Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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After going through hell and back to escape the crazy red mascot zone, we finally arrived at the blue zone.
There, we met the welcoming D Squad... only for the Lizard manager's shoulder to have the A Squad leader's limp body dangling from it.
"......"
I barely managed to ask.
"Th-that corpse on the leader's shoulder..."
"Oh, he's just passed out."
Aha.
So he was carrying him safely. Just as I started feeling relieved and regaining my fondness...
The D Squad deputy manager casually thumbed at the massive tube he and the junior were dragging.
"The corpse is over there."
"......"
To think I'd witness them stuffing a body into a tube and dragging it around...
"He fought well, but got a bit mangled."
Please don't describe it.
"No, seriously, it was gruesome. Whoa..."
"Deer, be careful. This mascot here acts like some avatar of justice, so watch out."
"Pardon?"
The explanation that followed was this.
This mascot apparently despised any lethal actions between team members to an extreme degree.
"But A Squad, that deputy with the mantis mask said he was experimenting and went ahead and killed one."
While riding the first attraction, he cornered Y Squad employees one by one, limbs and all, cackling away.
Undo your seatbelt, stand up, sing along, do a handstand onto the tracks...
"Three from Y Squad died like that. The last one begged crying, but he didn't even blink... It was kinda disgusting."
"......"
And apparently, his companions felt the same.
The D Squad deputy manager frowned.
"When we got off the attraction, the mascot was waiting right there for the mantis mask. Called him a 'naughty child.' And then..."
Omit for my mental health.
"Looked like he was gonna puke."
"......"
"Well, honestly, he still got what he deserved! ...Though the manager didn't agree."
The junior subtly pointed at the A Squad leader slung over the Lizard squad leader's shoulder.
"Speaking of which, why exactly did he pass out?"
"Well... our squad leader, uh,"
"......"
W-wait a second.
No way.
"Truth is, he made some unreasonable demands of us back then. Seemed like he was trying to save his squad member somehow."
And when it got too much...
"Squad leader smacked the back of his neck."
"......"
"Hey. He's covering it up as high blood pressure collapse on his own, so shut your mouth too, Deer."
"Yes, sir."
I'll take it to the grave.
"Oh, and why Y Squad got that treatment..."
"Heard the gist from him."
I subtly nodded toward the deputy manager in the butterfly mask.
"...Really? Okay."
The junior's expression softened a bit. Probably relieved to skip recounting such a dark topic himself.
"But how's your team holding up?"
Ah.
I hurriedly checked the pig mask with the hole in his shoulder and the butterfly mask with bubbles on his face.
"Some need emergency treatment. Could we get some help?"
"Sure."
Suddenly, the Lizard manager dropped the luggage on his shoulder... the A Squad leader... onto the ground with a thud.
And started shaking his shoulder.
"W-wait, Manager!"
"Eek!"
"...?!"
The Lizard manager, having shaken the A Squad leader awake, said calmly.
"Manager Seok. We have employees needing treatment."
"Wh-what..."
The dazed A Squad leader snapped to attention and pointed accusingly at the Lizard manager.
"You!! You!"
"Yes."
"What happened to Deputy Lee! The one with the mantis mask..."
"Deceased."
"......"
"......"
"...And what were you doing while he was dying?"
"We stood by until death, collected the body, and rode the next attraction."
Oh my god.
The A Squad leader looked speechless for a moment, then stammered.
"You watched my A Squad die?? Lee Jaheon, are you insane?? How do you plan to take responsibility! For this loss...!"
"? I'm the D Squad leader. A Squad is not under my jurisdiction."
The Lizard narrowed his pupils quizzically.
"The loss from Deputy Lee Seok-jong of A Squad's death is your responsibility as leader."
"......"
Th-this... to hear such words in a company setting...
Same rank or not, elite teams are always superior.
A chill ran down my spine for a different reason.
"......"
The A Squad leader glared silently at Manager Lee Jaheon with bloodshot eyes.
"You passed out but still rode all three attractions together, meeting the clear conditions. Now treat the employees and take responsibility..."
"Leader."
This wasn't stopping Manager Lee Jaheon.
The butterfly mask deputy manager calmly addressed the near-breaking A Squad leader.
"Wouldn't it be better to talk after we get out? Clear before more variables pop up. You still need to meet that crazy Research Team 1 guy."
"......Right. Yeah."
The eyes behind the teal mallard mask blinked and slowly calmed.
His rage target refixed.
But he left one parting shot.
"Squad Leader Lee Jaheon, we'll talk outside."
"Yes."
The junior subtly nodded at me.
"It's fine. Our leader hears lines like that as an annual event."
"......"
Is it... really okay?
'One thing's clear: I don't have the rank to butt in.'
Stay quiet and out of sight.
Anyway, the A Squad leader used his personal gear to treat the butterfly mask deputy.
The skin around his jaw and head rewound like tape—miraculous.
"Almost no employees have gear like that. Jealous."
Me too.
'Wonder how to get one.'
That alone would boost survival rates big time.
I watched the A Squad leader's personal gear, the healing ring, intently.
'Healing... huh.'
The A Squad leader checked the neatly treated butterfly mask employee, then tried to ignore the Y Squad newbie with holes in his shoulder...
"Could you treat this one too? We have to move together, and mobility might be an issue."
"...!"
Surprisingly, the A Squad deputy subtly vouched for me and the Y Squad newbie's treatment.
Thanks to that, the Y Squad newbie with the sore shoulder blinked under his pig mask.
"...Thank you."
The A Squad deputy nodded slightly.
'He really only thinks about work efficiency...'
Once he grasped the ghost story's mechanics, secured safety and escape, his decisions shifted to minimizing risks.
'That's the elite type in this company...'
I decided to note A Squad's gear and traits. ...And forget the bodies in the tube while at it.
"Alright, let's ride the two attractions we took and get out quick."
"Thank you."
The red team headed to the attractions to fill the remaining slots on their ride pass bracelets as treatment wrapped up.
The rest followed without leaving.
"30 minutes and we're done, no worries."
Seemed like they were waiting to confirm and look after the newbies.
Appreciated, but with the corpse tube tagging along, maybe it'd be less scary if they just left...
"Like I said earlier, this mascot is pretty moral for a monster."
Hm. Guessed that from the announcements.
'Riding three attractions that fast? One reason.'
A lenient mascot demanding only humane, non-excessive requests.
These teams lucked out piercing insane odds for this zone.
"Even answered 'what's in the attractions?' nicely. Gave souvenirs for the first three rides."
Nice. Sucking on honey.
Unlike someone who spun out of the psycho Magic Bunny Zone...
Oddly, red team's full survival edged out in numbers.
Anyway, the red team reached an attraction entrance with a laughing blue dragon character riding a dolphin.
Inside... a cute, exaggerated blue dragon head figure appeared.
A blue mascot in a life vest.
The mascot waved a greeting sign.
I bowed slightly in return. The mascot greeted back.
"Hm."
Next, we boarded the 'Blue Mountain' flume ride. Typical boat ride splashing through water streams.
The other two Field Exploration Team members boarded safely.
But the last one was the problem.
"Fuck."
The researcher twitched his mouth and spat curses at the mascot.
His loathing and fear for Magic Bunny overflowed onto this less scary mascot.
"You fucking creepy shits..."
"Please board quickly."
"Uh, yeah."
He glanced back at the mascot and boarded.
The blue dragon mascot's button eyes watched silently.
"......"
Thus, we smoothly boarded the remaining attractions.
"Finally...!"
"Phew."
We filled all the ride pass slots at last.
"Exit is north. Moving."
"Yes!"
Soaked, but who cared. Escaping this damn theme park mattered.
'Not going near amusement parks for a while...'
A standard goodbye sign blinked above the north exit gates.
A formally dressed blue mascot stood beside it.
"Stamp used passes here to exit."
The blue mascot politely pointed at the gate device.
"Leaders first, then. Hurry."
The D Squad deputy wisely ushered superiors out first.
One by one they exited, and as deputies and below went...
"Now, Deputy Jin..."
"M-move!"
The researcher shoved employees aside and lunged into the gate first.
"What the..."
The junior and deputy looked baffled but shrugged it off like 'civilians gonna civilian.'
No loss in a few seconds delay.
The researcher frantically tried scanning his ride pass bracelet on the gate.
'Habit of his.'
Honestly, frowning...
Naughty chi ld
"...Huh?"
The researcher turned.
His ride pass bracelet was gripped by the blue dragon mascot's claw.
The paper bracelet crumples.
You
Snap,
Naughty chi ld
Snap,
ba d gu y
It snapped.
Whoosh.
Dumbfounded, the researcher stared at the bracelet shreds falling to the floor.
And then.
"Haaaaaaaah, aaah!!"
The blue dragon's mouth gaped wide.
"Save me! Save me!"
Sucked in.
The pig mask beside me muttered like possessed.
"Ooooh the sea god is angry the wicked one sucked into the waves scary..."
I covered the Y Squad newbie's mouth and pressed his head down.
I ducked too, not looking.
"Aaaaaaah!!"
Ends like this, huh...
Moving zones resets aggro from prior mascots.
But actions accumulate.
All mascots know what happened in the Jolly Theme Park.
Including the researcher's past deeds.
-Move, fuck!
Shoving A Squad deputy to die instead while fleeing the red mascot.
'Probably overlooked once due to extreme circumstances...'
Problem: repeated the same.
'Karma.'
The researcher's scream by my ear turned to wailing.
"That fucker tried to kill me too!! Why only me, only me!! You trash, tra... "
Right.
But A Squad deputy never acted on it. He listened to persuasion.
'You didn't.'
Even this coward shelter dweller thought it self-inflicted.
-Sa ve me e e e e e eek...
His voice stretched like taffy, leaving an eerie chill.
'Ugh.'
My coward heart jolted reflexively.
"Don't."
"......"
A Squad employee grabbed and held my arm.
"Can't save him."
...Wasn't planning to try.
Anyway, I stayed put as said.
The screams soon faded, the weird vibe subsided.
When I looked up, the blue dragon mascot stood politely dressed as before.
Hard to believe it killed anyone.
Even creepier.
'Stricter standards than expected.'
Ghost story world, after all.
This mascot had its own beliefs, beyond just no team kills.
'Act carefully.'
"...Let's exit again."
"Yes."
One by one, two by two, the rest exited.
Hoped, but no, junior rank.
"See you outside."
I gave up and sent superiors first.
After seeing off my fellow coward...
Last, stood by the gate next to the blue dragon mascot.
"......"
The cutely deformed dragon gazed with round eyes.
Can't you look away?
Truth is, super scary. Staying last is pure strain. Hiding my cowardice.
Then.
Go od chi ld
"...!"
Ah, reassuring me?
The mascot's voice didn't sound eerie like before.
'No property damage... seems overlooked.'
Good.
"Thank you."
I bowed and tried to pass.
But the mascot moved, blocking me.
"...?"
Go od chi ld ge ts
gift
The blue dragon reached out.
And lightly grabbed my wrist.
Precisely, the ride pass bracelet there.
The bracelet warmed slightly, and as the mascot let go...
The text changed.
Ke ep pla y ing
...Huh?