Go Yeongeun was one of my more level-headed colleagues. That much was certain.
Even when we woke up on that deranged subway during the company's entrance test, and later when we escaped the psychotic art exhibit that involved plucking out visitors' eyes, she never lost her composure.
But right now, seeing Go Yeongeun at the stairs leading to the 'fourth floor', the source of so many disappearance stories in this bizarre supermarket…
"Sh-She's a real human being, right…?"
She was too calm.
Despite the high schooler's startled cries, her pale face didn't flinch. No words. No expression.
She just stood on the stairs, looking down at us…
Wait.
'…She's standing on the landing?'
Wait, that's—
Didn't the door to the third floor vanish the moment someone started going up the stairs, making it impossible to get back?
Then…
'How long has she been there…?'
No, more importantly.
'Why… is she here?'
Sure, Go Yeongeun could be one of the two agents who entered earlier. The mention of 'two missing' was a clue already. The Bureau typically sent out agents either individually or in pairs, so two usually means a senior-newcomer pair. But here she was, a new recruit, on the stairs to the fourth floor. Alone, with no senior agent in sight.
And presumably for at least a week…
"..."
A foreboding sense of dread prickled up my spine.
"Agent?"
No reply.
"Miss… Goral?"
Go Yeongeun's lips parted.
"Welcome to Looky Mart!"
I immediately shoved the high schooler behind me and reached for the door.
"Agent."
"We appreciate your business, dear customer!"
Expressionless, the figure stumbled down the stairs.
It was Go Yeongeun.
Or rather, something that looked like Go Yeongeun… acting like an employee.
'Shit…!'
I was about to fling the door open and drag the high schooler out, when I realized something odd.
'The sound.'
There was no squeaking.
…And she wasn't dressed in a uniform—still wearing her Bureau attire. So…
'Contaminated…?'
I looked again.
The shape of Go Yeongeun—a clearly human figure—was descending the stairs.
"Hold the door handle."
"Huh, what?!"
I lunged forward, pinning Go Yeongeun as she stepped onto the landing.
"…!!"
"Welcome… to Looky Mart…"
Okay.
She still had a human body.
Which meant…!
Holding her shoulder down with one hand, I reached into the tattoo on my wrist with the other, pulling out the last of my Blue Soda Churros. Then I shoved it into Go Yeongeun's open mouth as best I could.
"!"
She didn't even resist. She just kept trying to walk and recite the same line. In the process, her teeth moved naturally, crushing part of the churro, at least enough for it to go down her throat.
Sweating all over, I watched…
And, moments later.
"Gueeeeh!"
Go Yeongeun retched violently, spewing a deluge of water. I patted her back. The stair landing was soon slick with inky-black fluid. It wasn't quite enough to drown in like my month on Braun's talk show… but it was nonetheless bizarre enough to make the high schooler recoil in horror.
Finally, she vomited a bluish liquid, slumped, and I caught her.
"Hurrk, huhk, huuu…"
"Agent."
I called out to my colleague.
"...!"
Her eyes, now aware, shifted to me.
They dilated. She started trembling uncontrollably.
"…Mr. R-Roe Deer."
She'd come back to her senses.
She responded to being called 'Agent', and she was alert enough now to the fact that we were inside a ghost story, so she addressed me by my alias instead.
'Thank goodness…'
"U-Urgh!!"
"…?!"
She suddenly tried to crawl back up the stairs again, and I grabbed her in a panic.
"Huhuh—Ugh, damn this supermarket! Even the hallucinations look real! Ack!"
"..."
"I-I won't be fooled! Mr. Roe Deer's dead…"
Ah.
Right.
"Hey, I'm not dead. Agent."
"…?!"
"I got assigned to the same job as you."
"?!"
It took another few dozen minutes to convince Go Yeongeun—who believed I'd died during my month-long disappearance—that I was very much alive, and had re-entered as a spy…
"Th-Thank you… Thanks to you, I survived…"
"No, don't mention it."
Fortunately, once Go Yeongeun regained her composure, she cross-checked a few details with me and accepted the situation.
Though trying to explain everything without giving the high schooler weird intel was… a different level of difficulty.
Looking at the now-empty churros wrapper, I felt a strange mix of emotions.
'The churros… They're really something else.'
I hadn't paid it much attention before, because everything in Braun's LateNight Talk Show happened so crazily fast. But if it could clear contamination in a single go like that, it was an unbelievably powerful item.
'In the context of Dark Exploration Records… it's almost too good to be true.'
Anyway, the priority right now was escaping this deranged supermarket. Still, I felt a bit more confident now that another person had joined, especially because it was a colleague I could actually rely on. So, first, I needed to confirm something.
I stepped aside and clearly showed Go Yeongeun the door leading back to the third floor of the supermarket.
"Can you see the entrance?"
"..."
Go Yeongeun nodded.
"Yes."
Phew.
"Rather, I can't see the door itself, but I do see light coming through a gap. …If someone opens it for me, I think I could get out."
"That's good enough."
The moment I let out a little sigh of relief, Go Yeongeun lifted a hand to cover her face.
"But… I can't leave the supermarket anyway."
"Huh?"
"…I damaged merchandise."
"…! That's okay. We're outside the supermarket here, so unless you were seen eating something in there—"
"No, I broke stuff in the supermarket and got caught."
"..."
"It wasn't me, exactly—it was another agent—but I guess they treated us as equally responsible."
I fell silent, then asked,
"Where is that senior agent now?"
"He's dead."
"..."
"Or at least, I'm assuming he is… He went up that staircase." Go Yeongeun pointed up the stairs.
"His family had disappeared here, apparently. Their last trace ended on the fourth floor… so he came here specifically intending to go up there."
"..."
"I mean, is he crazy? If he wants to die, go alone. Why drag me along just when I—ah."
"..."
"Anyway, I stayed here while covering my ears. But the moment he opened the door to the fourth floor… I still heard it."
The jingle.
And not long after… she ended up acting like an 'employee'.
"..."
"Um, pardon me."
"Call me Grapes."
"Right. Agent Grapes."
Go Yeongeun rubbed her face, then looked up. Her expression was more composed.
"There's no hope for me anyway, so if you two plan on leaving, I'll at least serve as a decoy. I got trapped and contaminated here, almost starved… that's the least I could—"
"No."
After a moment's hesitation, I stepped back and pulled the high schooler forward.
"Huh? Agent…?"
"Actually, we could really use your help. …He has an injured ankle."
"Ah."
We barely managed to persuade the nervous high schooler to take the candy out of his mouth for a moment. Then I handed over the emergency first-aid kit I'd brought, and Go Yeongeun treated his ankle with skill twenty times more professional than mine.
"But if he goes back to eating that candy afterward, won't this be kind of pointless? The candy…"
"Just keep the splint on for a few hours anyway."
With his stamina and composure drained, the high schooler returned to a state of near-panic, so he needed some coaxing.
I took out my bargaining chip.
"Let's eat this first."
"…!! F-Food…!"
The high schooler's eyes went wide as saucers.
The instant meals I whipped out vanished in seconds, shared among the three of us.
'We can finally eat these now that we're technically outside the supermarket.'
Back in the food court, we could only eat 'safe' foods, so I'd never dared bring these out. Even then, I only chose items without a strong smell, just in case.
Honestly, I've never eaten this fast in my life.
I polished off a carton of UHT milk in about two seconds, then wolfed down a castella cake in under thirty.
'I feel alive again.'
After that, we put the high schooler to sleep. I wanted to collapse and rest as well, but first I needed to talk to my equally exhausted colleague. We exchanged the information we each had, and made small talk to recover our mental strength.
"Mr. Ro… I mean, Agent Grapes, you always come so prepared. Meanwhile, I wasted space lugging around a store layout map." She said, sounding bitter, explaining that the third floor was so enormous that her map was hardly useful. It was basically a scattered mess of vague details.
"I even brought some coins from a different Darkness, just in case. But it looks like they don't count here as valid currency…"
Wait a minute.
"You have a map?"
"Yes. It's part of the standard equipment for the regular exploration team… They want us to investigate places that haven't been fully explored yet."
"Could I see it, please?"
"Of course."
From a small backpack, Go Yeongeun took out what looked like a thick, folded pamphlet. It was a printed floor plan of the building, overlaid with handwritten notes and sketches in various colors.
'…The handwriting of Disaster Management Bureau agents.'
"..."
I stared at it, almost spellbound, until I noticed a specific store name. There was a separate notation on the map.
Some people seem to think they could get something out of this stall, but that's just suicide. Don't go.
"…Agent."
"What you mentioned before. 'Currency to pay'."
"Huh? Y-Yes."
"I think there's a place where we can get that, based on a hint on your map."
"..."
But Go Yeongeun took a deep breath and shook her head.
"I'm… sorry, but I object. The third floor is so huge, who knows how long it'll take just to get there. And I'm afraid of how long it would take to find our way back to this stairwell afterward, especially without any item to fend off employees or danger."
Beads of sweat formed on her calm face, and she seemed to be trying hard to hide her fear.
"You two can leave when the store reopens. I… I'll just wait for a rescue. If we don't have another way to dodge employees or anything, I'd rather not…"
Well, here's the thing.
"Now we do."
"…!"
"Remember? There's something we've used before."
I retrieved an item from my inventory tattoo—something I hadn't touched in ages.
Now that we were three, we met the recommended number of participants. It was finally usable again.
…And there was no need to think about Agent Bronze for now.
[Quick and Easy Candle Making Kit]
I held the 'Mysterious Candle Kit' item box in my hands and, for the first time in three days, I allowed myself a faint smile.
"Let's make some candles again."
In the Manor of the Blind, this candle-making item had played a big role in our escape. Now was the perfect time for a comeback.
In that dark stairwell.
The three of us crouched down, looking at the floor.
I spread out the black paper that came with the kit, carefully drawing intricate patterns for the candle.
Then I suggested,
"Let's each draw a card."
"Huu…"
"Wow…"
Go Yeongeun and the high schooler each drew a random card by its back. Their cards would determine the candle's attributes:
[Confusion]
[Dream]
'Not bad.'
It oddly matched their current state of mind, but hey, it worked. Now it was my turn to pick the final card. I flipped the remaining cards face up.
Honor, Healing, Meditation, Wound, Deceit, Rage, Interference, Protection, Strike, Gaze…
'Last time, I chose 'Deceit'.'
We used Honor, Interference, and Deceit to trick the automated exhibit machines and pretend we were legitimately paying patrons.
'In that case.'
I chose without hesitation.
[Protection]
An illustration of two hands gently cradling a glowing lavender crystal. I burned the three chosen cards into ash, sprinkled them within the crayon outline of the candle on the black paper, then folded the paper—just like I'd done once before.
After waiting a while…
"It's done."
"W-Wow."
A pale indigo candle rolled out from inside the folded paper, landing in my hand.
Obviously I couldn't use this, and the high schooler, who was living on borrowed time through the Nostalgia Candy as it was, obviously couldn't either.
Besides, there was someone here with firsthand experience. I offered the candle to Go Yeongeun.
"I'll leave it to you again this time."
"…Alright."
Taking the completed candle in her hand, Go Yeongeun spoke in a subtle tone.
"This time, I'll do it properly."
With those words, she lit the newly-made candle. The flame flared up from the wick, and.
A prayer-bearer shall lift the candle to any confused being, bestowing the power of dreams, manifesting protection.
And the bearer will be granted a blessing.
Visitor amidst the Fog
Whoosh.
The candlelight shone upon us.
"Ah…"
I stood behind Go Yeongeun, with the high schooler in tow.
It reminded me of when Braun would turn off the lights. But colder, and more ethereal.
It felt as if a cool fog followed the candlelight, enveloping us…
"..."
Slowly, we opened the door and stepped out onto the third floor. Even though we carried a flame in a dark store and should have stood out, somehow it blended in naturally, as if we were shrouded in mist. And then we ran into an employee.
"Hiek—"
I covered the high schooler's mouth when he made a sound. The employee, squeaking a little as it approached, simply…
"..."
…brushed past us without incident.
"Ha…"
Go Yeongeun let out a breath, more relief than fear.
'Thank goodness.'
This time, the alien shop item proved its worth again.
But unlike our time at the exhibit hall, the duration of this item was even more of a concern.
We might have to hold out until the store eventually reopened.
"Once the candle burns down, that's it, so we need to move quickly if we want to use it again after business hours resume."
"Got it. Where should we go?"
"Here."
I pointed to a spot on the floor plan Go Yeongeun had brought. When she glanced at it, she recoiled in horror.
"…! W-Wait…"
"It'll be fine. Let's go."
"..."
We were already holding the candle, and blowing it out by getting into some scuffle would be a terrible idea.
So despite wanting to object, she started moving.
'Thank you…'
I could see why she was so reluctant. The place I was headed…
[Sell Your Flesh at Looky Mart]
…was a bizarre 'event stall' with that insane sign.
"..."
If the other stalls imitated Lucky Mart's old sales promotions, these freakish ones felt more like glitches, abnormally tacked on.
In this particular spot, there was nothing on the white floor except row upon row of grills.
And in the silence, something was sizzling.
"Hiieek."
"Quiet."
I clamped a hand on the high schooler's shoulder as he started trembling. Not that he was overreacting…
"Haa."
Right on the grill displayed out front, pitch-black charred meat was cooking as a demo. …You could tell at a glance it came from some two-legged creature in a shape far too familiar.
Likely missing persons, repurposed as store 'supplies'.
'I feel like throwing up.'
But I held it in.
Above us was a banner.
…Just like the agent's notes said.
Instant BBQ Event!
Participate alive, and receive a guaranteed gift certificate!
A gift certificate.
Who the hell wants to win a gift certificate in a place like this? It would only attract the long-term missing people, and they'll attack you. They're basically not even human anymore—don't bother rescuing them.
But for now, we were briefly able to melt into the supermarket's surroundings, our presence softened by the candle's protective fog. I lightly tapped Go Yeongeun on the shoulder.
"Could you please shift to the side? I need to stand in front of one of these empty grills."
"Huh? W-Wait a second, this…"
"It's fine."
It wasn't fine.
I desperately wished someone else would handle this.
'Wouldn't anyone in their right mind?'
But…
One of my companions had been trapped in the stairwell, contaminated for over a week. The other was a civilian minor.
Not exactly people I could saddle with something so extreme.
Besides, this was an opportunity.
'I have to get that gift certificate.'
If I took this on, I'd get the currency directly, allowing me to control how it's used.
'I want to push my own plan for escaping, so I need to take the initiative.'
I gritted my teeth.
…First, I used a syringe of Happy Maker so I wouldn't go into shock. My hands were shaking.
'Calm… Calm down.'
From items I had swiped on our way here, I pulled out one, trying not to let my shaking fingers drop it.
A massive butcher's knife.
Its razor edge glinted.
"H-Hey…!"
"It's alright. As long as we don't break the item and return it to its original state, the store won't register it as a purchase."
"That's not the issue, Agent—!"
I brought the butcher's knife down on my own right forearm.