I remember it exactly.
It is vivid enough to be unforgettable. It was an event that could be called a turning point in my life at Daydream Inc.
Good Friend's Invitation Ritual.
1. Dip your finger in water and draw the hexagram from the provided pattern on a smooth floor.
I ran to the bathroom, brought back some water, poured it onto the floor of the resort office, and began to draw with my finger.
Strangely, the pattern came to mind with perfect clarity. It was as if someone had etched it into my brain.
In an instant, the floor was covered with a hexagram dripping with moisture.
The only difference was….
B i g g e r
The size of the hexagram was large enough to cover the entire office floor.
I placed the inactive Magic Bunny mascot suit in the center of the completed hexagram.
And then, with the most careful movements possible, onto the stomach of the mascot suit, the coin….
‘…….’
I can’t take out the coin.
The Silver Coin Snake I originally used to summon the ‘Good Friend’ is… inside this mascot costume, inside the Security Team uniform, inside the pocket of my own clothes.
But I cannot take off the mascot suit.
‘…Then!’
I opened the office drawer and pulled out a Cheerful Coin.
‘This is a coin too.’
Even if it was just a plastic token, it was a definite form of currency, and it should fit the meaning of the word 'coin' intended for this ritual.
It likely didn't mean something specifically cast in copper, but rather a coin-shaped object with monetary value.
After completely removing all moisture from the mascot’s finger gloves, I picked up the coin and placed it on the suit’s stomach.
‘Done.’
I hurried to the next step.
Let's see….
‘Salt!’
If the coin has disappeared, it is a success! You have met a dependable friend. Always stay together and cherish them!
※ If the salt cannot be swallowed, tastes strange, turns into ash, or if you bleed, run away.
There wasn't much time left.
The Standard-grade Mascots came running from the room service warehouse with salt. I snatched the salt from them outside the office and put it in my mou….
…….
Can I even put this in my mouth while wearing a mascot head?
‘I have to try.’
I carefully opened the mouth of the yellow mascot. Then I poured the salt inside and closed it.
Now there was only one thing left to prepare.
Burning the object with fire.
Previously, I had used my necktie… but I didn't have a necktie now.
‘Let’s substitute it with this.’
I untied the yellow bowtie the yellow mascot was wearing and held it in my hand.
Then, I held the bowtie over the flame of the prepared candlestick.
Whoosh.
The bowtie caught fire.
The flames, which rose strangely high, reminded me of the time I had summoned the Good Friend before.
A massive shadow fell over the pink mascot suit.
And then, it swayed.
Sway.
Sway.
I watched it anxiously.
He had definitely said that if I called him with an appropriate medium, he would come.
Then it had to succeed.
Sway.
Sway.
As the shadow moved, it looked as if the mascot suit itself was moving.
At any moment, at any moment.
Sway.
Sway.
Inside the dark shadow.
The giant mascot suit opened its mouth.
—My resort!
…….
Huh?
—My resort called me again! Hahahaha! Hahahahaha! Hahahaaaaaaaa! My resort! My resort! Myyyyyyyy resort! The beautiful Flower Golden Resort!
In the center of the hexagram, the mascot suit swayed while bursting into fits of laughter. I watched the scene, my breath catching in my throat.
Snap.
The upper body sat up.
The head twisted to look this way.
—G i v e I t T o M e
The Cheerful Coin I had placed on its stomach sizzled as it burned and was sucked inside the mascot suit.
The acrid smell of burning plastic filled the facility office.
—M y
—R e s o r t
The water of the hexagram vibrated as blood began to flow.
Something like melted plastic flowed from the mascot suit’s eye sockets and mouth.
It pushed its body completely up from the hexagram.
—G i v e I t T o M e
‘…….’
Something,
was wrong.
I had to end the ritual. Right now!
‘Swallow it.’
I tried to swallow the salt. That is, if I could just pass the salt water down my throat….
…….
Huh?
Why… is there no throat?
—Hahahahahahaha!
I looked down at myself.
And I realized something shocking.
‘I don’t have a body.’
The inside of this mascot suit is filled with stuffing. And the reason for that is….
I hadn't returned to 'my body.'
When I met the Blue Mascot and Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae killed the ladybug, I had hurried back to the resort; instead of moving my original body, I had inhabited the body of one of the Standard-grade Mascots and used it as my own.
And I had stayed that way.
So, so….
I had forgotten that I had an original body.
I was currently using the body of a Standard-grade Mascot.
‘…!!’
Then… where is my original body?
Surely, one of the Standard-grade Mascots that was being torn apart when Magic Bunny attacked earlier wasn't….
No, that's not it.
If my body had been torn apart, it wouldn't have been stuffing and cloth organs, but blood and real entrails.
There were no such yellow mascots. My body was somewhere….
…….
But where exactly?
—Hello?
And the thing that was 'invited' through the Good Friend's ritual, just whose call did it answer?
I realized it.
My hypothesis was correct. A mascot suit was certainly an appropriate medium for the Invitation Ritual.
But there was a flaw.
‘The fact that its purpose hasn't been established.’
Because it wasn't a doll sold at a gift shop.
There was no Binding Restriction as a Good Friend.
—Hello? Hello? Hello? Answer me. Answer me.
The mascot suit twisted, transforming into a grotesque shape.
…That isn't a 'Good Friend.'
It's just something from the Otherworld.
—Offer a kind greeting and accept me, you vain thing.
……But wait a minute.
‘My resort’? Could that be….
—Behold the true mascot!
……!
The being inside the hexagram protruded out from the mascot suit.
Strange petals of a fractal structure, glowing with a filthy golden light, surged up and sank as if they would pierce through the head.
…Flower Golden.
—Accept me.
The silhouette I had seen on the sign of the ruined resort.
The mascot that resembled a golden flower was inside.
The Invitation Ritual performed by a ‘Standard-grade Mascot’ had awakened and called the dead soul who was originally the owner of this resort.
That being, who knows where it had been since its death.
—Accept me.
The documents sitting on the desk trembled violently.
A pen began to dance on its own over the document that had congratulated me on my appointment.
The true owner of this resort had appeared.
I was nothing more than a trivial temporary manager filling his spot, and now it was time to humbly hand over everything I had built and step down.
Everything must have been prepared for this very moment!
The document floated toward me.
The pen moved frantically, scribbling words.
In my handwriting.
The Ceremony Ritual will be performed by him. The Great Flower Golden himself will personally run this resort as a mascot once again!
I had been stealing and using his power until now! I had dared to hold the glorious position of temporary proxy, filling his seat, but it is all over.
Ah.
Accept him.
Accept him completely, become a part of him, and follow the mascot.
Accept him.
—Accept me.
I backed away.
The mascot suit came to the edge of the hexagram and peered at me.
—Accept me.
The ritual was a failure. I had to run.
But where could I possibly run to?
And I had been acting according to the document’s excellent advice until now. And now that it was revealed that this document was following the will of the original mascot, it was only right to humbly follow the true mascot!
Yes! That’s right….
…….
‘No!’
I looked at the other documents on the desk.
The Work Regulations, the employment contracts, the usage rules. They were all written while fighting against the will of the mascot that tried to run the resort in an anomalous way.
I….
…….
N o
I looked at the being inside the hexagram.
H e r e
M y R e s o r t
I grabbed the document and stood before it.
My head was thumping, but it was bearable.
Because I had realized something.
Y o u
N o t Q u a l i f i e d
—Eeeeeeeeh?
How dare I say such a thing—
I crumpled the document.
Y o u L o s t
—!!!!!!
That’s right. You are a ghost who was killed by another mascot and had your territory stolen.
And you know what.
I t ‘ s
C o m i n g
The being that killed you and turned this resort into a ruin is right in front of the garden.
To enter this territory again and begin the hunt.
I’ll show you the proof.
H e r e
I threw the office door wide open.
Across the hallway, there was a large window.
Through that window, where the outside was barely visible because it was night, the bright office was reflected instead.
Reflected clearly was the Human Figure of the mascot suit standing atop the hexagram.
A red rabbit.
M a g i c B u n n y
I t ‘ s H e r e
You.
—…….
The mascot suit reached out and felt its own face, raised its hands to its head, and confirmed the two ears sticking up.
And… it checked its own hands directly.
Rabbit feet, covered in red fur.
—Magic Bunny.
Its hands trembled violently, and the mascot’s limbs twisted in terror.
—Magic Bunny! Argh! Aaaaargh! Save me! Save me!! Please save me! Don't take out my innards! My resort! Resort!
I hurriedly poured salt over the office floor.
‘Erase it.’
The white salt covered the blood and black plastic forming the hexagram, erasing the pattern.
As much as it was erased, the mascot suit was gradually pushed toward the center, clutching its head and screaming.
—Run away! Magic Bunny is coming! The Red Mascot is coming! It's following the red path! Aaaah! Aaaaaaaaaah!
—Save me! It's infiltrating! The red ■■ wriggling inside the suit ate me! Only the dregs left in the basement! Save me!
—Begone red thing begone red thing begone red thing begone red thing begone red thing begone red thing begone red thing please
The one who had been invited, tearing at its head, finally—
Rip, rip, rip.
Tore off its own head.
As if its two hands wanted to get away, as if in awe, as if paralyzed by fear, it lifted the mascot head into the empty air. It held it high.
And then.
Thud, it collapsed onto the floor.
…….
…….
‘Phew.’
I slumped down onto the office floor.
‘I thought it was the end.’
I almost got absorbed right then and there and ended up with a Standard-grade Mascot ending. Even though this was a mascot body with nothing but stuffing, I felt like my heart was going to burst.
Still, somehow… I managed to clean up and seemed to have brought about an impressive result, but what’s important now is….
‘…Time!’
How much is left?
I looked back at the clock.
20:11.
‘49 minutes left until closing.’
I didn't know whether to feel hollow or glad that this chaos only took 10 minutes, but one thing was important.
I had failed to call the Good Friend.
‘…….’
No.
This definitely has meaning.
There is a harvest.
Because I found out the identity of the thing that was forcing the operation of this resort.
And I got rid of it.
I smoothed out the crumpled document and set my pen to it.
……I didn't feel that strange sense of control anymore.
‘I’ll be able to write the operating rules more freely now.’
Things that would be detrimental to a ‘successful operation’ from the resort’s perspective, which I couldn't write before because I was blocked by the resort’s will, seemed like they could be implemented now at my discretion.
…Just like the crazy things Magic Bunny does.
‘It’ll be useful.’
I stood up.
…Still, a lingering regret clung to my back, wondering if I might have succeeded if I’d had just a little more leeway.
Was the coin the problem, or was it the bowtie, or….
‘…Did he just decide not to answer?’
Since I hadn't summoned him with my original body, that might have been a fatal disqualification.
‘Whew.’
I packed the documents and was looking for the Blue Mascot to find some sort of safeguard that would be at least a little safe….
Ring-ring-ring—
“…….”
I stopped.
Ring-ring-ring—
I turned my head.
The phone on the office desk was ringing.
Ring-ring-ring—
I watched it, frozen.
Until now, had a phone… ever rung in this resort?
‘No.’
Room service calls come through a radio that plays a calling melody. Calling a mascot is done with an actual bell.
But what I was hearing now was a very classic ringtone.
…Someone contacting me.
Ring-ring-ring—
‘…….’
I approached the desk and picked up the classic receiver.
Click.
An elegant wooden phone in dark brown.
From it, a man’s cheerful and pleasant voice rang out.
[Hello! It is a very fine night. Oh, I would be quite grateful if you could connect me to the talented and Cheerful Mascot of Flower Golden Resort.]
…!
[My, it was you. That worked out well. It’s nothing else, but I’d like to rent your modest and beautiful resort in its entirety for a few days.]
[As you know, a celebrity needs a private place to rest. So, I was thinking of spending this summer vacation at that resort….]
…….
N o
[Hmm?]
I ’ m Q u i t t i n g
R i g h t N o w
[Goodness, but why didn't you just hand over the resort to that fellow earlier? He seemed quite desperate!]
[I’m joking. Hahaha! For such a vulgar fellow to try and extort the resort you’ve cultivated, how very unpleasant.]
The Host’s characteristic voice came through the phone.
[Mr. Roe Deer.]
‘…….’
[It was a very excellent judgment to try and call me, but you were so immersed in the show that you overlooked a few things.]
Things… overlooked?
[Of course, that too is the talent of an immersive entertainer, and a joy suited to the genre, but it gets boring if it goes on too long. It means it is the moment for a perfect advisor to appear for your enjoyment.]
[So from now on, your friend is going to give you a few words of kind advice….]
The voice on the receiver dropped.
[Now, let us hold onto the phone and listen to the wonderful voice of Braun.]
The Great Host’s kind advice began to flow from the telephone.
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