A psychopath doctor had shoved one of his own researchers in as a sacrifice for Ghost Story exploration.
He had probably intended to observe, through the synergy of entangling that researcher with us, how the Field Operations Team people might die in even stranger ways.
The problem was that I was on the same team as that researcher.
"Hoo…."
I got a hold of myself.
Before my eyes did, my ears grasped the Ghost Story first.
-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The sound of a cheerful melodion and orchestra.
Classic theme-park BGM.
"Hahk."
When I opened my eyes, we were standing in the middle of an old-fashioned, vividly colorful theme park.
-Hahahahaha!
The laughter of children echoed around us.
But there wasn't a single human bare face to be seen anywhere.
The only things wandering around nearby were mascots.
It looked as though there were park guests in mascot costumes in the distance too, but if one approached them, they would vanish as though it were a lie.
"Because this is that kind of place."
I immediately checked my wrist.
[(Fun) Fantasy Land Ride Pass □□□]
Three blank spaces.
"As expected."
This was that insane amusement park inside the board game, the one you could only escape after riding three attractions.
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Ghost Story
[A Fun Theme Park!]
: A Ghost Story appearing in Darkness Exploration Record, identified by Baekilmong Co., Ltd. under the code Qterw-B-11.
An amusement park inside a board game themed around various kinds of fantasy lands.
After entering this Ghost Story, one can return home by using three large-scale attractions.
This Ghost Story became even more famous because of an appendix written by those who played the board game while in a confused state, titled "A Fun Theme Park User Guide."
If you are looking for the game based on this Ghost Story, use this link.
---------------------=
There were many amusement-park Ghost Stories. But among them, this one was one of the entries in Darkness Exploration Record that had become more famous due to its grotesqueness, peculiarity, and relentless horror.
"There were even popup-store goods themed after this park."
It had also gained a cult following because of the appendix, A Fun Theme Park User Guide.
Wasn't this the sort of thing people called a "Napolitan ghost story"?
"And it's B-rank."
A Darkness of dusky rank.
Civilian survival rate… 2%.
The previous civilian survivors had probably only managed to come out four strong because they were extraordinarily lucky.
If you compared the list of missing persons who had vanished without a trace before that, there were probably quite a few cases where everyone had died in this Ghost Story.
Cold sweat ran down me.
"…The people from Group D are probably in danger."
Of course, right now I had my own problems.
"Since we're the ones stuck with the variable of the researcher getting dragged in!"
"Aaaagh, h-hngh…. Let, let me out. This is wrong, wrong…!"
"Quiet!"
I clamped a hand over the panicking researcher's mouth and forced him to crouch down.
At that moment—
Stop.
The countless mascots in the theme park all turned at once to stare at the wailing researcher.
"...."
---------------------=
A Fun Theme Park User Guide (applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
Please refrain from negative and intense emotional expressions such as crying, sobbing, and screaming!
They do not suit A Fun Theme Park.
---------------------=
It was a nightmare.
I struggled with everything I had not to squeeze my eyes shut.
The noise returned.
-Hahahahaha!
-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
The stares disappeared.
In the view of the theme park, which had begun bustling cheerfully again, I slowly let the researcher go.
An employee from Team A punched the researcher in the jaw.
"…!"
Thud. At the end of that short, dull sound, the employee from Team A, gripping the researcher by the chin, leaned in with the butterfly mask and spoke in a low, sinister voice.
"Hey."
"...!"
"If you whine one more time, I'll kill you first and then start."
"H-hiik."
The researcher stumbled backward with a frightened face, then collapsed to the ground and clutched his head.
He seemed to be muttering things like This is a dream, This can't be real, along with curses. He seemed to have fallen into a panic.
"…Wasn't that far too rough?"
The new employee from Team Y said carefully, but the Team A employee ignored him.
Instead, she asked me,
"You there, rookie. They said you were top of your entry class, right? You've got decent judgment."
"…Thank you."
"Did you draw your dedicated equipment?"
Hm.
So for now, was she at least willing to treat me like a fellow employee?
"Not elite team material, but top of the intake, so?"
I thought the standard was absurdly one-dimensional, but without showing it, I answered respectfully.
Dedicated equipment, yes, I had some.
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"A finger that can touch things remotely. It has limits on both time and number of uses."
That much should be enough to tell her.
And this much, at least, I should be allowed to ask too.
"May I ask what kind of weapon you use, Assistant Manager?"
"None of your—… hm. Fine."
The Team A employee pulled at the nail on her index finger.
It was a fake nail for nail art.
Something sticky stretched out from the underside of the removed nail.
A translucent thread.
"It stretches endlessly, and it's pretty strong."
"…It sounds like it would be extremely useful for a wide range of purposes."
"Hm. Well, yes."
It seemed the other party's mood had improved a little.
I immediately nodded and asked,
"May I ask your name?"
"Just call me Assistant Manager Jin or whatever. What is this, some cringey formal introduction?"
Isn't that just basic courtesy when people meet…?
Anyway, even so, the surname was distinctive enough to identify her immediately.
"She's probably this employee."
-Assistant Manager Jin Nasol infiltrated the serial killer's bedroom and set the clock to 4:44.
-The cucumber gave a serious answer to Assistant Manager Jin Nasol's question, "Do you have any special resentment toward carrots?" No special findings.
-Tore off the teddy bear's limbs (executed by Employee Jin Nasol).
And so on.
There hadn't really been enough description to infer her personality in detail, but she had seemed to be portrayed in the story as a fairly capable and cold-hearted employee.
At that moment, the new employee from Team Y quietly asked me,
"…What exactly is dedicated equipment?"
Ah, right. It made sense that this person genuinely wouldn't know.
"Ah, it's something the company lets you acquire using Darknesses to match your equip—"
"Hey. Let's move. In a large-scale Darkness like this, observation comes first."
"...."
"What are you doing, top of the intake. I said let's move."
She cut me off completely.
Following Assistant Manager Jin from Team A, who had already started walking without waiting any longer, I answered,
"Yes. I'll explain the current situation to my peer while we move."
"What? Why would you ev—… ah."
The mouth under the butterfly mask curved into a strange smile.
"So, you don't know."
"...."
"Well, do whatever you want."
I didn't argue.
Instead, I gave the Team Y rookie a rough explanation of what dedicated equipment was.
And because I wanted to create less of a sense of unease within the team, I added this too.
"I agonized over it for a long time before spending quite a lot of points to draw it. The situations going forward seemed frightening too."
"…I see."
I nodded and continued.
"Come to think of it, I'm late introducing myself. I'm Kim Soleum."
"…I know."
A somewhat gloomy voice came from under the cow mask.
"I am… Jang Heowoon."
"Yes. Pleased to meet you."
I also tried, given the situation, to speak to the researcher who had collapsed on the ground, but what came back was almost like panic-stricken whining.
"No, no, I can't walk. Help me up!"
"I can help support you, but… wouldn't that make it harder for the Chief to move?"
I added, with a concerned tone,
"If that happens, the probability of the person in question dying will increase."
Like magic, he got right up.
"I knew it."
Assistant Manager Jin from Team A shot a displeased glance in our direction, but without interfering, simply kept walking while scanning our surroundings.
I too gradually quickened my pace and swept my gaze around.
It was a flashy, yet somehow dizzying and claustrophobic, dreamlike theme park.
"Is red the theme here?"
There wasn't a single place in this section of the park without red symbols—not on the flags, not on the buildings, not even on the tents.
"We must have drawn red pieces and landed in this zone."
On the flags, a cute rabbit was smiling with one hand raised.
[Magic Bunny Arcade Zone]
Translated literally, that would be something like Magic Rabbit Adventure Zone….
"It really does feel like a theme park."
That was when it happened.
That rabbit mascot blocked Assistant Manager Jin's path.
"Ah, it's in the way—"
"Please wait a moment."
I stopped the Team A Assistant Manager, who was about to go around the mascot and slip past.
Because….
"…It seems to be a parade."
A line formed behind the rabbit mascot, and from farther back came cheerful music and all kinds of flashy rabbits.
But none of it was exciting in the slightest.
I struggled not to cover my face with both hands.
"It's starting…."
---------------------=
A Fun Theme Park User Guide (applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
Please cheer for the parade with a happy expression!
Everything that happens in A Fun Theme Park's parade is joyful and absolutely not negative. Absolutely, absolutely not negative.
---------------------=
The parade was drawing closer.
A rabbit mascot in a dress waved from atop a palace….
Bang!
Then it struck the nearby carrots with a colorful wand.
And all sorts of red, glittering things poured down onto the mascots.
-Waaaah!
Candy, jewels, flower petals, fireworks effects!
But that wasn't the end.
Bang!
The next burst followed immediately, pouring down a fresh shower of red objects.
Blood, entrails, organs!
-Hahahahahahahaha!
They came cascading down.
Cascading, cascading. The mascots danced while digging through the entrails. Right in front of me, staining the stone pavement red... Jesus Christ, this is insane.
"This is the problem."
This insane theme park made things pop out like glitches—things no human sensibility could ever laugh at—and if you screamed or cried at them, then [censored] happened!
-Waaaaaaah!
Splatter.
The front of my dress shoes got soaked in blood.
Something rolled along and bumped against my toe.
It was an eyeball.
"!@#$!@%!%"
Ah!! Ah!!!
A soundless scream tore up my spine.
"I-I think I'm going to throw up."
I narrowed my eyes as much as I could. I tried to endure the situation while pretending to be calm, without really looking properly at what was in front of me….
"Urk."
"…?"
Wait a second.
That… wasn't me just now, was it?
When I glanced to the side, I saw the cow mask clamped over a mouth.
"Could it be."
"…Do you have a hard time looking at cruel things?"
"...."
The cow mask slowly nodded.
The lower half of his face, which the mask didn't cover, had already gone deathly pale.
"A comrade…!"
My chest nearly warmed.
At last, there was someone else sharing the insanity and terror of this insane situation with me!
"Hey, you're actually holding it together pretty well!"
Let's both dodge carefully and get through this crisis on a similar wavelength… was what I was just about to say.
"Ah, seriously… what the hell are you even saying."
The voice was thick with irritation.
…It was the Team A Assistant Manager.
"Can't stand cruel things? Why doesn't a useless idiot like that understand that he's not an extra life, he's baggage?"
"…!"
"Hey, top of the intake. I'm only telling you this because you've got potential. That one."
The tip of Assistant Manager Jin's finger pointed at the new employee from Team Y.
The Team Y employee flinched.
"Don't go making pointless friends with the ones labeled X, Y, or Z."
"...."
I had heard something very similar from my direct superior just earlier.
-Roe Deer. The people from the other teams you saw today, just deal with them moderately if you can. Got it?
…I already knew the reason.
"The Field Operations Teams are assigned letters."
And that order had meaning.
The elite Teams A, B, and C.
The ordinary teams from D through W.
And X, Y, and Z were….
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Baekilmong Co., Ltd.
/ Field Operations Team
Cleanup Teams
Field Operations Teams made up of personnel who passed the entry exam but are in some way defective and unsuited to performing standard exploration duties.
They are mainly deployed when special conditions need to be tested.
The groups are usually referred to by the final three letters of the alphabet (X, Y, Z).
---------------------=
"The last three letters of the alphabet are where they throw together trash like that. They're just meat shields. Think of them as spare lives given to employees who actually know how to work, so don't worry about them."
"…Pardon?"
"It seems like they don't tell rookies properly, muttering something about removing variables and whatever, but it doesn't matter since that one's going to die in here anyway."
The employee in the cow mask froze.
"W-what do you mean…?"
"Cleanup Team, cow mask. Raise your left hand."
"!"
As though it were a lie.
Jang Heowoon raised his left hand high into the air.
"…!!"
The lower half of his face, not hidden by the mask, had gone pale with confusion.
"W-what…!"
The Team A employee lifted her chin.
"Meat shield. That's how you use them."
---------------------=
Employees above a certain rank, when entering a Darkness alongside a Cleanup Team employee, can demand unconditional obedience from them.
The Cleanup Team employee is compelled to carry out that demand.
---------------------=
That's right.
"…It's a device meant to produce even crueler, more dramatic exploration records."
In short, they were slaves or a suicide squad.
But seeing it in reality, it was even stranger than I'd imagined. Especially because the employee in the cow mask looked like he was trying to resist.
"This is insane."
The gold mark near the chin of Assistant Manager Jin's butterfly mask glinted.
"If there's something dangerous we want to try, we make those types do it first. But it drives me crazy, because there are cases where they interpret it however they want, fail to follow orders properly, and die."
"U-ugh…."
"Then again, if they had enough work sense to understand things, they wouldn't have been assigned to a team like that in the first place, right?"
The verbal abuse continued almost casually, before ending in the tired voice of an office worker trying to suppress irritation.
"Why even get hired in a place like this just to be a nuisance. Every damn time, seriously…. Mental cases, cult freaks, criminals…."
"...."
It was true that the Cleanup Teams were probably filled on purpose with people who had personality defects.
It must have been a device to lower the psychological barrier for people reading the Ghost Stories.
"If a kind and normal person dies like a tool, it feels too awful, but if a nasty and defective person dies, people feel like somehow that's a little better…."
Seeing it in reality, though, it felt sordid enough to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
What had the employee in the cow mask done to deserve being treated like a suicide trooper?
"And that pathetic coward bastard too…."
Right, coward….
"...!?"
…W-wait a second.
Wait, Assistant Manager!
I think I just heard something huge….
"…Just now, did you say coward…?"
"Yeah. Can you believe it? There's some coward bastard who whines even after passing the entry exam."
The Team A employee jerked her chin.
"Like that Team Y rookie there."
....
"That's all it is?"
Seriously?
You're telling me that cow-mask rookie got shoved into a Cleanup Team because he was cowardly?
Being a coward was that serious a disqualifying flaw?
Then....
"What about me?"
…I'm the coward!
In that instant, like a panorama, I remembered what I had told my superiors on my first day after running from the convenience store ghost.
-Uh, actually… I was trying to get out fast because I was scared.
"...."
Only now did I realize.
How incredibly fortunate it was that nobody had believed me.
"So being a coward gets you branded defective and turned into an office outcast…!"
And not just quietly looked down on, either—they officially shove you into places meant for you to die!
"I-I had only been thinking at the level of 'I just can't let this weakness get found out'…."
It was far worse than that!
In that instant, I could practically hear my survival rate plummeting in surround sound.
No!
"Anyway, right now there's nothing in particular to order him to do. He looks like he'll just get in the way, so only you and I are moving. Got it?"
No way!
If I go alone with you, I feel like I'll get exposed as a coward in five minutes flat!
I can already see the future where Assistant Manager Jin from Team A says, "What, this bastard was a coward too," and then Employee Kim Soleum gets exiled to a Cleanup Team tomorrow!
"Then please go ahead first."
"W-what?"
For the first time in my month since joining, I broke the rookie's Ten Commandments.
I defied a superior.
And I even had a plausible justification.
"I will look after my teammates and follow."
"...."
The Team A Assistant Manager stopped moving.
For a moment I worried that this superior might use the Team Y rookie to take my head off, but—
"You idiot…."
Instead, the Assistant Manager in the butterfly mask seemed to choose the option of cutting me off and leaving.
But… uh, the thing is.
"You won't actually be able to go alone anyway."
---------------------=
A Fun Theme Park User Guide (applies up to Exploration Record No. 64)
In the theme park, teammates of the same color must always stay together!
If you move more than 5m apart while not boarding an attraction, you will be executed. Your neck will be strangled. It hurts please do not go farther away no don't
---------------------=
"As if they'd let someone as fearless as you just walk off with your eyes open…."
You needed to be our tanker.
The Assistant Manager in the butterfly mask made a choked sound and stopped as if grabbed by the scruff of the neck.
"This fucking—! Ah!"
A red string.
Something like a leash stretched taut above our heads, connecting us. Then, when the Assistant Manager realized it and stepped backward to close the distance, it vanished again.
"This…!"
"Assistant Manager Jin."
I raised a finger to my lips.
Then I moved my eyes.
The mascots around the parade were all staring at Assistant Manager Jin at once.
"...."
The Team A Assistant Manager calmed down quickly.
Capable people really were convenient....
"Don't tell me the teams were divided…."
"Yes. Didn't we all draw red pieces together? We seem to have been bound into a single team that way… and apparently placed under physical constraints."
"...No way."
The Assistant Manager looked at me, then asked meaningfully,
"You… guessed that in advance?"
…?
I just read this Ghost Story in advance….
Still, let's make the most of it.
I set the mood and spoke.
"As you may recall… there were exactly four civilian survivors."
"So?"
"Couldn't they have been on the same team?"
I spoke seriously.
"We were also assigned four people to a team, so I thought the civilians might have been the same. Wouldn't the highest probability be that one full team survived together?"
"...."
"So for now, I believe the four of us should all protect each other, on the assumption that only by doing so can we safely escape this Darkness."
A brief silence followed.
"…That makes sense. Fine."
Fortunately, the Team A superior seemed to accept it rationally.
"Employee Kim Soleum, th-thank you…."
"It's nothing. Let's all do our best together."
Additionally, the peer in the cow mask also seemed moved, but this was no time for sentiment, fellow coward.
"Let's see."
I looked at this team objectively.
A superior rotten with elitism.
A coward duo of dumb and dumber.
And a researcher from another department dragged along as extra baggage.
"Ha ha, what a disaster."
If this were Darkness Exploration Record, it would be about right for all of us to die the moment the record began, and then for the viewpoint to switch over to the lizard manager.
Even so, there was still a way for this lineup to survive….
"There is."
If we followed the rules of conduct properly and aimed for the escape route!
"…Do you happen to remember?"
"Remember what."
"The phrase written on the A Fun Theme Park board game box."
-Board the three fantasy attractions with your teammates as quickly as possible and receive a prize!
The eyes under the butterfly mask narrowed.
"Three attractions… right. There are exactly three empty slots on this wristband too."
"Yes."
I nodded.
"I think we should follow that for now. If the Darkness is implying a required course of action, then complying with it is the orthodox path toward clearing it."
"…A rookie who's only been here one month talks more like an expert than I do after three years in this company?"
Oof.
"I've been continuously assigned only Darknesses without manuals for that one month… so, well, I suppose I've developed a habit of making this sort of guess."
"Well, fine."
Fortunately, the Team A superior nodded roughly.
So it hadn't been said out of wounded pride.
"Your hypothesis is persuasive."
"Yes."
It seemed she had accepted it well enough.
I raised a hand and made a very polite suggestion.
"So I think we should ride an attraction first."
Luckily, one of the nearby signs bore the very attraction I was aiming for.
[Fantasy Train]
Translated literally, magic train.
"…Wasn't this one of the attractions the civilians testified about?"
"That's right."
I nodded calmly, and the researcher, still in a state of panic, screamed convulsively,
"E-everyone who rode it d-died!!"
That's right.
This was the brutal hell train with a survival rate of 3%!
"That doesn't mean I'm crazy."
For a Darkness Exploration Record veteran, there was always a way!
…A way to clear it a little less terrifyingly.