The four of us bolted out from the exit of the "Fantasy Train."
“Haa… Haaaah!”
The ragged panting typical of someone running for dear life echoed from both sides.
It was inevitable.
The mascots were pouring out.
D I E
“Aaaaah!”
“Huff, huff…”
From every attraction entrance, every shop, and every signboard, grotesque, bubbling blisters swelled and burst, spitting blood-dripping mascots.
And those mascots, with their jaws peeled back to reveal rows of teeth embedded in their insides, were chasing us in horrific forms.
Occasionally, their bodies trembled as melted, tentacle-like protrusions came out from their sagging ears and arms.
– ♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬♩♪♪♩~♪♬♬♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬♩♬♬♩♪♪~
– Ahahahaha! Hahahaha! Ahahahaha! Hahahaha!
The deafening noise was everywhere.
The park’s theme music and laughter spiraled, overlapping into a cacophony of eerie noise from all directions.
Loud, terrifying, disorienting, horrifying!
Every sound was maddening, robbing us of clarity and a sense of direction. But...
“This way! Over here!”
I gritted my teeth and moved toward the coordinates I had burned into my memory.
At that moment—
Flick.
Squelch.
The slimy end of a tentacle brushed dangerously close past my head.
Sizzle.
“...Hiiik.”
I could feel the burnt stench, the sensation of my hair melting away.
‘This is insane.’
Cold sweat dripped down my face.
But my legs didn’t stop. They couldn’t stop.
‘Stopping means the end.’
I would die—or worse, meet a fate more horrifying than death. The chill of that realization crawled down my spine, raising goosebumps.
The only sliver of hope was that our destination was very near.
Even the researcher, instead of whining, ran with drool dripping from his mouth.
B o r i n g.
“Get away! Get away from meeee!”
“Shut up!”
The deputy in butterfly mask snapped. Her gaze, filled with frustration that she couldn’t just throw the researcher as bait, was maddening.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘They’re too close.’
The swarm of zombie-like mascots was multiplying at a terrifying rate, and some of them were now dangerously close.
And they were fast.
Faster than humans!
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!!’
In the chilling moment of terror crawling up my spine—
“Urgh!”
Someone was caught.
“Ahhh… Ugh…”
The cow-masked rookie toppled over.
‘Shit.’
Without looking back, I fumbled in my pocket and flipped a coin to summon the glove.
Then, I tossed several 500-won coins into the air, creating the semi-transparent shadow hands that materialized.
Whoosh.
The shadow hands flew through the air, shoving the grotesque mascot's head away.
“Run!”
The rookie from Team Y, barely escaping with holes riddling their shoulders, scrambled on all fours before breaking into a run.
“Haaah… Haa… th-thank you…”
“Save it for later!”
There wasn’t even time to stop him from bleeding. Equipment or whatever wouldn’t be of much help now!
The shadow hand will disappear once it exceeds the 3-meter range anyway…
Suddenly, excruciating pain slammed into my left hand.
“—!!!”
I almost collapsed, clutching my hand and crying from the sheer agony.
It felt like my hand was being crushed in a spiked vice, melting alive.
‘Custom Equipment!’
I instantly realized it.
The shadow hand I’d summoned had been destroyed—whether by the mascot’s jaws or its tentacles—and the aftermath of it hit me with full force.
For the first time, I learned about my equipment’s weakness.
If the glove’s shadow hand gets destroyed somehow, my real hand would suffer the same pain!
But there was no time to scream. I ran like a madman.
And I shouted—
“There!”
Our destination came into view.
A massive gate.
Painted in vibrant colors, it resembled the typical theme park style...
[Fantasyland (Westside Gate)]
A decorative gate.
It was attached to the walls enclosing the park’s western side, purely ornamental.
“It’s blocked!!”
“Go underneath it!”
Without hesitation, I slid under the decorative gate and turned to look behind me.
Almost simultaneously, two others tried to do the same. Team A’s deputy and Team Y’s rookie.
The researcher, trailing behind, was in a slightly more dangerous position...
“Move, damn it!”
“Urgh!”
Thud.
The researcher desperately shoved the deputy aside, using the momentum to propel himself forward.
“…!”
The slender body of the deputy was flung into the mascots.
D I E
The half-melted mascot crawling toward us spilled dark red liquid from its eyes onto the butterfly mask.
“AAAARRGHHH!”
Sizzle.
The sound of burning flesh echoed in my ears.
“Deputy!”
Team A’s deputy was crushed under a grotesquely deformed mascot, her limbs twitching.
The face beneath the butterfly mask, now completely disfigured, bubbled with blisters.
In her eyes was resignation.
The expression of someone who had calculated with certainty that there was no escape.
When my gaze met hers—
“Your nail!”
I shouted.
“Deputy, your nail, to me!”
At the same time, I extended my left hand forward. The Team A deputy’s eyes widened, and she stretched out her right hand, extending a finger.
Whip!
The fired nail embedded itself squarely in the center of my palm.
“…!”
But that was no time to flinch over pain.
‘Because I just experienced a hellish pain anyway!’
Ignoring the pain, I gripped the nail tightly without flinching.
And then, I pulled.
Whoosh.
With a short noise, the butterfly-masked body was yanked toward me.
S o b o r i n g
They narrowly avoided as a hail of mascot teeth embedded themselves and viscous liquid splattered everywhere.
“Haah… haaaah….”
“Huff… Huff”
We collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.
And then, right in front of us.
A cluster of rabbit mascots, oozing viscous liquid like bloody tears, stood awkwardly frozen with their hollow eyes staring at us.
“Eek!”
It looked as if an invisible wall was blocking their way.
-------------------------------
Cheerful Theme Park Guidebook (Applicable to Exploration Record #64 and earlier)
5. Enjoy the different zones!
Have the mascots’ appearances or the colors of the attractions changed? That means you’re in a new zone.
Unfortunately, mascots from other zones cannot exist in the new one.
Say your goodbyes. Nicely!
-------------------------------
I looked down at the ground.
‘...The brick colors were different.’
Just as if it had all been a lie, there were exactly two rows of white bricks beneath the decorated gate made to look like an entrance.
The mascots beyond that gate, on the red bricks, couldn’t step forward.
B o r i n g
I glanced at my admission ticket.
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]
n o t f u n
The voice faded.
The cluster of mascots in front of us, tightly packed and unmoving, blinked once—and then, they vanished.
“…”
“…”
The sounds of pants echoed in the silence.
I swallowed hard.
“…It seems we’ve reached the end of Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland.”
We survived.
“We escaped successfully.”
“Ahh…!”
“Phewww…”
The new recruit from Team Y let out a sound of both relief and pain, clutching his shoulder as he collapsed.
I leaned against the wall, tilted my head back, and looked at the sky, catching my breath.
‘I thought I was done for….’
My heart was pounding.
I couldn’t believe I made it out alive.
Team A’s deputy glared coldly at the researcher who had shoved her earlier, but after glancing at my hand, injured and torn in the shape of the nail equipment, she regained her composure thinking now was not the time to be killing the researcher.
Though the acidic liquid splashed over her head must have caused unbearable pain, she remained calm.
“For now.”
“Pardon?”
Team A’s deputy took a deep breath.
“Thanks. You saved us.”
“…”
It was unexpected.
“No, it’s all thanks to your equipment…”
“There’s no point in being modest here. Just accept it. You made a good call.”
Uh, yes.
“Unlike some idiot.”
“…”
The researcher desperately avoided her gaze.
The deputy stared at him briefly before changing the subject back to work.
“This place feels like some kind of unattended space. Is that what you were aiming for? But it’s so cramped just standing here… What’s your plan?”
“This isn’t the destination.”
“Hmm?”
Having caught my breath, I turned completely to face the decorative gate.
“Do you know? In large theme parks, there’s often more than just the amusement park.”
“…More than just the amusement park?”
“Yes.”
This area under the arch wasn’t exactly Magic Bunny’s territory, nor was it the domain of any other mascot.
It was a kind of void within the theme park, so no one would come after us even if we damaged the property.
I tapped the door-shaped wall with my hand.
Thump.
A hollow sound echoed.
“Deputy Manager, can we pry this open using your equipment?”
“…”
Without a word, the deputy = raised her hand and detached the claw-like nail from her index finger.
Then, she slid it into the gap in the wall and pulled.
“Aah!”
Thunk.
A brick panel slid out with a grating sound, and a gust of wind rushed through the opening.
The scent of water blew in.
– Hahaha!
“…!!”
The sound of waves, cheerful marching music, and the cries of seagulls mingled with the distant blare of a ship’s horn.
Through the gap in the bricks, sunlight poured in from an open space.
Massive, spiraling waterslides descended from the heights, gleaming with shades of blue, spraying water and inflatable tubes.
[Blue Dream Waterland]
“This is…!”
A waterpark.
A summer-themed area that formed another segment of the massive theme park.
“It’s the Blue Zone.”
The new recruit from Team Y turned his head almost to the breaking point, staring at me with an expression of shock.
“H-How?!”
“When we looked at the Fantasyland color map earlier, there wasn’t a single water-based attraction.”
“…!”
“So I figured there might be a large separate section dedicated to it.”
I took a deep breath.
“And I suspected it wouldn’t be easy to access through normal means. Usually, they’d sell tickets separately for a place like this.”
“…That’s why you asked to pry open this wall?”
“Yes.”
I recalled my earlier conversation with Team Leader Lee Jaheon.
– …The west—
The west.
Of course, he was likely referring to the west side within that Waterland.
But coincidentally, we’d been at the westernmost edge of Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland, which allowed me to deduce the existence of the Blue Zone.
‘The east side is blocked by the forest, the north has the entrance, and the south is a cliff….’
If there was any space beyond Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland, it had to be the west.
And my interpretation was correct.
“The Blue Zone must have been established by the blue mascot that was cast out from the Fantasyland.”
“Ah…”
“Well then, let’s hurry over.”
“Y-Yeah, let’s go!”
Hands worked busily to pull out the remaining bricks. Even the injured new recruit from Team Y tried to help with one hand.
Meanwhile, the researcher, standing off to the side, darted his eyes around nervously but wore a smirk as if he’d realized the situation was turning favorable.
And moments later—
“Got it!”
With the panel widened enough for a person to squeeze through, we began to slip one by one into the new area.
I was the last to step through, planting both feet firmly in Waterland and taking in the blue pools and clear skies.
A breeze, damp with moisture, brushed past me.
‘The sunlight….’
It was unbelievably refreshing.
Just as I felt an odd sense of liberation—
I saw people in the distance, waving and running toward me .
“ROE!!”
“…!”
It was Team D.
“Are you okay?!”
“Deputy Manager!”
The members of Team D, carrying large luggage that looked like inflatable tubes, rushed toward me.
After spending a month together, a sense of relief swept over me.
“How have you been?!”
I greeted them warmly, moving closer.
I wondered if I should offer to help carry something from Team D deputy’s shoulders, thinking it would be the quick-witted thing to do as a new recruit—
Wait.
‘That’s a person.’
It wasn’t luggage.
Dangling limply over the lizard Team Leader’s shoulder was a human body.
‘...A casualty?’
Looking closer, the body wore a mallard duck mask.
It was the Team Leader of Team A.
“…”
No.
No way!!
