Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

Chapter 9.2

Even with a B-Class ghost story, the survival rate for a normal person drops to around 2%.

At that level, no matter what choice you make, you’re either going to die or end up worse off than dead.

If someone enters that 150 times, it’s pretty much a death sentence for a regular employee.

In such an insane situation, you’d have to beg on your knees not to be sent in.

Speed-running higher class ghost stories isn’t a realistic option at all.

‘So, to raise my survival rate even a little, I’ll need to invest over 10 years.’

This isn’t some tale of a nobleman seeking revenge…

Yet, if the Field Exploration Team is the fastest department, people in other departments have an even lower chance of getting their hands on a Wish Ticket during their career.

With so many other attractive products in the welfare mall, many employees in other departments have probably resigned themselves to that reality and settled for less.

But not me.

My goal is far more surreal and absolute.

Returning to my original world.

And they expect me to survive here for 15 years? I’d die of a heart attack from the stress before then!

‘No chance in hell!’

I needed a plan, a strategy.

‘I need to figure out which ghost stories I should enter and which ones to avoid.’

I had to balance safety and speed perfectly to gather 500,000 points in the shortest time possible.

Just as I was about to dive deep into serious contemplation, Supervisor Park gave me a friendly pat on the back.

“Hey, did you get everything registered? Is the computer working fine?”

“Yes. By the way, the personal items here…”

“Oh, that’s the squad leader’s desk.”

“……”

No wonder it looked used!

“Just don’t break the monitor. Feel free to use it today, no worries.”

Is this company for real?

Letting a new hire use the squad leader’s desk for the day—is that something a sane company does?

‘Come to think of it, nothing here seems normal.’

This is a company that churns out potions by throwing people into ghost stories. Holding this place to the standards of an ordinary 21st-century Korean workplace was bound to lead to shock after shock.

…Maybe a little bending of the rules wouldn’t hurt.

“Hey, do you smoke, Roe?”

“No, I’m good.”

I didn’t follow my superiors for their smoke break.

Instead, I stared down at the desk I was sitting at, took a deep breath, and flipped the keyboard over.

As expected, there was a post-it note stuck underneath.

[Squad Leader Lee Jaheon / 105105301]

ID: yongj1111

PW: dydajflgodks!111

It’s hard to criticize the lack of security awareness when I’ve seen so much of this already at the company.

‘If he’s the squad leader… then that means he’s probably a section chief.’

And actually, there’s a certain website accessible only to section chiefs and above in this company…

It could really help with clearing higher-class ghost stories.

“……”

Now that I’d seen the absurd goal of 500,000 points, it felt like something I couldn’t afford to pass up.

Alright.

‘Let’s do this.’

I resolutely logged back into the welfare mall.

But this time, I didn’t use my own ID.

ID: yongj1111

Password: dydajflgodks!111

I attempted to log in using the D Squad Leader’s credentials.

Incorrect password.

“Hm…”

No problem. I expected this minor setback.

Let’s see… Clicking the ‘Register’ button shows the password requirements.

‘A capital letter is needed.’

So, if I capitalize the first letter of the password written on the Post-it, making it ‘Dydajflgodks!111’, and log in…

Ding.

[Welcome, Section Chief Lee Jaheon]

‘I’m in!’

I discreetly pumped my fists under the desk in triumph. A small celebration you can do in an office without drawing attention.

Not that anyone was around right now anyway.

Now, what I needed to find on this page was… a kind of phishing link.

The so-called ‘Alien Shop’.

In <The Dark Exploration Records>, there were quite a few alien ghost stories, and some of them involved extraterrestrials trying to sell items to Earthlings through bizarre means of communication.

‘They didn’t mean any harm, but they sold things that were unsettling or dangerous from a human perspective.’

Still, these ghost stories leaned more toward being quirky and even somewhat heartwarming.

And apparently, those aliens had a bit of a business mindset. They wanted to target potential customers, so…

They even embedded something like ransomware into Daydream Inc.’s intranet.

‘Only section chiefs and higher can see the shopping mall’s ad phishing link.’

I also remembered how to access that phishing link.

‘While randomly clicking around in the welfare mall, if you hit the back button five times in a row….’

Click, click, click….

Beep.

Suddenly, a small green hand appeared in the corner of the welfare mall screen.

A pixelated left hand, waving as if to grab your attention.

A speech bubble floated above it.

First Anniversary Appreciation Discount! ~80%

Is your job boring? >>Click

Do you want to get stronger? >>Click

Want cool items? >>Click

‘This is trash.’

It looked just like those old internet banner ads from back in the day.

But, surprisingly, if you click this clumsy thing!

You’d be taken—like magic—from the intranet to an external internet site, abducted to an alien shop.

I was tempted to click it immediately, but!

‘Hold on.’

Instead, I right-clicked and copied the link, then pasted it into an Excel sheet and took a picture of it with my phone.

‘Company PCs record everything.’

I didn’t want any trace left showing I had clicked on the alien ransomware link—especially not on someone else’s account.

After a while, as my superiors returned from their smoke break, I greeted them with a nod as if nothing had happened.

“Roe~ Let’s have a welcome dinner when the squad leader gets back from his field duty. It’s on the company card.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

And then, I waited for quitting time.

* * *

That evening, after my monumental first day at work, my tasks still weren’t over.

“Let’s do this.”

After depositing 20 million won, I went home.

Now, in my bedroom, I was copying the phishing link from the ‘Alien Shop’ I had photographed in my smartphone gallery through image analysis.

After fixing a few unreadable parts, I opened a browser and pasted the link into the address bar.

“Huuuu.”

Deep breath… Enter.

Click.

The browser navigated through the complex link, and a page appeared that resembled the layout of Daydream Inc.’s welfare mall… only to shatter and disappear.

And then, a new page opened.

It looked like something from the early 2000s, with obvious underlines and outdated fonts.

<Space Shopping Mall>

※Amazing items from outer space※~!!

>>I’ll take a look at the items

Boing Boing Boing. A little green spaceship rotated in the corner.

‘This is so lame.’

But I couldn’t let the tackiness fool me.

If you click ‘items’ here, you’ll see bizarre, supernatural products for sale.

…Though the problem is, the prices are just as outrageous.

The minimum started at one million won.

…A result of the over-inflated imaginations of ghost story creators with massive egos who thought, ‘I need to use even more expensive items!’

That was me just yesterday. I wouldn’t have been able to buy a single thing from this list.

But now…

‘I’ve got 20 million won.’

My heart raced a little. The thought of being able to purchase items from a fictional world felt like a serious dopamine rush.

“Huu.”

Finally, I clicked on the [Items] tab.

The screen loaded.

Items

Bloodsucking Cutlery – ₩14,999,999

Wide-Range Walkie-Talkie – ₩4,999,999

Alice Picnic Set – ₩11,999,999

We Can Help! – ₩66,666,666

※Discount!※ Silver Serpent – ₩4,999,999

₩19,999,999

“……!”

I recognized most of these items.

Finally, my luck was turning!

‘Hell yeah.’

In my excitement, I quickly recalled the details.

Bloodsucking Cutlery.

A weapon set consisting of a small fork and knife, which grows bigger and sharper as it absorbs the blood of its victims.

You could literally call it a ‘growth weapon’.

Broader Walkie-Talkie.

A toy walkie-talkie that allows remote communication with others, even within ghost stories.

It would be very useful when you have companions.

Alice Picnic Set.

As the name suggests, it’s inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It contains food items.

It came with a drink that temporarily doubles the effect of items and cookies that halve them.

That’s where my knowledge of the items ended.

I didn’t know the other two, but ‘We Can Help!’ was way out of my budget, so I ignored it.

‘The Silver Serpent is on sale.’

Getting a discount always feels like a win.

“Hmm…”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

A weapon, a communication device, a buff potion, and a discount item…?

My budget was 20 million won.

What should I buy to get the best value?

“Alright.”

I made my decision and clicked.