I successfully made a legitimate purchase using a gift certificate in this insane supermarket ghost story.

“…….”

I picked up my purchased items and guided the trembling high school student away from the register.

Then, to avoid exposing my missing right arm, I draped my jacket over my shoulder and stepped out of the checkout area.

One step. Two steps.

Then, taking a deep breath, I turned around…

“…!”

The bizarre aspects of the supermarket had all blurred.

The eerie signs, the strange products, the unsettling bloodstains and organs.

Everything seemed blurred out of my perception, as if censored—unnoticeable unless I focused on them.

More precisely, they no longer appeared grotesque… They seemed natural.

As if we were just ordinary shoppers making an ordinary purchase in a regular supermarket.

"Wow."

I heard the student stop in amazement.

But instead…

"Oh no."

“……!”

The past shoppers began to perceive us as ordinary customers.

"Ah, sorry."

The student hesitated and took a step back when the shopper he had bumped into looked directly at him and apologized.

"I’m sorry."

I guided the shocked student aside, his eyes nearly popping out in disbelief.

"I told you, don’t be surprised."

"Y-Yeah… got it."

The student hurriedly clung to my side.

But his eyes began to sparkle.

"T-Then… we can just walk out like this?"

"Yeah."

"Wow…!"

Just like that, all the complicated steps for escaping were skipped.

By using a gift certificate and making a purchase, we were treated just like any other past shopper.

For example, even if we had damaged items or eaten food after closing hours, as long as we paid for them, we could leave.

"Hey, you’re at the checkout…!"

"Hold on."

Just like Go Yeongeun was doing right now.

I listened closely to the checkout counter where Go Yeongeun was making a payment.

"Customer, you have damaged merchandise at Lucky Mart! Please pay for it! 39,900 won!"

"Yes."

Go Yeongeun calmly handed over a 50,000-won bill. The cashier, who had been inflating like a balloon, snatched the gift certificate and gave an unnaturally wide grin before handing back 10,000 won in change.

Then, in a monotone voice, the cashier asked again.

"Ah, would you like me to ring up this gum too?"

"……Yes."

Only then did the items Go Yeongeun had picked out get properly processed.

Phew. I let out a sigh of relief.

As expected.

‘…There’s nothing better than this when you don’t know when the store’s doors will open.’

Since this item allows you to cover most mistakes made after closing hours just by making a purchase and walking out.

And… to be completely honest.

If Lucky Mart remained in its post-closing state for over a week, I had predicted that at least one of us would make a mistake.

Whether it was me, the high school student, or Go Yeongeun.

‘…Because the supplies I had brought were limited.’

The trick of eating food on the stair landing to avoid detection only worked as long as there was food available.

Eventually, once everything ran out, we would have had to steal food or essentials from the supermarket, and the chances of getting caught at least once would have been extremely high.

And that would have meant becoming ‘stock’—the end.

‘I’m glad we didn’t have to see that happen.’

I looked forward with a sense of relief.

Go Yeongeun waited for the student originally assigned to Agent Bronze to finish paying before stepping out of the checkout counter together.

Safely.

"…Thanks to you, we got through. Thank you."

"It’s nothing."

And now, the only thing left…

"Agent Bronze."

We signaled to the two people still inside the checkout area.

Ryu Jaegwan and Lee Subin.

They were the two chosen to use the emergency escape item—the Five-Color Shoelace.

“ – It seems unlikely that Agent Bronze’s cost can be covered within 100,000 won.”

“ – And… it would be better if this student left with him. The one who went missing first.”

Agent Bronze had already been processed as ‘stock,’ and the cost to restore him exceeded 100,000 won, making a normal return impossible.

And Lee Subin, the student who had gone missing earlier, was the next one chosen.

He had been missing the longest among us, meaning he could have unknowingly accrued a debt to the supermarket, and without the candy, he could barely function due to the psychological shock.

‘That item can’t be stolen anyway.’

Whether its ‘spiritual power’ had been used or not could be tracked by the Goblin Workshop.

So it was better to use it properly.

I quickly spoke.

"You can leave now."

“…….”

Agent Bronze met my gaze silently before speaking.

"You go first."

Ah.

"Once I confirm you’ve left, I’ll immediately…."

"We can leave?!"

“…!!”

Someone suddenly lunged toward Agent Bronze.

A middle-aged woman, drooling—once a housewife, now contaminated, with eerie eyes and a doll strapped to her missing arm.

A long-term missing person.

"Hey, we can leave?? You're talking to them? Hahaha! Let’s go! Let’s get out of here!!"

…She realized that Agent Bronze was with us.

‘I thought if we just paid and left, the long-term missing wouldn’t be able to interfere.’

But that was too rational of an assumption.

For example…

That kind of absolute, overwhelming desire to escape.

"I want to get out too! I want to get out tooooo!! Give it to me! Give me the gift certificate!!"

All eyes turned toward us.

The cashier looked in our direction.

"Customer! You have damaged merchandise at Lucky Mart! Please pay! 5,208,240 won!"

‘No way.’

At the very least, we could shake them off and escape, but those two must not get caught…!

I ran back into the store and blocked the cashier’s line of sight as I shouted.

Without hesitation, Agent Bronze swiftly pushed the long-term missing person aside, momentarily subduing them, then immediately grabbed the high school student and tied the shoelace in an instant.

Then, three steps.

"Ahhh, I’m scared, I’m scared! Let me out!"

"Pay for the damages!"

With those frantic voices echoing in the background, the two took their final step and vanished from the supermarket as if they had evaporated.

First escape: Ryu Jaegwan, Lee Subin / Success.

But there was no time to breathe.

"Can we leave? Can we leave?"

"I want to go too!! They have money!!"

As attention turned toward us, the other long-term missing persons began muttering and approaching from the shelves, the escalator, and near the restrooms.

I sprinted toward the checkout counter and shouted.

"Candles, candles!!"

Go Yeongeun had already taken out a lit candle and shielded the high school student behind him.

"You two, get out!"

The three of them sprinted toward the exit. Then… Go Yeongeun pushed only the two students through the doorway.

The moment they passed through the glass door, they vanished as if it had all been a lie.

Second escape: Jang Minseo, Hyun Jae-hoon / Success.

They made it back.

And then, Go Yeongeun came running back.

"Roe Deer, Grape!! Just hurry!!"

Holding the candle frantically, she gestured to me. Without hesitation, I dove into the glow of her flame.

But outside the store and checkout counters, the long-term missing had begun appearing en masse, and the ‘staff’ were displaying strange behaviors, confiscating ‘stock’ in absolute chaos.

"Hurry, get out!"

I really wanted to.

But I had been waiting for this moment.

"Wait, just a moment."

"Why again…?!"

I pulled out the remaining gift certificates from my pocket.

"Let’s use up the gift certificates before we go."

“…!!”

I quickly stepped back inside the checkout counter.

From the moment I got these gift certificates, I had been planning to use any leftover amount for something specific.

The peculiar items sold in this supermarket.

Just like how I obtained items in the Dead End Alley or the Alien Shop ghost stories, this being a supermarket ghost story, there had to be strange items here as well.

‘But among them, there must be something useful.’

That would make things more interesting.

And those are things that can’t be obtained by stealing from past shoppers.

Since they are merely reenacting their past actions, it’s only natural that the items they purchase are just ordinary necessities.

Therefore, I had to find and buy them myself, by any means necessary.

‘Find it quickly.’

Quickly, so that those who had already escaped wouldn’t grow suspicious.

And before getting caught up in the commotion…!

‘Hurry!’

I scanned the store urgently.

Due to the Children’s Day event in May, the first-floor display shelves were packed with toys, making it easier to spot the ‘bizarre items.’

The items that appeared blurred, as if out of focus, were the special products unique to the ‘Lucky Mart’ ghost story.

I saw a model train, a donut-shaped float, and a clay set. But I didn’t pick them up.

‘Something safe.’

I wanted to minimize my risks.

Ideally, it would be something I had previously confirmed in exploration records of this supermarket ghost story.

The problem was that it was difficult to find an exact match based on just a vague two- or three-word description.

‘I need to identify it.’

Clenching my teeth, I searched both my memory and the shelves. I had to find something familiar….

“…….”

Wait a second.

‘That one.’

I looked at one of the display tables stacked with plush dolls.

Among them, a few appeared blurred.

I moved closer, focusing through the blurriness to examine the doll I had spotted.

A white lizard plush.

It was the exact same one that had been on Team Leader Lee Jaheon’s desk in Office team D.

“…!!”

I picked up the plush doll.

"Have you chosen?"

"Yes. What about you, Young-eun?"

Go Yeongeun nodded, holding a small item in his hand as well.

"Let’s go."

We hurried to the checkout counter and paid for the ‘items’ we had chosen.

…Behind us, we could hear the long-term missing being processed into ‘stock.’

Along with demands for insane amounts of money far beyond what our gift certificates could cover.

"That will be 28,000 won."

With our items secured in an instant, we caught our breath and headed toward the exit.

“…Let’s not mention this unless the Bureau asks.”

"……Yes. …Thank you."

Instead of testing Go Yeongeun’s last bit of patience, I obediently ran toward the supermarket exit with her.

"I’m putting out the candle!"

"Yes!"

And then, we opened the door.

‘Ha.’

Perhaps because we had been trapped for days, my stomach churned. My mind kept replaying the events, wondering if I had made any mistakes.

‘Let’s go.’

Clenching my teeth, I quickened my pace.

The eerie sign boards were no longer visible. Instead, the past landscape beyond the glass door came into view. The thought of stepping straight into that world terrified me.

But…

‘Ignore it.’

Go Yeongeun and I stepped forward.

The automatic door slid open smoothly…

Ding.

We rushed forward.

Forward, forward.

A cold breeze accompanied by sunlight stung my eyes.

I blinked.

"Ha."

Slowly, the brightness faded.

And when my vision cleared…

The warm, dazzling late-winter sunlight shining on a familiar alley in the 2020s.

And the figures of those who had escaped before us.

“…!”

"A-Agent…!"

The high school students ran toward us, their faces already streaked with tears and snot, yet filled with joy.

Seeing them, it finally felt real.

‘We’re out.’

Third escape: Go Yeongeun, Kim Sol-eum / Success.

In the end, we escaped.