Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Horror Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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A few days in the chilling mart horror.
Days filled with a shrinking spirit, a severed arm, cold sweat, tension, surprise, and fear.
'Ah.'
My arm hurts.
But it's okay. I've gotten out of there now.
From here on, I can relax......
Or not?
......
Huh?
I think I'm still there.
I raised my head.
Looked around.
The eerie, bizarre darkened mart's second-floor food court came into view.
I...... was still standing there.
"......"
Still here?
Was escaping a dream?
Was escape...... impossible?
Did I judge wrong?
Then why did I cut off my arm?
I...
"...!!"
I opened my eyes.
Sunlight stabbed at them.
A clean, peaceful hospital room. Clear late-winter sunlight streamed through the window.
...Not the mart.
I panted for breath.
Peaceful.
'...Reality.'
Right.
After successfully exiting Lucky Mart, I'd been transported by the ambulance sent from the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
And lost consciousness...
"Ah, you're awake."
"...?!"
Turning my head, I saw someone in agent uniform sitting in the caregiver's chair, peeling an apple.
......?
"Sleep well? You looked like you were having a nightmare."
He had the look of a neat office worker, but strangely, a flashy scar around his neck... an unfamiliar face.
Who is he?
The man who met my eyes offered a slice of peeled apple and winked.
"Nice to meet you, junior~ Thanks to you, I got to enter Lucky Mart and exit in three minutes."
"...!"
Ah.
"Right. The agent you called was me."
To resume mart operations, I'd made one high schooler send a rescue request text to the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
'The dispatch for that was...'
This guy, apparently.
"Heard the story. You thought up the reverse idea of 'opening the mart door'? That's real talent for this kind of work."
"......"
"Aw, don't be embarrassed."
As I quietly lowered my gaze, the beaming man stood from his seat and extended his hand.
"Let me introduce myself first? Hmm, my agent nickname's embarrassing, so I don't use it much..."
Hold on.
This dialogue...
"Just call me Agent Choi."
"......"
Oh my god.
'It's that agent.'
The protagonist of the nearly only concrete exploration record related to the fourth floor that I'd remembered.
The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau agent who'd originally explored Lucky Mart's fourth floor and met a gruesome disappearance.
'Early named character...!'
Yes.
Before the worldview expanded and the setting emerged that 'Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau agents are called by nicknames,' he was a named one.
Agent Choi.
Back in the early days when the Darkness Exploration Records only had government exploration logs without other organizations' data, one of the most active figures.
'...That neck scar.'
I remember how that happened. It was the freezer warehouse horror.
I swallowed hard.
'A regular in famous early exploration records...'
Even though his end was a horrific disappearance.
There was uproar about whether it was okay to make an early named character vanish so gruesomely, but despite backlash and tears, it passed as 'proper horror story worldview.'
However...
'...Hasn't it changed?'
The moment my and Go Yeongeun's experiences spread, the staircase landing to the fourth floor would be repurposed.
'Warnings on the notices too.'
That would alter the timeline.
Agent Choi might not even open the fourth-floor door.
This time around, he'd entered Lucky Mart and exited in just three minutes anyway.
'Oh my god.'
An early named character's fate had changed.
I felt a strange thrill gazing at him, then finally responded belatedly.
"Yes, Agent Choi."
"You could call me Senior Choi."
Agent Choi winked, but his beaming smile dimmed slightly as he glanced at my severed right arm.
Still smiling, though.
"Don't worry about the arm. We'll 'handle' everything."
"......"
"Rest up for now. Wait!"
With that, he flung open the hospital room door and shoved someone who seemed to be waiting outside in.
...Bronze Agent.
Not in uniform but casual clothes, like he'd tidied up his appearance, though his complexion wasn't great.
"......You've awakened. That's fortunate."
"Yes."
A subtly awkward atmosphere hung in the air.
But Agent Choi cheerfully clapped Bronze Agent on the back and offered me more peeled apple.
"Jae-gwan—no, Bronze Agent—shoved you straight into Xuanwu Team 1? Wondered why this rigid guy ignored procedure for a newbie, but he does have good judgment."
And extended his hand to me.
"Welcome to Xuanwu Team 1. You'll be doing meaningful work."
"......"
"Come on, you wanna call me 'senior' comfortably now, right?"
Hmm...
About that.
"No. I......"
I deliberately put on a scared, depressed expression and bowed my head.
"Please, I want to transfer squads."
"...?!"
Sorry, but this was what I was aiming for.
'Chance to escape the Dispatch Rescue Squad...!'
Honestly, already registered in the Dispatch Rescue Squad, there weren't many ways to bail.
Even in modern society, if you grabbed your boss's pant leg whining about hating your assigned department, you wouldn't get labeled a troublemaker?
'Then I'd really be the worst spy...'
But the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau had a loophole due to its nature.
Namely... shocking experiences!
'Blind spot of horror explorations.'
The fact that you never know what might happen.
But a newbie on his first horror cuts off his own arm in an extreme bid to barely escape?
If he vents his trauma, the agency has enough sense to let him go.
'This is definitely gonna work.'
The problem?
I... seemed to have done the job a bit too well.
"Just once more! Let's try it one more time!"
The early named agent was persuading me, tearing at his hair like some crying internet meme...
"This is your aptitude! You survived an Irregular incident and saved one more civilian on top of that! Unreal results!"
It sounded like a wail about not being able to lose valuable manpower.
True to a chronically understaffed civil servant. The laid-back, sociable office worker vibe was gone...
Now he was even pointing at my severed arm.
"And that decisiveness to cut off your arm—no, risk bodily harm!"
Hmm.
"That."
I panted with a pale face.
"Was insane."
"......"
Sorry, but time for a conscience strike.
"I... don't even know what mindset I was in to do that."
I know.
"Sorry... I know it'll seem weak, but I can't do it."
But... these were all pre-planned lines.
The more I spoke, the more genuine they felt.
"I'll die from stress at this rate."
I clenched my remaining hand, bowed my head, and muttered.
"Was so on edge worrying the kids might die..."
"......"
Agent Choi's mouth worked open and shut before closing.
"I just... can't do more. Sorry."
"......"
The hospital room's mood sank.
"Hmm... yeah. That's understandable."
Agent Choi spoke in a calmer tone, settling expertly into the caregiver's chair.
"But changing squads right after assignment on your first mission won't look good for you. ...Might get misunderstood as being bounced, treated like a troublemaker."
A calm, concerned voice fretted over my future.
And subtly continued.
"Sure, you won't get fired, but rumors going forward..."
"We'll restore your original identity."
"Jae-gwan!"
"For the temporary agent who hasn't been assigned yet."
Ryu Jae-gwan cut in, ruining Agent Choi's pitch.
He glanced at me, then averted his darkened gaze.
"...Work in whatever squad you want. After three weeks, tell me the one that suits you..."
"...!"
"That's... something I can handle on my end."
"......Thank you."
"Hey, at least meet our elder first... sigh."
Agent Choi sighed.
"Yeah. Try other squads for three weeks... fair enough."
And so it was settled.
...Just like that.
"Think about it. We're a really good team."
Agent Choi kept telling me to 'keep my options open' and pitched several points.
You'll do great, our squad's full of unique and fun people, the work's super rewarding...
And eventually, this came up.
"And those kids you saved."
"...!"
"Not curious how they're doing?"
The students we'd rescued this time.
Agent Choi nudged Ryu Jae-gwan toward me.
"Tell him, Bronze Agent."
"......All three made it home safely."
Ah.
Bronze Agent calmly explained their fates to me.
Injuries properly treated, tearful reunions with families.
The high schooler I'd handled was actively joining Bureau interviews, emphasizing how much help I'd been in Lucky Mart.
"...Kept asking if you were safe. Now we can give a proper answer."
Lee Soo-bin, who'd blacked out from mental shock, had received light memory suppression and was fine now.
And in the process, about the Nostalgia candy the student had been eating, Bronze Agent had covered for it with the government as a horror-derived food item he'd procured.
He glossed over it so casually I almost missed it.
'...Grateful.'
"All three wanted to thank you in person."
Due to Bureau policy, no— they'll send letters instead.
"......That's all."
Everything wrapped up nicely.
Go Yeongeun too.
"And the agent you saved is recuperating but should return to duty soon."
"......Yes."
I let out a deep breath, leaned my head back on the bed. Unknowingly, I savored it.
All safe.
Everyone made it back alive and well.
"Happy, right?"
"......"
"Knew it. That's your aptitude... ugh!"
Agent Choi grinned amiably, but Ryu Jae-gwan shoved him toward the door.
"Ow! Jae-gwan's trying to kill me!"
"Then rest more. ...Don't worry about anything else."
"Yes."
I bowed my head to Bronze Agent from the bed.
"Thank you for all the consideration..."
"......No."
Bronze Agent gave me a conflicted look but ultimately turned toward the door.
"But that junior really fits Xuanwu Team 1 perfectly... hmm. Yeah, rest well!"
Under a fearsome glare, Agent Choi shut his mouth, and the two left the room.
Creeeak.
"...Phew."
Ended well.
I sighed in relief and lay back down on the bed.
'Escape from Dispatch Rescue Squad... success.'
Excellent outcome.
Just...
'Awkward.'
No arm, and the dynamic with Bronze Agent.
'He's extending favors, but seems subtly offended too.'
Still, definitely cleared spy suspicions—fortunate.
"...Up."
I tried to ignore the pain in my empty right arm, stretching aloud for no reason.
Then those earlier words resurfaced.
-Don't worry about the arm. We'll 'handle' it.
... 'Handle.'
Various treatments the Bureau offered agents with bodily losses came to mind.
Among them, the coolest and most anticipated one.
'Well, even if it's too pricey to provide, they won't just leave it like this...'
And before the Bureau handled it, there was a chance to draw out another 'method.'
"Hmm."
I fished my smartphone out of the bedside table drawer.
And checked the text received last night.
[Consultation schedule / See you this Friday. Teacher Sol-eum^^]
Time was nearing for my first report on spy trends to Manager Ho.
And I wasn't planning just a work update there.
'Gotta squeeze out everything I can.'
"Manager, I'm filing for workers' comp."
"...?!"