Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 128

Dreamscape Collector.

A device distributed by Daydream Corporation to its Field Exploration Team employees, designed specifically to collect "dream-like" liquid substances found within ghost stories.

The concentration of the liquid depended on the difficulty level of the ghost story being cleared.

Among the substances I had seen in person, the highest grade was…

“A.”

The anomalous manifestation of The Choir of Sacrifices on the Tuesday Talk Show and In the Black Shadow from Sekwang Industrial High School.

Both liquids were radiant, gleaming with a dazzling golden hue.

But the liquid I was holding now…

“Oh, my.”

In addition, it carried a holographic shimmer, like an oriental pattern floating on its surface.

The glowing liquid seemed almost alchemical in nature, resembling something straight out of a fantasy novel…

“The wish-granting potion I saw during orientation…!”

It was uncanny how similar it felt. Could it be because it was raw?

No, that wasn’t the point right now…

“So, this is an S-grade substance…?”

I turned the cylinder in my hand. The liquid's glow sparkled in response.

It didn’t feel real.

“That grade isn’t just slapped onto ghost stories for being dangerous.”

Abyssal (S) Grade.

The creators of the Dark Exploration Logs Wiki had always thought:

“Shouldn’t there be more specific criteria for something to qualify as S-grade?”

Previously, ghost stories cataloged by Daydream Corporation were typically graded based on implicit standards:

Danger levels, mystery, ominousness, scale—generally what one might expect when imagining a ghost story.

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But for A-grade and above, a higher standard was needed.

Thus, a new condition was established:

“In the darkness, whom do you face?”

A ghost story could only qualify as Abyssal Grade if it transcended the atmosphere of cosmic horror and involved confronting an entity that embodied the essence of cosmic horror itself.

“But does Brown’s Midnight Talk Show really meet that level?”

Sure, I worked there as a staff member for a month before escaping, but that seemed a bit excessive.

Brown came off as an unhinged supernatural talk show host and an incredibly powerful paranormal entity, but calling it cosmic horror? He felt surprisingly approachable, even friendly, to humans.

Maybe the liquid didn’t fill the Dreamscape Collector during the show but was instead just a bonus included with the collectible itself.

“And the reason I got this collectible must be…”

It was likely because I cleared a high-grade story without a Dreamscape Collector, earning me the right to a new one.

But the more pressing question was:

“…How much would this be worth if it’s really S-grade?”

Automatically, the company’s internal point distribution memo popped into my mind:

S-Grade: Subject to Separate Review.

I swallowed hard.

A-grade earned 100,000 points, so if the trend continued…

500,000 points.

It could be that much.

“…Could this be enough to trade directly for a wish-granting ticket?”

Oh, my.

In that case, I wouldn’t have to worry about my resignation being processed or not!

If I just submitted this collector, the company would award me the points…

…

Oh.

“Damn it.”

My excitement deflated.

“There’s no way to submit it.”

“Be careful not to lose it. Each one is numbered, and losing one causes a huge headache.”

Those words from Deputy Manager Eunhaje echoed in my mind like a hammer.

She was right.

Every Dreamscape Collector was meticulously numbered and assigned to specific employees.

Meaning, having an extra one like this wasn’t just unusual—it was bizarre and suspicious.

It was akin to reporting that you’d found an extra bullet casing while scavenging, then cheerfully submitting it.

“What would I even say if someone asked where it came from?”

Claiming I bought it as merchandise at a pop-up store was obviously out of the question.

And especially not for this Dreamscape Collector.

Dreamscape Collector (Elite Team Exclusive)

The label on the cylinder said it all. I peeled the sticker off while suppressing a sigh.

It wasn’t just an ordinary Dreamscape Collector; it had a reason for being included as a collectible.

“This is the version that appeared in that famous game based on the Dark Exploration Logs!”

A certain game adaptation had turned the exploration logs into a playable experience. This particular collector was featured as a key item for identifying significant NPCs and collecting six of them to unlock the true ending.

To avoid conflicts with the wiki’s lore, even the following backstory was included:

Elite Team Cylinder:

Once specially produced for the elite team, later discontinued due to budget constraints, eventually fading into history.

If the game’s lore applied here…

“A piece of equipment that was discontinued long ago, suddenly reappearing with a rookie employee who’d been missing for a month.”

It was a recipe for disaster.

“And if that lore doesn’t apply, it’s even worse.”

Suddenly bringing back a collector that didn’t match the company’s current specs?

It would be seen as corporate espionage. The development department would explode into chaos.

“I’d be suspected of industrial sabotage.”

At worst, they might accuse me of tampering with parallel-world darkness.

Given that I had disappeared for a month only to return like this…

Being treated as an experimental subject seemed inevitable.

“…No way.”

I swallowed hard again.

For now, delay!

“Whew.”

I tucked the cylinder back into my pocket.

Still, my heart raced.

A magical liquid with wish-granting properties.

The wiki couldn’t have simply labeled it as “used as raw material by the ghost story company” without leaving room for more creative applications.

“There must be other ways to use it.”

Rather than trading it to the company for points, I needed to figure out an alternative.

“Let’s aim for that.”

First things first…

“Contact.”

I left the park as dawn broke, my battered left arm and bruises aching with every step.

After treating my injuries at the hospital, I immediately used a free smartphone charging station to recharge my phone.

And then I made the call.

To the one person who had helped me escape the most—my true superior in this era.

***

That evening.

"Kim Soleum."

"Team Leader."

The moment I saw Manager Isajeon, I bowed my head deeply.

It was warranted, really...

"Thank you so much. Truly…"

"Yes."

Even though I had spent 66,660,000 won, I honestly thought it was a great deal in the end.

"Physical force… really is convenient and effective."

No wonder "Staff D" had always been a cliché element in special exploration logs.

...Though, I hadn't expected him to be an alien.

"Should I have been suspicious when he first looked like a lizard?"

I glanced at Manager Isajeon's still lizard-like face and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

To think he belonged to an enigmatic cosmic shopping mall group capable of launching bombardments into ghost stories.

"The… 'Coalition,' wasn't it?"

Even the Wiki had nothing about Staff D’s connection to that. My curiosity about the untold story eventually got the better of me.

"Um, Team Leader, may I ask what the 'Coalition' you mentioned when summoned for 'Our Help' is?"

"You may not."

"……."

Ah. Well, okay then.

Let’s get to the main topic.

After extracting a promise from Isajeon not to report this to the company, I showed him the Dreamscape Collector.

"It's about the liquid inside this collector."

The lizard-like vertical pupils bore into the oddly shaped collector as if trying to unravel its mysteries.

I asked cautiously.

"Is this… S-grade, as in Abyssal Darkness Dreamscape Liquid?"

A suffocating silence followed.

"No, it is not."

Oh.

"It has a higher concentration than the registered 'Grade: Darkness (A)' standards in the company database, but it does not qualify as Abyssal grade."

Phew.

"I figured as much."

It wouldn’t be that easy to have an S-grade just fall into my lap.

"So, it's roughly A+ level?"

Satisfied, I put the collector away.

"Then what does true S-grade look like?"

"There are no precise words in the current language to describe it. However, upon seeing it, there would be no doubt of its extreme concentration."

"…I see."

Talk about alien phrasing.

For a moment, I found myself wondering.

"What is Manager Isajeon's connection to this cosmic shopping mall?"

And why is he working at Daydream Corporation? A flood of questions arose, but now wasn’t the time to ask them.

The real issue was whether I could keep working at this company.

"Team Leader, as far as I know, if an employee is absent for a month without notice, they are processed for resignation."

I swallowed hard.

"Does that apply to me as well?"

"Yes."

Damn it!

"If I explain that I was caught up in unavoidable circumstances related to the darkness and couldn’t come to work, could I be reinstated?"

"Yes."

Phew.

Thank goodness. At least I could talk my way back in. I exhaled in relief.

"In that case, I’ll just…"

BZZZZT—

Suddenly, Manager Isajeon’s phone buzzed.

After glancing at the screen, he spoke.

"Kim Soleum."

"Yes?"

"There are people here who want to meet you."

Shortly after.

"Noroo!"

At Manager Isajeon’s residential building, I saw some familiar faces: Deputy Eunhaje and Supervisor Park Minseong.

Seeing the people who had searched ghost stories to find me made my heart thump strangely.

"This was no small feat."

They’d nearly died in The Choir of Sacrifices and even stepped into the follow-up ghost story, Brown’s Midnight Talk Show. That wasn’t something you did without steeling yourself for the worst.

Especially since one of them had to keep avoiding other employees, and the other could barely leave the premises.

The indescribable emotion I felt when I was absorbed into the darkness of the talk show now washed over me in a different way.

I bowed my head deeply.

"Thank you. Thanks to the candy you gave me, I found the clue I needed."

That candy was the trigger that eventually led me to press the "Our Help" button.

Deputy Eunhaje waved it off.

"It’s nothing. I didn’t do much."

"I just pieced things together after hearing you two talk and came in at the last moment," Supervisor Park added with a laugh. He seemed more stable now than he’d been during year-end quarantine room cleanup.

I noticed his outfit—not a suit, but casual black clothes.

"Supervisor, did you… start working again?"

"…Yeah. I’m in the security team now."

No longer part of the Field Exploration Team.

Park didn’t elaborate further on his new role, simply mentioning, "It’s nice to earn points again."

"……."

I let the topic drop and allowed him to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Oh, by the way, Captain J from the Security Team occasionally asked about you. I didn’t say you disappeared into the darkness, but he seemed to have figured it out recently."

"Ah… I see."

I nodded reflexively but then froze as a thought struck me.

Wait a second.

"Does the company already know I didn’t just go AWOL but was lost in the darkness?"

"Well, yeah. They officially concluded you went missing in the Tamna-bound High-Speed Train Incident."

Oh!

"Then the company hasn’t given up on me and declared me missing all this time?"

"……."

"……."

Both of my supervisors suddenly looked away!

"…They already declared me dead, didn’t they."

What an amazing company.

Not that it mattered much to me, honestly. I resisted the urge to rub my temples and nodded.

"Got it. So if I report that I’m alive, cleared the darkness, and want to return…"

"Noroo, about that…"

"Not an option."

"…!?"

Deputy Eunhaje cut me off abruptly.

"Deputy?"

"Listen, Noroo. The company did invest quite a lot of effort into searching for you over the past few weeks."

Supervisor Park hurriedly interjected.

"But if the audit determines you were just absent without leave and not on company business, they’ll find a way to bill you for the search costs."

……

"What?"

"Since you didn’t directly request assistance, there’s no official justification."

"They’ll just make something up."

"……."

"Remember, the points we get aren’t wages; they’re ‘welfare points.’ If the company decides to punish you, they could suspend your point usage for months as a penalty."

A chill ran down my spine.

"They’d frame it as your personal accident, a non-work-related absence that caused losses to the company."

Deputy Eunhaje said this with a bitter tone.

"If you don’t return, they can’t touch you. But if you come back as an employee…"

It was absurd.

The worst part? It wasn’t even unique to this company—this kind of nonsense could happen anywhere.

"Let’s document how you cleared the darkness. If we turn it into a manual, they can’t penalize you for insubordination."

"That’s impossible."

"……."

My entry was unusual, my escape method even more so. Turning it into a manual was out of the question.

The fact that I’d worked as a staff member in a ghost story for a month before escaping was already extraordinary.

"If only I could submit the liquid, it would smooth everything over."

But that wasn’t an option.

"Should I just accept the loss and act?"

No. No matter how I thought about it, it was too much to swallow.

It wasn’t just the loss—it was infuriating.

"I’m already more than halfway there."

Taking away my points after their arbitrary antics? Absolutely not.

And this wasn’t the end of the complications.

"Noroo, if you describe how you escaped and mention being part of the ghost story for a month…"

Park swallowed hard.

"They might decide you’re contaminated and put you through what I went through."

"……."

Yeah.

Spending a month in a high-grade ghost story and returning intact was unprecedented.

They’d analyze and reassign me accordingly.

"You might not be able to rejoin the Field Exploration Team."

"……."

At this point, I should’ve shouted about quitting this damned company, but I couldn’t leave in a fit of rage.

"I need the wish-granting ticket."

I’d already confirmed during the Elevator Ghost Story that it could get me home.

And I couldn’t abandon my promise to Brown. I still needed to retrieve the doll from the Amusement Park Ghost Story.

If I broke my word, who knew what a supernatural being with the condition of "eternally together" might do.

I clenched my teeth, feeling the coin in my jacket pocket.

"The situation’s a mess, but there’s a way."

I had high-grade raw liquid and escaped the ghost story intact.

The circumstances weren’t worse than before—they were just tangled.

There had to be a move to turn this around.

"……."

As I looked at the worried faces of my supervisors, a thought struck me.

Maybe.

"Deputy."

I turned to Deputy Eunhaje.

Someone with connections in a different department.

"Can you get me in touch with Director Ho?"

"……!"