Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 81

Tattoo Sticker.

It was something I’d been given as a service bonus at Moonlight Tattoo Shop.

"Is there a symbol here related to courage or boldness?"

In response to that question, the tattoo artist recommended a design featuring a tomato vine...

And that design was perfectly recreated as a sticker.

The tattoo I was now sticking onto my neck.

“......”

To be honest, it sort of worked as I’d hoped.

It felt like the part of my brain that processed fear had been numbed, making these supernatural horrors less frightening.

Just like Team D’s... right.

...Just like Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je and Supervisor Park Minseong from before.

They explored these terrifying supernatural phenomena so boldly it seemed like their nerves were made of steel.

But.

“......?”

I blinked inside the locker.

‘It doesn’t seem to be working?’

I recalled the students chasing me.

Utterly terrifying.

I thought about the deranged rabbit mascot I’d encountered in the theme park ghost story.

Chills ran down my spine.

I thought about the ghost pretending to be human, sobbing as it knocked on the door during the Changgui ghost story.

‘...Still scary!’

Every memory sent shivers through me.

‘Did I get scammed?’

Or maybe I applied the sticker incorrectly? I’d never used a tattoo sticker before, so who knew?

Either way, it wasn’t something I could figure out right now.

“......”

Damn.

Whatever the case, I needed to stick to the plan.

Now that the “teacher” had disappeared from the fourth floor, this was my chance.

‘They must’ve gone downstairs.’

Swallowing hard, I stepped out of the locker.

...Of course, the sight waiting for me outside would be horrific.

The remains of Team D’s supervisor, blood and pieces scattered everywhere—I braced myself before stepping out....

......

“...?”

Tomato?

Wait.

I quickly left the faculty office and climbed to the fifth floor.

What lay there was the exact reason I had avoided this floor until now.

AAAAHH!

The walls of the fifth floor were plastered with pages from old yearbooks.

In the photos, the students wore expressions of agony, reaching out toward the outside world with outstretched arms.

AAAAHH!

Through the scraps of yearbook pages, I could see writhing chunks of flesh.

The fifth floor was designed to induce extreme mental distress and panic in anyone who entered.

It no longer looked like a school but an overtly twisted alternate reality.

Where the lights should have been, crimson bulbs pulsed ominously.

But.

Tomatoes.

Ha.

Hahaha!

‘What the hell is this madness?’

Where there should’ve been human heads, there were only tomatoes!

No, it’s not that they didn’t look human.

The people in the yearbook photos? They still looked human—faces contorted in pain, screaming in agony.

And yet, they felt like tomatoes.

It didn’t even register as scary. The rational voice in my head translated it into emotion: this wasn’t fear; it was absurdity.

That’s all it was.

‘Haha....’

The further I walked down the corridor, the older the yearbooks became, and the more grotesque and inhuman the graduates appeared, melting into the walls.

The walls and ceilings were adorned with bizarre talismans and pulsating chunks of flesh.

And then there were the voices.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I dug up the talisman from the schoolyard. I was just preparing for the graduation ceremony. I’m sorry... No, no! The graduation ceremony isn’t a ritual. It’s not a sacrifice! It’s not! Please, save me, save m—"

Lore from the game’s world.

Hearing it now wouldn’t change anything.

I walked through the hallway, feeling as though I were on a pleasant stroll—or perhaps even more amused than that.

Because everything was tomatoes, and it was hilarious.

At the end of the corridor, I stopped in front of a large door to my right.

A neat, teal-colored metal door.

This door, alone among the grotesque horrors of the fifth floor, retained its pristine form.

It was the door to the auditorium.

The location of the game’s final chapter.

[Graduation Ceremony in Progress]

Graduates only. Please knock before entering.

I read the instructions printed on an A4 sheet.

But I was in Class 1-5, so I wasn’t technically a graduate, right?

‘This kind of thing is just a gimmick that opens with the right item.’

And I already had it.

An item you’d normally only acquire by completing the game’s final chapter.

Would you like to use the Name Tag Decoration?

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Of course.

Knock, knock.

I pinned the name tag decoration to my chest and knocked on the auditorium door.

The massive door in front of me slid open smoothly.

“......”

Hundreds of third-year students seated in their chairs turned to look at me.

This year’s graduating class.

Half-melted and fused with their chairs, they couldn’t leave their seats. Black, ink-like tears streamed from their empty eye sockets.

But....

I felt nothing more than pity.

And honestly, pity was the appropriate emotion for this situation.

‘They can’t harm me anyway.’

Irrational fear had been replaced by tomatoes, and I walked calmly down the aisle between the chairs.

Toward the massive stage adorned with a banner for the graduation ceremony.

Step. Step.

The graduates behind me turned their heads to stare expressionlessly as I walked past.

I climbed onto the auditorium stage.

Taking hold of the standing microphone set in the middle of the stage, I declared:

"Let the graduation ceremony begin."

Ding-dong-dang-dong.

As if on cue, bright and grandiose event music began to play.

The sound of graduation music filled the auditorium...

And at that moment—

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Screams erupted, tearing through the auditorium.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Like shedding its skin, the auditorium’s pristine appearance peeled away, revealing a grotesque and monstrous reality.

The horrifying scenes I’d seen on the fifth-floor corridor appeared once again.

It felt like the place itself was making one final desperate effort, as if punishing me for trying to disrupt its purpose.

But I wasn’t fazed.

Everything was just tomatoes.

The real danger, however, was just beginning.

‘It’s coming.’

To forcibly seat the student who had dared to start the graduation ceremony on their own—

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.

The frenzied sound of footsteps echoed from below, growing louder and faster.

‘The teacher is coming.’

It was fine.

‘I’ll take care of everything I need to before they arrive.’

I pulled a stick-shaped auto-injector from my pocket and jabbed it into my arm.

Happy Maker.

The ultra-potent, single-use painkiller released its glowing neon contents into my veins with a cheerful, artificial chime.

An almost surreal sense of comfort and lightness coursed through my body as the substance spread through my bloodstream.

As if by magic.

‘Perfect.’

At the same time, I popped two pieces of Nostalgia Candy into my mouth.

"No more than three pieces of candy at once!"

"You might sink too deep into nostalgia and lose yourself!"

Yeah, yeah, I followed the dosage instructions.

Now, I felt absolutely calm and ready.

‘Phew.’

It was time.

Thud.

Something began to force its way through the gap in the auditorium doors.

The “teacher” had fused a blackboard into their warped hands, bending and tearing through the metal to rip the door apart.

Screech, crack, rip.

The door crumpled and fell away.

And then, the figure emerged.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

A colossal humanoid figure.

But it was only a silhouette.

It looked as if multiple teachers had been crumpled, stitched together, and stuffed back into a human-shaped mold by force.

An arm protruded from its head, a head sprouted from its shoulder, and shoulders jutted out from its knees—a mass of flesh turned monstrosity.

It walked into the auditorium with strangely neat, deliberate steps.

Step. Step. Step.

Blackboards, textbooks, student rosters, chalk, and glasses were haphazardly attached to its body, swaying and shaking as it moved.

From the opposite side of the stage, I watched this grotesque monstrosity unfold...

“......”

And felt nothing but a rising surge of determination.

Breaking through that thing was the only way to get home and complete my collection log.

‘Yeah.’

This wasn’t a situation for fear—it required tenacity!

The tattoo on my neck burned hot, sending waves of heat through my stomach, heart, and head.

‘Ah.’

Now I understood.

The true effect of the tattoo sticker was...

‘Euphoria.’

An overwhelming rush of adrenaline.

The kind that flipped a switch in your brain, making you charge ahead recklessly the moment you set your sights on a goal.

And on top of that, the ability to perceive everything as mere tomatoes.

‘I can do this.’

I grabbed the auditorium microphone and fixed my gaze ahead, ready to face whatever came next.