Midnight Department Store - 'Black Friday' (3)
“What the hell is this! There was a door here just a second ago!”
“Is this a hidden camera prank?”
The murmurs grew louder in that instant.
Paat-. The chandelier on the ceiling went out.
And the red glow of the emergency lights flooded the interior.
“······PD Choi? Can you hear me?”
Chiiik-.
Baek Si-woo frantically pressed his in-ear, but all that came back was sharp static.
“Communications are down! It's completely dead!”
That was when it happened.
A grotesquely distorted classical melody flowed from the speakers.
[Attention, valued customers.]
[We are now commencing the 'Black Friday' event.]
[The event will continue until all inventory in this store is depleted...]
[...Enjoy your shopping.]
“Whoa, the production value is insane. Is this some kind of AR?”
Influencer Jenny looked around in wonder, but everyone else's faces were hardening.
“No way the missing door is part of the act too? Does that even make sense?”
“We gotta get out—right now!”
The broadcast ended, and the world flipped upside down.
“Wha—what?!”
“Uwaaaah!”
The world spun in dizzying circles. I clenched my eyes shut, fighting back the surge of nausea.
**
“······Ugh.”
When I opened my eyes, the scenery had completely changed.
This wasn't the first-floor lobby we'd been standing in moments ago.
An endless corridor stretched out. Display racks and clothing rails lined both sides, crammed with hundreds of mannequins filling every gap.
This was the third floor—women's clothing section.
······Is this really because of what I did?
A chill ran down my spine.
The power description mentioned 'materialization,' but I never imagined it would be this extreme.
It's dangerous.
What if every place I go, I materialize a 'story' like this? What kind of chaos would that unleash?
······I absolutely cannot let anyone find out.
The day my identity leaks won't end with me just being branded humanity's enemy.
I'd be subjected to a real-time witch hunt via global live broadcast, or dragged to some secret lab and dissected for life as an experimental subject.
The thought made cold sweat trickle down my back.
Why not check your remaining lifespan first?
Remaining... lifespan?
Ghost stories can't be materialized without cost. That would violate the laws of causality.
To pull a fictional tale into reality, you must pay an equivalent 'weight.' The price for defying the world's laws... is your lifespan.
I hurriedly opened the lifespan window.
100 hours?!
One materialization had shaved off four days of my life.
That's about C-grade level. You got a bargain.
This is a bargain? Four days of life just vanished!
And that's not the end. When you 'collect' this one later, negotiate directly with the ghost story itself and pay up. Equivalent exchange is the rule.
They say there's no such thing as a free lunch. Looks like they're dead set on preventing any freeloading.
So many restrictions!
······This is such bullshit.
As I grumbled inwardly, a faint voice echoed from a quiet corner of the store.
“Hahk, heuk······ P-please... save me······.”
Ragged breathing came from beside me.
Actor Kim Hyun-su had collapsed to the floor, trembling like a leaf.
Next to him stood shaman hunter Kang Chae-young and C-rank hunter Ma Dong-pal.
“······Is everyone okay?”
I asked with feigned concern, and Ma Dong-pal spat on the floor irritably.
“Damn it, those Association bastards. Said it was safe—total bullshit. This is 100% a ghost story.”
Ma Dong-pal judged the situation like a pro, but his tensed shoulders trembled faintly.
Then Kang Chae-young gripped my arm tight.
“It's... packed in here.”
“What's packed?”
“Vengeful spirits. You see them? The yin energy is so thick, it's clumped up like black tar.”
Kang Chae-young pointed with a shaking finger at spots throughout the store.
“No form, no reason—just raw, agonizing pain and resentment from the moment of death. Sticky clumps of malice.”
Where she pointed, mannequins stood with no heads or limbs twisted grotesquely.
Was it my imagination? Their smooth, featureless plastic faces seemed to turn toward us all at once.
Druruk, druruk······.
The sound of wheels rolling echoed from the darkness.
All four of us snapped our gazes toward the noise.
Something emerged from the shadows in the corner of the store.
A woman in a neat department store uniform.
She looked perfectly normal as she pushed her shopping cart toward us.
Except for one thing: her face was completely blank, devoid of any features.
“Hii, hiik······!”
Kim Hyun-su swallowed a scream and staggered back.
The faceless clerk stopped right in front of us and politely extended both hands toward Ma Dong-pal.
In her grasp dangled a long strip of paper.
A receipt.
The clerk said nothing. She just wiggled her fingers, as if to say, take it.
“······Step aside.”
Ma Dong-pal pushed forward.
He squared his shoulders and raised his voice, as if to conquer his fear.
“I know these dungeons. This is an NPC handing out a quest item. If you don't take it, they hit you first.”
He hid his shaking hand and forced a casual air.
“Mister! Don't touch it! Bad vibes!”
Kang Chae-young shouted urgently, but Ma Dong-pal scoffed.
“Shut it! Shamans always jinxing things with their incense. I got this.”
I watched silently.
He might be right. In a normal dungeon.
That was when it happened.
“······?!”
I whipped my head around reflexively.
But only Kang Chae-young was beside me. She hadn't whispered in my ear.
A voice only I could hear.
I knew instinctively.
Voice, this is the ghost story, right?
Correct.
You materialized the story haunting this space into a ghost story with 'materialization.' To them, you're no different from their parent.
······Parent?
Yeah. Ghost stories instinctively recognize their creator. That's why it's warning you. Doesn't want to watch its dumb parent die.
Voice continued softly.
But remember: even parents get bitten if they try to steal all their kids' food. These ones are starving too.
······.
······A bill.
I glanced at Ma Dong-pal. His hand was reaching for the receipt.
Should I stop him? Shout now and intervene?
No.
I kept my mouth shut.
Ma Dong-pal was betting on his shallow 'experience' and 'arrogance' to make the deal.
Interfering in a transaction he wanted was bad business ethics.
Besides, I had to side with the ghost story too.
If paying the price for materializing it meant feeding them, as Voice said...
Someone had to be the sacrifice.
And crucially.
When Ma Dong-pal crumbled, the others would panic and seek someone to rely on.
And I wanted to be that someone.
So Ma Dong-pal needed to serve as an example here, taken down by the ghost story.
“Here, taking it. Happy now?”
Ma Dong-pal grabbed the end of the receipt.
In that instant, the clerk's smooth, featureless face split open horizontally.
“Payment... thank you.”
Seok-!
A chilling sound, like sharp scissors slicing crisp paper.
Thud.
“······Huh?”
Ma Dong-pal stared blankly at his hand.
His right wrist dangled loosely in midair.
The hand was gone.
A beat later, blood sprayed like a fountain.
“Kuh, kuaaaah-!!”
Ma Dong-pal rolled on the floor, clutching his severed wrist.
“Fire! My hand's on fire! Put it out! Stop it!!”
He flailed at the empty air, going berserk.
No visible flames anywhere.
But he writhed as if engulfed in invisible karmic fire.
The ghost story's price gnawed at body and mind.
Sruruk.
Then the severed hand was sucked into the receipt.
I swallowed dryly at the clerk's words.
I'd expected it, but seeing it for real was far more brutal.
“Hic, huhk, uwaaa······.”
Kim Hyun-su beside me was too terrified to even breathe properly.
But the clerk wasn't satisfied.
She raised her blood-dripping scissor-hand and turned to Kim Hyun-su.
“Your companion... must pay too, right?”
The receipt she'd thrust forward was inches from Kim Hyun-su's nose.
Caught in panic, Kim Hyun-su reflexively reached out.
His ability to refuse had shut down completely.
Better save him. Ma Dong-pal's example was enough. Losing Kim Hyun-su here would be overkill.
Up to there.
I lunged forward.
Grabbing Kim Hyun-su by the collar, I yelled.
“Don't take it!”
“Y-Yes?!”
“Eyes down! Don't look at it!”
Thud-.
I slammed Kim Hyun-su's head to the floor.
Then I kicked a nearby 'sale items' basket at the clerk.
Crash-!
Goods spilled everywhere, scattering her attention.
“No purchase! We don't need it! We're just window-shopping!”
A clear declaration of 'purchase refusal.'
“······.”
The clerk's scissors stopped.
“Cancellation... understood. Enjoy your shopping.”
She bowed politely, turned her cart, and rolled away.
Druruk, druruk.
She vanished leisurely into the darkness.