Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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"Grape?"
…
"Why no answer? I'm dying to know about that talk show your friend Brown is hosting."
It felt like taking a cold shower, the kind that soaks you without any actual water.
Yep, cold sweat for sure.
"Ah, is this how we're doing it? Nice to meet you, kids! I'm Brownie!"
"Agent."
Bronze Agent snatched the bunny doll from Choi Agent mid-impersonation, like he was wresting away a grenade.
But his movements were cautious, as if handling a live bomb, and he soon placed it on the wide wooden floor.
Wait, now I saw it—a silk handkerchief spread out on the floor.
And on top of that, a circle like a warding array made of blue pebbles, with Brown placed right in the center.
Anyone could tell this was the kind of precaution you take to temporarily placate or seal something malevolent…
And then they looked at me.
"…"
…
A gaze that could bore holes through a person… no,
'How did they know?'
Black Tortoise Team 1 agents shouldn't even know about Brown's late-night talk show existed.
And even if they did, connecting it to my bunny doll named Brown was a huge logical leap, wasn't it…?
Plus, this live broadcast had been officially hosted by Section Chief Lee Jaheon!
'Are they probing?'
For now, play it off casually…
"Grape, I can hear your brain grinding from here."
Damn it.
"…Should we move it for now?"
The Black Tortoise Team 1 agents rose silently, stepped on some kind of panel, and carried me and Brown outside.
I could faintly sense their intent to drop Brown off away from the main Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau building, just in case.
No words were exchanged in the process…
Well, except for one sentence when I tried to pick up Brown.
"Hands off."
Yes, sir…
The silver lining was that the agents didn't try to attack or dispose of Brown.
They handled the doll with extreme caution—almost politely. Thanks to that, no incident caused by Brown occurred.
Though it did feel more like transporting a cursed doll sealed in a temple than escorting a VIP…
'Which actually means they fully grasp how serious this is.'
Mouth dry as if I had no saliva, I was transported away.
The destination was on the outskirts of Seoul, near rundown alleys buzzing with redevelopment rumors—sparsely populated and decrepit.
One of the rest stops the Disaster Management Bureau used for deployments: a shabby, inconspicuous little container space.
And that's where I learned the root of this whole disaster.
"Deer."
Inside that container, across from the rickety desk, sat Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je!
It hit me like lightning.
'The info flowed both ways!'
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, who knew about the Tuesday Quiz Show and the late-night talk show, met agents who knew the good friend doll was named Brown. That had to be what sparked this catastrophe.
And what that meant was…
'Nowhere left to hide.'
We're screwed.
"Sit."
…
I quietly sat at the prepared desk.
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je eyed the bunny doll on the handkerchief with troubled eyes.
"That Brown… is this the same Brown?"
…
Yes……
The deputy manager was cursing me with her eyes.
She'd seen me working in full contamination mode on that late-night talk show, and now here I was carrying a bunny doll named after its host. I dreaded to think what was going through her head…
And if she'd gone to rescue Section Chief Lee Jaheon only to witness a marriage variety show that looked just like that late-night talk show airing.
'……Sigh.'
That's…
Wait.
Hold on…!
Right. I'd realized it communicating with Baek Saheon via paper boats. I could talk like a normal person if I wrote it down!
And I'd thought of the perfect phrase to defuse this mess.
"…D-Do you have any paper here?"
"Sigh."
I grabbed the pen Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je offered and scribbled frantically on the paper Bronze Agent handed me.
So, Brown is…!
"…???"
"What the hell does that mean?"
Exactly.
"What?"
Keep listening!
I desperately glanced at Bronze Agent. He flinched.
"…I remember."
"…!"
Yes—the Disaster Management Bureau playbook.
'Agents borrow power from supernatural beings all the time if they can sweet-talk them…!'
Some of those were powerful and dangerous. Take the Tiger General that Choi Agent summoned—he was a manifestation of the White Tiger Massacre that could devour people.
'Brown's no different!'
The man himself didn't seem thrilled by the comparison, but if this analogy got me through…
"Is that what it says?"
"That's all bullshit. That guy's on the verge of dying in that talk show."
No!
Deputy Manager, remember that insane exhibition ghost story? Brown pulled his weight with the megaphone there, and we all made it out…!
"But you wrote it wrong and nearly died anyway."
That was…
"You serious?"
Ugh.
'Yeah, even I know it sounds ridiculous…'
Especially to Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, who'd seen my contaminated state.
But still.
"…!!"
I felt the smoke leaking through my gas mask.
The dense horns sprouting from my head, the amorphous mass of flesh under my clothes.
…It's a bit strange.
I was crafting a plausible sophistry to persuade them, but writing it out made me realize it was somewhat sincere even to me.
"……."
I set down the pen.
A complex, heavy silence filled the container.
And…
…
I nodded.
After getting permission from the humans, I exhaled black smoke that enveloped the desk.
A space created by the smoke, a fragment of a supernatural being.
Within the ghost story, the bunny doll stirred to life.
"…!!"
The good friend inhabiting the bunny doll looked over each Disaster Management Bureau agent and Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je one by one, then bowed politely in greeting.
A slightly exaggerated gentleman's bow.
As if introducing himself.
Like thanking an audience, tipping an imaginary hat down toward his waist—a refined motion from the tiny stuffed doll.
Then he waved and settled obediently back on the handkerchief.
"……."
Silence flowed.
And then.
"Grape."
Choi Agent spoke up.
"So you're 'hosting' the talk show MC as a friend and borrowing his power?"
…!
"How powerful is he?"
"One finger snap turns a person to ash."
…!
"…Okay."
At Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je's addendum, a smile crept onto Choi Agent's lips.
Not a positive one.
'That's…'
The tense smile he wore facing mighty supernatural disasters.
"Any other conditions for hosting him? He was grabbing at his hat earlier—how about we get him a stylish fedora?"
"Really? Okay."
I looked at Choi Agent.
Choi Agent kept his usual inscrutable expression and asked me.
"So, what did he think of bunking with us for half a year? We left him in the Black Tortoise Team 1 lounge."
…
I relayed Brown's description.
"Oh."
"Ah."
And…
"……."
"……."
"Says swap it for cashmere?"
"Very particular tastes…"
Seems that way…
Anyway, thanks to the doll cushion complaint, the atmosphere that had been heading toward full alert loosened a bit.
'Probably because Brown didn't cause any trouble in good friend form for half a year.'
That was definitely a plus.
But.
"And hey."
The smile faded slightly from Choi Agent's face.
"…No casualties in that talk show, right?"
…
"So the host there isn't a cool vegan type like Tiger General."
I responded with difficulty.
"…You've tried persuading him. Okay."
The agents sat still, exchanging glances.
'…Communicating via gear?'
A moment later.
Choi Agent spoke again.
"Grape. We don't trust your 'cool friend Brown' either. You know that, right?"
Of course.
"So show us something trustworthy from now on. Like a friend would."
…!!
"We'll be watching. Hear that loud and clear, Mr. Brown?"
I realized.
This was absolutely not "Sure, if Brown's a friend, keep him around."
'They figure leaving him alone could backfire into a disaster…'
He's basically friendly by default if undisturbed, but they were keeping him close to avoid any scratches turning into a catastrophe.
Proof: Bronze Agent looked ready to stab me.
"What does Mr. Brown say?"
…Sigh.
"Okay~ …Of course, we believe our Grape isn't just making up doll answers?"
O-Of course not.
"Nothing else?"
…
Might as well.
I gave up and relayed everything verbatim.
"…Hm. Got it."
"Ah, there's a number 2?"
"…! W-Wait a moment."
"No, our Tiger General is—"
"Just tell him we got it."
Wise call…
And so I spent some time in the container relaying Brown's words.
Fortunately, when it ended, Brown's custody was returned to me without bloodshed.
"…Yeah. Take him for now."
The mood seemed a bit better than before.
Of course, it wasn't over.
"Ah, not a fedora, but we wanted to give a commemorative gift to Mr. Brown."
Bronze Agent carefully offered something to Brown.
It was… a thin silk cord, a small decoration that could be tied in a ribbon knot.
Shaped like something you'd tie around a ring finger.
"Kids these days do keychain customizing? Figured a talk show host would be trendy and sensitive to that~"
I guarantee—that's a status-tracking item…
Brown accepted readily, and only after I fully attached the decoration to the keychain part near Brown's head—under the agents' watchful eyes—did we start moving.
"Let's go."
Thus, the pink bunny doll was registered at the Disaster Management Bureau as "130666's friend ghost story"—some entity inhabiting an amusement park doll—and the incident wrapped up.
The "Brown identity exposed" fiasco was, for now, settled.
'Sigh…'
…By the way, throughout all this, Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je only said "Got it," then silently stared at the Brown doll amid the quiet.
But by the time we left the container, she was back to her usual demeanor.
With just one added word.
…
I pondered, then nodded.
And so, the entire Se-gwang Special City exploration team learned of good friend Brown's existence.
What impact this would have later… we'd have to wait and see.
And a little while later.
"Sol-eum."
'Section Chief!'
Section Chief Lee Jaheon finally arrived, meaning preparations to enter Se-gwang Special City were complete.
…Or so I thought.
"I see. We have a recommended addition for that exploration."
"Ooh~ Who?"
"Assistant Manager Baek Saheon."
My gas mask nearly popped off.