A few days inside that eerie supermarket ghost story.
Days filled with mental strain, severed limbs, cold sweat, tension, shock, and fear.
‘Ah.’
My arm hurt.
But it was fine.
Because I was out now.
From now on, I could relax…
It doesn’t seem like that to me though?
……
What?
Still feels like that place, right?
I lifted my head.
Looked around.
The dimly lit, eerie second-floor food court of the supermarket.
I… was still standing there.
“……”
I’m still here?
Was escaping just a dream?
Was escape… impossible all along?
Had I misjudged everything?
Then why had I cut off my arm?
I…
– Oh dear, looks like you’re having a nightmare, Friend !
“…!!”
I jerked awake.
Sunlight stabbed into my eyes.
A clean, peaceful hospital room. Soft late-winter sunlight filtered through the window.
…This wasn’t the supermarket.
I gasped for breath.
It was peaceful.
‘…This is reality.’
Yeah.
After successfully escaping Looky Mart, I had been taken away in an emergency vehicle sent by the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
And then I lost consciousness…
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“…?!”
I turned my head—
And saw someone in a bureau agent uniform, casually sitting in a caregiver’s chair, peeling an apple.
……?
“Did you sleep well? Looked like you were having a nightmare.”
He had the neat appearance of a salaryman, but his neck bore a conspicuous scar.
A stranger.
Who…?
As our eyes met, he handed me a slice of apple with a grin.
“Nice to meet you, hoobae! Thanks to you, I got to experience entering Looky Mart… and leaving in just three minutes.”
“…!”
Ah.
“That’s right. The agent you summoned? That was me.”
I had made that high schooler send a distress message to the Bureau, forcing Looky Mart to resume business.
‘So the person dispatched because of that was…’
This person.
“I heard the story. You came up with that ‘reverse strategy’ to force the supermarket to open, huh? That’s exactly the kind of thinking we need in this job.”
“……”
“Come on, don’t look so shy.”
As I lowered my gaze, the man laughed, stood up, and held out a hand.
“Let me introduce myself. Hmm, I don’t really like using my agent codename, but…”
Wait.
That line…
“Just call me Agent Choi.”
“……”
Holy.
‘It’s him. ’
/ Start of recording
Agent Choi : So, I’m on the third floor, and I’ve just found a door leading to the fourth floor.
The sole concrete exploration log I remembered regarding the fourth floor.
Agent Choi : Welcome to Looky Mart!
A Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau agent who had once explored the fourth floor and met a horrifying fate.
‘An early named character…!’
Yes.
He was a named character from before the wiki’s worldbuilding expanded to include the rule that agents of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau were referred to by codenames.
Agent Choi.
He was one of the key figures who had been active back when the Dark Exploration Records only contained government investigation logs, without any data from other organizations.
‘…That neck scar.’
I knew how he got it. That was… from the Cold Storage ghost story.
I swallowed hard.
‘An agent who appeared frequently in the early exploration logs…’
Even though his ultimate fate had been a horrifying disappearance.
His tragic ending had caused quite a stir at the time. People argued whether it was too cruel to kill off an early named figure so brutally. But in the end, it was approved with people saying, ‘Isn’t that just in line with the spirit of a creepypasta universe like this?’
Yet now…
‘…Something changed, didn’t it?’
Because of what Go Yeongeun and I experienced, the fourth-floor stairwell would be repurposed.
‘A warning will probably be added to the official records.’
Which meant, the timeline had shifted.
Agent Choi might never open the fourth-floor door at all.
This time, he had entered Looky Mart and left in just three minutes.
‘Holy shit.’
The fate of an early named agent had changed.
A strange, indescribable feeling washed over me as I looked at him.
Then, belatedly, I managed to respond.
“Yes, Agent Choi.”
“You can call me Choi-sunbae, you know.”
He winked playfully. However, as he glanced at my severed right arm, his smile faltered slightly.
But he still kept his cheerful demeanor.
“Don’t worry about your arm. We’ll take care of everything.”
“……”
“For now, just rest. No wait, hold on!”
Suddenly, he swung open the hospital room door and pushed someone inside.
…Agent Bronze.
He seemed to have tidied up his appearance and was dressed in casual clothes instead of his agent uniform, but for some reason, his complexion didn’t look too good.
“……You’re awake. That’s a relief.”
“Yes.”
A strangely awkward atmosphere filled the room.
But Agent Choi, the sociable type that he was, clapped Agent Bronze on the back and casually offered me another slice of peeled apple.
“Jaekwan— I mean, Bronze immediately threw you into Turtle-Snake Team 1, huh? That stiff guy skipping protocol to bring in a rookie? Goodness. I was wondering why, but yeah, you’ve got talent.”
Then, he held out his hand to me.
“Welcome to Turtle-Snake Team 1. You’re going to do meaningful work here.”
“……”
“Come on, don’t you feel like calling me sunbae already?”
Uh…
About that.
“No. I…”
I deliberately lowered my head, putting on a fearful, dejected expression.
“Please, I want to transfer to another team.”
“…?!”
…Sorry, but I planned this.
‘Escape route from the rescue team…!’