The Resort must open.
Even if someone died 3 hours ago.
Even if that person was a close colleague of mine.
Even if his blood and guts went back inside and he came back to life as something other than human.
“Welcome, guest! What kind of room would you like?”
We are standing side by side at the front desk.
…Beside me, a Resort employee wearing a yellow mascot mask is kindly attending to guests.
It is Jang Heowoon.
No….
‘I don’t know.’
Cold sweat trickled down inside my mask. I thought, mechanically handing a room key to a guest….
What on earth is this?
‘Did I bring Jang Heowoon back to life?’
But can that thing even be considered Jang Heowoon?
My senses as a Mascot identify the employee standing next to me as a being I have taken as collateral through a contract.
However, starting work with a wide smile is absolutely not the reaction of a human who was killed by having his spine pierced and then brought back to life.
It is a ghost story.
But because the Resort must be operated, and because Jang Heowoon must work diligently to fulfill the conditions of an employee so he can stamp his Boarding Pass, I am standing here.
But now, the escape itself is in question.
Can something that has already become a ghost story escape into reality according to the laws of humans?
And is it even okay to escape…?
“Wow… thank you so much!”
He is no longer excessively nervous.
He acts like a true hotelier toward guests of all sorts of bizarre appearances.
He doesn't break a cold sweat or get flustered even at all kinds of strange demands.
Who is that?
Even during lunch hour, instead of heading to the staff cafeteria I prepared along with the other employees, he works among the Standard-grade Mascots.
He doesn't even spare a glance at the ladybug employee—the one who killed him—who is now cleaning while muttering to himself in a corner, out of his mind.
No resentment, no forgiveness, no interest.
There is nothing.
‘He’s not human.’
The sheer wrongness of it all makes my stomach churn and my spine tingle.
Thankfully, the Mascot mask hides everything.
N e x t
I sent one guest off and watched the next guest approaching with their mouth agape while looking around.
But….
“Ex, excuse me….”
A modern person wearing a hoodie and jeans, looking around with a flushed expression.
‘It’s a person.’
Did they get caught up in the Theme Park board game? I hoped they would fill their Boarding Pass and get out quickly.
But….
“Is this the resort that was in that magazine? It’s wonderful….”
…Magazine?
‘Wait a minute.’
I checked both of the person’s wrists.
…There is no Boarding Pass band.
Y o u C a m e T o
T h e T h e m e P a r k ?
“Huh? Is there a theme park here too? I, uh, saw the review advertisement… Uh? But how did I get here? I thought about wanting to go, but why am I here?”
the person’s face goes blank.
And a chill ran down my spine.
…It’s not the board game, but humans are being pulled in through a different method.
Just for this Resort?
“U-um, but I don’t know how I got here. What should I do to get out of here?”
“It’s that way, dear guest!”
Jang Heowoon cheerfully points toward the lobby door.
But the exit of this Resort is… wait a minute.
I don’t think they should just leave through there…!
A legitimate guest of the Theme Park would return safely to the place they entered. But a mere visitor… isn’t there a high probability they would ‘just’ exit to the outside of the Theme Park?
And no one knows what lies outside the Theme Park….
Just think of Death Road or the Mansion of the Blind!
‘They’ll go missing.’
I hurriedly grabbed the person.
W a i t
“Uh… yes?”
T h i s
I randomly handed over one of the room keys hanging behind the desk.
T a k e I t
“Pardon? Oh, no, it’s fine….”
I lowered my head.
And I gave the bystander who entered the Resort, who wasn't even a guest, one last chance to become my guest.
The pupils of the Mascot stared at the bystander.
T a k e I t
“Ye, yes….”
The person trembles and reaches out to take the room key.
It was practically a forced sale.
But it couldn't be helped.
‘Let’s have them stay for now.’
At that moment.
“How would you like to handle the payment?”
…!
“Pa, payment? My card….”
The body of Jang Heowoon, wearing the yellow mascot mask, smiles and returns the card.
“This is not a currency that can be used at Cheerful Theme Park, guest! Cheerful Coins, please.”
“Uh… e-err, where do I get those?”
No.
“It is simple! In the theme park ■■’s ■■■■■ your ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■.”
“Aaahhhhh! Ahsothat’show!”
“Yes! It is simple.”
“I’ll go change it right now! It’s so reasonable, tothinkevenahumancanbesold!”
Things that shouldn't be heard are being said! Things that shouldn't be known are coming out! There is a reason why I deliberately placed human employees, not Mascots, as front desk assistants, and there is a reason why I didn't bother to recall it—of course, as a Mascot, I already know. No, I will not think about it! No….
Q u i e t
The employee falls silent.
The drooling human guest looks at me.
G i f t
“Uhh, but the payment….”
F o r g e t I t
“Yes.”
The guest staggered up to their room.
A sigh of relief escaped through my twisted mouth.
“…….”
I became certain of one thing.
The employee beside me just did something that Jang Heowoon would never have been able to do.
“Mr. Mascot, shall we welcome the next person?”
I couldn't hold it back.
Y o u
W h o A r e Y o u
“Pardon? Ah, I am the employee hired by Mr. Mascot, working at this Resort….”
W h o A r e Y o u
The employee looked at the Mascot warily, but soon answered in a bright voice befitting an employee of Cheerful Theme Park.
“I am the HR Manager of this Resort!”
Y o u r N a m e
“Hmm… Ah. My name is Bison!”
…….
The nickname that had been signed on the contract.
W h o A m I
“You are Mr. Mascot!”
M y N a m e
“It is Golden!”
The name of the employer signed on the contract.
With a heavy heart, I look at the employee of indistinguishable identity who has the appearance of Jang Heowoon.
And finally, I ask.
D o Y o u K n o w
R o e D e e r ?
“…Roe Deer?”
The employee wearing the yellow mascot mask pauses for a moment.
“Batchmate.”
…!
“He was a colleague at the company I worked for before I was employed at this Resort. He was a very grateful person. I remember that Mr. Mascot was also an employee of the Security Team there….”
……
Perhaps.
Y o u r R e a s o n
F o r W o r k i n g T h e r e
The reason he attended Daydream.
The Wish Ticket.
If I remind him of the core of the person named Jang Heowoon, then maybe…….
“Ah… I wanted to save my precious family.”
…!
“I was an orphan and grew up in a facility, but three years ago there was a big fire accident and all the family I lived with died in it. Somehow, I was the only one who survived.”
…….
“I even thought about dying, but they told me I shouldn't. So I tried to save other people. If I did that….”
S t o p
“Pardon? Understood, Mr. Mascot!”
I can't listen anymore.
It's driving me crazy.
“But it was all meaningless obsession. I find working at this Resort very rewarding and happy!”
…….
W h y
“…Yes?”
W h y A r e Y o u H a p p y ?
“Because it is a Resort operated by the wonderful Mr. Mascot….”
W h a t D o e s T h a t H a v e T o D o W i t h Y o u
“I-I’m sorry…. I overstepped my bounds. I will work harder for Mr. Mascot and the Resort…….”
Dammit.
S o r r y
“Not at all! Mr. Mascot can do anything. This Resort is a place operated entirely by Mr. Mascot’s judgment and will. It is an honor to work in such a place.”
…….
N o
With those final words, I began receiving guests at the front desk again.
The employee who looked like Jang Heowoon seemed restless for a moment, but when a guest approached, he responded again like a cheerful Theme Park Resort employee.
That’s why my head cooled down even more.
‘I don’t think I should have heard it like this.’
The repulsion of hearing someone’s intimate and desperate personal circumstances so absurdly lightly and casually.
It makes me feel nauseous.
To the point where I feel lucky that I cut him off in the middle without listening to the more detailed story.
…….
Is there really, really no way…?
I even pulled out the document I had used as a guide for Resort operations and picked up a pen.
Repaired one employee. It took some effort, but he seems to have become a superior employee through the repair process. Highly satisfied.
I got goosebumps.
I forced the pen to twist.
Highly satisfied But, since a superior employee is not necessarily a good employee, I am considering a way to return him to his original state.
But the pen doesn't stop.
However, there is no such thing.
……!
I will only focus on how to operate the resort better. I have decided not to engage in meaningless contemplation.
To exist solely as the Mascot of this resort
I picked up the pen and barely managed to erase all the words.
My breathing inside the mascot suit grew ragged, but the Mascot did not waver. I shouldn't be like this.
‘I have to get out quickly.’
Something is going wrong.
But… for now, the priority was to successfully expand this Resort once more.
As quickly as possible.
Requirements for Resort facility expansion
Employees 3
Satisfied guests 300
Mascot Ceremony Rites
For now… satisfied guests will soon reach 300 at this rate. No, honestly, seeing the guests flocking in today, it’ll be over by today or tomorrow.
It was a staggering achievement.
‘Why does the social distancing concept work even in a ghost story?’
In the past, I might have been a bit annoyed and amused, but now it didn't matter. The problem was the top and bottom.
Employees and the ceremony ritual.
‘…….’
Three additional employees.
Like before, there is a way to entice the civilians visiting here to work as employees using lodging as bait.
The problem is how many of those people can be persuaded, and if someone dies while working as an employee, who will take responsibility.
‘Those people don't even have minimal equipment like masks.’
Whether my sanity can hold out is also an issue.
And the next method is….
It’s gruesome, but it's a method I learned through this incident.
‘…….’
I summoned the Standard-grade Mascots.
And I inquired about the location of the objects they had cleared away somewhere.
Specifically… the whereabouts of the two corpses that Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae had brought with her.
Yes.
I was going to see if the corpses could be brought to life and used as employees.
And the Standard-grade Mascots led me to the back of the Resort building.
A space where only Standard-grade Mascots work, which human employees avoid and guests are prohibited from entering.
Among those areas, they led me to the freezing section of the room service warehouse.
Two Mascots are standing guard in front of it.
[Airtight seal of the cold storage must be checked]
‘Ha.’
While imagining the appearance of the corpses that would be inside, I was about to open the door to check….
‘…….’
I realized it.
As a Mascot, I recognized them.
Y o u T w o
The corpses were not in the cold storage.
Because the two Standard-grade Mascots standing guard in front of the cold storage were the corpses of the employees!
‘Fuck!’
The corpses had turned into those Standard-grade Mascots…!
Just like Jang Heowoon’s corpse had turned into an employee….
The Standard-grade Mascots stare at me.
I almost staggered back, but my ego as the operator of this Resort made me hold my ground.
Then the Standard-grade Mascots, the things I had considered as another part of my body, approach and try to support me.
I got goosebumps.
Then the identities of all the Standard-grade Mascots here right now are……
‘Damn it.’
There must have been corpses wandering and dying in the Resort ruins.
I had been raising people who might have died who knows when and using them as employees!
This insanely eerie Resort… no, wait.
If you think about it, it’s not the Resort’s fault.
‘Corpses are buried in graves and become nutrients for nature anyway.’
But if they became nutrients for this wonderful Resort, wouldn't that be better than being decomposed pointlessly for general nature and lowly creatures?
Yes. Since they were dead people anyway, it felt like using them well was the right thing to do.
‘Phew.’
I barely managed to settle my mind and let out a sigh of relief.
…Anyway, using dead corpses as employees was a failure.
‘Maybe because there was no separate contract, they aren't recognized as individuals.’
But if there is one hope, it’s that Jang Heowoon is counted as an employee, not just a general Standard-grade Mascot.
In other words, he is recognized as an individual, not like these Mascots who have no sense of self at all.
…Even if the fact that he doesn't have the appearance of a mascot is simply because I allowed the employees to maintain their human appearance.
“…….”
I closed my eyes tight. No, I wanted to, but the mascot mask prevents it.
The situation is… out of control.
‘I’m confused.’
The bizarreness of the ghost story began to be revealed blatantly.
I had been busy with operations, but looking at the current situation, I felt like something even bigger was going to happen at this rate.
I had left the ladybug employee under the surveillance of two powerful employees— Section Chief Lee Jaheon and Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae—but I couldn't burden them forever.
‘I have to get out of this crazy Resort quickly.’
No matter how enchanting this Resort is and how hard I’ve cultivated it, this is unavoidable.
‘I need more information.’
Paradoxically, since Jang Heowoon is now… a perfect Resort employee, I can leave him in charge of the front desk for a while and move around.
If I give him an instruction, he carries it out exactly as told.
A certain degree of freedom of movement has been established.
So, today is the 4th day. My evening schedule is… this.
I walked out of the Resort building entirely and followed the path.
And….
H e l l o
I came directly to the gate leading to Blue Dream Water Park.
And so….
Meeting the Blue Mascot.
I ' m H e r e
The Blue Mascot, who had been standing beyond the gate, throws down the booklet he was holding and runs over.
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