Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

Chapter 18.1

I’ll be honest.

Now, it’s been a month since I joined.

Surprisingly, working at a ghost story corporation… it’s actually bearable!

“Wow, crazy, another clear in 30 minutes!”

“Are they actually doing better than C-squad?”

Hearing lines that sound like they belong in some YouTube web drama, spoken in real life, is surreal.

“Hey, enjoy it. All of this is your achievement.”

It was lunchtime.

Assistant Manager Eun, proudly carrying both the A and B menu options from the cafeteria, spoke coolly.

By the way, we’d already cleared one case this morning.

“Thanks to Roe, I’m doing the crazy thing of clearing twelve new ghost stories in a month.”

“No, it’s all thanks to your excellent leadership.”

“Leadership, my foot. I’m just enjoying the ride.”

“That’s right. I’ll buy beef today, Soleum-sunbaenim.”

“Minseong-ah, that’s a bit…”

“Hey, what’s wrong with that? Roe’s definitely more of a sunbae than me.”

When a superior makes jokes like this, it can be surprisingly hard to react without feeling awkward…

But, whether it was a joke or genuine, Supervisor Park didn’t wait for my reaction. Instead, he showed off his excitement, proudly displaying a screenshot of his monthly point accumulation.

“Already 5,000 points!”

Yeah.

[Supervisor Park Minseong / Accumulated Points: 5,200P]

That’s also how many points I earned in a month.

‘Speedruns do work…’

I never imagined my survival tactics would end up like this.

Most of the ghost stories were F-Class or D-Class, so it was manageable.

‘It seems like high-level ones don’t come around often.’

If they did, the world would have ended already with a ‘And so, the world perished’ finale for this universe.

Anyway, my superiors were more excited than I was. They seemed to find it more amusing since it wasn’t their work.

“Probably the fastest record for a new hire in the company’s history, right?”

“Oooh!”

Ah, now that I think about it, I’ve barely seen any of the other new recruits.

Since I’ve been going in and out of the Research Team’s office at the 17th floor daily, I haven’t had many opportunities to meet the other squads of the Field Exploration Team.

‘And Baek Saheon and I are still pretending the other doesn’t exist.’

To maintain the crazy persona I adopted, I’d sometimes throw in over-the-top work-related jokes.

– You’re going on a ghost investigation today, right? Wanna bet on how many civilians die?

– ……

The researcher who liked to gamble gave me some inspiration. Thanks, buddy.

Anyway, seeing Baek Saheon gritting his teeth and ignoring me showed that my approach was effective.

‘Smooth sailing.’

I finished the last sip of my galbi-tang (short ribs soup) and set the bowl down.

Clocking out on time, and getting bonuses.

‘The cafeteria food’s not bad either.’

In terms of benefits, this company would probably get a 3.5 rating or higher on sites like ‘Employment Korea’.

Of course, there’s the massive stress that comes with essentially spending every day in haunted houses where ghosts appear…

‘Things I would’ve refused to do no matter what before… Well, that’s just typical corporate life now, I guess.’

And just like any other job, the sense of accomplishment from getting results somehow makes you think it’s not so bad.

“Roe.”

Assistant Manager Eun spoke softly and quietly.

“At this rate, higher-ups are bound to take notice.”

“…Pardon?”

“Your performance, I mean.”

“……”

“You can chalk it up to luck once or twice, but not ten times in a row.”

Assistant Manager Eun squinted and grinned.

“Someone higher up will definitely want to take a closer look at you. When that happens, make sure to let us know. Tell the squad leader too.”

Hmm.

If this were a normal company, I’d be worrying about credit being stolen and might’ve considered keeping quiet. But here?

This is the world of horror stories, and my superiors had already experienced me saving their lives before.

I nodded obediently.

“Yes, I will.”

“See, even though he may not look like it… or rather, just by looking at him, you can tell our squad leader is quite exceptional, right?”

Our eyes followed Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who was finishing his meal quickly and leaving the cafeteria.

“If you ever get an absurd request, just ask for his help once. He’ll cover for you.”

That lizard?

“…Understood.”

“Okay. Roe, you’re good at understanding things.”

To be honest, I wasn’t fully convinced, but I just nodded. That’s something I’ll have to keep secret for the future.

Anyway… So, they might start talking about me in the higher-ups, huh?

I stood up, clearing my tray, while thinking.

‘At this point, it’s inevitable that I’ll stand out.’

I’ve pretty much accepted that.

After all, if I’d seen a clown crawling out of a portrait with only its upper body, I probably would’ve passed out on the spot…

But there’s one thing I can rely on.

‘They can’t give a newbie anything harder than this, right?’

If they do, it wouldn’t be a simple job dump but actual core tasks for the department.

Making a new recruit, who’s only been here a month and isn’t even experienced, handle the department’s core responsibilities?

That’s something you’d only see in a crazy YouTube skit. Plus, it would go against the unwritten rules of any big corporation.

I’ll just chalk this up to my work evolving into ‘unhandled ghost stories’ and consider myself lucky.

If this becomes a regular thing, they’ll just think, ‘Oh, this guy’s specialized in that area,’ and get used to it.

“Shall we head back?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I made my decision and returned my dishes.

However, at that moment, as I was getting used to this strange world and work life, I forgot one universal truth about society.

The one about…

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down!