It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 021

As the mascots, weeping blood, stared at me with lifeless eyes, I found myself in a life-or-death situation being told, “Hey, how about you start by killing someone?”

Lies slipped effortlessly out of my mouth.

“A trap, you say?”

“Exactly. Think about it.”

I struggled not to look at the crazed mascots outside the window while maintaining the expression of someone who just had a brilliant idea.

“It’s this darkness that’s bound us as a team. But is it really okay to just kill a teammate?”

In truth, it might be fine.

“This darkness chokes you just for being distant from your teammates. But if you kill someone?”

Just haul around a corpse.

In the process, the coward’s heart would give out, and I’d be branded as ‘this bastard is a torturer!’ and get reassigned to a perfect spot to die…

“…No matter how I think about it, there must be a colossal penalty.”

“Hmm.”

The eyes behind the butterfly mask narrowed.

“Maybe you’ll get a penalty for not killing?”

“On the contrary, killing could lead to total extermination.”

“……”

“If both outcomes are possible, I thought it was more rational to choose a direction that preserves our numbers.”

The opponent seemed slightly shaken.

I gulped and added, “Of course, the final decision is up to you, Assistant Manager…”

“Hey! If you kill me, then you also die, okay? You don’t want to die either, right? Just stop…”

Whack.

I firmly slapped the back of the researcher’s neck.

Translation: I knocked him out.

“Why are you trying to die naturally when I’ve laid everything out?”

With such poor insight, he shouldn’t even be gambling!

It seemed the restraints were lifted, and the newbie from Group Y had a pale face as he let go of the researcher’s limbs.

Having witnessed everything, the supervisor from Group A slowly opened his mouth.

I waited anxiously.

“You.”

“……”

“There better not be any regrets about this.”

I’m alive.

“Yes, of course.”

The supervisor from Group A didn’t retort. It seemed my score was considerably reduced.

But right now, that wasn’t what mattered.

What mattered was that I’d gotten through this timing for now.

[Die…….]

The narration that had repeatedly said “die” suddenly subsided as we stopped attacking each other.

Blink.

And at that moment when the train’s lights flickered—

“It’s gone…!”

The mascots surrounding the window disappeared.

All that remained was a pool of blood.

“……”

But that wasn’t all that vanished.

‘It’s gone.’

The conductor mascot too.

The cheerful theme park music.

The bright exit announcements.

“……”

Screech.

As we pushed the train with our hands, we beheld an eerily soundless and dark interior.

“…Feels like I stepped on a landmine.”

“……”

That’s… correct.

I recalled a Dark Exploration Record.

———————=

Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable to Exploration Record 64 and below)

4. Each area of the theme park is colored according to its theme! The first place you see upon opening your eyes is the area your team belongs to!

Respect the area. The area is of utmost importance. Look at the colors. Don’t upset the mascots. The mascots are everything in that area.

———————=

This clause isn’t there for no reason…

If you get on the wrong side of that mascot in the colored area of the theme park, you’ll no longer receive respect as a ‘visitor’ in that zone.

You might have to play a deadly game of tag.

But there’s no way I’m pressing the nuke to avoid stepping on landmines.

‘The mascots’ demands rise like an escalator.’

Normally, they’d start with something simple.

Like eating something, holding something, or giving them a warm hug.

‘But they want murder right from the first turn?’

Then by the next attraction, I might be better off being treated as dead.

For example, asking to ‘make a balloon with your bladder’ is the kind of insane thing I’ve seen in records…

By then, the mascots become powerful enough that refusing is not an option.

‘Better to die than that.’

In this horror story world, finding yourself in such a position is far too routine.

And it’s not like there’s no escape now.

I swallowed.

‘Just run.’

If I can escape the red rabbit, Magic Bunny’s area and enter another mascot’s territory, the aggro will let up.

To do that… let’s see.

‘Found it!’

I finally spotted something in a dark exit path.

“There’s something over there.”

“Huh?”

The very reason I was trying to ride this attraction.

‘The theme park color map!’

[~Fantasy Land Color Map~]

After riding this attraction, the exit at the very end reveals the territories of each mascot.

I approached it quickly, murmuring.

“It’s a map. This could help us.”

“Uh, how?”

At first glance, it looked like mere decoration.

Because it visually manifested Fantasy Land after the introduction in the attraction.

But the information included is enormous.

“Do you remember the content of this attraction?”

“Uh, um, so these theme park mascots are fighting over the land…”

“Exactly.”

I nodded.

“This attraction’s map should indicate the territories of different mascots.”

“…!”

It’s clear how to move to reach another colored area in the shortest route.

“Think we offended a monster, so let’s run? With that in hand?”

The Group A Assistant Manager gestured to the researcher slung over my shoulder.

As if about to suggest we kill him, I immediately replied.

“We’ll wake up Research Team Leader as soon as we examine the map and make sure he can walk properly.”

“Hmm.”

Please don’t put on a dismantling show right in front of me…

Anyway, with any kind of vision emerging, a hint of hope returned to the newbie from Group Y’s face.

I probably had a similar expression.

‘Please be nearby.’

I took a deep breath and quickly approached the map to check…

“……”

“……”

“Not… there.”

Huh?

I looked back at the map.

But the image didn’t change.

[~Fantasy Land Color Map~]

The entirety of the theme park’s interior shown.

In red.

[Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone] [Magic Bunny Zone]

Every signboard bore the face of Magic Bunny.

“Ah.”

[Magic Bunny’s Fantasy Land]

There’s no place to escape.

“……”

“……”

“Isn’t this something messed up? Sol-eum, there were clearly other mascots earlier…”

“They all got expelled.”

“…!”

The narration I heard during the attraction popped into my head unbidden.

– Dropped into a cave, tossed into water, pushed off a cliff!

So that means…

“The red mascot must have killed all the yellow and blue ones and taken over this place.”

“……”

“Then… what happened to the staff who drew other colored game pieces?”

“Beats me.”

The Group A Assistant Manager shrugged.

“All presumed missing?”

“…!”

“Is that even important now? What matters is…”

The eyes beneath the butterfly mask narrowed suspiciously.

“I think you made a mistake in your choice.”

“……”

“There’s not a need for you to die first.”

That could only mean one thing.

Someone else had to die first.

“You know it’s not too late now?”

“……”

…Instinctively, at the moment I glanced back at the researcher dangling limply like a sack over my shoulders.

“…!!”

“What, what….”

The sound echoed in my head.

Somewhere familiar, right?

Ah, a talk show, the Tuesday Talk Show. On the revamped talk show, the sacrificed chorus shouting sounds like a dying pig’s screams, mascot! Magic Bunny is dying.

“Ugh.”

I covered my ears.

Die…

I glanced down.

The ticket strapped to my wrist vibrated.

[(Cheerful) Fantasy Land Ticket ■□□]

[(Cheerful) Fantasy Land Ticket ■□□]

The noise was coming from here.

Creeeak.

The sound vibrated, beginning to tear apart.

The admission ticket.

———————=

Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable to Exploration Record 64 and below)

1. Wear the admission bracelet cleanly!

If lost or damaged, you will no longer be a visitor. If you’re not a visitor, you’re an unsightly intruder! A criminal! A terrible punishment awaits. Or…

Would you like to be a staff member?

———————=

No way.

I desperately tried to rack my brain.

But there was no escape.

Truly, not even an inch to get away. No place to run! To keep my human dignity, it might be better to commit suicide before it’s too late…

– Kim Sol-eum.

Now the hallucination,

– Kim Sol-eum. Can you hear me?

‘…….’

Not a hallucination!

I looked up.

Nothing was visible in the air, but a voice so sharp it couldn’t be mistaken for a hallucination rang in my ear.

The owner of that voice is…

“…Team Leader?”

– Yes.

Lizard Manager, Lee Ja-heon.

This felt eerily familiar. The positions were reversed, but!

“How did you manage to contact me?!”

– I’m using Chief Park Min-seong’s special equipment.

The voice overlapped, drowning out the voice of the red mighty Magic Bunny. I barely realized I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

No, that’s not the important part…

– Is the doe alright? You are alive, right?

– We’re fine! We just rode all three attractions!

Group D was all together. What happened?

“You three weren’t on the same colored team, right?”

I clearly remembered.

“Lee Ja-heon was only on the blue team; the rest were on the yellow team!”

– Doe, that’s not important now…

“It’s important! You three woke up in a position that resembles a theme park even though you were on different teams?!”

After a brief silence.

– No, that’s not the case.

The calm voice of the Lizard Manager replied.

– I moved after finding two of them.

Several questions surged in my mind all at once, but the most pressing one was this. So,

“…Where did you find them?”

– At the outskirts of the blue area.

“…So now, you’re in the blue mascot’s zone?”

– Yes.

A shiver ran down my spine.

“The map didn’t indicate that; could you tell me exactly which point is the blue area?”

– I don’t know.

Damn it.

“I don’t need exact coordinates. Just tell me the surrounding attractions! Even points indicating north, south, east, and west would be fine.”

– Is that so?

After a brief silence.

– It’s to the west……

Click.

The connection was severed.

“Team Leader?”

There was no response.

It must have been the special equipment’s time limit.

And more than that, what’s important is…

“West??”

Before I knew it, the face of the newbie from Group Y, who had been straining to listen next to me, turned blank.

The face of the supervisor from Group A mirrored his expression.

The reason was simple.

“Isn’t the place we are in the west?”

That’s right.

The “Fantasy Train” was positioned almost at the far western edge of the Fantasy Land map…

On the east side, surrounded by a rugged forest, the smooth western side had high walls.

And right next to that wall was this attraction.

There’s no area more to the west than Fantasy Land!

“Seems like we dropped into different theme parks? Maybe since the blue mascots won in some timeline. The darkness is all like that.”

Dropped into different places?

Are we really in entirely parallel dimensions?

“No way.”

That can’t be true.

“This is darkness derived from a board game. It can’t be that we’re using different boards while playing the same game.”

“Hey. Be quiet.”

The supervisor from Group A retorted coolly.

“Rambling… No matter how plausible you sound, if it doesn’t fit reality, you have to discard it.”

No, this isn’t a deduction; it’s an induction.

I want to express that countless cases exist, but I know he won’t believe it. What I need now… is to speak the truth.

Where exactly is ‘west’?

‘Quick, quick.’

Think. There’s definitely an answer.

I looked back at the Fantasy Land color map. All the areas were still painted red.

The ferris wheel, merry-go-round, roller coaster, Viking ship, magic palace. Not a single one was missing Magic Bunny’s face swirling red.

All the rides… Wait.

“…!”

Hold on.

I scanned the map again.

And then I realized.

“…I found it!”

“What?”

“An area with a different color.”

This way.

With confidence, I moved my feet. Whether it was to match my momentum or feel hope, the teammates followed suit.

I had to hurry before the mascots noticed. There was no time to waste; I quickly stepped out of the attraction.