Chapter 272
Chapter 272
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 272
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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The last time I heard about Kang Ihak was when he went out to collect the "Man in the Screen" ghost story.
And it was news of his disappearance.
I'd heard he'd been taken in by the Disaster Management Bureau, but since he was just an assistant manager, I figured he'd be released without much fuss...
...Why is he here?
A gaudy woman's torso stood in the silent, filthy hallway.
A sound came from inside the pottery.
"~!!"
A stifled scream, like that of someone buried alive, gasping as if choking to death...
...The missing employee was Kang Ihak?
But there was no time to dwell on that thought.
The next moment.
The hallway's torsos had doubled.
"......"
What peeked from beyond that corner was much smaller than the woman-shaped figure before me. Like something inside a matryoshka doll, similar in appearance but different.
And the identity made even clearer in its shrunken form.
'Jar.'
That instant.
Wobble.
'...!'
The pottery woman teetered toward me, swaying back and forth. Jewelry sparkled in the dim hallway light as it fell off.
Sounds of people, jewelry, and liquid clashing inside the torso...
I watched it all without moving a muscle.
"Well done... Don't... touch it..."
......
"It's doing that on purpose..."
The tense atmosphere hung heavy.
A groan came from behind me—Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je, who'd checked the situation.
"What the hell. That's the damn honey jar."
Yeah. I'd figured it out too.
One of the Twilight-Grade darknesses that supplied gold to Daydream Corporation.
More precisely.
A ghost story that had maintained Twilight-Grade risk levels based on thorough manuals.
Indeed...
'I can see why Kang Ihak got trapped in something like that.'
A sigh escaped me.
What was there now... could be seen as a giant pitcher plant grown fat on Kang Ihak as fertilizer.
'No wonder it was hard to suppress.'
Even while simply smashing or suppressing it, the torso scattered its jewelry. And...
If you couldn't recover every scattered piece of jewelry that strangely vanished, each one would become another torso.
And it would claim another victim.
Moreover...
"...That honey jar just ate a person, right?"
"Yes."
I heard Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je mutter a quiet curse.
"Why, why?"
"They say ones that eat people get extra lively digesting them from the inside until only guts remain, so that's..."
And her words cut off.
'She noticed.'
The reason control of the annex basement level 2 entrance was taking so long.
The security team was deliberately waiting for the people swallowed inside that jar to die.
More precisely, they'd been ordered to.
'Just endure until that moment.'
Once the person inside fully turned to guts, the Canopus golden jar would achieve its purpose and quiet down.
Plus...
An unknown horror.
No legends to reference, so they avoid further stimulation until it returns to its docile Twilight-Grade state.
'They probably never planned to rescue Kang Ihak.'
The company would've written off the low-seniority employee who'd already been nabbed once by the bureau as a sunk cost and processed him as missing.
And the real problem was...
"...That, that!"
I looked at the earring in my hand.
"Did that come from there? This..."
The accessory I'd found in the broken Toy Maker seemed to have fallen from that torso...
'Damn it.'
I'd been lured.
"If it's not contained, it'll chase the jewelry picker relentlessly until only guts remain inside."
The company even melted down accessories acquired in containment, destroying their form to prevent supernatural phenomena, using only the gold.
But could I escape pursuit without getting caught by security, in this chased state?
Especially as a conspicuous special division employee like me.
My companions' expressions changed.
...Even smashing it would alert security.'
Plus, fragments and jewelry would scatter, prolonging containment failure and possibly affecting other darknesses on this floor...
Like the broken Toy Maker just now!
'Can't do anything too flashy.'
No matter that Manager Ho had my back, if things blew up too big, even he couldn't cover it.
"Hoo."
Plink, plink.
Meanwhile, the torso before me kept dropping jewelry to the floor.
As if telling me to pick it up.
'......'
Once it realized that didn't work, it'd start trying "any way" to touch my body...
'Doesn't need a person, just guts, huh.'
In that moment of unease.
"Hm... Should I... just swallow it...?"
Yes...?
"No crumbs left... if I eat it...?"
The security captain's head twisted into a bizarre shape, turning black and massive...
"......Hm."
The security captain was back to his usual slumped form before I knew it.
Whew.
'...Influence from seeing the red cape?'
He felt more aggressive than usual... Gotta be careful.
Hold on.
'Swallow?'
Even if the security captain was a bit aggressive, his usual detached, precise judgment remained.
So he'd chosen that method because it left no scattered gold or pottery shards. And...
'Can't I do the same?'
......
I released black smoke, enveloping the torso before me.
"...!"
"Deer?"
And I thought.
'Almost forgot.'
Being down here in the annex basement had reminded me too much of those days, making me forget.
I was no longer with the Field Exploration Team. So...
'I can do stuff like this.'
I ripped off the bizarre torso's head.
"...!"
Crack.
...I'd done similar to people, but this was even easier.
'No worry about contamination.'
With the sound of something hard splitting, the seal on the ornate jar broke.
But the jewelry didn't hit the floor. My smoke caught and swallowed it all.
Yeah.
'Might as well own the aggro.'
If all the accessories were deemed picked up by me, that settled it.
Crunch.
I held the head and jewelry in the smoke, then pulled out only my wrist to stuff it into my inventory tattoo.
"Eek."
Then I shoved my hand straight into the Canopus golden jar.
Peering inside with one of the countless yellow eyes, my black-gloved hand rummaged through the bizarre ghost story's innards.
Sticky digestive fluids, clinking jewelry, but none could harm me fatally...
And.
"...Cat-nim?"
Got it.
Whoosh.
I pulled out the human body and tossed it outside.
"...!"
Lee Jaheon swiftly caught the employee—flesh and bones partially turned to jewelry ornaments—before he hit the hallway floor.
Kang Ihak, gasping for breath.
And.
"Still some left..."
Chomp.
A massive wolf's maw swallowed the remaining torso whole.
Crunch, crunch... A short bursting sound rang out, followed by a gulp.
"......"
Everything fell silent.
"Hoo."
The security captain blinked, and the small jar peeking from the corner stretched long shadows before being swallowed, ending the situation.
And our gazes turned to Kang Ihak.
"......"
"......"
"I saw you close your eyes just now, so what's this?"
"Ha!"
At Baek Saheon's words, Kang Ihak shamelessly got up.
Jewelry parts on his body jingled.
"Oh dear, thank you. Fancy running into you all while escaping trouble, and getting help like this. If there's a next time, dinner's on me. Well then..."
"He saw."
"......"
"He saw us."
"Hahaha, what do you mean..."
"If the company asks how this guy survived, it'll be a huge hassle."
If Kang Ihak spilled what he'd witnessed, our annex heist plan would completely fall apart...
And Kang Ihak was the type to sell us out for a bit of gold.
"Understood. We'll transport him in sealed status."
"Yessir."
"Wha, hey??"
Ho Yu-won would handle it.
Thus, Kang Ihak—strapped to a wheelchair—became Lee Jaheon's luggage.
"Wait, just a sec! Are you with Cat-nim? Cat-nim saved me..."
"...!"
'We got the gear Deputy Manager Yi Seong-hae needed anyway.'
Just me left, so better to move solo.
The golden jars would only follow me.
'And easier excuses if I run into security.'
As long as it's "with a special division employee."
"Confirmed."
"Even if I recover from contamination, can I separately claim these gold accessories..."
Squawk.
Kang Ihak was swiftly and precisely knocked out by Deputy Manager Yi Seong-hae, and the group moved out in perfect order...
"We remember the emergency stairs route, no need to guide."
"Yes......"
Only Baek Saheon stayed behind.
Because I'd grabbed his shoulder.
"...?!"
"Got it."
"Hey."
Not just that—next spot might need someone "human" too.
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je seemed to get it, moving on without a word...
"No..."
Baek Saheon's expression was complicated, but not having the item bugged him enough not to resist.
Once the others turned the corner and vanished, the security captain raised his head.
"Before more come... let's go..."
"......Yes."
For some reason, his words carried a starving, lip-smacking hunger...
'...Don't provoke him.'
I moved with the security captain.
Deeper this time.
"Now it's... security team territory... Might run into them. If I stop, stop immediately..."
Footsteps echoed quietly down the hall.
Steel doors lined opposite walls, numbers etched on them constantly changing. Soon after entering three digits, how long had passed?
The security captain's footsteps stopped.
"......Here..."
E-404
We'd arrived.
The last of the three ghost stories for equipment crafting.
Offering Prayers
Commonly known as the contaminated wish.
"......"
We opened the steel door and entered.
Smells of burnt ash, olives, and an indescribable subtle aroma lingered calmly.
The rectangular narrow room's floor was covered in fine soil, with dried olive branches piled in the corner near the entrance.
And in the center.
An altar like kids made for pretend play.
Rugged natural stone.
And ash traces from burned branches.
Seemed useful at first glance.
But.
Strong randomness and malicious responses make casual use impossible.
'That's why security mostly uses it.'
Security personnel rarely suffer death or retirement-level horrors from contaminated items.
Already irreparably contaminated for Field Exploration Team return.
And that...
'...Applies to me too.'
As 130666, probably the same for me...
'......'
I approached the altar, placed the room's prepared salt, rice, and olive oil atop the olive branches.
Then lit it.
Sizzle. Unusually large flames rose over the altar with a hiss, casting strange shadows rippling on the plaster...
Then, I wished.
Precisely for the desired item, three times.
"......"
"......"
The flames died down soon, leaving ash on the stone...
A clear, circular pattern.
Success.
I carefully dug under the altar. In the pre-dug pit, beneath shallow soil, an item's outline emerged, lifted by my glove...
...Displaying a familiar phrase from warmer days.
Warm Those Days,
Magic Candy!
Nostalgea Candy.
Yeah. This ghost story was a main source for security getting the Nostalgea series.
'......'
I quietly examined the candy packaging in my hand.
No filth, hallucinations, or eerie feelings.
No signs of contamination.
'Success.'
And this was enough.
Consuming it in Segwang Special City would probably restore my legs from back then.
'......Ah.'
I held the candy still. Like its name, it evoked strange nostalgia.
And.
Hand
"H-Hand??"
I placed three or four Nostalgea candies in Baek Saheon's palm.
'Doubt this guy needs 'em specially, but.'
Useful for escape if needed. And this way, even for scraps, he couldn't bolt.
Plus, Nostalgea series...
'Good for the security captain too.'
As I went to share.
"Hold... standby."
The security captain raised his hand.
And rummaged in his pocket, pulling something out.
A radio.
He slowly brought the faintly vibrating, glowing device and pressed receive.
The voice that came through...
It was Manager Gwak Je-gang.
The security captain didn't reply.
I held back a sigh, figuring Gwak Je-gang was just needling him as usual...
......
......!
I stared at the radio.
An oddly excited voice came through.
...!!
...What?
Click. The radio cut off.
And.
Knock knock knock.
"......"
"......"
My companions and I turned to the steel door in unison.
A voice came from beyond...