Once upon a time...

Hello!! Any pronouns are fine. Header by @justlgbtthings

[milkbreadtoast]

괴담출근 webtoon ep 0 (prologue)

unofficial english translation (by fluff) (I apologize in advance if there's any errors, please let me know if there is!!

Please read here on kakaopage !!

And do not re-upload the webtoon illegally to other sites!

(next ep) EP 1

(note: using "-" notation for dialogue and ** for sfx, () for thought bubbles)

--

[A portion of the contents have been adapted based on the flow of the original work.]

Have you ever gotten really, really into something?

I don't mean simply,

"Oh, this is fun",

But something that leaves you with a deep, lasting impression..

(text inside brain: i'll buy it i'll buy it i'll buy it xN)

Something you've even spent time and money on.

To give an example...

I mean something you're willing to buy merch for.

<Darkness Exploration Records.>

It's an internet ghost story universe that's been a viral hit sensation lately.

Why? It's a collaborative, open-source universe filled with various ghost stories, where people can create and contribute their own stories as they like.

This niche site used to only be visited by high schoolers in the early days,

but now its popularity has exploded like crazy after getting picked up by the wetube(youtube) algorithm.

Filled with exploration records of a wide variety of supernatural phenomenon referred to as "darknesses",

It now consists of hundreds of thousands of ghost stories.

It happens to be really fun...

-I see you're sleeping here. *clack*

-You sure are working hard, aren't you.

...to read at work.

Should I say that doing anything other than work when you're at work is all fun?

So just like that, I've gotten totally sucked into this universe,

and I've even arrived at the point where I've contributed my own original ghost stories.

And I've even ended up coming here...

to "That Place".

*vine boom*

*bam ba-ba bam!*

*ba-bam!*

(sign: WELCOME, EXPLORERS OF DARKNESS.

forecast of the end/Prophecy of the Apocalypse

Dark Exploration Records)

*bump*

-Ah! I'm sorry~

-Ah, what're u doing~ -.-

*loaded...*

-wow, he rly bought a lot

-isn't he one of those upsellers/scalpers?

-it could be a present for his nephew/niece?

KSE: (It's all mine...)

KSE: (how did I end up getting in this deep?)

Is my everyday life at the company without even a hint of dopamine the problem ?

I didn't know at this point.

sign: Forecast of the End(/Prophecy of the Apocalypse): Dark Exploration Records. START

That in my everyday life,

completely lacking that thing called dopamine--

*peng-glglglglgl... (spinning wheel sounds)*

sign: 1st Place Prize *tick*

--Something like this

would happen.

(id card: Daydream | Inc.

Field Exploration Team

Kim Soleum

employee)

-Do you like it? You're going to cherish it close to your heart, right?

-KSE: Yes.

-Liar. (/You're lying.)

(pixel text:)

you are now (you are now)

going to experience something new

we(/i) hope you like it

X

234 176 145 236 158 144 234

184 176 32 237 152 132 234

184 176 236 166 157 236 157

180 32 235 168 184 235 166

172 235 165 188 32 235 141

174 236 179 164 235 139 164 46

(*utf code for: "I was suddenly struck by a wave of dizziness")

So

Kim Soleum

you must now know(/figure out) who you are

(jumbled pixel text: i cant make out all of it;;)

seize/grab hold with all your might

my bones are

i can't breathe

where is this

*pound

pound* (heart pounding)

So please,

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

Wake up

wakeupwakeupwakeuowwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeuaouwjakdmsnnxmzxbsbxjxhxbjebdmsmsjxcjdnskkfkskdndk

*BEE-EEP*

(upsidedown flipped text)

EXPLORER WHO HAS COME TO THE DARKNESS

WELCOME

-Congratulations!

-The new recruits who have gathered here are exceptional talents who have pierced through a 145:1 acceptance rate!

Is this... a lecture hall?

(sign: new employee orientation)

KSE: (when did my outer clothes disappear...)

A host in a lecture hall,

this atmosphere, these people...

No matter how you look at it,

it seems like a reception for new employees at a large company/corporation...

sign: new employee orientation

20XX(year) X(month), X(day)

place: main lecture hall(?)

sign: (...)Incorporated* Orientation (*주식회사 = joint stock company = "Inc." )

-KSE: ...Huh?

(pixel text:)

⚠️

WARNING

Before you access this site,

please read the following precautions.

1. In the site you have seen, you may encounter documents with violent and brutal descriptions, with shocking images and sound attached, so we advise caution for those suffering from heart issues, or the physically or mentally weak.

2. <Darkness Exploration Records(DER)> is recommended for those above 15 years of age. Those under the age of 15 are not permitted to view the following site.

3. As this is a community space with a universe built through the collaborative contribution of many people, you must uphold basic courtesy/respect at all times.

If you are re◾️dy?

--

(Title: Even if I fall into a Ghost Story, I still Gotta Go to Work

adaptation: carrotoon, ssyoongnyong(쓩뇽)

original work: baek deoksoo)

[irumicomics]

THIS IS NOT CANON ACCURATE AT ALL BUT ME AND MY WIFE THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY FUNNY 😭🖐️

[drunk-text]

LMAOO

[hexjulia]

so hard not to become the most annoying person on earth if you're a little excitable and just learned a little about a topic literally no one around you has any interest in

[mukuroom]

Have you ever found a 'tumblr sexyman' genuinely attractive?

Yes

No

Unsure if they count as a sexyman

Not attracted to people button

Remaining time: 6 days 18 hours

I don't mean a character who was popular for a few months, I mean a proper well-known tumblr character (The Onceler, Sans, Komaeda, ect)

[yugpancake]

winter

[marmelomp4]

the gingertrio

[unconventiononthelawofthesea]

guy who watches anime: I'm a weirdo

guy who believes in the divine right of kings: I'm normal

[i-am-cybersmith]

Historically, the majority of people who were around to be aware of the divine right of kings have believed in it.

The majority of people who have lived during the existence of anime have not watched it.

So yes, these hypothetical "guys" are correct for an objective definition of "weird" and "normal".

[centrally-unplanned]

On the flip side, you see frequent estimates of the net number of people who have "actively watched anime" as reaching ~1 billion people, and divine right monarchies did die out in most places by the great population boom of the 20th century. We don't have hard estimates of how many people have ever lived of course, but you see numbers like ~100 billion thrown around a lot. But of course many - most, probably - of those historical people either weren't even under divine right monarchies, or were not believers even if they were. While some of the current anime watchers probably do also believe in divine right monarchies, it is almost certainly a small quantity. This means you can pretty reliably estimate that while the currently believing in such monarchies is "more normal", it is quite possible that in a few decades watching anime will usurp it and become the more normal hobby.

And then finally we can declare victory in the war against God and his misbegotten appointed progeny that have so plagued this Earth.

[wmb-salticidae]

"average commoner believed in divine right of kings" factoid actually just statistical error. average commoner said, "Filth, filth of a King and a King! We have no King but God. Do you think they got honestly what they have?" but was half-illiterate and wrote no histories. Kings Georg, who lived in a castle and paid 10,000 monks to justify his crimes and the crimes of his fathers, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

I think that the majority of people who were around to be aware of the divine right of kings would have happily exchanged their king for a subscription to Crunchyroll.

[summerdoddles]

Slowly becoming one

[summerdoddles]

Somewhere beyond the horizon

[picascribit]

There are 2 types of fanfic:

fanfic that I like

fanfic that is none of my business

[yourfaveisintersex]

YOU are an intersex ally!

[citadelofthestars]

so.....is there anything with which the lion does concern himself ?

[naomisramblings]

the four children who wandered into His world through the back of a wardrobe

[gt-wierdo]

Intersex fairies with wings like this

[toastyglow]

(some guy on the internet voice) it's so unrealistic and forced when women win fights against men in stories. of course, when a young boy defeats a huge man I'm cheering and screaming because it is so badass, and when a frail old man defeats a cocky young warrior I feel nothing but satisfaction. I love these power fantasies about easily dispatching people who underestimate you, a thing I desire despite the fact that I will likely never have the skill to achieve it in real life, but I'm pretty sure women don't have that same desire, and even if they do, they shouldn't get to see it in media. because it's so unrealistic, you see. I mean I'm smart enough to know I can't take down a big man in a fight but the women, you know, they'll get ideas. I could probably do it if I trained hard enough, but the women??? for some reason I can't see it happening, and who can say why that is.

[puddox]

saw someone including "Mandate of Heaven" as one of those christian terms tumblr likes to use to sound profound. which i get where you're coming from but t☝️hat one is chinese

[yuriinullification]

holdon

what the fuck is going on in this site's backend

[mrsandman42069]

[crownkeeper]

before there were blorbos there were little meow meows and before there were little meow meows there were cinnamon rolls

[crownkeeper]

and smol beans.

[deadinthename]

Sigh (i am also aro btw)