Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 106

With trembling hands, I picked up the work tip note to check it.

11. Are you seriously doing this two days in a row?

The day after a night shift usually comes with a day off, but having back-to-back shifts? That’s just cruel. Poor guy. Anyway, here’s a continuation of the tips. For tonight—

No, wait!

"Let’s stop reading."

The last part of the instructions definitely seemed corrupted, like something had gone wrong. The first tip might’ve been fine, but from the second note onward, it felt like they themselves might be a trap.

I quickly folded the note and shoved it back into my pocket.

Then, raising my head, I looked at the doors in Isolation Corridor B, all still firmly shut, and stopped at one in particular.

[Isolation Room B14]

"......."

What on earth happened here?

"Stay calm."

I needed to figure things out.

I was sure this was still the first day.

It was around 3 a.m., I think. While wrapping up cleaning, the door to the isolation room suddenly opened, and something—or someone—appeared, looking just like Deputy Manager Eun Haje.

And the moment Senior Park Minseong saw through its disguise...

‘I realized right away and did something... something horrifying.’

That’s where my memory cuts off.

So why did an entire day disappear, and how did it suddenly become the second day, with the story ending on, "We completed the cleaning safely"?

It’s almost like everything was structured to make it seem as if I’d regained consciousness before anything happened...

Wait.

I checked the digital watch on my wrist.

Just before 3 a.m.

.......

"Senior! Over here, right now!"

"W-What? What’s going on?"

I called for Senior Park Minseong and ran.

At the end of the corridor, I opened the metal door glowing under the green emergency light and stepped outside.

"What is...?"

Thunk.

The moment Senior Park followed me out, I slammed the door shut. I could hear his bewildered voice.

"Soleum, what are you doing? We’re not even done cleaning yet! Why are you—"

[BEEEEEP!]

[Unauthorized opening of isolation room detected. Corridor lockdown initiated.]

Right on cue, red lights flashed, and protective shutters descended over every door.

Including the door we’d just exited through.

"...!"

Senior Park’s face went rigid.

"...Wait. Soleum, you knew about this, didn’t you...?"

"Just a second."

I immediately pulled out my walkie-talkie, turned it on, cranked up the volume, and pressed the button.

The thing impersonating Deputy Eun had told me not to trust the walkie-talkie, which was exactly why I decided to trust it instead.

"Jay, something came out of the isolation room."

Crackle.

A response came back almost instantly.

[The corridor?]

"No. We just stepped out of the Isolation Corridor. But..."

I glanced toward the door leading out of the equipment storage area.

It was sealed off by another shutter.

"We’re trapped in front of the equipment storage. The protective shutter is down over the door here, too."

[Hmm. Okay, first layer containment is active, so don’t panic... just stay put. I’m on my way.]

[By the way... was it Room 12? Room 6?]

I exhaled slowly before answering.

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"Probably... Room 14."

Silence.

[...B14?]

"Yes."

Another uneasy pause lingered on the other end of the line.

My back was soaked with sweat.

Crackle.

[Don’t talk to anyone. Stay quiet and hide. Move away from Corridor B.]

I swallowed hard.

"Understood."

[The lockdown system has a hold timer. Even if I override it, the system will keep it in place for ten minutes.]

Ten minutes.

[I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t say a word. Starting now.]

Click.

The walkie-talkie went silent.

In the dim equipment storage area, lit by the red emergency lights, an oppressive silence fell.

"......."

Looking to my side, I saw Senior Park, who had overheard the entire conversation, nervously stepping away from the door to Isolation Corridor B.

Then.

Bang!!

The door shuddered.

Bang, bang, bang!!

Something on the other side of the protective shutter was pounding on the door. Hard.

And then came a faint voice.

...Hey! What the hell...!

"......."

Someone shouted from the Isolation Corridor we’d just exited. The voice sounded disturbingly familiar, growing clearer with each word.

"Soleum, don’t listen...!"

"...!"

Senior Park clamped his hands over my ears and dragged me toward the front of the equipment storage area.

Once we were a safe distance from the door, he whispered urgently.

"The protective shutter is down. There’s no way sound from behind it could carry this far...! That’s not real. That’s..."

Gulp.

He swallowed hard.

"...It really seems like something came out. Just like you said."

"......."

"The Security Team said they’d be here in ten minutes, right? No matter what happens or who talks to us, we shouldn’t respond. Don’t speak first, no matter what..."

I nodded slowly. He let out a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.

"By the way, how did you know the isolation room door was going to open?"

"It’s a bit complicated, but first I need to know something."

"What is it?"

"What exactly happened on the first day?"

Confusion flashed across Senior Park’s face.

"Huh? The first day?"

"Yes."

"We cleaned like normal... Oh, sure, a few of the things from the work tip happened, but we handled them fine and finished the shift, right?"

He began listing incidents that lined up with what we’d experienced—everything up to the chaos in the isolation room.

Which means...

"Do you remember handing me the second work tip during the night?"

"...Soleum."

His expression hardened.

"There was no second tip."

"......."

"Are you sure you didn’t get influenced when the isolation room door opened? Wait a second, let me check today’s tip—"

What?

I stopped Senior Park from pulling the note out of my pocket.

"Hold on. How did you even get that work tip in the first place?"

"Huh? Security Team passed it along, said it was a tip for the shift."

"Right. And who exactly gave it to you?"

"......."

"Can you describe the person?"

"Of course..."

He trailed off, face going pale.

His mouth opened and closed a few times as though trying to speak before he finally admitted:

"...I don’t know."

"...!"

"No, I mean, surely... Wait, was it left in the dorm? Or maybe a Security Team colleague gave it to me... Did I even have a colleague? What? What? What?!"

Damn it.

"It’s fine! Don’t think about it. Let’s just stay put."

"......Yeah."

Senior Park quietly curled up and lowered his head.

"...All we need to focus on is leaving. When the door opens, we run. Don’t look back."

"Understood."

I let out a long, shaky breath.

"Wow, seriously... this is driving me insane..."

My head was spinning.

The conflicting accounts made it impossible to tell where the truth ended and the lies began.

I couldn’t figure out what was real or what to believe, and the fear hanging over this situation only made things worse.

"Am I... under some kind of spell?"

But no, I was wearing the silver ring. That meant I had strong resistance against illusions, hallucinations, and mind control. So then...

"Let’s think this through logically."

I forced myself to focus.

My mind is fine.

Everything I’m experiencing is real.

This is an external abnormality, unrelated to my mental state.

And to have someone look at this situation objectively...

"Brown."

It had to be the plush toy in my pocket.

"Brown! I need to ask you something. Are you there?"

.......

Silence.

No way.

"...Brown!"

I dug into my pocket, calling out again, but there was still no response until—

—Ah! Here I am, my friend!

Phew.

I exhaled in relief, gripping the fuzzy plush toy in my pocket.

—Oh dear, it seems my response was delayed! My apologies. I needed a moment to catch up.

"......."

"Catching up?"

"...Why would you need to catch up to me?"

—Oh, because you jumped straight to Day 30!

The cheerful voice started saying things that made no sense.

—But no blame here! Finishing your punishment quickly is admirable. A swift transition to the new year, avoiding meaningless delays—ushering in even more delightful events!

"Wait, wait, hold on."

I interrupted hastily.

"Sorry to cut you off, Brown, but I need to check something."

—Ah, I always accept a guest’s grumbling, so how could I refuse a friend’s? Ask away, Soleum!

Alright, fine...

"You’re saying I jumped straight from Day 29 to Day 30. How exactly did that happen?"

—Hmm, you willingly handed that story to someone else, didn’t you?

"...!"

Wait, hold on.

"Someone else?"

—Indeed. Oh! And they’re sitting right beside you now.

"......."

—What a master of disguise they are! Truly remarkable craftwork, my friend.

I slowly turned my stiff neck to look at the person Brown had just mentioned.

The one sitting right next to me.

"Uh... Soleum? You’ve gone quiet. It’s a little unsettling. Can we talk?"

...Earlier.

When I ran out of the isolation corridor, I thought I’d called out to Senior Park Minseong and had him follow me.

But thinking back, I hadn’t actually grabbed him or looked back as I ran.

Which meant...

"That voice could’ve led something not Park Minseong to follow me out..."

If that were the case, then whatever was pounding on the door inside the corridor earlier—

"......."

"Soleum? Are you okay? Say something."

And then, the advice I got over the walkie-talkie from Security Chief J3 came back to me.

—Don’t talk to anyone. Stay still.

That included... even the people I came in with.

"Soleum? Soleum... You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?"

Thunk.

Right in front of me, Senior Park Minseong’s head dropped to the floor.

And then their name spills from their melting body, mouth gaping, creeping closer.

Their face approaches mine.

[BEEEEEP!]

The emergency lights flickered red again.

Around us, mechanical sounds began to hum.

The shutters were rising.

[Lockdown is lifted. Shutters opening.]

Ah.

"Thank you! It’s open!"

The faceless figure moved closer, shouting with glee.

Ha-ha-ha ha-ha!

The grotesque laughter exploded right next to my eardrum, shaking my brain to its core. My thoughts became muddled, and my consciousness began to fade.

In this distorted reality...

There was darkness.

***

"...Huuuhhhp!"

I jolted upright.

The dark equipment storage room.

A sealed-off, red-lit space, with protective shutters firmly shut.

I looked like I had just thrown down my cleaning tools and fled from Isolation Corridor B.

It felt as if I had rewound time slightly to an earlier point from what I had just witnessed.

And in my pocket... was the work tip note.

For the third day of duty.

I immediately crumpled it up and threw it aside.

Crackle.

[Hello? Are you okay?]

The walkie-talkie crackled with a voice, but I ignored it.

This time, I was certain.

This time, I remembered everything.

"...They called it Ireumnim, didn’t they."

I ran a trembling hand through my sweat-soaked hair.

"I see now."

I finally understood what was happening.

The story that had been stolen from me.

The being that appeared in the form of an acquaintance.

The one who cried out the name, Ireumnim.

Their true nature was unmistakable.

Dark Exploration Records / Factions

[Nameless Radiance Cult (무명찬란교)]

One of the three major factions featured in the Dark Exploration Records.

They worship a transcendent deity called Ireumnim, whose doctrine centers around becoming a meaningful existence in this world and surviving the end times.

This involves antisocial and supernatural fanaticism, rituals, and strict laws.

The cult is divided into six branches, each blindly following unique sacred laws and causing strange and unsettling phenomena.

The ultimate truth about them is [Spoiler].

It was the Nameless Radiance Cult.