Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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A brightly lit classroom inside a ghost story, illuminated by indoor lights.
"Die! Die!"
People desperately pummeling a creepy student statue that wasn't moving behind me.
"Let's wait until they pass."
A civil servant in front of me eyeing our company employees with wary, disdainful eyes as they walked by.
And caught in between...
Me, without colleagues or good timing.
I had to clear this nightmare of a ghost story safely while looking like an innocent civilian to the civil servant beside me.
My true identity... was actually from the pharmaceutical company that this civil servant despised!
"......"
Just how high does the difficulty of this damn thing go...?
'I'm going insane.'
The employees had moved far away by then. I seemed to make eye contact with a few, but when I averted my gaze, they didn't speak to me and hurried off.
That was a small relief—at that very moment.
Flicker.
The power outage hit again.
"Eek!"
But this time, the people were faster than the encroaching darkness.
"......It, it won't move!"
"Got it!"
I took a deep breath.
When the lights flickered back on for a moment.
The 'Segwang Industrial High School student' that had been frozen like a statue was now collapsed on the floor near the back door.
"Woooah!"
The frenzied pummeling had clearly worked. This time, the student didn't move even when the lights went out.
Instead, it looked like it had collapsed and died from the accumulated beatings pouring down all at once.
However, only the right hand of the now-still student remained outstretched toward the empty air, as if grasping for the back door...
"......"
The people cheered ecstatically, holding bloodied burlap sacks and chairs.
"It worked! This is it!"
"......"
I need to escape.
[Ding-dong-dang-dong]
"Wha...?"
The school broadcast came on.
Unlike before, the voice was eerily calm.
A slow funeral dirge played in the background.
"Now."
The civil servant poked my back.
"Let's go."
I bolted out the door right away.
And as quickly as possible, I took in as much of the hallway scenery as I could.
Confirm what's needed, hug the wall nearby to minimize my profile.
"Should we press our backs to the wall?"
"Exactly."
I didn't resist the civil servant pressing down on my shoulder and sat against the wall.
And then.
Thud.
The lights went out.
"S-save..."
"Hic,"
I forced my trembling head up to look inside the classroom.
I had to see.
Flicker.
The lights returned, bringing the scene back into view.
The classroom was a mess of blood and filth.
Bodies flung against walls, sprawled on the floor, over desks.
'......Ha.'
And amid it all, only two figures stood tall.
Segwang Industrial High School students, frozen by my gaze.
One trampled a decapitated corpse, the other grinned while gripping the front door...
And stared right at me.
"......"
Eye contact confirmed.
'Damn it.'
Sweat dripped from my chin.
"...Just a moment, I'll step back a bit. To an angle where I can see inside the classroom."
"......"
The civil servant nodded slightly.
I kept staring ahead while groping the wall behind me to retreat.
The reason for lining up against this wall.
'Absolutely essential.'
But only one remained in a slot that should have held three.
'The employees must have taken them.'
Even with Baek Saheon in the group, it was surprising they hadn't taken all three as spares.
Plus, they'd jammed paper into the checkout sensor to prevent the alarm—real pro move for ghost story explorers.
They'd even left a spare sheet near the empty flashlight slot.
'They thought of everything.'
I groped behind me, picked up the paper...
And as I reached forward, I caught the note folded on the back in the corner of my vision.
-Debt
"......"
Not bad.
I crumpled Baek Saheon's note, shoved it into the sensor, and pulled out the flashlight.
'Phew.'
Temporary blackout defense: Phase 1 complete.
'Next...'
"...! You took the flashlight?"
"Yes."
"......Excellent. Keep it on. ...Now, let's retrieve the name tags."
The civil servant strode toward the classroom's front door.
Right up to the student entity staring at me.
'Hooo...'
Just looking at it sent warning signals screaming from my scalp.
But the civil servant swiftly tore off the name tag from its chest,
And even retrieved the one from the first entity collapsed by the back door.
"......"
I'm losing my mind.
'That's an irreversible step.'
We're screwed since we made eye contact anyway.
'Definitely being chased.'
Even with the flashlight, moving through this nocturnal school with two students on our tail would be insane for a normal person.
It was a choice befitting a Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau agent equipped with gear and backup.
'...But if it were me, I'd have done it differently.'
Water under the bridge now, and rationally speaking...
Identity exposed to the civil servant.
Die in the nightmare ghost story.
No matter how I thought about it, the former was the greater risk. Death here was a given, and I'd get investigated too.
'Guess I have no choice but to trust the agent's skills for now.'
Still, I needed to pull my weight... pull my weight.
'If I'm doing it, do it fast.'
As the civil servant moved, I entered the classroom too.
And reached for the name tag on the student by the back door, yanking it off.
'Ughhh!'
Insanely scary for real.
The motionless student seemed ready to turn and smash my head at any second, but...
It didn't, and I succeeded.
'Phew.'
As I clenched my goosebump-covered hand.
"P-please... save me..."
I heard it.
"......"
I thought the student entity was just stepping on a severed head, but no.
Beneath it, someone shedding endless tears.
"P-please..."
Someone still alive.
No strength to shout or venom to fight back—just a faint whisper reaching my ears.
"......"
After a short, intense deliberation, I took some action.
......
"...! Hic, sniff... Y-yes..."
I couldn't confirm for sure since my eyes were fixed on the student-shaped entities, but the person below seemed to nod faintly...
"......"
I slowly backed away to rejoin the civil servant. Then retreated into the hallway and started moving quickly.
"Watch ahead. I'll cover the classroom."
"...Yes."
The civil servant pulled out his own flashlight.
Watching the back of the entity that had stared us down from the front door.
I watched ahead to 'stop' any new entities that might appear with my gaze.
We hugged the wall, compensating for each other's blind spots as much as possible, moving silently and desperately fast.
"......"
As the classroom faded from view... and finally, one of the two entities fully inside vanished from sight.
The civil servant, who had been watching it, muttered puzzledly.
"Why aren't they chasing... no way,"
I felt agitation from the civil servant's back pressed against mine.
"...There was a survivor inside? They're the one watching?"
"...Yes."
The civil servant took a deep breath.
"They must have been too injured to move. ...You did well. In a disaster, secure your own safety first, then help others."
"......"
"Head to the stairs. We'll pause near the fire hydrant."
"Yes."
I started walking. And then...
Flicker.
...Another blackout.
"Shining the flashlight."
"Yes."
I kept walking.
And realized.
During that last blackout,
The person I gave the name tag to died.
'They're coming.'
Two entities should be emerging from the classroom right now.
But staring ahead, I couldn't turn to check—and that made my head crawl with frustration.
"Don't panic. We still have a chance."
"......"
"You grabbed a name tag earlier."
"Yes."
"Good. Now, just kill yourself."
I nearly fainted.
"Do it right after we stop at the emergency light. Your face is so pale, it'll be better to wake from the nightmare quickly. With the name tag, no problem."
"...I."
But.
I swallowed hard.
"I did acquire a name tag, but it's not in my possession now."
"......!"
"I gave it to the survivor in the classroom."
Yeah.
Earlier, I deliberately dropped the name tag on the floor.
So the person pinned under the 'student' could grab it.
"With the name tag, that person will wake up safely."
And in doing so, bought us time too.
"...!"
The civil servant breathed shortly, filled with regret and stress.
Then spoke in a voice even more fatigued and businesslike.
"...You trusted my spare name tag?"
"No. You don't need to give it. It's yours, agent."
"......"
"You need more name tags, right? For your colleagues too."
"...That's."
Of course.
I wasn't saying this because I was some reckless pushover.
'It's really fine.'
Why?
'I never planned to acquire a name tag and suicide in the first place!'
The exploration record I based my escape on—my wiki entry—was from an explorer who never got a name tag.
Plus, I'd analyzed this ghost story extensively enough to write that record, considering all variables.
And reached that conclusion.
'Without a name tag, perform 'a certain action,' and you can clear without physical death...!'
And that was the strategy for the highest-grade Dream Essence solution.
'I have to do it.'
D Squad... in other words, I needed to prove I could achieve similar results even in new situations.
"Do you know what happens if you die without a name tag?"
I do.
"Every new moon when you sleep, you'll be dragged back here, but forget upon waking, unable to cope."
"......"
"Can you handle that?"
Probably not, but what choice do I have...
Ideally, carry a name tag and forfeit ownership at the critical moment for safety.
But with this civil servant as my companion, acquiring and potentially discarding one was impossible.
So I took the risk and naturally handed it off.
"There'll be another chance."
If there is, I'll yield it again.
As long as I'm teamed with you.
"And I'll seize that chance myself. Won't ask you for it, so don't worry."
"......"
And around now.
Maybe give it a shot.
I continued in a voice that sounded somewhat resolved.
"...We should split up here."
"...!"
"If you need it, you can have my flashlight too."
'I brought a powerful one anyway.'
And plenty of other gear.
Once separated from you, I can drop the civilian act and use them—just separate!
Scary to go solo, but tied up like this won't do.
Company colleague or civilian—better with the company!
'Need to join a larger group.'
This ghost story is safer with more eyes, but riskier if noisy— a bizarre structure.
'Need to form a 4-person party fast.'
With my Daydream Corporation risk factor, I couldn't stick with this agent.
Needed a setup where I could take more initiative.
'Pretend I can't keep up and split.'
"I think I'll just get in your way, agent. I'll... manage on my own."
Disaster victims like civilians are assumed dead anyway! Say it's unavoidable and part ways!
But.
An utterly unexpected response came.
"......I was wrong."
"...?"
The civil servant looked at me with a resolute expression.
"I planned to mercifully kill you the moment you got a name tag."
What?!
'This psycho.'
Even if death means waking, saying it outright to someone's face.
Feeling cold sweat down my back, I forced a smile.
"Ah, yes. Even in a dream, suicide is hard..."
"Yes. But... if you're okay with it, I'd like you to accompany me on this disaster investigation."
......
What?
The civil servant spoke quickly.
"Become a temporary agent. This isn't my solo mission, normally needs other agents' approval, but... here."
The civil servant rummaged in his pocket and handed me something.
"Take this, and it'll be provisional clearance."
I blinked at the small caramel candy wrapped in silver foil, cube-shaped, in my palm.
...Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau standard issue!
"A light truth verification."
That's basically a torture confession serum.
"Take it and join me, and you'll get compensation."
"......"
"If too hard, I'll give you a name tag and send you back with a mercy kill."
Wow, seriously.
"Citizen?"
If only I could pretend to eat and store it in my tattoo—but my fully reverted high school body in this dream had no tattoos.
After weighing it fiercely.
"......Yes."
I chewed and swallowed the torture serum hard.
It was sour-sweet and delicious, sticking in my throat, but I forced it down.
'Getting caught discarding or enduring without eating would be worse.'
It'd mean I know what this caramel is.
"Swallowed."
Tears welled up.
But they say the stick comes with the carrot.
Unexpected carrots started pouring in.
"Well done. Now take this."
"...??"
The civil servant quickly placed something else in my empty hand.
An iron badge resembling a somewhat sinister silver heart.
Wait.
"Agent verification ID. Wear it, and other agents will help you if we meet."
"......"
"And this."
Before I could pin on the badge, a small ivory pistol was handed over swiftly.
Tiny multicolored glass beads gleamed as bullets in the translucent cylinder.
Clearly no ordinary item—this was...
"Weapon for supernatural disasters. Definitely effective on those 'students.' Keep it."
"......"
Wow.
Bureau agent starter kit I'd only seen on the wiki.
Like Daydream Corporation's Dream Essence Collector and masks, or the agent scanner.
'Never thought I'd gear this up.'
Even impersonating a bureau agent—my fate's wild.
'What is this situation.'
Funny, a bit thrilling, but also intensely want to run.
But right now...
'No time to dwell.'
"...It's starting."
Flicker.
"Almost at the end of the hall—citizen, watch this way too from now. ...Never drop the flashlight."
......
I gripped the unfamiliar pistol tighter.
They're swarming.