Chapter 21.2

Chapter 21.2

“......”

“......”

“Isn’t... isn’t there something wrong here, Soleum-ssi? There were clearly other mascots before...”

“Seems like they were all driven out.”

“......!”

The narration we’d heard during the attraction came to mind automatically.

– One by one, one by one, one by one! Dropping them into pits, drowning them in water, pushing them off cliffs!

So then...

“The yellow and blue ones were killed, and this red mascot took over everything.”

“......”

“Then... what about the other employees who drew pieces of different colors?”

“Who knows.”

The A-squad assistant manager shrugged.

“All missing?”

“......!”

“Does that even matter right now? What matters is...”

The eyes beneath the butterfly mask turned sinister again.

“You seem to have made the wrong choice.”

“......”

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you’ll die first.”

Which could only mean one thing.

There was someone else who would die first.

“It’s already too late anyway.”

“......”

Reflexively, I glanced at the unconscious researcher slung over my shoulder like a deadweight.

B o r i n g

“......!!”

“Wha... what...?”

B o r i n g

The voice echoed in my head.

B o r i n g

Haven’t I heard this somewhere before?

Ah, that talk show, that Tuesday talk show. In that revamped version, like the Choir of Purgatory shriekinglikethescreamofadeadpiganimalsthe mascot!MagicBunny,boredtodeath

“Urgh.”

I clamped my hands over my ears.

B o r i n g

I looked down.

The admission band on my wrist was vibrating.

[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]

[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]

The sound... was coming from there.

N o t f u n

Screeeech.

The vibration grew, tearing at the wristband.

========================

Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)

1- Keep your admission wristband clean!

If lost or damaged, you are no longer a guest. If not a guest, you are an intruder. Thief! Lawbreaker! Horrible punishment awaits. Or would you...

...prefer to be an employee?

He got cut off.

“Squad Leader?”

There was no response.

It was likely the time limit on the equipment had expired.

And more crucially than that...

“W-West?”

The face of the Y-squad newbie, who had been listening intently beside me, turned blank.

A-squad’s superior looked equally unsettled. The reason was simple.

“We’re already in the west, aren’t we?”

Exactly.

The ‘Fantasy Train’ was located near the western edge of the Fantasyland map...

The opposite of the rugged forest on the eastern side, bordered smoothly by castle walls on the west, was this very attraction.

Further westward in Fantasyland than this was... nothing!

B o r i n g

“It seems we might be in separate theme parks? Like a timeline where the blue mascot won. The Darkness always has these kinds of variations.”

In separate places?

Are we really talking about different parallel dimensions?

N o t f u n

“No.”

That can’t be.

“This is a Darkness derived from a board game. If we’re playing the same game, there’s no reason for separate boards.”

“Hey. Shut up.”

The A-squad superior replied coldly.

“No matter how much sense you try to make, if it doesn’t match reality, just drop it.”

This isn’t speculation—it’s deduction.

I wanted to convey that there were numerous cases like this, but I knew they wouldn’t believe me. Right now, all I needed to do was... find the answer.

Where exactly is ‘west’?

‘Quickly, quickly.’

Think. There has to be an answer.

I looked at the Fantasyland color map again. Every visible area was still painted red.

Ferris wheel, carousel, roller coaster, Viking ride, magic palace. Every single ride was marked with Magic Bunny’s red face.

Every attraction... wait.

“......!”

B o r i n g

Hold on.

I looked over the map again.

And I realized—

“...I found it!”

“What?”

“A different color zone.”

It was here.

With certainty, I moved forward. Whether they sensed hope or were compelled by my determination, my teammates followed.

N o t f u n

We had to move quickly before the mascot noticed us. There was no time to waste—we needed to get out of this attraction immediately.

I g n o r i n g m e ?

Too late.



T/N: Sorry for disappearing for a bit! I went on a trip and I underestimated how exhausting and time-consuming it would be, I thought I’d still be able to scrounge up some chapters somehow

Anyway, more chapters ahead again! I’ll update the other two novels soon too