Got Dropped in a Ghost Story Chapter 22

The four of us burst out of the Fantasy Train exit and ran.

“Haah… haah!”

Desperate panting came from both sides, the kind you only made when running for your life.

And there was no helping it.

The mascots were pouring out after us.

Die.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Huu… huuuuk…”

Strange, unsettling masses of ooze burst out from attraction entrances, shops, and even signs, disgorging grotesque mascots one after another.

They chased us with their mouths peeled open, revealing rows of teeth buried deep inside their bodies.

Every so often, their forms jerked violently, and slimy tentacle-like things pushed out from their drooping ears and arms.

♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪

Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!

The noise was deafening.

Theme-park music and laughter mixed together into a disturbing roar from every direction.

It was chaotic.

Terrifying.

Disorienting.

The overwhelming noise made it almost impossible to think.

But—

“Here! This way!”

I gritted my teeth and ran toward the direction I had memorized.

At that moment—

Flick.

Squish.

The slimy tip of a tentacle barely grazed the top of my head.

Hiss.

“…Huuk.”

The strands of hair touched by the slime began to melt, and the smell of something burning reached my nose.

This is insane.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

But I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t.

If I stop, it’s over.

I would die.

Or worse, judging from the feeling in my gut, I might end up in some state far more horrifying than death.

The only good news was that our destination was close.

Even the researcher had stopped whining and was now running for his life with drool hanging from his mouth.

Boring.

“Get away! Get awayyyyy!”

“Shut your mouth!”

Assistant Manager Jin shouted at him.

She looked like she wanted to throw the researcher behind us as bait, but even she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Which made sense.

They’re too close.

The swarm of mascots was growing by the second, and several were already dangerously close.

Worse—

they were fast.

Faster than humans.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!!

Just as panic seized me—

“Urgh!”

Someone was caught.

“Aaack… ugh…!”

Jang Heo-un went down.

Fuck.

Without looking back, I flipped the coin in my pocket and summoned the glove.

I tossed it several 500-won coins, and a translucent shadow hand appeared in midair.

Whoosh.

The hand shot forward and shoved the head of one grotesque mascot aside.

“Run!”

Jang Heo-un barely escaped its grasp, stumbled to his feet, and started running again.

“Huff… ha… th-thank you…”

“Later!”

There was no time to treat his injuries.

And my personalized equipment wouldn’t be much help anymore.

The shadow hand disappears if it moves more than three meters away…

Then a searing pain tore through my left hand.

“—!!!”

I nearly collapsed.

It felt as if my hand were being crushed and dissolved inside some kind of spiked press.

My personalized equipment!

I understood instantly.

The shadow hand I had summoned must have been caught in one of the mascot’s jaws or tentacles.

And in that moment, I discovered a serious drawback to my equipment.

If the artificial hand was damaged, my real hand felt the exact same pain.

But I didn’t even have time to scream.

I kept running.

“There!”

Our destination finally came into view.

A huge gate.

Brightly painted in the exaggerated style of a theme park.

[FANTASYLAND – WESTSIDE GATE]

It was nothing more than decoration.

An ornamental archway built into the castle wall surrounding the western edge of the park.

“It’s blocked!”

“Get underneath it!”

I rushed beneath the arch and immediately turned around.

Assistant Manager Jin and Jang Heo-un were right behind me.

The researcher was farther back.

And therefore in much more danger.

“Fuck, move!”

“Ugh!”

Thud.

The researcher shoved Assistant Manager Jin aside and used the momentum to throw himself forward.

“…!”

Caught completely off guard, her slender body slammed into one of the mascots.

Die.

Black-red slime dripped from the half-melted mascot and splashed across her.

“AAAHHHHH!”

Hiss.

The sound of flesh burning filled my ears.

“Assistant Manager!”

She was pinned beneath a hideously distorted mascot, her limbs trembling uncontrollably.

The part of her face visible beneath the butterfly mask was already blistering and ruined.

And in her eyes was resignation.

The look of someone who already knew they couldn’t be saved.

The moment our eyes met—

“Nail!”

I shouted.

“Assistant Manager, your nail! Here!”

At the same time, I thrust out my left hand.

Her eyes widened.

Then she extended her index finger.

Ping!

The fake nail shot through the air and embedded itself in the center of my palm.

“…!”

I didn’t even flinch.

My hand already hurts like hell anyway!

Ignoring the pain, I grabbed the nail tightly and pulled.

Whoosh.

Assistant Manager Jin’s body was yanked toward me.

She barely slipped free of the mascot’s snapping jaws and dripping slime.

“Haah… haaaah…”

“Huff… huff…”

We collapsed beneath the archway, gasping for air.

Right in front of us, countless rabbit mascots stood motionless.

Black-red ooze streamed down them like bloody tears.

Their empty eyes stared at us blankly.

“Gah…!”

They looked as though they had slammed into an invisible wall.

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

Cheerful Theme Park User Guide

(Applicable through Exploration Record #64)

5 – Enjoy the different zones!

Has the mascot’s appearance or the attraction color changed?

Then you have entered a new zone.

Unfortunately, mascots from other zones cannot enter.

Give them a warm goodbye!

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

I looked down.

…The bricks changed color.

Two lines of white brick ran beneath the decorative archway.

The mascots stood frozen on the red-brick side.

They couldn’t cross.

Boring.

I glanced at my admission ticket.

[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]

[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]

Not fun.

The voice gradually faded.

The mascots remained perfectly still for another moment.

Then, in the blink of an eye—

they vanished.

“…”

“…”

Only the sound of our ragged breathing remained.

I swallowed.

“…Looks like this is the end of Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland.”

We survived.

“We made it.”

“We got out.”

“Aah…!”

“Huuuuh…”

Jang Heo-un collapsed onto the ground, clutching his injured shoulder in a mixture of pain and relief.

I leaned back against the wall and stared up at the sky while catching my breath.

I thought I was finished…

My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.

I’m alive.

Assistant Manager Jin glared coldly at the researcher who had shoved her.

Then she glanced at the nail-shaped wound in my palm and seemed to regain her composure.

Apparently, she had decided that killing the researcher immediately wasn’t worth the trouble.

Considering how badly the acidic slime had burned her head, her ability to remain calm was honestly impressive.

“Anyway.”

“Yes?”

She took a slow breath.

“Thanks.”

“I owe you my life.”

“…”

I hadn’t expected her to say that.

“It’s nothing. You only survived because your personalized equipment—”

“Don’t bother being modest.”

She cut me off.

“Just say, ‘Got it.’ You’ve managed to get on my good side.”

Ah.

Right.

“Got it.”

“Unlike some idiot.”

“…”

The researcher immediately avoided her gaze.

Assistant Manager Jin looked at him once, then returned to the matter at hand.

“This place looks like some kind of buffer zone.”

She looked around.

“Was this your plan?”

“But it’s too cramped to stay here. What now?”

“This isn’t our destination.”

“Hm?”

Once my breathing settled, I turned toward the decorative gate itself.

“Did you know large theme parks sometimes have facilities outside the amusement park proper?”

“…Something else?”

“Yes.”

Technically, the area beneath this archway didn’t belong to Magic Bunny or any other mascot.

It was neutral territory.

Which meant we wouldn’t be punished for damaging things here.

I knocked on what looked like a section of wall shaped like a door.

Thunk.

Hollow.

“Assistant Manager, can you use your equipment to pry this open?”

“…”

Without saying anything, she raised her hand.

Her fake nail extended again and slipped into a crack in the wall.

Then she pulled.

“Gah!”

Thump.

Thump.

One of the brick panels cracked open.

A gust of fresh air rushed through the gap.

And with it came—

the smell of water.

Ahahahaha!

“…!!”

The sound of splashing water filled the air, mixed with the blast of a boat horn, cries of seagulls, and a lively marching tune.

Through the gap in the brick wall, I could see open space and sunlight pouring in.

Huge twisting water slides spiraled down toward a pool below, flashing in different shades of blue as streams of water and inner tubes rushed along them.

[Blue Dream Waterland]

“This place…!”

A water park.

The summer-themed area of this massive amusement park.

“It’s the Blue Zone.”

Jang Heo-un whipped his head toward me, eyes wide.

“H-How?!”

“When I looked at the Fantasyland Color Map earlier, there wasn’t a single water-themed attraction.”

“…!”

“So I figured there had to be a large water area located somewhere separate from the main park.”

I took a breath.

“And I also thought it probably wouldn’t be connected through the normal routes. Water parks usually require separate tickets, after all.”

“…So that’s why you broke through the wall?”

“Yes.”

I remembered my earlier conversation with Squad Leader Lee Jaheon.

…The west.

The west.

Of course, he had probably meant the western side of Waterland itself.

But because we were already standing at the westernmost edge of Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland, his answer had helped me realize that another zone must exist beyond it.

The east was blocked by forest, the north led back toward the entrance, and the south ended at a cliff…

Realistically, if there was more space beyond Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland, the west was the only direction that made sense.

And my guess had been right.

“It looks like the blue mascot, after being driven out of Fantasyland, built a new zone here.”

“Aha…”

“For now, let’s get through as quickly as possible.”

“Y-Yes!”

Everyone immediately started pulling away the remaining bricks.

Even Jang Heo-un, injured as he was, used his one good arm to help.

Meanwhile, the researcher stood off to one side with a sly expression, as if he had finally realized the situation was starting to turn in his favor.

A few moments later—

“It’s open!”

One by one, we crawled through the gap.

I went last.

The moment both my feet landed inside Waterland, I looked out over the blue pools and the bright sky above.

A damp breeze brushed past me.

This sunlight…

It felt unbelievably good.

For a brief moment, I almost felt free.

Then I noticed several people in the distance running toward us and waving.

“Roe!”

“…!”

Squad D.

“Are you okay?!”

“Assistant Manager!”

The others hurried toward us, each carrying something bulky that looked like inner tubes or other water-park equipment.

Seeing the people I had worked with for the past month filled me with immediate relief.

“How have you all been?!”

I greeted them happily and stepped forward.

As a proactive rookie, I even wondered whether I should offer to help carry whatever was slung over the Squad Leader’s shoulder.

Then I stopped.

Wait.

That’s a person.

It wasn’t equipment.

A human body was hanging limply over Lee Jaheon’s shoulder.

…A casualty?

I looked more closely.

The person was wearing a teal duck mask.

Squad A’s leader.

“…”

No.

Nooo!!