Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Have to Go to Work
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The Bronze Agent, dragged away by the employees.
I could easily picture what his future held.
After all, I'd witnessed a similar case on my very first day.
-Aaaack! Aaaaaack!
Just thinking back to that 'fixture' being ground up alive in the mixer still sent cold sweat trickling down my spine.
But to think that the veteran agent we'd been searching for over the past three days might have met the same fate...
The high schooler in charge of the Bronze Agent spat out the details of the previous situation like vomit.
"At first... I felt a bit relieved..."
On the first day, the agent had led the rescuees here to this store's tent, then gone around 'clearing' the area and taking some kind of measures.
The anomaly happened the next day.
"Normally... over there, that way."
"...Us, you mean?"
"Yeah. It seemed like he was looking for you guys."
But the Bronze Agent had stumbled upon something completely unrelated to me.
"Th-that thing came out...!"
That thing?
Everyone turned their heads in the direction the high schooler pointed, but there was only the tent ceiling there.
"Ugh!"
Then the kid stood up and went outside the tent, opening the flap of the neighboring one.
And there, lying inside in a school uniform, a figure was revealed...
"...?!"
"Lee Soo-bin!"
My assigned high schooler shot to his feet and rushed into that tent. He turned back to me urgently and said,
"Th-this is the one we were looking for! Lee Soo-bin!"
Ah.
The friend who had gone missing first, prompting these high schoolers to come searching.
"S-Soo-bin?"
The high schooler called out to his friend repeatedly.
But 'Lee Soo-bin' didn't react. Lying in the tent, staring blankly at the empty air with her mouth agape... she already looked like her soul had flown away.
'...Because the disappearance dragged on too long.'
Scratches everywhere, bruises all over her body.
It was a heartbreaking sight.
But now I had a better idea why the Bronze Agent hadn't shown up for days.
"...Where did the agent find her?"
"I-I don't know. He suddenly brought her in and said he'd found her. Said she was wearing the same uniform..."
Having to handle two minors who needed rescuing would naturally limit his movements even more.
He probably spent those two days caring for them, waiting for the store to reopen...
...While also waiting for me to arrive safely at this store.
"...So, when exactly did the agent disappear?"
"Today... around dawn?"
"......"
More recent than I'd thought.
"Suddenly a bunch of employees came swarming in, and, uh, anyway, he got caught."
"He wasn't badly hurt or anything. Just 'taken,' right?"
"How would I know! ...B-but yeah, something like that."
In that case...
"F-fuck, we're screwed, right? We're all gonna die? Huh? The ability user's gone. You're the newbie, right? The agent said so."
"Hey, watch your mouth! Are you crazy?"
"......"
My assigned high schooler freaked out and came over, scolding his friend while glancing nervously at me and Go Yeongeun.
The high schooler from the Bronze Agent's side sniffled, swallowing hard as he hung his head.
"A-anyway... we're done for."
"No."
"...!"
Go Yeongeun stated firmly.
"We're not done. You have a safe place to hold out, and new adults to help—it's actually better now."
"Ah..."
"If you act recklessly thinking it's over, you'll lose even the chances you have. To get out safely, we all need to cooperate fully. Got it?"
"......"
The two high schoolers nodded.
Shame and regret showed on the face of the one who'd yelled at us.
...It suddenly struck me that Go Yeongeun might be better suited to the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau than Daydream Corporation.
"Whew."
After calming the kids, we stepped out of the tent for a moment.
Go Yeongeun let out a short sigh, swallowed, and spoke to me.
"...That wasn't just to soothe the kids. I think we need to believe it too."
"I agree."
And besides.
I hesitated, then whispered to Go Yeongeun,
Something I'd been mulling over since hearing the high schooler's words.
"About my senior agent who got taken... he might still be alive."
"...!"
That's right.
Missing people processed into fixtures could be used right away if they fit an employee's routine, if luck was bad.
'But usually, they wait in line for use.'
Like proper fixtures.
The employees mimicked mart staff, so they stored fixtures according to protocol.
The place where they stockpiled those items.
Somewhere inside the staff area of the mart...
"He might be in the Fixture Warehouse."
...That kind of entry was common in the [Darkness Exploration Records].
But thinking again, it meant missing people could still attempt escape. They were alive, with reason and stamina intact.
'There were rare cases of escape too.'
If they had special items or abilities.
...Of course, many cases where they'd already been 'processed' into their fixture form...
But the important thing was this.
This group had that 'special item' capable of accessing the Fixture Warehouse.
"......"
I looked at the soft-textured lump Go Yeongeun held, its candle now extinguished.
Mysterious Candle.
It took three people to make, but one could carry it.
'If we could just light the candle...'
But for some reason, I couldn't light that 'modern person'-only candle flame. So I couldn't carry the item alone.
"Agent."
"Let's go."
"...!"
"Two heads are better than one, two pairs of hands... better odds."
Go Yeongeun glanced at my arm with a face that couldn't quite smile and nodded.
...It seemed like a concession, considering I could only move normally by relying on Nostalgia Candy.
"Thank you."
"I should be thanking you. I'd be dead on those stairs without you."
She shuddered briefly, as if imagining it.
"Anyway, let's go. ...To find your senior agent."
I nodded.
We're going to find the Bronze Agent.
The high schoolers' reactions were intense when they heard that.
"Wait, if both of you go, what about us? Employees might come. If we're alone..."
"It's fine."
I calmly placed a hand on the high schooler's shoulder.
"...Another agent already took measures before leaving."
This store was surely chosen because employees rarely appeared here.
But with long-term missing people potentially attacking anytime, he'd covered that too.
'...That thing.'
I spotted an item that looked like a kids' good-luck pebble pressing down on the tent's fixing pin.
The item's description came to mind: Place these stones around a space up to a certain size, and they'll protect it from malevolent forces.
Contaminated long-term missing people would likely pass by without noticing the store.
...The bitter part was that if the agent had just stayed put inside, he wouldn't have been taken.
"You'll... come back, right?"
"Of course. We'll bring the agent and come straight back."
I spat out a Nostalgia Candy for my assigned high schooler, advising him to rest easy and pop it in his mouth if anything happened.
Fortunately, despite his uneasy expression, he followed the advice.
Whoosh.
Go Yeongeun relit the candle, and I slipped into the mist and her shadow behind it.
"...The candle's burned down about a third."
"......"
We had to move as fast as possible.
We set off into the vast 3rd floor aisles, now so familiar it was eerie.
'...The agent was taken from the 3rd floor.'
So we'd need to find a door in the 3rd floor wall again.
"What kind of door exactly?"
"The announcement played before closing. And at the same time... those balloon-like employees poured out."
"...Yes."
"The door that opened then."
But this time, we didn't have to search ourselves.
Beep-beep-beep.
"......Let's follow."
"......"
We trailed one employee moving with hollow eyes, squeaking along.
The employee wandering the 3rd floor soon...
'Patrol routine' imitation ended, and it returned to where it came from.
[Staff Area]
The steel door leading to the space used by staff.
"......"
"......"
Creeeak.
The door opened.
There were similar doors everywhere, but like an anthill, they'd all connect via corridors to one space.
We had to find the Fixture Warehouse there.
We held our breath and slipped inside with the employee just before the steel door closed.
And the sight of the inner staff space that greeted us like an onslaught...
"Gasp."
Go Yeongeun clamped her hand over her mouth.
Under bright incandescent lights, countless employees were stacked vertically, crumpled up.
Not the grotesque ones from after closing, but employees who looked like normal people.
Piled up, squished in—that's how they were stored.
In that bright, modern space that seemed so everyday, human bodies were casually layered and folded away...
"...Looks like the ones working during business hours. Hic,"
Go Yeongeun swallowed dry heaves to steady her breathing.
They even mimicked shift changes.
I didn't want to imagine how those squished people emerged in normal form to work during hours.
Revulsion rose in my throat, but I moved forward.
Without the candle or Nostalgia Candy, I'd have given up...
Beep-beep.
The employee started moving again.
"...Shall we follow for now."
"Yes."
Our footsteps echoed faintly in the staff area. Nerves on edge.
Trusting only the candle, we advanced cautiously.
"...I've memorized the way I came in. For now... don't worry."
"...Yes."
Two of us memorizing meant one hazy memory could be covered.
We pressed on, holding our breath.
Employees, employee scraps, half-employees, repeating eerie noises and greetings—every sight made my pores prickle.
But we had to watch our surroundings. To find the warehouse.
'I can do this... I can, do this.'
Through corridors, break rooms, warehouses jumbled in bizarre continuity, we finally...
[Fixture Storage]
Found the space with that sign, covered in clinging employees.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
The one we'd followed joined them.
"Ha."
Go Yeongeun swallowed, staring at the steel door obscured by employees.
"...We slip in when an employee opens it..."
That was when.
Clunk.
The Fixture Warehouse door opened from inside.
"...!"
A few employees who'd gone in were coming out, carrying 'fixtures.'
And among them, I spotted a familiar face.
"Th-that one..."
A young man in agent uniform, large build, being carried by two employees.
The Bronze Agent.
But he had no legs.
"......"
Chills crawled over my hands and feet.
"Maybe..."
"Yes."
Apparently, the Bronze Agent had been processed into a mannequin.
No bleeding was the only mercy, but he already looked unconscious, eyes closed.
"Sh-should we approach first."
"...Yes."
We stuck close to the two employees carrying the Bronze Agent.
But even as we followed, my mind went blank wondering what to do.
'Damn it.'
Is he still alive...?
Call out? But even protected by the candle, is it safe to make noise right next to employees?
Creeeak.
Meanwhile, the two employees carried the Bronze Agent out of the staff area.
This was actually better.
I steeled myself and acted boldly.
"...Can you stick really close?"
"......"
Go Yeongeun nodded and quickened her pace to hug right up beside the employees.
Timing it perfectly as an employee entered the mist range, I reached out to the Bronze Agent.
And tapped near his neck.
Tap-tap.
"...!"
Surprisingly, the Bronze Agent's eyes snapped open.
I swallowed.
"...Agent."
That instant.
Pffft.
One employee holding the Bronze Agent deflated like a punctured balloon.
"...!!"
The one behind him crumpled next with a leaking sound. I saw a small, transparent pistol suddenly in the agent's right hand.
'Glass Hand Pistol.'
The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau's issued gear shone in the right hands.
As the agent swung his hand again, the pistol vanished.
"Thank you... customer!"
"Welcoooome..."
The deflating employees muttered bizarre repetitions of greetings.
Something even more grotesque and horrific tried to burst out from within, but the Bronze Agent bound them first.
'Binding Rope.'
Suppression issued item.
His hands moved in a flash, tying the two employees with thin binding ropes, then sitting on them like he was pinning them down.
...To handle two employees like that.
"This'll hold quietly for about 5 minutes."
Trickster-level skill.
...Hard to believe from someone who'd just lost his legs.
"Bronze Agent."
The Bronze Agent looked up at me with a faint smile.
The eyes of someone resolved.
"You made it. Worth holding out."
"......"
"And her?"
His gaze reached Go Yeongeun.
"One of the missing agents who entered first is still alive."
"......"
Go Yeongeun bowed her head.
"...Well done. Glad you're safe."
The Bronze Agent looked at me warmly, like leaving final words. My stomach churned.
"Bronze Agent."
Then he pulled something from inside his agent uniform.
"Take this. For escape."
...Two shoelaces.
Woven with five-colored thread, complex hues, with an oddly glossy texture.
"Exactly two, so you two can go."
"...!"
"Tie them to your shoes and take three steps on your own feet, and you'll exit immediately."
I instinctively glanced at the Bronze Agent's lower body.
...No legs.
He couldn't walk now.
Couldn't use the escape item.
He'd had... no options from the start.
"......I'll look for another way, so you secure yourself."
"......"
"Time's short. Go."
No.
Nostalgia Candy. Give it to him so he can escape...
'Can't.'
I clenched my fist until it went pale.
'Only three left.'
If I give one now for immediate escape... how do we manage with two?
Two of the three high schoolers to rescue couldn't move normally. Wouldn't it be better overall if the agent joined us?
My head felt ready to burst with complexity.
No other way? Another...
"......"
Ah.
Right.
"Agent."
Pretending to pull from my pocket, I took an item from my tattoo space.
A small glass vial filled with light green potion, glowing like new sprouts.
My lifeline.
Pretending to shield it from Go Yeongeun's view, I showed the label to the Bronze Agent.
"Drink this. Regeneration item."
"...!!"
"Wait..."
"It's fine. Verified item."
I quickly signaled Go Yeongeun, who was about to speak.
'...If my guess is right.'
This wasn't just helping his easy escape.
It was a bigger payoff move.
The buildup I needed.
'This is the answer.'
The thrill of finding the most effective solution shot up my spine.
...Suppressing my instinctive fear of loss.
"......"
Go Yeongeun closed her mouth, her expression complicated.
But the Bronze Agent didn't take the potion, instead saying with an unreadable face,
"...Made in your 'home country'?"
"......Yes."
I nodded slightly, forcing a smile.
"Last one. ...I know it might feel iffy. But you have to drink it."
"......"
A strange expression flickered across the agent's face.
Honestly, hard to tell if unease or emotion—complex, but he was conflicted.
And that conflict ended as he reached out.
Tap.
With a short sound, the potion passed to the Bronze Agent.
And he uncorked the regeneration potion, downing it like plugging his mouth.