I walked forward, slowly.
Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland.
Everything had stopped, and it was dark.
A silent amusement park, in itself, was enough to conjure up truly terrifying thoughts.
All the more so if I was the one walking at the very front.
‘Huuuu…’
Is this what it would feel like, hiding in a haunted house, dressed up as a ghost?
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry about the fact that I was searing a Security Team uniform now.
One thing was certain. The strange sense of stability I’d felt inside the mascot suit was now gone.
…It has its pros and cons, but I couldn’t help feeling the tension rising.[Ah, a midnight infiltration! What a tense and delightful situation!]
[And, if I may, let me say this once more. What a spectacle that was earlier! A gigantic trap to hunt a gigantic monster! Destruction is, after all, one of life’s most primal joys. What a wonderful show it was!]
Hmm.
Hearing Braun’s voice through the receiver, I felt a familiar, easygoing comfort, and a faint sense of relief.
‘Should I be glad that at least you’re enjoying this?’
If the storyteller from a ghost story had said it was boring after I’d promised him entertainment, I would’ve broken out in a cold sweat.
And even aside from that, this was a moment to be glad and relieved.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.
Splash.
Behind me, following along, was the Blue Mascot.
No, not the mascot, but whoever had taken off the mascot suit.
Just thinking of them sent a chill down my back, but at the same time, someone inside me let out a sigh of relief.
Terrifying, but at the same time, it felt like having a whole army at my back.
‘It’s a relief we reached an agreement right before the ceremony.’
At first, I’d wanted to ask them to attack the Magic Bunny zone right after the park closed for the night.
To tell them, ‘Attack the Red Zone while my resort is under siege. Eat it.’
But the timing would have been off… and if the Blue Mascot lost, it would be a disaster.
‘It seems like the two of them are evenly matched.’
I suspect the Blue Mascot thinks that the Magic Bunny is just as powerful as they are, which is why those two had maintained this mutual standoff.
If either one made a move, it could mean mutual destruction.
‘Given that the crazy Red Mascot never invaded the Blue Zone, there must be some kind of balance of power.’
So, I had to set the stage so they could safely devour Magic Bunny.
‘It needed to proceed step by step.’
That’s why I took the most cautious approach that had the most probable chance, and it led to this very moment.
The employees and I hid in the shelter, and bombed the resort itself.
Then, together with the powerful Blue Mascot, we invaded the Magic Bunny’s zone.
Of course…
‘There were conditions.’
N e v e r
L o o k B a c k
‘……’
Still, I couldn’t help but listen intently.
Splash.
The sound of water behind me, the tail dragging on the ground, something massive dragging its belly as it walked, following behind.
It was audible.
It sounded like the roar of a giant wave, or a snake moving, or something strange—maybe even like wings or whiskers brushing by. Or like something sticky, dragging itself across the floor.
Following behind, the being who’d taken off the Blue Mascot suit… something.
Splash.
My nerves were instinctively on edge.
Maybe… unlike the Magic Bunny, the Blue Mascot hadn’t had their entire identity sucked dry by the theme park, hadn’t lost their outer form.
The sounds suggested they were at least maintaining some kind of shape.
Of course, I couldn’t turn around to check.
‘There must be a reason.’
I kept the smoky letters, ‘Never look back,’ floating ahead as I walked. Ah, at some point, I started being able to do this. Was my own costume influenced by the mascot in return?
Anyway, we kept moving forward.
The destination was the center of the Red Zone.
Magic Bunny’s Fantasy Castle.
“……”
“……”
I hadn’t even warned them to be quiet, but even the civilian being rescued by the Disaster Management Bureau was keeping her mouth shut, treading carefully.
‘There’s really no need for that.’
But maybe because of the anxiety, our steps became more like a near-run.
The brightly colored castle-shaped building of the amusement park loomed rapidly out of the darkness.
The largest, most important facility in this zone.
‘…Something must still be there.’
Even though the Magic Bunny’s main body and its horde had invaded the Yellow Zone, been struck by lightning, and buried under the rubble, there were surely scraps left in the Red Zone.
And any of those could become the Magic Bunny.
Now I knew. That’s the nature of mascots.
And over time, those scraps could start functioning as a new main body.
We had to take care of it before that happened.
“…We’ve arrived.”
I stopped first, hearing Supervisor Lee Seonghae’s whisper.
The back side of the Fantasy Castle was visible.
Yes. We’d approached from the rear, and as befitted an exaggerated fairytale palace, there was a cleverly concealed back door finished with modern technology.
“……”
I didn’t stop Section Chief Lee Jaheon from forcing the door open.
Crack, screeeech.
The door swung open, revealing a gaudy, silent interior in all its colors.
Things that looked horrific, yet were displayed as if they were just theme park props, appeared in the darkness and then disappeared again as soon as my lantern light passed.
Gulp.
I heard someone behind me swallow.
[Now, search to your heart’s content, Friend…]
I thoroughly searched every wall, making my way to the gate where the red rabbit mascot would have stood to greet guests.
And then, what I’d been searching for appeared.
[Authorized Personnel Only]
“This is…”
“…Looks like a staff area, maybe?”
That’s right.
Even the resort had an office for authorized personnel only.
Remembering how I’d found operational documents and stamps in there, I figured the red zone must have a similar space.
If there was any place where I could be recognized for conquering the red zone…
‘This must be it.’
“Is this our destination?”
I nodded.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon, without hesitation, forced open the locked door again.
Down below.
A modern-style staircase leading underground appeared.
The stark design looked corroded here and there, as if rusted by blood.
“……”
With smoke, I presented everyone with options.
Choose freely
▶ Wait here
▶ Go down
“Huh…?”
And I quietly stood at the stairway leading into the ‘Magic Bunny Only’ area.
‘Please, let at least a few strong ones follow me.’
The thought of walking down in silence, unable even to look back, with whatever had taken off the Blue Mascot suit, made me break out in a cold sweat.
But surprisingly, everyone came along.
“W-What if I stay behind and accidentally look ‘back’ while I’m waiting!”
“In situations like this, the stragglers always die.”
“……”
Hm. That was a pretty convincing argument.
Anyway, the darkness exploration began again.
As we descended, we passed doors with strange names: ‘Supply Room’, ‘Freezer’, ‘Magical Storage Room’, but I ignored them and kept going.
I could feel it.
[Oh, is that the instinct of a former mascot?]
Something like that.
The others followed me, doing their best not to even look through the glass set into those doors.
At last, when we reached the bottom, I saw a rusted nameplate.
[Mascot Development Lab]
The door was half=open.
Found it.