Chapter 182

Light blooms in the night garden of the Flower Golden Resort.

Whoosh.

A single streak of light soaring into the sky bursts magnificently, pouring down shimmering light onto the resort building like a waterfall.

"Wow!"

Colorful flowers bloom from light throughout the garden, swaying as if dancing and reaching full bloom at different intervals. Light also fills the glow-in-the-dark flowers held up by the non-human guests, drawing exclamations of awe.

A landscape so enchanting that it is, conversely, eerie.

And soon, light also blossomed from the resort building.

The light, soaring upward in the shape of vines, flickered across the windows and terraces before reaching the very top of the resort building and bursting into fragments of light like pollen.

Letters appear, cutting through the air.

F L O W E R  G O L D E N

Finally, he stepped to the front.

The owner of this resort.

The yellow mascot walked out to the center of the garden along with numerous other mascots, performing a rhythmic dance, and with every movement, the light danced again.

The theme song of the Cheerful Theme Park flows.

-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪

At the same time, the sound of the same song being played in variations and echoing from all directions can be heard faintly.

Sounds coming from far away.

“…….”

The Team Leader of Hyunmoo Team 3 glanced around.

The Red Zone and the Blue Zone.

In the other zones, their own Ceremony events were also in progress.

The fireworks of the Blue Zone, and….

-Hahahaha!

The parade of the Red Zone.

The insanely painful, cheerful, terrible, and flashy procession led by Magic Bunny started from the Magic Palace in the center of the Red Zone, leading loud music, screams, and cheers.

Though the detailed scenery could not be known since the distance was far, the Team Leader estimated the parade's movement route.

And she had a gut feeling.

The destination is here.

It definitely wasn't yesterday. But they changed their route.

The moment this Ceremony ends, that parade will also stop at the red gate in front of the garden.

And the moment business hours end….

“They’ll probably cross over with the whole parade.”

“…!”

“Ah, I’m sorry. If I startled you.”

Did she make a similar guess?

The Team Leader quietly looked at the employee in the dolphin mask who bowed her head to her, then nodded.

She wasn't of a rank high enough or spirited enough to openly express her animosity toward the pseudo-religious pharmaceutical company.

Besides, she had just seen that strange scuffle.

I  W i l l  

S t a y  H e r e

I don't like it.

I t ‘ s  F i n e

It doesn’t seem alright at all.

Just before the event, the yellow mascot made all the employees withdraw from the garden and gather in front of the resort.

As if protecting them from something.

Thanks to that, the employees were watching the Illumination from a distance, as far away as the resort building.

Even so, seeing the Hyunmoo Team agents looking almost entranced, one realizes the strangeness of this thing called the 'Mascot Ceremony Ritual.'

And if her eyes weren't mistaken….

That Employee Dolphin tried to help the mascot, who was trying to protect the employees until the end.

‘…….’

Young agents often equate the character of an unethical group with the character of its individual members, but reality is not that simple.

The same goes for creatures within ghost stories.

That’s why it’s even more of a headache….

‘Whew.’

She shook off her thoughts.

Because there was work to be done.

And in any case, it was now time to put it into action.

"Waaaaah!"

At the climax of the Illumination, as the yellow mascot stands in the center, his horns glow as if burning with a bright golden light, and flowers reach full bloom.

At that moment, the yellow mascot looked this way and, as if part of the performance, raised his front paw and waved to them in the distance.

A will conveyed even without words.

G o

“…Now!”

At that signal, the employees began to run like mad.

The location was the gate leading to the Blue Zone.

And a short while later.

The ground next to the gate began to shake and rise.

***

The Illumination races toward its peak.

Light gathers beneath the feet of the yellow mascot standing in the center of the garden, floating him into the air.

A drumroll.

"Ooooh!"

Light grew from the yellow mascot's horns, swaying like a giant tree large enough to cover the resort building.

Flowers blooming in a breathtaking manner.

And the moment the mascot raises his hand in time with the end of the music.

"Aaaaaah!"

His name bursts into light in the air, achieving complete perception.

FLOWER GOLDEN.

The owner of the Yellow Zone of Cheerful Theme Park.

Everyone knew. It was proclaimed to everyone.

Congratulations. Now he was a perfect mascot of this place.

And the yellow mascot came to accept an immense new sensation.

‘…!’

He senses the entire Yellow Zone.

He could know what was happening in his resort area, he could handle all the mascots like himself, and he realized all the laws and ■■ of this Cheerful Theme Park!

Now he was the complete master of the zone and its mascot!

"Ahhh!"

An instinctive thrill maximized the splendor of the Illumination, and once more, brilliant golden flowers burst throughout the entire garden, bringing the Ceremony Ritual to a close.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!"

However, in the meantime.

Something also reveals itself beyond the red gate.

A parade of madness.

The end of Magic Bunny's disgusting, overwhelming, and flashy march.

[The Great Magic Bunny!]

The red rabbit and carriage, the giant face-shaped balloon, and all sorts of mobile parade equipment that finished the event like a final sacrificial ritual stop in front of the gate.

And as if rivaling the Illumination, lights flickered insanely and then… went out.

At the same time, the waves of brilliant light from the Illumination also subsided until the final ecstasy.

The ending.

What flows is….

-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪

The ending song.

A song that was a warm variation of the theme song began to flow.

Closing time was near.

-This is an announcement. Our theme park will close in 10 minutes….

The garden grew quiet.

The spectators who had been enjoying the Illumination began to disperse. They moved busily toward the exit gate.

In an instant, the area regained a busy tranquility.

The end of business hours.

The yellow mascots tidy up the night garden, kindly guide the visitors, and manage the resort facilities.

No movement is observed beyond the dark red gate.

The yellow mascots lightly celebrate today's event among themselves and check if there are any guests left in the lobby.

No movement is observed beyond the dark red gate.

The quiet resort building, where only a serene bright light softly reflects through the lobby's glass windows. The yellow mascots standing inside wave to the guests heading out through the exit gate.

No movement is observed beyond the dark red gate.

And the lobby door closes.

Thud.

-See you again next time~

…….

…….

…….

Beyond the dark red gate.

Countless red eyes began to pop out.

Magic Bunny's Parade Colony crossed the gate as it was.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The sound of the corpses of visitors and something living, used as padding so the carriage wouldn't get stuck in the gate, being crushed. The gate is stained red.

The carriage runs. A tinkling melody rings out from the music box device attached to its wheels. To that sound, those wearing Magic Bunny masks stagger and march toward the resort.

The doll masks melt thickly.

During the time they are no longer mascots, the red mascots discard their forms to cross over into another zone.

Things that have surpassed the regulations and rules they no longer need to protect as business hours have ended.

"Ahhh!"

The bipedal red masses connect to each other like veins, and the exterior of the parade transforms into something strange that can no longer be hidden by the illusions of the theme park.

Still, the parade continues.

With the sound of the music box, they trample into the garden of the Yellow Zone and surround the resort building with the Parade Colony.

And drawing a strange circle that gradually narrows, they slowly draw closer to the resort.

Gradually.

Closer.

As if to pressure.

The yellow mascots watching the outside from within the lobby take a defensive stance and look at them.

They draw closer.

3-

2-

1-

"Ahhh!"

The lobby windows shatter, and the parade pours into the resort building.

Pandemonium.

Malice and the desire for destruction are erupted without the mascot's filter, and dozens of yellow mascots are caught and slaughtered.

Occasionally, yellow mascots trying to resist or respond swarm a single entity and overpower it, but it is only for a moment.

Soon, they are torn apart like toys, scattering cotton as they cease to function.

Mascots falling from the roof of the resort building, mascots whose heads explode, mascots being nailed into the freezer.

A gruesome, horrific sight that makes one hold their breath.

The occupation of Magic Bunny!

The great power of Magic Bunny!

Crunch, crunch!

In that spectacle, one yellow mascot flees in a hurry.

The mascot with the flashy horns.

The very entity that had conducted the Illumination today.

The main body.

"Hahahaha!"

Magic Bunny's decorative fireworks burst along with laughter. The sparks that flew out burned the leg of the fleeing mascot.

Following the mascot who eventually fell and was fleeing by crawling, the lead carriage of the parade rushed down the narrow path in pursuit.

Toward the facility office.

Click!

The yellow mascot, who entered the space reserved only for the personnel of the Yellow Zone, barely managed to lock the door before the carriage arrived.

BOOM!!

The huge front decoration of the carriage tore the door apart and burst in.

The colorful carriage decorated with light bulbs that had been used at the very front of the parade.

The symbolic vehicle of Magic Bunny.

The giant red face decoration of Magic Bunny, smiling broadly, which was attached to the front, splits open.

Crack, crack!

From within, where the decoration's eyes are pierced, its mouth bursts, and powder takes flight, an existence finally flows out.

"Ahhh!"

The main body of Magic Bunny.

Something that was digested into a red mascot.

A strange mass that had lost all the form it had when it wasn't a mascot pours out of the carriage.

Various body parts, worn like trophies or replacements, are attached here and there.

Countless eyes and ears, and limbs.

"Ahhh!"

It approaches the yellow mascot, trembling with joy.

Slowly, slowly.

It's fun!

A raw hunt. A raw joy!

Revenge and a sense of liberation!

The fun of usurpation!

The yellow mascot, whose legs are broken and leaking cotton, cannot escape.

He just looks up at the horrific and overwhelming thing and….

Opens his mouth.

I d i o t

At that moment.

BOOM!!

With a thunderous sound, the ceiling of the facility office collapses.

The thing that had taken off its red mascot mask tried to swallow the yellow mascot's head regardless, but it wasn't just the ceiling that collapsed.

Crash! Boom, boom!

With explosive sounds, the resort is smashed to pieces.

Heavy construction materials also pierce into the Parade Colony that was hunting the yellow mascots.

"AAAHHHHH!"

A different kind of indiscriminate destruction.

But the explosive sounds do not end there.

By the force of gravity and weight, the resort was sinking downward, crushing the first floor.

Countless contents of the Magic Bunny are pinned beneath it and perish.

Along with the corpses of the yellow mascots.

Crash, boom, bang!

Even in the facility office where the contents of the largest Magic Bunny were.

Even onto the documents on the desk of the facility office, heavy masses like concrete and metal pipes are violently driven.

The document that was originally placed on that desk….

I decided to demolish the resort today.

Why?

Because I feel like it. Someone advised me, and I think this resort is too modest. As expected, the predecessor's sense wasn't that great.

It would be better to explode it and put up a new, nicer resort.

It’s a pity, but for the guests who were scheduled to stay today, I guided them to the gate with an apology after informing them of the refund.

And I installed explosives during the Mascot Ceremony Ritual.

It might be fun to blow it up tomorrow morning to generate buzz… well. I might suddenly blow it up tonight.

It doesn’t matter anyway.

Because I am the owner of this Yellow Zone.

And.

I should also demolish everything that was in the resort at that time together with it.

Upholding that will.

The resort was being completely smashed and burning.

Along with everything inside it.

***

"M-My goodness."

The employees groaned as they watched the resort building in the distance being half-destroyed and collapsing.

They were now safe from the end of business hours.

<Shelter>

The third facility that the yellow mascot had hurriedly created underground near the Blue Zone gate at the same time the Mascot Ceremony Ritual ended.

Of course, it was closer to a temporary safety facility than a formal service facility, and the inside was empty, but that gave it an advantage.

The fact that employees could enter and use it freely without any cost.

The fact that it was, conversely, safe for humans because there were no additional effects.

Thanks to that, they were safely staying in the Cheerful Theme Park, where business had ended, without having to enter the resort, which was a lodging facility….

While watching their workplace being smashed and their employer being killed numerous times through a small glass window near the ceiling.

"Wait a minute! Is that mascot planning to commit double suicide…."

"Th-there! He’s still there!"

"Fuck."

A red mass surges from one side of the collapsed resort.

"Aaaaaah!"

The red mass spits out what it was chewing in its mouth.

Golden fur.

The head of the yellow mascot rolling on the ground is faintly reflected in the light of the burning resort….

"Ah…."

Moving slowly, it certainly seemed to have taken damage, but it had not completely stopped.

And that alone gives the employees of the Yellow Zone a chilling premonition.

They lost.

They will be integrated into the Red Zone.

But then.

"T-Team Leader!"

"Hold on, just a second."

The Team Leader of Hyunmoo Team 3 of the Disaster Management Bureau opened the door of the shelter and stepped out.

Since the Magic Bunnies had swarmed the resort building to find and tear all the yellow mascots to death, they had not yet arrived here, where there wasn't a single mascot figure.

Thanks to that, the Team Leader could step out of the shelter for a moment to carry out the employer's 'special order.'

The yellow mascot's request.

-U s e

-T h a t

She had no idea how he knew and calculated this, but since it was a reasonable request.

"Whew."

She took the sword out from her bosom.

A weapon that slashes through disaster, imbued with the energy of Pure Yang to repel ghosts and drive away wicked things.

The Sai Sword.

A provided item whose forging is permitted only to the Team Leaders of the Hyunmoo Team of the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.

The blade, which had been in a short glass scabbard, revealed itself as it slid out to a seemingly endless length.

A set of the 28 constellations and a set of the Sword Art.

She raises them all….

Heaven bestows the essence,

The earth assists the spirit.

The sun and the moon take their shape,

Mountains and the waters form their figures.

And.

Thunder and lightning rage forth.

She swings it.

The collapsing resort.

A bolt of lightning struck down onto the head of the wicked thing caught in the trap.

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