Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 69. Doll Masks
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Silence continued.
"Lee Cheolsu. Keep an eye on the right."
"Yes."
"Park Hyunyoung. Keep an eye on the left."
"Yes."
"I'll watch the front, and Kim Jaeheon will check behind us."
"Got it."
They were calm. Even after someone had just died right in front of them, they walked forward without a hint of hesitation or grief.
"Do you think it's strange?"
She spoke to me while facing ahead.
"Yeah, I do."
"That makes sense."
She replied plainly and checked her wrist, where the balloon string was tied.
After the earlier incident, they'd decided to keep the balloons close to their bodies.
The problem was that they were helium balloons, so if left alone, they'd float up into the air.
I had my pistol, so I could keep mine tucked inside my jacket. But the others couldn't do that.
"Anything behind us?"
"...Nothing."
Nothing caught my eye at all.
Just the red streetlights flickering ominously in place.
"Right side's clear too."
"Left side as well."
"I see it. Up ahead."
After a brief silence, she spoke.
"People, non-people, and doll masks."
"Danger level?"
"No idea."
Then it was my turn to step up.
"Switch with me."
"Got it."
Without a moment's hesitation, Eileen swapped places with me.
Our eyes met briefly, and then she opened her mouth.
"Directive. From now on, I'll handle judgments and orders for normal situations. But in emergencies, incomprehensible situations, or sudden incidents, Kim Jaeheon's opinion takes absolute priority."
"Understood."
The two responded mechanically to her words.
What on earth did she see in me to trust me this much? Just as that thought crossed my mind, she spoke again.
"I'll explain later. For now, tell me what you see."
Right. This wasn't the time to swap curiosities with her.
I narrowed my eyes and stared ahead.
The park still leaked that eerie song while emitting red light.
There were exactly three types of people.
First, ones who looked like normal people.
They held balloons in their hands, chatting happily as they walked.
Then, the people wearing doll masks, watching them.
Finally, people whose bodies were shredded all over.
Soon, information began popping up above their heads.
[Name: Guest]
[Age: X]
[Talent: Guest]
[Specialty: Guest]
[Background: This one is a guest because they hold the mark of a guest.]
[Weakness: Just an ordinary person. If killed, they die.]
First, the ones smiling happily while holding balloons.
Their mouths were torn open grotesquely as they skipped along like children, waving their arms and legs in bizarre ways.
The balloons they held were identical to ours.
I looked from them to the ones wearing doll masks.
Every doll mask was utterly grotesque.
A cat mask with only one eye, a dog mask with only one ear—more than enough to unsettle anyone who saw them.
Soon, my eyes began pulling up their info.
[Name: Doll Mask]
[Age: X]
[Specialty: Chasing out non-guests]
[Talent: Detecting non-guests]
[Background: They find and chase out guests who don't hold balloons.]
[Weakness: Mascots must fulfill their assigned duties.]
"..."
They chase out non-guests.
Next, my gaze naturally shifted to the ones whose bodies were torn apart.
As expected, since they were corpses, my eyes showed no information on them.
"...Le-let go-!"
I snapped my head up at the voice coming from afar.
It was a delinquent-looking guy in a baseball cap.
A eyeless duck doll mask was dragging him along.
"Hey, you! Do you know who I am? Huh?!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs, and at the same moment, three more appeared behind me.
"Shall we move in?"
"No."
Eileen answered sharply at my word and stood by my side.
"Gah!"
One doll mask roughly forced him to his knees.
"Wait. Is this... blood?"
His face went pale white upon seeing the blood pooling on the ground.
"This is a joke, right? A joke?"
"Guest."
A low, scraping voice like metal on metal came from what passed for the doll mask's mouth, and the man froze at the sound.
"What the hell is this? What's going on?!"
"To enjoy the amusement park, you need a balloon."
"What-"
Before he could finish, the doll mask's yellow beak gaped wide.
"Uh... uh! Aaaah! Aaaaaah!"
The man who'd seen whatever was inside screamed like a madman and staggered to his feet.
-CRUNCH!
Half his body vanished into the duck's maw, leaving only his lower half to stumble and collapse on the ground.
Blood sprayed everywhere, but the guests didn't care—they just grinned from ear to ear and danced as they walked.
-Welcome to fun-filled Sora Land~!
The grotesque song played on as the people danced around the man's corpse.
The doll masks didn't even glance over, as if it were nothing.
"..."
The duck doll mask stared blankly at his fallen lower half, then turned and headed elsewhere.
"I told you, no balloon."
"Right."
Eileen spoke calmly and pulled out her notepad from her pocket to start jotting things down.
Why not just log it in the manual?
After a fleeting question, I turned my head to look at the balloon tucked in my jacket.
If that's the case, is this like an access pass? Did that guy come without getting one?
"Any other paths?"
"None."
"Same here. There are trees outside the fence, but they sway a bit... oddly. Like something's perched on them."
"Better not go that way. You're sure there are no other routes?"
"Confirmed."
"Got it."
Eileen nodded, glanced at the balloon tied to her wrist, then looked at the man called Lee Cheolsu.
"Lee Cheolsu."
"Understood."
He nodded, slung his gun over his back.
"Then I'll go first."
He stood tall confidently, took a deep breath, and strode forward.
Did he feel no fear? Or was this the response team's way?
Holding the balloon, he marched straight ahead.
Like the others holding balloons in hand, but with disciplined steps, he advanced.
Soon, the doll masks' gazes turned to him.
"..."
"..."
Should I prepare to fight if things went south?
I still didn't have Critical.
I drew my gun and butane canister, holding my breath.
Soon, the doll masks looked at him, then turned away, ignoring him as they resumed scanning the surroundings.
"Let's go."
She raised her balloon-tied arm and strode in briskly. I followed right behind.
The doll masks glanced at us too, but no one paid us any mind beyond that.
"We shouldn't stay long."
"Agreed."
I whispered to Eileen, and she whispered back.
What worried me wasn't the doll masks.
Avoiding attacks from the doll masks was good, but those 'guests' grinning and wandering around gnawed at me.
They held balloons and weren't dead yet, but they sure weren't proper people.
Soon, a familiar amusement park map came into view at the end of my gaze.
[Welcome to Sora Land!]
The rusted iron sign was so corroded it was hard to read, but I managed to make out the words.
[Land of Adventure]
A picture of a faceless cowboy holding a human head.
[Fantasy Kingdom]
A picture of a horse with twelve legs chewing on a person.
[With Nature]
The pictures here were all scratched up beyond recognition.
So that's the whole layout.
Just as I was about to inform the others, some freshly engraved text at the bottom caught my eye.
Neat, pretty handwriting, as if someone had pressed hard into the metal plate.
[Must go to the Land of Adventure!]
I knew who this handwriting belonged to.
"...Team Leader?"
Handwriting so pretty it didn't match his age, gender, or looks at all.
I'd teased him about it looking like a high school girl's once.
Only then did tension and relief start pounding in my chest.
Were the others okay? No one hurt?
I relayed it to the group, and Eileen's decision came swiftly.
"Got it. Then, to the Land of Adventure."
"You sure?"
"Honestly, when you said your colleagues had entered here, I doubted they'd survive."
She looked at me as she spoke.
"But now that you've confirmed it yourself, the right thing is to rescue them if we can."
"They'll be fine."
They're not the type to go down easy.
We headed toward the spot marked [Land of Adventure].
Walking with balloons in hand, no one harmed us, and we reached the Land of Adventure safely.
But if that's the case, who popped the balloons?
Soon, a signboard unfolded before us.
[Welcome to the Land of Adventure!]
It was relatively clean.
[Sora Land's Land of Adventure is a place to ignite your spirit of adventure! We hope you take home thrilling and beautiful memories!]
[The Land of Adventure has a total of 3 attractions. One is currently under construction, so we'll bring it back as soon as possible!]
[Try your speed and adventurous spirit in Cowboy Adventure!]
[Meet your courage and a sad tale in Run, Thousand-Mile Horse!]
The descriptions for the two attractions were intact, but the third was blacked out with paint.
Eileen narrowed her eyes at the sign.
"In situations like this... sometimes the attraction itself is the exit. Other times, you have to ride one to earn the right to escape."
"..."
"What's your take?"
"My opinion?"
My gaze naturally drifted to the attraction labeled [Cowboy Adventure].
The area around it was smashed up pretty badly.
Huge holes gaped in the walls from immense force, and bloodstains splattered everywhere.
The strange part? No traces of bodies.
"Let's go that way."
Not many people could leave marks like that.