Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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Morning, after clearing the high school ghost story from that dreadful horror game.
Yet, driven by the even more terrifying, ghost-story-like reality that I still had to go to work, I was diligently getting ready for the day.
Only, the commute didn't feel quite as grueling this time.
Because I had something to fall back on.
A Dream Essence Collector filled to the brim with A-grade solution.
'Reassuring.'
I neatly packed the Dream Essence Collector, brimming with golden liquid, into my briefcase.
It was the fruit of last night's labor.
Moreover, the moment I rose completely from bed, I noticed a rather peculiar 'extra harvest.'
Clatter, clatter.
Something that had been covering my body spilled onto the floor.
Dozens of... beads?
They were transparent beads that looked like they could be loaded straight into a glass hand cannon.
I picked one up to examine its appearance, reading the single Chinese character etched inside.
護
Protect... hu?
Ah.
I realized what it was immediately.
'This is the final chapter clear reward from that game!'
In other words, I had brought items from the dream game out into reality.
Just like Baek Saheon, who had swiped the fountain pen item from the faculty room and bolted.
"...Hmm."
Come to think of it.
When I stepped into the entryway, Baek Saheon's shoes were already gone.
'Left for work early to skip out on me, huh.'
I'll see him later.
Anyway, this meant these dozens of glass beads functioned to some degree as 'protective talismans.'
'Seems like they'll come in handy.'
I tucked all of those 'talismans' into my tattoo, keeping just one or two in my pocket, before continuing to get ready for work.
However.
There seemed to be an unusually heavy silence lingering.
'...Brown.'
Could it be...
'Was last night... very uncomfortable for you?'
The Tuesday Quiz Show host, whose stuffing had nearly been squashed flat because I used him as a pillow...
Gasp.
"...".
Um...
'I did feel something special, alright.'
'I hosted quite the fiery graduation ceremony.'
No.
'A teacher who didn't like how I hosted attacked me. My limbs got blown off one by one, but I endured until the ceremony wrapped up safely.'
Brown, who had seemed somewhat offended, quickly grew excited once I explained the events of the dream in detail.
Tonight, I should probably give him that... aroma acupressure massage or whatever that the tattooist did.
Alright, alright.
On the way to work, I finished explaining everything that had happened to me.
From being chased by students to turning into one of those students myself.
And finally, when I arrived at the building and was heading up to my office...
"Sol-eum!"
I ran into a familiar face.
"Ah, Section Chief Lee Byungjin."
Section Chief Lee Byungjin—the missing person I had rescued from the Changgwi ghost story, and the person in charge of manual reviews—brightened up upon seeing me.
"I heard the entire Field Exploration Team attempted entry into that ghost story with the decent yield this time!"
Ah, he already knows about us being deployed to the high school ghost story.
Well, an official notice had been sent out telling all Field Exploration members to attempt entry.
"How did Sol-eum's squad do?"
"Ah, I did manage to go in and come back... but I'm not sure about the others."
I doubted the lizard Section Chief made it in.
'If that guy had entered, it would have definitely been recorded in the <Darkness Exploration Records>...'
No, to begin with, it wouldn't even have become a record. Lee Jaheon was the literal hard counter to this ghost story.
'For someone who can just smash everything through brute physical force, a chase sequence would be utterly meaningless...'
Why ruin the ghost story?
Even if my intervention had caused a butterfly effect, if the lizard Section Chief had been there, I would have at least noticed his presence.
'He wasn't there.'
...And.
The other person in D Squad was...
Dead.
'Whew.'
Just as I opened my mouth to say that...
"Ah, D Squad only had the squad leader and Junior Manager Sol-eum, right? Looks like you two didn't run into each other."
"...Pardon?"
"Still, since it was an individual match, eh? At least no one was around to hold back our company's future—our competent Junior Manager Sol-eum! Haha!"
.......
What?
"Hold on. What do you mean D Squad only has... two people?"
"Huh? Well, wasn't the personnel appointment put on hold?"
The Section Chief looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"You know, for D Squad... since that contaminated person might recover, weren't you contacted separately to skip this season and focus on support duty...?"
"...!"
Ah.
The next moment, it hit me.
Junior Manager Yoon Joohun.
Because that newly assigned man was eliminated as an 'error' by the 'Teacher' in the dream...
He was eliminated in reality as well.
Literally erased.
As if he had never existed in reality from the very beginning.
"...".
Right.
'That's why people mistakenly believed there were no fatalities in this ghost story.'
They assumed that in the worst-case scenario, you'd merely be dragged back to that school on the night of the new moon.
Everyone!
Because...
Everyone who collected plenty of name tags, stubbornly refused to retire, and held out on the upper floors was 'erased.'
Because they became people who never existed.
...A terrifying ability to manipulate reality.
'...No wonder the solution came out as an A-grade.'
I could feel that some deeper darkness was linked to this...
Goosebumps crept up my spine.
Objectively speaking, this might not have been a bad outcome for me.
Someone anyone would find difficult to work with had conveniently vanished.
However...
'It's no different from suffering damnatio memoriae—having all records of your existence wiped.'
My stomach churned. Moreover, the feeling that I was the only one who remembered was truly unsettling.
No, wait a minute.
'Why am I the only one who remembers in the place?'
Shouldn't everyone have forgotten together?
Was it because I witnessed his death with my own eyes?
Ah!
Or was the effect deflected because I was eating Nostalgia Candy at the time?
Come to think of it, when I ate the Nostalgia Candy, I...
.......
.......
"S-Sol-eum?"
"...Ah. It seems I was mistaken about something."
In any case, it wasn't urgent, so let's focus on the conversation for now.
Even if he belonged to a different team, a superior was still a superior.
Section Chief Lee Byungjin was looking at me with an expectant face.
"Ah, come to think of it, how did you clear it, Sol-eum? What grade did you get? If you show me your collector, I could probably gauge the concentration and tell you the grade..."
"Ah."
I readily took out the collector from my briefcase and showed it to him.
The golden liquid sloshed inside.
"Here it is."
"...".
After a beat of silence.
"...?!?"
Rub, rub. Section Chief Lee Byungjin wiped his glasses.
"Haha, I'm getting old, my eyes must be playing tricks on me, the light reflection seems so strong...?!?"
"Ah."
I spoke in a bright tone.
"Does it look like an A-grade to you as well, Section Chief?"
"...".
Lee Byungjin put his glasses back on.
"...Right now,"
"...?"
"What are you doing standing around? Go report this right now! Hurry!"
In an instant, I was summoned and called in.
Meaning, before I could even set foot in the D Squad office, the personnel in charge confiscated my collector.
"Good grief!"
The look in the staff's eyes that practically screamed 'You again?'—well, good news is good news, right?
And the measured grade was...
"Kim Sol-eum."
"Yes, Squad Leader."
"The grade of the solution Kim Sol-eum collected from the darkness last night has been confirmed as Grade A."
That afternoon, as I sat in the office drafting my exploration report, the lizard Section Chief delivered the news placidly.
I had anticipated that much.
The problem was what he said next.
"Additionally, a request for a one-on-one interview with Kim Sol-eum has been submitted regarding this exploration."
"...".
Well, there was no dodging this one...
A second A-grade.
And once again, it had popped out of an unprecedented ghost story.
'In that ghost story, Grade A was practically just theoretical.'
Most ended up with D or F.
Those who held out long enough to sweep up items and name tags might have pulled a C-grade once or twice, but that was the ceiling.
Higher-ups seemed to be buzzing about how a jackpot had hit in a ghost story previously used merely for item farming.
The thing was...
'This is actually the end of it.'
That only applies to the first clear...
'That's how game mechanics work.'
If it's not the first time, it's just repetition and doesn't count toward the achievement...
Of course, I didn't intend to spell all that out, but I'd have to drop a few hints so I wouldn't face ridiculous blame-shifting like "We trusted you and invested, why didn't Grade A come out again?!"
'I'm gonna be running around ragged all afternoon...'
Just as I was grimly anticipating the worst...
"Kim Sol-eum."
"Yes?"
"Do you not wish to do the interview?"
A-Are you offering to get me out of it??
However, after a brief pause, I shook my head.
"No. It's fine. I should do it."
If I didn't want to get hit with absurd scapegoating like "We failed to get an A-grade clear because you tried to wrap it up with just a status report!"... Ugh.
"Understood."
Section Chief Lee Jaheon didn't offer a second time. Truly lizard-like.
Soon after, the appointed time arrived.
I stepped out of the D Squad office for the interview.
'They called me up to a really high floor.'
Getting off at the designated 31st floor, I located the conference room.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
At the permission granted from within, I opened the door with utmost caution.
Sunlight poured through the blinds into a stately, imposing conference room.
And in the center stood a massive, black round conference table.
However...
"Hmm."
The research team personnel for the interview were nowhere to be found.
Instead, sitting alone at the head of that colossal table was a single person.
A woman with dark blue hair, clad in a sharp three-button suit, looked at me with a benevolent expression.
While she did not look elderly, there was an aura about her that made her age difficult to gauge.
And resting on the desk was an eye-catching black mother-of-pearl nameplate.
"...?!"
A-A Managing Director??
Wait a second, a Managing Director is sitting alone in the conference room I was summoned to?
It wasn't even Director Ho, who had connections with Section Chief Lee Byungjin and A Squad.
However, that surname itself...
'I've heard it before...'
Back when Section Chief Lee Byungjin—who belonged to Director Ho's faction—went missing.
In the office gossip where employees speculated who would take over the position.
Director Cheong.
A high-ranking superior with whom I had zero prior ties—one of the executive directors of this company's Development Division—had personally summoned me...!
'Holy crap...'
Of course, even while reeling in shock, I bowed my head as deep as humanly possible.
Being shocked was no excuse to forget corporate etiquette!
"...! It's an honor to meet you, Managing Director."
"Yes. Good to meet you."
Accepting my handshake, Director Cheong waved her arm, gesturing toward the line of chairs around the round table.
"Let's have a seat first."
"Yes, ma'am."
Where on earth should I sit?
After a moment of deliberation, I sat at a spot sufficiently far from the head of the table yet close enough to carry on a conversation with the director comfortably.
Just then, someone who appeared to be from the executive secretariat entered the room, placed some unknown documents before the director, and stepped out.
Cold sweat was practically dripping down my back.
'What is going on here?'
Since I couldn't grasp the context, figuring that out took priority.
"So... Junior Manager Sol-eum? Still in your twenties?"
"I was born in the year XX."
"Young indeed. I'll speak casually, so you may relax as well. I called you here for good news."
"By good news, you mean...?"
"I mean that I've heard a great deal about you lately."
Director Cheong smiled faintly.
"Quite impressive. If only every new recruit were like you, we wouldn't have any issues securing raw materials."
"Thank you, ma'am."
When a high-ranking person says something like that, the best move is to sit politely and show an attentive, listening posture.
Trying too hard to actively chime in as if catering to their exact needs might just end up looking presumptuous...
'Did she come to the conference room in person today just to praise me and make a point of encouraging me to write a proper A-grade manual?'
Making a favorable impression, that is.
"So, Junior Manager Sol-eum."
However, the real point began right then.
Without any warning.
"Would you happen to have any interest in an Elite Team?"
I nearly choked on my own saliva.
"Well..."
"Ah, I know you received an offer from Section Chief Seok of A Squad last time and turned it down."
"...!"
"'Building fundamentals first'... A fine excuse. Handled it well."
Oh, good grief.
"That team... hm, maintaining hierarchy is fine, but sometimes their priorities get warped and they value hierarchy over exploration."
"...".
"It's not pretty to look at, but well, playing company politics well is a skill in its own right, isn't it? Haha!"
You're making it blatantly obvious that A Squad belongs to a rival faction.
'I will not utter a single word in response to that, Director...'
I'll just nod with an awkward smile.
If I slipped up here, it would look like I was badmouthing A Squad alongside the Managing Director.
The Director would obviously be fine!
But a factionless nobody of a newbie like me would be completely screwed...
Feigning a flustered yet composed demeanor, I carefully opened my mouth as if weighing every word.
"Um, since it was clear that someone as new as me needed strong fundamentals... I am currently doing my best to learn—"
"Hahaha! It's fine, it's fine. Yes, quite an understandable situation for you to be nervous, Junior Manager Sol-eum."
Director Cheong let out a hearty laugh, then grew serious.
"No need to agree with everything I say. I don't care for sycophants like that."
"...".
"Right. I suppose I should be clearer with my word choice. Wouldn't you say?"
Director Cheong paused as if deep in thought for a brief moment, then closed the folder before speaking.
"I'm not saying I will put you into one of the existing Elite Teams."
"...?"
"I meant whether you were interested in receiving Elite Team treatment. Yes... perhaps I should frame the question like this."
Director Cheong smiled faintly.
"How would you feel if D Squad itself became an Elite Team?"
"...!!"
"Including one squad member of your choice, the entire squad as a whole."
Good lord.