Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: High Schooler Trapped in Lucky Mart
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A high schooler trapped in Lucky Mart.
Jang Minseo, who had requested rescue from the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, clamped her hand over her mouth beneath the mobile display shelf.
Her heart pounded fiercely.
An unnatural sound echoed from right nearby.
The sound of something mimicking an employee moving about.
'Did it see me?'
Me hiding under the shelf.
No, it hadn't been right on my tail, so it probably didn't see.
'I turned the corner and dove right in.'
It probably didn't see... right?
But the sound drew closer.
"Hoo, huuuuh..."
Tears kept flowing.
'Why did I even come here.'
It wasn't to follow her friends. The high schooler inwardly cursed her friends with every obscenity she knew, then stopped—it was pointless.
Terror had already overwhelmed her mind.
The approaching sound grew louder and louder...
It came from right beside her.
Her body froze solid.
Through the gap in the shelf's base, she glimpsed a foot's shadow passing right next to her.
Dozens of feet moving with unnatural gaits, ankles twisted, creaking as they went.
The high schooler held her breath.
But unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it.
Amid the horde of bizarre employee shoes passing the shelf where she hid came a glimpse of something unfamiliar...
Worn sneakers.
"...!"
Through the shuffling grotesque employee shoes, she saw the sneakers being dragged along.
"Sa-save me...!"
The high schooler's hair stood on end from head to toe.
A person.
Someone had been caught.
"I'll pay! I'll pay, the money, money's here, I'm a customer! A customer...!"
"Save me!"
The moment this fact is discovered, the employees no longer see you as a customer and reclassify you.
In most cases, you become mart fixtures.
Clunk.
The high schooler froze.
Then slowly lifted her gaze upward.
...The mobile shelf she hid under was shaking.
Clunk clunk clunk.
The employees had surrounded the shelf.
And then...
"Aaaah!"
The blender's roar and screams began echoing through the shelf.
"What a fine product, isn't it?"
The high schooler realized.
They were mimicking a promotional demo.
Using the missing person as a fixture, grinding them alive in the blender.
"Uuugh."
The high schooler covered her mouth. Fortunately or unfortunately, the blender noise and screams drowned out her sound.
"Aaaah! Haaah, aaauuugh!!"
"Thank you always, customer!"
"What a fine product, isn't it?"
"Welcome to Lucky Mart!"
Pleading, screams, blender whir, screams, employee greetings, screams, blender— I can't take it anymore, I'm going to scream, I have to get out, tell me the way out! Guide me...
Something gripped her shoulder firmly.
"...!"
A hot body temperature and the vibration of a trembling hand.
It was the agent's hand that had pushed her under the shelf.
The one who came after her rescue request.
"......Hngh."
The high schooler's breathing slowly steadied.
In the cacophony that threatened to drive her mad or make her faint, she clung to that body heat, hiding under the shelf for what felt like dozens of hours but was only dozens of minutes.
The blender sounds and employees' repetitive pitches continued, but the screams vanished at some point.
And then...
"......"
The top of the shelf fell silent.
The promo mimicry had ended.
"......"
The sounds gradually faded away.
The feet visible through the floor gap, the dragged sneakers—no shadows remained in sight...
"......"
"......"
"It's safe now."
"Hngh."
At the agent's words after checking outside, the high schooler let out a long sigh and began sniffling again.
The bespectacled agent watched her with a complicated expression.
"......"
For reference, their ages were similar.
'This is insane...'
Yes.
Rookie agent Kim Sol-eum was left alone with the high schooler he had to rescue...
'Splitting up was the right call, I think.'
It was too scary...!
The sound of a person being ground alive— he had a strong premonition he'd meet it again in his dreams. Kim Sol-eum's back was already soaked with cold sweat.
'I nearly passed out.'
But he couldn't show it. A terrified 15-year-old was clinging to his side!
"W-what do we do now? Hic... sniff..."
"It's okay. You're fine."
Kim Sol-eum spoke to the high schooler as gently as possible.
He'd dropped formal speech sometime ago, but he wasn't in a state to care, and he judged a friendly adult tone would reassure her better.
'...In Sangeun-nim's ghost story, the security captain played a bigger role than expected.'
But seeing the still anxious high schooler, he opened his mouth again.
"Want me to tell you a secret?"
"......"
The high schooler was still catching her breath, tears streaming, but the word 'secret' made her look up unwittingly.
And the agent really shared the 'secret'.
"Truth is, I'm the agent who knows this mart best."
"...Really?"
"Yeah."
But the high schooler felt a pang of pathos amid her fear.
'Anyone could tell he was a total newbie.'
Glasses, messy hair, mumbling speech.
Compared to the sharp, competent senior agent, he was like the bumbling sidekick next to a superhero.
But the other seemed desperate to reassure her, pressing on.
"I researched it really hard. What’s dangerous, what isn’t. I know stuff the other agents don’t."
Messy hair. Their eyes met beneath the glasses.
'Huh?'
Not the awkward gaze he'd expected—instead, a cool, precise glint appeared and vanished.
"......"
For some reason.
All his words rang true.
"So I'll find the safest, fastest way out of this situation."
"Th-there's still a way out...?"
"Of course."
Though half the options were insane gambles with higher death odds—but that was the problem.
Kim Sol-eum swallowed the afterthought and added something more useful.
"Remember the other stuff on the back of the notice? Advice after closing time."
"......Yeah."
High schooler Jang Minseo recited the read text as if entranced.
2nd floor.
This was the 1st.
"Um, so we just need to go up one floor to there...?"
"Exactly. The other agent and your friend must've gone up too, so don't worry."
"......Okay."
His firm tone somehow reassured her, and the high schooler swallowed, calming down.
The agent checked outside, then pulled out.
"...Good. Safe now. Let's go."
"Sniff, yeah."
The high schooler accepted his support without refusal and carefully extricated herself from under the shelf...
"Ah!"
She hurriedly covered her mouth.
Fortunately, it wasn't loud. But the culprit remained.
'My ankle...'
It throbbed.
She must've twisted it diving under while running.
"...Ankle hurt?"
"Yeah......"
"......"
Kim Sol-eum's mind raced.
And reached a chilling conclusion.
'Can't give her an item now.'
It wouldn't fit in this ghost story.
A strong painkiller like Happy Maker might make her thrash her leg wildly, worsening it to immobility.
Nostalgia Candy... no.
'Food.'
This rule applied even to non-mart foodstuffs.
Lucky Mart 'employees' couldn't tell the difference.
Even shoving someone into his tattoo might leave contamination or bizarre mutations—who knew—and it'd be hard to explain to the Bureau.
"......"
The high schooler couldn't know this, but seeing the silent agent, a chill of unease crept up her spine.
'No way...'
Abandoning her?
Thought she was too hard to rescue? Or grim visions of carrying her and both getting caught swirled in her head...
"Don't worry. We'll move without running."
A firm voice anchored her.
The high schooler looked up.
"Head to the escalator first."
"......"
"But not the up escalator. The down one from the 2nd floor. Got it?"
Since closing, they'd be stopped anyway—did direction even matter?
Still, why specifically the one descending from 2nd?
"...Yeah."
But she nodded instead of asking.
The agent supported her, and they began moving cautiously...
"Say it right away if you hear employee sounds."
"Yes...!"
The high schooler avoided looking at the shelf she'd hidden under.
Straining her ears for employee noises, she followed the agent very carefully.
She winced in pain several times but endured.
The agent calmly led her past the checkout counters to the halted escalators. She followed as quickly as she could.
But upon arrival...
One escalator was running.
The very one connecting to the 2nd floor—their destination.
"...!"
Mimicking 'inspection' of the escalator.
But with its head twisted sideways blankly staring down, the employee's silhouette on the escalator was grotesque and wrong.
And that shape... approached along the operating downward escalator.
Upside down.
Run, ru...
"No need to run."
Kim Sol-eum drew an item from his belt.
A fishing line with a red goldfish model at the end.
'...Right after closing, they inspected the 2nd-to-1st down escalator.'
So he'd come specifically to the one under inspection.
Originally meant to bypass exits easily, but... no other way now.
Pity, but no choice.
'Use it now.'
Kim Sol-eum cast the line.
Whoosh.
Defying physics, like hooked to a rod, the transparent wire flew up to the escalator.
And snagged the ad panel.
"...!"
The line wrapped the panel, dangling below.
And at the end, swaying... the red bait.
The moment it entered the descending employee's view.
"...!"
The employee's silhouette stirred.
Toward the bait.
Against the escalator's flow, climbing up.
Kim Sol-eum carefully reeled the line. His sweaty palms slick, but it obeyed.
The bait shifted from the ad panel's center to the side.
Further.
To the escalator's left end.
The employee staggered after it.
Then, pressed to the side, head poking past the handrail...
Kim Sol-eum released the line.
Whip.
The line uncoiled, dropping from the panel. As the red bait fell between the escalators...
Thud.
The employee plunged headfirst between them.
Having thrown its head after the bait.
"Gasp...!"
"Hurry. Before it gets out."
The agent started moving immediately.
"Give me your shoes, use your knees over your feet... crawl up. Quietly."
The high schooler handed over her shoes, got on all fours, and climbed the escalator.
No shame, no physical pain registered.
Just relief that crawling was quieter and out of the bait-watching employee's view...!
Tension choked her in case it popped out, but she successfully reverse-climbed the escalator.
"Hoo."
Tears welled as her arms reached the 2nd floor.
The agent helped her stand.
"Good job."
"Th-thank you..."
Kim Sol-eum glanced emptily at his now-lureless hand several times, then steeled himself and eyed ahead.
2nd floor.
Right atop the escalator loomed... a massive food court.
In the dark store, only the food court's sign glowed eerily, and strangely, cooking sounds emanated.
Patrolling employees...
'None.'
Surprisingly, a relative safe zone.
"You can relax here a bit."
Kim Sol-eum guided the high schooler to a corner bibimbap stand and sat her down.
"Why here specifically...?"
"Safer without meat menu options."
The high schooler swallowed.
The agent seemed serene. He sat her in a chair, letting her catch her breath and rest her ankle...
Hard to believe this was the guy who'd pulled off that escalator stunt.
'...He's amazing.'
Truly, far more skilled and knowledgeable than he looked.
Just as he'd boasted.
Unwittingly, she wanted to impress him and spoke up.
"Um, my name is Jang—"
"Don't."
"...!"
"Best not to share real names here. Be careful."
Gulp.
The high schooler swallowed.
"Th-then, what should I call you, agent?"
"...Call me Grape?"
"Yes, Agent Grape."
The high schooler sank into the chair with a deep sigh of relief.
Was he really an agent? Maybe his awkward look came from pouring all his stats into agent work.
'...We can escape.'
Even with her sprained ankle, she felt hope. Enough to ask in a slightly bolder tone.
"S-so, we're good here, right?"
"Yeah."
Agent Grape nodded.
The high schooler felt profound relief...
"We're good."
It was a lie.
It wasn't enough.
'...Even on 2nd floor, death or disappearance odds remain.'
He feigned calm, but Kim Sol-eum's mind frantically scoured [Darkness Exploration Records] for the relevant entry.
His brain, fresh from crisis, reprioritized and dug data.
'Gotta get out.'
Any irregular like this before?
'Labor Day, early closing, anything...!'
And.
"...!"
Found it.
Kim Sol-eum desperately recalled the case in detail.
Specific numbers and names from vanished records reconstructed in his mind...
"...!"
This was it.
He anxiously dredged more memories.
So, the outcome was...
"......"
No wonder it was vague.
'Just one line.'
Such records abounded.
Fun premises, but detailed follow-ups deemed 'redundant', left to reader imagination and cut.
Simple success/fail notations.
But the implication was clear.
"......Ha."
Rejoin the Bronze Agent,
and in Lucky Mart, oppose whatever he decides.
Convince him to follow my escape plan.
'This is madness.'
No, the difficulty was insane.
Kim Sol-eum stifled a groan, scanning the food court corner where they'd settled, feigning calm.
'Wait.'
The Bronze Agent would come to 2nd floor if he had a plan.
He resolved to think positively.
'Decide when we meet.'
And three days passed.
Kim Sol-eum never encountered the Bronze Agent anywhere in Lucky Mart.