Chapter 19
The psychopathic doctor had pushed his own researcher in as a sacrificial lamb for the Darkness exploration.
He probably also wanted to observe how the Field Exploration Team members would die in more bizarre ways through synergy with that researcher.
The problem was that I was on the same team as that researcher.
‘Hoo…’
I came to my senses.
My ears registered the horror story before my eyes did.
-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
A cheerful melody and orchestral sound.
The classic BGM of a theme park.
“Huff.”
Opening my eyes, we found ourselves in the middle of a colorful, retro-looking theme park.
-Hahahaha!
Children’s laughter echoed.
But no human faces were visible anywhere.
Only mascots roamed around.
In the distance, I could see visitors in character costumes, but they would disappear like a lie if I approached.
‘That’s the kind of place this is.’
I immediately checked my wrist.
[(Cheerful) Fantasy Land Ride Ticket □□□]
Three blank spaces.
‘As expected.’
It was that insane board game theme park where you had to ride three attractions to escape.
======================
Darkness Exploration Records / Horror Story
[Cheerful Theme Park!]
: A horror story appearing in <Darkness Exploration Records>, Daydream Corporation identification code Qterw-B-11.
A theme park inside a board game themed around various fantasy lands.
After entering this horror story, you can return by using three major attractions.
A horror story more famous for its appendix, the “Cheerful Theme Park User’s Guide,” written by people who played the board game in a state of delirium.
If you’re looking for a game based on this horror story, click this link.
======================
There are many amusement park horror stories. But this one was among the most famous in <Darkness Exploration Records> for its grotesqueness, peculiarity, and persistent horror.
‘There were theme park motif goods at the pop-up store too.’
The appendix, the <Cheerful Theme Park User’s Guide>, also gained cult popularity.
They called that kind of thing a “Neapolitan horror story,” I think.
‘And it’s B-class.’
Dusk-class Darkness.
Civilian survival rate… 2%.
The four civilian survivors from before must have been extremely lucky.
If you cross-referenced the list of missing persons who had disappeared without a trace before that, there were probably quite a few cases where everyone died in this horror story.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
‘…Team D members might be in danger.’
Of course, right now I had my own problems.
I was the one saddled with the variable of “researcher dragged in”!
“Waaah, huuuuh… let, let me out. This is wrong, wrong…”
“Quiet!”
I covered the researcher’s mouth as he went into convulsions and forced him to duck down.
At that moment.
Drop.
All the mascots in the theme park simultaneously turned to look at the screaming researcher.
“……”
======================
Cheerful Theme Park User’s Guide (Up to Exploration Record 64)
- Refrain from negative and intense emotional expressions such as crying, sobbing, and screaming!
They are not suitable for the Cheerful Theme Park.
======================
A nightmare, no question.
I strained not to close my eyes.
The noise returned.
-Hahahaha!
-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The gazes disappeared.
In the lively theme park scenery that began to bustle again, I slowly released the researcher.
A Team A employee grabbed the researcher’s chin.
“…!”
Thwack. After a short, dull sound, the Team A employee with the butterfly mask brought his face close to the researcher’s and said in a low, ominous voice:
“Hey.”
“……!”
“If you whine one more time, I’ll kill you first and then we’ll start.”
“Hiiiik.”
The researcher, terrified, stumbled backward, then sat down and covered his head.
He seemed to be muttering things like “this is a dream,” “it’s a lie,” mixed with curses—he was in a full panic.
“…Wasn’t that a bit excessive?”
The Team Y new employee cautiously spoke up, but the Team A employee ignored him.
Instead, he asked me:
“Hey, newbie. I heard you were the top scorer in your intake. You seem to have decent judgment.”
“…Thank you.”
“Did you get your custom equipment?”
Hmm.
So he was going to treat me as a fellow employee.
‘Not an elite team, but since I’m the top scorer?’
I thought the criteria was overly one-dimensional, but I didn’t show it and answered politely.
Custom equipment—yes, I had it.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Remote touch fingers. They have time and usage limits.”
That much was enough to reveal.
And I should ask too.
“What kind of weapon do you use, Deputy Manager?”
“None of your business… hmm. Fine.”
The Team A employee pulled at his index fingernail.
It was a fake nail for nail art.
A sticky substance stretched from the back of the fallen nail.
A translucent thread.
“It stretches endlessly, and it’s quite strong.”
“…It seems like it could be useful in many ways.”
“Hmm. Well, I suppose.”
The other person’s mood seemed to have improved slightly.
I immediately nodded and asked:
“May I ask for your name?”
“Just call me Deputy Manager Jin. Who does formal introductions in a place like this?”
Isn’t that basic courtesy when people meet…?
Either way, the unique surname made it easy to identify him.
‘Probably… this employee.’
-Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol infiltrated the killer’s bedroom and set the clock to 4:44.
-Oh really answered Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol’s question “Do you have a particular grudge against carrots?” seriously. No special notes.
-Tore off the teddy bear’s limbs (Executor: Employee Jin Na-sol).
And so on.
There wasn’t enough description to deduce his personality specifically, but he seemed to be depicted as a fairly capable and ruthless employee.
Just then, the Team Y new employee quietly asked me:
“…What exactly is custom equipment?”
Ah, right. This person probably wouldn’t know properly.
“Ah, the company uses Darkness to craft equipment that…”
“Hey. Let’s move quickly. In this kind of large-scale Darkness, observation comes first.”
“……”
“What are you doing, top scorer? I said let’s move.”
He interrupted me blatantly.
I didn’t wait any longer and followed Team A’s Deputy Manager Jin as he started walking, answering:
“Yes. I’ll explain the current situation to my colleague while we move.”
“What? Why would you bother with… Ah.”
The mouth beneath the butterfly mask formed a peculiar smile.
“You don’t know, do you?”
“……”
“Whatever, suit yourself.”
I didn’t argue.
Instead, I gave the Team Y new employee a rough explanation of what ‘custom equipment’ was.
I also added this to reduce any discord within the team:
“I deliberated a lot and spent quite a few points to get it. I’m also scared of what’s ahead.”
“…I see.”
I nodded and continued.
“Speaking of which, I’m late introducing myself. I’m Kim Soleum.”
“…I know.”
A slightly gloomy voice came from beneath the cow mask.
“I’m… Jang Heo-un.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.”
I also tried speaking to the researcher who had sat down on the spot, but got back something close to panicked whining.
“No, no, I can’t walk. Help me!”
“I can help you walk… but then your movements, Assistant Manager, will be impaired.”
I added with a concerned tone.
“If that happens, the probability of you dying increases significantly.”
Like magic, he stood up.
‘I knew it.’
Team A’s Deputy Manager glanced our way with a displeased look, but didn’t interfere and just walked while observing the surroundings.
I also quickened my pace and looked around.
It was a dazzling yet somehow dizzying, dreamlike theme park.
‘Red seems to be the theme.’
Flags, buildings, and even tents in this theme park section—red symbols were everywhere.
‘We drew red pieces, so we must have been dropped in this section.’
On the flag, a cute rabbit was raising one hand and smiling.
[Magic Bunny Arcade Zone]
Literally, Magic Rabbit Adventure Zone…
‘Very theme park-like indeed.’
That’s when it happened.
The same rabbit mascot blocked Deputy Manager Jin’s path.
“Ah, blocking the way…”
“Wait.”
I stopped Deputy Manager Jin, who was trying to go around the mascot.
Because…
“…It’s a parade.”
Behind the rabbit mascot, a line was forming, and from behind, cheerful music and various colorful rabbits appeared.
But not a single one of them excited me.
I struggled not to cover my face with both hands.
‘It’s started…’
======================
Cheerful Theme Park User’s Guide (Up to Exploration Record 64)
- Please cheer for the parade with a happy face!
Everything that happens in the Cheerful Theme Park parade is joyful and absolutely not negative. Absolutely, absolutely not negative.
======================
The parade approached.
A rabbit mascot in a dress waved from atop a palace, then—
Bang!
It struck the surrounding carrots with its colorful wand.
Then all sorts of red, glittering things showered down on the mascots.
-Waaaaah!
Candy, jewels, flower petals, fireworks effects!
But that wasn’t the end.
Bang!
The next one burst in succession, showering more red things.
Blood, guts, organs!
-Hahahahahahahaha!
They poured down in waves.
Wave after wave. The mascots danced, wading through the organs. Staining the stone floor right in front of me red… oh, I’m seriously losing it.
‘This is the problem.’
This insane theme park spits out things that no human sensibility could laugh at, like glitches—but if you scream or cry, you get [REDACTED]!
-Waaaaaaaaah!
Splat.
My shoes were soaked with blood.
Something rolled and bumped into my toe.
An eyeball.
‘!@#$!@%!%’
AH!! AH!!!
A silent scream exploded down my spine.
‘I-I’m going to throw up.’
Squinting as much as possible, trying not to look directly ahead, I pretended to be calm and endured…
“Ugh.”
“…?”
Wait.
That… wasn’t my sound.
I glanced over and saw the cow mask covering his mouth.
‘Could it be.’
“…Are you uncomfortable seeing cruel things?”
“……”
The cow mask slowly nodded.
The lower part of his face not covered by the mask was already pale white.
‘Comrade…!’
My heart almost warmed.
Finally, someone else who shared the insane fear of this insane situation had appeared!
‘Hey, you’re actually holding up pretty well!’
Let’s avoid things together and get through this obstacle with a similar approach… I almost said that.
“Ah, seriously… what are you saying.”
An annoyed voice, right to the top.
…It was Deputy Manager Jin.
“You can’t handle cruelty? Why don’t you understand that a liability like that isn’t a spare life—it’s dead weight?”
“…!”
“Hey, top scorer. I’m telling you this because you have potential. That one.”
Deputy Manager Jin’s index finger pointed at the Team Y new employee.
The Team Y employee flinched.
“Don’t bother getting friendly with the X, Y, Z trash.”
“……”
I’d heard similar words just recently, from my direct superior.
-Musk Deer. The people from other teams you saw today—just keep things moderate with them. Got it?
…I already knew the reason.
‘The Field Exploration Teams are assigned alphabetical letters.’
And that order has meaning.
Elite teams—A, B, C.
Regular teams—D through W.
And X, Y, Z are…
======================
Darkness Exploration Records / Daydream Corporation / Field Exploration Team
The Cleanup Teams
A group of Field Exploration Team personnel who passed the entrance exam but have some defect that prevents them from performing normal exploration duties.
They are mainly deployed for experimenting with special situations.
Teams are usually designated by the last three letters of the alphabet (X, Y, Z).
======================
“The last three letters are where they gather those kinds of people. They’re just meat shields. Spare lives for employees with work sense, so don’t worry about them.”
“…Huh?”
“They probably don’t tell newbies properly under the guise of ‘variable elimination,’ but it doesn’t matter since they’re going to die here anyway.”
The cow-masked employee stiffened.
“W-what do you mean…”
“Cleanup Team cow mask. Raise your left hand.”
“!”
As if by magic.
Jang Heo-un raised his left hand toward the air.
“…!!”
The lower part of his face not covered by the mask was pale with bewilderment.
“Wh-what…”
The Team A employee lifted his chin.
“Meat shield. That’s how you use them.”
======================
Employees above a certain rank can, when entering Darkness with Cleanup Team employees, demand unconditional compliance with their orders.
Cleanup Team employees must carry out those demands.
======================
Right.
‘…It’s a device to extract more brutal and dramatic exploration records.’
In short, like slaves or suicide bombers.
But seeing it in person was even more bizarre than I’d imagined. Especially because the cow-masked employee seemed to be trying to resist.
‘I’m going insane.’
The gold mark near the chin of the Team A employee’s butterfly mask gleamed.
“When I want to try something dangerous, I just make those guys do it first. But it’s maddening when they misunderstand and die without following orders properly.”
“Gu-ugh…”
“Well, if they had enough work sense to understand, they wouldn’t have been assigned to a team like that, right?”
The abuse continued calmly, ending with the tired voice of an office worker suppressing annoyance.
“Ah, why do people like this bother getting a job and causing trouble? Every single time… psychos, cultists, criminals…”
“……”
Certainly, the Cleanup Teams probably contained deliberately flawed personality types.
It was a device to lower the psychological barrier for readers of the horror stories.
‘It feels easier to accept when bad, flawed people die rather than good, normal people being used as tools…’
Seeing it in reality left a bitter taste in my mouth, though.
What had the cow-masked employee done so wrong to be treated as a suicide bomber?
“Even that annoying coward…”
Right, coward…
“……!?”
…Wait.
Wait a minute. Deputy Manager!
I think I just heard something huge…
“…Did you just say coward?”
“Yeah. Believe it or not, there’s a coward who passed the entrance exam and still whines. Can you believe it?”
The Team A employee jerked his chin.
“Like that Y Team newbie over there.”
……
‘That’s it?’
For real?
That cow-masked newbie was put in the Cleanup Team just because he’s scared?
Being a coward was that much of a disqualification?
Then…
‘What about me?’
…I’m a coward!
Suddenly, like a panorama, the words I’d said to my superiors after running from the convenience store ghost on my first day came back to me.
-…Actually, I just wanted to get out fast because I was scared.
“……”
I realized it now.
How grateful I was that they hadn’t believed me.
‘So cowards get labeled as useless and officially ostracized in the company…!’
Not even just subtle dirty looks—they’re officially sent to death!
‘I only thought about not revealing my weakness…’
It was way beyond that!
Suddenly, I heard the sound of my survival rate plummeting in surround sound.
No!
“Anyway, there’s nothing to order you to do right now. You’ll just get in the way, so only you and I will move. Got it?”
No!
If I go alone with you, I’ll get exposed as a coward within 5 minutes!
I could already see the future: after Deputy Manager Jin’s testimony of “what, this guy was a coward?” employee Kim Soleum would be exiled to the Cleanup Team tomorrow!
“If that’s the case, go ahead.”
“Wh-what?”
For the first time in my one month at the company, I broke the newbie’s ten commandments.
I defied a superior.
With a plausible excuse.
“I’ll take care of my team members and follow.”
“……”
Team A’s Deputy Manager stopped moving.
For a moment, I worried that this superior might use the Y Team newbie to cut my throat.
“You idiot…”
Instead, the butterfly-masked Deputy Manager seemed to choose to cut me off and disappear.
But… uh, here’s the thing.
‘You can’t go alone anyway.’
======================
Cheerful Theme Park User’s Guide (Up to Exploration Record 64)
- In the theme park, always stay together with your same-color team members!
If you are more than 5 meters apart while not riding an attraction, you will be executed. Your neck will be choked. It hurts. Don’t go further away. No, don’t.
======================
‘There’s no way I’d just let someone with nerves of steel like you go off on your own…’
You’re supposed to be our tank.
The butterfly-masked Deputy Manager made a choking sound as if grabbed by the scruff of the neck and stopped.
“This f*cking—! Ah!”
A red cord.
Like a leash, that line connected above our heads and tightened—then, as the Deputy Manager wisely stepped back and closed the distance, it disappeared again.
“This…!”
“Deputy Manager Jin.”
I mimed putting my index finger to my lips.
And rolled my eyes.
All the mascots around the parade were staring at Deputy Manager Jin.
“……”
Team A’s Deputy Manager quickly calmed down.
Capable people are truly easy to deal with…
“Don’t tell me the team division…”
“Yes. We drew red pieces together, didn’t we? We’re bound as a team… it seems we’re under physical restrictions.”
“…No way.”
The Deputy Manager stared at me and asked meaningfully:
“You… did you anticipate this in advance?”
…?
I just read this horror story beforehand, though…
But I’ll play along.
I set the mood and spoke.
“As you may recall… there were four civilian survivors.”
“So?”
“Weren’t they from the same team?”
I said seriously.
“We were assigned four to a team, so I thought those civilians must have been the same. I assumed the highest probability was that one team survived together.”
“……”
“So I suggest we act under the assumption that to escape this Darkness safely, the four of us must look out for each other.”
After a brief silence.
“…That makes sense. Fine.”
Fortunately, the Team A superior seemed to have been rationally convinced.
“Kim Soleum-ssi, thank, thank you…”
“No problem. Let’s all do our best together.”
The cow-masked colleague seemed moved too, but now was not the time for sentiment, my cowardly comrade.
‘Let’s see.’
I objectively assessed this team.
A superior filled with elitism.
Cowardly Dum and Dumber.
And a dragged-in outsider from another department.
‘Heh, what a mess.’
If this were <Darkness Exploration Records>, this lineup would be appropriate for everyone to die right at the start and the viewpoint to switch to the lizard Section Chief.
But there was a way to survive even with this personnel…
‘There is.’
If we follow the rules of conduct and aim for the escape route!
“…Do you remember?”
“What.”
“The phrase written on the <Cheerful Theme Park> board game box.”
-Ride 3 fantasy attractions the fastest with your team members and receive prizes!
The eyes beneath the butterfly mask narrowed.
“Three attractions… Right. There are exactly three slots on this bracelet too.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“For now, I suggest we follow that. If the Darkness gives us hints, following them is the standard way to clear.”
“…A newbie who’s been here one month talks more like an expert than me, a three-year veteran?”
Oops.
“I’ve been thrown into manual-less Darknesses continuously for that month, so… I guess I’ve developed a habit of making these kinds of deductions.”
“Well, fine.”
Fortunately, the Team A superior nodded roughly.
It seemed he wasn’t trying to be sarcastic.
“Your hypothesis is persuasive.”
“Yes.”
He seemed reasonably convinced.
I raised my hand and very politely suggested:
“So I’d like us to ride an attraction first.”
Fortunately, one of the nearby signs had the attraction I was targeting.
[Fantasy Train]
Literally, Magic Train.
“…Isn’t this the attraction the civilians testified about?”
“Yes.”
I nodded calmly, and the panicked researcher screamed convulsively:
“E-everyone who rode it d-died, they said!!”
That’s right.
This is a hellish train with a 3% survival rate!
‘That doesn’t mean I’m crazy.’
For a <Darkness Exploration Records> veteran, there’s always a way!
…A way to clear it a little less terrifyingly.
