The psychopathic doctor pushed his researcher into the ghost story exploration as a sacrificial lamb.
He was probably trying to observe how the people from the Field Exploration Team would die in even stranger ways by creating synergy with that researcher.
The problem is that I'm on the same team as that researcher.
'Phew…'
I pulled myself together.
My ears, rather than my eyes, were the first to sense the ghost story.
– ♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The cheerful sound of a melodica and orchestra.
It was the typical BGM of a theme park.
"Hah…"
When I opened my eyes, we found ourselves in the middle of an old-fashioned, colorfully painted theme park.
– Hahahaha!
The laughter of children echoed around.
However, there were no bare human faces to be seen anywhere. The only things wandering about were the mascots.
In the distance, I thought I saw visitors in mascot costumes, but if you tried to approach, they would disappear like a lie.
'That's the kind of place this is.'
I immediately checked my wrist.
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket □□□]
Three blank spaces.
'As expected.'
It's that insane amusement park inside a board game, where you can only escape by riding three attractions.
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Cheerful Theme Park!]
: A ghost story featured in
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-B-11
An amusement park within a board game themed around various fantasy lands.
If you use three major attractions after entering this ghost story, you can return home.
This ghost story became more famous because of the supplemental booklet titled 'Cheerful Theme Park User Guide', written by people who played the game while in a state of delirium.
If you're looking for a game based on this ghost story, click this link.
There are many theme park ghost stories. But among them, this one is particularly famous in the due to its bizarre, peculiar nature and relentless horror.
'They even had goods inspired by this theme park at the pop-up store.'
It also gained a cult following through the supplement.
They call it a so-called 'Neapolitan ghost story'.
'And it's a B-Class.'
Gloom-Class Darkness.
Civilian survival rate… 2%.
The four civilian survivors must have been extremely lucky to make it out alive.
If we compared the list of missing persons who disappeared without a trace before, we'd probably find quite a few cases where they all died in this ghost story.
Cold sweat trickled down.
'…The people in D-squad are probably in danger.'
But for now, I had my own crisis to deal with.
Because I was the one stuck with the variable called 'the researcher got dragged into it'!
"Uwaah, huff… huff… Let me out, this is wrong, wrong…!"
"Quiet!"
I covered the researcher's mouth, who was having a fit, and made him crouch down.
At that moment.
Clunk.
All the mascots in the theme park turned to look at the researcher who had been wailing.
"..."
========================
Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)
3- Please refrain from expressing negative and intense emotions such as crying, wailing, or screaming!
They do not suit the atmosphere of the cheerful theme park.
It was nothing short of a nightmare.
I fought hard not to close my eyes.
3…
2..
The noise returned.
– Hahahaha!
– ♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The stares disappeared.
As the lively atmosphere of the theme park returned, I slowly let go of the researcher.
An employee from A-squad struck the researcher on the jaw.
"...!"
Thud.
After the short, dull sound, the A-squad employee, wearing a butterfly mask, gripped the researcher's jaw and leaned in close, speaking in a low, eerie voice.
"Hey."
"...!"
"If you whine like that one more time, I'll start by killing you."
"Hiie, hiiieek—"
The researcher, with a terrified expression, stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground, clutching his head.
He seemed to be muttering things like, 'This is a dream,' 'It's a lie,' mixed with curses, clearly in a state of panic.
"…Wasn't that a bit excessive?"
A new employee from Y-squad spoke cautiously, but the A-squad employee ignored him.
Instead, she turned to me and asked.
"Hey, newbie. I heard you were the top recruit? Your judgment's pretty good."
"…Thank you."
"Did you get your specialized equipment?"
Hmm.
So, she's treating me as a fellow employee, at least.
'Not part of the elite team, but still the top recruit?'
I thought it was a ridiculously one-dimensional standard, but I answered politely without showing it.
Yes, I had specialized equipment.
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"A finger that can remotely touch things. It has limitations on time and usage."
That was all I said.
And I had a question of my own to ask.
"What kind of weapon do you use, Assistant Manager?"
"Not that it's your business… Hmm, fine."
The A-squad employee pulled at her index fingernail.
It was a fake nail, the kind used for nail art.
A sticky substance stretched out from the underside of the detached nail. It was a translucent thread.
"It can stretch endlessly, and it's pretty strong."
"…That sounds extremely useful for various purposes."
"Hmm. Yeah, I guess so."
She seemed to be in a better mood.
I immediately nodded and asked.
"May I ask your name?"
"Just call me Assistant Manager Jin. What's with the awkward introductions?"
Isn't it just basic courtesy when people meet for the first time…? Anyway, her surname's unique enough to identify her right away.
'Maybe… it's this employee.'
– Assistant Manager Jin Nasol sneaks into the murderer's bedroom, sets the clock to 4:44.
– When asked, "Do you have any particular grudge against carrots?" Jin Nasol answers seriously. No special remarks.
– Cuts off the limbs of a teddy bear (Executor: Employee Jin Nasol).
And so on.
There weren't enough descriptions to deduce her personality in detail, but she seemed to be portrayed as a competent and rather cold employee.
At that moment, the new recruit from Y-squad quietly asked me.
"…What exactly do you mean by specialized equipment?"
Ah, right. It made sense that he wouldn't fully understand yet.
"Oh, you can customize equipment using Darkness from the company—"
"Hey. Let's move quickly. Observation comes first in large-scale Darkness like this."
"..."
"What are you waiting for, top recruit? I said, let's move!"
She cut me off without hesitation.
Without waiting any longer, I followed Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad, who had already started walking, and responded.
"Yes. I'll explain the situation to my colleague as we move."
"What? Why bother with that… oh."
The mouth beneath the butterfly mask curled into a strange smile.
"What, you really don't know?"
"..."
"Well, do as you please."
I didn't argue back.
Instead, I roughly explained to the new recruit from Y-squad what 'specialized equipment' was.
I added this to ease any tension within the team.
"I thought long and hard about it and ended up using quite a lot of points to get mine. Things can be scary from now on."
"I… see."
I nodded and continued speaking.
"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kim Soleum."
"…I know."
A slightly gloomy voice slipped out from beneath the bison mask.
"I'm… Jang Heo-un."
"Nice to meet you."
I tried to speak to the researcher who had collapsed to the ground, but all I got was a whimpering close to panic.
"No, no, I can't walk. Someone save me!"
"I could help you walk… but your mobility would be compromised, Supervisor."
I added, as if concerned,
"In that case, it would increase your chance of dying."
He got up like magic.
'Just as I thought.'
Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad glanced at me with a look of disapproval but didn't interfere and just scanned the surroundings as she walked.
I, too, quickened my pace and shifted my gaze.
It was a flashy yet somehow dizzying, stifling theme park, like something out of a dream.
'Is red the theme here?'
There wasn't a single place in this park—flags, buildings, tents—that didn't feature a red symbol.
'We must've drawn the red piece and ended up in this zone.'
On the flag, a cute rabbit was raising one hand and smiling.
[Magic Bunny Arcade Zone]
In other words, it's a magical rabbit adventure zone…
'It's really got that theme park vibe.'
That's when it happened.
The rabbit mascot blocked Assistant Manager Jin's path.
"Ah, a roadblock…"
"Please hold on a moment."
I stopped Assistant Manager Jin, who was about to walk around the mascot. Because…
"…It looks like a parade."
A line was drawn behind the rabbit mascot, and from afar, cheerful music and various colorful rabbits began to appear.
But not a single thing about it was exciting.
I tried my damnedest not to cover my face with my hands.
'It's starting…'
========================
Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)
7- Cheer for the parade with a joyful expression! Everything that happens during the parade at the cheerful theme park is pleasant and never negative. Absolutely, absolutely not negative.
The parade drew closer.
The rabbit mascot in a dress waved its hand from atop a palace and then…
Bang!
It struck nearby carrots with a colorful wand.
And then all sorts of red, sparkling things began to pour down on the mascots.
– Uwaaahhh!
Candy, jewels, flower petals, fireworks!
But that wasn't all.
Bang!
The next one burst open, spilling out new red objects.
Blood, entrails, organs!
– Hahahahahahaha!
They came tumbling down.
Tumble, tumble.
The mascots danced, wading through the entrails. The cobblestone right in front of me turned red…
Wow, this is insane.
'This is the problem.'
This crazy theme park spits out things that no human could ever smile at as if they were glitches, but if you scream or cry, you'll get [redacted]!
– Wowww!
Splatter.
The area in front of my shoe was soaked in blood.
Something that had rolled over bumped into the tip of my shoe. An eyeball.
'!@#$!@%!%'
Ack!! ACK!!!
A silent scream burst from within me, running down my spine.
'I feel like I'm going to throw up.'
I squinted my eyes as much as I could, trying not to look directly at what was in front of me, pretending to be calm…
"Ugh."
"...?"
Wait a second.
That wasn't my voice, was it?
When I glanced to the side, I saw the bison mask with its mouth covered.
'Could it be?'
"…Do you have trouble seeing violent things?"
"..."
The bison mask slowly nodded.
The lower part of the face, which wasn't hidden by the mask, had already turned pale.
'A comrade…!'
I almost felt my heart warm up.
Finally, someone who was sharing the madness and terror of this insane situation with me!
'Hey, you're doing a great job holding it in!'
I was about to suggest that we find a way to navigate this nightmare together when…
"Ah, seriously… what the hell are you saying?"
It was a voice full of irritation.
…It was Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad.
"Can't handle seeing gore? How can you not understand that a wimp like that is just dead weight, not a backup life?"
"...!"
"Hey, top recruit. I'm telling you this because you have potential. That."
The tip of Assistant Manager Jin's index finger pointed at the new employee from Y-squad.
The Y-squad employee flinched.
"Don't bother making friends with those X, Y, Z-tagged guys."
"..."
I'd heard something similar from my direct superior earlier.
– Roe. The people you met today from the other squads, just keep things light with them, okay?
…I already knew the reason.
'The Field Exploration Team assigns an alphabet to each squad.'
And there's a meaning to that order.
Elite teams, A, B, C.
Regular teams from D to W.
And then X, Y, Z are…
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Daydream Inc.
/ Field Exploration Team
Round-Off Team
A part of the Field Exploration Team that consists of individuals who passed the entry test but have some defect that makes them unfit for normal exploration tasks.
They are mainly used for experimenting in special situations. Usually referred to by the last three letters of the alphabet (X, Y, Z).
"The last three letters of the alphabet are where they put people like that. They're just meat shields. They're like extra lives given to employees who know how to do their jobs, so don't pay attention to them."
"…What?"
"They talk about variable elimination or whatever, and they don't properly explain it to the newbies, but since they're going to die here anyway, it doesn't matter."
The employee in the bison mask stiffened.
"W-What are you…"
"Round-Off Team, bison mask. Raise your left hand."
"?!"
Like a lie.
Jang Heo-un raised his left hand into the air.
"...!!"
The lower part of his face, not covered by the mask, had turned deathly pale with shock.
"W-What…!"
The A-squad employee lifted her chin.
"That's how you use a meat shield."
========================
When an employee of a certain rank or higher enters the Darkness with a Round-Off Team member, they can issue absolute orders to them. The Round-Off Team member must obey the command.
Right.
'…It's a system to extract more brutal and dramatic exploration records.'
In short, they're like slaves or suicide squads.
But seeing it in reality was more grotesque than I'd imagined, especially since it seemed like the bison mask employee was trying to resist.
'This is insane.'
The gold mark near the chin of the A-squad employee's butterfly mask glinted.
"If there's something dangerous that you want to try, just make those guys do it first. But sometimes they misunderstand the orders and end up dying. That just drives me nuts."
"Ugh, uuugh…"
"Well, if they had enough sense to understand properly, they wouldn't have been assigned to a team like that, would they?"
The insults continued casually, ending with the tired voice of someone suppressing their irritation, like a weary office worker.
"Why do they even bother applying to jobs like this and being a burden? Every time it's just… lunatics, cultists, criminals…"
"..."
No doubt, they deliberately placed individuals with personality defects in the Round-Off Team.
It was a plot device to lower the psychological barrier for people reading the ghost stories.
'It's like it feels better when someone evil or flawed dies as a tool rather than a kind and normal person…'
Seeing it in reality, though, left a bitter and disgusting feeling. What did the employee in the bison mask do wrong to deserve being treated like a suicide squad member?
"Even that pathetic coward…"
Yeah, a coward…
"...?!"
…W-Wait just a second.
Hold on, Assistant Manager!
I feel like I just heard something huge…
"…Did you just say 'coward'?"
"Yeah. Can you believe there's a coward who passed the entry exam and still whines like that? Like that newbie from Y-squad."
...
'That's it?'
Seriously?
That newbie in the bison mask got assigned to the Round-Off Team because he's a coward?
Being scared was considered that big of a flaw?
Then…
'What about me?'
…Aren't I a coward too!
Suddenly, memories from my first day at work flashed like a panorama. The things I said to my superiors after running away from the ghost at the convenience store.
– Uh, actually… I ran out quickly because I was scared.
"..."
Now I realize.
I was so lucky they didn't believe me.
'So cowards get marked as trash and ostracized in the company…!'
Not just shunned discreetly, but officially pushed into death traps!
'I just thought I needed to hide my weakness… but it's worse than that!'
I could almost hear my survival rate plummeting in surround sound.
No way!
"Anyway, there's nothing specific to order him to do right now. He'll just be in the way, so let's move, just you and me. Got it?"
Hell no!
If I go alone with you, I feel like I'll be exposed as a coward in five minutes!
I can already see my future, where Employee Kim Soleum ends up exiled to the Round-Off Team after Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad testifies, 'What, this guy was a coward too!'
"In that case, please go ahead first."
"W-What?"
For the first time in my month here, I broke the rookie's ten commandments.
I defied my superior.
And my reasoning was pretty solid.
"I'll bring my teammate along."
"..."
Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad paused.
For a moment, I worried that this superior might use the Y-squad newbie to get rid of me.
"This moron…"
The butterfly mask assistant manager seemed to choose to cut ties with me and disappear instead.
But… well, here's the thing.
'You won't be able to go alone anyway.'
========================
Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)
2- Make sure to stay together with teammates of the same color inside the theme park!
If you are more than 5 meters apart while not riding an attraction, you will be executed. You will be strangled. It hurts, so don't move further apart. Don't do it.
'There's no way they'd just let someone with your nerves wander off with their eyes open…'
You need to be our tank.
The butterfly mask assistant manager made a choking sound and stopped, as if grabbed by the nape of her neck.
"You damn… ah!"
A red cord.
Like a leash, the line connecting us stretched taut above our heads, but when the assistant manager smartly backtracked and closed the distance, it disappeared again.
"You…!"
"Assistant Manager Jin."
I made a gesture, placing my index finger to my lips.
And I rolled my eyes.
The mascots around the parade were all staring directly at Assistant Manager Jin.
"..."
The A-squad assistant manager quickly calmed down.
It's really convenient when someone competent gets a grip fast…
"Could it be that the teams were split like this…"
"Yes. Didn't we draw the red pieces together? We were grouped as a team, and it seems there are physical restrictions as well."
"…No way."
Assistant Manager Jin looked at me, then asked meaningfully.
"Did you… anticipate this?"
...?
I mean, I just read this ghost story in advance…
But I decided to roll with it.
I assumed a serious tone and began to speak.
"As you may recall… there were four civilian survivors."
"So?"
"Weren't they probably on the same team?"
I spoke earnestly.
"Since we were also assigned as a team of four, I thought it was likely the same for them. It seems most probable that a whole team survived together."
"..."
"So, for now, I suggest that we look out for each other, assuming this is how we'll get out of this Darkness safely."
After a brief silence.
"…Makes sense. Fine."
Luckily, the A-squad superior seemed to accept the logic.
"Kim Soleum-ssi, thank, thank you…"
"It's nothing. Let's work together and do our best."
The bison mask colleague also seemed moved, but this is no time for sentimentality, my fellow coward.
'Let's see.'
I took an objective look at this team.
A superior drenched in a sense of elitism.
Cowardly Dumb and Dumber.
And an extra employee from another department tagged along.
'Haha, what a mess.'
If this were an actual story from the, everyone would be dead at the start of the record, and the POV would switch to Section Chief Lizard.
But there's still a way to survive with this team…
'There is.'
If we follow the rules carefully and aim for an escape route!
"…Do you remember, by any chance?"
"Remember what?"
"The phrase written on the board game box."
– Be the first team to ride all three fantasy attractions with your teammates and win spectacular prizes!
The eyes beneath the butterfly mask narrowed.
"Three attractions… I see. There are exactly three slots on this wristband, too."
"Right."
I nodded.
"For now, I believe we should proceed as it is. Following the demands hinted at by the Darkness is the standard method for clearing."
"…A newbie who's been here a month talks like an expert, more than someone like me who's been at this company for three years?"
Oops.
"Well, I've been sent into Darknesses without manuals for the past month, so… um, I guess I've developed a habit of making these kinds of guesses."
"Sure, whatever."
Fortunately, the A-squad superior casually nodded.
It seemed she hadn't said it out of spite.
"Your hypothesis is persuasive."
"Yes."
She appeared to accept it reasonably enough.
I raised my hand and politely made a suggestion.
"So, I think we should go ahead and ride the attractions."
Luckily, one of the signs nearby had the attraction I had been aiming for.
[Fantasy Train]
Literally, a magic train.
"…Isn't this the attraction the civilians talked about?"
"That's right."
I nodded calmly, and the panicked researcher shouted hysterically.
"They said everyone who rode it died!!"
Yes.
This is the hellish train of doom with a 3% survival rate!
'But that doesn't mean I've lost my mind.'
For veterans of, there's always a way!
…A less scary way to clear it.