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Chapter 20.2
Chapter 20.2
Chapter 20.2
I quickly flipped a coin, summoning a translucent glove, tossed a 500-won coin, and gestured to merge them.
‘Five seconds will be enough.’
My hand floating in mid-air moved toward the back of the partially exposed platform.
The target… a lever.
MIN MAX
? ----------------- ?
? .
“Hold on a moment, Soleum-ssi. What is that? That label…”
“Hold on tight.”
“Excuse me? Hold… what?”“Grab onto the train seat handle—”
My hand pulled the lever all the way down.
“And hold on tight.”
MIN MAX
? ----------------- ?
. ?
At that moment, the train shot forward at a crazy speed.
Screeeeech!!
– The Fantasy Train is departing!
“Ugh!”
“What the hell?!”
Clutching the train seat handle tightly, I shouted back.
“I pulled the speed lever! To maximum speed!”
“Why the hell would you do that, you crazy idiot!”
Because I have a plan.
“If we rush through, it won’t have time to mess with the train!”
“……!”
It’s all about skipping the events.
‘A dark ride usually moves slowly, letting you see and experience the decorated interior.’
But if you speed through it like a maniac?
‘You’ll skip over everything!’
The interior decorations, the effects…
And even the life-threatening dangers that come with them!
In the <Dark Exploration Records> I read, there was a case where they used it to slow down a roller coaster, but the key point was the ability to control speed!
I figured there was a high chance it would work here, too.
‘Good!’
It’s a success!
However… the next step is the problem.
I glanced outside.
Screeeeech!
I could feel the wind pressure.
It was almost as fast as a roller coaster.
This was clearly a speed meant only for safety checks.
…Meaning, it wasn’t designed for actual operation.
‘…If someone gets scared and faints, they might get thrown off the train.’
In that case, it would mean certain death.
You could call that the side effect of this runaway train ride.
For a coward like me, it was a fatal flaw…
‘But there’s a backup plan!’
Afraid you might faint?
Just don’t look!
[Dear passengers, welcome to beautiful Fantasyland!]
As the narration began, I shouted,
“I’m closing my eyes!”
“What?!”
I shut my eyes tightly, acting crazy.
“This narration seems important, so I’m going to focus on it as much as I can!”
“……!”
“If you feel like you’re about to die let me know!”
“This guy is totally insane, huh?! Haha, fine!”
Just as the A-squad assistant manager’s laughter was trailing off, the narration whizzed past my ears.
[How did this Fantasyland come to be?]
[A long, long time ago, 403930291928494 hours ago, a yellow flower, a blue dragon, and a red rabbit lived together on this land.]
[This wonderful place, right here!]
“T-That strange flower… the flower is calling to me…”
“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 began to fight. This is my land!]
“Ahh! Snake, snake monsters, there are monsters slithering on the ground! Eek! They tried to cling to the train… but got left behind…”
“Gaah—!”
[The yellow flower said,]
[‘I hate you! Get out of here!’]
The attraction passed by in an instant.
The train sped through, and the ride time was fast-forwarded as if on double speed.
[The blue dragon spoke.]
[‘I hate you! Get lost!’]
‘Looks like it’s near the end of the fight…’
Now, for the final part.
‘This was described a few times before, too.’
Those mascots ultimately just want to live their lives as they wish.
So, they each divided Fantasyland into zones based on their colors and peacefully lived how they wanted to…
[The red rabbit spoke.]
[Die.]
……
Well.
[The red rabbit decided to eliminate his friends by any means necessary. No, they weren’t friends anymore. Enemies! Enemies! Enemies!]
[One by one, one by one, one by one! Dropping them into pits, drowning them in water, pushing them off cliffs!]
[Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!]
Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die Die
The narration cut off.
And then it suddenly started again.
A strangely cheerful voice.
[The red rabbit won!]
The voice crackled.
[The one who rules this land is only the red rabbit, Magic Bunny.]
[Magic Bunny is the dream, the fantasy, the rule, and only his ideology is worth enjoying.]
Silence.
The passengers, who had been making a racket as if they had seen all sorts of horrors, now only let out heavy, ragged breaths.
The sound of terrified panting.
And then.
…The train was slowing down.
I swallowed hard.
‘…It’s the end of the line.’
No matter how fast a ride is, it always slows down when it ends.
[Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland]
The back of my neck was wet with cold sweat.
A sense of foreboding was creeping in.
I finally lifted my head.
[The Great Magic Bunny!]
A giant rabbit mascot’s head appeared right in front of us.
Its bright red eyes spun wildly, and its mouth opened wide, revealing rows of jagged, hideous teeth that jutted forward.
[Become a part of the Great Magic Bunny!]
A scenario I’d never seen before.
[Die]
The air was filled with a disorienting noise.
Red rabbits were pressing their heads against the windows from all directions, looking like their mascot suits were about to burst, staring at us intensely.
[Die]
I almost fainted.
“Haaaah… haaaaaah…!!”
“D-D-Die…”
The giggling narration went berserk. Red lights flashed, blinking throughout the train, and panicked mutterings filled the air, making it hard to think clearly.
The voice pierced through.
“Ah. I get it now.”
“…What?”
“It’s like an initiation ceremony for new employees, huh? Making them kill each other… Classic.”
What is she even talking about?
“You saw it just now, right? The rabbit killed all its friends. Oh, you had your eyes closed, so you missed it. But you heard the narration, didn’t you?”
It was the calm voice of the A-squad employee.
When I turned my head, I saw the butterfly-masked employee looking at the rabbits on the windows, as if this was an everyday occurrence.
“So, who should we kill?”
“What…”
“Shh.”
The eyes beneath the butterfly mask turned sinister.
A gaze that assessed value.
“Hmm.”
Y-squad.
The researcher.
Me.
Y-squad.
The researcher.
Y-squad.
The researcher.
The researcher.
Y-squad…
“You.”
Singled out.
The Y-squad newbie’s jaw turned pale blue for a moment.
The A-squad assistant manager’s finger pointed.
“Grab that guy in the white coat.”
The researcher.
“……!”
A death sentence.
“Uh, uh…”
Snap.
The Y-squad newbie, with a stiff, unnatural motion, grabbed the researcher’s limbs and restrained him.
“W-What are you, what… wait, wait a second.”
“Cover his mouth. Oh, and keep yours shut, too.”
“Mmmph!”
“Ah… do we have to kill one each, directly? Hey, top recruit.”
I reflexively looked at her.
“Why don’t you kill this one? I’d like to observe.”
“Mmm! Mmmmmm! Mmm!”
“Don’t use your specialized equipment, do it yourself… Ah, right. Earlier, that rabbit threw the dragon off the cliff, right? Try tossing him out of the train. Let’s see if that counts, too.”
Me?
“Go on.”
I slowly turned my head and glanced out the window, then quickly snapped it back.
‘The mascots are crying blood…!’
Look at them, stuck all over the windows.
There’s no way in hell I’m opening that train window. If I did, I’d collapse and become a screaming mess.
Besides, what… you want me to kill someone as casually as eating instant noodles?
No, no. Putting that aside…
‘…This is a death route!’
I realized it now, after another irregular event threw everything into chaos and scared the wits out of us, but it was clear.
‘If we comply with the mascot, we’re all dead!’
This… if we go down that path, we’ll all be killed!
But how do I convince 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 a lie without even a drop of hesitation!