Chapter 251
Chapter 251
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 251
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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Will-o'-the-wisp.
The entity inside the lantern that the Disaster Management Bureau lent me after I lost my arm during a mission.
It was also the presence that stayed by my side right up until the moment I drank the Wish Grant potion.
I'd occasionally worried about how it fared afterward, whether it made it back to the Bureau safely...
'...Good.'
Its presence right in front of me now meant it had made it back just fine.
I gazed at the will-o'-the-wisp drifting out of the lantern and hovering in front of the sliding paper door.
It felt nostalgic.
But I shouldn't expect it to recognize me like this. Not with how I looked right now...
Whoosh.
The will-o'-the-wisp flew straight at me and stuck to my head.
'...!'
No, it shot through the paper door like a bullet and nailed the spot between my horns dead-on. It landed with such a splat that the sound wouldn't have been out of place...!
'Ah, no.'
Startled, I raised a hand to carefully peel it off, but the will-o'-the-wisp slid along my horn and took shape.
...Into a blue, warm flame giving a thumbs-up.
Then it began trickling down my horn, as if weeping.
'......'
It recognized me.
"Will-o'-wisp buddy! If you're going to be that rude..."
"...!"
I let the will-o'-the-wisp, now full of energy, frolic around my horns.
The agent assigned to me today watched the scene, pushing up their glasses instead of panicking, quietly observing us...
And then.
Knock knock.
"Agent Sumak-sae, Go-myeong says to pass along that he's wondering why you haven't shown up for that late-night snack he suggested."
A somewhat familiar silhouette appeared from beyond the sliding door.
And turned to look at me.
"Oh, looks like you're doing well."
Agent Ha-geum!
"Seems you get along great with the will-o'-the-wisp. Sister Hong really has a knack for this."
She plopped down near the sliding door and chatted casually with my agent for the day.
"If it's the will-o'-the-wisp keeping you here, I've got it covered, so go keep that snack promise."
"Ah...!"
The agent thanked Agent Ha-geum profusely a few times before leaving without much hesitation or worry.
"Thank you!"
She glanced back at me and the will-o'-the-wisp, giving an awkward wave.
The moment the staffer fully vanished down the hallway beyond the door.
"...See? We're starting to trust your temperament a bit more now."
......
"From here on, folks will start tossing in various items to gauge your reactions, so don't take it too personally. They're just figuring out what offerings you'd like."
"Obviously you. What else?"
Yup, figured as much.
I held back a sigh as I watched the will-o'-the-wisp playing near my horns drift toward the yellow lantern light by my ribs.
"Well... now that you're the mascot, I'll probably get asked a lot what you liked back then."
Wait.
"So if there's anything you want, feel free to tell me now."
No.
You're already doing so much just keeping me sane and letting me stay here rent-free...
Of course, I knew the Disaster Management Bureau wasn't just catering to my whims.
'They want my cooperation as a supernatural entity.'
Especially since this agent already knew I was the owner of Flower Golden Resort, that would only amplify it.
Borrowing power from human-friendly supernatural entities was already a systematized disaster response method at the Bureau.
Like the will-o'-the-wisp, Bari-degi Workshop, General Beom... I was probably being treated as a candidate for a cooperative spirit too...
The problem was, I wasn't in a position for that.
Not only had I originally been human, but right now I was less some auspicious entity and more... an impure clump of flesh composite, unfit for the role.
......And,
"Looks like you haven't fully extricated yourself from that rotten company yet."
......
"How about settling down at the Bureau? I don't know the details, but we can look for a way out together."
Help find a way out of the employment contract with Director Cheong... together?
That...
I wasn't sure. Was it even possible? Director Cheong didn't seem like any ordinary being, no matter how I looked at it.
Even if it were possible, it'd require massive investment, and I wasn't some auspicious, valuable supernatural entity worth that payback.
Just thinking about breaking the employment contract triggered blaring rule violation announcements in my head, making my brain feel like it was leaking fluid...
Twinkle.
'......'
The will-o'-the-wisp softly circled my head.
Over the hallucinations layered hallucinated humming, stick-tapping sounds, and cheerful footsteps.
Sounds of the goblin.
......
As the announcement faded, I lightly tapped the will-o'-the-wisp on my shoulder.
Agent Ha-geum, who had been watching calmly, smiled and fiddled with the hilt of her ritual longsword.
"Right. At least you can put up a fight now. With help from other supernatural entities, that is. They even patched up your clothes."
I glanced at my arm. It had silver thread patches sewn on.
The torn zipper on my security team uniform had already been repaired by the time I came to.
Someone from Bari-degi Workshop must have come out and stitched it up.
'Feels like there's some odd energy to it.'
I'd check it later. Anyway...
Lie.
"Got it. It's an honor, Mascot."
I was grateful. Even if it was an offer made without knowing I was Agent Pod-o, the spy.
Of course, I couldn't actually accept.
'Still, I want to help with something before I go.'
I pondered, then unzipped my arm slightly and slipped my hand inside.
Straight into the inventory tattoo.
To the other side, it probably looked like I was shoving my hand into my own body.
"...!"
'This space is connected to the resort.'
And now to the resort's manager, Jang Heo-un, too.
'When I called Jang Heo-un, I felt the decision go through to the manager.'
So maybe this would work too.
I sent a few signals, instructing the manager to place some resort items in the space linked to the tattoo...
Of course, the resort wasn't some sacred place either.
So I ordered items that wouldn't spread contamination on their own, wouldn't suddenly drag the resort in, were safe, and operable by me.
I pulled my hand out of the tattoo on my arm.
Atop my gloved hand gleamed a colorful plastic coin.
"That's..."
A Jolly Coin.
"...!"
I dumped the coins in front of Agent Ha-geum behind the sliding door.
She shot to her feet.
'This should be usable at the Bureau too.'
People fell into the resort regularly, and agents came to rescue them, so there had to be other entry points to the theme park.
With Jolly Coins, the agents' movements would be much easier.
In my zone, the souvenir shop sold mostly safe items for humans anyway, so they could buy and use them.
This quantity wouldn't disrupt resort operations, so no rejection either.
"No, this..."
Hey now, put it away.
Feeling like some ordinary citizen bribing an official, I shoved the Jolly Coins at the agent.
'This should count as some repayment.'
After the will-o'-the-wisp returned to its lantern, I inwardly nodded as I watched Agent Ha-geum leave with the lantern and coin pile.
Vaguely thinking this settled things between us.
......But that was just my one-sided notion.
Starting the next day, various items began arriving as offerings from the Disaster Management Bureau.
'...!?'
And I realized.
'...I've proven my utility!'
If agents who'd entered the theme park vouched for the Jolly Coins' usefulness, now they were trying to figure out how to use me.
To exchange for Jolly Coins most effectively!
Third rejection today. I half-heartedly pushed away the basket full of kids' toys.
'Do they think I'm the ghost story overseeing the theme park...?'
They kept sending amusement park-related items. Or resort-related ones.
For the record, amid all this, the will-o'-the-wisp was permanently loaned to me. Apparently, it insisted strongly.
Grateful, but I regretted not slipping in a few more Jolly Coins as payment.
'What if they start introducing more supernatural entities as "friends"...!'
I was seriously worrying if they were even pulling in Jang Heo-un mid-treatment for interviews when.
Sure enough, things escalated like this.
"This seems like something from your resort. Is it?"
......
......!
"Guess it is."
I peered beyond the sliding door at the item in the basket.
Pink body, round pebble-like black eyes. Clean, well-groomed fur on a fluffy rabbit doll...
'Good Friend...!'
Why was this here?
And then.
'...!?'
No.
'Brown?'
[Who else? Oh, finally meeting not as cheap merch, but in this fine body you picked, Deer.]
[Look at this silhouette. That coin you used is in my belly!]
Flustered.
Dazed, I lifted the doll from the basket with both hands and realized.
'Was this the plan all along...?'
A pleasant voice rang out with a hint of mischief.
[A true entertainer knows to wait for an even grander moment of reunion!]
[Someone figured out my stuffed origins tied to your quaint, charming resort, and trusted they'd deliver this Brown to you. Oh, what a fateful encounter!]
Hold on.
'Someone had a Good Friend this whole time?'