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Chapter 22.1
Chapter 22.1
Chapter 22.1
The four of us bolted out of the exit of the ‘Fantasy Train’ and ran.
“Haah… haah!”
The sounds of desperate panting came from both sides, the kind of breathlessness only achieved when running for your life.
It couldn’t be helped.
The mascots were pouring out.
D i e
“Aaaaaah!”
“Huu, huuuuk…”
From every attraction entrance, store, and sign, strange, unsettling bubbles of ooze burst, spewing forth grotesque mascots.
They chased after us, mouths peeled back to reveal rows of teeth embedded deep in their innards, giving them a horrifying appearance.Occasionally, their bodies would lurch, and gooey, tentacle-like things would protrude from their drooping ears and arms.
– ????~???~???????~???~???????~???~???????~???~???????~???~???
– Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!
The noise was deafening.
The theme park music and laughter swirled together, creating a disturbing cacophony all around.
It was chaotic, frightening, disorienting, and utterly terrifying!!
The overwhelming sounds were disorienting, making it hard to think straight. But…
“Here! This way!”
I gritted my teeth, turning in the direction I’d memorized with determination.
At that moment—
Flick.
Squish.
The slimy end of a tentacle just barely grazed my head.
Hiss.
“…Huuk.”
The hair where the slime touched started to melt, and I caught a whiff of something burning.
‘This is insane.’
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
But my feet didn’t stop moving. They couldn’t.
‘Stopping would mean the end.’
I’d die. Or worse, I had a gut feeling I’d end up in an even more horrifying state.
The only relief was that the destination was close!
Even the researcher, instead of whining, was drooling as he ran in desperation.
B o r i n g
“Get away! Get awayyyyy!”
“Shut your mouth!”
The butterfly mask shouted. She looked like she wanted to throw the researcher to buy time but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
It was understandable.
‘They’re too close.’
The mascots swarming toward us were multiplying like crazy, and now, some of them were getting alarmingly close.
And they were fast.
Faster than humans!
‘Damn, damn, damn!!’
In the moment that terror gripped me—
“Urgh!”
Someone got caught.
“Aaack… ugh…”
The guy in the cow mask went down.
‘Fuck.’
Without even looking back, I managed to flip a coin in my pocket to summon the glove. Then I tossed a few 500-won coins to create a semi-transparent shadow hand in mid-air.
Whoosh.
The shadow hand flew forward and shoved the head of a grotesque mascot.
“Run!”
The Y-squad newbie, who’d barely escaped, staggered up and scrambled to run.
“Huff… ha… th-thanks…”
“Later!”
There was no time to stop the bleeding. My special equipment wouldn’t be of any help at this point!
‘The shadow hand will disappear once it goes beyond the three-meter range…’
A searing pain shot through my left hand.
“—!!!”
I almost dropped to the ground, clutching my hand and screaming in pain. It felt like my hand was being crushed and dissolved in a spiked press.
‘Specialized equipment!’
I realized instantly. The shadow hand I’d summoned in mid-air must have suffered some horrible fate in the mascot’s maw or tentacles.
In that moment, I discovered the flaw in my specialized equipment: if the hand created by the glove was destroyed, my own hand would feel the exact same pain!
But there was no time to scream. I sprinted like mad.
“There!”
The target point came into view.
A giant gate.
Painted in bright colors, following the style of a typical theme park…
[FANTASYLAND (WESTSIDE GATE)]
A decoration.
An ornamental gate attached to the castle wall encircling the western side of the theme park.
“It’s blocked!!”
“Get underneath it!”
I quickly stepped under the ornamental gate and looked back. Almost immediately, two others tried to step in: the A-squad assistant manager and the Y-squad newbie.
The researcher, being behind, was in a more dangerous spot…
“Fuck, move already!”
“Ugh!”
Thud.
The researcher shoved the A-squad assistant manager aside, using the momentum to propel himself forward.
“……!”
The slender body of the assistant manager, caught off guard, collided with a mascot.
D i e
The black-red ooze from the partially melted mascot dripped onto her right then.
“AAAHHHHH!”
Hiss.
The sound of sizzling flesh echoed in my ears.
“Assistant Manager!”
The A-squad employee was pinned beneath a grotesquely distorted mascot, her limbs shaking uncontrollably.
Her face, partly visible beyond the butterfly mask, was already blistered and ruined. In her eyes was resignation—the look of someone who knew they couldn’t be saved.
The moment our eyes met—
“Nail!”
I shouted.
“Assistant Manager, your nail—here!”
At the same time, I stretched my left hand forward. The A-squad assistant manager’s eyes widened, and she reached out, extending her index finger.
Ping!
The nail shot out, embedding itself in the center of my palm.
“……!”
But I didn’t flinch.
‘It already hurt like hell before!’
Ignoring the pain, I gripped the nail tightly, pulling her towards me.
Whoosh.
With a short, abrupt noise, the butterfly-masked body was yanked forward, barely missing the snapping jaws and oozing slime from the mascots.
“Haah… haaaah…”
“Huff… huff…”
We collapsed under the archway, gasping for breath.
Right in front of us, countless rabbit mascots, oozing like they were crying blood, stared blankly with empty eyes, frozen in place as if held back by an invisible barrier.
“Gah!”
It looked as if an invisible wall had stopped them in their tracks.
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Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)
5- Enjoy the various zones!
Has the appearance of the mascot or the attraction color changed? You’re in a new zone now.
Unfortunately, mascots from other zones can’t exist in the new zone. Say goodbye warmly!
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