Agent Bronze, dragged away by supermarket employees.
That future was easy to imagine.
After all, I had already witnessed a similar case on the first day.
– Aaaaagh! Aaaaaaahhh!
Just recalling that ‘supply’ being ground alive in the mixer sent cold sweat trickling down my spine.
And now, the veteran agent I had been searching for over the past three days might be suffering the same fate?
The high schooler Agent Bronze had been taking care of described the situation as if vomiting out the memories.
“A-At first, I felt a little reassured…”
On the first day, the agent moved the rescued student to the store’s tent area, secured the surroundings, and seemed to take some measures.
The anomaly happened on the second day.“Originally… um, well, he was looking for you.”
“…Us?”
“Yes. I think he was trying to find you.”
But instead of finding me, Agent Bronze stumbled upon something else entirely.
“T-That guy… that guy came out…!”
That guy?
Everyone turned their heads in the direction the high schooler was pointing, but all that was there was the tent fabric.
“Ugh!”
Then, the student got up, walked outside the tent, and opened the entrance of the adjacent one.
Inside, a uniform-clad figure was lying down—
“…?!”
“Lee Soobin!”
The high schooler I had been taking care of sprang up and dashed toward the tent. Then, looking back at me, he spoke urgently.
“T-That’s the friend we were looking for! Lee Soobin!”
Ah.
The friend who had gone missing first, the one these students had been searching for.
“S-Soobin?”
The high schooler called his friend repeatedly.
But ‘Lee Soobin’ did not respond. Lying in the tent, staring blankly at the air with a slightly open mouth—he looked completely vacant.
‘…Has he been missing for too long?’
His body was covered in scratches and bruises.
It was a pitiful sight.
But now, I had a better idea of why Agent Bronze had been missing for days.
“…Where did the agent find him?”
“I-I don’t know. He just suddenly brought him back and said he found him. He asked if he was wearing the same uniform as us…”
Having to take care of two underage civilians would have severely limited his movements.
For two days, he must have been focused on looking after them, waiting for business hours to resume…
…While simultaneously waiting for me to safely arrive at the stall.
“…So, when exactly did the agent disappear?”
“I think… Early this morning…?”
“……”
That was more recent than I expected.
“A-All of a sudden, a bunch of employees swarmed in, and then, t-they just took him.”
“He wasn’t seriously hurt or anything? Just ‘taken’?”
“How would I know! …I-I think so, but…”
If that’s the case…
“S-Shit, we’re screwed, right? We’re all gonna die, aren’t we? The only competent guy is gone! And you’re just a rookie, aren’t you? That’s what the agent said.”
“Hey! Why are you talking like that? Are you insane?”
“……”
The high schooler I had been taking care of flinched and scolded his friend, then glanced at me and Go Yeongeun, gauging our reactions.
The other high schooler, the one who had been with Agent Bronze, sniffled and lowered his head, ashamed.
“A-Anyway… we’re doomed, aren’t we?”
“No.”
“…!”
Go Yeongeun spoke firmly.
“We are not doomed. You have a safe place to stay, and you have more adults here to help you. Things have actually improved.”
“Ah…”
“If you start acting reckless just because you think it’s over, you’ll lose even the chances you still have. If you want to make it out safely, we all need to cooperate. Understood?”
“……”
The two high schoolers nodded.
The one who had been shouting at us now looked embarrassed, regret written all over his face.
…I suddenly thought that Go Yeongeun might be better suited for the Disaster Management Bureau than Daydream Inc.
“Huu.”
After calming the students, we stepped outside the tent for a moment.
Go Yeongeun let out a short sigh, gulped, then turned to me.
“…I wasn’t just saying that to reassure them. I think we need to believe it, too.”
“I agree.”
And, actually.
I hesitated, then whispered to Go Yeongeun about something that had been bothering me ever since the high schooler’s account.
“My senior agent… there’s a chance he’s still alive.”
“…!”
That’s right.
The missing people who had been processed as ‘supplies’ could, if unlucky, be ‘used’ immediately according to the employees’ routines.
‘But usually, they wait their turn.’
Like proper inventory.
The employees were mimicking supermarket work, which meant they stored supplies according to regulations.
And the place where those items were stockpiled…
Somewhere deep inside the supermarket’s staff-only area.
“He might be in the supply warehouse.”
Supply warehouse.
Unable to escape from the supply warehouse. Considered deceased.
…That kind of sentence appeared frequently in the <Dark Exploration Records>.
But looking at it another way, it also meant that missing persons still had the chance to attempt an escape. That they were alive, still conscious, and physically capable.
‘There were even rare cases of successful escapes.’
That is, if they possessed a special item or ability.
…Of course, there were also plenty of cases where the missing had already been ‘processed’ in accordance with their intended use as supplies.
But what mattered now was this—
This group currently possessed one of those special items that could grant access to the supply warehouse.
“……”
I looked at the soft-textured mass that Go Yeongeun was holding—the one that now had its flame extinguished.
A mystical candle.
It required three people to create, but once made, a single person could carry and use it.
‘As long as it can be lit…’
However, for some reason, I—being a ‘person of current times’—couldn’t ignite the flame. That meant I couldn’t carry and use the item alone.
“…Agent.”
“Let’s go.”
“…!”
“With two people, we have twice the brains and twice the hands—it should make things a little easier.”
Go Yeongeun glanced at my arm before nodding, her expression stiff.
…She was taking into account the fact that I could only function properly by relying on Nostalgia Candies.
“Thank you.”
“I should be the one saying that. If it weren’t for you, I would have died on that stairwell.”
She shuddered briefly, as if recalling it.
“Anyway, let’s go… to find your senior agent.”
I nodded.