Grape must be scared."
But Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je scoffed.
"Agent, you think Deer here is scared of something like this? This guy's been on a people-grinding talk show. Right?"
"……."
Ha.
I barely managed a smile at the deputy manager.
"Of course. ...Part of the persona I built infiltrating the Bureau."
"Good kid, still on the ball."
"Thank you."
If only that were true...
I wanted to come clean right now, but... look at this vibe.
Four veterans in an Extinction-Grade disaster.
'Admit I'm scared here, and it'll look like I'm just freeloading on the group project...'
Ha.
And amid it all, someone was ranting about their talk show...
Thanks... a bit less scary now.
I glanced at Agent Choi.
He smiled warmly.
"Ooh, so Grape's actually a cool-headed fearless type?"
"……."
I didn't say it was that extreme...!
"Got it. Okay. From now on, Grape is—"
Agent Choi whipped his head around mid-sentence. Why—
"Duck."
I reflexively pressed the shoulder next to me and lowered my head.
Whoosh.
Something.
A taut sound brushed past my head with an eerie sensation. I flattened myself silently to the ground and listened.
…….
…….
I noticed.
My hand, which had pressed someone's shoulder, was empty.
"……."
When I looked up.
I was alone.
Trees and fog.
Escalators and station signs.
Amid the forest of countless hanged people, I stood alone.
'Ah.'
I didn't scream or call out stupidly.
I just stiffly started walking.
One step.
Two steps.
My pace quickened. Urgency to find the others fueled by fear gained momentum.
But rationally, I knew. This was supernatural. Keeping a corpse as directional reference to avoid getting turned around, staying close without straying too far, I turned my head...
Something appeared.
Elongated.
Extending from a tree, hanging still.
"……."
I approached slowly.
A sturdy twisted old rope, browned cord looped into a ring for hanging...
A noose.
Perfectly at eye level, dangling from a thick branch right in front of me.
"……!"
I backed away slowly.
The noose hovering in midair faded into the fog. No time for relief—I turned and walked on.
This time, something silhouetted in the fog. Hastening with hope of others, there...
A hanging noose.
"……."
Somehow.
The corpses hanged from trees around me seemed more numerous.
More visible.
Shirts, sweats, dresses, suits, blouses, jackets—corpses in all attire swayed as black silhouettes within eyesight, deeper in the fog.
Sounds reached me.
News.
I walked on again. Not daring through the corpses, veering where fewer were. Then again...
A noose.
As if prepared just for me, alone.
"……."
I realized.
'How did so many people even hang themselves?'
Dying takes preparation. Seven thousand people hanging requires that much rope or cord.
Rope to bear human weight.
So...
'From the start, this forest was filled with hanging ropes.'
Providing nooses.
For their quiet passing.
This forest was prepared to hang seven thousand.
Just as people perceived it.
"……."
Of all metaphors...!
I gritted my teeth. Don't think about it. My state back then, afterward...
More importantly.
'How did I originally handle this?'
Remember.
I'd survived ghost stories without 130666 state. Even as a normal human, I could do it...
'Extinction-Grade outside, but in here, maybe more openings.'
Stay calm...
Don't touch the nooses.
'Damn it.'
Gripping my eerily raised hands, staring at the ground to avoid the corpse overhead, I thought.
So this place...
"……."
Right.
'Subway station fixtures haven't changed.'
Guidance board, walls intact.
Just abnormally many trees, thickening fog, endless noose-filled maze-like forest.
Then, I knew a sure 'symbol' without fog or trees.
Stairs.
'Platform...!'
I dashed past the noose.
Recalling subway fixtures, pinpointing stairs.
Lit ceiling, mirrors, signs, escalators, braille tiles, fire hydrants...
And.
'Found it.'
I bolted down the stairs.
That instant.
"Deer."
I realized my shoulder was grabbed, standing at the platform stair's end.
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je's sweat-drenched face.
The others, just emerging from stairs, panting.
Each held miscellaneous items.
'Everyone escaped with items. Good.'
I sighed, wiping forehead sweat discreetly... then noticed my hands felt heavier than expected.
A corpse was in my hand.
"...!!"
What I'd thought was someone's shoulder and yanked down was a hanged corpse.
'Fuck.'
And I'd been staring at the empty noose left behind as it vanished.
'Ha...'
Realizing it, goosebumps cascaded over me.
Couldn't drop it—shaking, I barely set it down.
On the clean platform floor, the bloated, withered bluish-green corpse thudded.
Residual sensation prickled neck hairs.
"You okay?"
Bronze Agent quickly scanned me with working gear, relieved no 'bewitched' signs, and stepped back.
"Fog suddenly thickened, couldn't see anyone. Just followed voices to find stairs and return. Items kept glitching too. But..."
At the stairs, I was the only one missing.
"Someone said we might have to go back out, but good thing."
Thank you...
Lucky I found stairs in time.
"All safe, guess the company's veteran preference isn't for nothing."
"Haha..."
Weak laughs exchanged.
"Anyway, we learned one: can't stay long in that forest or fog thickens, corpses mesmerize you?"
"Seems like."
I detailed the empty nooses.
Groans all around.
"Hate manual-less explorations. Everything's a landmine."
"Such a hassle!"
"Any Bureau tricks, sirs? Feels like classic ghost haunt, evil spirits."
"Spot on. That foggy forest gives off overall malevolent... evil vibe. Called 'sha' usually."
Agent Choi rubbed his chin.
"But from the forest itself or mass deaths? Unclear."
"Ooh, narrow it down and we can exorcise?"
We eyed each other.
"...We can."
Agent Choi grinned sweatily.
"With proper tools."
But.
"Think Bronze has... three bullets left? Right?"
"...Yes. All anti-spirit, not for area supernatural. Plus,"
Bronze Agent massaged furrowed brow.
"Either way, needs supernatural entity's aid cooperating with Bureau."
Yes.
Monkey General, Elder—some mystical being's power.
And in Segwang Special City, external power-borrowing gear/items all fail.
Dead end, scary as hell.
'Insane.'
Then I noticed something else.
...Thirst.
'Throat's dry.'
Probably everyone felt it.
But without water/food, how long here?
'...Sigh.'
Grateful no deaths, heads together, platform escape.
'Gotta deal with that corpse first...'
As I opened my mouth.
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
"...!!"
I whipped around.
Sound from platform speaker.
Unfamiliar melody, but predictable format.
"...Subway chime?"
Without screen doors, massive entry wind would've hit.
Train lights from tunnel end hurtled at terrifying speed, flashed through glass across platform, gone in a blink.
Announcement heard.
"……."
"……."
Train roared away. We watched its lights recede beyond screen doors...
And.
"People."
Eyes met with the group.
"People were riding inside."
"……!"
One more option now.
— Track the train along the tracks.