Chapter 134

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The bizarre mart right before closing.

The dark store with the lights turned off.

Na-na-na-na na-na-nan-na-na-na na-na-nan~

Amidst the cheerful logo song ringing out, the vibration of the high school student whose mouth was blocked by my hand, breathing heavily, was transmitted.

My body tightened from the tension.

And beyond the noise-like music and vibration, a tiny friction sound from far away rang as if scraping my nerves….

Creak.

The sound of an iron door opening.

And if there was a place with an iron door instead of a glass door in the mart….

‘…The door to the staff area.’

That was the sound of employees coming out.

‘Ha.’

Suppressing the rising groan, I turned my head, slightly poking my head out from the display stand, and looked outside….

Waddle, waddle.

Things wearing mart uniforms were appearing one or two at a time inside the dark store….

Grotesquely shaped employees, looking as if they were mimicking human shapes with balloons, waddled out.

[LOOKY MART]

The logo of Looky Mart mimicking Lucky Mart.

The clumsy mimicry on their chests and hats was revealed in the lamplight and then disappeared into the darkness again.

At that moment.

“Let’s go out quickly, they said they’re closing.”

“Alright.”

Someone passed by the alcohol section, right next to the display stand where we were hiding, heading toward the checkout counter.

“…!”

It was two or three shoppers from the past who were still in the store.

Then… one of them lightly bumped into one of the ’employees’ who had entered the alcohol corner.

Bump.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

The employee’s head turned.

“Welcome to Looky Mart!”

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Thank you always, customer!”

The shoppers felt no sense of incompatibility.

They passed by the employee and headed toward the checkout counter by themselves.

I felt the high school student’s mouth that I was blocking with my hand panting heavily.

“Goodbye, customer!”

The thing that looked like an employee with its head turned creaked out of the alcohol corner.

And it walked down the hallway again with that strange gait….

In front of the snack corner.

Right next to the display stand where we were hiding with our heads down.

Squeak, squeak.

“…….”

“…….”

A bizarre noise, like balloons rubbing together, occurred.

The four of us clung almost to the floor and held our breath.

Squeak, squeak.

The sound moved further away….

“…….”

‘Ha.’

Tap, tap!

The high school student tapped my hand that was blocking his mouth.

He was covered in tears but quiet.

“You’re not going to scream, right?”

He nodded his head slightly.

As soon as I released my hand, the high school student hurriedly whispered as if out of breath.

“W-We shouldn’t be spotted by those strange employees, right? Right? On the notice…”

That was right.

After closing, Looky Mart’s employees behave strangely while pretending to conduct business.

If spotted by even one employee, all employees on that floor will pursue you.

To survive in Looky Mart after closing hours, we had to move as if playing a survival horror game from now on.

But… could we be safe while dragging along two teenagers who knew nothing?

‘No matter how I look at it, the equipment I received didn’t seem to be given with that much consideration.’

It seemed they gave me the equipment matching the assumption that I would get out within business hours today.

Of course, since it was the Disaster Management Bureau, they must have prepared to some extent, but no matter how much I thought about it, there were too many variables.

‘Damn it.’

Cold sweat fell down my chin.

Should we hold out for now? What was Agent Bronze planning to do? Was he going to hide for now after all?

Hold on!

‘That person, it seems he’s trying to subdue the employee…’

Holding his pistol, Agent Bronze was quietly staring at the back of the employee who had moved away.

It seemed he had mapped out an escape route, and that employee was in the way.

…Should I help subdue it?

If Brown were here, I would have asked him to turn off the lights, but because methods I couldn’t use now rose to my priority list, I bit my tongue.

‘Think, think…’

I desperately rolled my brain. I quickly searched the <Records of the Dark Exploration> in my memory.

So, in Looky Mart after closing hours….

…….

No.

[ 20 : 25 ]

“Agent…!”

I approached Agent Bronze as if crawling and whispered urgently.

“There are still 5 minutes left until closing. The business hours have not completely ended!”

“…!”

“The door must still be open right now.”

We just had to get out immediately!

Agent Bronze quickly checked beyond the checkout counter on the first basement floor. Checking that the escalator outside the checkout counter was still operating, he quickly made a conclusion.

“Let’s move immediately.”

And he quickly grabbed the high school student clinging to him and began to move swiftly.

“…!”

Right. We had to take charge of one person each.

I also looked back at the high school student whose mouth I had been blocking.

He shook his head in a hurry.

“I will run on my own, I run faster than him…!”

“…….”

Should I have made myself look a bit more reliable? No, now was not the time to think about this!

I began to run together with the high school student, driving him from behind so he wouldn’t fall behind.

Passing the empty checkout counters, we ran like crazy, cutting through the shoppers riding the escalator.

“Ah!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I think I slipped my foot.”

Since they didn’t perceive us, we threaded through the shoppers and headed toward the exit right before closing.

And at the first-floor entrance….

“…….”

Something was standing in front of the door.

It seemed to have originally been a standee.

The founder of Lucky Mart, a typical blonde, white middle-aged businessman, smiling trustworthily and holding up a thumb.

But….

It was alive.

-Mph!! Mmmmph! Mmph! Mmmph!

The person forcibly pressed and fixed to become a flat surface like a standee looked like a corpse pressed to death by a flat press, moving alive.

Although smiling, his eyeballs still rolled, shedding tears and drool.

He was looking at us.

…He perceived us.

As if asking to be saved, or rolling his eyeballs with malice wishing to pass on this pain, staring desperately this way, the standee vibrated… Fucking hell!

“Hic.”

“Be quiet.”

In front, Agent Bronze was seen calming the high school student he was in charge of.

What a convenient term ‘ghost’ was. To think one could describe such a form in roughly one word.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Still, we had to ‘block’ its vision.

‘To do that, first of all….’

We had to induce a misunderstanding.

Suppressing my groan, I grabbed the shoulder of the high school student I was in charge of.

“You read it on the notice, right? Stealing a product. We must all do it directly.”

Before blocking the vision of the entrance ghost, you must first induce it to mistake you for one of the shoppers.

Please steal and possess one item that a shopper has finished paying for.

At this time, there must be no commotion.

“But if we get caught…”

“It’s fine if you steal an item that won’t be noticed.”

I looked at the entrance.

Although there weren’t many people, they were all finishing their checkout or walking out the door in a crowd at the announcement of the closing.

‘Even if we don’t block the vision, we might be blocked if we squeeze in between that gap and go out.’

Of course, I had no intention of taking such a risk.

“The fishing line.”

“Yes.”

I immediately took out the item I possessed.

The rolled-up fishing line and… the small red goldfish-shaped bait attached to its end.

———————=

Records of the Dark Exploration / Paranormal Disaster Management Bureau

/ Item

Bait Play

An item with a red bait attached to the end of a transparent fishing line.

Upon use, it can attract the attention of paranormal existences of Form-Breaking Grade or lower.

The more powerful and closer to the origin the existence is, the weaker and more trivial the effect becomes.

Item usage condition: Level 7 or higher civil servant of the Paranormal Disaster Management Bureau, or a specially authorized person.

———————=

The moment they steal the item, I attract the standee’s gaze with this and go out.

If Agent Bronze and I worked in shifts, we would be able to secure enough time for the two high school students to go out.

Agent Bronze unspooled the fishing line, equipped it, and gestured with his eyes.

“Steal it.”

I nodded and turned to the two high school students.

“U-We can’t steal…”

“Hey guys. Since the other side can’t see us anyway, it’s fine as long as it’s not an item that will be immediately noticed when gone.”

People don’t usually think that things placed in bags or boxes will disappear.

‘The thing they are least likely to look for, something like…’

Small-sized daily necessities.

Things bought because they were needed but without much interest.

Things that won’t be taken out to be used or eaten immediately.

“…….”

I approached the side of a shopper sitting on a chair near the entrance.

‘If they don’t move, it’s even easier.’

They seemed to be waiting for their companion, closing their eyes for a moment with a mart shopping bag on their lap.

I quickly observed that eco-bag.

‘Good.’

And reaching my hand inside… I pulled out what was attached inside.

Dental floss.

“There are a few more inside.”

“…!”

“Since I almost pulled out the other dental floss while taking this out, you just need to grab it lightly. Lightly.”

“…….”

The high school student I was in charge of swallowed, reached out his hand with a pale face, and put it into the eco-bag.

And he succeeded in pulling out the dental floss I had placed at the very top.

“I-I did it!”

“Good job!”

Holding the dental floss in his hand, the high school student backed away with a flushed face.

And the two of us turned to look at the remaining person.

The high school student who was sticking close to Agent Bronze.

“…….”

Eventually, that high school student also approached with an anxious expression.

“Hey, calmly…”

“Ah, seriously, I know too! Just be quiet!”

“…….”

He seemed to be almost in a state of panic.

The high school student who shouted at me closed his eyes tightly and reached out his hand, wishing to finish it quickly.

And shoving it into the eco-bag, he snatched the dental floss.

“I did…”

The high school student pulled his hand out with a bright face.

Wait, pulling it out so abruptly like that….

Brush.

The high school student’s hand brushed against the shopper’s cheek.

“Oh my goodness!!”

“…!!”

The shopper who had the eco-bag on her lap fell backward off the chair in fright.

“Ah, ah-ah?”

Surprised, the high school student reflexively grabbed the eco-bag.

“M-Mom, what’s wrong, are you okay… Aaargh!”

The person who seemed to be her companion ran over, trying to support the shopper while holding the eco-bag, but was terrified upon seeing the eco-bag floating, caught by the high school student.

‘Dammit!’

I immediately grabbed the high school student and pulled back. As the eco-bag fell to the floor, items spilled out in a heap.

The owner of the bag screamed.

“A p-person was here just now, but disappeared!”

The surroundings began to stir.

Gazes gathered.

“What do you mean? You must have seen it wrong…”

“No, Dad! The bag was strange!”

“Some boy is holding my bag! Ah, ah-ah-ah?!”

Damn it.

Shoppers do not usually perceive you.

However, if physical contact occurs, they may notice you.

At this time, if communication is possible, there are several methods you can try to get help for escape.

If one thought only up to this point, it was hopeful.

However….

“Excuse me! Somebody help!”

“Huh? What date is it today? What day was today? Why am I here? Huh?”

However, if the shopper feels a sense of incompatibility or falls into panic upon seeing you, quickly leave the spot.

“Run.”

An employee is coming.

Agent Bronze and I pushed the high school students at the same time and began to run in the opposite direction of the entrance.

…Because something had begun to waddle out from the escalator, from the far end of the checkout counter, and from the restroom.

Squeak, squeak.

The sound was heard.

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

The squeaking, balloon-rubbing-like bizarre sound pursued our backs like crazy.

They were growing in number.

Reflexively, we ran like crazy toward a wide and complex area.

…Inside the checkout counters, inside the display stands of the store.

‘Damn it.’

I looked at my watch.

[ 20 : 29 ]

It was over.

It would be closing soon.

‘We must hide.’

We had to give up the entrance for now.

Before the store completely closed and the shoppers disappeared and more employees appeared, we had to shake them off within 60 seconds. To do that, we had to hide, but….

‘Four people are too many!’

I met Agent Bronze’s eyes.

The agent glanced upward, nodded, and quickly slipped to the side.

While taking one high school student with him.

“Ah…!”

“This way.”

I moved, leading the high school student I was in charge of.

Running to the point of running out of breath. And although the squeaking crazy sound was still ringing behind us, it had definitely decreased.

‘More went toward Agent Bronze…!’

It seemed he had lured them on purpose. Without worrying about anything else, I gratefully took the chance and ran like crazy.

Vacuum cleaners, cosmetics, dishes, kitchenware, bleach….

All kinds of display stands were repeated inside the giant mart….

And then we encountered an employee.

‘Fucking hell.’

Squeak, squeak.

It pursued us. Every time, I immediately changed directions with the high school student and ran again.

“Heuk.”

The high school student began to pant.

A sweet taste of blood rose in my mouth, too.

However, the giant mart seemed to endlessly spit out employees and corners like a maze….

‘Damn it!’

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

We turned the corners of the display stands several times.

‘It won’t work like this.’

A place to hide.

Catching the moment when the employees didn’t see us, quickly, a place where two people could hide immediately without prior preparation!

And the moment we turned another corner.

‘…!’

I saw it.

[Electric Mixer 50% Off]

A mobile display stand.

‘Found it.’

I pushed the high school student under the giant mobile display stand where mixers were piled high. I also got in and clung next to him.

And I held my breath.