Got Dropped in a Ghost Story Chapter 10

Click, click.

I finished making my selections.

The Alien Shop neatly displayed the items in my cart.

What I was buying was….

Alice Picnic Set – ₩11,999,999

※ Sale! ※ Silver Coin Snake – ₩4,999,999

= ₩16,999,998 That’s right.

I had chosen the item that could amplify effects and the discounted product.

The reason was simple.

I couldn’t use the others…

The Bloodsucking Cutlery?

Sure, it sounded cool.

But there was one major problem.

I’d have to charge at a ghost with a knife in my hand….

If a coward like me tried something that stupid, I’d die…

There was a reason panicking, fumbling around, and dying helplessly had become such a common horror-movie cliché.

On top of that, the weapon only worked against things that had blood, which made it less versatile.

If it were armor, maybe I’d consider it. But a weapon is out of the question.

Overestimating myself was a guaranteed way to shorten my lifespan.

So that one was rejected.

Next was the Wide-Range Walkie-Talkie.

Well…

How am I supposed to convince my boss to carry around a toy walkie-talkie?

Anyone capable of doing that probably wouldn’t need to work under someone else in the first place.

Even if I explained that it wasn’t an ordinary toy, another problem would immediately come up.

Where did you get this?

I had no good answer to that.

It was the kind of item that would only be truly useful if I had a companion I could trust.

So, rejected.

In the end, the most sensible choices within my budget were the Alice Picnic Set and the Silver Coin Snake.

Both seemed useful.

First, the Alice Picnic Set.

Its ability to double or halve an item’s effect made it versatile enough to use in all kinds of situations.

I could even use it defensively if necessary.

It was also easy to carry around without drawing attention from my coworkers.

So I bought it.

And finally—

the discounted item, the Silver Coin Snake.

‘Its original price is twenty million won?’

That alone gave me a good feeling about it.

This was an investment.

Judging by the “silver” in the name, it’s probably some kind of currency.

There were all kinds of currencies scattered throughout the different ghost stories in this universe.

Some could even be exchanged for real money through certain organizations.

Buying something worth twenty million won for only five million is definitely a win.

Of course, there was usually a reason the Alien Shop offered such enormous discounts.

But this seemed worth the risk.

…

No.

This wasn’t the same as throwing money into cryptocurrency!

This was a rational decision!

And with that, I prepared to transfer the seventeen million won.

“Huu.”

The only available payment method was a direct bank transfer.

The account details appeared on the screen.

Account Holder: Alien

I’m guessing I’m not getting a tax deduction for this…

Sending this much money at once felt strangely unreal.

It reminded me of the time I had to put down a deposit on an apartment.

With trembling hands, I opened my banking app, which I had already set up for high-limit transfers, and sent exactly ₩16,999,998.

The instant I pressed the transfer button—

[PURCHASE SUCCESSFUL!]

[Your item is on a rocket!]

[Arrival in 00:00:08]

Wait.

[00:00:07]

[00:00:06]

Hold on.

[00:00:03]

[00:00:02]

[00:00:01]

Ding.

A cheerful notification sound rang out.

[ARRIVED!]

Pop!

“Whoa!”

The air in front of me seemed to split open.

With a puff of smoke, something dropped out.

A delivery box.

Delivered by “rocket.”

“Wow.”

It was literally rocket delivery.

This crazy universe… Who knew it could actually be fascinating instead of just terrifying?

I was almost moved.

After staring at it in amazement for a moment, I finally came to my senses and opened the package.

The first thing inside was the Alice Picnic Set.

It came in a rusty tin case decorated with fairy-tale illustrations.

When I opened it, I found a flat can of soda and a paper-wrapped cookie.

Each had a label.

[Drink Me]

[Eat Me]

“Dang.”

I could easily carry one or two of these around, just like the Smiley Stickers.

I nodded in satisfaction.

Then, as I lifted the tin case out of the box, I noticed something round and silver lying at the bottom.

I picked it up.

A gleaming silver coin.

It really is currency.

A surge of excitement ran through me.

The coin was roughly the size of a 500-won coin, with an engraving of a snake biting its own tail.

I flicked it with my finger, feeling the weight of the metal.

Several possibilities for where I might be able to use it immediately came to mind.

Wherever I use this, I’m going to make sure I get my money’s worth.

Sure, seventeen million won had vanished like snow under the sun…

But in the end, it was money that would mean nothing once I returned to my original world.

There was no point getting attached to material wealth here.

That thought helped me calm down.

Well then… I guess I’m reasonably well prepared now.

I took stock of the items currently in my possession.

─────

– Memorial Popsocket

– Smiley Sticker 🙂

– Alice Picnic Set

– Silver Coin Snake

─────

From now on, I needed to use these items to clear higher-class Darkness as quickly as possible.

I need to make use of everything I have.

Avoiding things just because I was afraid might eventually lead to something even more terrifying.

Don’t forget that.

You coward.

With that resolution firmly in mind, I tried to sleep.

Instead of sheep, the convenience-store ghost spent the entire night running circles through my head and ruining my sleep.

Haha.

And then—

the next day.

“We have a few ghost stories that we manage regularly, so today we’ll be entering one of those.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

I had barely managed to get three hours of sleep.

At this rate, I really might die.

Apparently, though, my exhausted expression looked more like anxiety, because Assistant Manager Eun gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s only D-Class.”

“Yeah! It’s about the same difficulty as the one you went through during orientation, right?”

Seriously?

I’d just gone through a death-survival test traumatic enough to give me PTSD, and that was what they told a new employee?

But the Field Exploration Team employees, whose sensitivity to normal human experiences had apparently worn away long ago, simply chuckled and continued encouraging me.

“You cleared that one after going in completely blind. Now you’ve got a manual, so there’s no reason you can’t handle this.”

“As long as you don’t do anything crazy, you’ll be fine. Got it?”

“…Yes.”

Well…

Sure.

I understood.

Whatever this was, it couldn’t possibly be worse than playing hide-and-seek alone with a ghost inside a convenience store.

Please.

Just let me sleep properly tonight.

I prayed for one of those atmospheric ghost stories—the kind that was creepy because of its strange mood and lack of information, rather than because something genuinely horrifying was chasing you around.

“Here are the materials.”

Supervisor Park handed me a tablet.

The ghost story I would be entering today was—

[Tuesday Quiz Show / Dusk (D) Class]

“…”

Huh?

“You see it, right, Roe? You’ll be entering as a contestant on a quiz show.”

“Yes.”

“If you answer a question incorrectly, you’ll receive a penalty. And those penalties can get pretty horrifying… That’s basically how this ghost story works.”

“But don’t worry! We already have all the answers, so we’re good. You don’t need to be too nervous!”

Supervisor Park grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

Well…

Okay.

I have a feeling this will be much less frightening than seeing ghosts in person…

But there was one problem.

I don’t know this one.

Tuesday Quiz Show?

There was no page for a D-Class ghost story by that name in Dark Exploration Records.

I couldn’t check the Memorial Popsocket in front of my seniors, but I was certain it wasn’t one of the ghost stories I remembered reading.

Then again—

even if I had read every ghost story in <Dark Exploration Records>, there was no guarantee those were the only ones that existed in this world.

After all, it had been an online playground where new ghost stories were constantly being added in real time.

I had assumed I knew more than most people.

And yet, I was about to enter a ghost story I had never even heard of.

…Does the company know about far more Darkness than I thought?

Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

But my seniors didn’t seem concerned at all.

“Our department just happens to get assigned a lot of TV-related ghost stories.”

“Yeah. Every team has its own specialty.”

Then Assistant Manager Eun sent me a PDF file.

Apparently, it was the answer sheet for the Tuesday Quiz Show.

“For now, memorize the answers and go over the exploration manual one more time. Once the squad leader gets back from the field this afternoon, we’ll head out.”

“Got it.”

I nodded obediently.

Supervisor Park thoughtfully added,

“Oh, should I print out a copy of the manual for you too? You’ll probably need to take notes.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’ve memorized the whole thing.”

With the Memorial Popsocket, carrying around a physical copy would only be extra baggage.

“You memorized… all of it?”

“Yes.”

“…So, notes!”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Supervisor Park gave me a knowing look, then nodded.

“The squad leader is going to like you.”

“…??”

Well, it sounded like a compliment, so I decided not to think too much about it.

For reference, Squad D’s leader was still away on a field assignment but was expected back sometime that afternoon.

I guess I’ll meet him soon enough.

But then—

about an hour later.

“Hold on. Our squad leader—I mean, the section chief—is still out on a field assignment… What? No, that’s ridiculous.”

Assistant Manager Eun frowned deeply as she ended the call.

“Are these people out of their minds? Just because we have three people now, they’re saying we can go in as a trio? What a joke…”

“Seriously? They actually said that?”

“Yeah. Looks like it…”

Assistant Manager Eun glanced at me.

Oh.

‘Is this because of the convenience-store ghost?’

Since I’d cleared an F-Class Darkness alone using an unusual method, maybe the higher-ups had decided—

Oh, this rookie can handle a full workload.

Apparently, pocketing that twenty million won all by myself had consequences after all.

Not because anyone was upset that I’d taken the money, though.

“It’s the end of the month.”

“Ahh.”

As I listened to my two seniors muttering to each other, I started to understand what was going on.

‘The department must be behind on its performance quota.’

Apparently they needed to hit some kind of target before lunchtime.

And now there happened to be a rookie who looked capable of doing a full person’s share.

Assistant Manager Eun thought for a moment before making up her mind.

“Roe, did you memorize everything?”

Ah.

The quiz-show answers…

Wait.

If I say yes, does that mean we’re going in right now?

Maybe I could pretend I hadn’t—

“Oh, he’s definitely memorized them already! He just told me he memorized that entire exploration manual, and that thing’s huge!”

“Oh.”

Assistant Manager Eun nodded.

“Great. Then the three of us will handle it ourselves today.”

“…”

And just like that, my tiny, desperate hope that having more people around would make this less terrifying disappeared.

Normally, they explained, teams entered in groups of three.

Sometimes only two people went in if someone was on leave. Backup personnel could be requested, but arranging that was complicated, and so on.

Yes.

I understood.

This company truly never stopped surprising me.

…Anyway, I’m prepared.

I had my items.

And this wasn’t supposed to be one of those truly horrifying ghost stories, right?

Actually—

now that I thought about it, going in right away might be better than waiting until the afternoon.

Wasn’t it better to just get it over with?

The longer I waited, the more horrifying scenarios my imagination would invent.

Right now, my courage was probably at its highest.

It might actually be better to go in before it dropped any further…!

“Let’s get started.”

While I was desperately trying to psych myself up, Assistant Manager Eun returned with something she had picked up from another department.

That must be the medium used to enter the ghost story.

It was a postcard.

But the recipient section of the old postcard was already covered in strange scribbles.

And across the top, the word application was printed over and over again in tiny letters, almost like a curse.

The basic story went something like this—

– One day, I found a strange postcard tucked inside an old magazine.

It was an application recruiting contestants for a quiz show, but when I searched for the program, no such show existed.

I figured it was just some old novelty postcard with a strange design.

So, out of curiosity, I jokingly wrote my name in the Sender field…

And then I was dragged into a bizarre quiz show.

That was probably the gist of it.

At first glance, the postcard didn’t look like much.

But the longer I stared at it, the more unsettling it became.

A chill ran down my spine.

“All you have to do is sign here.”

“…”

“If using your real name feels too uncomfortable, just write your animal mask name instead.”

“…Okay.”

I needed the points.

The others wrote Badger and Falcon, so I followed their example and filled in the Sender field.

– Roe Deer

The instant I lifted the pen—

my consciousness was sucked into the postcard as though it had been ripped straight out of my body.

“…!”

[Ah, finally! Our contestants have arrived!]

Blinding stage lights flooded my vision.

A bright, cheerful voice rang in my ears.

Then a hand in a suit sleeve reached toward me for a handshake.

[Welcome, welcome! The cameras will start rolling soon, so let’s give them our best smiles!]

I instinctively shook the offered hand and looked up.

Where a human head should have been—

there was an old-fashioned television set.

An emoji floated across its screen.

[…]

The TV-headed figure released my hand, spun around excitedly, and threw both arms wide.

[Audience!]

Thunderous applause erupted.

But the stage lights were so bright that I could barely make out the people sitting beyond them.

Only then did I realize that I was standing behind a brightly colored podium.

This must be the contestant’s position.

It wasn’t terrifying enough to make me faint.

Actually—

if I just pretended this was an eccentric quiz show hosted by someone wearing a TV-shaped mask, I felt surprisingly calm.

Compared to the eye-gouging subway and that convenience-store ghost, this is almost pleasant.

Yeah.

I could handle this.

I felt like I could actually think clearly here.

After adjusting my mask, I looked around the set.

[Is this your first time in a talk-show audience? Ohhh, then make sure to cheer! Your cheers mean everything to this show!]

The TV-headed figure was busy pumping up the audience and raising the energy in the room.

They were probably the host.

‘So this Tuesday Quiz Show is some kind of segment inside a larger talk show.’

The stage design.

The house band playing background music.

The studio audience.

The host’s exaggerated performance.

Everything about it resembled a classic American talk show.

It does feel a little old-fashioned, though.

…

Wait.

Think again.

An old American talk show.

A quiz segment.

Contestants who already know the answers.

This…

…

…

I knew those keywords.

─────

[※ CAUTION ※]

Disclaimer: By reading this document, you accept full responsibility for any fear, hallucinations, ■■, or ■■■■ that may occur.

Daydream Inc. (Ltd.) accepts no liability for any resulting damages.

Please sign before proceeding.

─────

This wasn’t just a D-Class.

This…

This ghost story was—

─────

Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story

[Chorus of the Sacrificial Lambs]

: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>.

: Daydream Inc. Identification Code – Qterw-A-104

: A-Class Darkness The incident responsible for the reclassification disaster that resulted in countless casualties.

Officially recorded survivors: None.

─────

“…”

[Three, two, one… And now, the show begins!]

No way.