GOT DROPPED INTO A GHOST STORY, STILL GOTTA WORK

content warning : suicide attempt

‘Shit.’

I blinked, a cold, dull shock rippling through my sleep-deprived brain…

“I-Is it over for us?”

“……”

“N-No… oh no oh no…”

“It’s okay. We still have other ways…”

I turned my head.

The high schooler was fidgeting with something.

A receipt. Or rather, the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau’s leaflet in disguise. Most likely the same paper he found when he called for help.

‘Why’s he…?’

Was he trying to look for advice?

But instead of reading it, he was peeling something off the paper. Then he tried to put it in his mouth…

“…!!”

I slapped the high schooler’s hand away.

“Ah!”

I pried his fingers open and snatched what was inside. He struggled, but I ignored it.

“Don’t—!”

…A white capsule-shaped pill.

‘I know this…’

The Bureau once included these pills with the guide sheets for high-level ghost stories…

Euthanasia pills.

If it becomes unbearably painful, please take the enclosed capsule.

We guarantee you a comfortable end.

My worst fear was right.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

So this was in the leaflet he found.

“S-Sorry.”

He was crying as he spoke.

“I… I just can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to get put through that blender. I’m so scared and dizzy, I just can’t… I’d rather die comfortably…”

I couldn’t breathe.

“I’m sorry. Am I being selfish because I’m the only one wanting peace? If… if half a pill is enough to kill someone, we could split it—?”

“No.”

I gritted my teeth at his panicked rambling, then forced myself to smile reassuringly as I patted his arm.

“It’s going to be okay. There’s still a way out.”

“H-How, exactly?! We’ve spent three days now unable to sleep, eat, or do anything…”

“We can do this.”

I grabbed him firmly.

“Up until now, we believed the store would reopen soon, so we tried to stay as safe as possible. If it’s not opening any time soon, there are other methods.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

It was true.

…As long as I made one decision.

—Abandon Agent Bronze.

Forget any worry that he won’t escape because he’s looking for us, any pressure that we need to confirm each other’s survival, any hope that we can get help from him.

Throw it all away.

Anyway, the record showed that Agent Bronze did manage to escape on his own.

…It’s just that, he would fail to rescue the civilians.

‘The idea that he might also save the civilian who went with him is… fantasy.’

Time to snap out of it.

I decided to do everything I could with my capabilities.

‘If the two of us have to wait until the store reopens…’

My priorities shifted swiftly. After three days of stewing over it, I already had the next plan ready.

“We’re going up.”

“Huh…?”

“Don’t take that pill. Put this in your mouth instead—just keep it in there, all right?”

I handed the high schooler a Nostalgia Candy.

A strange item that would revert you to your best physical condition.

“Wow…!”

The moment he popped it in his mouth, the high schooler’s expression changed.

“M-My leg— It’s fine now!”

“Think of it as letting it melt slowly. It only works while you’re holding it in your mouth.”

“Yes…!”

He stood up, face bright with excitement. Even his mental state seemed to revert to its best condition.

I half expected him to ask why I hadn’t given it to him sooner, but apparently he was too thrilled about his miraculous recovery to think of that.

“So, the third floor is the top level, right? Is there some escape route up there? We can get out if we go there? Are we escaping now?”

“We’re going up there to prepare for an escape.”

And also—

“The third floor isn’t the highest floor.”

“…Huh?”

“Sometimes you’ll find a door that leads above the third floor.”

But—

“The— The leaflet said not to go up there…”

That was correct.

This supermarket has three floors above ground and one basement level.

To reiterate: Do not trust any emergency exit leading to a ‘fourth floor’. The fourth floor is not part of this supermarket.

Looky Mart’s fourth floor.

A gimmick that’s practically a meme in the <Dark Exploration Records>.

‘It’s a keyword that screams ‘missing’.’

Headed up to the fourth floor.

The sentence ends there, and everyone vanishes.

No matter how intense or gripping their exploration was before that, it wouldn’t matter. It’s like they become entranced, and poof! They’d disappear without explanation.

All the more frightening because nobody ever wrote why they’d go missing, or what’s actually on the fourth floor.

It’s an unspoken agreement—even in the case that covered a disappearance in the most detail, that part would always be missing.

I recalled one particular entry.

The agent who realized the rescue targets were all dead and decided to challenge it.

/ Start of recording

Agent Choi : So, I’m on the third floor, and I’ve just found a door leading to the fourth floor.

Agent Choi : I’m only going to open it a little. I’m not crazy, okay? But we can’t just leave that place alone, right? Isn’t it recorded that nearly a hundred people have gone missing after going upstairs?

(The agent rambles on with personal excuses and parting words considered to be a will.)

Agent Choi : All right, I’m opening the door to the fourth floor now. And… it’s open. Ta-da!

(Sound of door opening, footsteps entering, door closing in quick succession.)

Agent Choi : Looks normal enough, just some old emergency exit… There’s a staircase… Nothing unusual… The exit door’s still there.

(He observes for a few more minutes—no anomalies.)

Agent Choi : Great. I’m heading up now.

(Echoing footsteps. Presumably the sound of someone climbing up the stairs.)

Agent Choi : Let’s see… The exit’s still… Oh. …It’s gone now. So I’ve got no choice but to keep going. Off I go!

(Footsteps continue for 30 seconds.)

Agent Choi : Whew… Made it. Fourth floor door.

Agent Choi : Looks like nothing special on the outside. It’s just a metal door.

Agent Choi : …Alright, I’m opening it now.

(Sound of a metal door opening. At the same time, Lucky Mart’s jingle starts playing.)

Agent Choi : Huh?

(The jingle grows louder, shifts in tone.)

Agent Choi : W-Wait.

(A cacophony that defies description. Deafening roars, bizarre howls, noise like wind filling a void, rain, balloons rubbing, bursting sounds, 12 unidentifiable noises, and ■■■ ■■.)

Agent Choi : (silence)

Agent Choi : Welcome to Looky Mart!

Nothing of note recorded in the next 24 hours. When the battery died, the recording ended.

The agent’s recorder was later found in the electronics section on the third floor of Looky Mart.

“……”

It’s the kind of record that’d make you vow never to open that emergency door leading to the fourth floor.

But.

“Don’t worry. Once we find the door, I’ll show you what to do.”

That’s our destination.

“……Okay.”

Whether because of the trust built over three days or from witnessing the mysterious power of the Nostalgia Candy, the high schooler obediently nodded.

“Let’s move quietly.”

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