A few days in the eerie mart ghost story.
Days filled with soul-crushing dread, a severed arm, cold sweat, tension, surprise, and horror.
‘Ah.’
My arm hurts.
But it’s okay. I’m out of there now.
From now on, I can feel safe and….
Actually, maybe not?
…….
Huh?
I think I’m still there.
I lifted my head.
I looked around.
I saw the food court on the second floor of the gloomy and bizarre mart with the lights turned off.
I was…… still standing there.
“…….”
I’m still here?
Was escaping just a dream?
Was escaping…… impossible?
Did I make the wrong judgment?
Then why did I cut off my arm?
I….
-Oops, you’re having a nightmare. Friend!
“…!!”
I opened my eyes.
Sunlight pierced my vision.
It was a clean and peaceful hospital room. The bright late-winter sunlight was shining through the window.
…It wasn’t the mart.
I gasped for breath.
It was peaceful.
‘…It’s reality.’
Right.
After successfully getting out of Lookie Mart, I was transported in an ambulance sent by the Disaster Management Bureau.
And then I lost consciousness….
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“…?!”
Turning my head, I saw a person wearing an Agent uniform sitting in a caregiver’s chair, peeling an apple.
……?
“Did you sleep well? It looked like you were having a nightmare.”
He had the appearance of a clean-cut office worker, but strangely, the scars near his neck were loud… a stranger.
Who is he?
As our eyes met, he winked and handed me a slice of the peeled apple.
“Nice to meet you, Hubae. Thanks to you, I got to experience going into Lookie Mart and coming back out in three minutes.”
“…!”
Ah.
“That’s right. The Agent you called was me.”
In order to resume the mart’s operations, I had made a high school student send a rescue request text to the Disaster Management Bureau.
‘The one who was deployed because of that….’
Must be this person.
“I heard the story. You came up with the reverse thinking of ‘making the mart open its doors’? That’s the kind of talent really needed for this kind of work.”
“…….”
“Hey, don’t be embarrassed.”
As I quietly lowered my gaze, the man smiled and stood up, reaching out his hand.
“Shall I introduce myself first? Um, I’m a bit shy about using my Agent codename….”
Wait a minute.
This line is….
“Just call me Agent Choi.”
“…….”
Oh my god.
‘It’s that Agent.’
/Start Recording
Agent Choi: So I’m on the 3rd floor now. I’ve found the door to the 4th floor.
The protagonist of almost the only specific Exploration Records related to the 4th floor that I could recall.
Agent Choi: Welcome to Lookie Mart!
The Agent of the Disaster Management Bureau who was originally supposed to go missing horribly while exploring the 4th floor of Lookie Mart.
‘An early Named Character…!’
Right.
He was a Named Character from before the setting was established that ‘Agents of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau are called by codenames’ as the world expanded.
Agent Choi.
Back when the Dark Exploration Records only contained government records without data from other institutions, he was one of the figures who was very active.
‘…That scar on his neck.’
I even remember how that happened. That was… the cold storage ghost story.
I swallowed hard.
‘He’s an Agent who frequently appeared in famous early Exploration Records….’
Even if his end was a horrific disappearance.
There was an outcry about whether it was okay to make such an early Named Character disappear so horribly, but it passed despite the backlash and tears, with the reasoning being ‘Isn't it perfectly fitting for a Ghost Story Worldview?’
But….
‘…Hasn’t it changed?’
The moment the experience of Ms. Go Yeongeun and myself is passed on, the stairwell leading to the 4th floor will be used for a different purpose.
‘A recommendation will be attached to the notice as well.’
Then the timeline changes.
Agent Choi might not necessarily open the door to the 4th floor.
For starters, this time he entered Lookie Mart and came back out ‘just’ three minutes later.
‘My god.’
The fate of an early Named Character has changed.
I looked at him, feeling a strange surge of emotion for a moment, and managed to react belatedly.
“Yes, Agent Choi.”
“You can call me Choi Seonbae if you like.”
Agent Choi, who winked, soon let his cheerful expression subside slightly as he looked at my severed right arm.
But he still had a smile on his face.
“Don’t worry about the arm. We’ll ‘take care’ of everything.”
“…….”
“For now, just get some rest. Oh, wait a second!”
Then, he suddenly threw open the hospital room door and pushed someone who seemed to be waiting outside into the room.
…It was Bronze.
He was wearing casual clothes instead of his Agent uniform, as if he had tidied himself up, but for some reason, his complexion wasn't very good.
“……You’re awake. That’s a relief.”
“Yes.”
A strangely awkward atmosphere flowed.
However, Agent Choi affably patted Bronze on the back and offered me another slice of apple.
“Jaekwan—no, Bronze said he put you right into Hyunmoo Team 1? I wondered why such a rigid guy suddenly ignored procedures and brought in a rookie, but as expected, he has an eye for talent.”
And then he reached out his hand to me.
“Welcome to Hyunmoo Team 1. You’ll be doing meaningful work.”
“…….”
“Come on, now you feel like calling me Seonbae comfortably, don't you?”
Um….
About that.
“No. I…….”
I deliberately lowered my head with a frightened and gloomy face.
“Please, I want to change my assignment.”
“…?!”
I’m sorry, but this is what I was aiming for.
‘A chance to escape the Emergency Rescue Squad…!’
Honestly, there weren't many ways to get out of a situation where I was already registered with the Emergency Rescue Squad.
Even in modern society, if you cling to someone’s legs and beg because you don't like the department you were assigned to at work, wouldn't you be labeled as a problem child?
‘Then that’s the absolute worst as a spy….’
But in the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, there was one loophole due to its nature.
That is… a traumatic experience!
‘It’s the blind spot of ghost story exploration.’
The fact that you never know what will happen.
But a rookie barely escaped his first ghost story while even making the extreme attempt of cutting off his own arm?
This institution has enough heart to let someone out if they vent about their trauma.
‘This will definitely work.’
If there’s a problem.
It’s that I… seem to have done a better job than I thought.
“Just once! Let’s try it just one more time!”
The early Named Character Agent is clutching his head and trying to persuade me like some crying internet meme….
“This is your aptitude! You survived an Irregular Incident and even managed to pull out another civilian! This is an unbelievable achievement!”
It sounded like a cry of desperation to not give up useful manpower.
He truly acted like a civil servant suffering from a chronic shortage of personnel. The relaxed and socially adept professional I felt earlier had vanished….
Now he’s even pointing at my severed arm.
“And that decisiveness to risk cutting off an arm—no, risking bodily harm!”
Um.
“That.”
I gasped for breath with a pale face.
“It was madness.”
“…….”
I’m sorry, but I’m going to attack your conscience a bit.
“I, I don’t even know what I was thinking to do that.”
I do know.
“I’m… sorry. I know I might look weak, but I can’t do this.”
But… even though these are all scripted words.
Sincerity is being poured into them the more I speak.
“I feel like I’m going to die from the stress.”
I clenched my remaining hand, lowered my head, and muttered.
“I was so anxious that the kids might die….”
“…….”
Agent Choi eventually opened and closed his mouth before falling silent.
“I just can’t… do it anymore. I’m sorry.”
“…….”
The atmosphere in the hospital room sank.
“Um… right. It’s perfectly understandable.”
Agent Choi spoke in a slightly calmer tone, sitting back down in the caregiver’s chair with a practiced ease.
“But in a situation where your assignment is already decided, it’s not very good for you to change it after only your first mission. …You might be misunderstood as having been kicked out and be treated like a problem child.”
His calm and concerned voice worried about the future.
And he continued in an subtle tone.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll be fired, but the rumors in the future….”
“I will restore your original status.”
“Jaekwan!”
“I mean as a temporary Agent who hasn’t been assigned a department yet.”
Ryu Jaekwan cut in and broke Agent Choi’s flow.
He glanced at me and then looked away with a dark expression.
“…You can try working in other squads as you wish. Just tell me which assignment your heart leans toward… after the three weeks are over.”
“…!”
“I can… do that much on my end.”
“……Thank you.”
“Hey, still, you should at least meet our elder… sigh.”
Agent Choi sighed.
“Fine. Experiencing other squads for three weeks… that is the right thing to do.”
And so it was settled.
-Agent Kim Soleum will experience various things for three weeks like a rookie, then report his desired assignment to Bronze.
-Bronze will use his authority as a senior to actively recommend Kim Soleum’s desired assignment to the higher-ups.
…Like that.
“Think about it. We’re a really good team.”
Agent Choi kept telling me to ‘keep the possibilities open’ and continued with a few appeals.
That I would do well, that the people in our squad are all full of personality and fun, that the work would be really rewarding….
Then, finally, this topic also came up.
“And about the kids you saved.”
“…!”
“Aren't you curious about what happened to them?”
The students we rescued this time.
Agent Choi nudged Ryu Jaekwan and pushed him toward me.
“Tell him, Bronze.”
“……All three returned home safely.”
Ah.
Bronze calmly explained their whereabouts to me.
Their injuries were well-treated, and they had a tearful reunion with their families.
And the high school student I was in charge of is apparently actively participating in the Management Bureau's interviews, emphasizing how much help I gave back at Lookie Mart.
“…She kept asking if you were safe, and now I’ll be able to give her a proper answer.”
Student Lee Subin, who suffered a great mental shock from losing Lee Ji, is also said to be fine after undergoing a light memory erasure procedure.
And in the process, regarding the Nostalgia Candy the student was eating, it seems Bronze even made an excuse to the government that it was a Ghost Story-Derived Food he had obtained himself.
He spoke about it so nonchalantly that I almost missed it.
‘…I’m grateful for that.’
“All three of them wanted to see you in person and thank you.”
When he said it was difficult due to the Management Bureau's guidelines, they planned to send letters instead.
“…That is all.”
So everything was concluded well.
Including Ms. Go Yeongeun.
“And the Agent you rescued is also recuperating, but she should be able to return to duty soon.”
“……Yes.”
I exhaled deeply and leaned my head back against the bed. And I savored it without realizing it.
Everyone is safe.
Everyone lived to return.
“You’re happy, aren’t you?”
“…….”
“Right. I knew you would be. That’s your aptit—ack!”
Agent Choi grinned with a friendly face, but Ryu Jaekwan pushed him toward the door.
“Ack! Jaekwan is attacking me!”
“Then please rest more for now. …Don’t worry about anything else.”
“Yes.”
I bowed my head to Bronze while sitting on the bed.
“Thank you for… being so considerate.”
“……No.”
Bronze looked at me with a complicated expression, but eventually turned his head toward the door.
“But this Hubae is really perfect for Hyunmoo Team 1… um. Right, get plenty of rest!”
Under Bronze’s terrifying gaze, Agent Choi also shut his mouth, and the two of them left the room.
Creaaaaak.
“…Phew.”
It ended well.
I let out a long sigh of relief and lay back down on the bed.
‘Escape from the Emergency Rescue Squad… success.’
It was a brilliant result.
Except for one thing.
‘It’s awkward.’
Being without an arm, and my relationship with Bronze.
‘He’s showing me kindness, but he also seems strangely offended.’
Still, I was glad that I seemed to have clearly moved out of the spy suspect group.
“…Up we go.”
I tried not to be conscious of the pain in my empty right arm and even let out a stretch.
Then the words I heard earlier naturally came to mind.
-Don’t worry about the arm. We’ll ‘take care’ of everything.
…‘Take care,’ huh.
The various treatments the Disaster Management Bureau provides for Agents with physical loss came to mind.
Among them, the coolest and most anticipated method.
‘Well, even if they don't do that because it's too expensive, they at least won't leave me like this….’
And then.
There was also a chance to squeeze out another ‘method’ before the Disaster Management Bureau took care of it.
“Hmm.”
I found my Smartphone inside the table next to the bed.
And I checked the text message received yesterday evening.
[Consultation Schedule / I will see you this Friday. Mr. Soleum^^]
The time to give the first report on spy activities to Director Ho was approaching.
And I didn't plan on just giving a work report at that meeting.
‘I have to squeeze out everything I can.’
“Director, I’m filing for worker’s compensation.”
“…!”
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