LNCrawler

209 Chapter

Got Dropped Into A Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work (Light Novel) — novelight.net · All chapters

209 Chapter

6 PM, as the sun began to set.
A dusky glow spilled across the entrance of a building in Seoul.
A cold, pristine ground floor space, designed in a modern style.
(Ltd.) Baekilmong Corp. – Annex Building
Entry restricted to authorized personnel only.
It was the lobby of Baekilmong Corporation’s annex building.
But this stark space, which should have been desolate and somber, now buzzed with subdued energy from the murmuring of people.
“Wow, the atmosphere…”
“Hello! Yes, yes. Nice to meet you…”
Several dozen young professionals, clad in black suits, were mingling, exchanging greetings.
Their faces were bright, filled with anticipation and nervous energy.
It was no wonder.
“Congratulations on joining!”
“Hahaha, thank you! You too!”
They had just been accepted into Baekilmong, a high-profile pharmaceutical company that had become a hot topic on the stock market in recent years.
Accordingly, the company had sent out emails summoning them to the annex building next to its Seoul headquarters.
New Employee Orientation Notice
Today was the very first day of orientation.
“A 3-day, 2-night OT at the Seoul annex? That’s kind of luxurious, isn’t it?”
“For real. Wow, this looks like the lobby of an art museum.”
“Pfft, this is what you’d expect from a major corporation… Ah, is everyone here from sales?”
“Seems like it. From what I’ve heard, everyone’s in sales.”
“Then maybe the other departments’ new hires are gathered somewhere else nearby.”
Drunk on the joy of having passed, the new employees chatted with bright smiles.
There was no reason not to be cheerful—after all, they were the victors who had landed jobs at this pharmaceutical giant, and they’d be seeing these fellow new hires regularly from now on.
As a result, a few of them even took the initiative to strike up conversations with those left out of the group chatter.
“Hey there, you're a new hire, right?”
“…”
Amid the noisy group of new employees, someone who had been quietly staring into the annex interior lifted his head.
A young man around the same age, with a sallow, hollow complexion.
Sensing a chance to lead the conversation, the friendly new hire continued speaking with a slight air of self-importance.
“Congrats on joining! Let’s do our best together!”
But…
“Thank you.”
That was it.
“…”
“…”
Silence.
What the hell.
What kind of new sales hire is that reserved?
How the hell did he pass the interview?
Sensing the atmosphere turning awkward, the talkative new hire quickly blurted something out.
“Haha, actually… I’ve already got a friend working at Baekilmong.”
“No way.”
“Seriously?”
“Wow, which department?”
“Yeah. I think it was the research team?”
That comment caused an explosion of interest from the others!
Relieved that he had salvaged the mood, the new hire continued in a tone that walked the line between casual brag and forced modesty.
“But the funny thing is, they actually told me not to come here. Said I’d regret it or something.”
“Haha!”
“Friends who get hired first always say stuff like that.”
“Exactly!”
“…”
The others chuckled, as if they’d just heard the typical gripe about overwork in modern corporate life.
But then…
“…Department.”
“Sorry?”
The quiet one spoke.
“What department… did your friend say they were in?”
In that moment—
[Ah ah, mic test.]
“…!”
Everyone snapped their heads up at once.
[Oho! Looks like everyone’s gathered nicely. Then let’s begin~]
From a speaker mounted on the corner of the wall,
a man’s voice emerged—easygoing and upbeat.
[Welcome to all the new employees who’ve beaten 142-to-1 odds to get in! I’ll be in charge of today’s orientation. I’m Kwak Jaegang, Section Chief of Research Team 1.]
[How about we start with a round of applause, huh?]
Waaaah!
The new hires clapped cheerfully, though with a touch of puzzlement.
“Why through a speaker…?”
Why wasn’t anyone showing up in person?
“Hmm, maybe it’s something we’re meant to do on our own?”
[Ding ding ding! That’s correct!]
“…!”
He’s listening to us…!
[Yes, that’s right. Starting now, to build teamwork and corporate spirit, you new hires are going to take part in a very fun little activity~]
[It’s just a light mission—basically a recreation. There are even prizes!]
The new hires quickly interpreted this in a positive light.
“Guess it’s meant to help us bond quickly!”
“Honestly? Sounds great. Haha.”
After all, it was said that big-name corporations and hot venture startups often ran very creative or unusual orientations these days.
“Some companies even do murder mystery board games based on their company’s lore.”
[…Ahaha, now that sounds fun. This one’s similar. Of course! Now then, let’s…]
The voice from the speaker grew more excited in tone.
[Let’s begin the new employee orientation—starting now!]
At that exact moment—
Clickclickclickclick.
Lights flickered on in the annex lobby.
“…!”
Under the bright fluorescent lights, previously hidden things came into view.
Steel doors filled the dark hallway in the distance.
“…”
Somehow… rather than securing something, they looked more like they were built to seal something off. Heavy. Alien.
Why would an office annex have those kinds of doors…?
But before the question could even settle, everyone’s eyes were drawn to the brightest spot under the lights.
The main reception desk.
And sitting on top of it—something eye-catching.
“Ah…!”
The new hires blinked as they confirmed what it was.
A black, cylindrical box.
“A raffle drum?”
It was big. Old.
So worn and battered it looked entirely out of place in the sleek, marble-tiled annex lobby.
The thick paper ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) drum had a lid covering the top, concealing its interior, but from the shape of the lid, they could make out three distinct holes.
Each circular cover was labeled with a number:
⓵ ⓶ ⓷
[Alright, come up one by one and draw a slip. You’ll draw in order, and then the next person follows, and so on.]
[Ah, let me show you an example. The three of you closest right now! Come up and draw one slip each, in order.]
“Ah, yes!”
Amid the murmurs, the three chosen stepped forward, a bit hesitant but unable to refuse.
They reached in and drew slips.
Flick.
Each slip bore a different instruction:
⓵ Basement 6
⓶ Room 322
⓷ Sang a lullaby
“What is this…”
[Now, turn your eyes back to the desk. See that whiteboard behind the raffle drum?]
Everyone looked over.
Printed text had been prepared on it.
I went down to Basement ⓵___
At the door of Room ⓶____
I ⓷______________.
[Just insert the results of each draw into the blanks. That creates the mission sentence! Simple, right? Haha!]
As the new hires placed the slips into their corresponding slots on the whiteboard, the sentence took shape.
Like this:
I went down to Basement 6
At the door of Room 322
I sang a lullaby.
 
“……”
“……”
There was something inexplicably eerie about the completed sentence.
‘Basement?’
It was at that moment—
[Ah, that’s right. For the team that performs best in their mission, an incredible reward awaits.]
As if reading the mood, the speaker’s voice delivered a cheerful incentive.
[It’s 100 points… usable like cash on the employee mall!]
One hundred points?
“Can we ask what kind of things you can buy with that?”
[Of course. That’s enough to buy a robot vacuum cleaner!]
“Oooh!”
If it was enough for a robot vacuum, then clearly it was a considerable amount!
The mood brightened considerably.
Rational thinking and a sense of realism returned along with the calculations.
Right, at worst it’s just a test of courage or something.
The company’s not stupid—there’s no way they’d actually make us do something dangerous.
Besides, with this many people around and teams of three, it wasn’t even that scary.
Even if they’d planned a surprise scare, it would have to be something manageable, even for the most faint-hearted.
The new hires looked around at each other, nodding and smiling.
“Excuse me, do we have to use the stairs to get there?”
[Goodness, wouldn’t that be exhausting? You’re free to use any elevator currently in operation. Hahaha!]
[Now, form your teams however you like and give it a shot!]
“Yes, sir!”
With brightened expressions and energetic chatter, they reached into the black box.
And drew the slips that would decide their fate.
“Let’s go!”
“The three of us will go first. We just take this elevator, right?”
“Let’s do it. Basement 6!”
The mood was at its peak.
Thirty-four minutes later, when the elevator returned and its doors slid open—to reveal only the lower halves of their teammates—
“Aaaaagh!!”
“AAAH!!”
And it didn’t stop.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
The sound of elevators arriving.
With each chime of opening doors, ear-splitting screams echoed through the annex lobby in horrific disharmony.
Screams. Terror. Panic.
As elevator after elevator arrived, every other one contained… what used to be a human body.
A grotesque scene no one could’ve imagined witnessing in real life—blood, filth, torn entrails, sometimes ash and ice, fragments of human skin covered in dense writing made with a ballpoint pen.
There were even employees who bled to death while scrawling bizarre symbols and phrases on the mirrored elevator walls using their own blood.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”
Even those who came back alive were no longer sane.
“We have to run! We have to get out of here! GET OUT!”
“S-sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry for knocking on the door… I’m so sorry…”
Mumbling, vacant-eyed.
Then, the least damaged began to appear.
“H-he’s okay! This guy’s okay!”
“……”
“What the hell is going on?! What is this?!”
One new hire, who had been using a corpse as a shield in front of the elevator doors, said with a face pale as a sheet:
“There’s someone down there.”
Down in the basement where they went, beyond that door—
“Who?! Who the hell?!”
……
“A… a weird employee.”
And then, the survivors began to speak.
When the elevator doors opened, they saw a desolate, concrete hallway.
Rows of iron doors.
And only on the doors they were assigned—strange markings. Sounds. A stench of blood. Lights.
And behind the small hole above the doorplate… what they saw inside.
An employee.
“They were wearing a staff uniform… but it was wrong. Something was wrong…”
Child-sized. Wearing a doctor’s coat. Carrying an oxygen tank. Holding a bunch of balloons. Wearing a cowboy hat with wooden puppet hands. Wearing a Bukcheong lion mask…
Descriptions of their grotesque appearances sent chills down everyone’s spines.
And then—
“I-it reacted.”
“…!”
“It responded to what we did! It f-followed us, and—like that!”
Everyone turned their eyes.
To the elevators filled with body parts.
“……”
“……”
The new hires realized.
The mission to “act out the sentence you draw.”
Was a suicidal ritual straight out of a horror movie.
They were caught in an unreal catastrophe.
“No!”
The half of the new employees who hadn’t yet gone down turned pale as ghosts and scanned one another—then bolted for the main exit.
But the only door out of the annex was already sealed.
They pressed up against the shuttered entrance.
“Please help us!”
“M-my phone’s not working. What do we do?!”
“This is… this has to be a prank show. Yeah, there’s gotta be hidden cameras or something…”
“OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE!!”
BAM BAM BAM!
Even after pounding the metal shutter until their hands bled, there was no response.
Some new hires realized another possible channel.
“The speaker!”
They rushed toward the mounted speakers that had been projecting “Section Chief Kwak Jaegang’s” voice and began shouting, pleading for help, sobbing in fear.
But then—
[(Beep-) The assigned supervisor is unavailable. Automated response system activated.]
Section Chief Kwak Jaegang’s voice never came again.
Instead, a bright, recorded voice repeated on loop.
[The front door will open only after all participants have attempted the mission. In 30 seconds, any attempt to force open the shutter will trigger death by security protocol.]
[Orientation participants, hang in there!]
Beep-beep-beep-beep—beep!
“Aaaaaagh!!”
Two employees who tried to destroy the shutter had their heads burst open and died instantly.
Utter pandemonium.
“Uh, uh-uh-uhhhhh…”
“Hhhaaaah…”
No one knew how it worked. No one understood what was happening.
The scene was so unbelievable, so unreal, that the panic gave way to stunned silence.
From that moment on, those in the lobby huddled together in front of the reception desk, shivering for over half a day.
There were occasional whispered discussions or nervous movements to try and find a way out—but no one went near the elevators.
No one showed any intention of performing the mission.
So the next form of encouragement came—cold and cruel.
[Notice due to more than 6 hours of mission delay.]
[If no participant boards the elevator within 5 minutes, death will occur via security protocol.]
“……”
“……”
The new hires looked at one another with trembling eyes.
Someone—
Had to go.
Someone had to get on that elevator.
Who do we send?
“F**k…”
The same new hire who’d smugly claimed to have a friend at the company earlier curled up in a corner, avoiding every gaze.
Dripping cold sweat, he looked down at the sentence his team had drawn.
I went down to Basement 13
At the door of Room 666
Knocked, then entered.
He was going to die.
There was no way anyone could survive a sentence with those numbers.
I have to run…
Then—
“Those who drew next! The next team!”
Shit!
“There they are, that’s them!”
“…!”
People swarmed them, violently shoving the trio toward the elevator.
He fought like a madman, but they had the numbers. No one had weapons.
“No! Don’t—!”
[Doors closing.]
He scrambled up, panicked, hammering the “Open” button with shaking fingers.
But then, someone in his team gently grasped his hand.
“…!”
“It’s too late.”
Thunk.
The doors shut.
“Ghk!”
He turned, trembling, consumed with fear—only to see the pale, hollow-eyed new hire looking at him.
The eerily quiet one.
But now he spoke calmly, like he was explaining something.
“People are dying due to the security protocol. That means… we’ll die too if we stay here.”
“……”
“There’s no choice now. We have to do it.”
“N-no…”
“Think. Plenty of people came back unharmed.”
The man gripped his shoulder as if urging him to stay grounded.
“…At least one out of every three teams said, ‘nothing happened.’”
“…!!”
That was true.
—Nothing happened.
—Th-there was just… someone in a weird uniform like a special agent, watching us in silence.
—Seriously, there was no one inside!
“Even in the teams where something happened, about half came back alive. So we’ve got a better chance doing the mission than staying here.”
“……”
“…Let’s move carefully, using the accounts from the earlier teams.”
Panting, the two new hires slowly nodded.
His level-headedness made it seem like he might be experienced.
The previously smug new hire spoke up without realizing.
“Excuse me… what’s your name?”
“……”
The quiet one finally answered.
“Jang Heowoon.”
Ding.
The elevator reached the basement.
Trembling, the new hires stepped onto the old hallway lined with iron doors.
And there, they found the room.
666
Holding their breath, they placed a hand on the door.
Knock knock knock.
I had a dream.
A strange and disturbing nightmare.
I dreamed I was inside one of those creepy horror wikis I used to love.
In that dream, I was an elite employee at a pharmaceutical company that turned ghost stories into real ingredients for alchemy.
And I infiltrated a special organization—the Supernatural Disaster Response Agency—as a spy, helping people escape from those ghost stories.
During that process, I encountered countless entries from the wiki.
A convenience store where you play tag with ghosts.
A quiz show where answering wrong means death.
An ink wash painting haunted by changgui.
An exhibit that charges your organs for entry.
A bizarre theme park…
Terrifying, intense days—hovering between life and death.
Yet I met people I could never forget.
—Kim Soleum, can you hear me?
—Noroo, seventeen employees escaped thanks to your announcement!
—I hope your wish comes true.
—You’ll be okay, Podo.
The nightmare lingers like tar.
Even if you forget most of the details when you wake up, the emotional imprint and the impact remain like trauma.
Especially when the ending is horrifying.
After surviving, enduring the terror, and working at the ghost story company—just as I finally drank the long-awaited wish ticket—
It turns out I■■■■■■I hadn’t landed in another world, I had been invited.
My body wasn’t human. I realized■■■■■■■.
No.
I don’t want to wake up.
I don’t want to know the truth.
I don’t want to realize I’m still inside Baekilmong Corporation.
……
And then, I realized.
I can’t sleep.
Gasp.
Dawn.
I sat up in bed, gasping for air.
No—I must have made a gasping sound.
If I still had functional vocal cords.
“……”
I reached for my throat.
A strange hissing sound—like air leaking.
My gloved fingers touched not skin, but the rubbery material of my protective suit, wrapping around my neck.
I fumbled. Traced the outline of a human form.
But when I felt the strange ribs—like antlers—rising from my head, I let my hand drop.
“……”
And once again, I understood.
I can’t sleep.
WEEEEE-OOOOOO!
It is now your work shift. Please awaken.
It is now your work shift. Please awaken…
I rose from the steel cot, and began my day’s labor.
As per contract.