Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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The eerie mart just before closing time.
The store darkens as the lights flicker out.
Na na na na, na na na na na, na na na~
In the midst of the cheerful logo jingle echoing through, I could feel the high schooler whose mouth I was covering breathing raggedly through the vibrations.
Tension coils my body tight.
And beyond the noise-like music and the vibrations, from far off, a tiny friction sound gnaws at my nerves...
Screeeeech.
The sound of the steel door opening.
And in a mart where there's glass doors, not steel...
'...The staff area door.'
That's the sound of the employees coming out.
'Ha.'
I swallow a rising groan and turn my head, peeking out slightly from the display shelf to look outside...
Waddle waddle.
Things in mart uniforms are emerging one by one into the dark store interior...
Employees with grotesque shapes mimicking human forms made from balloons waddle out.
The Looky Mart logo mimicking Lucky Mart.
The clumsy imitation on their chests and hats glows briefly under the fluorescent lights before vanishing into the darkness.
That instant.
"Hurry up and go, they're closing."
"Got it."
Someone passed right by the display shelf where we were hiding, heading to the checkout in the liquor aisle.
"...!"
A couple of shoppers still in the store from the past.
Then... one of the 'employees' entering the liquor corner lightly bumped into them.
Thud.
"Ah, sorry about that."
The employee's head swiveled around.
"Welcome to Looky Mart!"
"Let's hurry."
"Thank you always, customer!"
The shoppers felt no sense of wrongness.
They passed the employee and headed to checkout together.
I could feel the high schooler's mouth, covered by my hand, gasping for breath.
"Goodbye, customer!"
The head-swiveling employee-thing creaked out of the liquor corner.
And waddled down the aisle again with strange steps...
In front of the snack aisle.
Right next to the display shelf where we were crouching, heads down, hiding.
Squeak squeak.
"......"
"......"
A grotesque noise like balloons rubbing together.
All four of us pressed nearly to the floor, holding our breath.
Squeak squeak.
The sound... faded away...
"......"
'Ha.'
Tap tap!
The high schooler tapped my hand covering her mouth.
Her face was tear-streaked but calm.
"You won't scream, right?"
She nodded faintly.
As I released my hand, the high schooler muttered breathlessly, like she was on the verge of passing out.
"Th-those weird employees, we can't get spotted by them, right? Right? The guide said..."
Yes.
After closing at Looky Mart, the employees mimic business while acting strangely.
If spotted by one, all the employees on that floor come chasing.
To survive in Looky Mart after business hours, we'd have to move like in a survival horror game from now on.
But... could we stay safe dragging around two clueless teens?
'No matter how I look at it, the gear I got doesn't seem prepared for that.'
It felt like they gave us gear assuming we'd get out during business hours today.
Of course, being the Disaster Management Bureau, they had some contingencies, but there were way too many variables no matter how I thought about it.
'Damn.'
Cold sweat drips down my chin.
Should we just hold out for now? What was the Bronze Agent planning? Probably hiding first?
Wait!
'That guy's... trying to take down an employee...'
The Bronze Agent gripped his pistol, silently glaring at the receding employee's back.
He seemed to have an escape route planned, but that employee was in the way.
...Should I help subdue it?
If Brown were here, I'd ask him to kill the lights, but useless options like that came to mind first, and I bit my tongue.
'Think, think...'
I desperately racked my brain. Frantically flipping through my memories of the [Darkness Exploration Records].
So, Looky Mart after closing...
......
No.
"Agent...!"
I crawled over to the Bronze Agent and urgently whispered.
"There are still 5 minutes until closing. Business isn't fully over yet!"
"...!"
"The doors should still be open right now."
We can just get out now!
The Bronze Agent whipped his head to check beyond the B1 checkout. Confirming the escalator outside was still running, he quickly decided.
"Move now."
He swiftly grabbed the high schooler stuck to him and started moving fast.
"...!"
Right. One at a time.
I turned to the high schooler whose mouth I'd been covering.
She frantically shook her head.
"I'll run on my own, I'm faster than that one...!"
"......"
Should I have looked a bit more reliable? No, not the time for that!
I started running behind her, herding her so she wouldn't lag.
We dash past the empty checkout, crossing the escalator packed with shoppers like mad.
"Ah!"
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Must've slipped."
Unaware, we weave through the shoppers toward the exit just before closing.
And at the 1F entrance...
"......"
Something's standing in front of the door.
It used to be the A-frame sign.
The classic blonde middle-aged white man, Lucky Mart's founder and famous entrepreneur, flashing a trustworthy smile and thumbs-up.
But...
It's alive.
-Mmph!! Mmgh mmgh! Mmph! Mmmph!
The person forcibly flattened and fixed like a signboard looked like a corpse crushed in a press machine, now moving.
Smiling, but eyeballs rolling, tears and drool spilling.
It's watching us.
...It recognizes us.
Eyes rolling desperately toward us, as if begging for rescue or maliciously wanting to pass on the pain, the signboard vibrates... Fuck!
"Eek."
"Quiet."
I see the Bronze Agent ahead calming his assigned high schooler.
How convenient the word 'ghost' is. To describe something like that with one word.
'This is insane.'
Still, I have to 'block' that thing's vision.
'To do that, first...'
I need to induce a misperception.
Suppressing a groan, I grabbed my assigned high schooler's shoulder.
"You read the guide, right? Steal something. Everyone has to do it themselves."
"But if we get caught..."
"Steal something that won't get noticed."
I glanced at the entrance.
Not many people, but with closing announcements, everyone was rushing to checkout or out the door.
'Even without blocking vision, we could slip out in that crowd.'
Of course, no intention of gambling on that.
"Fishing line."
"Yes."
I immediately pulled out the item I had.
A coiled fishing line... and at the end, a small red goldfish-shaped lure.
Steal an item immediately, then use this to draw the signboard's gaze and exit.
The Bronze Agent and I could alternate to buy time for the two high schoolers to get out.
The Bronze Agent uncoiled his fishing line, prepped it, and gave a nod.
"Steal yours."
I nodded and turned to the two high schoolers.
"W-we can't steal..."
"Kids. They can't see us anyway, so as long as it's not something huge that'll be noticed missing right away, it's fine."
People don't usually think much about stuff already bagged or boxed going missing.
'The least likely to check... something like that...'
Small-volume daily necessities.
Stuff bought out of need but not cared about much.
Things not immediately used or eaten.
"......"
I approached a shopper sitting on a chair near the entrance.
'Won't move, even better.'
Seemed to be waiting for companions, mart eco-bag on their lap, eyes closed briefly.
I quickly scanned the eco-bag.
'Perfect.'
And slipped my hand inside, pulling out what was stuck there.
Dental floss.
"A few more inside."
"...!"
"I loosened the others while taking this one, so just grab lightly. Lightly."
"......"
My assigned high schooler swallowed hard, then reached out with a pale face and slipped it into the eco-bag.
And successfully snatched the floss I'd placed on top.
"...I-it worked!"
"Good job!"
The high schooler retreated, face flushed, clutching the floss.
And we both turned to the remaining one.
The high schooler with the Bronze Agent.
"......"
Finally, she approached with a tense expression.
"Calmly now..."
"I know, seriously! Be quiet!"
"......"
She's almost in full panic.
Having yelled at me, the high schooler squeezed her eyes shut, eager to finish quick, and thrust her hand in.
Then yanked out the floss.
"Done..."
The high schooler pulled her hand out triumphantly.
Wait, pulling too fast like that...
Thud.
Her hand grazed the shopper's cheek.
"Mommy!!"
"...!!"
The shopper with the eco-bag on their lap freaked out and toppled backward off the chair.
"Wh-what?!"
The high schooler reflexively grabbed the eco-bag in shock.
"M-Mom, what's wrong, you okay... Ack!"
A companion rushed over to grab the bag and help the shopper, then freaked seeing the bag held by the high schooler.
'Damn it!'
I yanked the high schooler back. The eco-bag hit the floor, spilling contents everywhere.
The owner screamed.
"There was, a person here, now gone!"
Murmurs spread around.
Eyes gathering.
"What nonsense. You saw wrong..."
"No, Dad! The bag was weird!"
"Some boy was holding my bag! Wh-what?!"
Damn.
If that's all, it's hopeful.
However...
"Hey! Someone help!"
"Huh? What day is it? What day was today? Why am I here? Huh?!"
"Run."
The Bronze Agent and I shoved the high schoolers simultaneously and bolted the opposite way from the entrance.
...From the escalator, the far end of checkout, the bathroom, things started waddling out.
Squeak squeak.
The sound rings out.
Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak.
A bizarre creaking like balloons rubbing madly chases our backs.
More and more.
Reflexively, we sprinted toward the wide, complex area.
...Inside the checkouts, into the store's display shelves.
'Damn.'
I checked my watch.
It's over.
Closing time soon.
'We have to hide.'
Entrance is off-limits for now.
Before business fully ends, shoppers all leave, and more employees appear, we need to shake them in 60 seconds. To do that, hide...
'Four people is too many!'
I locked eyes with the Bronze Agent.
He glanced up once with a nod, then darted aside quickly.
Taking one high schooler.
"Ah...!"
"This way."
I moved with my assigned high schooler.
Run till our lungs burn. And from behind, the mad squeaking persists but definitely lessened.
'More went toward the Bronze Agent...!'
He deliberately lured them. Grateful regardless, I ran like hell.
Vacuum cleaners, cosmetics, dishes, kitchenware, bleach...
All sorts of display shelves repeat in the massive mart...
Encounter an employee.
'Fuck.'
Squeak squeak.
Chasing. Each time, I instantly switched directions with the high schooler and ran again.
"Huff."
The high schooler started panting hard.
Blood tastes in my mouth too.
But the giant mart seemed an endless maze spitting out employees and corners...
'Damn!'
Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak.
Rounded display corners countless times.
'This won't work.'
A place to hide our bodies.
Catch a moment unseen by employees, quickly, no prep, a spot for two to hide immediately!
And rounding another corner.
'...!'
I saw it.
Mobile display rack.
'Found it.'
I shoved the high schooler under the massive mobile rack piled with mixers. Slid in myself and pressed close.
And clamped my mouth shut.