※ WARNING ※
This chapter contains violent and gory scenes. Reader discretion is heavily advised.
From the moment I saw the store layout, I'd been agonizing over it. Just how much of my body would I have to cut off and place on the grill for this damned supermarket ghost story to count it as 'barbecue'? I considered everything from the wrist to the shoulder.
But from the start, I knew my target.
'My right arm.'
If I cut a leg, I'd lose mobility.
If I cut my left arm, I couldn't use my tattoo.
Besides, I'm almost ambidextrous anyway, so I'd be able to function with whichever arm remained.
In other words, there was only one conclusion.
'Cut off part of my right arm.'
Of course, slicing a fully grown adult forearm, bones and all, measuring around 10cm in diameter with a knife is crazy.
Obviously, it wouldn't be done in a single chop.
'An electric saw would've been better.'
Thwack, thwack.
I used a giant butcher's knife, practically ripping my arm apart. Amidst the splatter of blood, I could hear the other two sobbing softly. There was no pain, but I could still feel it.
The sensation of nerves in my arm being severed.
Cold sweat trickled down my back, my mind reeling with dull shock— terror and fear.
I'd definitely injected myself with Happy Maker, yet it was hitting me anyway.
'Am I building up a tolerance?'
Or maybe the candle's 'protection' somehow dampened its effect. Or it could just be in my head.
Either way, the crucial fact is that I didn't go into shock, and I could still move.
And then…
Thwack.
The final blow.
It came off.
"…!!"
Done.
With my right arm fully severed, I tucked it under my left arm while pressing something against the cut: The blood-sucking knife.
'I can't believe I'm using this to stop the bleeding…'
It was just a temporary measure. Ignoring the blade's tremor as it drank my blood, I pulled it away and pressed the wound to the grill. If I still had any sensation, I'd have passed out right then. I held it there just long enough to stop the bleeding. Once I was sure I wouldn't die from blood loss, I moved again.
"What— What the hell… Aaaah!"
"Just a moment."
Thud.
I took the piece I'd removed and chopped it in half. I had to match the approximate size of the other chunks already on the grill. Then, without time for anyone to react, I put one of those halves on the grill.
Sssss—
It sizzled, or rather, burned.
It was burning. Burning away…
'It's just a piece of meat now.'
No longer mine.
And as soon as we escape this insane supermarket, I plan to drink Daydream Inc.'s C-grade regeneration potion. Then everything will be fine…
Stay calm.
Sweating profusely, I stared at the grill with unfocused eyes. And after a hellish stretch of time—
Ding.
In this 'Sell Your Flesh at Looky Mart' stall—where dozens of grills are lined up randomly—one of them made a noise, like it was just another grill in the row.
A counter, like a mini checkout, had a plain white envelope labeled [Thank you for participating in our event].
With my one good hand, I managed to open it.
Inside were gift certificates, and they looked kind of like sloppily-made play money.
[₩50,000]
If this were a normal supermarket, that'd be a pretty hefty reward for joining some promotional event.
But whether it's enough in our current situation is another question.
"W-What is this? What are you—"
"Wait."
One more time.
I repeated the process.
Except this time, I told the high schooler to put the remaining chunk on another grill.
"H-Huuhp…"
He almost collapsed, but he gritted his teeth. It tore me up inside, but we had no choice.
Go Yeongeun had to keep holding the candle, and my own 'participation' wouldn't be counted again.
And only after another 50,000-won voucher appeared did I allow myself to pop a Nostalgia Candy into my mouth.
'Ha.'
I'd resisted until then, worried about messing up the event outcome. But the second that candy touched my lips, it reverted me to my 'healthiest point in time'.
Nostalgia's magic.
"…It's okay. See? I'm all better now."
"Hiic… hiiiccc…"
The high schooler wouldn't look at my newly restored arm. He couldn't even nod.
Go Yeongeun had gone deathly pale, but mindful of the candle, she didn't turn around or freak out.
She already knew I had a special regeneration potion from Daydream Inc., so maybe that's why she managed to contain herself.
"…Agent, did you just take the potion?"
"No. It's an item that temporarily restores my appearance."
Her shoulders twitched again.
"It was only the right arm missing, so even if something else happened, we wouldn't have trouble running. Please don't worry."
"How can you say that right now… Fine. …Alright."
I silently thanked her composure.
At any rate, I'd finally used one of my last Nostalgia Candies, which I'd been saving to endure the worst. I finally recovered after three days of no real sleep or food.
And now, my status was…
"..."
'Wow.'
This was insane.
My mind, now somewhat clear, was spinning wildly, sounding alarms at the dangers. Over the last three days, I'd been pushed to my limits, acting like a madman—and only now was I starting to realize it.
'I haven't been thinking straight since about the second day…'
I was under the impression that I had 'searched the entire supermarket' thoroughly while leaving the high schooler in the second-floor food court to go find Agent Bronze. But that's not actually possible.
'If I could supposedly scour it in just a handful of hours, it means there was nowhere truly hidden in the first place.'
This wasn't a tiny convenience store or a small corner shop. It's a massive chain supermarket. The very idea of 'searching it all' was impossible— especially considering the infinitely repeating third floor.
'So my judgment was completely shot.'
It's not just the high schooler in panic. I, too, had been half-crazed for three days.
"…Let's go back to the emergency stairwell."
"Yes."
We walked under Go Yeongeun's candlelight, and I cleaned the butcher's knife of my blood, repacked it, and put it back where I found it. In the process, my mind flickered with new inferences.
Mistakes.
Counterarguments to the little 'certainties' I'd clung to so casually.
—Does Agent Bronze really escape on the third day?
Let's re-check that exploration record I could somehow still remember.
Exploration Record #3[?]
An agent responded to a civilian distress call and entered the store around 7PM. (Agent : ???)
Looky Mart closed early due to ??? reason. An unexpected situation arose, and the agent lost contact for three days.
Result : Rescue failed. Agent returned alone.
First counterargument.
—The entry time is different.
We entered after 8 PM, while the record said 7PM.
Sure, maybe that changed because my presence delayed the schedule. He had to hand out items and explain the situation to me, among other things. So, we entered about an hour late, which could somewhat line up. But the crucial point was still one thing. The situation wasn't exactly the same.
'I shouldn't be forcing my situation to fit that record.'
Second counterargument.
It never said when the agent escaped.
'Lost contact for three days' didn't necessarily mean the supermarket reopened on the third day.
So my certainty that business hours would definitely resume after three days was nothing more than a leap of faith.
'…Phew.'
And…
Let's think more rationally about the bigger picture.
Right. From the beginning…
'Isn't it odd that the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau would let a newly hired agent dive straight into a high-level ghost story?'
It's not like this was Daydream Inc.
They wouldn't send someone unprepared into a Fracture-sanctioned nightmare, roughly on par with a Daydream B-grade, unless there was some solid safeguard.
'So if I reason from that premise…'
…There's something that comes to mind.
Bureau agents would sometimes get assigned an item allowing 'emergency escape' from ghost stories below a certain level.
And with a newcomer, that item usually stayed under the senior's control since a panicked rookie might misuse it.
In other words…
If Agent Bronze really was issued such an item, then.
'He'd do everything he could to take me with him on that escape.'
It's a matter of responsibility.
"..."
"Agent Grapes?"
"Just a moment, please."
I paused and tried to piece together the first day's events from Agent Bronze's perspective.
A situation where he got separated from his new recruit.
No shared coordinates or direct communication method. Just that one glance of 'I'll see you upstairs'.
High-level ghost story with unexpected complications.
A veteran used to handling rookies…
"..."
Ah.
"Agent."
"Yes?"
"I think I can figure out where my senior ended up."
"…!"
After I neatly summed it up with, 'Teaming up with a veteran will give us a better chance to escape,' Go Yeongeun agreed to use the candle for further exploration.
Our destination…
"This specific escalator, right?"
"Yes."
The escalator going from the first floor up to the second— That's the one.
"..."
All three of us descended to the first floor and stood in front of the escalator.
The still rails lay silent in the dark.
But this was an escalator we'd never used before.
The high schooler and I had only used the opposite escalator—the one that went from the second floor down to the first—while crawling up.
'And that's the only one I used.'
Any time I tried searching alone, I'd check between the escalators and the floor, hoping to recover the fishing line from the items we used. That's how desperate I was.
But…
'Normally, if you want to go upstairs, you'd use the escalator that goes up…'
Agent Bronze must have expected I'd use this escalator. I handed the high schooler another Nostalgia Candy, letting him stand in front.
'…Three left.'
I'd have to be more cautious with them. But at least for the time being, I needed the maximum efficiency from it.
"Agent, would you mind going up the escalator?"
"…I'll walk slowly. Be careful."
"Yes."
Go Yeongeun led the way onto the escalator. The three of us began walking up on foot.
"Huu…"
Let's think.
'Just like I'm deducing his actions, Agent Bronze might've been predicting mine…'
And he was probably more rational than I was, given I'd been knocked off balance by everything—witnessing people get ground alive in a blender, a high schooler with a broken ankle to rescue, and so on…
Trying to see it from his perspective.
– A rookie agent, who had some ghost-story experience but is traumatized and timid.
If, on that first day, I moved more cautiously than I actually did, what would I have done?
'I probably would've gotten to the second floor a lot later.'
Instead of rushing there, I might've lurked on the first floor, hiding in different spots, too overwhelmed to do much—typical rookie behavior.
'Agent Bronze would guess it'd take me a long time to make my way upstairs.'
But if he had a different, supposedly 'safer' hideout in mind, knowing I'd panic if I arrived on the second floor and found him gone, then… There's only one possibility.
'Let me leave a sign before he even gets to the second floor.'
"..."
I peered at the escalator's billboard, spotting a red advertisement panel near the bottom. There, as if it were just another piece of the display, the corner of a receipt peeked out.
A Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau leaflet.
"Huh?"
It was easy to miss in a normal supermarket scene, but for anyone in the know, it was like a shining beacon.
While my companions murmured behind me, I carefully peeled it off and opened it.
On the back, thick scribbled writing.
Off-Season Winter Camping Mega Sale
Leftmost wall on the 3rd floor. 12th stall.
"I think I know where he is."
I recognized it as a sign left by Agent Bronze.
Under candlelight and fog, we moved quickly.
We practically formed a three-person relay, hustling through the store.
"12th stall, right? The 12th!"
"Yes…!"
Realizing there was a chance we might find a friend, even the high schooler pushed on, determined.
We passed through the eerie, repetitive spaces of the massive store until we reached…
[Off-Season Winter Camping Mega Sale]
It finally appeared.
A display area set up like a camping scene, with tents, a campfire, a burner, chairs—
Screeeak.
One side of the tent slid open. A nervous face peeked out, eyes scanning the area.
"Hey! Kim Jaehoon!"
The high schooler who'd stayed with me dashed forward from the circle of candlelight. It made sense.
He'd come in looking for this friend, the one Agent Bronze had taken along.
"O-Ohhhhh!"
"Are you okay?"
"Hiic, waaahhh…"
Both kids clung to each other, crying. I tensed a moment—shouting outside the candle's protection might attract danger—but nothing happened.
'Agent Bronze must've set something up.'
Thank goodness. With that in mind, Go Yeongeun and I relaxed a little and walked over.
"Shall we put out the candle for a moment?"
"Yes, let's."
We followed the veteran agent's lead to a safe zone.
"Sniff…"
It took a few minutes for the two high schoolers to calm down. The one who'd been with Agent Bronze looked like he'd been through a lot, but he wasn't badly hurt or exhausted.
'He must've been well looked after.'
That's the difference between a rookie rescuer and a veteran, I guess. Feeling a little guilty, I watched the two high schoolers.
The one I'd been taking care of, effectively fine now thanks to Nostalgia Candy, forced a smile.
"I'm just glad you made it out okay, too."
"…Yeah."
...
Something felt off.
I noticed the boy rescued by Agent Bronze displayed signs of fear and panic. Granted, he'd been wandering this ghost story for days. But even so, his anxiety seemed… more pronounced.
Go Yeongeun leaned in and whispered to me.
"Agent Grapes, that high schooler isn't who you were looking for, right?"
"…Right."
"Then… where's that agent?"
"..."
An unsettling feeling crept up my spine.
'No way.'
I locked eyes with the high schooler Agent Bronze had been guiding. He flinched, as if scared.
The reason we'd come here, after all…
"Where's the agent?"
"..."
Sitting in the tent, the boy's eyes brimmed with tears again.
"That agent… h-he got spotted by employees…! Th, there were dozens of them, all at once…!"
"…!"
"A-And… I think he was caught."
...
"They… the employees… must've dragged him off somewhere, hiic…"
After three days trapped in the Looky Mart ghost story, Agent Bronze… had already been reduced to mere 'store supply.'