It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 065

Over Chief Park Min-seong’s head, a black booklet hologram is superimposed.

The hologram, sticking like tar, drips down as Chief Park Min-seong scrapes the floor and writhes.

Behind the struggling figure, a cheerful voice comes from the TV again.

[Now, I will announce the new teachers who have not actively participated in the Hangman game.]

Soon, similar images repeated from all around.

The problem is, the problem is….

[New Teacher Park Min-seong, you haven’t guessed a single letter correctly!]

Previously accumulated once.

Once on the platform.

And…

Once for not guessing a letter.

Then,

[Penalty Accumulated 3 Times]

The TV pronounces.

[New Teacher Park Min-seong has been designated as the remaining learning subject.]

[You will be eternally taught in kindergarten until you become a perfect teacher of the ■■ attached kindergarten and prepare for your opening.]

The black booklet holograms covering the faces of those who couldn’t guess letters.

Only Chief Park Min-seong’s turned bright red.

And it covered his entire body.

“■!!”

The chief’s scream rots in a strange shape.

“Don’t ■, ■ me, ■■■■…!”

The person rolls on the floor grotesquely and twists in despair.

The unintelligible contents of the educational material are read aloud, and the words and sobs intersect.

Still, no one around cares.

They glance briefly and avoid getting involved, merely waiting for the next instructions written in the manual.

Right away….

[Thank you for your hard work in today’s mock play! Goodbye, new teachers!]

Clear confirmed.

“…….”

“Oh f*, finally!”

“Get out of the way!”

As soon as people realized the game ended, they surged out of the playroom, liberated from curses and constraints.

Soon, even the employees who finished their 10-minute penalty training staggered out, still shedding tar-like holograms and holding their foreheads.

Then they bumped into me.

“Uh?”

“…….”

“What, what’s going on?”

“…….”

“If you don’t get out in the next 30 minutes, you’ll also be processed as a candidate! Damn it!”

And then they ran past me.

“…….”

I was left all alone.

With Chief Park Min-seong, who was rolling on the ground in a ‘contaminated’ state.

-Oh my, to think my friend got accused of applying to such an old place! Let’s get out, Doe!

“…No.”

-Doe?

The game is over.

That means….

The rules of this horror story are also finished.

‘In the worst case, even if I run alone, I can escape outside in 10 minutes.’

So.

“Chief… I should at least try to take you with me.”

I can hold on.

I must try as long as I can.

I did it earlier too.

‘I don’t want to give up right away.’

I had just gone through the trouble of saving someone who turned into Hangman, and I didn’t want to accept an ending where the one who tried to save them ultimately goes missing in a horror story.

‘I certainly don’t want to leave a side note in the wiki saying it was a hungry Hangman’s exploration result.’

‘…I can do this.’

I raised my head.

And immediately slipped my hand into the tattoo on my wrist.

: 恩主 :

Items I had placed inside burst forth from the heated tattoo. A candle-making kit, apple juice, a bloodsucking knife, stickers, dozens of bundled 500 won coins……

-Oh, what fun item are you planning to use this time, friend?

“I’m not using anything.”

-Oh? Then that behavior is……

I stuffed all the extracted items into the document bag. Despite the absence of the Bloodlust Bath, they fit snugly enough.

I set aside the bloodsucking knife, which looked like it would spring out, and tucked it into my back pocket.

‘…Done.’

The completed document bag was heavy, but not so much that I couldn’t carry it.

And what remained was.

The empty space of my wrist.

-Was it to leave that space empty?

Correct.

I made a slight movement to put my hand into the space connected through the tattoo and then pulled it back out.

“I said it has the volume of a cube with a side of 60 cm.”

-That’s correct.

“But it’s irregular, right?”

-…! That too….

Brown’s voice mixed excitement with laughter.

-That’s right.

Good.

‘It’s all or nothing anyway.’

Hearing it’s more terrifying to be contaminated and not be able to die, stuck in this horror story, was something I had no doubt I had heard.

‘Let’s go for it.’

I clenched my teeth and waited.

For Chief Park Min-seong’s third penalty to end.

‘Trying to grab onto him and do something now is foolish.’

If I made contact with someone undergoing a penalty, that hologram educational material would kindly ‘show itself’ to me as well.

Thus, I too would be made to read the educational material for 10 minutes while in a retired state.

‘That would be game over.’

I suppressed my anxiety and calmly waited.

‘Time remaining until the penalty ends… 7 minutes.’

6 minutes.

5 minutes.

4 minutes.

3 minutes.

2 minutes.

1 minute…….

0.

“…….”

The sticky red things, like tar, around the collapsed Chief Park Min-seong disappear.

And gradually, he begins to rise.

Looking like a neat kindergarten teacher.

No longer dressed in black formal wear, instead, he sports soft beige pants and a white T-shirt, along with a light green apron.

In one hand, he carries a brown file folder with a red title written on it.

And the mask had completely melted away, revealing….

A branding mark on his forehead.

A gentle smile appeared on completely revealed Chief Park Min-seong’s face.

“Sol-eum Teacher!”

F*.

“Did you wait for me while I read the educational material? Thank you so much!”

“…Of course I had to wait.”

Don’t get flustered, don’t show it. If it shows on the outside, it’s over.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Of course. I’m feeling better than ever!”

Chief Park Min-seong smiled gently and nodded.

“…I’m glad. So shall we go now?”

“Go? Ah… home?”

“Yes. Let’s go together.”

“Oh, I have no time to go home! I’m not a new teacher anymore, right? I’ve completely read the educational material!”

“But about going home….”

“There’s nothing!”

“…….”

“Um. It’s time for me to go to the Sprout Class and help prepare for the opening….”

And Chief Park Min-seong exclaimed with a bright expression.

“Oh, right! Do you want to go with me, Sol-eum Teacher?”

Chills ran down my spine.

“You don’t know which class you’ll be assigned to, right? You haven’t read the educational material yet. Once you read it, you’ll know your assigned class!”

Chief Park Min-seong extends his hand.

“I hope it’s the Sprout Class! We were in the same group originally after all!”

Damn it.

Damn!

I casually stepped back as if pondering the suggestion.

The hand that the teacher extended passed through the air.

“Uh….”

“Thank you for the offer, but… I think I should throw this out at the entrance first.”

I lifted the document bag.

“Since I borrowed something, I think I should return it on time.”

“Oh, so you borrowed it? No wonder you have so many interesting items!”

“Yes.”

Please don’t find out.

‘Please.’

What once was Chief Park Min-seong, now something else, answered kindly and warmly, like a professional.

“Should I ask the other teachers to help with the transfer then?”

“It’s just a document bag. If it’s fine with you, I’d appreciate it if you could just guide me to the entrance for a bit… Oh, and Chief Osori.”

Chief Park Min-seong stiffened.

“…….”

Could it be.

“…Chief Osori?”

…….

The chief’s mouth opens.

“Um….”

…!

But the next moment.

“Sure! Let’s go to the entrance together.”

The soothing voice of the teacher returned.

“…….”

“Sol-eum Teacher?”

“Yes, I only need you to accompany me to the entrance. I’ll move quietly so as not to disturb.”

“Okay!”

I turned my body and headed towards the playroom exit.

Leaving behind the now completely contaminated ‘teacher’ Chief Park Min-seong.

‘Ha.’

Slowly, I moved my feet.

Tap, tap.

Right behind me,

A sound followed closely.

Not the sound of formal shoes but the soft sound of slipper-like shoes.

Tap, tap.

“Oh, let me carry the document bag together.”

“Uh….”

Before I even got to say it’s fine,

The teacher’s hand grabbed half of the document bag I was holding.

And the cover of the perfect teacher’s educational material that he held in the same hand swung my hand.

Tap, tap.

“…….”

It’s fine.

Suddenly, I didn’t hear the sharp sounds piercing my thoughts, nor did the overwhelming fear or anxiety rush in.

‘I can get out.’

There wasn’t much distance left to the entrance.

I just need to walk.

But at the same time, such thoughts crossed my mind.

Is it really right for me to sneak out to the entrance like this?

Damn.

Look at my miserable situation.

I haven’t even read the educational material once, it’s somewhat embarrassing….

In fact, was it a penalty, or was it an opportunity to educate disguised as a penalty?

This is insane.

Wait a moment. Shouldn’t I seriously consider this instead of dismissing it as contamination?

This place is a wonderful workplace. Preparing for a perfect opening alongside dignified and obedient people would be an unparalleled joy.

I have the aptitude to become a perfect teacher.

The ■■ attached kindergarten informed me!

No.

What do you mean no?

I chided myself. I know that if the lie gets exposed, it’s a penalty, so let’s efficiently abandon the idea of the entrance.

That’s right.

I should voluntarily read the educational material here. I could just ask Teacher Park Min-seong to read it together.

No.

If I borrow the educational material…

I can’t.

Don’t think of anything else.

Because the deeper my thoughts go, the more I’ll end up acknowledging that this is quite a good idea.

That will not happen!

Let’s focus on moving my feet. With each step I take, the entrance gets closer.

Tap, tap.

“…….”

I arrived.

It’s the entrance!

Instead of the dirty entrance I came in, a clean-looking entrance was there, but I am not inclined to leave.

“Now you’ll throw this bag, right?”

I tugged at the document bag. In the gap, the educational material I was holding slipped out unfortunately.

“Should we throw it together?”

Please.

“Okay.”

Come on.

“Just hold this….”

And at that moment, I turned my head.

The figure of Chief Park Min-seong, smiling with the face of ‘teacher’, filled my view.

He was leaning forward, extending his body and hand to grab the document bag as I suggested.

‘Now.’

I grabbed the chief’s head.

“…!!”

And roughly shoved it into my forearm.

‘It’s going in.’

The space attached to my tattoo has a volume of a cube with a 60 cm side.

But it doesn’t really maintain a cubic shape. It’s an irregular space that isn’t fixed.

So if we convert to another volume…

‘An adult male can easily fit in there and still have room.’

With that in mind, I fixed my gaze upwards.

Crack, crack.

The humanoid body pushing into my tattoo felt like it was smashing its joints!

‘I meant to shove in the head first.’

If we talked, I’d be influenced, and the contamination would intensify.

I kept pressing with one hand. The space within the tattoo continued to swallow it effortlessly…!

‘Ah! The educational material touched! I will definitely not be leaving that behind.’

After squeezing in the last leg, now…

Thud!

“…!”

Something suddenly grabbed my left forearm.

A hand, white as paper, exerting pressure on each joint.

Chief Park Min-seong’s right hand.

“Ugh!”

Damn!

I tried to pull off each finger, but it wasn’t working.

‘Teacher can’t get harmed.’

I did not know how this darkness would react.

‘Stay quiet…!’

Without being able to breathe, I pulled out the bloodsucking knife and stabbed it into my arm.

“……!”

As the fingers were ripped off, chunks of flesh from my forearm tore away as well. It was pain that was screaming for a mad scream, but it was blocked by tension and adrenaline.

As I pushed the last finger into the tattoo, I hurriedly stepped toward the entrance.

Thud.

The final step.

“…….”

I lifted my head.

The bright blue sky in broad daylight.

Behind me stood the dilapidated private kindergarten building, now closed.

The sparkling sunlight shone on the weeds in suburban Seoul.

“…….”

It was cleared.

I lowered my head.

I could see Assistant Manager Eun Ha-je’s wristless form lying on the ground.

The other employees weren’t visible. They must have already returned…

I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket.

And, as planned, pressed the button.

The signal went through as if to prove it was reality, and the other party answers the call….

“Is this the Security Team Rental Warehouse…?”

The predetermined words barely escaped my dry mouth.

“I need equipment to contain the contamination….”

Because.

“I’ve rescued a contaminated employee.”

…….

…….

Done.

I fainted right there.