Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 168
Go Yeong-eun glanced at the colleague sitting next to him.
Kim Soleum, who was quickly working on the PC, had messy hair and glasses, giving off a plain appearance—a styling choice made for undercover work.
Accordingly, at the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, Kim Soleum often portrayed a shy, passive image, shrinking his shoulders and looking down, typical of a new recruit.
However, the eyes behind Kim Soleum's glasses, as he stared at the PC, were confident and composed.
It was the same person I had seen at Daydream Corporation.
He had sharp insight and the calmness of someone who saw things from a distance—a kind of ‘knowing person’s ease.’
‘Is he focusing on his work?’
Suddenly, his original attitude was coming through.
He wasn’t lying when he said paperwork was his specialty….
‘A deceiver...?’
Go Yeong-eun watched his top-ranking classmate, the recruit who had earned the position of supervisor within a year, with a complex gaze!
But soon, with a light tap on the keyboard, Kim Soleum turned back to me.
And quickly brought out his passive character again.
“Ah, um… Agent. Is it alright if I ask you to quickly check if I’m doing this correctly...?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Maybe there was something I could learn. Even if not, I could help my colleague get used to document work.
Go Yeong-eun looked at Kim Soleum's PC.
“First, here’s the version of the urban legend we’ve gathered from the internet.”
[The Red Clothes at Exit 4_Current]
Many reports have come in.
Red clothes left standing at the exit.
There are eerie testimonies, creepy and ominous accounts that sound like something straight out of a horror movie, filled with text, comments, and videos in the document.
But Kim Soleum didn’t even blink and continued explaining.
‘As expected, this doesn’t scare him.’
No, it’s just that he’s strong with text!
“First, I’ve categorized the testimonies. There are both real incidents and unsubstantiated claims.”
The document sorted itself.
“Then, there’s an interesting trend.”
Interesting?
“It’s that after unsubstantiated claims, real incidents occurred.”
“...!”
“Look here.”
If you tear the clothes apart, you’ll definitely find hair or a shamanic thread. But if you touch it to check, you’re an idiot, right? Haha.
“And, in fact, they were found. Hair and paper.”
Kim Soleum attached the comment from the person who found hair and a shamanic thread in the red clothes.
“Next, the whereabouts of the person who found the hair and paper.”
The person who checked the clothes in the capture went missing...
“This comment wasn’t posted after they went missing. It was posted before the news of their disappearance was reported.”
“...!”
Go Yeong-eun’s face hardened.
...Just like what happened at Lucky Mart.
“The order is reversed.”
“Yes.”
It’s the nature of ghost stories.
Kim Soleum smiled faintly.
“Once you notice this trend and look at the ghost story again... you can start to find a bigger pattern.”
Kim Soleum clicked on another document.
[The Red Clothes at Exit 4_Basic]
“This is the version from three months ago.”
Rumors about the red clothes are rampant.
There’s talk of it being a symbol for human trafficking, being haunted by ghosts, or just a crazy person’s doing...
“But nothing in this version has actually happened. Why do you think that is?”
“......”
Go Yeong-eun paused to think.
“Is it because there are too many variations? If one of them were true, it would contradict the others.”
“Exactly.”
Kim Soleum smiled faintly.
“And one more thing I think... I believe it’s because there are no solid guesses that people completely believe in.”
“...!”
“There are so many speculative comments, and very few people speak as if it’s certain, and there are many counterarguments... so none of it was convincing enough to be considered a real event.”
“...Because there’s no evidence?”
“Right.”
In other words.
“These stories weren’t ‘plausible enough.’”
Kim Soleum clicked on the mouse again.
“But then, a comment shows up.”
A ‘plausible story.’
There are continued testimonies about it being bait for shamanistic rituals.
“Here is where things take a sharp turn.”
Go Yeong-eun scanned the document Kim Soleum had prepared without breathing.
It’s a trick to lure ghosts, someone is attached to the clothes, the arms tied twice is not a regular shamanic practice, it’s for body matching...
“The thing about shamanism, unless you’re an expert in the field, it’s hard to counter the testimonies. But once you know there’s an expert, it starts to seem plausible.”
“...But they aren’t asking for proof or certification of images, are they?”
“...! Exactly.”
Kim Soleum smiled and showed the comments he had collected.
If you tear the clothes apart, you’ll definitely find hair or a shamanic thread. But if you touch it to check, you’re an idiot, right? Haha.
“I checked the comment history of that person, and they worked in an office job at a steel company.”
“...!”
Not an expert.
But someone who could easily fake being one.
“A person who has met shamans a few times, or read a couple of books, can easily make up something like this.”
No one knows if the people online who claimed to be shamans are actually real shamans.
And no one has credibly proven whether it’s possible to curse or send ghosts to someone in the way they said.
But it seems plausible, so people believe it.
The effect of combining fear and familiarity!
“Even if you look closely, these so-called experts are all telling different stories.”
“...Phew.”
It’s true.
Go Yeong-eun sighed as he read the comments.
Because of the eerie atmosphere and the various similar shamanic testimonies, I didn’t realize, but they were just attaching creepy stories together.
Rituals, ghosts attaching, body matching...
“...Most of it is made up, right?”
“Probably.”
Maybe... not most, but all of it.
“But people believed it.”
And.
“So, that’s why it became reality.”
“Yes.”
Kim Soleum gave a wry smile.
“Information has tainted reality in reverse.”
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[The Conspiracy of Belief]
: A ghost story appearing in Dark Exploration Records, with Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau registration number 2106PSYA.2025.Ba56.
The ghost story of how the conspiracy theories circulating on the internet became reality because people believed them.
The scary part of this story is the suggestion that humans might have been causing supernatural disasters all along with their imagination and confirmation bias.
A ghost story that will eventually be confirmed and registered by the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
“If we trace the origin...”
Why is there a red coat at the subway entrance? Why do I have to experience ghosts? I almost fainted, someone help me.
A post registered along with a photo of the red clothes left at the subway entrance.
In the background, you can see the Exit 4 sign.
“This is how simple everyday posts emerge.”
Whether the red clothes were accidentally left by a drunken person or by a clothing collection truck, we can’t be sure...
Either way, it was just an ordinary everyday incident.
“Most likely, it was a random event, and the most probable explanation is that it was a funny misunderstanding.”
“But the important part is that people started to believe it.”
Exactly.
In the end, this testimony, which spread quickly across the internet, was reproduced, explained, and attached to rumors and fear, turning into reality.
“This is what I’ve investigated so far.”
“......”
Really well done....
“I... um, did I make any mistakes?”
But with him acting so passive again, he really looks like a deceiver...!
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‘It’s a spy job, so I guess I had no choice!’
Go Yeong-eun suppressed a sigh and gave a nod.
“No. ...It’s probably beyond the expectations of the agents in this office.”
“Oh, I’m relieved...! So, will I be okay even if I work in the New Investigation Division?”
Wait, no, that’s not the important part right now....
“So, you’ve almost figured out the principle behind this supernatural disaster, right? If your reasoning is correct.”
“Ah, maybe...”
No, ‘maybe’ doesn’t cut it, I think you’re right!
Go Yeong-eun looked at his colleague with a slightly excited expression.
Then we can infer the solution too, right?
Right away....
“If people stop believing, this ghost story will end!”
“Exactly.”
Then somehow... I’ll make the clarification....
‘Ah.’
Go Yeong-eun realized the truth.
“...Making people not believe it is almost impossible.”
“Yes.”
This was because the incident was already happening.
A supernatural phenomenon that had become the truth.
“Since so many people already believe it, convincing them otherwise won’t be easy.”
This ghost story was, in itself, a conspiracy theory where people's belief became reality.
Perhaps the author of the Dark Exploration Records wrote it as a sarcastic commentary on various conspiracy theories, evidence, and testimonies.
“...Moreover, it’s true that it’s actually become a supernatural disaster. Since the evidence and situation are real, it will be even harder to refute.”
Exactly.
That’s why whenever agents in the Dark Exploration Records found this ghost story, they would either destroy the object at the center of the event or erase people's memories to ‘manage’ the situation...
A method of recognizing the existence of the ghost story, managing the risk, and slowly neutralizing it.
A lukewarm solution fitting for such an uncomfortable ghost story.
However.
“That’s not necessarily the case.”
“…Yes?”
Kim Soleum smiled faintly and placed his hands back on the keyboard.
There was a solution.
It was the method he had been thinking of ever since he read the Dark Exploration Records.
‘I can do it.’
I just couldn’t modify the wiki because it didn’t fit the ghost story atmosphere!
7.3 Solution
Go Yeong-eun watched Kim Soleum work through the final section of the document confidently.
And he even removed his hands from the keyboard with a slightly proud expression.
“This should work.”
“......”
Kim Soleum.
This time, he really showed something!
And a few days later.
The red clothes at Exit 4 appeared again without fail.
There’s that thing at Yeongdeungpo Station exit, stay away from it.
Now people were starting to be afraid of even mentioning the red clothes directly.
It seemed that, in a little while, even the broadcasting stations would get involved. There had already been several cases of disappearances and deaths, so even though it was a supernatural event, at least an investigation seemed likely, according to whispers on the internet.
But then.
What is this?
This time, the red clothes had black writing on them.
[Red Baccarat New Distribution 50,000 won Free Poker Sports Toto Roulette All Gathering Ghost-like Thrill and Guaranteed Profit (Website Link)]
An illegal gambling site advertisement!
Was this a fucking gambling ad?
People exploded.
Seriously, is spam not enough?
What a terrible build-up.
Illegal gambling, fuck lol.
Are you happy to cause a panic with what people are scared of?
I want to kill these fucking scammers.
I’ve reported it to the police, I’m so pissed off.
Profanity and frustration flew around.
But after a brief moment of calm, another opinion quietly appeared.
I think this is just an ad using the red clothes as a gimmick to attract attention...
Aren’t they just using it? I’m actually scared, I wonder if something is happening to them.
It seemed like a plausible statement.
So, those who firmly believed in the red clothes ghost story started whispering again, speculating that something was happening to the company behind it.
But the next day.
[Were you scared of these red clothes?]
[Human life is filled with fear. Come to the Paradise of Love where a lover who will protect and love you awaits. Come to the Love Paradise.]
A famous cult officially
★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★
displayed the red clothes at the exit and put up a sign...!
What the hell?
Haha, they’re always the ones asking people about their ideal types on the street and asking for coffee.
And to top it off, the phrase under the sign!
[We are not running an illegal gambling site. We are currently taking legal action against the company for intellectual property theft.]
People began to realize the context.
Wait... So, they’re saying they’re the ones behind the red clothes?
Was this a cult proselytizing?
It was a trap set by the cult to deceive the vulnerable, which was then used by an illegal gambling site!
They must have run out after realizing they were caught for stealing ideas.
Go ahead and sue them for the illegal waste disposal.
I really hate these scum of society.
The whole atmosphere with shamanism, now that I think about it, makes me disgusted and pissed off.
People, shuddering with frustration, began to steer the conversation away from the red clothes.
‘Well, that worked.’
Kim Soleum smiled as he scrolled through the scene.
That’s right.
If a ghost story becomes reality due to people's belief, the solution is simple.
‘Make them not want to believe it.’
Make it laughable and deflate it.
‘I knew if I linked it to things that annoy and frustrate people, it would disappear quickly.’
Never falling for this again, you scammer bastards.
With frustration, people quickly erased this situation from their memories.
The fact that there were people who had died or gone missing was conveniently dismissed as “advertising manipulation.”
Thus....
The red clothes at Exit 4 are concluded.
The ghost story ended remarkably cleanly.
Without any agent getting hurt.
For the cost of a few banners.
Congrats.
Amazing, you ended it so quickly after finding it.
Well done~
Thanks to this, Kim Soleum borrowed the unusually active agent anonymous group chat and smiled faintly.
‘Documenting the ghost story investigation and solution proposals in the office. I really did it properly.’
If I’m recognized for my abilities as part of the New Investigation Division...
No, actually, hehe, it wasn’t all done by our department.
Huh?
The famous new guy wrote up the documents and came up with the solution... It really worked hehe.
And then.
Another newbie?
Amazing, seriously.
Truly the ‘Destruction King.’
You’re really consistent, haha.
Destroying ghost stories even with documents.
“......??”
Kim Soleum really showed something.
And the original ending of the ghost story is that clues are discovered, ideas are proposed, and attempts are made across several teams.
However, the world has existing images.
So, the ‘Destruction King’ has made a huge contribution to destroying ghost stories while working in the New Investigation Division...!
Look at that action, it’s from the 현무3 team.
No, it’s 1 team haha.
Born for the rescue team.
Everything was absorbed by strengthening the existing image!
Thus, Kim Soleum, who destroyed the ghost story with his image, also ruined his own plans with his image.
“......”
‘Fighting, Sol-eum….’
Go Yeong-eun, who had anticipated this situation, just closed his eyes tightly and silently sent a message of encouragement.
And on the last day of the new recruit training period of two weeks.
Kim Soleum was... assigned to the Rescue Team, 1 Team...
No one was surprised.
