Chapter 268
Chapter 268
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 268
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into Ghost Stories, I Still Have to Go to Work
-----------------------------------------------------------------
What's going on with me?
My head, throbbing with dull aches alternating with sharp pains, couldn't immediately comprehend the current situation and just shook.
All I could see hazily was the shaking scenery around me.
Colorful incandescent bulbs, yellow braille tiles on the floor, exit number signs, gray...
Stairs.
"Hic."
In that moment, I realized it.
Go Yeongeun was desperately racing down the stairs with me on her back. A hand missing several fingers gripped my arm, which dangled over her shoulder.
I barely managed to open my parched mouth.
"...Moun, tain Goat."
"...!"
Startled by my voice or perhaps missing a step, she nearly tumbled but somehow regained her pace and continued bounding down the stairs.
All the way to the platform.
"......"
It must be heavy.
Go Yeongeun's body wasn't even intact, so how was she carrying me? I had no idea what was happening. But I could feel the urgent sense of fleeing. I couldn't keep being carried like this. It must be heavy, and now that I'd come to, I should walk on my own feet. I tried to muster strength in my body and extend my legs toward the floor...
......
Gone.
Everything below my thighs was missing.
My left leg was gone from the thigh entirely, and my right from the joint down.
The bleeding had burst forth but strangely been stanched somehow.
'...Casino!'
In an instant, memories from just before flooded back like my head was exploding.
Body Casino, VIP room, Russian roulette, Deputy Yi Seonghae, the horrifying sensation of my head being torn off, body parts stolen from the rails, euthanasia drug, writhing, my own hand blocking my nose and mouth...
Acts that massively damaged the casino's assets.
'Did they bill my legs... as payment?'
It seemed a reasonable guess given the circumstances. Even if losing just my legs couldn't possibly cover the enormous damage I'd caused.
But to begin with.
'Why haven't I died?'
I'd put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. So why was I still here? Why was I conscious?
And...
Was Go Yeongeun trying to rescue me?
"Sta, tion,"
"Shh."
Having tumbled down to the subway platform, Go Yeongeun bolted straight to the wall opposite the screen doors.
And opened the fire extinguisher cabinet.
"...!"
"Quick...!"
The cabinet, normally just big enough to squeeze in the hose, was strangely spacious inside.
Big enough for one person to lie down, or for two to hide if cramped.
Go Yeongeun hurriedly pushed me carefully into that darkness, then slipped in herself.
Thud.
She closed the fire extinguisher door. With the clang of metal on metal, it shut lightly, and darkness fell.
The only light was the faint glow from the incandescent bulbs seeping through the cracks, along with the red emergency light.
"......"
"......"
"The, ca, s—huff—sino dealer won't chase outside... Just avoid the addicts."
But unable to continue, Go Yeongeun had to catch her breath more. Even so, she leaned toward me as if checking my condition.
The moment I reflexively twitched my hand to pat her back.
"Hup..."
Another light source appeared in the darkness.
Pale green.
Something at Go Yeongeun's waist emitted a very faint glow. She didn't seem to notice due to the angle, but I knew what it was.
'Daydream's C-Grade Regeneration Potion.'
......
I realized something.
Taking advantage of the darkness, I stealthily slipped the regeneration potion from Go Yeongeun's worn padding pocket into my own.
In the meantime, she was finally calming her breathing.
"Mountain Goat."
"Hoo, yes?"
"Did you save me? From the casino...?"
"......"
"What happened?"
"I don't know either. I just saw the dealers heading to the VIP room, looked inside, and everyone was... dead, but you, Deer, still had breath..."
So she carried me and fled.
...She probably had help from items or gear too.
Having survived in this Se-gwang Special City for half a year, this colleague must have prepared her own survival measures...
"Still, I was a bit late... By the time I got you out piggyback, your legs, Deer..."
"Don't worry about that. ...Thank you."
My situation, not dying instantly, was the worst.
'...If Go Yeongeun hadn't helped.'
I'd have been completely dismantled in the casino instead of Deputy Yi Seonghae and turned into a dealer. Like some baton pass.
A chill ran down my spine.
"And without legs... you were lighter."
"......"
"Better that way."
"Better my—"
Go Yeongeun looked like she wanted to unleash a torrent of curses but swallowed her words. Whether worried about attracting attention outside or just exhausted, I didn't know...
My mind was working, but I felt the brief clarity of my thoughts dulling again...
I noted the pain still in my head.
Touching it with my hand, I could tell there was a wound.
Whether my skull was pierced... I couldn't confirm.
What was certain was that I'd been shot.
'...Misfire maybe.'
Or perhaps I'd hit my brain in just the way that prevented instant death.
They say the brain doesn't feel pain, so I had no idea how mangled I was.
And watching me grope with my hand, Go Yeongeun shuddered on my shoulder, then suddenly sat up as if realizing something.
"Ah!"
She started rummaging through her pockets.
"Potion, the one from Manager Lee...!"
"......"
As expected.
I knew she'd try to use it on me.
"Quick, quick..."
Regeneration potion.
The one I'd secretly pocketed. Her trembling hands searched for the one from Manager Lee Jaheon.
...Guilt and complication gnawed at my body.
But I had no intention of giving it back now.
It would only make her feel more guilty if she used it.
"...I'm fine. Seems like the bullet grazed."
"Wh-what...?"
"So... body parts lost, cough, can get back later... at the casino."
"......"
"If we can find the potion later, you drink it, Mountain Goat. It'll be... more effective."
I just hoped the darkness hid how I looked.
"My head wound... feels like a dud, anyway... I'm stabilizing."
No.
I'm going to die soon.
But using it on me here would be a total waste. She absolutely had to use it.
"...Just board the train. Once on the train, we return to normal! Then we can slowly find and fix..."
"Yes."
I probably wouldn't last that long.
But I nodded calmly. Go Yeongeun looked anxious but didn't dare fully open the cabinet to check me in the outside light.
She just repeated it, as if reassuring both me and herself.
"Don't worry. The cabinet... for some reason, addicts don't open it..."
"I see..."
I suppressed the dizziness and gathered my words.
To divert Go Yeongeun's attention.
"Did you hear that as a rumor too?"
And... I'd wanted to ask originally.
"Mountain Goat, what exactly happened?"
"......"
As before, there was a long silence from Go Yeongeun.
But then the words came abruptly.
"Do you remember? I said I dropped out of med school."
"......"
"Truth is, it was a stretch from the start. I lived in the provinces, family wasn't well-off. Tuition, living expenses, no dorm so rent... all a burden."
Go Yeongeun's voice sounded disjointed yet calm.
"Even with loans, juggling part-time jobs had limits. In clinical years, it felt impossible..."
"......"
"Some stuff happened in the department too."
......
"And right then, things completely fell apart with my parents."
Ah.
"We fought, and contact just cut off."
Go Yeongeun shrugged slightly.
"Support stopped entirely after that, and my sense of purpose faded... So I naturally transferred. Burnout hit too."
I listened silently.
"Nothing special, right? But..."
Her voice grew quieter.
"Funny thing is, that's why."
"...Why what?"
"I joined this company."
"......"
"I had no idea how to reconnect with my family."
It wasn't just about finding their address like some detective agency.
"I wanted to get along again... but it was blocked from the start."
"......"
"If it grants any wish, maybe something like this."
And I knew.
Go Yeongeun knew how to 'properly' use the Wish Grant.
Since she'd figured out how to fulfill Jang Heowoon's wish by proxy, the same for her own.
"When you delivered the Wish Grant to me... I thought."
Her voice sank.
"I didn't want to go to another world where my wish came true. Waking up to find I hadn't gone to med school, or living as a doctor with my family—none of that."
So.
"I wished for this."
"Grant me a supernatural ability to gather news of my family."
...!!
"With that, if I could contact them, I'd gauge the situation and reconcile."
A wish for a specific ability granted to herself.
'Not too excessive.'
Go Yeongeun had meticulously calculated a wish applying only to her personally.
'Normally, this should've worked without fail.'
But.
"When I wished and opened my eyes..."
......
"I woke up here."
In this bizarre subway station.
In the underground of Se-gwang Special City.
"And the moment I did, I realized... a doubt."
"Where did I used to live?"
"Isn't it weird? Who introduces themselves as from the provinces? I knew the region. But strangely, I'd never questioned it. And with my family..."
A gulp.
"I didn't know why contact broke off."
Eerie.
"Just a feeling that 'we'd irreparably fallen out, so no contact.' Vague resignation and aversion that I'd never reach out again..."
In that instant, I realized.
"What is this?"
Go Yeongeun was originally from Se-gwang Special City.
Left alone in reality when the 'city-sealing supernatural disaster' occurred and sealed it off, while she was living in Seoul as a student.
And the Wish Grant had created the environment for the 'ability to hear family news' to activate.
By shoving her inside the seal.
And.
"I gained this weird ability to sense local rumors floating around."
And this colleague's family were all...
"But I've never heard any news of my family."
......
"Maybe natural. This is ghost story territory. Right? How do you find family news in ghost stories like this? R-right...?"
"......"
"The Wish Grant failed. Or Director Ho scammed me. Right?"
I couldn't agree, but wanted to say yes.
Tried to.
"...Deer?"
But the words wouldn't come.
"Deer!"
I slumped against the fire extinguisher cabinet wall.
No strength in my limbs. Like nerve damage...
'It's over.'
The end was coming.
But...
The train is entering.
"Can you hear me?"
Go Yeongeun seemed to grab my shoulder.
Trembling.
"Train! Train's entering. We just need to board that. The one coming now is my shelter. Just get there, please..."
Answering was getting harder.
Passengers, please board safely while following etiquette.
Light poured in. The cabinet seemed to open.
I felt Go Yeongeun trying to drag me out.
"That's the train. G1572 train, just board that, just..."
Out of the cabinet, Go Yeongeun tried to piggyback me again, but...
I did my best to stop her.
"...Deer?"
No strength in my hand, so meaningless. Barely resting it on her arm.
I tried to mouth the words.
'Don't worry.'
"What..."
'I'll come back.'
At the end, even my mouth wouldn't move.
"Deer, Deer..."
With the roar of the incoming train.
I died.
I opened my eyes.
"You're awake, Deer sir!"
Ho Yuwon's voice.
"Everyone was about to kill me because you wouldn't wake up. It was really scary. How should I know your personal circumstances..."
Plague-ridden eyes looking down at me.
"But I'm curious too."
Her mouth curved into a smile.
"You rescued who you meant to rescue, but did you leave any 'regrets' in Se-gwang Special City beyond that?"
......
"Do you have a reason to go back in now?"
Fuck.