I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things

When she arrived in front of the store, there was... a strange atmosphere.

If the prices were really as low as advertised, people should have been lining up. But the place was eerily quiet.

No—completely deserted might’ve been a more accurate way to put it.

‘...Was it a scam flyer after all?’

Or maybe... it was just too deep in the backstreets for anyone to realistically come. Even to someone like her, with no background in retail, this alley didn’t seem like a place where a store would thrive.

Still, checking it out didn’t cost money, so she figured she might as well go in, even if she was getting scammed.

The first product that caught her eye as she stepped inside...

‘...Peeled raw eggs?’

Inside a transparent plastic container were raw eggs—already peeled.

There was a printed image of a little boy on the packaging. His expression looked joyful, in line with the “Happy!” sticker slapped on his forehead... but something about his neck looked so badly edited, it came off as uncanny.

There was a woman next to him, and she looked fine—except the whole thing made zero sense.

What the hell was the point of pre-peeled raw eggs?

They weren’t even cheap, and it just seemed like they created more waste.

She passed the baffling product and moved deeper inside, where the items started to look more normal.

Though, on closer inspection, she spotted things like “peanuts” with 0% peanuts and 100% salt.

...So basically just salt, with a misleading label.

Aside from oddities like that, there were some reasonably priced items scattered throughout.

Just when she thought, Okay, this place is weird, but not totally hopeless—

She spotted a produce display.

‘Come to think of it... it’s been a while since I had any fruit.’

As she wandered over to check the prices, her eyes locked with—

A lemon.

A lemon that was staring back at her.

“...?”

The yellow peel of the lemon slowly parted... and in between the split, what looked like a human eye gazed out.

Every time the peel opened and closed, the pupil appeared and disappeared—

Just like a person blinking.

[Do the lemons here... come with eyes?]

[Feels like an Evil Eye.]

‘As if that makes any sense.’

...This wasn’t a product quality issue anymore.

At that moment, footsteps echoed through the otherwise silent store.

A woman in a store uniform came rushing toward her.

Once she reached Ayun, she bowed deeply and said:

“I’m terribly sorry. There’s currently a serious issue with the lemons. They’re all scheduled for immediate recall. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience.”

With that, she began gently placing the lemons into a sack.

Very carefully. Almost tenderly.

Ayun watched for a moment before asking:

“...What exactly is this place?”

Weird labels and pre-peeled eggs were one thing—but eyeball lemons?

That was too much.

The employee, who had been collecting lemons, turned her head in a stiff, robotic motion before slowly responding.

“Is this your first time visiting our store?”

“Yes.”

“I see! That explains it!”

The employee beamed so widely it was almost unnerving.

“We’ll handle this small issue first and... assist you right away. Please, just a moment. A very short moment.”

She then hurried back to bagging the eyeball lemons.

Ayun had the distinct impression that the lemons were glaring at her as they disappeared into the sack.

Now she was curious.

Hyeyeon would definitely find this fascinating.

Ayun couldn’t help but grin at the thought of stumbling onto perfect new content.

She left the employee behind and began exploring deeper.

She didn’t really feel like buying anything anymore.

When you bite into an apple and don’t know whether it’ll be a worm or something else inside... that kind of store doesn’t exactly build consumer trust.

‘Still, the prices really are low.’

But seriously—was the food here even safe to eat?

Like that meat hanging in the butcher section.

After seeing an eyeball inside a lemon, she wasn’t exactly optimistic about that meat being normal.

In front of it sat a neatly grilled sample piece for tasting.

‘...It smells incredible, though.’

She swallowed.

But she forced herself to walk past the sample table.

The smell clung to her nostrils, refusing to let go. It was almost painful to resist.

She briefly wondered if this was some sort of ghost-induced manipulation and focused all her strength into one eye.

Her reflection in the fridge glass glowed faintly emerald.

‘...Looks normal enough.’

As she stood there, deep in thought, she sensed the lemon-collector employee approaching again.

“Thank you for waiting.”

“Oh, sure.”

She bowed once more, then extended her hand, offering a small piece of candy.

It looked completely normal from any angle.

“This is an ordinary piece of candy.”

“...Why are you giving me this?”

“A gift for being our store’s very first customer.”

...Truly the most humble of welcome gifts.

Ayun stared blankly at her, and the employee chuckled awkwardly.

“Well, you are our first customer, after all.”

“...Your location isn’t great, that’s for sure.”

“Exactly! What a discerning eye—just what I’d expect from a first customer!”

Why had she even asked if it was her first time?

She was the only customer.

Still, the employee looked genuinely excited—like she’d just achieved a lifelong dream.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

To the point where Ayun worried that she’d get trapped in the store while the employee escaped outside.

“Okay, enough of that... What exactly is this place? Why do your lemons have eyes? And why am I the only one here?”

The employee’s expression turned somber.

She said she didn’t know. She just opened her eyes one day and was here—and couldn’t leave.

All she knew was that she had a purpose: to serve customers.

So she managed the store, but no customers ever came. Not even when she handed out flyers.

She had no idea where the products came from.

Most of them had some kind of defect, but if you looked carefully, you could find cheap and decent stuff too.

Aside from “minor” issues like lemons with eyes, it was a normal store.

Or so she claimed.

She seemed to believe she was human.

...But to Ayun, whatever this girl was—she didn’t look human.

She couldn’t clearly see the being’s true form, but... it definitely wasn’t human.

She made a mental note to leave before the girl suddenly said, “Now you live here in my place!”

When she said she was going to leave, the employee looked devastated.

“...Maybe I’ll stop by again sometime.”

“Really?”

Looking at that pitiful face, she doubted things would unfold according to her own script.

You couldn’t trust appearances. That much was certain.

Still... something about leaving her here tugged uncomfortably at the back of Ayun’s mind.

Not a ghost. Not human.

What was she?

What was this place?

She couldn’t say.

She approached the exit.

Now that she looked again, the entrance seemed to shimmer slightly.

The employee spoke in a mournful voice.

“You’re leaving already?”

“I just came to look around.”

“I see...”

She sounded so disappointed it was almost desperate.

“I sincerely hope you’ll come again. I promise the items may look weird, but they’re completely safe for human consumption!”

“...Ah. Sure.”

Couldn’t have sounded more trustworthy if she tried.

‘...Still, it is cheap.’

Assuming it doesn’t kill you, of course.

Once she exited the store and turned around—

The sign read:

– υEpsilonυ Mart –

A flashy, gleaming sign. And yet not a single customer.

It didn’t add up.

She left the blinding lights behind and headed home.

The sun was already beginning to set.

‘...Maybe I should check on my livestock.’

She turned toward the park as streetlights flickered on.

She didn’t have any food to offer them, but she still believed they’d greet her warmly.

Sure enough, as she entered the dim park, she saw them—cooing and clustered together.

They looked up at her as soon as they sensed her presence.

Then began circling her, cooing louder.

‘...Wait. Are they asking for food?’

It was touching that they remembered her.

Unfortunately, she had nothing for them today.

After peering at her empty hands for a while, the birds lost interest and scattered to peck at the ground again.

...So to them, she was nothing more, nothing less than a bread-crumb dispenser.

‘...I wonder what pigeon meat tastes like.’

She didn’t ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) have any real emotional attachment, but she still felt kind of hurt.

Still, they were all plump and healthy—that was good enough.

Just as she turned to head home—

“Child... It’s dangerous to be out so late at night...”

It was that voice again. The same one from before.

She ignored it like last time and kept walking.

By the time the park was far behind her—

A strange feeling crept in.

‘Why does weird stuff keep happening around me?’

With that lingering question—

She took another step forward.

And just barely made it home when a message from Hyeyeon came in.