In any amusement park with a decent reputation, there are three types of attractions they invest heavily in.
One is the roller coaster, one is the carousel.
And finally, the high-end attraction that eats up the most money because it requires a massive amount of special effects and animatronics….
‘The Dark Ride.’
An indoor riding attraction where you tour through an elaborate and massive set that introduces the theme of the theme park itself.
In Korea, things like Sinbad’s Adventure or Global Village were famous.
And in this ‘Cheerful Theme Park’ ghost story, that attraction is this very one.
“The Fantasy Train!”
the Researcher sputtered.
“Everyone who took this died! I’m not getting on! I said I’m not!”
Testimony #4 (Survivor: Park Yae-in)
-All 4 people who boarded the ‘Fantasy Train’ went missing.
Later, plush dolls made by recycling the clothing and bones of said individuals were discovered in the souvenir shop. (Presumed deceased)
It was certainly written that way.
And in the <Dark Exploration Record> I had read, it was indeed an attraction that had caused numerous casualties….
But that wasn’t everything.
‘The fact that it caused numerous casualties means this attraction appears that frequently!’
Like a board game with random elements, the combination of zones and Mascots changed every time one entered the ‘Cheerful Theme Park’ ghost story.
However, this attraction called the ‘Fantasy Train’ was likely a common fixture that always appeared.
Because… the theme was very clear.
“Look at the introduction below the sign.”
I pointed below the sign for the <Fantasy Train>.
—Meet the residents and stories of each zone in Fantasyland! A cheerful train ride!
“It seems to be an attraction that introduces this theme park.”
It was also the most important factor for escaping this ghost story.
‘How is this theme park divided into zones, and in what colors?’
Let’s not forget. The origin of this was a board game.
What does it mean to choose a faction in a game?
It means choosing my characteristics.
‘And the fact that teams are divided by color means that benefits or penalties occur depending on that color.’
So, identifying that properly was more important than anything else here….
Which zone’s color does the team I belong to represent?
What specific traits does it have?
==========
Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
4. Each zone of the theme park is colored according to its theme! The place where you first open your eyes is the zone your team belongs to!
Respect the zones. The zones are more important than anything else. Look at the colors. Do not upset the Mascots. The Mascots are everything to the zone.
==========
However, to persuade people who didn’t know this yet, I needed a different logic.
‘Work, brain, work.’
First, target number one… is the highest-ranking superior, of course.
“Hmm. Everyone who rode it died?”
Assistant Manager Jin of Team A, wearing the Butterfly mask.
To win over this elite full of elitism… right.
Flatter her.
“Weren’t they a team of civilians?”
“Hmm?”
I intentionally made my tone sound a bit puzzled.
“They were people who approached it with the mindset of riding an amusement ride without any sense of vigilance while knowing nothing. The probability that they responded properly to a supernatural situation is low.”
“And?”
“Comparing them to a Field Exploration team that clears the Darkness professionally with a sense of purpose is…. Well.”
I frowned slightly.
“It seems a bit harsh on the civilians.”
“…Hah.”
The Team A Assistant Manager snorted.
“You certainly have a cheeky way with words. …Well, you’re not wrong.”
“W-what do you mean, not wrong…!”
“Hey.”
The Team A Assistant Manager grabbed the Researcher’s head firmly.
“…!”
Her glinting fingernails dug into his temple.
“Do you think you have a right to speak?”
“…….”
“Do you want to die right here and become food waste that can’t even be made into a souvenir? Or do you want to ride that?”
The Researcher went quiet again. She was like his personal tormentor….
“Move out.”
“…….”
With a deathly expression, the Researcher began to drag his feet.
Toward the Fantasy Train.
‘Two birds with one stone….’
It was a success.
Then is there only one left?
The Team Y Rookie, Jang Heowoon.
Even while following the ‘Fantasy Train’ sign, I slipped back slightly and whispered to the rookie as I walked in step with him.
“Don’t worry.”
“Yes…?”
“What I said just now was just to persuade her… actually, I’m going because I thought of another clever move.”
“A… clever move?”
“You could call it insider know-how.”
I gave a small smile.
“I used to work part-time at a theme park before.”
“Ah!”
Sorry. That’s a lie….
But in an extreme situation that’s unfriendly to these scaredy-cats, doesn’t it just matter if we survive by any means?
I’m telling you, you’ll end up saying, ‘Wow! Thanks for lying to me, colleague!’
“I-I see. In that case….”
“Yes. It will be quite safe.”
Just think of it that way.
Anyway, following the signs, the entrance to board the ‘Fantasy Train’ soon appeared.
It was a model station with a cool sign decorated with various elaborate and realistic steam locomotive parts and brick decorations, but…,
“There’s nobody here.”
“……."
The inside was strangely, eerily empty.
There was no one.
—Haha, enjoy a wonderful train journey! Haha, enjoy a wonderful train journey! Haha, enjoy a wonderful train journey….
Mixed with the cheerful amusement park music, it felt strange.
What could be seen was the train standing beyond the queue line.
And only the rabbit Mascot standing in front of it, dressed as a conductor.
“It’s a Mascot again.”
“Is that the staff member for this attraction?”
That was correct.
As we quickly passed through the empty queue line and approached, the hollow-eyed conductor Mascot reached out a gloved hand and stamped our bracelets.
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Boarding Pass ■□□]
So that’s one.
Next, we were guided to board a small train that looked like a colorful storybook steam locomotive.
And the Mascot itself returned to its spot and began to wave both hands.
Was it like a ‘Have a pleasant ride!’ kind of feeling?
Since nothing special had happened so far, the Researcher and the Team Y Rookie had somewhat relieved faces despite themselves.
Unfortunately, I was the one about to cause that ‘something special.’
‘The place it would be… hmm. Only there?’
After checking all the surroundings, I finally fixed my gaze on the Mascot.
Then I spoke.
“Assistant Manager Jin.”
“What?”
“The place where that Mascot playing the staff member is standing. You see the podium.”
I pointed at a sort of model ticket booth table right in front of where the conductor rabbit was standing.
“Would it be possible to use your Exclusive Equipment to turn that podium just a little bit this way? Quietly, without damaging it.”
“Why?”
“There’s something on the back.”
The Team A Assistant Manager looked at me with a slightly strange expression, but soon plucked off her index fingernail.
Quickly and quietly.
Tick.
Screeeech….
The fake nail, thrown at the retro teal podium and caught on the corner, turned the podium with a faint frictional sound.
As it turned halfway, the wooden finish one would usually expect was not visible on the back.
Instead, complex buttons and circuits were seen.
The attraction emergency control panel.
“…!”
Found it.
The control panel!
‘I definitely read it in the <Dark Exploration Record>.’
A scene describing how control devices are implemented in these theme park rides, just like the real thing!
Immediately after boarding the basket-shaped attraction named ‘Tomato Express,’ a label was found attached to the basket with the content <Be cheerfully crushed on the iron plate!>.
Immediately searched for the emergency stop button.
Success in finding it at the attraction’s starting point. However, all attempts to press the button failed. (Executor: Assistant Manager Lee Jiwon, Number of attempts: 6)
All deceased.
Although they failed over there.
‘I can do it here.’
I immediately flicked a coin to summon the translucent gloves, threw a 500-won coin, and gestured to combine them.
‘Five seconds is enough.’
My hand, floating in the air, approached the partially revealed back of the podium.
The target was… the lever.
MIN MAX
∥----------∥
▲
“W-wait a moment, Soleum. What on earth is that? That marking is….”
“Hold on tight.”
“Pardon? Hold… what….”
“The train seat handles,”
My hand pulled the lever all the way.
“Hold them properly.”
MIN MAX
∥----------∥
▲
At that moment.
The train shot forward at an insane speed.
Kieeeeeeeing!!
—The Fantasy Train is departing!
“Ugh!”
“W-what is this?!”
I replied while desperately gripping the train seat handle.
“I pulled the speed lever! To maximum speed!”
“Why the hell did you pull that, you crazy bastard!”
Because I have an aim.
“If we speed through, they can’t pull any nonsense on the train!”
“……!”
It was an event skip.
‘Usually, a dark ride is an attraction where you watch and experience the decorated interior while the vehicle moves slowly.’
But what if you pass through there incredibly fast?
‘Everything gets skipped!’
The interior decorations, the effects.
Even the danger to our lives resulting from them!
In the case from the <Dark Exploration Record> I saw, they had used it to slow down the speed on a roller coaster, but either way, the important thing was the presence of a speed control device!
I thought there was a high probability it would work here too.
‘Good!’
It was a success!
However… the next step was a bit of a problem.
I glanced outside.
Kieeeeeeeing!
I felt the wind pressure.
A speed that was practically no different from a roller coaster.
This was undoubtedly a speed added only for safety check purposes.
…Meaning it was a speed not intended for actual operation.
‘…If I get scared and faint, I’ll probably be flung out of the train, right?’
Then it was a guaranteed death.
You could call it a side effect of the train running like a runaway locomotive.
It was a fatal drawback for a coward like me, but….
‘I have a safeguard!’
Feel like fainting?
Then don’t look!
[Passengers, welcome to beautiful Fantasyland!]
The moment the narration began, I shouted.
“I’m going to close my eyes!”
“What?!”
I closed my eyes as if I were crazy.
“I think that narration will be important, I’ll focus on it as much as possible!”
“…!”
“Please tell me if it seems like we’re going to die!”
“This guy is a total lunatic?! Haha, fine!”
Just as the sound of the Team A Assistant Manager laughing ceased,
The narration whipped past my ears.
[How was this Fantasyland born?]
[A long, long time ago, 403,930,291,928,494 hours ago, a yellow flower, a blue Dragon, and a red rabbit lived together on one land.]
[Right in this wonderful place!]
“S-strange flowers, the flowers are calling m….”
“Duck down!”
[But they were too different!]
[‘You’re too noisy!’]
[‘You’re too dirty!’]
[‘You’re too boring!’]
[In the end, they couldn’t accept each other and started to fight. This is my land!]
“Aaaah! Snakes, snake monsters are, monsters are crawling on the ground! Heek! They’re trying to attach to the train… oh, they fell behind…….”
“Phew.”
[The yellow flower said.]
[‘I hate you! Get out of here!’]
The attraction passed by in an instant.
As the train sped through, the boarding time was fast-forwarded.
[The blue Dragon said.]
[‘I hate you! You’re the one who should get out!’]
‘Is the fight in its final stages….’
Now for the final part.
‘This was also described a few times.’
Those Mascots ultimately want to live however they want.
So, they divide the zones by their respective colors and live peacefully in Fantasyland in the way each of them wants….
[The red rabbit said.]
[Die.]
…….
What.
[The red rabbit decided to eliminate his friends by any means necessary. No, they are no longer friends. Enemies! Enemies! Enemies!]
[One by one, one by one, one by one! Dropping them into pits, dropping them into water, pushing them off cliffs!]
[Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!]
DieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDieDie
The narration cut off.
And then it suddenly returned.
An unnaturally bright voice.
[The red rabbit won!]
The voice crackled.
The only one who rules this land is the red rabbit, Magic Bunny.
Only Magic Bunny is the dream, the fantasy, and the law, and only his ideology is worth enjoying.
Silence.
The fellow passengers, who had been making a racket as they saw all sorts of horrors, were now only breathing heavily.
The sound of terrified panting.
And.
...The train is slowing down
I swallowed hard.
‘...The end of the line.'
No matter how fast a ride is, it always slows down at the end.
[Magic Bunny's Fantasy Land]
The back of my neck was damp with cold sweat.
An ominous feeling consumed me.
I finally lifted my head.
[The Great Magic Bunny!]
The head of a giant rabbit mascot appeared in front of us.
The mouth of the grotesque rabbit, whose blood-red eyes were spinning, opened, and the disgusting teeth densely packed inside protruded forward as if being overturned.
[Become a part of the Great Magic Bunny!]
A scenario I've never seen before.
[Die]
Disorienting sounds filled the air.
At every train window, red rabbits were clinging in droves, looking as if their costume suits were about to burst, pressing their heads against the glass and staring intently.
[Die]
I almost fainted.
"Haaah, haaaah..!!"
"D-d-die..."
The giggling narration went berserk. Red lights flashed inside the train, and amidst the swirling, mind-numbing mumbles of panic.
A voice pierced through.
"Ah. I think I get it."
“..What?"
"It's like a hazing ritual for newcomers? Killing the person next to you... how typical."
What on earth is she talking about?
"You saw it too. The rabbit killed all its friends, right? Ah. You couldn't see it because your eyes were closed. But you grasped the gist through the narration, right?"
It was the flat voice of the A-squad employee.
Turning my head, I saw that butterfly-masked employee looking at the rabbits in the window as if this were a common daily occurrence.
"So, who should I kill?"
"What..?"
"Shh."
The eyes beneath the butterfly mask became sinister.
A gaze weighing value.
"Hmm."
Y-squad.
Researcher.
Me.
Y-squad.
Researcher.
Y-squad.
Researcher.
Researcher.
Y-squad....
"You."
Singled out.
The moment the Y-squad rookie’s face turned pale.
The Team A manager's index finger shifted.
"Grab that white-coat bastard."
The researcher.
"...!"
A death sentence.
"N-now..."
Grab.
The Y-squad newbie, with unnatural movements, grabbed the researcher's limbs and restrained them.
"W-what are you, what... w-wait a minute."
"Cover his mouth. Ah, you keep your mouth shut as well."
"Mmph!"
"Ah... I wonder if we have to kill one person each? Hey, top recruit."
I reflexively looked at the other person.
"You try killing this one. I want to observe."
"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!"
"Don't use your specialized equipment, do it directly... Ah. Right. Earlier, that rabbit dropped the dragon off a cliff, right? Try throwing him out of the train yourself. Let's see if that counts too."
Me?
"Hurry up."
I creaked my head around to look at the window again and then hurriedly snapped it back.
'The mascots are crying blood..!'
Just look at them clinging to the window.
I can never open that train window. If I open it, I'll collapse and become a screaming mess.
Besides, what... kill a person as lightly as eating a cup of noodles?
No, no. Setting that aside.
'..This is a death route!'
I only realized it now because an irregular event popped up and the situation became so mind-numbingly terrifying, but it was certain.
'We must not humor that mascot here!'
If we go down this path... we're all dead!
But how on earth do I persuade her?
If I say, ‘I’ve seen over 70 exploration records from the future,’ she’d probably decapitate me on the spot.
‘So, so…’
To hell with it!
“Wait a moment!”
“What?”
“This is a trap.”
I decided to lie my way out.
I started spouting lies without even a drop of hesitation!
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