Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

Chapter 14.1

A new employee on their third day at <Daydream Inc.>

“Huuu.”

Go Yeongeun cautiously sat down at her desk just as lunch break was ending.

This self-taught medical professional who hadn’t even taken the state exam believed she was adjusting well to the situation…

Her superiors in the R-squad weren’t particularly warm, but they weren’t overly territorial, nor did they push her into life-threatening situations.

Most importantly, she had successfully cleared two F-Class ghost stories so far…!

‘Didn’t they say the average for new recruits was one or two per week?’

Clearing two in three days, even if they were low-level Darkness, wasn’t bad for a rookie!

She was doing her absolute best to adapt to this insane company…

Though she had nearly fainted when she saw the points for the Wish Ticket.

‘After clearing two, I only got 66 points. How in the world will I ever get to 500,000…?’

“……”

But giving up wasn’t an option.

‘I’m going to do it.’

Go Yeongeun steeled her resolve.

‘…Are the other rookies feeling the same?’

She absentmindedly looked at her phone.

At the top of her Kakaotalk messenger, there was a pinned group chat.

[Daydream Inc. New Hires Group Chat]

It was a chat room for all the new recruits.

However, one person had yet to be invited.

It wasn’t because he was being excluded—no one had his contact information.

That person was none other than the top recruit, Kim Soleum.

‘We should invite him, too.’

Even Baek Saheon, the well-known figure, was already in the chat room, but strangely, none of them had ever run into Kim Soleum in the company, so they hadn’t had a chance to inform him.

It made sense to be curious about what kind of intense first two days he had gone through!

‘Should I try contacting him through the company messenger?’

She connected to the intranet and began searching for Kim Soleum to send him a message…

That’s when it happened.

Ka-talk, Ka-talk, Ka-ka-ka-talk!

Suddenly, the group chat exploded with notifications.

– Did you see the announcement just now?

– Does anyone know Kim Soleum personally…?

– He’s the top recruit, right?

– Did he seriously clear an A-Class ghost story as a major contributor…?

– Was Kim Soleum the one wearing that weird horned mask…?

“……?!”

* * *

“Wow, Roe, someone from upper management is saying you should be promoted to supervisor right away.”

“Cough—”

I nearly choked on my medicine.

“But apparently it got immediately blocked because some people from other departments are foaming at the mouth in opposition, saying it’s unprecedented.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Should I have said I was disappointed? But I wasn’t disappointed at all, so that was the limit of my response.

I set the empty medicine bottle down and rubbed my chest.

We had narrowly escaped from the ‘Tuesday Quiz Show’ that had transformed into an A-Class ghost story, and we were now being treated in the infirmary, taking emergency medication.

After all, we’d been bleeding from our facial orifices.

“Feeling better?”

“Yes.”

It seemed the medicine was effective.

Though the medicine from <Daydream Inc.> always seemed suspicious, the regular first aid meds were just exceptionally good at what they did.

– Darkness… you know, those bizarre creatures from urban legends. This is the kind of recovery medicine you take when you suffer supernatural damage from them.

In other words, it was like a health potion in these ghost stories.

‘It was probably sold as cherry-ade flavor at the collaboration café near the pop-up store…’

But the actual taste was just like cold syrup.

‘Anyway, it feels unreal that I’m alive and drinking a potion.’

Everything felt great now that we had escaped.

Living in the bright daylight—it’s really such a good thing…

But it seemed like my superiors were more concerned about something other than our sense of relief.

How had this situation been reported and handled by the higher-ups?

They were busily tapping into every network they had to figure it out.

“Honestly, this was an unprecedented special situation. I wish the Squad Leader had been more assertive in pushing the issue, but he’s really not that kind of person…”

“Please do it when you get promoted later, Assistant Manager.”

“I’ll quit before then.”

“Honestly, me too.”

I really want to say that as well.

Amidst a strange sense of camaraderie, we each collapsed onto the infirmary beds.

Supervisor Park Minseong stretched and let out a sigh.

It was a long sigh of relief.

“…I really thought I was going to die, but living is definitely better! Hey Roe, thank you.”

“No, I just did my best.”

Honestly, the <Dark Exploration Records> wiki did all the work for me.

If I tried to explain any further, the conversation would shift toward something uncomfortable, like ‘We were all about to die, but you were smart and did well,’ so I just stayed silent.

“We’re not that incompetent as seniors, but we let our guard down because it was categorized as D-Class.”

“Assistant Manager, that excuse sounds a bit pathetic.”

“Well, then we’ll prove ourselves in the next Darkness.”

‘I just hope there won’t be a next Darkness…’

The peaceful, paid rest time didn’t last long.

“The Section Chief said the meeting is over.”

“……!”

“He’s coming to the infirmary.”

Assistant Manager Eun, holding her smartphone, shot up. Supervisor Park quickly stood up as well, so I instinctively followed suit.

‘Am I finally going to see him in person?’

Section Chief Lee Jaheon.

Employee D, nickname Lizard!

One of the most famous employees of <Daydream Inc.> in the <Dark Exploration Records>. There were even rumors that, due to his popularity, the company was working on a character design for him.

Honestly, I was a bit curious.

What kind of person could he be?

‘Judging by the conversation we had when I pressed the call button, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person…’

But considering his super play with the AAA battery shot, everything about him seemed almost glorified.

Knock, knock, knock.

“The door is open. Come in, Squad Leader!”

The infirmary door opened.

Standing there was a tall figure.

Dressed in a perfectly fitted black suit and even wearing an employee ID, he looked every bit the classic, polished office worker.

Finally, the appearance of Section Chief Lee Jaheon, the ‘named’ Employee D from the <Dark Exploration Records>…

“Hello.”

“……!? ……!!”

It’s… it’s a lizard.

No, not a mask, but literally…

‘He literally has a lizard head.’

“……”

Wait a second.

No… that can’t be right.

I must be suffering from some kind of mental breakdown due to excessive stress, leaving an afterimage of that TV-headed host in my mind.

That’s it, right? My brain is mistaking someone wearing a mask for a real lizard head…

‘Now that I look closer, there’s a mask hanging at his waist.’

“……”

Oh, I’m going to lose it.

“It’s really so great to see you that I’m about to cry.”

“Please, come in, Squad Leader!”

Why is everyone so calm?

If a lizard in a suit is going to appear, shouldn’t there at least be a warning to the new recruits, like ‘Don’t be shocked’?

Why is everyone acting like this is a normal meet-and-greet!

“Ah, this over here is Roe Deer, sir. And Roe, this is Section Chief Lee Jaheon. Go ahead and introduce yourself.”

“Wow, Roe looks like he’s shocked by how handsome the Section Chief is! Haha! Like he doesn’t even look like he’s the same species as us!”

Can you please clarify if this is just office banter or a hint for social survival…?

The white lizard head turned toward me expressionlessly.

Its red, reptilian vertical pupils glinted.

“Mr. Roe Deer.”

“……”

“Can you see?”

Shit, oh shit fuck…