Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

I put my hand in the bag, touching the box, running through in my mind what I needed to do first.

First, find a safe place…

Bzzz!

My smartphone vibrated and a message popped up.

[ today ]

[ Where shud I g o? ]

“……”

The sergeant.

We had planned to meet at sunset today.

But now, I no longer needed the information.

Whether it was the Cheerful Research Institute or the source of Daydream Inc., once I left this place, none of it would matter anymore.

However, leaving this ghost story world…

It also meant I would never see anyone I’d met here again.

“……”

After some hesitation, I sent a message.

[ I’d like to meet here. ]

And that evening.

“Hm…”

I met the sergeant at a corner table in a well-known donut shop that closed late.

I had already paid for some donuts, ones that were usually sold out by evening, since people bought them all during the day.

Seeing the donuts, the sergeant’s tired face brightened a bit.

“Thank you…”

“No, it’s nothing. I’ve received a lot of help from you. Honestly, this isn’t enough to repay you, but…”

“No, it’s more than enough.”

The sergeant, looking a little happier, eagerly started eating the donuts.

And then, as if it were nothing, he dropped a bombshell.

“So, about that information… The Cheerful Research Institute… it’s still in our company’s basement…”

“……!!”

Wait a second.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said… hm.”

The sergeant looked at me.

“Um, I actually saw you there once too…”

Me?

“Mmh… when we first met… That thing, when you got sucked into the scroll… you went to the restroom on basement level 2…”

“…!”

“Don’t you remember?”

I do.

When I went down to the basement to track down the missing Section Chief Lee Byeongjin…

Strangely enough, the hallway was lined with ordinary offices back there.

– Shouldn’t this floor have safety equipment or facilities…?

I distinctly remember thinking that.

And…

– Mr. Roe Deer?

That’s right.

‘Suddenly, the ‘Good Friend’ could speak to me…!’

That strange Daydream basement, lined with endless offices, was actually a ghost story.

And that ghost story, in fact… was the Cheerful Research Institute?

“How… did you find out?”

“Hm… We also only knew it by codename… I don’t know, but… I found some documents that weren’t redacted.”

The sergeant shrugged his shoulders and continued.

“Anyway, if you go deeper underground… the same office corridors… just keep repeating…”

“You mean exactly the same corridor?”

“Yes. The exact same offices… same layout, even the scratches are the same so it’s definitely the same place, but… the time… seems to shift, I think?”

Voices of people chatting, silhouettes of people in meetings, staff gathering things, people fighting, even offices filled with dust like ruins…

Every time you take the elevator down, the scenes change as if you’re playing a hidden picture game.

Endlessly.

“…How many floors underground are there?”

“I’m not sure… Hm. The farthest I went… was basement 23, I think…? If I try further than that… I just get blocked…”

“……”

“I’m not sure, but… I think there was someone from the Security Team that went… up to basement 40…? But they died, so… hmm.”

“……”

It was a chilling description.

‘Those offices…’

A chill ran down my spine.

Why on earth is the Cheerful Research Institute there, why is it a ghost story, and what is Daydream Inc., which built its building above that, really doing? All sorts of questions flashed through my mind.

But I soon realized none of it mattered anymore.

Because I… would be leaving.

“……”

“Ah.”

And it seemed the sergeant sensed it too.

“So I guess you don’t need this anymore…”

“……”

He pulled his cap down low.

“Well, if that’s the case…”

Then, easily guessing the most likely reason a Daydream employee would lose all interest in everything—

“Did you… get a Wish Ticket?”

“……”

I hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.

A faint smile appeared on the sergeant’s lips.

A pure, sincere congratulations.

“That’s good news…”

“……”

“Um, you know how to use it, right…?”

“…Yes.”

The sergeant nodded along with my answer, then seemed to hesitate a bit before asking,

“Then… this time… are you really quitting…?”

It was a question he could only ask because he knew I wasn’t truly quitting, but just working undercover under Director Ho.

I nodded.

“I see…”

“……”

The sergeant bowed his head.

“Um, after you quit… would it be possible to… talk now and then…?”

“…I wish I could do that, too.”

But I can’t.

I avoided his gaze.

“Depending on the nature of my wish, I don’t know what will happen.”

“……Ah.”

The sergeant stopped speaking.

“A world-changing… wish?”

“……Yes.”

“In that case… there’s nothing to be done.”

“……”

He must have already known.

Right. As the squad leader of the elite team, it makes sense that the more obsessed the Field Investigation Team members are with the Wish Ticket, the more likely it is they’d know its true nature.

The essence of the Wish Ticket.

You want a tip on how to use it?

There isn’t one. You just drink it and make your wish.

Everything will be granted.

…At least, from your perspective.

– Advice from the Assistant Manager of the Elite Team’s C-squad

So… this is how it works.

If the drinker wishes to become younger, they’ll become younger.

If they wish for a clean, tax-free 10 billion won to be deposited in their account, it will happen.

The Wish Ticket potion displays powers no different from a magical genie’s lamp, changing only the state of the drinker.

But what if.

‘What if the wish is on a much larger scale?’

Wishes that go beyond simply changing one’s own personal circumstances.

Let’s say, for example, the time is set in the past.

A wish like, ‘I wish I could go back to when I was a child, living happily with my parents.,’ or ‘I wish I could go back to the moment when my husband got into the car accident and stop him’.

Or, perhaps much grander.

‘I want the world to end,’ or ‘I wish everyone would become kind,’ or ‘I want a superconductor to be invented,’ and so on…

Wishes that desire to change the world itself.

Of course, even in these cases, the potion still works.

Your wish will come true. However…

It only comes true from your point of view.

In other words…

You will be sent to such a world.

The Wish Ticket is a highly personal potion, its effects are omnipotent, but only for one person.

The one who makes the wish disappears from this world.

Sometimes they remain, but that only happens if they didn’t wish properly, made a mistake, or if the wish was unexpectedly small-scale enough for the Wish Ticket to handle.

At any rate, in no case does the Wish Ticket bring about massive changes to this world.

Only the person moves.

‘That’s why the sergeant knew.’

If the wish is big enough to change the world, he knew that I might leave this place entirely.

That I might disappear.

“……”

I looked at the sergeant, who had finished eating his donuts.

Time was running out.

“Truly, thank you very much for everything.”

“Yeah…”

We stood up from our seats.

I handed the sergeant a box of donuts I’d asked the counter to pack to-go, along with a leftover paper bag containing only a bread knife.

“By the way, Jay-ssi, what kind of wish did you join this company for?”

“……”

The sergeant stared into the empty bag.

“I… can’t really remember.”

“……”

“Don’t worry about it… it wasn’t anything important.”

I couldn’t bring myself to ask any more.

In the end, I nodded and parted ways with the sergeant in front of the donut shop.

He waved his hand.

“…Take care.”

That was the end.

Through the shadows, I saw that the sergeant stood alone on the street for quite a while…

“……”

On the way back, I thought to myself.

…I should say a few more goodbyes.