We successfully made a legitimate purchase in this insane supermarket ghost story using gift certificates.
"..."
I picked up my purchased items and steadied the trembling high schooler beside me.
To avoid drawing attention to my empty right sleeve, I casually draped my jacket over my shoulders as we stepped past the checkout counter. One step. Two steps.
And then, taking a deep breath, I turned back—
"…!"
The bizarre distortions of the supermarket had blurred.
The eerie signs, the strange products, the horrifying stains of blood and organs.
They had all faded into the background, as if blurred out from my perception.
Or rather, they no longer seemed unnatural. Everything now appeared… completely normal.
As if we were just ordinary shoppers in an ordinary supermarket.
"Wow."
The high schooler exclaimed in amazement and came to a halt. But at the same time—
"Aigoo."
"...!"
The past shoppers around us had begun to perceive us normally.
"Oh, excuse me."
A shopper apologized after bumping into the high schooler. The student stiffened, stepping back awkwardly.
"I-I'm sorry."
I grabbed the startled high schooler and pulled him aside.
"I told you, don't act surprised."
"Y-Yeah… got it."
He hurriedly clung to my side, but now his eyes were shining.
"So… does this mean we can just walk out now?"
"Yeah."
"Wow…!"
With this, all the complicated escape procedures were skipped.
By using a gift certificate at checkout, we were treated exactly like the past shoppers.
Even if someone broke items or ate food during closed hours, they could pay for it and leave without issue.
"Excuse me, I would like to pay…!"
"Wait a moment."
Just like Go Yeongeun-ssi was doing now.
I listened closely as she stood at the register.
"Customer! You damaged Looky Mart property! Please compensate! Total: 39,900 won!"
"Alright."
Go Yeongeun calmly handed over a 50,000-won gift certificate. The inflated, balloon-like cashier snatched the gift certificate and, with an unnaturally wide smile, returned 10,000 won as change.
Then, in a flat, monotonous voice, the cashier asked, "Ah, would you like me to ring up this gum as well?"
"...Yes."
Only after that transaction was complete did the items she had picked out get processed normally.
Huu. I let out a sigh of relief.
As expected.
'…Nothing beats this method when you don't know when the store will open again.'
By paying for past mistakes, we could leave cleanly, without incident. And… to be completely honest.
If Looky Mart had remained closed for over a week, someone in our group would have made a mistake sooner or later.
Me. The high schoolers. Even Go Yeongeun.
'…My personal supplies wouldn't have lasted forever.'
Eating food in the stairwell was only an option if we had food. Once my stash ran out, we would have no choice but to steal from the supermarket. And eventually, someone would get caught.
Which meant… they'd be turned into store supplies.
'I'm just glad we avoided that outcome.'
I looked forward with renewed determination.
Once the student Agent Bronze had been protecting finished checking out, Go Yeongeun waited for him and walked out of the checkout line together. Safe.
"…We made it through. Thank you."
"It was nothing."
Now, all that remained was…
"Agent Bronze."
We signaled to the two remaining people still standing at the registers. Ryu Jaekwan and Lee Soobin.
The two who had been chosen to use the emergency escape item—the fivecolored shoelaces.
– Agent Bronze, you most likely wouldn't be able to leave using a gift certificate within the 100,000-won limit.
– And… it's best if that student leaves with you. …The one who went missing first.
Agent Bronze had already been processed as 'store supplies'. The cost of restoring him through normal checkout was far beyond 100,000 won—making it impossible for him to leave that way.
And as for Lee Soobin, he was the earliest victim of this ghost story.
Meaning, he was the second person confirmed for emergency escape. Among us, he had been missing the longest, and we had no way of knowing how much 'debt' he had accrued to the supermarket. On top of that, without the Nostalgia Candy, he could barely move due to the sheer mental shock.
'Not like we could steal that item anyway.'
Whether the shoelace's 'spiritual power' had been used or not could be tracked by the Dokkaebi Workshop.
Which meant it was better to use it wisely.
I spoke quickly.
"You should leave now."
"..."
Agent Bronze met my gaze in silence, then said, "You go first."
Ah.
"Once I confirm you're safely out, I'll immediately—"
"Can you leave?!"
"…!!"
Someone suddenly lunged toward Agent Bronze.
A woman in her forties, drooling as she stumbled forward… Or rather, someone who had once been a housewife. She was contaminated. Her eyes had become unnatural, and instead of arms, her sleeves ended in mannequin hands.
A long-term missing person.
"You can get out?? You're talking to them?! Hahaha! Let's go out! Let's go ouuuutttt~!"
…She had realized Agent Bronze was with us.
'I thought we could just check out and leave without an issue…'
Causing a commotion with normal shoppers would draw in employees, which usually prevented the missing persons from interfering. But that assumption had been too logical.
Once someone is corrupted by the ghost story, their desires can become twisted.
For example…
A single-minded, obsessive urge to escape.
"I wanna leave too! I wanna leave toooooo!! Give it! Give me the gift certificate!!"
The surrounding shoppers turned to look.
The cashier's gaze fell on us.
"CUSTOMER! YOU HAVE DAMAGED LOOKYMARTPROPERTY!COMPENSATIONREQUIRED!TOTAL:5,208,2 40 WON!"
'No, this can't happen.'
At the very least, if we had to run, we could leave these people behind—but those two couldn't get caught.
I dashed back into the store, blocking the cashier's view as I shouted—
"Go! Now!"
Without hesitation, Agent Bronze subdued the missing woman, pushing her aside just long enough to grab the high schooler and tie the shoelaces. Then—three steps.
"Hhhahhh— Scary! Scary! Let me leave!"
"PAY COMPENSATION!"
With panicked screams and the cashier's distorted voice as the backdrop, the two of them vanished, as if they had been erased from existence.
Phase 1 Escape : Ryu Jaekwan, Lee Soobin / Success.
But we had no time to catch our breath.
"Can you leave? Can you leave?!"
"I wanna go too!! They have money!!"
With attention drawn, other long-term missing persons began to mutter— Emerging from behind displays, escalators, and restroom corners. I sprinted toward the counter, yelling—
"The candle! The candle!!"
Go Yeongeun had already drawn it, pulling the high schoolers behind her.
"Get out!"
The three of them ran toward the exit. Then… Go Yeongeun shoved only the two high schoolers through the glass doors.
The moment they stepped outside, they vanished.
Phase 2 Escape : Jang Minseo, Hyeon Jaehoon / Success.
They had returned.
Then, Go Yeongeun bolted back inside.
"Noroo! Grapes!! Whatever you're doing—!!"
She frantically waved at me while gripping the candle.
I rushed into the glow of the flame.
But by now, the storefront and checkout area had turned into pure chaos.
More long-term missing persons were appearing, whispering, approaching. And the 'employees' had begun reacting to the strange situation, turning toward us, ready to confiscate more 'supplies.'
"Get out now!"
I really wanted to.
But this was the moment I had been waiting for.
The moment where only two people remained— A spy and an insider.
"Wait—just a moment."
"What now—?!"
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the remaining gift certificates.
"Let's use up the rest of the gift certificates before we go."
"…!!"
I quickly stepped back inside the checkout area.
From the moment I realized we'd have leftover balance, I had been planning for this.
The strange products sold in this supermarket.
Just like how I had obtained items from the Death Lane and the alien shop ghost stories, this was still a supermarket ghost story. That meant there had to be peculiar, abnormal items hidden among the shelves.
'But among them, there must be useful ones.'
After all, that's what made it interesting.
And those items couldn't be obtained by stealing from the past shoppers. Since they were merely repeating their previous actions, all their purchases were just ordinary household goods.
Which meant I had to find them and purchase them myself.
'I need to find them fast.'
Before the people who had already escaped started questioning things. And before I'd get caught up in the chaos…!
'Hurry!'
I frantically scanned the store.
Since it was May, the Children's Day event section on the first floor was packed with toys, and that actually made it easier to find the 'strange products'.
They appeared blurred, almost as if intentionally hidden from perception. The 'special edition products' of the Looky Mart ghost story. I saw a train model, a donut float, a clay set. But I didn't pick them up.
'Something safe.'
I didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
If possible, I wanted an item I had already read about in the exploration logs of this supermarket's ghost story.
The problem was that most of the descriptions I remembered were only a few words long, and it wouldn't be easy to match them with the exact products.
'Identify it.'
I clenched my teeth and searched both my memory and the shelves at the same time. If I could find something I already knew about…
"..."
Wait.
'That one.'
I spotted an event display piled with plush toys.
And among them, some were blurred.
I stepped closer and focused past the distortion to get a better look.
A white lizard plushie.
The exact same one that had been sitting on Section Chief Lee Jaheon's desk in D-squad's office.
"…!!"
I grabbed the plushie.
"Have you chosen?"
"Yeah. What about you, Yeongeun-ssi?"
Go Yeongeun nodded.
She was holding a small item in her hand.
"Let's go."
We rushed back to the checkout counter, each clutching our chosen 'items'. Behind us, the long-term missing persons were being turned into store supplies.
The amounts demanded of them were so absurdly high that they weren't even worth considering.
"Total comes to 28,000 won."
In the blink of an eye, we had checked out our items and gasped for breath as we hurried toward the exit.
"…If the Bureau doesn't ask, let's just not mention this."
"...Agreed. …Thank you."
Rather than testing the last bit of Go Yeongeun's patience, I obediently ran alongside her toward the supermarket entrance.
"I'm putting out the candle!"
"Yes!"
And then—
We pushed open the exit doors.
'Ha.'
Maybe it was because we had been trapped inside for days, but my stomach churned. I kept second-guessing whether I had made a mistake somewhere.
'Let's go.'
I gritted my teeth and forced myself forward.
The once distorted promotional stand barely registered in my vision anymore. What lay ahead was the glass doors, and beyond them, the past landscape.
For a moment, I felt a brief terror. What if we were about to walk into the past?
But…
'Ignore it.'
Go Yeongeun and I stepped forward.
The automatic doors slid open smoothly.
Ding.
We ran.
Forward, forward.
A chill breeze struck my face, followed by the blinding sunlight. I blinked.
"Ha."
Slowly, the brightness faded.
And with my restored vision, I saw…
A familiar street bathed in late winter sunlight.
A quiet alleyway from the 2020s.
And ahead of us, the people who had escaped before us.
"…!"
"A-Agent…!!"
The high schoolers ran toward us.
Their faces were streaked with tears and snot, but their expressions were filled with pure relief.
Seeing them, it finally felt real.
'We made it out.'
Phase 3 Escape: Go Yeongeun, Kim Soleum / Success.
We're finally free.