Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

My second expedition to Cheerful Theme Park has finally come to an end.

And…

The assigned Research Team was thrown into chaos.

Expedition Results:

Of the 12 personnel dispatched, 8 returned.

Among the returnees, 2 completed the expedition within the scheduled time. Meanwhile, 6 were found in the conference room where the board game began, on the sixth day of the expedition.

Among them, an employee displaying symptoms of complete contamination (mask deformation) was identified and transferred to the Fox Counseling Office.

Among the 4 who did not return, eyewitness accounts confirm the deaths of 3. All had drawn the red pawn, and one was transported by a survivor as only a head but was lost in the yellow zone.

Additional Special Note 1) Upon visual inspection, the collected Dream Essence was found to be of higher quality than usual. Classified as similar to A-grade.

This summary looked as though it was organized and had gone through a thorough confirmation process as if it had been a wiki entry.

The expedition duration was multiplied sixfold, yet the resulting essence was a grade higher. Truly, an irregularity.

And there was only one variable responsible for the irregularity.

‘Me.’

A staff member of the Security Team’s special division.

However, seen as something like a ghost story creature or a contaminated being, I managed to scare the Research Team just enough to smoothly escape the interview hell and head home.

– Excuse me! I’m really really grateful for everything. How can I contact you so I can buy you a meal…

– S-Supervisor!! That’s not allowed!

…During this, Supervisor Lee Seonghae kindly tried to make a friendly gesture toward me but was blocked by a researcher.

‘Which was a relief in the end.’

There was no way to contact me in the first place.

After all, all of this was just a disguise created by Director Ho.

And…

Before going home, I had to meet that very Director Ho, a boss even more relentless and frightening than the Research Team.

– You must have had a tough time, Soleum-nim!

As soon as I took off my Security Team suit, I checked the empty right arm and the dokkaebi flame that had returned to its lantern form.

The dokkaebi flame, as if frightened, had its lantern completely hardened.

Director Ho, strangely, smiled with his eyes as he looked at it closely, but fortunately, he didn’t take the dokkaebi flame away.

On the contrary, after seeing the Security Team suit I’d taken off, he said this.

– Wow! After traveling with you through this Darkness, Soleum-nim, it seems the Security Team uniform was affected in an interesting way.

– Even aside from that, it’s quite an interesting outfit, isn’t it? I’ll extend the rental period a bit longer. You never know when you might have another chance to use it.

I nodded obediently.

It was clear that refusal would not be tolerated. I was in no position to complain, either. Because, right then…

– By the way, do you know anything about Jang Heowoon’s whereabouts?

Huu.

– He’s the staff member sent in with you to assist, but I wonder if he was of any use to you.

…I told only the truth.

That agents from the Disaster Management Bureau suddenly entered, and Jang Heowoon, whose identity was divulged, was eventually taken away by them under the pretense of rescue.

– …Oh dear!

Director Ho looked unphased.

‘He… looked kind of pissed, too.’

– But Director, since Heowoon-ssi’s status as an employee of Daydream Inc. wasn’t exposed, he should be able to continue his spy work.

– Ah, is that so?

Disguised as deduction, I gave the excuse that ‘because of the contamination checks during the rescue process, Jang Heowoon’s movements will be restricted for a while’. Somehow, it seemed to work.

…For now, at least.

– Then, was Jang Heowoon’s Dream Essence Collector recovered? The Research Team was in an uproar, saying that A-grade essence was collected during this expedition.

– …Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the retrieval process so that it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Disaster Management Bureau.

In truth, that’s not what happened.

I destroyed it myself.

To patch this logical hole… Right before escaping the theme park, I retrieved Jang Heowoon’s Dream Essence Collector and crushed it in the form of a standard mascot.

If Jang Heowoon were caught with it by the Disaster Management Bureau, it would be no different from confirming he was a spy.

But if I just left the collector inside a ghost story, it would automatically be sent back to the company, and because of the recorded data, Director Ho might find out exactly what state Jang Heowoon was in.

Destruction was the only answer.

– That’s unfortunate. Normally, the person in charge would have to pay points for destroying a collector… Ah, right. Since this was a special situation in the line of duty, I’ll smooth things over on my end!

– …Yes. Thank you, sir.

– Haha, it’s not like I’m doing you any special favor, Soleum-nim. Really!

Thankfully, Director Ho let it go without further issue.

I thought there might be an uproar because the collected essence was high-grade, but unexpectedly, he didn’t seem particularly attached to the high grade of the essence.

‘…Strange.’

Anyway, A-grade was A-grade, so I figured I should check my own elite team collector as well… but for now, that wasn’t possible.

…Because after going through all of that, I collapsed onto my bed and slept straight through until the next morning.

‘I really thought I was going to die.’

The only consolation was that I was so tired I slept straight through the night without waking up.

And to say it another way…

…It means my six days off vanished just like that.

And this morning.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I went to work at the Disaster Management Bureau……

Uuugh.