Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work

“…Is this a visualization of my contamination? So I can refer to it while making purchasing decisions?”

“It is similar.”

I’m going crazy.

For now, I sat back down and pressed my temples. The yellow mascot fidgeted, looking like it wanted to help me.

This is seriously driving me insane.

“Would you like to check?”

Check what?

“For a smooth shopping experience, would you like to take another look at the features of the projections sitting closest to you?”

“……”

This is advice.

So I lifted my gaze and looked at the ‘me’s’ filling the table.

WhereamII’mconfusedLet’sgofindthehandbookagainThrowingawaythehandbookwasareallyhugemistake.

Welcome to Looky Mart!

[The graduation ceremony will start again soon. I need to return to school.]

– What a unique place. If I do an in-depth report, the great host might prepare a new corner for me!

I’m going to hurl.

But that repulsion comes from things I know. It’s fear that arises because I know them well enough to imagine them.

However…

“……”

I looked at the faces of those sitting closest.

Since they weren’t shrouded in fog, their distinguishing features were relatively clear.

But then.

“Who are you?”

The one sitting just after the huge mascot at my side, obscured by it.

It was draped in something like an old rag.

“I’ve never seen you before.”

A me I don’t know.

I n t r u d e r

The mascot turned its body, clearing my view toward that figure.

As I looked more closely, I noticed the material of the unfamiliar me’s rag.

That was… worn parchment.

“You.”

I looked at the unfamiliar me.

“Take that off.”

“……”

The figure sitting at the table slowly pulled the parchment rag off its head, revealing itself.

Me, dressed in a scarlet janitor’s uniform.

– Caught me.

The mimic from the Church of the Luminous Unknown turned to look at me, twisting its head.

-Kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke

“Allow me to cover up anything that interferes with your shopping.”

The next moment.

The me in the janitor uniform vanished from the table.

“……”

My heart pounded.

“Dear Customer. Did anything from your mind’s image just now come to mind?”

“Yes.”

I remembered.

I reached into my inventory tattoo and pulled out the item I’d forgotten… No, the item that had been subsumed so I’d forget it.

A worn, rolled-up piece of parchment.

The Mimicry Sect’s Scripture, Verse 4

Story Usurper

The item that came out when the security sergeant disposed of the mimic I met while cleaning in the company basement, back when I was under disciplinary action.

A fragment of the Church of the Luminous Unknown’s sacred law.

I also remember wrapping it up with ‘Wrapper 12B357나’ to block its effect.

‘And… On Tamra Express, I unwrapped it and wrapped it around my body for defense!’

After that, as I got caught up in Braun’s Late-Night Talk Show, I never had a chance to think about this Church of the Luminous Unknown’s scripture.

Or maybe, at some point, my narrative had been manipulated so I couldn’t recall it.

‘…If I hadn’t just received a music box from the Church of the Luminous Unknown in the Merch Box, I would’ve completely forgotten.’

It was thanks to seeing another item from the same source just now that I was able to recall it.

And…

“Dear Customer. The parchment is swallowing something.”

“Yes.”

I saw it too.

I forcibly pulled out a black, cylindrical object that was almost completely absorbed into the parchment.

A fountain pen.

“…!”

It was the brainwashing item from Sekwang Technical High School, the one I’d gotten back from Baek Saheon by turning the tables on him.

‘I had forgotten about this too.’

I realized.

Apparently, the scripture had been stealing the narrative of this fountain pen.

It grew stronger through that, and one day when I was taken over, I was completely assimilated into the bizarre phenomenon of the Church of the Luminous Unknown…

……

Wait a second.

‘What else have I forgotten?’

I racked my brain quickly. But nothing came to mind.

Of course, it must already be a stolen memory!

If that’s the case…

“Can I receive a list of the items I’ve purchased so far from the alien shop?”

“Yes. Are you attempting to track down the whereabouts of your items?”

“…That’s right.”

“In that case, I have something to tell you.”

The lizard looked at me.

“There is an item you have forgotten.”

“What is it?”

“You received strength-enhancing gear from Section Chief Lee Jaheon and used it to craft new equipment, but the whereabouts of the crafted item are unclear.”

“…!”

“Section Chief Lee Jaheon attempted to inform you of this fact, but soon realized that simply notifying you would not resolve the problem.”

…I remember.

– Does it enhance strength?

– Something similar. Use it as a parent item when crafting a new special equipment.

– ……! Thank you.

We definitely had that conversation.

As I listened, I slowly realized what the item was.

‘…It was a bracelet.’

It was something I last made together with Assistant Manager Eun Haje at the Daydream Inc. annex.

At that time, she had suddenly appeared in my room… just like Section Chief Lee Jaheon appearing in this motel room now.

But after making that custom equipment, I have no memory of what happened to it.

There were several crisis situations where I could have used it, but it never came to mind.

And it probably never will again… because it’s already been devoured by the sacred scripture fragment.

…It’s a chilling thought. I barely managed to speak.

“I’m sorry. After you went through the trouble of lending it to me.”

“It’s alright.”

Even though it said it wasn’t Section Chief Lee Jaheon, it accepted my apology as if it were natural.

‘Huu.’

Calm down, calm down.

At least I noticed in time. That in itself is a relief.

‘Was the Dream Essence Collector not filling up because the mimic had almost completely overtaken me?’

On top of that, I’d been playing all sorts of bizarre roles, from the Security Team’s special division to the mascot, ‘imitating’ them all, so the effect would have been amplified.

…Most likely, that’s why I was judged not as a human, but as a being of the Church of the Luminous Unknown.

‘Huu.’

Thanks to that, it feels like the contamination has gotten even deeper.

With a gloomy gaze, I looked at the bizarre “me’s” seated around the table.

The cat slapped its tail on the table with displeasure, its eyes blood-red as it stared at me, and the mascot drooped its horns, looking dejected.

All the other reactions left me feeling dazed.

And although I hadn’t been expelled from the table, the part of me overtaken by the mimic was probably still inside me…

‘Ha.’

For now, one thing at a time.

I signaled to the fragment of the Church of the Luminous Unknown’s sacred law.

“Can I dispose of this parchment through the shopping mall?”

“It is not an item the Space Shopping Mall purchases.”

“Do you deal with any of the contaminations sitting at this table?”

“They are not items the Space Shopping Mall purchases.”

Huu.

Right. Either way, these are too dangerous to be sold to humans, so of course they wouldn’t be accepted here.

‘But Section Chief Lee Jaheon guided me this way as an alternative to the Fox Counseling Office.’

If so… it must mean there’s some method.

At that moment, the ‘We Can Help’ button flashed through my mind.

“Then, is it possible to request the ‘Coalition’ to remove these, for a fee?”

“Yes.”

“……!”

The lizard looked at me.

“Are you requesting an order to permanently destroy a part of yourself?”

D o n ’ t

I t ’ s D a n g e r o u s

Wait.

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