The psychopathic doctor had pushed his own researcher into the ghost story exploration as a sacrificial lamb.
He probably intended to observe how the people of the Field Exploration team would die in even more bizarre ways through the synergy of being entangled with that researcher.
The problem was that I was on the same team as that researcher.
‘Phew….’
I came to my senses.
My ears picked up the ghost story before my eyes did.
—♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The sound of a cheerful melodica and an orchestra.
It was a typical theme park BGM.
“Gasp.”
When I opened my eyes, we were in the middle of a theme park that was gaudily colorful in an old-fashioned way.
—Hahahaha!
The laughter of children echoed.
However, no human faces were to be seen anywhere.
The only things loitering around were the mascots.
I thought I could see some admitted guests wearing mascot heads in the distance, but they would probably vanish like a lie if I approached them.
‘Because it’s that kind of place.’
I immediately checked my wrist.
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Boarding Pass □□□]
Three blanks.
‘As I thought.’
It was the amusement park inside that crazy board game that you could only escape after riding three attractions.
==========
Dark Exploration Record / Ghost Story
[Cheerful Theme Park!]
: A ghost story appearing in the <Dark Exploration Record>, Daydream Inc.’s identification code is Qterw-B-11.
An amusement park inside a board game themed around various fantasy lands.
After entering this ghost story, one can return home by using three large attractions.
A ghost story made more famous by the supplement titled ‘Cheerful Theme Park User Guidelines,’ written by people who played the board game while in a state of delirium.
If you are looking for a game based on this ghost story, click this link.
==========
There are many amusement park ghost stories. But this was one of the <Dark Exploration Records> that became more famous due to its eeriness, uniqueness, and persistent horror.
‘The pop-up store even had merchandise based on this theme park.’
It had also gained a cult-like popularity through the supplement, the <Cheerful Theme Park User Guidelines>.
I believe they called that a ‘Napolitan ghost story.’
‘Besides, it’s Grade B.’
Darkness of the dusk grade.
Civilian survival rate… 2%.
The previous civilian survivors must have been extremely lucky for four of them to survive.
If one were to cross-reference the list of missing persons who disappeared without a trace before that, there would likely be quite a few cases where everyone died in this ghost story.
A cold sweat broke out.
‘…I’m worried the people in Team D might be in danger.’
Of course, I had my own problems to deal with right now.
Because I was the one burdened with the variable: ‘Researcher gets dragged in.’!
“Aaaah, ugh, gasp…. L-let me out. This is wrong, wrong…!”
“Quiet!”
I muffled the screaming researcher’s mouth and forced him to crouch down.
At that moment.
Snap.
Numerous mascots in the theme park all turned their heads at once to look at the wailing researcher.
“…….”
==========
Cheerful Theme Park User Guidelines (Applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
3. Please refrain from intense negative emotional expressions such as crying, wailing, or screaming!
It does not suit the Cheerful Theme Park.
==========
It was nothing short of a nightmare.
I struggled not to squeeze my eyes shut.
3. 4. 5.
The noise returned.
—Hahahaha!
—♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The gazes vanished.
As the scenery of the theme park began to move vibrantly once more, I slowly let go of the researcher.
The Team A employee struck the researcher’s jaw.
“…!”
Thwack. After the short, dull sound, the Team A employee gripped the researcher’s jaw tightly, brought her face—covered by a Butterfly Mask— close to his, and said in a low, ominous voice.
“Hey.”
“……!”
“If you whimper one more time, know that I’ll start by killing you first.”
“Hi-hiieek.”
The researcher backpedaled with a terrified expression, then slumped to the ground and clutched his head.
He seemed to be muttering a mix of words like ‘This is a dream’ and ‘It’s a lie’ along with curses; he appeared to have fallen into a panic.
“…Isn’t that a bit too harsh?”
The Team Y rookie spoke up cautiously, but the Team A employee ignored him.
Instead, she asked me.
“You, rookie. You said you were the top of your class, right? Your judgment is decent.”
“…Thank you.”
“Did you pull your exclusive equipment?”
Hmm.
Does this mean she’ll treat me as a fellow employee for now?
‘Is it because I’m the top of the class, even if I’m not in the Elite Squad?’
I thought the criteria were excessively one-dimensional, but I answered politely without showing it.
Exclusive equipment, I have it.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Fingers capable of remote touch. There are limits on time and frequency.”
I’ll only tell her this much.
And I should ask this much as well.
“What kind of weapon do you use, Assistant Manager?”
“None of your b— Hmm. Fine.”
The Team A employee pulled at her index fingernail.
It was a fake nail for nail art.
Something sticky stretched out from the back of the detached nail.
A translucent thread.
“It stretches endlessly, and its strength is quite good.”
“…It seems like it could be used very usefully for many purposes.”
“Hmm. I suppose so.”
The other person’s mood seemed to have improved a bit.
I immediately nodded and asked.
“May I ask for your name?”
“Just call me Assistant Manager Jin. Why the embarrassing exchange of names?”
Isn’t that basic courtesy when people meet…?
In any case, her surname was unique enough that I could identify her immediately.
‘Could it be… this employee?’
Assistant Manager Jin Nasol infiltrates the murderer’s bedroom and sets the clock to 4:44.
Cucumber answers seriously to Assistant Manager Jin Nasol’s question, “Do you have a special grudge against carrots?” Nothing unusual.
Severs the limbs of the Teddy Bear (Executor: Employee Jin Nasol).
And so on.
There weren't many descriptions detailed enough to deduce her personality, but she seemed to have been portrayed in the work as a fairly competent and cold-hearted employee.
Just then, the Team Y rookie quietly asked me.
“…What exactly is exclusive equipment?”
Ah, right. This person likely wouldn’t know much about it yet.
“Ah, at the company, you can use Darkness to customize equipment….”
“Hey. Let’s move quickly. In a large-scale Darkness like this, observation comes first.”
“…….”
“What are you doing, top of the class? I said let’s move.”
She’s openly cutting me off.
I didn't wait any longer and answered while following Assistant Manager Jin of Team A, who was already walking away.
“Yes. I will move while explaining the current situation to my colleague.”
“What? Why are you taking care of— Ah.”
A strange smile formed beneath the Butterfly Mask.
“You don’t know, do you?”
“…….”
“Well, do whatever you want.”
I didn't argue.
Instead, I gave the Team Y rookie a rough explanation of what ‘exclusive equipment’ was.
I also added this to avoid creating too much disharmony within the team.
“I really agonized over it before spending quite a few points to pull it. I’m also scared of what might happen next.”
“……I see.”
I nodded and continued.
“Now that I think about it, my introduction is late. I am Kim Soleum.”
“…I know.”
A slightly gloomy voice drifted out from under the Cow Mask.
“I am… Jang Heowoon.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.”
I tried talking to the researcher who had slumped to the ground for the sake of the situation, but what I got back was a whimper bordering on panic.
“No, no, I can’t walk. Give me a hand!”
“I could help you… but that would make your movements awkward, sir.”
I added, sounding concerned.
“If that happens, the probability of the person involved dying is high.”
He stood up like magic.
‘I knew he would.’
Assistant Manager Jin of Team A glanced this way with a look of disapproval, but she didn't interfere and simply walked while scanning the surroundings.
I also began to pick up my pace and looked around.
It was a theme park like something out of a dream—dazzling, yet somehow dizzying and stifling.
‘Is red the theme?’
In this area of the theme park, there wasn't a single spot—from the flags and buildings to the tents—that lacked the symbol of red.
‘We probably ended up in this zone because we picked the red piece.’
On the flags, a cute rabbit was smiling while holding up one hand.
[Magic Bunny Arcade Zone]
Does that translate to Magic Bunny Adventure Space….
‘It really is like a theme park.’
It was then.
The rabbit mascot from before blocked Assistant Manager Jin’s path.
“Ah, blocking the way….”
“Wait a moment.”
I stopped Assistant Manager Jin, who was trying to bypass the mascot.
Because….
“…I think it’s a parade.”
A rope was being set up behind the rabbit mascot, and from further back, the sounds of cheerful music and all sorts of flashy rabbits appeared.
However, I wasn't excited at all.
I struggled to keep from covering my face with both hands.
‘It’s started….’
==========
Cheerful Theme Park User Guidelines (Applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
7. Please cheer for the parade with a joyful face!
Everything that happens in the Cheerful Theme Park parade is joyful and never negative. Never, ever negative.
==========
The parade draws closer.
A rabbit mascot wearing a dress waved from atop a palace, and then….
Bang!
She struck the surrounding carrots with a colorful wand.
Then, all sorts of red, sparkling things showered down upon the mascots.
—Waaaaaah!
Candy, jewels, confetti, firework effects!
But that wasn't all.
Bang!
The next ones detonated in succession, pouring out new red objects.
Blood, guts, and organs!
—Hahahahahahahaha!
They poured out in heaps.
Heaps and heaps. The mascots danced as they rummaged through the intestines. Staining the stone floor right in front of me red…… Wow, I’m seriously going crazy.
‘This is the problem.’
This insane theme park throws out things that one cannot laugh at with human sensitivity, like a glitch, but if you scream or cry at them, you get [Censored]!
—Waaaaaah!
Splat.
The front of my shoes became soaked with blood.
Something that came rolling toward me struck the toe of my shoe.
It was an eyeball.
‘!@#$!@%!%’
Ack!! Ack!!
A silent scream erupted down my spine.
‘I-I think I’m going to throw up.’
I tried my best to narrow my eyes. I tried to endure this situation by pretending to be calm while not looking directly ahead….
“Ugh.”
“…?”
Wait a minute.
That sound just now… that wasn't me, was it?
When I glanced sideways, I saw the Cow Mask clutching his mouth.
‘Could it be.’
“…Do you find it difficult to watch gruesome things?”
“…….”
The Cow Mask slowly nodded.
The lower half of the face not covered by the mask was already pale as a ghost.
‘A comrade…!’
My heart almost warmed.
Finally, someone has appeared who is experiencing the insane horror of this insane situation together with me!
‘Hey, you’re actually holding it in quite well!’
Just as I was about to say, "Let's try to dodge carefully and break through this ordeal together in a similar way"...
“Ah, seriously… what are you even saying.”
It was a voice filled with irritation to the brim.
…It was Assistant Manager Jin from Team A.
“Can’t watch gruesome things? Why don’t you realize that a liability like this is a burden, not a spare life?”
“…!”
“Hey, top of the class. I’m telling you this because you have potential. That guy.”
Assistant Manager Jin’s index finger pointed toward the Team Y rookie.
The Team Y rookie flinched.
“Don’t bother socializing with those guys from teams X, Y, or Z.”
“…….”
I had heard something similar from my direct superior just moments ago.
Roe. Just treat the people you see from other teams today with a moderate amount of civility. Got it?
…I already knew the reason.
‘The Field Exploration team assigns an alphabet to each team.’
And there is meaning in that order.
The elite teams, A, B, and C.
The general teams, from D to W.
And X, Y, Z are….
==========
Dark Exploration Record / Daydream Inc.
/ Field Exploration team
Cleanup team
A Field Exploration team composed of personnel who passed the entrance exam but have some kind of flaw that makes them unfit to perform normal exploration duties.
They are mainly deployed when testing special circumstances.
Teams are usually designated by the last three letters of the alphabet (X, Y, Z).
==========
“The last three letters of the alphabet are where they gather guys like that. They’re just meat shields. They’re like spare lives given to employees who actually have a brain, so don’t pay them any mind.”
“……Pardon?”
“They don’t seem to tell the rookies properly, calling it ‘eliminating variables’ or whatever, but it doesn't matter since that thing is going to die
here anyway.”
The employee in the Cow Mask froze.
“W-what does that mean….”
“Cleanup team Cow Mask. Raise your left hand.”
“!”
As if by magic.
Jang Heowoon thrust his left hand into the air.
“…!!”
The lower half of his face, not hidden by the mask, was pale with bewilderment.
“W-what, what…!”
The Team A employee tilted her chin up.
“Meat shield. That’s how you use them.”
==========
When entering Darkness with a Cleanup team employee, an employee of a certain grade or higher can demand unconditional execution of orders from them.
The Cleanup team employee must perform the demand in question.
==========
Right.
‘…It’s a device to produce more gruesome and dramatic exploration records.’
In short, they’re like slaves or a suicide squad.
But seeing it in person was even more bizarre than I had imagined. Especially since the Cow Mask employee seemed to be trying so hard to resist.
‘This is crazy.’
The golden mark near the jaw of Assistant Manager Jin’s Butterfly Mask glittered.
“When something dangerous comes up that I want to try, I just have kids like that do it first. But it’s maddening when they misinterpret things or die without following instructions, you know?”
“Ugh, ugh….”
“Well, if he had the brains to understand, he wouldn't have been assigned to a team like that in the first place, right?”
The verbal abuse continued in a flat tone, then ended in the tired voice of a weary office worker suppressing her irritation.
“Seriously, why do they even get hired here just to be a nuisance? Every single time…. Psychopaths, pseudo-religion nuts, criminals….”
“…….”
Certainly, they must have intentionally put people with personality flaws into the Cleanup team.
It was likely a device to lower the psychological hurdle for the people reading the ghost stories.
‘The idea is that it feels a bit better for a bad or flawed person to die than for a kind and normal person to die like a tool….’
Though seeing it in reality felt so sordid it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
What did the Cow Mask employee do so wrong that he’s being treated as a suicide squad member?
“And even this damn coward….”
Right, a coward….
“……!?”
…W-wait a minute.
Wait a second, Assistant Manager!
I think I just heard something incredible….
“…Did you just say ‘coward’….”
“Yeah. Can you believe there are cowards who whimper even after passing that entrance exam? Unbelievable, right?”
The Team A employee gestured with her chin.
“Like that Team Y rookie.”
…….
‘Is that all?’
Seriously?
You’re saying you stuck that Cow Mask rookie in the Cleanup team just because he’s scared?
Being a coward was that much of a disqualification?
Then…….
‘What about me?’
…I’m a coward!
In an instant, the things I had said to my superiors after running away from the convenience store ghost on my first day of work flashed through my mind like a panorama.
Uh, actually… I just wanted to get out quickly because I was scared.
“…….”
Only now do I realize.
That I was so lucky they didn't believe me.
‘So cowards are labeled as failures and ostracized within the company…!’
It’s not even just being subtly looked down upon; they’re officially pushed into a place where they’ll die!
‘I-I only thought as far as not letting my weakness be found out….’
It wasn't just that!
In an instant, the sound of my survival rate plummeting rang in surround sound.
No!
“Anyway, there’s nothing in particular to order him to do right now. He’ll just be a hindrance, so just you and I will move. Got it?”
No!
If I go alone with you, I feel like I’ll be outed as a coward in five minutes!
I can see a future where Employee Kim Soleum is exiled to the Cleanup team tomorrow, following Assistant Manager Jin’s testimony that ‘This guy was a coward’!
“In that case, please go ahead first.”
“Wh-what?”
For the first time since joining a month ago, I broke the Rookie’s Ten Commandments.
I defied a superior.
And the justification was plausible.
“I will take care of my team member and follow.”
“…….”
Assistant Manager Jin of Team A stopped moving.
For a moment, I worried that this superior might use the Team Y rookie to take my head off.
“This idiot….”
Instead, the Butterfly Mask manager seemed to have chosen to cut me off and vanish.
But… uh, the thing is.
‘You won’t be able to go alone anyway.’
==========
Cheerful Theme Park User Guidelines (Applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
2. Team members of the same color must stay together inside the theme park!
If you are not on an attraction and are separated by more than 5m, you will be executed. You will be strangled. It hurts. Don’t get any further apart. You
mustn’t.
==========
'There's no way they'd just let a person with a heart of steel like yours walk away with their eyes open...'
You need to act as our tanker.
The Assistant Manager wearing the Butterfly Mask came to a halt with a choking sound, as if her neck had been seized from behind.
"Goddammit!! Ah!"
The red string.
The line, resembling a leash, was seen stretching tautly above our heads before vanishing again as the Assistant Manager quickly stepped back to close the distance.
"Why you...!"
"Assistant Manager Jin."
I made a gesture of putting my index finger to my lips.
And then I rolled my eyes toward the side.
The Mascots around the parade were all staring at Assistant Manager Jin in unison.
"……."
The A-Team Assistant Manager calmed down quickly.
Competent people really are a blessing...
"Don't tell me the reason we were divided into teams is..."
"Yes. Didn't we all pick the red pieces together? We've been grouped into a team as a result... and it seems we're under physical constraints."
"……No way."
The Assistant Manager looked at me and asked meaningfully.
"You... guessed this in advance?"
...?
I just read this ghost story beforehand, though...
But let's play along.
I set the mood and spoke.
"As you may remember... there were definitely four civilian survivors."
"So?"
"Weren't they on the same team?"
I said seriously.
"Since four of us were assigned to one team, I thought the same might have applied to those civilians. I figured the probability of one team surviving together would be the highest."
"……."
"So, I’d like us to act under the assumption that we must look out for each other as a group of four to escape this Darkness safely."
After a moment of silence.
"…That makes sense. Fine."
Fortunately, the A-Team superior seemed to be rationally convinced.
"Mr. Kim Soleum, thank you, thank you..."
"It's nothing. Let's do our best together."
Additionally, my Cow Mask colleague seemed moved, but now is not the time for sentimentality, my cowardly comrade.
'Let's see.'
I looked at this team objectively.
A superior steeped in elitism.
A cowardly 'Dumb and Dumber' duo.
And an employee from another department thrown in for good measure.
'Heh, what a mess.'
If this were the <Dark Exploration Record>, this lineup seems like everyone would die as soon as the record begins, and the perspective would shift back to Section Chief Lizard.
But even with these people, there is a way to survive...
'There is.'
If we follow the codes of conduct and aim for the exit!
"…Do you happen to remember?"
"What."
"The phrase written on the <Cheerful Theme Park> board game box."
Be the first to board 3 Fantasy Attractions with your teammates and receive a prize!
Her eyes narrowed beneath the Butterfly Mask.
"Three attractions... right. This bracelet also has exactly three slots."
"Yes."
I nodded.
"For now, I'd like us to do just that. If the Darkness suggests certain requirements, following them is the standard way to clear it."
"…A rookie who's been here a month speaks more like an expert than I do, and I've been at this company for three years?"
Oops.
"Because I've been deployed only to Darknesses without manuals for that entire month... well, I think I've developed a habit of making these kinds of deductions."
"Well, fine."
Fortunately, the A-Team superior gave a rough nod.
It seems she wasn't just being sarcastic.
"Your hypothesis is persuasive."
"Yes."
She seemed reasonably convinced.
I raised my hand and made a very polite suggestion.
"So, I’d like us to ride an attraction first."
Luckily, one of the nearby signs listed the attraction I was aiming for.
[Fantasy Train]
Literally translated, it's a magic train.
"…Isn't this the attraction the civilians testified about?"
"Correct."
I nodded calmly, and the Researcher, who was in a state of panic, let out a convulsive scream.
"The-they said everyone who b-boarded it d-died!!"
That's right.
This is a hellish train with a wretched survival rate of 3%!
'It's not that I'm crazy, though.'
A veteran of the <Dark Exploration Record> always has a way!
…A way to clear it while being a bit less terrified.
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