In any amusement park worth the name, there were usually three attractions they invested serious money into to build.
One was a roller coaster, one was a carousel.
And the last one, the premium attraction that ate up the most money because it required a heavy investment in special effects and animatronic dolls, was....
"A dark ride."
An indoor ride attraction where you toured an elaborate, enormous set that introduced the very theme of the theme park itself.
In Korea, famous examples would probably be things like Sinbad's Adventure or World of Earth.
And in this Ghost Story, A Fun Theme Park!, that attraction was this one.
"Fantasy Train!"
The researcher spat as he shouted.
"Everyone who got on this died, didn't they?! I'm not riding it!! I said I'm not riding it!"
Testimony #4 (Survivor: Park Yein)
-All four individuals who boarded 'Fantasy Train' disappeared.
Later, stuffed dolls made by recycling the clothing and bones of the individuals in question were discovered in the souvenir shop. (Presumed dead)
It certainly had been written that way.
And in the Darkness Exploration Record I had read, it really was an attraction that had produced numerous casualties….
But that wasn't all.
"The fact that it caused numerous casualties means this attraction shows up that often!"
True to a board game with random elements, the Ghost Story A Fun Theme Park! changed its zone and mascot combinations every time one entered.
But this attraction called Fantasy Train would have been one that appeared every single time, no matter what.
Because… its theme was just that clear.
"Please look at the description under the sign."
I pointed below the sign for Fantasy Train.
-Meet the residents and stories of each area of Fantasy Land! A cheerful train ride!
"It seems to be the attraction that introduces this theme park."
Which also made it the most important element for escaping this Ghost Story.
"How is this theme park divided into zones, and by what colors?"
Don't forget. This had originated as a board game.
What did choosing a faction in a game mean?
It meant choosing your own traits.
"And dividing teams by color means that advantages or disadvantages arise according to that color."
So in this place, understanding that properly came before anything else….
Which color zone the team you belonged to represented.
What kind of distinctive trait it carried.
---------------------=
A Fun Theme Park User Guide (applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
Each area of the theme park is colored according to its theme! The place where you first open your eyes is the area your team belongs to!
Respect the area. The area is more important than anything look at the colors do not offend the mascot's mood the mascot is everything in the area
---------------------=
But if I wanted to persuade the people here, who didn't know any of this yet, I needed different logic.
"Come on, brain, do your job."
First target… naturally, the highest-ranking superior.
"Hmm. But everyone who rode it died?"
Assistant Manager Jin of Team A, wearing the butterfly mask.
If I wanted to crack this elitist, superiority-soaked elite… right.
Flattery.
"Wasn't that just one civilian team?"
"Hmm?"
I deliberately made my tone sound a little puzzled.
"They were people who approached it casually, like they were really boarding a ride for fun, without any sense of alarm and with no understanding of the situation. The odds of them properly responding to a supernatural situation would have been low."
"So?"
"To compare them with a Field Operations Team that professionally clears Darknesses with a clear objective in mind is… well."
I frowned slightly.
"It seems rather harsh to the civilians."
"…Hah."
The superior from Team A scoffed through his nose.
"You do have quite the nerve. …Well, you're not wrong."
"W-wrong about what…!"
"Hey."
The Team A superior grabbed the researcher by the head.
"…!"
A flashing fingernail jabbed hard into his temple.
"You think you have the right to speak here?"
"...."
"You want to die here and not even become a souvenir, just food waste? Or do you want to ride that thing?"
The researcher fell quiet again. It was like he had a personal tormentor assigned to him….
"Move."
"...."
With the face of a dead man, the researcher began dragging his feet forward.
In the direction of Fantasy Train.
"One shot, two kills…."
It had worked perfectly.
Then did that mean only one thing remained?
The rookie from Team Y, Jang Heowoon.
Even as I followed the Fantasy Train sign, I subtly dropped back and matched my pace to that new employee's, murmuring to him,
"Please don't worry."
"Yes…?"
"What I said just now was only to persuade that person… in truth, I'm going because I've thought of another trick."
"If you say a trick…."
"You could call it insider know-how."
I smiled faintly.
"I used to work part-time at a theme park."
"Ah!"
Sorry. That was a lie….
But in this unfriendly, extreme situation for cowards, didn't it count as long as whatever path we took led to survival?
You'd end up saying, "Wow! Thank you for lying for me, coworker!" anyway.
"I-I see. Then…."
"Yes. It should be fairly safe."
Just think of it that way for now.
In any case, following the sign, the boarding entrance to Fantasy Train soon appeared.
It was a model station with a splendid sign decorated with elaborate, realistic steam locomotive parts and brick ornaments, but….
"There's no one here."
"...."
Inside, it was bizarrely empty.
No one was there.
-Haha, enjoy your wonderful train trip! Haha, enjoy your wonderful train trip! Haha, enjoy your wonderful train trip….
The mismatch with the cheerful amusement park music made it feel eerie.
All that was visible was the train waiting beyond the queue line.
And the rabbit mascot standing in front of it in a conductor's outfit.
"So it's a mascot again."
"So that's the employee for this attraction?"
That was right.
As we quickly passed through the empty queue and approached, the conductor mascot with its blank eyes extended a gloved hand and stamped our bracelets.
[(Fun) Fantasy Land Ride Pass ■□□]
So that was one slot filled.
After that, we were guided onto a small train like something out of a brightly colored fairy tale steam engine.
And the mascot itself returned to its position and began waving both hands.
Probably something like, "Enjoy your ride!"
Since nothing had happened up to this point, the researcher and the rookie from Team Y both looked a little relieved without even realizing it.
Unfortunately, I was about to be the one to make that something happen.
"The only place it could be… hm. There, maybe."
After checking all around, I finally fixed my gaze on the mascot.
Then I spoke.
"Assistant Manager Jin."
"What."
"The place where that mascot in the employee role is standing. You see the platform, right?"
I pointed at the stand directly in front of where the conductor rabbit was standing, something like a model ticket booth counter.
"With your dedicated equipment, would it be possible to turn that stand just slightly this way? Quietly, without damaging it."
"Why?"
"There's something on the back."
The Assistant Manager from Team A looked at me with a slightly strange expression, but soon pulled off the nail on his index finger.
Fast and silent.
Tick.
Kiiiiik….
The fake nail thrown onto the retro teal-colored stand caught on the edge and turned it with a faint scraping sound.
What came into view on the back as it turned halfway was not the wooden finish one would normally expect.
Instead, there were complex buttons and circuitry.
The attraction's emergency control panel.
"…!"
Found it.
The control panel!
"I definitely read this in Darkness Exploration Record."
A scene describing how these theme-park rides had actual control devices implemented in them, just like the real thing.
---------------------=
Immediately after boarding the basket-shaped attraction named 'Tomato Express,' confirmed that a label reading
Immediate search for emergency stop button.
Successfully found at the attraction's departure point. However, all attempts to press the button failed. (Executor: Chief Lee Jiwon, number of attempts: 6)
All personnel deceased.
---------------------=
That side had failed, of course.
"But this side can work."
I immediately flicked a coin and summoned the translucent glove, threw in a 500-won coin, and gestured for it to merge.
"Five seconds is enough."
My hand floating in the air approached the exposed back of the half-turned stand.
What I was aiming for… was the lever.
MIN MAX
∥-----------------∥
▲
"W-wait a moment, Soleum-ssi. What exactly is that? That marking…."
"Hold on tightly."
"Pardon? H-hold onto what…."
"The handles on the train seats."
My hand pulled the lever all the way.
"Hold on properly."
MIN MAX
∥-----------------∥
▲
At that moment.
The train shot forward at a mad speed.
Kiiiiiiiiing!!
-Fantasy Train is departing!
"Hhk!"
"W-what the hell?!"
Clutching the seat handles of the train with everything I had, I answered.
"I pulled the speed lever! To maximum speed!"
"Why the hell would you pull that, you crazy bastard?!"
Because I had a reason.
"If it runs fast, then it can't pull any funny business on the train, can it?!"
"...!"
In other words, skip the events.
"A dark ride is usually an attraction where the ride moves slowly while you look at and experience the decorated indoor set."
But what if you tore through that place at insane speed?
"Then it all gets skipped!"
The indoor decorations, the effects.
And even the danger to our lives that came with them!
In the example I had read in Darkness Exploration Record, it had been used to slow down a roller coaster, but in any case, the important thing was the existence of a speed-control device!
There was a high chance it would work here too.
"Good!"
It was working!
Though… the next stage was the problem.
I glanced outside.
Kiiiiiiiiing!
I could feel the wind pressure.
It was almost at roller-coaster speed.
This was definitely a speed setting included only for safety checks.
…Which meant it was a speed never meant for actual operation.
"…If someone gets scared and faints, they'll get flung out of the train, won't they?"
That would be certain death.
You could call it the side effect of turning the train into a runaway locomotive.
A fatal weakness for a coward like me….
"But I have a countermeasure!"
If I felt like I was going to faint?
Then I just shouldn't look!
[Dear passengers, welcome to beautiful Fantasy Land!]
The moment the narration began, I shouted.
"I'm going to close my eyes!"
"What?!"
I closed my eyes like a lunatic.
"That narration sounds important, so I'm going to focus on it as much as possible!"
"…!"
"If it looks like we're going to die, please tell me!"
"You really are completely insane, aren't you?! Hah, fine!"
Just as the laughter of the Team A Assistant Manager was dying down,
the narration rushed past my ears.
[How was this Fantasy Land born?]
[A very long time ago, 403930291928494 hours ago, a Yellow Flower, a Blue Dragon, and a Red Rabbit all lived together on one land.]
[Right here, in this wonderful place!]
"A-an odd flower, the flower is c-calling me…."
"Duck!"
[But they were far too different!]
['You're too noisy!']
['You're too filthy!']
['You're too boring!']
[In the end, they could not accept each other's 모습 and began to fight. This is my land!]
"Aaaagh! S-snakes, snake monsters, monsters are crawling across the floor! Hiiik! They t-tried to cling to the train… but fell behind...."
"Huff."
[The Yellow Flower said.]
['I hate you! Get out of here!']
The attraction passed by in an instant.
The train sped through it so quickly that it was as though the ride time had been fast-forwarded.
[The Blue Dragon said.]
['I hate you! You're the one who should get out!']
"So the fight's in its final stage…."
This was the last part now.
"This was described a few times too."
In the end, those mascots all wanted to live as they each desired.
So the story should have been about them dividing Fantasy Land into zones by color and then each living peacefully in the way they wanted….
[The Red Rabbit said.]
[Die.]
....
Well.
[The Red Rabbit decided to eliminate its friends by any means necessary. No, they are no longer friends. Enemies! Enemies! Enemies!]
[One by one, one by one, one by one! Throw them into burrows, drown them, push them off cliffs!]
[Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!]