It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 051

‘It was a productive day.’

Extra income of four thousand. The best choice.

‘Looks like I’ve managed to find a source of side income that’s low-key and regular.’

Now, I had various options in mind for how to spend today’s four million won.

Along with the newly opened areas of the company that came with my recent promotion.

And one certain plush doll that fully grasped the benefits I gained was subtly hinting at its desires.

– Phew, I’ve been out too much these past few days; my body feels sluggish. I want to take a bath…

Hold on. I can’t just go steal a blood pack from a hospital…

– Of course. I can hold on just fine. I’m a good friend…

Well, taking a bath in the Bloodlust Bath might be out of the question, but maybe I can at least let it do some handwashing.

That was my plan for the evening, engaging in idle chatter with Brown.

That was before someone burst through my door.

“You!!”

“…!”

It’s Baek Sa-heon.

Wait, why is this kid, who rarely steps out of his room, barging in without knocking?

But before I could comment on Baek Sa-heon’s rudeness, I realized his condition.

He looked practically panicked.

“What does this mean…! What have you dragged me into!”

In his hand was a smartphone, and on the screen…

[Kim Sol-eum: Beware of the serial killer]

It was a message I had sent.

I did text him a bit ago when I walked in.

But still.

“I didn’t drag you into anything.”

“…….”

“You made the wrong choice.”

– Doe’s ‘Company Colleague’ has picked something up, and will soon be horrifically killed!

Baek Sa-heon’s face turned pale.

‘It seems that something just exploded in accordance with my message.’

As he’s not dead yet, he can figure out how to contact the company and handle it.

Anyway, I wouldn’t get caught up in unnecessary trouble, so just as I was about to step outside…

– Oh dear, do you hear that?

– Doe’s ‘Company Colleague’ seems to be out of time.

“…….”

What?

Humming began to fill the air.

It was undoubtedly coming from the pale-faced Baek Sa-heon right in front of me.

But Baek Sa-heon wasn’t even moving his lips.

…Then.

“You seem to have something you shouldn’t be holding.”

“…….”

With his pale complexion, Baek Sa-heon put his hand in his pocket and pulled something out.

A cassette tape.

The time-worn, beige body had signs of a sticker title being roughly scratched off with a pen.

The humming from the tape grew louder.

A very intuitive… signal.

– The time has come.

Let’s run.

I immediately stood up and dashed out of the staff quarters.

The problem was that Baek Sa-heon hurriedly followed me out!

“Throw away the tape!”

“I tossed it! Out the window!”

Then just stop following me!

– It’s too late.

– Oh dear, Doe… you’ve seen the item as well. You’re now tied to this story. You’ve become part of the victim selection process.

– It’s just something that can’t be helped since you’re such a talented guest with a knack for entertainment!

Ugh.

‘Why is Baek Sa-heon such a nuisance…!’

I should have just let him take the warning and be done with it! Don’t you work for a horror company, you named employee?

Curses rose to my throat. But there was no time to be cursing, so I started running faster.

‘First, let’s physically distance ourselves.’

If I hadn’t completely fallen into a horror story yet, then gaining some distance would definitely help!

I sprinted away from the staff quarters toward the bus stop.

And immediately hopped onto the arriving bus.

Beep.

I tapped my card as I got on, and heard Baek Sa-heon tapping his card behind me.

‘Why are you following me, you crazy idiot!’

Isn’t there some human conscience that says you should keep the person who warned you out of trouble?

But thinking about it, nope. That bastard’s a pure sociopath!

Anyway, the bus door closed, and we were off without issue.

“Ha.”

“Ha….”

The humming was no longer audible.

I went to the back, sitting right next to the emergency escape hammer that could break the glass window. Just in case.

Baek Sa-heon seemed conflicted but ended up sitting close to me.

“…….”

“…….”

It wasn’t rush hour, and I had avoided lunch hours, so there were only a few passengers on the weekend bus. Two or three in front.

Baek Sa-heon checked around and, with a nervous expression, lowered his voice to ask.

“Hey, how did you know about that message and send it?”

“You?”

“…We had agreed to be on casual terms… no, I mean… right. Chief, how did you know?”

“How I know isn’t that important.”

I held back the urge to shout at the cautious Baek Sa-heon.

“What’s important is how you got that.”

“…….”

If this brat kept his mouth shut, I planned to get off at the next stop and catch a taxi. Maybe even throw him outside to keep him from following.

But as if he sensed my intentions, Baek Sa-heon finally spoke up.

“…It was something from home.”

From home?

“I inherited it from a relative. They told me to carry it in case I wanted to turn the situation around in a crisis, so I’ve been carrying it around…”

– Ah, such an obvious trick. The heirloom thought to be a symbol of protection is actually a cursed item… isn’t this the ultimate horror movie cliche!

Well, can’t disagree with that.

I wasn’t trying to insult him but genuinely asking.

“You work at a company that ranks horror stories, and you never thought to check that?”

“…If the company thinks something is usable, they might not return it after checking! I thought it all through.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“…….”

“Next time, try to do something.”

“…Ah, okay.”

Baek Sa-heon’s face turned a bit red, and he forced a smile that twitched at the corners.

This guy was such an open book; he could act like a sociopath, but when scared, he suddenly became well-mannered.

Anyway, I held back a sigh and began to assess the situation.

We’ve entered a classic setup for getting caught up in a horror story.

“Let’s just get off at the terminal and contact the company security team…”

“…….”

“…….”

“……Why, why are you saying that, Chief?”

That’s odd.

City buses typically have stops every three minutes.

Yet this bus kept on going.

– Oh dear, I caught up.

I looked out the window.

…Fog was rolling in.

The scene outside the city bus was changing from Seoul’s pleasant four-lane road to a winding unpaved path.

“…!”

I stood up from my seat.

The front-seat passengers had disappeared.

…the only one still there was the bus driver.

“…….”

The driver was now wearing an old hat pulled down low.

A hat suitable for the time when buses still had formal traffic protocols.

And with gloved hands, he hummed as he reached for the radio.

Click.

And what flowed out was…

Hmm, hmm, uhmm, hmm, hmm.

The very humming from the cassette tape.

“……!”

Hmm, hmm, uhmm, hmm, hmm.

The bus started to fill with that humming.

The modern low-floor bus that had been driving through downtown Seoul had transformed into an old bus with seats lined up in a single row.

Hmm, hmm, uhmm, hmm, hmm.

“Don’t look back.”

It was already too late.

Baek Sa-heon, with a stiff face, grabbed the handrail and stared ahead. I tried not to look too closely at the clearing fog and focused straight ahead.

A narrow path turned into an old paved road.

The bumpy ride of the old bus slowed down…

[The next stop is ‘Horizon Lodge’.]

“…….”

I could see our destination.

Hmm, hmm, uhmm, hmm, hmm.

The humming was now a painfully clear melody coming from the radio.

As I listened to a catchy melody from the 1980s or 90s, I looked out at the scene beyond the door that was about to open…

[Horizon Lodge]

A luxurious lodge-type mansion stood in the middle of the mountains with a vintage signboard.

“…….”

Sigh.

“…Are we getting off?”

Yup.

It’s genuinely frustrating and annoying, but…

I stood up and stretched my leg towards the open door, hearing Baek Sa-heon also mutter something resembling swearing as he hurriedly followed behind.

The bus door closed behind us, and it left.

Along with the humming melody.

“…….”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon said in a slightly relieved tone.

“At least there’s no song playing, and there’s no tape, so the situation is better than before…”

“Check your pockets.”

“What?”

“Check your pockets, put your hand inside.”

“…….”

Baek Sa-heon looked at me with a dazed expression before he swiftly put his hand into his coat pocket.

And what came out was…

The old cassette tape he claimed to have thrown away earlier.

“…!!”

I grabbed Baek Sa-heon’s arm as he tried to throw the cassette tape again.

“It’s already too late, so prepare to go inside.”

“Go inside….”

“Over there.”

I pointed towards the ‘Horizon Lodge.’

Now that we’ve come this far, there’s no escaping it.

We’ll just end up wasting our stamina and suffering to return to this ‘place that serves as the background of the story’…

‘It’s better to go in early and at least assess the situation.’

– Doe, you’re moving as if you know what the future holds! Could it be you’re familiar with this story too?

I could sense Brown chattering since he realized that I had quite a broad knowledge regarding the paranormal phenomena.

And… he was right.

‘…Exactly.’

The keywords assembled.

Serial killer.

Fishing using a means of transport.

An item that keeps returning to my pocket as if cursed.

And….

I lifted my gaze to behold our destination.

‘……Horizon Lodge.’

———————=

Dark Exploration Records / Horror Story

[And there was someone]

: <Dark Exploration Records> features this horror story, with the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau registration number 1489PSYA.1991.L84.

A horror story where one by one, individuals are killed by a serial killer in a suspicious location isolated from the outside world. A typical closed-circle detective story fused with B-grade slasher movie tropes.

A disaster of the neurotype (櫴形) class, which can seal nine humans, and which the Disaster Management Bureau needs to recruit personnel through support or enlistment every four years.

———————=

I deduced the identity of the horror story through analysis that was not much different from my job experiences over the past few months.

Yet there were some aspects that were a little different this time.

‘Affiliation…!’

This isn’t the dark side of Daydream Corporation.

It’s a horror story isolated by the government or scheduled for future isolation.

Commonly called ‘disaster’!

What’s different, you ask?

The operational protocols are entirely different from large corporations aiming to use darkness as a resource to run a business.

The government created the Bureau specifically to prevent loss of life or significant property damage.

At least that’s the pretense.

So, the Disaster Management Bureau prioritizes isolating things that shouldn’t be in civilian hands.

Meaning… .

Someone will definitely die.

Whether you clear it, get trapped, fail, or succeed.

In every scenario.

‘Once you’re caught up in this, guaranteed kills are confirmed.’

Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

The government has judged that in order to clear this, someone must inevitably die…

And I was just about to step right into the middle of that.

It’s not like I get points for saying this!!

‘Baek Sa-heon, you piece of trash!’

I wanted to curse at Baek Sa-heon and give him a black eye, but…

‘What a waste of time….’

“Hey, Chief!”

I ignored Baek Sa-heon and sighed as I approached the lodge’s front door.

And just as I was about to knock after taking a deep breath…

Ding dong.

I heard the sound of a bicycle bell from behind.

Turning my head, I saw a bicycle parked in front of this secluded house in the woods, and the person riding it was getting off.

– Oh, you’ve arrived again. The one who picked up the item!

Just great.

Another poor soul caught up in this damned horror story.

I turned around while trying to suppress my surprise… and gasped.

“…!”

A familiar face was dismounting from the bike.

To be precise, I didn’t know the face, but I recognized the attire.

A figure dressed in dark clothing, clad with a mask and a hat pulled down low.

‘…Salmon Market!’

The person I traded horror story food with at Gwanghwamun Station this morning was standing right there!