LNCrawler

215 Chapter

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

215 Chapter

The Security Team agents raised their eyes.
Into the darkness of the pantry.
They emerged from beneath the shadows using their transport gear, and now locked eyes with the sales employee who was lying on the floor, holding his breath.
“A child… No.”
The one in the animal mask drawn like a child’s picture—a badger—calmed his own agitated contamination.
Soon, a flat, professional voice followed.
“Employee of Sales Team 4.”
“Y-yes…”
“Identity confirmed. We will now begin the expense calculation.”
The sales employee swallowed hard.
Covered head to toe in specialized black gear, faces obscured, outfitted with bizarre instruments—they looked like urban legends made flesh.
They were unmistakably supernatural operatives assigned to a special task. And yet, their presence brought momentary relief.
Of course, fear crept in again just moments later—this situation was still beyond comprehension.
“Um, what should I… do?”
As he darted his eyes around, trying to assess the situation, something caught his attention.
One of the newly arrived Security Team agents was holding a black carrier cage.
A steel cage, like one meant for trapping animals.
…Wait a second.
“Y-you’re not going to… put me in there, are you?”
“No, of course not.”
The badger agent gently stroked the carrier.
The sales employee had just begun to relax.
“There’s already someone in it.”
“…What?”
“Don’t overthink it.”
Seeing the sales agent visibly crack under the strain of the incomprehensible, the badger gave a bitter smile—just for himself.
And then—
“Cramped…”
J3, who was holding the carrier with one hand, showed little interest in the entire situation.
It had been ages since he’d been “out” for a job not wearing his regular guard uniform.
Then again, out wasn’t the right word for a space this cramped.
Still, the badger, uncharacteristically kind for a Security Team agent, made a clinical announcement.
“We’ve confirmed all the reported details. We’ll now begin the oper—”
“Who’s there?”
“Who is it?”
“…!”
Tatatatatata.
It sounded like raindrops hitting a window, but the scraping noise from the door grated at the nerves.
It was fingernails.
Ten fingertips were scratching the door.
“There’s someone else.”
“Someone else is here.”
Whispered like a breath.
The voices were disturbingly close. Because—
They were pressing their faces against the crack in the door to whisper.
“All too late now.”
“Too late, it’s all too late.”
The couple was peering inside.
Inside the very door they had locked themselves.
The sales employee froze, chilled to the very top of his scalp.
But then…
“Are they human?”
“Hard to say…”
Surprisingly calm conversation came from the “Security Team” members beside him.
“Maybe they were… once?”
J3, as a reflex, tried adjusting the brim of his nonexistent security cap—then settled for his mask.
From behind it, a dim gleam like an old animal’s eye showed through.
He gently set the carrier cage down on the pantry floor.
Right next to the sales employee.
“Hey… would you be okay waiting here for a bit…?”
“M-me?”
But those words weren’t meant for the sales employee.
“You’ll be okay…?”
Tap.
The iron grate of the black carrier gave a soft rattle.
As if the thing inside was answering.
“We’ll be right back. Just wait a little…”
Tap.
Another reply came.
J3 rested his hand lightly on the cage and then stood up.
“Listen… if you don’t want to get hurt… stay close to this.”
That part was directed at the sales employee.
“Whatever you do… don’t touch it carelessly.”
“……”
The employee nodded, swallowing hard. He pressed up against the side of the black cage.
He could tell, somehow, that this was meant to protect him.
…An uncanny cold leaked from the carrier.
“Then, we’ll begin.”
Leaving the sales employee behind, the two Security Team agents moved to the pantry door and forced it open.
“…!!”
Their bodies blocked the view outside, but the sound of the rain had grown fiercer. The sales employee shrank into himself as much as possible. He caught a glimpse of the Security Team stepping out—
Then the door shut again, and the rain sound faded.
Thud.
…….
Screeeeech, screeeeech, rip.
The noise of something being torn echoed violently.
The sales employee instinctively clutched the cage tighter. He tried not to imagine what was happening outside.
The cold kept his sanity intact.
Inside the cage, some kind of smoke—or something like it—seemed to slither and stir.
Then, after what felt like an unbearably long moment—
Boom.
“…!”
The thunderous noise stopped. The rain stopped too.
The door opened.
And the two Security Team agents were calmly standing there, checking their equipment.
“Target neutralized.”
“……!”
They were… unharmed.
A faint glimmer of hope welled up in the sales employee’s chest, even as his knees buckled.
So now he could leave?
He rose shakily and looked toward the hallway.
And that’s when he understood what neutralized had meant.
“Ngkh.”
He choked back a scream.
The hallway was wet.
Soaked, not just from water—but from bodily fluids splashed like blood across the floor and wallpaper, giving everything a dark, sticky sheen.
And on the wall directly across—
The couple, contorted and fixed in place, their limbs bent at impossible angles.
“…”
Every movable joint crushed and pinned down like a twisted centipede—each limb nailed with colorful pushpins, like a grotesque child’s craft project.
An overwhelming force. Brutality incarnate.
And those school-supply pushpins.
Every hole in their faces leaked fluid… like his dead superior had.
But even less human.
“……”
“Oh, right. This was a collection assignment.”
Collection?
“Starting with intel?”
“Yeah…”
The dried-out, sluggish Security Team man approached the thing that used to be the couple—now nailed to the wall.
He removed a pushpin from their mouth.
“…!”
“Hey… is there… a kid here?”
One of the things the sales employee had screamed into the beeper.
His heart chilled.
What made it worse—
The couple’s mouths opened and began to speak.
“P-please… please help… sob,”
“Answer the question first.”
Suddenly—
Tears streamed down from their eyes.
“Th-the child is… in the bathroom.”
“A poor thing. Please help…”
“You’re trapped here now too. It’s too late… please…”
“……”
The Security Team agent—referred to as the Captain—just stared at them.
“What’s upstairs?”
“There’s something evil. Don’t go. No, you have to run, now.”
“There might still be time. If you hurry, maybe you can—”
“Hm…”
As if debating, the Security Team agent raised a hand toward them.
And in the next instant—
“…Done.”
Crack.
A clear, unmistakable sound.
He broke their necks.
Both of them—one hand on each—snapped and crushed with an inhuman level of force, twisting their heads around.
Effortlessly.
…….
They killed them?
“Oh, you got everything you needed?”
“Yep.”
“Understood. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) …Caller, you should be fine now. Just hand that over.”
His hands shook.
Something’s wrong.
That’s not something people do…
“Caller?”
The sales employee forced his head down to look at what he was holding.
The sketchbook paper.
With new words written on it.
scared
Truly—
monster
Suddenly.
He turned his head.
Right beside the pantry.
The place the paper had identified as the answer from the very start.
…the place the dead couple had mentioned too.
bathroombathtub
The bathroom.
The sales employee ran—
“No good.”
“…!!”
He was caught by the head.
Panting, he looked up—his vision filled by a grotesque, enormous form gripping his face.
A beast’s forepaw, with countless claws.
“Hold still…”
He blinked. The fear of death froze him solid.
I’m going to die.
“Teacher, relax your hand! A perfect teacher obeys the rules given by a fellow teacher!”
His hand went limp. The sketchbook paper slipped away.
No!
“Shall I read it?”
“No, if I read it I’ll be contaminated, so maybe later…”
The sales employee moved only his eyes. Run. Find a way to run. The front door, the living room, upstairs, a window…
Ah.
Right.
The window!
Why hadn’t he thought of that before? If the front door was death, the window might be salvation.
I have to run. Now.
He struggled wildly, crawling toward the window. He kicked, clawed, pushed at the beast’s paw—but every effort failed.
Still, he couldn’t give up—
“If you go there… you’ll die.”
……
Huh?
“Stay put…”
“W-why would I d-die…”
“Mm. Because you’d be… closer to the origin, maybe…?”
Origin?
He turned his head.
“You should remember—you said it yourself.”
What?
“When you reported it. That this house felt strange sometimes…”
“……”
He stopped moving.
And recalled one of the things he’d shouted into the pager.
Something his superior had said—
“The house feels off when it rains.”
The sales employee looked at the window.
Outside, the rain was still falling softly…
……
“Rainy days… right…”
The slow, lethargic voice crawled into his ear.
“If you open a black umbrella indoors, something comes in… If you leave your wet shoes upside down, a ghost wears them…”
“Captain, is that true?”
“No…”
The Security Captain stared at the badger, eyes devoid of reflection.
Then he continued, slowly.
“Most of those are… just nonsense…”
“Oh.”
“But sometimes… they say… rumors like that create things…”
Darkness.
The word he didn’t say aloud—the one the sales employee, once a field survey team lead, silently filled in.
The Captain’s explanation wasn’t over.
“And there’s this old story…”
“……”
“If you’re holding an umbrella in the rain, and you hear a whisper from beyond it… never respond…”
……
“Because it’s not a person.”
The sales employee locked eyes with the Security Captain.
“Hey… hasn’t someone been… talking to you all along…?”
At that moment—
“Deputy Lee?”
The sales employee froze.
“Deputy Lee, are you in there?”
A familiar voice from the front door.
Knock knock knock.
They were knocking.
“Deputy Lee, open the door. What the hell is going on?”
It was…
“Why aren’t you coming out?”
…the voice of his dead superior.
Knock knock knock knock.
The corpse that had collapsed at the front entrance, neck snapped, was now gone.
Instead, all that could be heard beyond the rain was someone knocking behind the front door…
Along with the superior’s voice.
“Come on, open up. You need to come out too.”
The strength drained from the sales employee’s body.
The Security Captain released his grip on his head. With a thud, the sales employee sank to the floor, dazed and confused.
…Wow.
The badger, watching this unfold, was quietly impressed.
He had just realized the depth of the Captain’s darkness-worn expertise—hidden beneath his apathetic tone.
It was something that clever newbie in Squad D might’ve grown into if he’d stayed in the Field Survey Team for a few more years…
No. That was a meaningless thought. After all, they were both already part of the Security Team. Nearly rude of him to compare. The badger swallowed his thoughts bitterly.
Meanwhile, the voices multiplied.
“There’s someone here! Are you okay?”
“Oh dear, this old man fell down… Could you help me?”
“…Wait a second, didn’t the grandmother of this house die a few years ago? Don’t listen! Something’s wrong!”
From upstairs, the master bedroom, beyond the side door of the kitchen—voices were coming from everywhere. As if everyone who’d been in the house was now shaking off the blackout at once.
They drew closer.
With the sound of the rain.
“Where are you?”
“…! Don’t respond to the voice upstairs. No one’s there right now…!”
“Be careful. I think something’s wrong here…”
Footsteps.
And then—
“Oh, the door opened.”
……
“I’m coming in. Where are you?”
Even the dead superior.
“Uhhkk.”
What the hell is this? Which ones are real?
Which one of them is the monster?
The sales employee tried to mentally review everything he’d heard and distinguish them, but the badger seized him.
“Agh!”
“Stay calm. You’re all righ—Captain?”
While the situation screamed for panic, the Security Captain casually knelt down and pressed his head against the carrier cage.
Speaking to whatever was inside.
“What do you think…? Does it seem right to you…?”
Tap.
“Hm. Then… shall I do it?”
Tap tap.
“…Still…”
Tap tap.
“……”
The Captain reluctantly stepped aside, slowly, touching his mask.
One tap for yes. Two taps for no.
Seeing the familiar signal, the badger gave a bitter smile beneath his concealed face.
He really hasn’t changed.
“…Then I’ll open it.”
He approached the carrier and released the locking mechanism.
Clank.
The grate dropped and the door to the cage opened…
Smoke spilled across the floor.
And from the void inside the carrier, a single intact leg stepped out.
“…!”
A black leg, clad in black tactical boots.
Identical uniform to the other Security Team agents—but what emerged from the dense black smoke was a horned, inhuman figure.
A tall man.
Something it was hard to believe had ever fit inside that crate.
“U-uhh…”
The sales employee met the creature’s yellow eyes.
Recommendation: Do Not Stare
▶ Lower your gaze
▶ Close your eyes
He dropped his eyes instantly.
Instinct beyond panic.
Don’t keep looking.
Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck.
But the text—formed from smoke—still followed him.
Recommendation: Do Not Stare
▶ Lower your gaze ⋁ : Correct
▶ Close your eyes
Like praise.
And then—
The sound returned. The same tearing noise from earlier.
SSSSCCRREEEECH!
The wet splatter of fluid. Weeping noises.
The Security Team was neutralizing what was approaching.
“How are they telling them apart…?”
Humans from monsters.
Or maybe—
Maybe they’re not distinguishing at all.
The sales employee curled up. His heart thundered, threatening to burst from his chest. He felt like he was going to die…
Then the smoke-lettered text shifted.
As if responding to his inner voice.
Select the dangerous one.
▶ The couple
▶ The sketchbook paper
You want me to decide?
He answered reflexively.
“Th-the couple!”
Look at them—these ghost-things talking and creeping closer. No doubt the couple had been ghosts too. They had to be!
▶ The couple ⋁ : Correct
Of course.
Ah, maybe anyone who spoke in a human voice was dangerous? Is that it?
“The couple was the threat, so don’t be afraid of us while we neutralize them”…
Was that the message?
If so, it made sense. Real logic.
The employee regained a sliver of composure and recalled what he should be doing.
I must have panicked… this must’ve been trying to calm me down.
These Security Team agents—they could talk rationally. If they really had come to rescue him, if someone—or something—was still trapped in this house, like the “little one”…
Then he should say something more. About the sketchbook paper that had guided him.
He licked his dry lips and opened his mouth.
“Th-the sketchbook paper…”
And then—
▶ The sketchbook paper ⋁ : Correct
“……”
Huh?
He looked again.
It hadn’t changed.
Select the dangerous one.
▶ The couple ⋁ : Correct
▶ The sketchbook paper ⋁ : Correct
So this meant…
“Dangerous…”
Both are dangerous.
“……Why?”
Same
His mouth opened slightly as he absently mouthed the meaning.
“Then what was I supposed to believe in? I mean… what was I supposed to trust?”
None
“……”
On rainy days
Don’t answer
When strangers speak to you.
Ah.
Recommendation: Do Not Stare – Ended
The sales employee raised his head.
But the black-clad man was already gone.
“……”
Only a wisp of black smoke remained—what he’d been speaking to.
Like a magician showing a distraction before an injection. A misdirection.
To prevent an outburst.
“……”
The tearing noises had stopped. Around him, the bodies of those fixed like the couple, silenced by the Security Team.
Too dark to see clearly—small mercy.
And… the black smoke.
The sales employee watched it drift away, dissipating like steam.
It floated past him, toward a door just beside the pantry—
The only place from which sound still came.
The bathroom.
From inside, a chorus of horrific screams was now erupting.
***
I looked at the bathtub in front of me.
Inside, the water echoed with the sound of rain, filled to the brim.
A transparent, deep pool, ready to devour any victim drawn in by the voices.
Like scratching in my head, words emerged—
======================
[Rainwater Echo]
A superstition-modernized “Power” of the Nameless Shining Sect, asserting that whispers on rainy days are the voice of ghosts. Sect affiliation: Imitator Clan.
Targets victims who approach the pool of rainwater on rainy days. During this process, it mimics the appearance and voices of those previously consumed, luring new prey.
Expands the meaning of “speaking” to include letters, notes, drawings, and more—disturbingly literal and broad.
Presents a binary ghost-story format, forcing victims to choose whom to trust. But no matter the choice, it’s a trap—both paths lead to ruin.
Exploits the human hope that “choosing correctly” will lead to survival.
======================
But—
Due to the following, this entry failed to meet Wiki registration standards and was deleted:
  1. Insufficient direct ties to Nameless Shining Sect.
  2. Overlap with other registered Supernatural Disaster stories.
A ghost tale rejected from the Wiki.
And my job… is to register this with Baekilmong Corporation.
I looked into the bathtub, at the rainwater within.
…….
Is that even allowed?