Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 161

A rookie agent got infected.

“Agent?”

Ryu Jaegwan had already experienced similar situations multiple times.

An agent who miscounted the steps and stepped on the wrong stair with just one step left to safety.

An agent who survived for two days without a single drop of water but got contaminated by a single raindrop falling into his eye.

They just disappear.

Just like that.

Without context, without warning.

People like to call such eerie things ghost stories.

But for those involved, it was nothing but an ordinary tragedy.

Like right now.

“Bronze Agent.”

At that moment, his senior patted his shoulder and quickly pulled him into a side hug.

“…!”

And then, he traced letters on his back with his finger.

So that the infected rookie agent standing before them wouldn’t notice.

Stay calm.

“Podo! But we should get going. Your hand’s about to disappear soon.”

“Ah….”

The rookie agent, Kim Soleum, glanced at his severed, vanishing right arm and answered rather cheerfully.

“It’s fine! The mermaid princess said she’d give me one. I’ll be okay!”

“…Really?”

“Yes! Look, I even got this….”

Kim Soleum lifted the objects the children had given him, as if showing off.

In reality, they were all worn-out, shabby things—trinkets that only children would find interesting, not fully grown adults, even in the shimmering perspective of the Dragon Palace.

“…Right. Wait a second.”

After leaving Kim Soleum with the children, the two stepped aside for a brief but urgent discussion.

“I don’t know what the hell he did, but the infection is too deep.”

Half of his face was covered in tumors, and the infection, evident in the tail-like growth, had spread excessively.

It was unheard of for an infection to progress this severely in just three days.

Had he actually gone inside the Dragon Palace? Or maybe something went wrong when he made contact with the children.

Or perhaps Kim Soleum’s body was simply more susceptible to biological disasters than they had expected.

There was a slight chance of any of those possibilities, but with the rookie already showing signs of mental contamination, it was hard to get clear answers.

Or maybe…

“Could it be that cat….”

“…….”

Something even more dangerous had intervened.

Maybe just to rush them.

Ryu Jaegwan’s face turned pale for a moment before snapping back to reality.

“The conch shell.”

The cure.

“We need to get it. Right now!”

“Wait.”

Agent Choi grabbed his arm.

“That cat gave us the cure to save the kids.”

“But Podo Agent looks like a kid too….”

“Listen to me. If that cat is an entity ranked even higher than the goblin trick our elder cast, then… it might not count him as a ‘kid’ at all.”

“…!”

Ryu Jaegwan nearly shouted, So what, we just let him rot here?

But his superior, Agent Choi, was looking at ‘Podo Agent’ with an oddly thoughtful gaze.

“…….”

After calming his junior down, he approached Kim Soleum again, who was still mingling with the children.

“Podo.”

“Yes?”

“Then you’re fine staying here, right?”

“Yes!”

Ryu Jaegwan couldn’t hold back and yanked the back of Agent Choi’s collar.

“Senior!!”

“Hey, hey, I was just checking the severity of his contamination. …It’s bad. It’s not just the infection—his whole way of thinking is already….”

Follow current novℯls on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

“…….”

“We need to get him out immediately.”

“Then…”

“No, I mean in the way we always do!”

Agent Choi sighed and smacked his junior’s back.

“Agent Bronze, Bronze. Focus. Our escape method isn’t based on the level of contamination—it’s based on the time of disappearance.”

“…!!”

That’s right.

According to the Bureau’s established escape method, a child wouldn’t vanish into mist if their disappearance had been within 1000 days.

Podo Agent had only been here for three days—he was still within the criteria!

“If we just convince him to leave, we’re fine. I’ll send him out, so you just keep the kids from scattering.”

Then he turned to the infected Kim Soleum and spoke in a bright voice.

“We can come back to the Dragon Palace another time, Podo! But for now, let’s play a balloon game while we leave! Just like when we floated here earlier!”

This was the escape route the Bureau had identified.

Remember?

The How to Get to the Shiny Dragon Palace book that kept appearing in various playrooms.

The truth was, that book had an additional section.

Some rare copies had a hidden page at the very end, detailing a method to return from the Dragon Palace.

That page contained complex vocabulary and multi-step instructions far beyond the reading comprehension of preschool children.

Every attempt to find the materials necessary for the ‘returning ritual’ had failed.

So, in order to actually use this escape method, the agents carried the materials with them.

Luckily, despite being filled with illogical obstacles and hindrances, the narrative itself made the escape method legitimate.

At least, until now.

“…It’s not floating.”

“…!!”

For the first time, it wasn’t working.

Agent Choi almost bit his tongue in frustration but quickly masked his expression.

Normally, a child clinging to a ‘balloon to go home’ would close their eyes, float gently into the sky, and at some point, the balloon would pop.

And then, they would be found rolling down a slide.

That was how it was supposed to be.

But now, the balloon wasn’t lifting off at all.

This had never happened before.

Then again, an agent had never been infected this deeply before.

The level of contamination usually matched the year of their disappearance, and until now, every missing child who qualified had always floated up.

But now, an irregularity had appeared.

If the subject is too severely contaminated, the balloon will not lift, rendering the escape method useless.

As if the parasite gripping its host refused to let go.

The grotesque tumor-like tail on Kim Soleum’s body was rooted heavily into the ground, twitching.

…Is he practically fused with that ulcerous mass?

Agent Choi thought about the Dragon Palace, the bizarre collective entity, and frowned slightly.

But his tone remained casual.

“Oops~ My bad, I must not have filled it up enough! Let’s try another way.”

“Yes….”

Meanwhile, Ryu Jaegwan, who had been watching over the children, moved as soon as he saw them returning empty-handed.

“Agent Bronze.”

“We need to retrieve the cure immediately. Get ready—”

“Agent Bronze!”

Agent Choi paused for a moment, then spoke slowly.

“Have you ever thought… that if Podo were in his right mind, he’d give up his spot for one of the kids?”

Ryu Jaegwan froze.

“I have.”

“…!”

“That’s exactly why he should be the priority. Because agents are the kind of people who would throw their lives away too easily.”

“…….”

“If we save the agent, more people can be saved.”

His senior fell silent for a moment.

Then, he let out a quiet sigh.

“I… I don’t know. It’s not about ranking lives or anything… I just want to save my colleague.”

“…….”

“Was our agency always like this? It feels like things changed at some point… when did everyone start treating that principle like it was absolute?”

“Because they realized it was necessary.”

“…….”

Agent Choi’s silence wasn’t agreement—it was closer to rejection.

But in the end, he exhaled another small sigh and gave in.

“…Fine. Podo needs to be saved.”

“…!”

“Let’s go see those fraud company bastards.”

But first.

From the eleven remaining conch shells, they needed to set aside one for an agent.

“Ten. We need to choose ten people.”

“…….”

Agent Choi’s gaze darkened, but he still turned to Podo.

“You said you sorted the kids by era, right? Can you show me?”

“Yes!”

Podo diligently categorized the children.

Somehow, he had gathered over twenty scattered kids from all over the city.

…Did infection link them together, allowing communication?

Ryu Jaegwan forced himself to ignore that chilling thought.

Now, they had to make a choice.

The children were sorted.

From kids of the 2010s all the way back to those from the 1960s.

And then, there were a few who required a different explanation.

“These ones… seem to be from somewhere else.”

Some had six fingers, some had no whites in their eyes, and others claimed to be from countries that didn’t exist on Earth.

Agent Bronze immediately placed them lower on the priority list—the chances of them being actual citizens were low.

…It didn’t feel good.

Ranking human lives.

For a brief moment, Ryu Jaegwan felt the familiar weight of deep exhaustion.

As always, he was tired.

And so, he silently chose the children who had been missing for the shortest period.

Based on the information they had, those kids had the highest chance of successfully escaping.

“…We’ll take everyone for now.”

“…….”

Ryu Jaegwan slowly nodded.

“Alright. Podo, the kids might get scared, so how about we walk while playing together? We’ll meet the mermaid princess tomorrow, but today, let’s play with me.”

“Okay!”

They decided to hide Podo Agent among the children—as much as possible, they had to keep him out of Hundred Dreams Corporation’s sight.

If they found out he was an agent, he’d become a target.

The elite team of Hundred Dreams Corporation was likely aware that the Bureau prioritized agents over civilians.

An infected agent… is an easy target.

At least until they got the conch shell and treated him, they had to keep him hidden.

With that, they hurried their steps.

And soon—

“Oooh! Over here!”

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

At the designated meeting point, a staff member wearing a pony mask waved at them while the rest of the Hundred Dreams Corporation employees watched with wary eyes.

At least they didn’t run away.

Ryu Jaegwan confirmed that the tracking device attached to the conch shell was still intact, signaling that everything was still in place. They then merged with the employees of Hundred Dreams Corporation.

The sight of dozens of ‘baby mermaids’ made them flinch, but perhaps due to the lingering influence of the cat, they refrained from acting recklessly.

They simply kept a definite distance between them.

— This way.

After a brief written exchange, the two groups began moving while keeping each other in check.

Toward the lower parts of the city.

“This place… isn’t somewhere kids usually go.”

Even from the perspective of Shiny Dragon Palace, there was nothing particularly beautiful or distinctive about it.

A shady spot beneath a bridge.

A rusted steel bridge, miraculously still standing despite its decay, hovered over a polluted black stream.

Nestled beside it was a small door.

But….

“We can’t see it.”

The contaminated children couldn’t perceive the door at all.

Just like they couldn’t see the conch shell.

“…….”

If that was the case.

Conscious of the watchful eyes of the Hundred Dreams Corporation employees, who seemed to be looking for any signs of weakness, Agent Choi calmly closed his eyes and reached out.

…And just like that, his hand passed through.

“Ah. So it works if you completely deceive your senses. We just have to walk in with our eyes closed.”

The problem, however, was that they had to get 28 children to do this.

“Kids! Let’s play a game. Let’s see who can walk the longest with their eyes closed.”

“Uh….”

“That sounds scary.”

Normally, these kids would have been excited to play, but now, some of them hesitated, fidgeting strangely.

As if they were rejecting it on an instinctual level.

Damn it.

The ominous thought flashed through the agents’ minds—

Will we have to leave behind the ones who can’t pass?

And then.

“Are you scared?”

“…!”

“I-I’m not!”

“Then close your eyes!”

Kim Soleum began coaxing the children.

“You know that sparkly thing you see when you close your eyes? Can’t you see it?”

“I-I can see it!”

“Look carefully. If you can’t see it, just walk forward a bit more.”

Amazingly, he successfully convinced all of the children to close their eyes and walk.

“…….”

“Agent.”

“…Ah. Let’s go.”

Agent Choi, momentarily stunned by the sight, snapped back to reality.

He patted the shoulder of the anxious Agent Bronze and moved forward.

“Move out!”

With their eyes closed, the children safely passed through the ‘wall’ and entered.

And then—

“…Hah.”

It wasn’t the ‘Shiny Dragon Palace.’

From the perspective of Hundred Dreams Corporation, meaning from the viewpoint of the ghost story ‘Mermaid Graveyard’,

it was just a rusty, cold, steel passageway—only slightly less corroded than the outside.

It looked like a hastily constructed emergency passage for staff members.

But in the children's eyes…

Nothing.

A blank, white rectangular path.

As if all texture had been erased.

It seemed that even Shiny Dragon Palace’s illusion couldn’t reach this place.

If they had to guess, it was a space partially isolated from the contamination.

…This is getting more and more ominous.

Veterans knew that the more ominous something was, the likelier it was to be the right answer.

So, they hurried forward.

“Should I keep my eyes closed?”

“If you open them, you’ll see something cool.”

Thankfully, the children didn’t get scared and sit down or cry out in fear.

And for the ones who did, Podo Agent distracted them and kept them calm.

“…….”

At the end of the passage.

Sun Catcher items—prisms that caught sunlight—hung in the air, and through them, the truth revealed itself.

“…Hah.”

A poorly built station, as if it had been thrown together in a hurry.

It looked like seven escape vessels had once been here.

The already deployed vessels—machines from a foreign technological civilization—had left behind nothing but dust, debris, and dried remnants of contaminated fluids.

But one remained.

A massive, capsule-shaped escape vessel, completely drenched in blood.

As they approached, the device at the door activated.

[Please authenticate contamination■■ removal.]

Hmm.

— So, we just have to show it a severed tail?

The Hundred Dreams Corporation employees nodded faintly but didn’t verbally respond.

So, Agent Choi added another sentence without hesitation.

— First person to answer properly gets 50,000 won.

— We assume it serves as proof that you contributed to stopping the contamination by hunting infected entities! That’s how you gain access to the escape vessel. 😊

The response came instantly.

Agent Choi nodded and handed over the cash without hesitation.

“Ya~hoo!”

Then, ignoring the pony-masked employee giggling to himself, he turned back and spoke.

“Alright. Then… Podo, come here. Let’s bring your friend too.”

“Yes!”

Kim Soleum, who had been standing among the children, grabbed one child’s hand and approached the escape vessel.

Luckily, the Hundred Dreams Corporation staff didn’t seem to notice that he was an agent.

Meanwhile, Ryu Jaegwan, keeping watch, yanked several conch shells out of Baek Saheon’s bag like a thief and handed them to Agent Choi.

“This…”

Baek Saheon, holding back an expletive, barely swallowed his frustration.

Agent Choi smiled, raised the conch shell, and approached Podo.

“Podo, if you just close your eyes for a second, this will be over soon….”

At that moment.

“What’s that?”

“Wow! It’s a real white spaceship!”

The child standing next to Podo ran toward the escape vessel.

“…!”

“Let’s go together!”

Podo chased after the child all the way to the front of the escape vessel.

“Don’t—!”

If an infected child is forcibly placed inside the escape vessel, acute molting will occur, causing ulcers to spread across the entire body, leading to loss of all vital signs.

Do not attempt this under any circumstances.

This must not happen—!

To make matters worse, the Hundred Dreams Corporation employees immediately assumed a hostile stance.

Agent Bronze stepped in front of them, blocking their way.

“Podo!”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Podo turned around at the sound of his name.

His tail naturally brushed against the escape vessel’s authentication device.

“…!”

The message reappeared.

[Authenticate contamination■■ removal.]

“Wow! You were right! It just sparkled for a second!”

“Right?”

Agent Choi seized the opportunity, rushing in to grab both of them and pull them back.

Watching through the Sun Catchers, Agent Bronze let out a short sigh and eased his stance, which had been on high alert against the Hundred Dreams Corporation.

A suffocating tension filled the air.

“Hah. At least the escape vessel isn’t attacking us. That’s a relief.”

There was no time to even wipe the cold sweat off his face—Agent Choi immediately lifted the conch shell.

But….

“…….”

Agent Bronze felt something strange about what had just happened.

The moment the living tail made contact, the device reacted again.

And then, his senior’s words echoed in his mind.

— At least the escape vessel isn’t attacking us. That’s a relief.

“…!”

No way.

“So, we treat the kids, hand them the severed tails for authentication, and then we can board—”

“No.”

“…Bronze?”

“This isn’t what we thought.”

Agent Bronze read the message again.

[Authenticate contamination■■ removal.]

It seemed like an instruction to eliminate infected entities—mermaids—and authenticate it.

But….

“This is a city that has already fallen. Judging by how hastily this place was constructed, it looks like they built it as a last-ditch escape attempt during the collapse.”

“And?”

“They must have assumed that most people entering this escape vessel would already be infected.”

“…!”

Agent Bronze looked at the last remaining escape vessel.

“If this was the final evacuation option, then it wouldn’t be strange if they expected everyone to be infected.”

“…That’s right.”

Agent Choi’s eyes gleamed.

“In that case, as a minimum precaution, to prevent the infection from spreading into another space….”

“Yes.”

The two agents both turned their gazes toward the tails.

Grotesque biological appendages covered in ulcerous tissue, oozing infectious fluid.

“The escape vessel isn’t telling us to hunt down other infected entities—it’s telling us to cut off our own infection sites—our tails.”

That meant the message had an entirely different meaning.

[Authenticate removal of infected appendages.]

It wasn’t saying to kill other infected entities—it was instructing individuals to remove their own source of contamination—their tails!

And that was why only those without tails, those who had authenticated severed tails, were allowed to board safely.

“Wait, so that means….”

“Yes.”

For the first time today, a faint smile of triumph spread across Agent Bronze’s face.

“We don’t need to fully cure the infection.

If the children just cut off their tails for authentication, they can board the escape vessel even without the conch shell.”

“…!”

“And if we **only use the conch shell on the ones who are at risk of excessive bleeding from tail removal….”

If they distributed it properly—

“We can save everyone.”

Not a single child would have to be left behind.

They could rescue them all from this supernatural disaster.

That’s it!

I clenched my fist discreetly.

Since I was standing among the children, no one would notice, but I had to force myself not to exhale a sigh of relief or triumph.

It worked.

It took so much effort to subtly lead them to this exact conclusion without raising suspicion.

Making Hundred Dreams Corporation’s knowledge naturally blend with the Bureau’s knowledge,

manipulating them into reaching the same deduction I had already made.

This was the only way to ensure that I didn’t stand out too much.

What a brutal day.

I swallowed hard.

…Getting infected was the right choice.

It would be a lie to say it wasn’t horrifying and disgusting.

But the advantages of being infected were too valuable to ignore.

From hiding my identity from the Hundred Dreams Corporation by keeping my face concealed behind tumors,

to leading them to the final realization that cutting the tails was the key to boarding the escape vessel.

Every single step had been calculated to avoid suspicion while overcoming every obstacle naturally.

And—

…This might even help me slip out of the suspect list.

That cat.

Agent Choi knows that it can transform into a street animal.

After all, he was the one who recommended the item.

Of course, the Fake Necronomicon’s effects made it difficult to connect the dots immediately, but

after escaping, they might start suspecting.

It’s better to overshadow that suspicion with something bigger.

Which is why I pushed my infection to the very limit of what my rationality could withstand.

Slowly increasing the infected mucus, deliberately ingesting it bit by bit.

This was my limit.

Now, with half my face completely covered in tumors, I had reached the perfect balance.

I could understand the collective consciousness of the mermaids.

I could hear the strange telepathy among the children.

And yet, I hadn’t lost myself.

Strangely enough, the goblin trick that turned me into a child actually helped.

It forced me to stay locked in the mental frame of ‘the child version of me.’

In the worst-case scenario, I had planned to take Nostalgia Candy to counteract the contamination.

But looking at things now, I didn’t even need it.

Perfect.

I believed in you, agents…!

The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau truly was different from that godforsaken psychopath potion company!

This was the classic Bureau method from the early days before the Dark Exploration Records became widespread—

Fighting to save as many people as possible.

And actually succeeding.

Maybe because of this child body, but… it was kind of emotional. Damn it.

Of course, since this was a ghost story, half the time, attempts like this would just result in everyone getting annihilated.

But this time, it was going smoothly.

If we just kept this pace and escaped together—

Zzt.

…Huh?

At that moment.

A strange sensation crawled up my tail.

Zzt.

Above?

I snapped my head up.

…Next to me, a girl in a blue dress muttered.

“It’s weird.”

She was right.

“It’s weird.”

And it wasn’t just her.

All of the twenty-seven children around me raised their heads and stared at the empty air.

All the baby mermaids that still had their tails.

“The Mermaid Princess… is angry.”

So it seemed.

All the hosts—every last one—

felt something they couldn’t explain.

A threat to their survival.

They were searching.

Trying to pinpoint where the disturbance had been detected.

And then, they found it.

The Mermaid Princess.

Zzt.

“Podo?”

“Right now.”

A chill shot down my spine.

My mouth moved instinctively.

“The Mermaid Princess is coming.”

Thud.

The ceiling collapsed.

Hundreds of tumorous growths came crashing down.