Nostalgia Candy returns me to my peak state.
To put it another way, that is also me. It didn't mean I would become more brilliant or perfect.
It meant that I shouldn't let my guard down just by trusting the condition the Nostalgia Candy provided.
I knew that.
“…!”
I grit my teeth, feeling a sharp, agonizing pain coming from my right arm— no, from the ‘empty space where my right arm used to be.’
I missed the timing to take it.
Damn it.
‘I was too hasty.’
In a situation where the safe zones were going to disappear within an hour, I got distracted when a way to finally open the mart doors presented itself.
The price came in the form of excruciating pain.
A severed arm that had been cauterized to stop the bleeding.
Every single word of that description hacked away with a chilling, raw pain.
“Heugh.”
My legs momentarily lost strength, and I almost collapsed to the floor. Instinctively, I tried to catch myself with my right arm, but realizing it wasn't there, I stumbled and managed to support myself with my left hand, though my timing was off.
But it was fine.
“Agent…!”
“Just… a moment,”
Agent Bronze picked me up from behind and supported me. I struggled through the intense pain.
Ms. Go Yeongeun came running over in a hurry. She checked my consciousness and urged me. What did she say?
“That! Where is that candy!”
Ah.
“Hurry!”
I tried to rummage through my jacket pocket with my remaining arm. Ms. Go Yeongeun was a step faster, quickly rifling through the pocket, taking out the candy, and peeling off the wrapper.
‘I just have to eat that.’
That was… definitely correct.
“…….”
“Agent Grapes?!”
Perhaps it was the endorphins, but a thought suddenly occurred to me.
There are only 2 pieces of Nostalgia Candy left.
I don't even know what kind of ghost stories I'll have to enter in the future.
‘…Do I really have to eat it?’
Couldn't I hold out with the Happy Maker?
The bleeding in my arm had already been stopped.
And originally, my plan was designed so that even without an arm, we could escape without a problem as long as business resumed.
And haven't I already made it so business could resume?
‘Thinking about the item’s versatility.’
Then, rather than wasting it here….
“…….”
I took the candy and put it back into its wrapper.
“Wha- what are you….”
Then, I laboriously put my hand back into my pocket, tucked away the wrapped candy, and pulled out a rod-shaped item.
Happy Maker.
I’ll use this.
‘Yeah.’
I was about to stab it in immediately when I realized I wasn't in a situation where I could roll up my sleeve to see my bare skin.
Because I didn't have an arm to roll it up with.
“…Agent, I’m sorry, but could you… please inject this.”
“…….”
“It’s a painkiller.”
However, seeing his hardened eyes, it seemed he knew the dangerous origin of this item. …I’m talking about Delusion Home Shopping.
In times like this….
“Please. Just….”
“…!”
Fortunately, instead of arguing about it, Agent Bronze took a deep breath, rolled up my remaining sleeve, and injected the Happy Maker.
Phsh.
With a small sound, the drug immediately began to circulate through my veins.
‘Ah.’
The pain faded, and a sense of stability settled in my head.
Tranquility.
Anxiety and panic shattered and broke, turning into dust particles and flying away, leaving me feeling like there was nothing left in my chest.
‘Ha.’
I didn't stagger; I stood up with a normal gait.
“Thank you.”
But a dead silence hung in the air around me.
“Why…….”
“Since my mobility isn't immediately compromised, I'm going to try to hold out for now.”
“…….”
It’s a waste of an item.
It seemed Ms. Go Yeongeun read those words in my eyes.
“Whew.”
My colleague, who had rolled around with me at Daydream Inc., looked away from my situation with a complex and subtle expression.
…Because she probably empathized to some extent.
However, one person was different.
“…Have you been walking around in that state?”
“…….”
Agent Bronze looked at my injury with an almost dazed expression, then looked at me as if he had suddenly realized something.
“That medicine.”
I knew it.
He had realized the original purpose of the Regeneration Potion I had handed him.
“…….”
“Are you crazy?!”
“I’m not.”
My head had become calm thanks to the Happy Maker.
I steadied my breathing and even managed to show him something close to a smile.
Adding an explanation that he could understand.
“Listen. It was a rational choice.”
“What?”
“My life wouldn't be in danger even if I didn't treat it immediately, but you were in a situation where you would have died.”
“…….”
“And if a veteran like you hadn't joined our group, the civilians who requested rescue would also have been in danger.”
Right.
From the start, I hadn't counted the two high schoolers Agent Bronze was protecting as part of the personnel to be rescued.
Because my original plan was created on the premise of three people who could hold out on the landing.
Me, Ms. Go Yeongeun, and the high schooler I was responsible for.
Just those three.
‘…While giving up on Agent Bronze.’
But the situation changed while I was looking for the sign Agent Bronze left behind.
Instead of Agent Bronze, two high schoolers joined the group—one who might bolt anywhere and another who had already lost his mind.
‘…It was difficult.’
If they had just been adults, I might have been able to ignore them.
But since they were 15 or 16-year-old kids, it was hard to apply the concept of cutting my losses…. At least with a modern person’s sensibilities.
In the end, the best answer was right in front of me.
Saving Agent Bronze.
‘And since I can't keep pouring out Nostalgia Candy indefinitely, the Regeneration Potion was the right choice.’
Overall, even excluding my own personal big picture, it meant it was a rational decision as a rescue Agent of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
“So… I believe my judgment was rational.”
“…….”
However, Agent Bronze’s expression clouded over.
He struggled to speak.
“……Just why,”
At that moment.
Clang.
“…!”
The three Agents’ heads turned rapidly.
“A-Ah, damn.”
Someone who had been hiding behind a tent flusteredly looked at us. They had accidentally dropped a camping cup and were hurriedly putting it back in its place.
…It was the high schooler Agent Bronze had been looking after.
‘Oh boy.’
For now, I properly covered the area where my arm was missing with my jacket.
“…Please, let’s talk after we get out of the mart.”
“…….”
Agent Bronze’s lips quivered, then he bowed his head with a face full of regret and quietly walked toward the end of the camping section.
Ms. Go Yeongeun looked back and forth between me and Agent Bronze, then sighed and followed after him.
“…….”
Then, the high schooler who had been glancing around hesitantly crept up to me.
“Um, I’m sorry….”
“……I know you weren't trying to eavesdrop. It’s okay.”
“No, that….”
The high schooler hesitated before speaking properly.
“The, the way I acted.”
“…….”
“Doing… all that.”
From the conversation he had just overheard, it seemed he fully realized that the Agents were risking their lives to save them.
Enough to reflect on his own mistakes and irritable behavior.
“…….”
‘Whew.’
Even adults often act emotionally in extreme situations, so what could I expect from a minor?
Just the fact that he apologized was beyond my expectations.
Even if that apology was half-rooted in the fear of, ‘What if they get annoyed and abandon me while escaping?’
“Right. I accept your apology.”
“…….”
“Let’s hang in there a bit longer until we get out.”
“Um,”
The high schooler spoke up once more.
“When we leave this time, I’ll steal it properly. That… item.”
Ah.
“It’s okay.”
I patted the high schooler’s shoulder with my remaining arm.
“There’s no need to steal it this time.”
“…?”
Because we won't be taking that risk.
The high schooler seemed puzzled for a moment but soon nodded and quietly returned to his friend.
And so, it became quiet around me for a while.
“…….”
It was a bit awkward.
…Had I become too accustomed to the days when I had a friend who perfectly understood and empathized with my position at times like this?
Anyway.
“Whew.”
Now, really, only the final task remained.
And this will work.
‘…Even if there are quite a few people, there are two types of escape items.’
I can do it.
I reached inside my jacket and took out the item I had been keeping most safely and thoroughly.
Two white envelopes.
‘Gift Certificates.’
Then I sat quietly and checked the reinforced version of my original plan one more time.
Until everyone was ready.
A short while later.
“Everyone has a candy in their mouth, right?”
“Yes! Both of us have them.”
“Good.”
I checked the high schoolers who were looking out for each other and then turned back to the Agents.
The two of them, who had neatly restored the camping section, met my eyes with stiff faces.
All briefings were over.
Now….
‘It’s time to go out.’
The six of us left the 3rd floor and began to calmly descend.
Outdated pop songs, laughter, the sound of people pushing carts.
“Haha!”
“No, that’s too expensive. Put it back.”
The bustling voices of shoppers could be heard nearby. Even though it had only been three or four days, I had never been so glad to hear them.
Of course, since they were ghosts of the past who couldn't see, hear, or perceive us, a certain eerie feeling didn't fade.
Neither did the tension.
“…….”
“…….”
“Excuse me.”
One of the high schoolers spoke up.
“Behind us….”
“Shh.”
I cautioned him and quietly sent him forward.
Because I had already seen what the high schooler saw.
At the end of the escalator we were descending, someone was standing there, staring blankly at us.
Bloodshot eyes, filthy clothes, a mouth muttering strange words.
An odd person who must have been normal once, wearing the clothes they had put on months ago to briefly go grocery shopping at night.
A Long-term Missing Person.
I pulled the high schooler’s shoulder closer.
“…Don't laugh, and don't be anxious.”
If you laugh, they’ll follow you thinking they can leave too; if you’re anxious, they’ll follow you because you look like an easy target.
‘……I can't save them anyway.’
There was no need to feel hope or fear by imagining things that were impossible given the situation.
The high schooler gulped and nodded. Then he bowed his head and stuck close behind me.
“…….”
One of the Long-term Missing Persons who had been watching us dragged their disheveled hair and broken leg, heading down the escalator as well.
Because they wanted to leave.
But that wasn't all.
…I could feel gazes.
Behind the meat corner, behind the event stands, muttering next to employees, crying, laughing, standing blankly.
They were trying to come down on the escalators.
‘…The 1st floor will be crawling with them.’
Then, eventually, if they are caught by an employee, they will become ‘Supplies’ and vanish.
By evening, the lower floors would be ‘cleaned’ like that, and a new victim would wander the lower levels as if they were the only ones who had entered this mart from the past….
“…….”
The eeriness crawled down my back, which had been calmed by the painkiller.
Neither too fast nor too slow, we continued forward on the escalator. And we returned to the place where we had first entered.
The 1st floor.
In front of the checkout counters.
“…I’ll start quickly.”
I took the high schooler I was responsible for….
And instead of the exit, I headed straight for a checkout counter.
Then we each grabbed a snack and a can of soda that were laid out in front of us.
Beside me, the high schooler was breathing heavily, trying hard to stay calm.
On a weekday afternoon, in an as-yet uncrowded mart, we arrived smoothly at the cashier without waiting….
“…….”
I pulled out a gift certificate, held it out, and very lightly tapped the counter.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh?”
The cashier’s head snapped around, and she looked me in the eye.
That’s right.
She ‘perceives’ me.
“Ah, you’re a customer!”
“……!”
This was precisely the power of the gift certificates.
Being recognized as a legitimate customer of the mart.
-If you use a gift certificate, you can just walk out.
-…!
There was no longer a need to deceive the mart.
“Please ring these up.”
“Ah, yes!”
Beep, beep.
The cashier cheerfully scanned the items I bought and took the gift certificate….
“Um, I can't give change for gift certificates in units of 100 won, but if you give me 600 won in cash, I can make it an even 1,000 won unit.”
“…That’s okay. You can just give it to me like that.”
“Really? All right~”
The cashier gave me back four 10,000-won gift certificates and eight 1,000-won gift certificates as change.
I immediately handed a few 1,000-won gift certificates to the high schooler, and he repeated the process I had just gone through.
With a trembling voice.
“Ah, wait, this too!”
To ensure the cashier didn't feel any suspicion, even if our items were calculated together, we made sure the change didn't exceed a certain amount.
And….
“Thank you.”
“Thank you~ Please come again to Lookie Mart!”
We passed through.
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