Open Run Bang Bang
- Hey, what're you doing? Don't tell me... you're sleeping?
"......"
Click.
I opened the door, and there was Elise.
"Phew, good thing you're up!"
She looked all excited as she stared at me.
Meeting her sparkling eyes full of anticipation...
"Here."
I handed her the ticket I'd prepared.
She checked it out, then came charging at me, throwing her arms around my neck and bouncing up and down.
"Kyaaah!! My disciple is the best!!"
"Yeah, yeah, glad you like it. Now loosen up—this hurts my neck."
"You little punk, when a beauty like me hugs you, you should just say thanks and gratefully bask in your luck!"
"Huh...?"
Man, she's way too hyper.
Well... considering the status a park ticket holds in this stuffy shelter, her reaction isn't weird at all.
Just look at the gallery—the responses are explosive.
The stark contrast between those who scored tickets and those who didn't.
In a shelter with zero entertainment, even ticket rushes like this pump out massive dopamine.
"Kyahaha!! Now I'm a park ticket owner too~!!"
Even Elise, who usually acts all haughty, was jumping around like crazy.
'Hmm... nah, her image was already kinda...'
Whatever.
"You look thrilled, Elise."
"Of course!! I've been waiting forever!!!"
Exactly the reaction I'd hoped for from shelter folks.
The world's already gone to hell, but if you've got full bellies and plenty of fun, life's decent enough.
Humans adapt, after all.
This is my world now, so screw the gloomy apocalypse vibe—I wanna brighten it up, even a little.
Happy vibes around me mean better quality of life.
The shelter's situation was steadily improving.
One worry, though: the future after I'm gone.
Maybe because things are normalizing... I keep fretting over the shelter without me.
Everything here comes from ticket dungeons, and if the source—me—vanishes, so do they.
The chaos then? Unimaginable.
I thought of Joodak's transferred community powers, but that's a super rare case. Probably only possible because the original owner was some prodigy.
So after I die, it's straight-up doom unless we reclaim the surface. No future for humanity otherwise.
'Joodak must know that too... hmm.'
No point agonizing over it—nothing I can do.
Was my mood showing? Seeming to misunderstand, Elise glanced at me apologetically.
"...Oh, sorry. Looks like I stole your ticket..."
What?
"Huh? Nah, I'm not into the park anyway—don't sweat it."
"Really? But this is an open-day ticket... heard there're tons of events today?"
Our deal was magic lessons for tickets, so no reason for her to feel bad or refuse.
Still, I get it. Opening day tickets feel extra special.
Day 1 is premium in itself—first dibs on the park, packed with events.
Probably way more fun than later days.
"I'm good, seriously. Go have fun for both of us."
"...Thanks. Honestly thought you'd snag one and hide it from me—didn't expect this."
Ah, yeah. If I claimed I failed the draw, she couldn't really press me. I could've lied, used it secretly, and she'd never know.
'If it were anyone else, they'd hoard it...'
But I'd already been to the park plenty—no big thrill. Events piqued my interest a bit, but too lazy; I'd just watch streams.
"Have a blast, Elise."
I shooed her out—she was still standing there blankly—and flopped onto bed, firing up Goseongji's broadcast.
*
A cafe in the food street with a prime lake view.
Slurp~
"Kha~ This strawberry smoothie is a masterpiece! Especially chilling on the terrace with the lake view... unimaginable in the shelter."
"Oh, see that hill over there? Looks like tickets just dropped—summon effects visible even from afar?"
People were charging toward Goseongji—no, toward the food street.
-Waaaaaahhh!!!
Like warriors roaring as war began, they surged with insane momentum.
"Uh uh? That's too many...?"
Goseongji froze at the human tsunami.
Ignoring other facilities, one massive flow barreled in.
"Raaahhh—!!! Get outta the wayyy-!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Don't push!! Aaaah!!!"
"Aigoo, you punks—!!! My joints can't take it-!!!"
"Damn it—!! We'll carry you, elder!!!"
Seeing the human flood, park security despaired.
Janitors chatting nearby bolted at the sight.
"Th-they... didn't mention this at hiring..."
"Haha... guess we die here today..."
Swept by that wave meant death, but unlike janitors, they couldn't flee. Guarding was their job.
As all despaired, the captain bellowed to snap them awake.
"Pull yourselves together!!! Battle stations!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"...Captain, battle?"
"Yes!!! This is war!!! Fail to stop 'em, and food street's trashed today!!! We block and control that wave!! They hired us for this!! Fight like you mean it—!!! Just today!!! Survive today-!!!"
His roar steeled their resolve; they raised shields.
"Ha... thought it was easy street... no such thing as easy work."
"...Heard staff get park tickets too—been dreaming of family day off... guess not."
"...Same. Wanted to propose to her here."
"Everyone... let's live to see tomorrow."
"Phalanx formation!!!!!!!!!!!"
At the food street entrance, guards formed a triple-layered shield wall.
Gaps allowed one person at a time—human gates to thin the crowd.
"20 minutes!!!! Hold 20 minutes!!!!!!!!!!"
Or 10... 10 would kill the momentum...!!
Guards glared tensely at the approaching wave.
Gulp.
Someone swallowed hard.
Thud thud thud thud thud—
The ground shook as the wave closed in...
"Everyone!!!!!!! Brace for impact-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
BAM-!!!!!
Phalanx met tsunami.
"Aaaah!!!"
"Ngh-!!!!"
The massive impact shook the triple layers.
"Moveee-!!!!!!!!!! You bastards-!!!!!!!!!"
"Raaahhh open up!!! Open it-!!!!!!!!!"
People funneled through gaps, trickling behind.
Thinning the crowd worked, but...
"Henry!!! Hold!!!"
"Ugh... can't... anymore..."
Even simply calculated, the mass difference was dozens-fold.
Overwhelmed, guards' strength ebbed fast.
"Damn...!!! This is it!!!"
As despair peaked...
"Don't give up-!!!"
"You—!! Jerard...!! Didn't you run?"
Fleeing janitors rejoined, grabbing shields.
"We're family working the same place now!! Let's hold to the end...!!!"
"...!! Right!! Everyone!!! 10 minutes!!! Just 10-!!!!!"
"“Waaaaaah-!!!!!!!!!”"
With janitors, the phalanx solidified.
Thus passed 10 hellish minutes.
The wave's fury visibly waned—hotheads had filtered out.
"...Huff... huff... we did it...?"
Moments later, opening shields revealed only calm park-goers left.
The captain fought back tears of triumph, turning to praise his team.
"You all did great!!! ......Huh?"
But before him...
Trampled chaos: wrecked guards and janitors.
Only dozens stood unscathed with shields.
"Henry...? Ralph...? Jordan!!!! You guys!!!!!!"
Captain dropped his shield, rushing to a fallen guard.
"Ralph, wake up!!! Hey!!!"
"...Captain... we did it?"
"Y-yeah...!! We did, we did!!!"
"...That's... good... then..."
The guard closed his eyes.
"Ah... aaaah!!!! Ralph-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
And Goseongji and viewers witnessing it all.
"...Good thing I stayed clear... this was straight-up war...."
"Probably... fine? Guards are veteran explorers... plus church healers on standby... more worried for janitors."
Goseongji scanned the aftermath.
Suddenly, nuns and priests arrived, healing the injured.
"That was close... no fatalities, injured should recover quick."
*
"Whoa... good call skipping."
Adjusted tickets for park size just in case, but still an incident.
Who'd guess almost everyone would rush food street together?
Without ample guards...
"Lucky no crush deaths..."
Wonder if Elise is okay...?
She'd handle it, but still worrying...
Gotta release lunch park tickets in 5-min intervals...