Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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A black book hologram overlaid Park Minseong's head from above.
The hologram clung to him like tar, dripping down as Foreman Park clawed at the floor in agony.
Behind his thrashing, a cheerful voice emanated from the TV once more.
The same scene soon repeated all around.
The problem was, the problem was...
One prior accumulation.
One on stage.
And...
One for failing to guess the letters.
That made,
The TV declared.
The black book holograms covering the faces of those who failed to guess letters.
Among them, only Foreman Park's turned bright red.
And then it engulfed his entire body.
"■■!!"
The foreman's scream warped into a strange form.
"No■■, ■give me, ■■■■…!"
The man writhed horrifically on the floor, twisting.
Incomprehensible passages from the education manual were recited amid spurting text and sobs.
Yet no one around paid any attention.
They glanced over, then distanced themselves to avoid involvement, simply awaiting the next step in the manual.
Which came right away...
Clear confirmed.
"……."
"Ah, fuck, finally!"
"Move!"
The moment they realized the game was over, curses and sprinting filled the air as people poured out of the playroom.
Soon, the staff finishing their 10-minute penalty education staggered to their feet, vomiting tar-like holograms, clutching their foreheads, and limping into a run.
Some even bumped into me.
"Huh?"
"……."
"Wh-what."
"……."
"The door only opens for 30 minutes—if you can't get out now, you'll be treated as a volunteer too! Fuck!"
And they dashed past me again.
"……."
I was left alone.
With the 'contaminated' Foreman Park rolling on the floor.
-Goodness, to think my friend is misunderstood as volunteering at such a musty old place! Let's get out right now, Mr. Deer!
"…No."
-Mr. Deer?
The game was over.
Which meant...
The rules of this ghost story were over too.
'In the worst case, I could bolt alone and make it out the door in 10 minutes.'
So.
"I have to at least try to take the foreman with me."
I could endure it.
I had to try as far as I could.
It worked before.
'I don't want to give up right away.'
I'd barely saved someone turned into Hangman by exploiting a tiny loophole— I didn't want an ending where the rescuer vanished in the ghost story.
I didn't want a wiki footnote like 'What a Hungry Hangman-style expedition report.'
'…I can do this.'
I looked up.
And plunged my hand into the tattoo on my wrist.
Items I'd stashed poured out from the heated tattoo: candle-making kit, apple juice, bloodsucking knife, stickers, bundles of fifty-won coins by the dozens...
-Oh, what fun item will you use this time, friend?
"None."
-Hm? Then that action is...
I dumped all the items into the briefcase. It fit snugly without the bloodbath tub.
I pulled out the protruding bloodsucking knife separately and tucked it into my back pocket.
'…Good.'
The completed briefcase was heavy but not too much to run with.
And what remained was.
The now-empty space in my wrist.
-To clear space, huh?
Exactly.
I dipped my hand slightly into the space connected via my wrist tattoo and pulled it back out.
"This has the volume of a cube with 60 cm sides, right?"
-Correct.
"But it's irregular-shaped?"
-…! That too...
Brown's voice mixed excitement and amusement.
-Correct.
Good.
'It's all or nothing anyway.'
I'd clearly heard that dying contaminated—trapped forever without death—was worse than just dying.
'Let's do it.'
I gritted my teeth and waited.
For Foreman Park's third penalty to end.
'Grabbing him mid-penalty would be idiotic.'
Contacting someone undergoing penalty would kindly show me that hologram education manual too.
Putting me in a 10-minute retire state reciting it.
'That'd be game over.'
I suppressed my impatience and waited calmly.
'Time until penalty ends... 7 minutes.'
6 minutes.
5 minutes.
4 minutes.
3 minutes.
2 minutes.
1 minute...
0.
"……."
The tar-like sticky red substances around the collapsed Foreman Park vanished.
And he slowly rose.
In the pristine appearance of a kindergarten teacher.
His black-suited body now wore soft beige pants, a white t-shirt, and a light green apron.
In one hand, a brown binder labeled in red.
And on his bare face, the mask fully melted away...
A branding on his forehead.
Sprout Class
A gentle smile spread across Foreman Park's fully revealed face.
"Teacher Sol-eum!"
Fuck.
"You waited while I recited the education manual? Thank you so much."
"…Of course I waited."
Don't flinch, don't flinch, showing it means I'm fucked.
"How's your condition?"
"Perfect. Couldn't be better!"
Foreman Park nodded with a soft smile.
"…Glad to hear it. Shall we go now?"
"Go? Ah... you mean leave?"
"Yes. Let's go together."
"Ah, I don't have a quitting time anymore! I'm not a new teacher now. I've finished reading the manual!"
"But quitting is..."
"There is no quitting?"
"……."
"Hm. Now I need to head to Sprout Class to help prepare for opening..."
And Foreman Park shouted with a bright expression.
"Ah, right! Want to come too, Teacher Sol-eum?"
Chills crawled up my spine.
"You don't know which class you're assigned to yet, right? You haven't read the manual. Reading it will tell you your class!"
Foreman Park extended his hand.
"I wonder which one. It'd be great if it's Sprout Class with me. We were originally in the same squad."
Damn.
Damn it!
I stepped back naturally, as if pondering the offer.
His proffered hand swished through empty air.
"Uh..."
"Thanks for the offer, but... I need to toss this outside the entrance."
I lifted the briefcase.
"I borrowed some items and have to return them on time."
"Teacher Sol-eum, no wonder you had all those weird items—they were borrowed?"
"Yes."
Please don't notice.
'Please.'
The thing that used to be Foreman Park replied kindly and warmly, like professional courtesy.
"Should I ask the other teachers to help carry it?"
"It's just a briefcase. If it's okay, could you just guide me to the entrance? ...Mr. Badger Foreman."
Park Minseong froze.
"……."
Maybe.
"...Mr. Badger Foreman?"
…….
The foreman's mouth opened.
"That..."
…!
But the next instant.
"Sure! Let's go to the entrance together."
The mild teacher's voice emerged again.
"……."
"Teacher Sol-eum?"
"Yes, just escort me to the entrance. We'll move quietly without causing trouble."
"Great!"
I turned and headed out of the playroom.
With the fully contaminated 'teacher' Foreman Park right behind.
'Ha.'
I moved slowly, step by step.
Tap. Tap.
Right behind,
the sound of soft indoor slippers followed closely—not dress shoes.
Tap. Tap.
"Ah, let me carry the briefcase too."
"No need—"
Before I could finish,
the teacher's hand grasped half of the briefcase I held.
And the cover of the perfect teacher's education manual in his other hand bumped my hand with a thud.
Tap. Tap.
"……."
It's fine.
No piercing mental noise, no overwhelming terror or fear.
'I can get out.'
The entrance was close.
Just walk.
But at the same time, such thoughts arose.
Is sneaking out the entrance like this really right?
Fuck.
Look at me cursing.
Maybe because I haven't recited the manual once—it's a bit embarrassing...
Actually, isn't the penalty not punishment, but an opportunity for education under the name of penalty?
This is insane.
Wait. Don't dismiss it as contamination—think seriously.
This is a wonderful workplace. Preparing for a perfect opening with dignified, obedient people would be pure joy.
I have the aptitude to become a perfect teacher.
■■ Affiliated Kindergarten told me so!
No.
What no.
I mocked myself. I knew getting caught lying was a penalty. Just efficiently abandon the entrance.
That's right.
Recite the education manual voluntarily here. Ask Teacher Park Minseong to read it together.
No.
Borrowing the manual would
No.
Don't think other thoughts.
Because the deeper the thought, the more I'd admit this was a pretty good idea—
No way!
Focus on moving my feet. One step at a time, the entrance gets closer.
Tap, tap.
"……."
We arrived.
The entrance!
Not the filthy one we entered, but a pristine one so appealing you wouldn't want to leave.
"Now toss this bag, right?"
I yanked the briefcase. The education manual that had touched my hand regretfully fell away in the gap.
"Shall I toss it too?"
Please.
"Sure."
Work.
"Grab it here..."
Only then did I turn my head.
Foreman Park's face, smiling as a 'teacher,' filled my view.
Leaning forward, hand outstretched to grab the briefcase as I suggested.
'Now.'
I seized the foreman's head.
"…!!"
And brutally shoved it into my forearm.
'It's going in.'
The space linked to my tattoo was a 60 cm-sided cube in volume.
But not rigidly cubic. An unfixed irregular space.
So converting to other volumes...
'Plenty of room for one adult male.'
I fixed my gaze upward.
Crunch, crunch.
The humanoid body crammed into my wrist tattoo rebelled, joints shattering like glass…!
'I deliberately started with the face.'
Conversation would influence me, intensify the contamination.
I kept pressing with one hand. The tattoo space swallowed it effortlessly… Ah! The manual touched! I'd keep this separate, no way.
Once the last foot was crammed in, now...
Thud!
"…!"
Something burst out and grabbed my left forearm.
Fingers clenched white-knuckled,
Foreman Park's right hand.
"Ugh!"
Damn it!
I tried prying off finger by finger, but no luck.
'Can't injure the teacher.'
Who knew how this darkness would react.
'Quietly…!'
Unable to even breathe, I drew the bloodsucking knife and stabbed my arm.
"……!"
Fingers tore off, ripping chunks of my forearm flesh. Pain that should've elicited screams was blocked by tension and adrenaline.
I shoved the last finger into the tattoo and hurriedly stepped toward the entrance.
Thud.
The final step.
"……."
I looked up.
Bright blue daytime sky.
Behind me stood only the dilapidated private kindergarten building, now shuttered.
Glittering sunlight illuminated the weeds of Seoul's outskirts.
"……."
Clear.
I looked down.
Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je lay collapsed on the ground, wrists gone.
No other employees in sight. They'd already left, it seemed…
I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket.
And pressed the designated button.
A signal went through, proving reality, and the other side picked up…
"Security team's storage warehouse... right?"
The words barely escaped my parched mouth.
"I need equipment to contain contamination…"
Because.
"I rescued a contaminated employee."
…….
…….
Done.
I fainted on the spot.
