Chapter 35
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Universe's Largest Amusement Park (3)
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I opened my eyes in the darkness.
For some reason I couldn't quite grasp.
I was floating alone in the vacuum of space.
'Where the hell am I?'
I gathered my wits and rummaged through my memories.
What had I been doing before blacking out?
'Oh, right. I think I bought some premium pass?'
I'd been talked into getting a premium pass by that Xeno named Waratis or whatever.
Right after, I'd gotten his enthusiastic welcome and entered the amusement park.
And that was where my memory cut off.
Floating in space without a spacesuit.
By all rights, I should've been dead long ago.
But for some reason, I was perfectly fine.
I tried to open the gallery.
Not only did the gallery fail to appear, even the crystal wouldn't summon.
As if this place straight-up wouldn't let me access the gallery.
'Is this an Anomaly too?'
That's when, as I scanned my surroundings to get a read on the situation.
Like the opening title of a movie.
Gigantic letters materialized in the void.
Then the space-time around me began to warp.
A massive galaxy unfurled before my eyes.
The universe behaved like a massive 4D theater.
My body was sucked inward, zooming in like a camera lens.
Into the heart of the galaxy.
I finally came to a stop above a planet's orbit, gazing down at it.
Cities glowing on the shadowed planetary surface came into view.
Then time began to accelerate.
Thousands of years passed in the blink of an eye for me.
In that span, the planet's inhabitants built spaceships.
They spread out in all directions, establishing an interstellar civilization.
Starting with that one.
Endless civilizations bloomed and withered.
I stood witness to it all from this vantage.
That's when it happened.
The stars of the celestial sphere began winking out, one by one.
Darkness spread across the entire galaxy.
And that darkness was soon overrun by glowing red points.
The universe pulled me in once more.
This time, halting before a certain planet.
Its cities glowed red.
The sight alone radiated overwhelming menace.
A Utrmaher ship sailed past me.
Dozens of kilometers long, at least.
The ship was a sphere with a glowing red eye at its center.
The focus followed the ship.
It encountered an alien fleet.
And the Utrmaher vessel unilaterally annihilated them.
The narration ended.
A ship sailed past my field of view.
Its silhouette was familiar even to me.
'Chiltoom?'
A cube-shaped vessel emitting blue light.
It matched perfectly with the Chiltoom ships from my memories.
The advancing Chiltoom fleet soon clashed with the Utrmaher armada.
Both sides deployed shields and unleashed particle beams in a fierce exchange.
Stray beams vaporized planets in a single hit.
Their missiles disintegrated matter itself.
It was like watching a war of the gods.
A destroyed Chiltoom ship.
Drift through space, lights extinguished.
Utrmaher fleets passed over it.
But they too were ambushed and wiped out by a sudden Chiltoom flotilla.
Then the debris from the wrecked ships turned to dust and vanished.
From the void emerged a being shrouded in light.
He strode slowly through space toward me.
"Gah!"
My eyes snapped open to an unfamiliar space.
But there was one familiar presence amid it.
"How was it, customer? Satisfied with your first ride?"
Waratis extended a hand to me.
I grabbed it and pulled myself up.
"What the hell was that?"
"It's our Debenna Corp's brand-new surreal experience attraction."
"Surreal experience?"
He launched into an excited spiel.
"You might not know, but the entertainment industry's gotten cutthroat lately."
Once upon a time, Debenna Planet was the galaxy's unrivaled top amusement park.
But as time passed, competitors started popping up one by one.
Debenna Planet's profitability tanked as a result.
The execs, sensing crisis, slashed dividends and built up internal reserves.
With those funds, they went all-in on bold new infrastructure.
Enter the surreal experience system.
"Like a VR sim?"
"What?!"
Waratis jumped up and down in a huff.
"Don't you dare compare it to that cheap crap! Do you have any idea how much one of these costs?!"
"Then what's the difference?"
"Surreal experience tech imperfectly manifests a simulated universe into reality. In other words, you see and feel it with your own body!"
Hold on. Did I hear that right?
Manifesting a simulated universe into reality?
"So those warships I just saw..."
"Yes! They're recreations based on real Ancient data."
I was floored.
These lunatics.
Collecting data on Ancient ships was shocking enough.
But simulating them and manifesting in reality?
I was genuinely aghast.
Waratis just grinned, unperturbed.
"A patented Debenna Corp exclusive no rival can copy."
After rolling out the system.
Debenna Corp blanketed the galaxy with ads.
The Ancients' god, Ahoraatoom.
Become Ahoraatoom and experience the Ancient War firsthand!
No sapient being hadn't heard of Ahoraatoom, so the ads drew galaxy-wide buzz.
Debenna Corp raked in unprecedented profits.
"Alright, that's your first adventure. If you want the second, just talk to me. I'll be right here in this hologram projector."
He patted the projector as he spoke.
Then Waratis's form gradually faded away.
Once he was gone.
I opened the gallery.
Author: Auto-Nickname 1582
Quick summary of the current sitch.
First, I hit the amusement park entrance, and out pops an AI looking like the boss Waratis.
Hologram, but it moves freely, not stuck in place.
Also tried that Ahoraatoom Adventure thing.
Turns out it's a device that pulls simulations into reality.
Probably why some accident happened—planning a full investigation tonight.
Old news, dude.
We all know about that already.
Step inside a building and bam, surroundings turn to space? Like you've warped to another world?
The gallery users already knew, judging by their reactions.
Puzzled, I fired off a reply.
Wait, what? How'd you know?
Some folks explored Debenna Star System before you.
Gotcha.
Yeah. Search up 'Debenna Planet Exploration Log'. All the info they left while dying is still there.
Gonna check it out right now.
I plopped down on a nearby park bench.
And started searching for the post they mentioned.
Author: Anomaly Exploration Master
1. The planet is protected by an absurdly powerful defense system. Force entry without Waratis's approval, and it'll activate and blast you.
※ Confirmed: Past Belid Fleet tried to brute-force the defenses, lost one battleship and three cruisers.
(Attached photo: Belid battleship wreckage)
2. On the surface, pretend to be a park visitor no matter what. Seems hypersensitive to military due to Belid Empire stuff.
※ If pegged as military, run. The whole park turns hostile.
3. At the park, hologram AI 'Waratis' greets you. It's holographic but can partially materialize.
Waratis hounds you to spend, super nice while you do, but attacks the moment you're broke. Spend moderately—never go dry. You'll die.
※ Warning: Never fight Waratis. You can't win. Unless you're an Ancient.
Reading that, I zeroed in on point 3.
'What? Go broke and you die?'
No wonder that Waratis creep rubbed me wrong from the start.
Money-grubbing vibe.
So it was an anomaly?
'At least I know not to fight Waratis.'
I kept scrolling through the other posts.
Author: Anomaly Exploration Master
4. Ahoraatoom Adventure is exactly what it sounds like: a ride simulating Ahoraatoom's life via surreal simulator. Can't use gallery inside—heads up.
5. It was designed safe as an attraction, but now dying in the adventure kills you for real. Dunno why.
6. From 10 PM to 6 AM planet time, stay in your hotel. Outside? Facilities and staff attack.
Author: Anomaly Exploration Master
7. Met survivor Xeno at the waterpark. Crew from a crashed Belid battleship, he says.
8. Name's 'Blaki'. Posing as a customer to survive this long.
9. More survivors scattered around. Unknown numbers, but he figures at least 100+.
10. Gave up escaping, enjoying life here. Money? Planet hires 'visitors' on the 1st each month. Part-time gigs pay out.
Author: Anomaly Exploration Master
11. Blaki knew more than I thought.
12. His take: The weirdness stems from a glitch in the Ahoraatoom Adventure simulator.
13. Belid survivors figured it out, tried fixing Adventure 3 manually to purge the Anomaly. All failed.
14. Super skeptical on escape, but if there's a way, it's repairing Adventure 3 facility.
15. Got intel: Repair schematics in staff building. But Waratis blocks it as restricted.
16. AI Waratis hiding something. Staff building's got secrets he doesn't want out. Need a way in.
That's where his posts ended.
'What? No more entries?'
I searched the gallery for his username.
Nothing after Log #4.
His silence spoke volumes.