Muscles Are the Answer
Obviously, there are no amusement parks in this world. That’s why at first I assumed the evil god possessed knowledge from other worlds too. After all, even an evil god is still a god, so I figured anything was possible.
“Diablo, do you remember what that is?”
“Huh? Of course I do. It’s a toy box!”
He answered with boundless energy, but he was wrong. What I’d pointed at was the concession stand.
“Thanks for the answer. That confirms my suspicion.”
“Huh? What suspicion?”
“The misunderstanding I had.”
The evil god held no information from other worlds. And there was one more thing. If he truly lacked that knowledge, then doubting this Fantastic World should have been the obvious reaction. Every single structure and sight around us was something impossible to find in this world.
That’s how I noticed the sense of incongruity so easily.
But he didn’t. He only tried to deceive me by calling me his partner; he offered no comments about the environment at all. It was as if he had no idea this place took the form of an amusement park.
Which gives us another piece of information.
Most likely, the evil god couldn’t see this place. Come to think of it, throughout every conversation we’d had, Diablo had never once used a specific proper noun. He only ever spoke in vague generalities—tokens, rides, danger, that sort of thing.
By inference, he probably imagined this place as nothing more than an open courtyard or playground suitable for noble children. The fact that he’d mentioned playing here long ago suggested it might be a site that evoked some kind of nostalgia.
All of it’s bullshit, of course.
Where the hell would I have gone to an amusement park? The evil god was simply mixing up Oh Ji-o’s memories with mine. I could even guess why. It had to be because of memory clarity. Ironically, while my own memories faded, the memories of whoever I descended into remained permanently vivid. It was a natural side effect of Descent, but that very phenomenon had fooled the evil god and allowed me to sense the dissonance.
The conclusion was simple. The current situation was a form of mental magic. The evil god couldn’t see exactly what I saw, but the overall framework would be identical for anyone. Playground, rides, tokens, escape. Those were clearly the foundational elements of the spell.
The real me back in reality had probably collapsed after falling victim to it.
That also explains why simply escaping isn’t the answer.
There was no chance the evil god would kindly return me to the real world. The moment I gathered the tokens and left this place, he would drag out some other memory that had nothing to do with amusement parks and throw me into a fresh pile of bullshit.
“Hmm…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’ve more or less figured out the situation, but I still can’t come up with an actual solution.”
“...Don’t we just have to escape?”
“That’s not the answer.”
I understood the general circumstances. The real problem was that the solution itself remained hazy. There was no way a guy who couldn’t even use mana would know how to break mental magic.
“Ah, whatever.”
Still, I could see the general direction. Just like the information note said, escaping wasn’t the correct choice. In that case, what I needed to find here was—
“How? By beating the shit out of everything until the answer comes out.”
“W-what are you talking about!”
“It’s fine. I’m pretty strong.”
“It’s not a question of strength!”
My course of action was decided.
“Are you even listening?!”
“Welcome, honored guest! With the sacred steed we present the sanctuary— Oh my, you’ve returned, guest?”
“Yes. I’d like to ride once more.”
“Even if you ride again, I won’t be able to give you a stamp, you know?”
“I’m aware.”
The attendant’s shoulders shook with delight.
“Goodness! Then you must have enjoyed it so much that you came back for more! Please, come right in. Unicorn Blow will not disappoint your expectations!”
This time she even guided me to my seat. Considering what I was about to do, the excessive kindness made me feel a little guilty.
“All right, we’ll now let the other guests board as well.”
Cancel that. The moment I saw her herding in the extra characters who existed only to have their emotions toyed with, my guilt vanished instantly.
“Is everyone seated? Then Unicorn Blow will now depart~”
It unfolded exactly like last time. Amid the chatter of the other passengers, the attendant gave the departure signal.
“Ah, dear guests, while riding Unicorn Blow it is dangerous to—”
Next came the safety announcement, followed by an explanation of the rules.
“Kyaaaak!!!”
“Run!!”
“Mommy!!!”
It didn’t take long for the incident to occur. In the middle of that pandemonium, my job was simple.
WHAM.
“…Prrrng.”
I smashed the unicorn’s head.
“Hiiing!”
“Hiiing-hieeeng!”
The instant the unicorn I was riding came to life, all the ones that had already revived turned to stare at me. I ignored them and sharpened my senses.
Just as I thought.
I’d felt it earlier when I extended my arm, but the judgment applied to me was slightly different from the others. The result was the same—‘the extended arm will be cut by the saw’ and ‘the unicorn will target the rider for hunting’—yet the power behind it was on a completely different level. The rotating saw had tried to sever my arm at least five times faster, and the unicorns glaring at me now had doubled in size.
“Prrng.”
In a situation where sitting, standing, running, or doing anything else would still get me attacked—
“Prr—
CRACK.
“Hiiing?”
“Hiiiing…”
I twisted the neck of the unicorn I was riding. My strength had already surpassed 500. At this point even a massive construction crane would lose in raw power. Twisting a mere creature’s neck was no different from snapping a baby’s wrist.
THUD.
“Kiiiing!!”
“Hiiing! Hieeeng!!!”
The moment the unicorn whose neck had spun like a drill collapsed, the ones that had hesitated charged at me in a frenzy.
“Loyalty to their comrade, huh? Saves me the trouble of going to them.”
GRAB.
“Hiiing?”
I snatched the horn of the largest one. Its strength was lower than its size suggested, but my current agility could swat flying arrows out of the air. There was nothing difficult about this. No matter how fast a horse was, it couldn’t outrun an arrow.
I could rip the horn out like this, but…
There was a much better way to use it.
“Since ancient times, a horn has always served as a handle.”
“Hiiiiing?”
Ignoring the unicorn’s pitiful cry, I lifted it overhead.
“Hiiiiiiing!”
Apparently its reinforced body included the neck bones; even after being hoisted by the horn, the creature was still alive.
“Poor thing. It would’ve been happier if its neck had simply snapped.”
I swung it experimentally through the air a few times. The four-hundred-kilogram mass followed my hand and generated powerful gusts of wind. It felt impossibly light to me, but it was more than enough.
“The attraction was called Unicorn Blow, right? But that’s wrong! Everything in creation should revolve around humans!”
“Hii—ii—ii—ng—”
“Calling it Unicorn Blow just because a unicorn hits you? That’s ridiculous!”
With that nonsense, I swung the unicorn with all my strength. The massive body spinning above my head flew straight toward its target.
“This! Is the true! Unicorn Blow!”
Not a unicorn delivering a blow, but a blow delivered with a unicorn. The rotating saw took the hit.
CRRRRRK!
“Geggek-gegege.”
The ambitious fusion of unicorn and rotating saw ended in miserable failure. Neither side remained intact; both scattered into pieces.
“Perfect! My hypothesis was correct!”
The instant the two elements attacking people—the unicorns and the rotating saw—were destroyed, I felt the evil god’s presence in the area diminish.
The doubt arose the moment I was attacked.
Even though we had both broken the rules, it was obvious at a glance that my attacks were faster and stronger. That was when I formed my theory.
[1. This is a place governed by rules.]
I had based it on that piece of information. Just like every manual-style horror story, I considered the possibility that because I had broken the rules, the attraction had received some kind of buff.
That must be the nature of this mental magic.
Instead of crushing my mind instantly, it imposed restrictions such as roles and rules. In return, violating them triggered corresponding penalties.
“Heh…………”
The only reason the evil god was standing over there with his mouth hanging open in a daze, unable to harm me, was probably that. Just as the evil god could not abandon his own role, breaking the rules had to result in punishment. Yet nothing in this world emerges from zero. Whether it restrained me or empowered the opponent, any power that appeared had to come from somewhere.
If I could physically smash that source, wouldn’t the overall strength weaken?
I acted on that hypothesis, and the result spoke for itself.
“As expected, muscles are the answer.”
GRAB.
“Hiiing?”
I seized the mane of a passing unicorn.
“It’s Unicorn Blow time.”
“Uh… that was… an enjoyable time…”
“Yes, it was very enjoyable.”
I patted the speechless attendant on the shoulder and walked past. That much should have been enough consolation.
“Partner?”
“Eh? Uh… yeah. Me, partner, Diablo.”
His dazed reaction made me grin brightly.
“Let’s head to the next attraction.”
“……Are you insane?”
Oddly enough, that particular insult felt almost affectionate.