The Amurotica Amusement Park
The amusement park. With new staff joining, I had been planning to elevate the containment facility to even greater heights, but the isolation site had begun whining for me to contain more anomalies.
It no longer reacted at all to my flashy finger work as I scanned across the sleek status window.
Did they put up a sensory block or something?
My finger snaps grew more refined with each passing day, so anything less than a sensory block made no sense.
The ones I’m bringing in now are pretty too.
It used to accept those kinds of anomalies with gratitude, but now it seemed full and could no longer be satisfied with anything so simple.
This really is all my karma.
To think I had created a containment site with such picky tastes that valued quality over quantity.
The isolation site kept demanding only powerful anomalies.
Wildflowers are flowers too, each with their own beauty….
Words like that carried no weight. The containment site only knew how to lock anomalies away; it did not understand beauty.
Someday I would have to straighten this guy out again.
Shall I go find some new anomalies?
At the Response Bureau, a pre-prepared memory deletion protocol had activated due to cognitive interference, and the agents lost roughly a week’s worth of memories.
During the period they called the blank week, they were completely occupied with cleaning up the messes they had made.
The office staff at the Response Bureau were in just as much chaos as the people in the actual field.
-Review the sentences and remove anything unnecessary! Especially apology sentences like “I’m sorry” must be eliminated without exception!
They could not clean up every mess while responding to the anomalous phenomena that kept appearing everywhere, but their efforts were admirable.
Since I had kept my sanity, I had done nothing wrong. I was missing a day’s memory, but that much was fine.
The only unusual thing that day was that I could not access the anomaly gallery. I thought the moment had finally arrived, but it turned out the server had simply gone down for a while.
Did someone spill tteokbokki on it?
Aside from the monetary reward, I received three potions as compensation for everything I had accomplished. They were better than the lowest-grade potions I had gotten before.
If the previous lowest-grade potion only stopped bleeding, this new one could restore damaged muscle tissue.
To have such immediate effects and still be portable was considered extremely valuable.
I had completely forgotten about the reward, but Nahee had taken care of it for me.
“Shall we grab a cup of coffee?”
While I was staring at her long, swaying ponytail, coffee had already appeared. Nahee, sipping her drink, seemed unusually hesitant.
Did you seduce someone again, Jeongchan?
In moments like this, I needed to be direct.
“I’m sorry, but you’re not my type, senior. My tastes run toward something a little more—”
“Shut up. It’s not that. Is there even anyone who fits your type, junior?”
“As you know, my tastes are quite broad, so yes, there have been a few.”
“That was information I didn’t particularly want to know.”
“Still, you really aren’t my type, senior.”
“I said I didn’t want to know.”
It seemed it had just been a misunderstanding.
“I came to suggest that you join our Hardline Faction line, junior.”
Here it is. The scout offer.
I answered without hesitation that I would join.
The Hardline Faction was the group that advocated eradicating anomalies and taking active intervention.
Unlike the Status Quo Faction, which collected mana from stable anomaly spaces, they sought to completely neutralize both anomalies and the spaces themselves.
For someone like me who needed to collect anomalies one by one, it was the perfect fit.
What I had not known was this:
The Hardline Faction, said to divide the Response Bureau in two, had failed at generational transition and was on the verge of internal collapse.
And once the Hardline Faction fell, the Response Bureau’s entire approach to anomalous phenomena would change completely.
“They’ll probably act as conservatively as possible. They won’t be able to touch anomalies or move proactively anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once the rulebook is established, they’ll only follow it. No matter the damage, they’ll manipulate anomalies or the environment to prevent anything unpredictable.”
It meant that even if I found an anomaly I liked, I would have to act strictly according to the rulebook.
If I broke that rule—
“You wouldn’t be able to work as an agent. You’d have to join some other organization.”
Nahee took my hand in both of hers.
“Junior. We need to build up a lot of achievements. Only at 5th Grade can you exert real influence in the Response Bureau. Let’s work hard. All right, junior?”
Meetings are held regularly at the Response Bureau. Various matters are discussed, including the Bureau’s operational guidelines.
I needed to carry out as many missions as possible and accumulate merits.
“What should I start with?”
“I have something prepared already.”
Nahee pulled out a ticket.
Discover a variety of joys at Amurotica Amusement Park!
Directions to the venue… (omitted)
“This is…”
“It’s connected to the rulebook that turned the Response Bureau upside down recently.”
It was the place the bizarre rulebook had described.
“These discount tickets have been spreading for a while now. We’ve confirmed that civilians who see them suffer mental contamination and attempt to follow the guided route.”
The Response Bureau was blocking the paths and collecting every copy of the ticket they could find.
“There is no rulebook and no known information about the space. The Bureau suspects it’s a newly formed anomaly space. What if we go there first and establish the rules ourselves?”
Establishing the rulebook from the very beginning….
With no rulebook, it had no rule-management rating and its danger level remained unknown.
“It will mean risking our lives, but when doesn’t it? This is what you’ve been doing since before you even became an agent, junior. How about it?”
“I’m in.”
“I’m thinking of bringing a few more people. There are apparently agents who already went ahead.”
Nahee and Ha Taewon moved first. At some point Ha Taewon had been demoted to 8th Grade. He said he needed to accumulate achievements to regain his original rank.
I did not bother telling him that avoiding demotion was more important than piling up merits.
I decided to travel with Tosam, who had resurrected and was still adjusting to her new body.
Tosam stretched, twisting at the waist in a pose that made her body seem to lengthen.
“Haven’t moved in a while. Body’s stiff. Uncomfortable.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to skip patting me.”
“Already did.”
“I don’t remember it at all, like someone deleted the memory. Maybe the Response Bureau erased part of my mind?”
“Yeah. Nonsense.”
She slung her bag (her main body) over her shoulder and packed lights along with various small pieces of equipment. Surprisingly, her only weapons were a dagger and a pistol.
“Carry too many weapons and you look suspicious. Makes proper activity difficult.”
“True.”
The more suspicious you appeared, the more danger you invited inside anomaly spaces.
“Bring a pen?”
“Of course. Notebook too.”
A pen filled with ink visible only to agents of 9th Grade or higher, and a notebook that recorded coordinates when caught in an anomaly space so you could always return to that exact spot.
They were items you had to carry at all times.
“Time to move, Tosam.”
We took Line 2 and entered another anomaly space—the subway station. We followed the rulebook exactly. Then we boarded the train that led into the Amurotica Amusement Park.
— This station is Amurotica Amusement Park. Amurotica Amusement Park Station. The exit doors are on the right. —
When I looked up at the screen, the arrow was pointing at the ceiling.
“Looks like we exit through the ceiling.”
We opened the hidden door in the ceiling and stepped out. Bright, cheerful music greeted us.
“Remember?”
“I remember that Tosam didn’t pat me.”
“Not that. The guideline for writing rulebooks in rule-less anomalous phenomena.”
“I know.”
I had even taken photos and uploaded them to the gallery so I wouldn’t forget.
The first thing to do was find an escape method by any means necessary.
Only after the escape method was confirmed could the real exploration of the anomaly space begin.
How did one leave an amusement park? The simple answer was to use the exit, but…
“We’ll have to find that out now. Don’t get too tense. I’m a pro.”
Tosam spoke with confidence. As a conditionally immortal Ratman, she had been deployed in environments like this many times.
As we continued forward, roughly six notebooks lay scattered across the ground.
I had picked up notebooks like these before. What had I said back then?
I remembered.
They are merely notebooks and pens that return to this spot whenever their owner dies.
“Look like agents’. Are they all dead?”
“No. They left them on purpose. Once coordinates are fixed you can retrieve them later. Collected notebooks can open a gate.”
“Gate?”
“Yes. You pay a price, but you can enter the space unconditionally. We use it only rarely. So let’s check the information they left before escaping first.”
Entry 1
1. Even with a discount ticket, payment is required upon entry. Confirmed that victims traded one arm, two legs, or a single lock of hair. Negotiation appears possible.
After light conversation and compliments, traded one finger for entry. Receptionist on Line 1 wore yellow. Obtained yellow bracelet.
2. Clown identified me. Encountered. Memory gap in the middle. Managed to escape after dancing. Injuries severe. Seems I joined a parade—avoid clowns if possible.
(Scrawled handwriting becomes nearly illegible. Likely threw the notebook and searched for an exit.)
Entry 2
1. Line 1 receptionist wore red. Conversation impossible. Price: one arm. Obtained red bracelet.
2. Hemostasis failed. Bleeding will not stop. The more blood flows, the more my mouth corners rise and I want to run and play. Suspected special rule in effect.
3. Some rides also demand payment. Every major attraction I checked required a toll. Never ride any with height restrictions. They will cut you down to match the limit.
“Yeah. Hope they’re still alive. At least we got information.”
Rule number one: beware the clowns.
“First problem is getting in.”
“Yeah. Payment required right at entry. Annoying.”
“But they said negotiation works.”
I examined the ticket booths from Line 1 to Line 16. The receptionists hidden behind translucent mirrors showed no color in their clothes.
There was no goodwill or hostility. They were a dull, mechanical gray.
“I’ll go first. Follow me.”
Tosam took the lead. As we drew closer, a receptionist in black became visible.
She spoke with the receptionist for a moment, then turned back to look at me.
“Yeah. Negotiation failed.”
BANG!
Thud. Thud. Thud.
With a bursting sound, her head exploded.
Goddammit, Tosam!!!!
Her body had only reformed less than a week ago!!!
Before I could linger on the sight, the receptionist turned toward me.
“Next, please.”