I nodded and continued speaking.
“By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Kim Soleum.”
“…I know.”
A slightly gloomy voice slipped out from beneath the cow mask.
“I’m… Jang Heo-un.”
“Nice to meet you.”
I tried to speak to the researcher who had collapsed to the ground, but all I got was a whimpering close to panic.
“No, no, I can’t walk. Someone save me!”
“I could help you walk… but your mobility would be compromised, Supervisor.”
I added, as if concerned,
“In that case, it would increase your chance of dying.”
He got up like magic.
‘Just as I thought.’
Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad glanced at me with a look of disapproval but didn’t interfere and just scanned the surroundings as she walked.
I, too, quickened my pace and shifted my gaze.
It was a flashy yet somehow dizzying, stifling theme park, like something out of a dream.
‘Is red the theme here?’
There wasn’t a single place in this park—flags, buildings, tents—that didn’t feature a red symbol.
‘We must’ve drawn the red piece and ended up in this zone.’
On the flag, a cute rabbit was raising one hand and smiling.
[Magic Bunny Arcade Zone]
In other words, it’s a magical rabbit adventure zone…
‘It’s really got that theme park vibe.’
That’s when it happened.
The rabbit mascot blocked Assistant Manager Jin’s path.
“Ah, a roadblock…”
“Please hold on a moment.”
I stopped Assistant Manager Jin, who was about to walk around the mascot.
Because…
“…It looks like a parade.”
A line was drawn behind the rabbit mascot, and from afar, cheerful music and various colorful rabbits began to appear.
But not a single thing about it was exciting.
I tried my damnedest not to cover my face with my hands.
‘It’s starting…’
========================
Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)
7- Cheer for the parade with a joyful expression!
Everything that happens during the parade at the cheerful theme park is pleasant and never negative. Absolutely, absolutely not negative.
========================
The parade drew closer.
The rabbit mascot in a dress waved its hand from atop a palace and then…
Bang!
It struck nearby carrots with a colorful wand.
And then all sorts of red, sparkling things began to pour down on the mascots.
– Uwaaahhh!
Candy, jewels, flower petals, fireworks!
But that wasn’t all.
Bang!
The next one burst open, spilling out new red objects.
Blood, entrails, organs!
– Hahahahahahaha!
They came tumbling down.
Tumble, tumble.
The mascots danced, wading through the entrails. The cobblestone right in front of me turned red…
Wow, this is insane.
‘This is the problem.’
This crazy theme park spits out things that no human could ever smile at as if they were glitches, but if you scream or cry, you’ll get [redacted]!
– Wowww!
Splatter.
The area in front of my shoe was soaked in blood.
Something that had rolled over bumped into the tip of my shoe.
An eyeball.
‘!@#$!@%!%’
Ack!! ACK!!!
A silent scream burst from within me, running down my spine.
‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’
I squinted my eyes as much as I could, trying not to look directly at what was in front of me, pretending to be calm…
“Ugh.”
“……?”
Wait a second.
That wasn’t my voice, was it?
When I glanced to the side, I saw the cow mask with its mouth covered.
‘Could it be?’
“…Do you have trouble seeing violent things?”
“……”
The cow mask slowly nodded.
The lower part of the face, which wasn’t hidden by the mask, had already turned pale.
‘A comrade…!’
I almost felt my heart warm up.
Finally, someone who was sharing the madness and terror of this insane situation with me!
‘Hey, you’re doing a great job holding it in!’
I was about to suggest that we find a way to navigate this nightmare together when…
“Ah, seriously… what the hell are you saying?”
It was a voice full of irritation.
…It was Assistant Manager Jin from A-squad.
“Can’t handle seeing gore? How can you not understand that a wimp like that is just dead weight, not a backup life?”
“……!”
“Hey, top recruit. I’m telling you this because you have potential. That.”
The tip of Assistant Manager Jin’s index finger pointed at the new employee from Y-squad.
The Y-squad employee flinched.
“Don’t bother making friends with those X, Y, Z-tagged guys.”
“……”
I’d heard something similar from my direct superior earlier.
– Roe. The people you met today from the other squads, just keep things light with them, okay?
…I already knew the reason.
‘The Field Exploration Team assigns an alphabet to each squad.’
And there’s a meaning to that order.
Elite teams, A, B, C.
Regular teams from D to W.
And then X, Y, Z are…
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Daydream Inc.
/ Field Exploration Team
Round-Off Team
A part of the Field Exploration Team that consists of individuals who passed the entry test but have some defect that makes them unfit for normal exploration tasks.
They are mainly used for experimenting in special situations.
Usually referred to by the last three letters of the alphabet (X, Y, Z).
========================
“The last three letters of the alphabet are where they put people like that. They’re just meat shields. They’re like extra lives given to employees who know how to do their jobs, so don’t pay attention to them.”
“…What?”
“They talk about variable elimination or whatever, and they don’t properly explain it to the newbies, but since they’re going to die here anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
The employee in the cow mask stiffened.
“W-What are you…”
“Round-Off Team, cow mask. Raise your left hand.”
“?!”
Like a lie.
Jang Heo-un raised his left hand into the air.
“……!!”
The lower part of his face, not covered by the mask, had turned deathly pale with shock.
“W-What…!”
The A-squad employee lifted her chin.
“That’s how you use a meat shield.”
========================
When an employee of a certain rank or higher enters the Darkness with a Round-Off Team member, they can issue absolute orders to them.
The Round-Off Team member must obey the command.
========================
Right.
‘…It’s a system to extract more brutal and dramatic exploration records.’
In short, they’re like slaves or suicide squads.
But seeing it in reality was more grotesque than I’d imagined, especially since it seemed like the cow mask employee was trying to resist.