Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel (End Part 1) - Chapter 141

Nostalgia Candy returns me to my prime.

In other words, that’s also me. It didn’t mean becoming smarter or more perfect.

It meant that if I became complacent, relying solely on the condition Nostalgia Candy provided… I shouldn’t.

I knew that.

“…!”

I gritted my teeth, feeling an excruciating pain in my right arm—no, in ‘the empty space where my right arm used to be.’

I missed the timing to take it.

Damn it.

‘I rushed.’

With the safe zone disappearing within an hour, and then suddenly a method to open the supermarket door appeared, my mind was distracted.

The price came in the form of agonizing pain.

My severed arm, cauterized to stop the bleeding.

Every single letter of that description lacerated me with a raw, chilling agony.

“Huuuck.”

For a moment, my legs gave out, and I nearly collapsed to the floor. Unthinkingly, I tried to brace myself with my right arm, only to realize it wasn’t there, stumbling and supporting myself awkwardly with my left hand.

But it’s okay.

“Agent…!”

“Just… a moment,”

Agent Bronze lifted me from behind, supporting me. I gasped for air, wracked with pain.

Ms. Go Youngeun rushed over frantically. Checking my consciousness, she urged me. What was she saying?

“That! Where is that candy?!”

Ah.

“Quickly!”

I tried to rummage through my jacket pocket with my remaining arm. Ms. Go Youngeun was a step quicker, emptying the pocket, pulling out the candy, and unwrapping it.

‘If I eat that, I’ll be fine.’

Surely… that’s right.

“…….”

“Agent Grape?!”

Perhaps it was the endorphins, but suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

Nostalgia Candy, I only have two left.

Who knows what other ghost stories I might have to enter in the future.

‘…Do I really have to eat it?’

Couldn’t I manage with the Happy Maker?

My arm was already cauterized.

And my original plan was designed so that even without one arm, if operations resumed, I could escape without issue.

But haven’t I already made operations resume?

‘Considering the item’s versatility.’

In that case, rather than wasting it here…

“…….”

I took the candy, then put it back into its wrapper.

“What, what are you…?”

And with difficulty, I put my hand back into my pocket, put the wrapped candy away, and pulled out a stick-shaped item.

The Happy Maker.

I’ll use this one.

‘Right.’

I was about to inject it immediately, but I realized this wasn’t a situation where I could roll up my sleeve to expose bare skin.

Because I didn’t have an arm to roll up.

“…Agent, I’m sorry, but this… please inject it for me.”

“…….”

“It’s a painkiller.”

But looking at his hardened eyes, he seemed to know the dangerous origin of this item. …I meant the Delusional Home Shopping.

In times like these…

“Please. Just…”

“…!”

Fortunately, Agent Bronze took a deep breath instead of arguing, rolled up my remaining arm, and injected the Happy Maker.

Pik.

With a small sound, the drug instantly began to circulate through my veins.

‘Ah.’

The pain subsided, and a sense of calm settled in my mind.

Tranquility.

Anxiety and panic shattered and crumbled, turning into dust motes that flew away, leaving a feeling of emptiness in my chest.

‘Ha.’

I rose to my feet with a normal gait, no longer stumbling.

“Thank you.”

But around us, there was a deafening silence.

“Why……”

“Since it won’t immediately hinder my movement, I’ll try to endure for now.”

“…….”

It’s a waste of the item.

Ms. Go Youngeun seemed to have read those words in my eyes.

“Whew.”

My colleague, who had suffered alongside me at Daydream Corporation, averted her gaze from my situation with a complex expression.

…Because she must have sympathized to some extent.

However, one person was different.

“…You were walking around in that condition?”

“…….”

Agent Bronze looked at my injured state with a nearly blank expression, then suddenly, as if realizing something, looked at me.

“That medicine.”

Just as I thought.

He realized the original purpose of the regeneration potion I had given him.

“…….”

“Are you crazy?!”

“I’m not crazy.”

Thanks to the Happy Maker, my head had cleared.

I calmed my breathing and even managed something akin to a smile at him.

And provided an explanation that would make him understand.

“Listen. It was a rational choice.”

“What?”

“My life wasn’t in danger even without immediate treatment, but you were in a dying situation.”

“…….”

“And if a veteran like you hadn’t joined our group, the citizen who requested rescue would have also been in danger.”

Right.

From the beginning, I hadn’t counted Agent Bronze as part of the rescue team for the two high school students he was protecting.

My original plan was based on three people being able to hold out on the stair landing.

Me, Ms. Go Youngeun, and my assigned high school student.

Three people, like that.

‘…Even if it meant abandoning Agent Bronze.’

But the situation changed when I found the sign Agent Bronze left behind.

Instead of Agent Bronze, two high school students joined—one who was unpredictable and one who was already out of it.

‘…It was difficult.’

If they had just been adults, I might have been able to pretend not to notice.

But they were 15 and 16 years old, so it was hard to apply the concept of cutting ties… for a modern person’s sensibilities.

Ultimately, the best answer was right in front of me.

Save Agent Bronze.

‘And since I can’t pour Nostalgia Candy indefinitely, the regeneration potion was the right choice.’

Overall, even aside from my personal big picture, it meant it was a rational judgment as a rescue agent for the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.

“So… I think my judgment was rational.”

“…….”

However, Agent Bronze’s expression clouded over.

He opened his mouth with difficulty.

“…Why on earth,”

At that moment.

Clang.

“…!”

The three agents’ heads spun quickly.

“Ah, darn it.”

Someone who had been hiding behind the tent stumbled out and furtively glanced at us. He picked up a dropped camping cup, hastily put it back in place, and spoke.

…It was the high school student Agent Bronze had been looking after.

‘Oh dear.’

For now, I properly covered the area where my arm was missing with my jacket.

“…Please, let’s talk once we’re out of the supermarket.”

“…….”

Agent Bronze’s lips moved, then he bowed his head with a regretful look and quietly walked to the end of the camping section.

Ms. Go Youngeun looked back and forth between me and Agent Bronze, sighed, and followed Agent Bronze.

“…….”

Then, the high school student, who had been glancing around, hesitated and quietly approached me.

“Um, I’m sorry…”

“…I know you weren’t trying to eavesdrop. It’s okay.”

“No, that…”

The high school student hesitated, then spoke properly.

“That, what I just did.”

“…….”

“What I… acted like.”

From the conversation they had just overheard, it seemed they had keenly realized that the agents were risking their lives to save them.

Enough to reflect on their own mistakes or irritable behavior.

“…….”

‘Whew.’

Even adults often act emotionally in extreme situations, so what could I expect from minors?

His apology alone was more than I expected.

Even if half of that apology stemmed from the fear of, ‘What if they get annoyed and abandon me to escape?’

“Okay. I accept your apology.”

“…….”

“Let’s just hold on a little longer until we can get out.”

“Um,”

The high school student suddenly spoke up again.

“This time, when we leave, I’ll properly steal it. That… item.”

Ah.

“It’s okay.”

I patted the high school student’s shoulder with my remaining arm.

“This time, there’s no need to steal.”

“…?”

Because I wouldn’t take that risk.

The high school student seemed puzzled for a moment but soon nodded, then quietly returned to his friend.

Just like that, silence fell around me for a while.

“…….”

It was a bit awkward.

…Had I become too used to a time when I had friends who perfectly understood and empathized with my situation?

Anyway.

“Whew.”

Now, truly, only the final work remained.

And this would work.

‘…Even if there are many people, there are two types of escape items.’

I can do it.

I fumbled inside my jacket, retrieving the item I had been keeping most securely.

Two white envelopes.

‘Gift certificates.’

And I quietly sat down, reviewing the reinforced version of my existing plan one more time.

Until everyone was ready.

A moment later.

“Candy in your mouths?”

“Yes! We both have them.”

“Good.”

I checked on the high school students, who were looking after each other, and then turned to the agents.

The two, who had meticulously restored the camping section, met my eyes with stern expressions.

All briefings were over.

Now…

‘It’s time to leave.’

The six of us left the third floor and calmly began to descend.

Outdated pop songs, laughter, the sound of people pulling carts.

“Haha!”

“No, it’s too expensive. Put it back.”

The bustling voices of shoppers around us were also heard. Even after only three or four days, it was incredibly welcoming.

Of course, since they were ghosts of the past who couldn’t see, hear, or perceive us, a certain eerie feeling lingered.

And tension.

“…….”

“…….”

“Excuse me.”

One of the high school students spoke up.

“Behind there…”

“Shhh.”

I warned him and quietly sent him forward.

Because I had already seen what the high school student saw.

At the end of the escalator we were descending, someone stood, staring blankly at us.

Bloodshot eyes, dirty clothes, a mouth muttering strange words.

A strange person who once seemed normal, dressed as if they had just come out to shop at the supermarket late at night, but wearing the same clothes for months.

A long-term missing person.

I pulled the high school student closer by the shoulder.

“…Don’t laugh, and don’t be anxious.”

If you laugh, they think they can follow you out. If you’re anxious, you seem easy to prey on, and they follow.

‘…I can’t save them anyway.’

There was no need to feel hope or fear by imagining something impossible given the situation.

The high school student swallowed and nodded. Then he lowered his head and stuck close behind me.

“…….”

One of the long-term missing persons who had been watching us began to drag their disheveled hair and broken leg down the escalator as well.

Because they wanted to get out.

But that wasn’t all.

…I felt eyes on us.

Behind the meat counter, behind the event display, muttering next to employees, crying, laughing, staring blankly.

They were trying to come down the escalator.

‘…The first floor must be swarming.’

And then, if they were caught by an employee, they would become ‘defective items’ and disappear.

By evening, the lower floors would be ‘cleaned’ like that, and new victims would wander the lower levels as if they were the only ones who had entered this supermarket of the past…

“…….”

An eerie chill ran down my back, even pacified by the painkiller.

We continued to move forward on the escalator, neither too fast nor too slow. And we returned to the place we had entered.

The first floor.

In front of the checkout counter.

“…We’ll start quickly.”

I took the high school student I was in charge of and…

Headed directly to the checkout counter instead of the entrance.

And each of us picked up a snack and a can of soda placed in front of us.

Beside me, the high school student gasped for breath, trying to calm down.

It was a weekday afternoon, and in the still-empty supermarket, we arrived smoothly at the cashier without waiting…

“…….”

I pulled out a gift certificate and held it out, tapping the counter very lightly.

“Excuse me.”

“Huh?”

The cashier’s head snapped up, meeting my gaze.

That’s right.

They ‘perceived’ me.

“Ah, a customer!”

“…!”

This was the power of the gift certificate.

To be recognized as a legitimate customer of the supermarket.

-If you use a gift certificate, you can just walk out.

-…!

There was no need to deceive the supermarket.

“Please check me out.”

“Oh, yes!”

Beep, beep.

The cashier cheerfully scanned my items, took the gift certificate…

“Excuse me, we can’t give change for gift certificates in units of a hundred won, but if you give me six hundred won in cash, it’ll match a thousand-won unit.”

“…It’s okay. Just give me what you have.”

“Really? Alright~”

The cashier gave me back four 10,000 won gift certificates and eight 1,000 won gift certificates.

I immediately handed a few 1,000 won gift certificates to the high school student, and the high school student repeated the process I had just done.

With a trembling voice.

“Ah, wait, this too!”

To prevent the cashier from feeling suspicious, even though our items were scanned together, we made sure the change wasn’t excessive.

And then…

“Thank you.”

“Thank you~ Please come again to Looky Mart!”

We passed.