In the evening garden of Flower Golden Resort, lights bloom.
Fwoosh.
A beam of light shoots into the sky, spectacularly exploding, cascading glittering lights like a waterfall onto the resort building.
Wow!
All around the garden, flowers of various colors blossom in radiant light, dancing gently and blooming sequentially as if choreographed. Even the luminous flowers held aloft by the non-human guests glow, eliciting exclamations of awe.
A sight so breathtaking it borders on the uncanny.
And soon after, the resort building itself begins to bloom with light.
Vines of glowing light climb upward, glittering along windows and terraces, rising to the very top of the building before bursting brilliantly into shimmering, pollen-like specks of radiance.
Letters carve themselves out in midair.
F L O W E R G O L D E N At last, he has stepped fully into the spotlight.
The owner of this resort.
The yellow mascot walks out to the center of the garden accompanied by numerous mascots, performing choreographed dances. With each of their movements, the lights dance in harmony.
The cheerful theme song of Cheerful Theme Park flows through the air.
-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
At the same time, faint echoes of the same tune, variated and coming from afar, softly reverberate.
Sounds from distant places.
“……”
The team leader of Black-Tortoise Team 3 glances around quickly.
Red zone and blue zone.
The other zones are also holding their own ceremony events.
Blue zone’s fireworks display, and…
– Kyahhahahaha!
The parade from the Red Zone.
Led by Magic Bunny, the insanely painful, joyful, horrific, and splendid procession had set off from the Magic Castle at the center of the Red Zone, accompanied by loud music, screams, and cheers.
The details were impossible to discern from this distance, but the team leader could roughly gauge the parade’s route.
And she sensed it clearly.
Their destination is here.
This was not the case yesterday. They must have changed their route.
As soon as this ceremony ends, that parade will also come to a stop at the red gate before the garden.
And the moment operating hours conclude…
“The entire parade will come flooding in, I guess.”
“…!”
“Ah, sorry. Did I surprise you?”
Had he made the same guess?
The team leader quietly observes the employee wearing the dolphin mask, who bows apologetically toward her, before nodding in acknowledgment.
She wasn’t young enough to openly express hostility toward the suspicious pharmaceutical company, especially after witnessing the strange exchange earlier.
– I W i l l
S t a y H e r e
– I don’t like it.
– I t ’ s O k a y
– It doesn’t seem alright at all.
Right before the ceremony began, the yellow mascot had sent all the employees away from the garden, having them gather in front of the resort building.
As if protecting them from something.
Consequently, the staff were observing the illumination show from a considerable distance, nearly as far as the resort building itself.
And yet, seeing her team members staring as if hypnotized, the team leader feels acutely the bizarre nature of this ‘Mascot Ceremony’.
And if her eyes were not mistaken…
That dolphin-masked employee had been attempting to help the mascot, who had insisted on protecting his staff until the end.
‘……’
Younger agents often conflate the unethical nature of an organization with the individual personalities of its members, but reality was not so simple.
This applied equally to creatures from ghost stories.
And that only made matters more complicated…
‘Huu.’
She shook off those thoughts.
There was work to do.
And now was precisely the time to act.
Wowwwww!
Toward the finale of the illumination, as the yellow mascot takes center stage, his horns burst into brilliant golden light, blossoming into flowers.
At that moment, the yellow mascot turns toward them, lifting his front paw and waving theatrically, as if part of the act.
A will conveyed without words.
G o
“…Now!”
At that signal, the employees started running frantically.
Their destination was the gate leading to the Blue Zone.
And moments later…
The ground near the gate began shaking and rising.
* * * The illumination raced toward its climax.
Beneath the feet of the yellow mascot standing in the center of the garden, lights gathered, lifting him gently into the air.
A drumroll.
Ooooh!
From the mascot’s horn, beams of light grew, spreading out and swaying like a massive tree, towering above the resort building.
Breathtakingly blooming flowers.
And as the mascot raised his hand perfectly timed with the end of the music…
Aaaaaah!
His name exploded in midair, crystallizing into complete recognition.
Flower Golden.
Master of the Cheerful Theme Park’s Yellow Zone.
Everyone knew. It was proclaimed to all.
Congratulations. Now, he was the perfect mascot of this place.
And the yellow mascot was overwhelmed by an extraordinary new sensation.
‘…!’
He felt the entirety of the Yellow Zone.
He knew everything happening in his resort, could control all mascots as he wished, and understood every law and ■■ governing Cheerful Theme Park!
Now he was the absolute master and mascot of the zone!
Aaaaah!
An instinctive thrill maximized the splendor of the illumination, culminating in one last magnificent burst of golden flowers, concluding the Mascot Ceremony.
Aaaaaaaaaaah!
However, at that moment, something emerged beyond the red gate.
The Parade of Madness.
The revolting, overwhelming, and splendid march led by Magic Bunny reached its end.
[Great Magic Bunny!]
The red rabbit, the carriage, the giant balloon shaped like a smiling face, and various parade floats stopped before the gate, having concluded their last sacrificial ceremony.
Lights flashed madly as if challenging the illumination, then abruptly went out.
Simultaneously, the waves of brilliant illumination faded into a final silence.
Ending.
Flowing softly now…
-♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
…The ending theme.
The gently rearranged version of the theme song began playing.
The park was approaching closing time.
– Attention please. The theme park will close in ten minutes…
The garden became quiet.
Guests who had enjoyed the illumination began dispersing, quickly heading toward the exit gates.
The zone quickly regained its busy tranquility.
It was the final stage of operations.
The yellow mascots tidied up the night garden, courteously guided the remaining guests, and managed the resort facilities.
No movement could be seen beyond the dark red gate.
The yellow mascots lightly celebrated the day’s successful event, checking to ensure no guests were left in the lobby.
No movement could be seen beyond the dark red gate.
The serene resort building now stood quietly illuminated, its soft lights gently visible through the lobby windows. Inside, the yellow mascots waved goodbye to the departing guests heading toward the exit gate.
No movement could be seen beyond the dark red gate.
Then the lobby doors closed.
THUD.
– See you next time~
……
……
……
Beyond the dark red gate.
Countless red eyes began popping open.