Go Yeongeun is a calm colleague.
That was an undeniable fact. I had confirmed it when we woke up on that crazy subway during the recruitment exam, and again when we escaped that insane exhibition where they plucked out the eyes of the visitors.
But now, as she stood on the stairs leading to the '4th floor'—the main culprit behind the disappearances in this bizarre mart—Ms. Go Yeongeun was...
"A person, r-right...?"
She was too calm.
Her face was pale, showing no reaction even after hearing the high schooler's screaming question.
She said nothing.
My expressionless colleague of the same age stood on the stairs, looking down at us....
Wait.
'...Standing on the stairs?'
Hold on!
The moment we stepped onto the stairs, didn't the revolving door disappear? That meant one couldn't leave the 3rd floor by their own strength.
If that was the case.
'Since when has she been here...?'
No. To begin with.
'Why is she even here?'
It was possible that Ms. Go Yeongeun was one of the two agents who had entered previously. In fact, the number '2' was a hint in itself. Agents of the Disaster Management Bureau usually move alone or as an entire team.
Two usually meant a senior-junior pair.
But why was a Disaster Management Bureau junior standing alone on the stairs to the 4th floor, where people go missing?
Without a senior.
For at least a week.
Trapped... on these stairs.
“…….”
A chilling premonition crept up my spine.
I opened my mouth.
"Agent?"
There was no answer.
"Agent Goral...?"
Go Yeongeun, atop the stairs, opened her mouth.
"Welcome to Lookie Mart!"
I grabbed the high schooler and sent him behind me.
Then I grabbed the door.
"Agent."
"Thank you for always choosing us, customer!"
The expressionless human figure staggered down the stairs.
It was Go Yeongeun.
No, a staff member... with the appearance of Ms. Go Yeongeun.
'Damn it...!'
I was about to open the door and bolt out with the high schooler when I realized something strange.
'Sound.'
I didn't hear any creaking.
...Ms. Go Yeongeun's clothes weren't a staff uniform, either. She was still wearing her agent uniform.
In that case....
'Contamination?'
I checked the figure on the stairs again.
The appearance of Go Yeongeun—a distinct human form—was descending the stairs.
"……Hold the doorknob."
"Ye-yes?!"
I lunged forward.
And I pinned Go Yeongeun down just as she reached the landing.
“…!!”
"To Lookie Mart..."
It worked.
She definitely still had a human body.
...In that case!
Holding her shoulder down with one hand, I used my other hand to pull out the remaining Blue Soda Churros from my inventory tattoo.
Then I shoved it into Go Yeongeun's open mouth by any means necessary.
“!”
The opponent didn't even struggle. She just tried to keep walking and repeat the same line.
In the process, her naturally moving teeth crushed the churros, and at least some of it must have gone down her esophagus into her stomach.
I watched the scene, breaking out in a cold sweat....
A moment later.
“Bleeegh!”
Ms. Go Yeongeun began to vomit water like crazy.
I patted her back as best as I could. Black water pooled on the landing.
It wasn't enough water to suffocate her, like the level I experienced during my month in Braun's Late-Night Talk Show... but it was a sight so alien and
strange that it terrified the high schooler.
I supported Ms. Go Yeongeun as she vomited the last of the water—this time nearly blue—and collapsed, her strength spent.
"Huff, huff, huff, huff......"
"Agent."
I called out to my colleague.
“……!”
Her eyes, where reason had returned, looked at me.
Then her pupils dilated and began to tremble uncontrollably.
"...M-Mr. Roe Deer."
Her sanity had returned.
Sanity enough to respond to the title of 'Agent' and call me by my alias instead of my name because we were inside a ghost story.
'Thank goodness....'
"Aa-aaagh!!"
"..?!"
Ack!
I hurriedly grabbed Ms. Go Yeongeun as she suddenly tried to crawl back up the stairs.
"Haaa, aaagh, this damn mart! Even the hallucinations are real! Argh!"
“…….”
"I-I won't be fooled. He's dead, Mr. Roe Deer is dead...."
Ah.
Right.
"Excuse me, I'm not dead. Agent."
"..?!"
"I've been assigned the same job as you."
"?!"
It took another few dozen minutes to convince Ms. Go Yeongeun—who thought I had been declared dead after missing for a month—that I was alive and well, and had been deployed as a spy....
"T-thank you.... I've really been saved thanks to you."
"It was nothing."
Fortunately, as soon as Ms. Go Yeongeun regained her composure, she compared several pieces of circumstantial information with mine and accepted the situation.
It felt like it was even harder to explain everything to the high schooler without leaking classified information....
I felt a strange sensation as I looked at the now-empty churro wrapper.
'These churros... are truly effective.'
In Braun's Late-Night Talk Show, things were so crazily urgent that I couldn't pay much attention, but if it could purify contamination in one go like this, it was an incredibly amazing item.
'For something to be recorded in the Dark Exploration Record... it's almost too good for this world.'
At any rate, escaping this crazy mart was the priority for now.
Still, having a person—a reliable colleague at that—join us gave me a bit of strength.
So, first, a check.
I stepped aside slightly and clearly showed the door to the 3rd floor mart to Go Yeongeun.
"Can you see the exit?"
“…….”
Go Yeongeun nodded.
"Yes."
Whew.
"To be precise, I can't see the door itself, but I can see light coming through the cracks. ...If someone opens it, I think I can go out."
"Then it's fine."
Just as I was thinking how lucky that was, Go Yeongeun covered her face with one hand.
"But... I won't be able to leave the mart anyway."
"Pardon?"
"...I damaged the products."
"...! It's okay. Since this is outside the mart, even if you ate something, as long as you aren't witnessed..."
"No. I got caught breaking things in the mart."
“…….”
"It wasn't me, it was another agent, but it seems I was processed as having done it together."
I remained silent for a moment before asking.
"...Where is that senior agent?"
"They're dead."
“…….”
"No, I'm assuming they're dead. ......They went up there."
Go Yeongeun pointed up the stairs.
"It seems their family went missing here. But the last trace ended with them going up to the 4th floor... they came here with the intention of going there from the start."
"No, I don't even want to use honorifics for them. Are they insane? They could have died alone, why did they have to when I entered...... Ah."
“…….”
"Anyway, as soon as that person opened the door to the 4th floor, I covered my ears and sat here. ...But I could still hear it."
The logo song.
And not long after, she became like a 'staff member.'
“…….”
"Excuse me."
"You can call me Grapes."
"Yes. 'Agent Grapes'."
Go Yeongeun rubbed her face and then looked up.
Her expression showed she had composed herself.
"I'm doomed anyway, so I'll act as a decoy when you two leave. I almost starved to death trapped here and getting contaminated, so that much is......"
"No."
I thought for a moment, then stepped back and pushed the high schooler forward.
"Uh? Agent...?"
"Actually, could I ask for your help? ...His ankle is injured."
"Ah."
We barely managed to persuade the high schooler, who was terrified and refused to spit it out, to take the candy out of his mouth for a moment.
When I earnestly handed her the first-aid kit I had brought, Ms. Go Yeongeun fixed and treated the high schooler's ankle with a skill twenty times more professional than mine.
"But if I eat that candy, won't it just get in the way? I mean, the candy..."
"Just keep it on for a few hours."
I soothed the high schooler, who had returned to a state of exhausted mental and physical strength and was on the verge of panic.
Then I brought out the bait.
"Let's eat this first."
"...!! Food...!"
The high schooler's eyes grew twice as large.
The instant rations I pulled out, as if they had been in the bag I brought, disappeared into the three people's mouths in an instant.
'Since this isn't the mart, we can finally eat.'
These were things I couldn't bring out in the food court because we could only eat 'safe' food.
Even though I only took out items that didn't have a strong smell just in case, to be honest, I don't think I've ever eaten anything so fast in my life.
I finished the sterilized milk in two seconds and gulped down a castella in about thirty seconds.
'I feel like I can finally live.'
Then I put the high schooler to sleep.
I also wanted to collapse and sleep for a few hours, but for now, talking with my equally haggard colleague was the priority.
We shared the information we knew and chatted for a bit to replenish our mental strength.
"Ro... no, Agent Grapes, you're always so well-prepared. I uselessly brought a structural map of the mart."
Go Yeongeun murmured bitterly, saying, 'But the 3rd floor is too wide, so the information was too general and sporadic to be useful.'
"I even brought coins I used in other Darknesses just in case, but it seems they don't count as currency to pay with here...."
Wait.
"Do you have a structural map?"
"Yes. It's included in the supplies for the regular exploration team. ...It's to encourage us to investigate places that haven't been explored yet."
"Could you show it to me?"
"Of course."
Ms. Go Yeongeun pulled out a thick piece of paper, like a well-folded pamphlet, from her small backpack.
On top of a printed building floor plan, I could see various notes and drawings added by people in different colored handwriting.
'...It's the handwriting of the Disaster Management Bureau agents.'
“…….”
I looked at it as if possessed, until I discovered one place name.
A shop marked separately.
Some crazy bastards think this is useful, but it's a suicide mission. Don't go.
"...Agent."
"About what you said earlier. 'Currency to pay with.'"
"Yes? Yes."
"I think we can obtain that separately."
I was about to point to a spot with my finger but held back. It was because I thought the other person would feel repulsed or be terrified.
Instead, I explained with words.
"Among the places marked on the map you gave me, there's a shop that looks useful. There's a hint."
“…….”
However, Go Yeongeun took a deep breath and shook her head.
"I... I'm sorry, but I'm against it. The 3rd floor is too wide, so I don't know how long it will take to get there. And I'm a bit afraid of how long it'll take to find the door back to these stairs when we return."
Cold sweat broke out on Ms. Go Yeongeun's calm face.
There was also a sign that she was trying hard to hide her fear.
"You two go when business resumes. I'll... wait for rescue. Right now, if we don't have a staff member or some other item to stave off danger..."
Well, you see.
"We have one now."
“…!”
"Do you remember? It's something you've used before."
I pulled an item out of my inventory tattoo for the first time in a very long while.
An item that could be used now that the party had three members, perfectly meeting the recommended number.
...And since Agent Bronze wasn't around, there was no need to worry about being watched.
[Quick and Easy Candle Making Kit]
Holding the 'Mysterious Candle Kit' item box, I smiled slightly for the first time in three days.
"Let's make a candle again."
This candle-making item, which had played a significant role in our escape from the 'Mansion of the Blind,' was finally at a point where it could be useful again.
A dark stair landing.
The three people stood in the cramped space, crouching and looking at the floor.
I spread the black paper included in the box onto the landing and drew complex patterns to make the candle.
Then I made an invitation.
"Let's draw cards."
"Huffff."
"Wow...."
Ms. Go Yeongeun and the high schooler took turns looking at the backs of the cards and picking one at random.
The keywords that would become the candle's attributes were decided.
[Confusion]
[Dream]
'Not bad.'
The order of the keywords was good. ...Though it felt strangely related to their own conditions.
At any rate, it was now time to choose the last card. I looked at the cards with their faces revealed.
Honor, Healing, Meditation, Wound, Lie, Anger, Interference, Protection, Strike, Gaze.......
'Last time, I chose Lie.'
With the keywords of Honor, Interference, and Lie, we had deceived the exhibition Guide Machines and pretended to be guests who had rightfully paid the admission fee.
'In that case, this time.'
I picked one without hesitation.
[Protection]
A card depicting two hands carefully cradling a glowing light purple crystal ball.
I burned all three completed cards to make ashes, applied them like paint inside the crayon candle outline I had drawn, and folded the paper.
Exactly as I had done once before.
And after waiting for a while.
"It's finished."
"W-woah."
A pale indigo candle rolled out of the paper into my hand.
Of course, I couldn't use this, and a minor who was living on Nostalgia with an injured leg was out of the question.
And even if that weren't the case, wasn't there someone with experience here?
I turned back to Ms. Go Yeongeun and handed her the candle.
"I'll ask you to do it again."
"...Yes."
Ms. Go Yeongeun took hold of the finished candle.
"This time, I'll do it even better."
Leaving a strange nuance.
In my colleague's hand, the lit candle began to burn.
The petitioner must hold this candlelight toward the confused beings, relying on the Divine Power that makes them dream, to reveal a protected appearance.
A blessing is given to the petitioner holding the candle.
Visitor in the Mist.
Whoosh.
The light illuminated us.
"Ah...."
I took the high schooler and stood behind Ms. Go Yeongeun.
It reminded me of when Braun turned off the lights, but it felt colder and lighter.
It was as if a cool mist, following the candlelight, had enveloped us....
“…….”
We slowly opened the door and stepped out onto the 3rd floor.
Our figures holding the lantern should have clearly stood out in the dark shop, but strangely, we melted in naturally as if shrouded in mist.
And then we encountered a staff member.
"Eek."
I covered the mouth of the high schooler who made the sound.
The staff member creaked toward us, and then....
“…….”
Smoothly brushed past us.
"Ha."
Ms. Go Yeongeun let out a breath.
But it was mixed with relief rather than fear.
'Thank goodness.'
The items from the Alien Shop played their part perfectly this time as well.
However, the item's time limit was tighter than it was at the exhibition.
...Because we had to be prepared for a long time until business resumed.
"The candle will be done once it's burned out, so if we want to use it again after business resumes, we'll have to move quickly."
"Yes. Where should we go?"
"Here."
I showed Go Yeongeun the location by pointing at the floor plan she had brought.
Go Yeongeun, who had looked at it reflexively, was horrified.
"...! W-wait...."
"It's okay. Let's move."
“…….”
We had already lit the candle, and we couldn't put it out by struggling or arguing.
In the end, Ms. Go Yeongeun began to move, even as her gestures suggested she had much to say.
Phew.
'Thank you....'
She had every reason to feel that way.
Because my destination was....
[Sell Your Flesh at Lookie Mart]
An strange event store with this crazy sign attached to it.
“…….”
While other shops seemed to mimic the event stands of the old Lucky Mart, those with such bizarre signs were strange, as if they had been created by an Error.
In this case, on a white floor where there was nothing else, only dozens of grills were lined up.
And in the silence, they were sizzling, burning something....
"Eek."
"Quiet."
The high schooler began to tremble, so I grabbed his shoulder.
The kid wasn't overreacting.
"Ha."
On top of the grill displayed right in front of the event store.
Charred pieces of meat were being grilled as samples...... Anyone could see they were the haphazardly placed forms of familiar, bipedal animals.
...The missing persons who had been processed into Supplies.
'I feel like I'm going to throw up.'
But I endured it.
And a banner was hung above.
...Just as written in the agent's notes.
Instant BBQ Event!
Participate while alive and get a gift certificate guaranteed Gift certificate.
Why would you do something so crazy as to try and get a gift certificate here? You'll draw attention and be attacked by long-term missing persons. They can hardly be considered human anymore, so give up on rescuing them.
But now, we were temporarily avoiding attention within this mart and were protected by the mist.
I gently tapped Ms. Go Yeongeun's shoulder.
"Could you move to the side for a moment? So I can stand in front of an empty grill."
"Pardon? ...Wait a minute. This..."
"It's okay."
In truth, it wasn't okay.
I felt a powerful urge for anyone else but me to do all of this....
'I wouldn't be human if I didn't feel that way.'
But you see.
One of my companions had been trapped on the stairs for over a week while Contaminated, and the other was a civilian minor.
It meant they were not suitable targets to dump the work on.
Besides, this was also an opportunity.
‘I have to be the one to get the gift certificates.’
Only if I took the initiative would they end up in my hands as currency that I could use as I saw fit.
‘If I want to use what I gain here to push my way through until the escape, I have to do this.’
I grit my teeth.
...First, I injected the Happy Maker to prevent death from shock. My hands were trembling.
‘Stay calm. Stay calm.’
Then, struggling to keep my hands from shaking, I calmly picked up an item I had swiped on my way here.
A massive Butcher Knife.
Its sharp blade glinted in the light.
“That...!”
“Even if an item is used, as long as it is returned to its original state without being damaged, it won't be counted as a purchase. So it's fine.”
“That’s not what I mean! No, Agent...!”
I brought the Butcher Knife down onto my right arm.
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