It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story Chapter 023

After an exhausting escape from the maddening red mascot zone, I finally arrived in the blue zone.

There, I joyfully met Group D… along with Lizard Manager, whose shoulder was carrying the body of Group A’s Team Leader, dangling precariously.

“…….”

I barely managed to ask.

“Th-that’s a corpse on your shoulder, Team Leader…”

“Oh, he just fainted.”

Ah, I see.

He was being moved safely. I felt relieved and began to regain my friendly demeanor.

D Group’s Assistant Manager pointed at the enormous tube being dragged by the Chief and him with a thumb.

“The corpse is over there.”

“…….”

Seeing a corpse stuffed into a tube and being dragged around…

“It was well wrapped, though there are a few bits that are a bit mangled.”

Please don’t describe it.

“No, it was seriously horrific, you know? Wow….”

“Doe, be careful. This mascot acts like some sort of embodiment of justice.”

“Eh?”

The follow-up explanation was as follows.

This mascot absolutely despised any acts of violence among team members.

“But Group A’s Assistant Manager there decided to experiment with a mantis mask.”

He laughed while shoving Y Group employees one by one into peril on the first attraction.

“Unbuckle your seatbelts, stand up, sing along, do a handstand and go down the tracks….”

“All three from Y Group died like that. The last one was begging and crying, but the mascot didn’t flinch a bit… it was kind of disgusting.”

“…….”

It seemed that wasn’t only felt by the companions.

D Group’s Assistant Manager frowned.

“When getting off the attraction, the mascot was waiting precisely in the mantis mask. Calling them ‘bad kids.’ And….”

For the sake of my mental health, I’ll skip the description.

“I thought I was going to hurl.”

“…….”

“Well, honestly, it wasn’t all that great! …Though the Manager here wouldn’t agree.”

The Chief casually pointed at the body of Group A’s Team Leader draped over Lizard Manager’s shoulder.

“By the way, why has that person fainted?”

“Uh… Our Team Leader, um,”

“…….”

Wait a sec.

Could it be?

“The truth is, that person made some unreasonable demands of us. It seems they were trying to save their team members by any means necessary.”

And when that went a bit too far…

“Our Team Leader suddenly clutched their neck.”

“…….”

“Hey. Just pretend it was because their blood pressure shot up, let’s avoid blaming anyone, alright, Doe?”

“Yeah.”

I’ll take it to the grave.

“Oh, and the reason the Y Group employees got treated that way is…”

“I’ve heard a bit. From that person.”

I glanced at the Assistant Manager wearing the butterfly mask.

“…Is that so? Okay.”

The Chief’s expression lightened just a bit. It seemed he was glossing over a dark topic that was awkward to discuss.

“By the way, how are your team members doing?”

Ah.

I quickly checked on the assistant with the cow mask and the butterfly mask-covered face.

“There are some who need first aid. Can we get some assistance?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, Lizard Manager dropped the load on his shoulder… the body of Group A’s Team Leader, to the ground with a thud.

And began to shake it.

“Wait a second, Team Leader!”

“Uuhhhh!”

“…?!”

Lizard Manager, with a calm face, spoke as he roused Group A’s Team Leader.

“Manager Seok. There are employees needing treatment.”

“Wh-what…?”

The dazed expression of the Team Leader soon transformed into one of alertness as he pointed accusatorily at Lizard Manager.

“You!! You!”

“Yes.”

“What happened to that Assistant Manager! The one in the mantis mask….”

“He’s dead.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…Were you all just watching my A Team die?”

“We waited until he died, then gathered the corpse and got on the next attraction.”

Goodness.

The Team Leader’s expression momentarily went slack as he stammered out.

“Y-you’re saying I was watching my A Team die?? Lee Ja-heon, are you out of your mind?? How do you plan to take responsibility for this loss…!”

“? I’m the Team Leader of D Group. A Group is not under my jurisdiction.”

Lizard Manager seemed bewildered, squinting his eyes.

“The loss due to Assistant Manager Lee Seok-jong’s death is your responsibility as the Team Leader.”

“…….”

I can’t believe I’m actually witnessing someone say something like this at the company.

Even if the titles are the same, with elite teams, the hierarchy is supposed to follow.

I felt a chilling shiver in a different way.

“…….”

The Team Leader from Group A glared at Lizard Manager with bloodshot eyes.

“You fainted while being on three attractions altogether to meet the clearing conditions. Now you need to treat the employees and take responsibility….”

“Team Leader.”

This wasn’t Lizard Manager trying to scold him.

It was the Assistant Manager in the butterfly mask speaking calmly to the almost fainting Team Leader from Group A.

“Shouldn’t we discuss this outside first? Let’s clear this before any more variables appear. You need to meet that insane Research Team member too, right?”

“……Right. Yes.”

The eyes behind the duck mask blinked slowly and began to clear.

It seemed like his target for rage had fixed itself once again.

But in the end, he still left one final word.

“Lee Ja-heon, we’ll discuss this later.”

“Yes.”

The Chief leaned slightly toward me and murmured.

“It’s fine. Our Team Leader hears those kinds of lines as part of the annual events.”

“……”

Is it really… fine?

‘One thing’s for sure; I don’t belong to get involved in this mess.’

Let’s quietly keep my mouth shut and not draw attention.

Anyway, the Team Leader from Group A used his special gear to treat the butterfly-masked Assistant Manager.

The sight of the skin around the jaw and head healing and rejuvenating was astonishing.

“Employees with such specialized gear are rare. I’m envious.”

Me too.

‘Is there a way to obtain one of those?’

Having something like that would considerably increase my survival rate.

I closely observed the healing ring, the special equipment of Group A’s Team Leader.

‘Healing….’

After confirming that the Assistant Manager wearing the butterfly mask had recovered decently, the Team Leader ignored the shoulder-holey Y Group employee, attempting to pass by…

“Could you please treat this person too? We’re partnered together, and they might have reduced mobility like this.”

“…!”

Surprisingly, the Assistant Manager from Group A hinted at treatment for me and the Y Group newbie.

Thanks to that, the Y Group newbie, who had healed shoulders, blinked from beneath his cow mask.

“…Thank you.”

The Assistant Manager from Group A nodded slightly.

‘Is he really just the kind of guy who moves for the sake of work efficiency…?’

He’d figured out the mechanisms of this horror story and, upon securing safety and escape routes, shifted his decision-making toward minimizing risks.

‘Is this type considered elite in this company…?’

For now, I decided to remember and keep a note of Group A’s equipment and characteristics. …It would also be nice to forget the corpses stuffed into tubes.

“Okay, let’s get on the two attractions we’ve already taken and get out of here.”

“Ah, thank you.”

As soon as the healing process for the red team was completed, they moved toward the attractions to fill the remaining empty slots on the ride bracelets.

Others also followed without leaving.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be finished in 30 minutes.”

It seemed they were waiting to ensure safety and keep track of the newbies.

While I appreciated it, considering the corpse tube that was following, it felt like it’d be less frightening if they just left…

“As I said before, these mascots are surprisingly ethical for monsters.”

Hmm. I suspected as much since the phone conversation.

‘If they rode three attractions that quickly, there’s probably just one reason.’

A mascot that demands not to overreach beyond humane limits, a generous mascot.

These teams had been fortunate enough to pierce through an insane probability to find such a zone.

“They even kindly answered questions about what’s inside the attractions, you know? They gave us souvenirs since we were the first to ride all three.”

Lucky them. Must be nice.

While someone was off running around mindlessly in the magic bunny zone…

Interestingly, looking at survival rates, the red team had all survived, which meant they had more survivors.

Regardless, the red team soon arrived at the entrance of the attraction with a dolphin riding a blue dragon character smiling.

Once we entered the attraction… we saw a cartoonishly exaggerated blue dragon head.

A lifesaver-wearing blue mascot.

[Hello]

The mascot waved a welcome sign.

I slightly lowered my head in greeting, and the mascot reciprocated.

“Hmm.”

Next, we boarded the flume ride called ‘Blue Mountain.’ It was a typical ride where you hopped into a boat and moved along the water stream.

The two other members of the field exploration team got on safely as well.

Only the last person was a problem.

“F*.”

The researcher grimaced and then spat an insult at the mascot.

Having seen a less terrifying mascot, which shared a similar disgust and fear as the magic bunny, it seemed the dam finally broke.

“F*ing disgusting little shits….”

“Please hurry and board.”

“Uhh.”

Glancing back at the mascot, the researcher hesitantly climbed aboard the attraction.

The button-like eyes of the blue dragon mascot silently watched him.

“…….”

Thus, the remaining attractions were boarded smoothly.

[(Cheerful) Fantasy Land Ride Ticket ■■■]

“Finally…!”

“Phew.”

We had finally filled all the ride sectors of the ticket bracelet.

“The exit is to the north. We’ll move.”

“Yes!”

Though I was soaked, I didn’t care about that. The important thing was that I could finally escape this cursed theme park.

‘I don’t want to go within a 1km radius of an amusement park for a while….’

[Have a nice trip back]

A typical goodbye sign glimmered above the gate devices at the northern exit.

Beside it stood a formally dressed blue mascot.

“They say you can scan your used ticket here to exit,”

The blue mascot kindly pointed at the gate device.

“Alright, then, the Team Leaders can go first. Please step right up.”

D Group’s Assistant Manager wisely organized the situation, sending off the higher-ups first.

One by one, people began to leave, and as soon as the Assistant Manager and below were about to exit…

“Then let’s have Jin Assistant Manager start…”

“Get out of the way!”

The researcher shoved employees aside and rushed toward the gate first.

“What the….”

Both the Chief and Assistant Manager looked ill at ease but seemed to brush it off with feelings of ‘Civilians will be civilians.’

It wasn’t like anyone suffered from being a few seconds late.

Ignoring that, the researcher hurriedly tried to get his ride ticket bracelet scanned at the gate.

‘That seems like a habit of his.’

Honestly, I frowned slightly.…

“…Huh?”

The researcher turned his head.

His ride ticket bracelet was being clawed by the blue dragon mascot.

The paper bracelet crumpled.

With a crunch,

Crunch,

It snapped off.

Whoosh.

The piece of the bracelet fell to the floor, and the researcher stared at it with a dumbfounded expression.

And then.

“Haahhh, aaah!!”

The blue dragon’s mouth opened wide.

“Help me! Help me!”

He was being sucked in.

Beside him, the cow-masked employee muttered as if in a trance.

“Whoa, scary! The sea god has spoken! The wicked shall be drawn in by the tide, scary….”

I covered the Y Group newbie’s mouth and pressed his head down.

I didn’t raise my own head either.

“Ahhhhhh!!”

Is it finally happening this way…?

If we crossed to another zone, the aggro drawn by the former zone mascots would disappear.

However, what we did would accumulate.

———————=

Cheerful Theme Park User Manual (Applicable to Exploration Record No. 64)

6. Remember that the theme park is a public space!

Observe the etiquette and manners when using public facilities! Countless eyes are watching you, and nobody forgets.

Look, the mascot is behind you.

———————=

All mascots within the Cheerful Theme Park know what happened.

That includes what the researcher did before.

-Get out of the way, f*!

Running away from the red mascot and shoving the blame onto the Assistant Manager in Group A.

‘Perhaps they were willing to overlook it considering it was a dire situation…’

The problem was that they repeated the same act.

‘Karma, I suppose.’

The screams of the researcher that echoed in my ears were slowly turning into wails.

“That f*ing bastard tried to kill me too!! Why only me, just me!! This trash, garbage….”

That’s right.

But, Group A’s Assistant Manager never actually acted on it. He listened when persuaded.

‘But you didn’t listen.’

At this point, even I, the cowardly resident of the coward’s sanctuary, felt it was a case of self-inflicted punishment.

-Save meeeeeee Aaaaaaaaah…

The researcher’s voice elongated like a taffy, leaving a chilling sensation in the air.

‘Gah.’

The coward’s heart reacted instinctively, and my body recoiled when.

“Don’t do that.”

“……”

The Assistant Manager from Group A grabbed my arm and held it down.

And said in a tone as if to stop me.

“I can’t save them.”

W-well, I wasn’t even thinking of trying.

Regardless, I obediently stayed still as he said.

Eventually, the scream faded, and the bizarre feeling in the surroundings also dissipated.

When I dared raise my head, the blue dragon mascot stood politely as pristine as before.

It was hard to believe they’d just killed someone.

It became a bit more eerie.

‘The standards are stricter than I thought.’

Is this truly the inside of a horror story?

It seemed this mascot had its own beliefs or standards. Not merely avoiding harming team members, but beyond that.

‘Let’s proceed cautiously.’

“…Let’s try to go out again.”

“Yes.”

One by one, the remaining personnel began to exit.

I pondered whether it was a good idea to let the opposing team go first.

“Let’s head out.”

I gave up and let the superiors go ahead.

After saying goodbye to my cowardly comrades,

Finally, I stood by the gate next to the blue dragon mascot.

“……”

The cute chibi-formed dragon looked at me with round eyes.

Uh, could you not look at me like that?

Honestly, it’s genuinely scary right now. I’m really scared being the last one left. I’m trying hard to hide my cowardice.

Just then.

“…!”

Oh, is it trying to reassure me?

The mascot’s voice didn’t sound as eerie as before.

‘Property damage… looks like it’ll let that slide.’

Thank goodness.

“Thank you.”

I nodded and tried to pass by.

However, the mascot moved and blocked my path.

“…?”

The blue dragon reached out.

And lightly grasped my wrist.

More specifically, it grabbed the ride bracelet dangling there.

[(Cheerful) Fantasy Land Ride Ticket ■■■]

The bracelet felt slightly warm, and once the mascot released my hand….

[◎ (Cheerful) Fantasy Land Membership Card ◎]

The text changed.

…Huh?