Got Dropped in a Ghost Story Chapter 8

The ghost stories in <Dark Exploration Records> all had one thing in common.

The more popular a story became, the more likely irregularities were to appear in its Exploration Records.

‘Probably because so many different people write them.’

When a ghost story first appeared, its records usually followed the established rules very closely.

But once the story became popular and more and more people started contributing Exploration Records, things naturally began to change.

As the number of entries increased, writers started introducing small exceptions to avoid repetition and keep things interesting—

as long as those exceptions still made sense within the rules.

And the case I was desperately trying to remember was one of those exceptions.

There had been an Exploration Record involving Squad J of Daydream Inc.’s Field Exploration Team.

Their assignment had been simple.

Survive twelve hours inside an abandoned hospital at night.

But—

※ Note: Exploration concluded after 16 hours and 11 minutes.

For some reason, the exploration had lasted sixteen hours and eleven minutes.

Much longer than the required twelve.

‘This is it.’

The kind of temporal irregularity I was looking for.

Although…

‘They actually ended up trapped for even longer.’

Something had gone wrong during the exploration, causing the ghost story to continue well past the intended twelve-hour limit.

‘What was it again…?’

Then I remembered.

‘They missed the time signal.’

─────

(03:12) Employee Lee Jaejin accidentally disconnected the phone line at the counter.

─────

Because of that mistake, the phone call that was supposed to arrive at the hospital desk never came.

The shift-change call.

Without it, the doctor whose night shift should have ended after twelve hours simply kept working.

An insane situation where the shift never ended.

─────

(12:12) 7:12 a.m. passed, but the sun did not rise.

─────

No matter how much time passed, the night refused to end.

Apparently, the employee had set his wristwatch to 7 p.m. as soon as he entered the ghost story, then completely panicked when he realized what was happening.

‘I think they even argued about whether they should deliberately get caught and reset…’

‘And during the argument, someone ended up getting tied up.’

Fortunately, several hours later, another team member managed to reconnect the phone line.

The scenario finally resumed normally, and they escaped.

─────

(16:09) Phone line successfully restored. Phone rings immediately. Waited at least 3 meters away from the desk.

(16:11) Doctor answered the phone and disappeared. Escape attempt successful.

─────

A ghost story that refuses to end even after the promised time has passed.

Definitely creepy.

But—

‘There’s a clue here.’

Even though that case had dragged on longer than expected, there had still been a mechanism that determined when the scenario would end.

A trigger.

‘In that case, it was the shift-change call.’

And when the trigger failed to activate, the ghost story didn’t end.

Which meant—

if I reversed the logic…

‘If the trigger that signals the end activates early…’

‘Could the ghost story end early too?’

“……”

What inside a convenience store could represent the passage of time?

Thud

“……!”

Wait.

‘That sound…’

It was coming from directly above me.

I instinctively looked upward.

Of course, all I could see was the underside of the counter.

I was hiding beneath the convenience-store register.

Which meant the thing directly above me was—

the POS terminal.

Beep.

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beepbeepbeepbeepbeep.

The ghost was pressing the buttons.

At that strange rhythm, a prerecorded voice began echoing through the store.

Calling an employee… Calling an employee, callinganemploycallinganemployeecallcallcallcallingcallingemploycallinganemployee.

“…!!”

I understood.

It knew.

It knew I was hiding under the counter.

It just wasn’t catching me yet.

It was playing with me.

Even after realizing that, I didn’t feel angry.

Cold sweat simply poured down my back.

‘This is fucking insane.’

‘It’s actually trying to drive me crazy.’

‘Get out.’

I needed to crawl out and run.

But my legs refused to move the way I wanted them to.

I was no different from those extras in horror movies who see the monster, collapse in fear, and die on the spot.

‘No.’

I couldn’t let that happen.

Even if I was going to get caught anyway, I couldn’t let myself learn helplessness.

I forced myself to crawl out from under the counter.

The moment I did—

Calling an employee.

A blue, swollen face suddenly appeared right in front of mine.

Its mouth stretched into a grotesquely wide grin.

—Gotcha.

—

Restart.

“……”

I took a long, slow breath.

My heart was pounding so violently that my head hurt, but I endured it.

‘Move on.’

My whole body felt numb.

‘Endure it.’

Instead, I stared out across the dark convenience store.

This time, rather than heading toward the counter, I ran in the opposite direction from the illuminated drinks refrigerator.

Straight toward the entrance.

“…….”

Beyond the glass doors was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Still, when I strained my eyes and tried to see outside, I noticed something mounted beside the outer glass door.

“…!”

A digital clock.

[12:00⼁04⼁04]

April 4th.

12:00.

‘So that’s the current date and time set for this ghost story.’

Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I could also make out the chime attached to the glass door.

If I touched the door, that bell would probably ring.

And the ghost would come charging over with those bizarre footsteps.

‘And the door probably won’t open anyway…’

The rules said I had to survive inside the convenience store.

Naturally, there would be some kind of restriction preventing me from simply leaving.

I looked away from the entrance and partially hid myself behind a nearby shelf.

With my back pressed against the wall, I continued scanning the store while thinking.

Cold sweat ran down my temple.

‘I’m supposed to survive for three days.’

Then what kind of trigger could indicate that those three days had passed?

What happens in a convenience store after a certain amount of time?

‘Deliveries?’ I glanced at the boxes stacked near the entrance.

Could I somehow check the delivery time for new goods and use that to signal the passing of time?

No.

Too complicated.

Too indirect.

There was no way a solution involving that many tiny steps would work.

<Dark Exploration Records> was built from internet ghost stories.

‘And internet ghost stories are simple.’

The more arbitrary conditions and convoluted logic you add, the weaker the impact becomes.

Stories like that don’t become popular.

‘The answer has to be simpler.’

‘Something that clicks immediately.’

Then—

What was the most obvious way to represent the passage of time in a convenience store?

“…!”

Right.

I looked toward the refrigerated display nearest the entrance.

It was different from the drink fridge, but cold air was still spilling from it.

There weren’t many products inside.

A few dairy drinks.

Some coffee.

And—

doshirak lunchboxes and triangle kimbap.

Food that spoiled quickly.

‘Expiration dates.’

I immediately moved toward the display and began checking the labels on the lunchboxes and triangle kimbap.

‘Most triangle kimbap expires within thirty-six to forty-eight hours.’

The lunchboxes were probably similar.

But strangely enough, many of them had expiration dates more than three days away.

Others had the dates badly smudged or erased altogether.

I kept searching.

Quietly.

Carefully.

Turning each package over and checking every label without making unnecessary noise.

Then—

‘Found it.’

The current time in this ghost story was midnight on April 4.

A product whose expiration date ended exactly at midnight on April 7.

[Hamburg Steak Lunch Box with Soup]

I grabbed the lunchbox.

Then I crossed the convenience store and approached the POS terminal.

‘Ugh.’

The memory of the ghost standing at the register and hammering the buttons flashed through my mind.

But that was only a memory.

It hadn’t appeared here yet.

‘Stay calm.’

I opened the device settings on the POS terminal.

Then selected—

[Date and Time Adjustment]

There.

It actually existed.

I swallowed my sigh of relief and stared at the screen.

‘Set the time to….’

Exactly two days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-nine minutes after the starting point of midnight on April 4.

[April 6th, 11:59 p.m.]

‘Please work.’

I pressed the change button.

Confirmed.

[Time adjusted successfully.]

“…!!”

It worked.

‘Thank God.’

Sometimes devices like this wouldn’t allow manual time changes.

For once—

I had gotten lucky.

My hands were shaking with a mixture of relief and anxiety, but I forced them steady.

Almost there.

Now all I had to do was scan the food I had brought over and register it as nearing disposal—

Bee-bee-bee-beep!

“……”

[Expiration Alert]

[There are items approaching their expiration date!]

The POS terminal announced it in an absurdly cheerful voice.

The prerecorded message echoed through the dark store.

Bee-bee-bee-beep!

Bee-bee-bee-beep!

“……”

I froze.

Slowly—

I turned my head.

Far away—

our eyes met.

It was coming.

“Shi—!”

Don’t look.

Look at the screen.

Only the screen.

‘Please.’

‘Please hurry.’

Beep.

My trembling hand missed the barcode scanner three times before I finally managed to scan it.

[Would you like to register this item?]

I hammered [Yes] as fast as I could.

Meanwhile—

those bizarre, uneven footsteps were getting closer.

Closer.

‘Don’t panic.’

I forced myself to stay focused, moving my hands as quickly as possible.

[Item registered for expiration.]

And at the exact moment the ghost’s erratic footsteps reached the other side of the counter—

[Process complete.]

It vanished.

“……”

Click.

The lights came on.

The entire convenience store was suddenly flooded with harsh white light.

The POS terminal, which had seemed so ominous just moments ago, now looked completely ordinary.

A simple message appeared on the screen.

[Registration complete.]

Bzzzzzt—

A receipt began printing.

And amid that steady white noise, it finally sank in.

‘I did it.’

I had actually succeeded.

“Huu…”

I leaned against the counter and lowered my head.

My legs were shaking.

‘I can finally breathe…’

Humans really depended on light more than I’d ever realized.

Just having the store brightly lit again was enough to calm me down.

‘Now I just have to head for the exit and—’

Clang!

The cash drawer beneath the POS terminal suddenly sprang open.

‘Huh?’

Inside was a thick brown envelope.

“This is…”

I pulled it out and opened it.

Inside were four thick bundles of crisp, golden-colored bills.

“……!?”

Stacks of 50,000-won notes.

‘Wait.’ ‘Is that a hundred bills per stack?’

If so—

That was twenty million won in total.

It was the first time in my life I had ever held that much cash at once.

But why was it sitting inside a convenience-store register?

Then it clicked.

‘The reward.’

─────

‘Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story’

‘/ Make a Choice’

‘Trivia’

If you clear the scenario, you really do receive the money.

~~Maybe it’s actually just a nice ghost who enjoys scaring people.~~

─────

Oh.

—

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“If he lasts the full three days, he should come out right after.”

“Clearing it on the first attempt? That’s pretty generous.”

Daydream Inc.

Field Exploration Team, Squad D.

The two employees had stepped onto the rooftop through the stairwell beside the storage room and were smoking.

They had just sent their new recruit into the Darkness.

No matter how many times they did it—

it never really became normal.

Throwing a rookie straight into a paranormal phenomenon wasn’t exactly something you could get used to.

Still, <Make a Choice> had one useful characteristic.

The shorter the assigned survival period, the more brutal the scenario became.

The longer the period, the more relaxed it tended to be.

Since the new recruit had drawn three days, it probably wouldn’t be that bad.

‘At worst, it should be like a three-day courage test.’

Of course—

That was still harsh.

Neither of them was pretending otherwise.

But both employees shared the same basic belief.

‘If he can’t survive something like this, he’ll die soon anyway.’

In that case, it would be better for him to quit now.

Quite a few new hires had actually resigned because of this initiation process.

Thanks to that, Squad D often found itself on the receiving end of unpleasant looks from HR.

Still, they somehow managed to keep doing things their way.

After all—

Watching a coworker die was terrible enough.

Watching a rookie from your own squad die right beside you was even worse for your mental health.

But this time—

things felt a little different.

There was a strange sense of expectation in the air.

“This new recruit…”

“Yeah?”

“He’s something else.”

“He sure is.”

Kim Soleum, the new recruit assigned to Squad D, had ranked top in his batch.

“I’ve never seen a rookie act like that on their first day.”

Most new hires completely lost it the moment they realized what their new “job” actually involved—

being repeatedly thrown into paranormal phenomena where they could easily die.

That was the normal reaction.

But Kim Soleum had been strangely calm.

“He didn’t even look nervous.”

“Right? He barely reacted. He even drank his coffee like nothing was wrong.”

Not once had he lost his composure.

He hadn’t locked himself in the bathroom to cry.

He hadn’t tried to run away.

Of course, Kim Soleum had already been spoiled on everything and spent the past three days resigning himself to his fate and mentally preparing for what was coming.

But from the perspective of people who didn’t know that—

He looked like a rookie with nerves of steel!

“You already like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah. He’s pretty solid.”

Someone with strong nerves was always welcome in the Field Exploration Team.

This was a department where employees regularly had to face horrific, bizarre, and deeply unsettling urban legends.

A coward would have a hard time surviving here.

Well, I suppose a coward wouldn’t have made it through that death game in the first place…

Except one had!

Naturally, his superiors had no way of knowing that.

They simply kept nodding to themselves, convinced they had gotten an unusually promising new recruit.

There was only one thing they found slightly disappointing.

“He doesn’t seem like the type to cut corners, so why wasn’t he taking notes?”

“Maybe it’s because this is his first job. We can teach him. He’ll pick it up.”

In a profession where a mistake could literally cost you your life, information and manuals were essential.

The two nodded in agreement.

“We should tell him to write things down. He needs to reread them later if he wants to properly remember everything.”

“Exactly. It’s not like he already knew all of this beforehand.”

He did!

Completely unaware of that, the two continued chatting like any team welcoming a new recruit.

Eventually, they decided it was time to head back.

“We still need to write the situation report.”

“Ugh. Those reports nobody even reads…”

The rookie wouldn’t be coming back for another three days at the earliest anyway.

And since this particular ghost story had both food and a place to sleep, he should be fine even if it dragged on a little longer.

The two nodded, picked up the tablet containing the internet post that had swallowed their new recruit, and got ready to head back to the office.

Then—

Tick.

The tablet spat out a person.

“……?!”

The rookie who was supposed to return three days later suddenly appeared in front of them.

Kim Soleum stood up from the floor, casually brushing off his suit.

His clothes looked almost exactly as clean as they had an hour and a half ago.

And in one hand—

He was holding something.

A Dream Essence Collector.

Filled all the way to the top.

“I filled it.”

“……?!?!”

[Clear Time: 1 hour 24 minutes]

The rookie who had just pulled off something completely absurd stared at his stunned superiors with a perfectly calm expression.

‘I thought I was going to die of a heart attack.’ Of course—

This was just the result of a desperate coward who, if given the chance, would have crashed through the walls of the haunted house to escape!

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