Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel (End Part 1) - Chapter 184

I slowly moved forward.

Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland.

Everything was stopped and dark.

A silent amusement park was enough to evoke terrifying imaginations on its own.

Especially when I was walking at the very front.

‘Phew…’

Is this what it would feel like to be dressed as a ghost and hidden in a haunted house?

I found myself wondering whether to cry or laugh at the fact that I was disguised as a security team member.

One thing was for sure: the strange sense of stability the mascot suit had provided was gone.

…It had its pros and cons, but for now, the rising tension was unavoidable.

[Ah, an infiltration in the middle of the night. What a truly tense and exciting situation!]

[And I really want to convey this again. It was a magnificent spectacle earlier! A giant trap hunting a giant beast! Indeed, destruction is one of the primal joys. It was quite a show!]

Hmm.

I felt a familiar emptiness and a faint sense of relief at Brown’s voice coming through the receiver.

‘Should I be glad that at least you’re entertained?’

I had guaranteed the ghost story host that it would be fun, and I would have been sweating profusely if it had been rated as boring.

And even if not for that, this situation was cause for celebration and relief.

Because everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

Squish.

The blue mascot was following at the very back.

No, someone who had shed that mascot suit.

Conscious of it, goosebumps rose on my back, but at the same time, something within me breathed a sigh of relief.

It was terrifying, yet at the same time, like an army of angels.

‘It’s a relief that we reached an agreement just before the ceremony.’

At first, I wanted to demand that they attack the Magic Bunny zone as soon as the theme park closed.

To attack and conquer the red zone while my resort was under attack.

But if the timing was off… and the blue mascot was pushed back, it would have been problematic.

‘Their forces seem similar.’

I think the blue mascot had maintained a state of mutual disregard because the Magic Bunny was as powerful as itself.

Because if they touched each other, it could lead to mutual destruction.

‘Considering that the crazy red mascot doesn’t invade the blue zone, it seems like a balance of power is being maintained.’

So, I had to set the stage for it to safely devour the Magic Bunny.

‘I had to proceed step by step.’

And so, the most probabilistically conservative approach resulted in this moment.

Hiding in the shelter with the employees and bombing the resort itself.

Then invading the Magic Bunny’s zone with the powerful blue mascot.

Of course…

‘There was a condition.’

Don’t

Ever

Look

Back

‘……’

Still, I instinctively strain my ears.

Squish.

The sound of water splashing behind me, the sound of a tail dragging on the ground, the sound of something massive dragging its belly and moving its feet to follow.

I hear it.

It sounds like a giant wave, or a snake moving, or strangely, like wings or whiskers brushing. Or perhaps something thick stuck to the ground.

Something that has shed the blue mascot’s suit, following from behind.

Squish.

My nerves are instinctively on edge.

Perhaps… unlike the Magic Bunny, the blue mascot doesn’t seem to have had its identity completely sucked dry and lost its outer form within this theme park.

The sound suggests it has maintained some kind of shape.

Of course, I can’t turn around to check.

‘There must be a reason.’

I continued to walk without erasing the words made of smoke, ‘Never look back.’ Ah, I remember being able to use this at some point. Was the costume, in turn, affected by the mascot?

At any rate, the advance continued.

The destination was the center of the red zone.

Magic Bunny’s Fantasy Castle.

“……”

“……”

Although I hadn’t warned them to be quiet, even the civilians, who were the rescue targets of the Disaster Management Bureau, were moving cautiously, their mouths shut.

‘They don’t need to.’

But perhaps due to anxiety, their footsteps began to turn into something closer to a trot.

The colorful palace-like structures of the amusement park rapidly approached in the darkness.

The largest core facility of this zone.

‘…Something will be left.’

Even if the Magic Bunny’s main body and its horde had attacked the yellow zone, been struck by lightning, and buried in the building’s collapse, there would surely be remnants left in the red zone.

And all of those could become Magic Bunny.

I know now. Mascots are that kind of species.

And those remnants would function like the main body over time.

They had to be caught before that happened.

“…We’ve arrived.”

I stopped first, hearing Chief Lee Seonghae’s whisper.

The back of Fantasy Castle was visible.

Yes. We had approached from the rear, and the exaggerated fairytale palace, like a theme park, had a cleverly concealed back door, finished with modern technology.

“……”

I didn’t stop Section Chief Lee Jaheon from forcefully opening the back door.

Crack, creaaaaak.

The door opened, revealing a colorful, splendid, and desolate interior.

Something horrifying, displayed casually like theme park props, appeared in the darkness, then vanished again the moment my lantern light disappeared.

Gulp.

I heard someone swallow behind me.

[Now, let’s search as much as we want, friend…]

I meticulously searched every wall and came to the side of the gate where the red rabbit mascot would have stood, guiding visitors.

And then, ‘what I was looking for’ appeared.

[Staff Only]

“This is…”

“…A staff area, maybe?”

That’s right.

The resort also had staff-only offices.

Considering that I had found operational documents and stamps there, I thought there would surely be a similar space in this red zone.

If there was a place where conquering the red zone could be recognized…

‘It must be here.’

“Is this the destination?”

I nodded.

Section Chief Lee Jaheon nonchalantly opened the locked door once more.

Underground.

A modern-style staircase leading downwards appeared.

The style was bleak, and here and there it was rusted as if corroded by blood.

“……”

I gave the people choices with smoke.

Choose freely

▶ Wait here

▶ Go down

“Uh…?”

And I quietly stood before the stairs of the ‘Magic Bunny Forbidden’ zone.

‘Please, just a few strong people, follow me.’

I felt a cold sweat run down my back thinking of walking silently with something that had shed the blue mascot suit, unable to look back.

But what was surprising was that everyone followed.

“W-what if I try to wait but accidentally look ‘back’?”

“In these situations, if you fall behind, you die.”

“……”

Hmm. It was a fairly convincing choice.

At any rate, the exploration began again in the darkness.

As we descended, several doors with strange names like ‘Supply Room,’ ‘Freezer,’ and ‘Magic Storage Room’ were visible, but I didn’t touch them and just kept going down.

I sense it.

[Oh, is it the instinct of the one who was a mascot?]

Something similar.

The people also followed me, trying their best not to even look at the glass windows on those doors.

And finally, the moment we reached the bottom.

A rusty nameplate was visible.

[Mascot Development Lab]

A half-open door.

Found it.

“Excuse me, sir. Just a moment. What does ‘Mascot Development’ mean…?”

I grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open.

“…!!”

I heard the sounds of employees stifling screams.

They couldn’t help it. What was before their eyes was…

[Oh, how avant-garde!]

In the center of the vast development lab, a gigantic red body, only half-filled with flesh, was visible.

Hind legs with sharp claws, majestic and evil membrane wings, a severed tail, and a gigantic… something, with only its lower body remaining.

“Hmph,”

People froze in terror.

Then, a cheerful voice came from beside me.

“Ah, it’s a mascot suit!”

“…!”

“But it looks incomplete, doesn’t it? Only half of it.”

That’s right.

The lower body, displayed alone, was hollow inside if one looked closely, and here and there were clumps of severed hair, seemingly replacing cotton stuffing.

Traces of an attempt to create mascot suits themselves.

‘Phew.’

I further examined the lower half of that strange beast with the sight created by my inner light.

It was densely covered in scales.

Human fingernails.

‘…Ha.’

And that wasn’t all.

Throughout the spacious ‘development lab,’ unattached and abandoned body parts were visible.

Yellow vertical pupils, small membrane-like fins, strange and massive front claws like a bird’s foot, a tongue, flesh from a snout.

These were the traces of mascot development. Many of the forms suggested the origin of the raw materials, making my stomach churn.

However, it seemed they couldn’t officially release or introduce this as a ‘mascot’ in the theme park.

Because this was the red rabbit, Magic Bunny’s zone.

That majestic and imposing form, unfitting for this colorful and cute amusement park, probably couldn’t be revealed.

A fun theme park wouldn’t have allowed it.

“Did they want to use that, not a rabbit, as a new mascot?”

“……I wonder.”

I heard the agents whispering.

[New image development! It’s trite but a classic idea. What’s No-ru’s guess?]

Hmm.

‘…Perhaps the opposite?’

[Hmm?]

‘I wonder if it was trying to restore its original form with that suit.’

Magic Bunny had completely lost its original form inside the mascot suit.

‘If so, it would have tried to make the suit in its original form, I think.’

Whether by instinct or calculation.

But it failed.

‘And when I put those fragmented pieces together, Magic Bunny’s original identity was…’

It was the moment I thought that far.

Something moved.

“Agh!”

I quickly grabbed the civilian by the scruff of the neck and threw them towards the agents.

Shriiiiek…

The scale-covered tail that the civilian had been intently observing was moving, dripping fluid.

“Gasp.”

Magic Bunny’s remnant.

It had been clinging to the inner wall of the tail-shaped suit, writhing.

There were no limbs.

There were no organs or body parts collected and attached from missing persons and visitors.

The remnants of the Magic Bunny mascot suit’s contents, having lost their form.

But its cunning and aggression seemed unchanged.

And.

Squish-squish-squish-squish.

Sounds began to emanate from all directions.

The sound of all the mascot suit parts in the development lab vibrating.

And the giant thing in the center also began to twist its joints, following the tail.

Even redder things wriggled grotesquely through the red suit.

“Aaaah!”

Screams from several people, those who hesitated to escape up the stairs because they couldn’t look back, and while the agents took a defensive stance with civilians between them…

“Should we destroy it?”

“This seems like something we could fight, maybe?”

N-no, that’s not it!

I quickly shook my head and manipulated the black smoke again.

I sent it towards the giant form that had followed us from the very back and stood quietly in a corner of the development lab.

The blue mascot’s true body.

“…!”

The one who had shed the blue mascot’s suit was enveloped in my black smoke, momentarily obscuring it from everyone’s sight.

‘Now!’

I pointed my hand, gesturing for people to evacuate up the stairs.

The employees urgently rushed up the stairs. I followed them up the stairs and stood last, with my back to the development lab door.

Standing with their backs to the development lab, sweating profusely, I withdrew the smoke I had sent to the blue mascot and formed words again in front of them.

Never look back

And then.

Squish.

A sound came from the development lab.

“……”

The one who had been inside the blue mascot, who had followed us, moved.

To fulfill its promise.

The sound of a massive wave, the master of the deep sea, moving its powerful footsteps slowly, the sound of it rubbing against the fragmented mascot suits and their contents as if filled with regret…

So this moment has finally come

You wicked offspring from another land

I will devour you.

“…!!”

The remnants of Magic Bunny’s contents in the development lab were crushed and pressed down, as if being sucked into a fierce tidal wave or whirlpool.

Just like the ‘bad child’ was sucked into its mouth in the water park.

They are swallowed.

Grotesque screams, grotesque emptiness.

“Huuuugh.”

“Ugh!”

People instinctively cover their ears and lower their heads deeply. As if they don’t want to witness the unbearable scene, as if trying to refuse it.

However…

My eyes met someone who was looking at me.

The one wearing the yellow mascot’s mask.

Jang Heo-un was smiling broadly.

As if already completely subordinate to something else, without even the self to tremble in fear in such a situation.

As if he would look back and directly witness what was happening if he wanted to.

A different kind of chill ran through my entire body.

But behind me, the colossal presence was also reaching its peak.

The sound of gigantic water streams lashing everywhere in the development lab like heavy whips or tails, and then…

It vanished.

“……”

“……”

Those who had been covering their ears very slowly removed their hands.

A will, seemingly trying to be gentle, was heard from behind.

It is done

“……”

And.

The stairs began to move.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

As if being modified in real-time, they moved like waves, gently pushing people up the stairs.

“What, what is it?”

Finally, the ‘Staff Only’ section door opened, and as they boldly escaped outside… they witnessed an astonishing fact.

“Huh?”

All the red rabbits had vanished from Magic Castle!

The terrifying symbols it had created still remained, but all the rabbit character figures that had originally filled Magic Castle were gone.

Instead, a new painting was being drawn.

Bluedream.

Cute, deformed blue dragon figures were appearing everywhere.

As if urgent repairs were being made before business hours.

“…!”

“I-it’s done?”

The employees somehow looked back at me, and I nodded.

The Magic Bunny zone was conquered by another mascot.

Completely!

Now

Safe

“Ah!!”

“I-it’s done!”

The people who saw my smoke sighed in relief. Some even brightened or burst into laughter, but since they couldn’t look back, they unconsciously made sounds with their mouths.

“Th-thank you.”

“Thank you.”

It was directed at the blue mascot.

The shadow behind me, illuminated by my yellow lantern, swayed as if pleased.

That shadow was…

“…A dragon?”

“Team Leader?”

“A dragon or an Imugi… No, never mind.”

The team leader seemed about to say something but stopped.

“……”

A thought occurs to me.

‘I was also forcibly appointed as a mascot.’

If the one behind me was something else before becoming the blue mascot.

And if that mascot suit earlier was indeed Magic Bunny’s original form, which had lost its original shape.

Then perhaps. A conjecture arises that the Fun Theme Park might have captured powerful entities originating from other ghost stories or folklore through contracts and made them mascots.

“……”

Didn’t the Fun Research Lab also create the board game for entering this theme park?

‘It feels strange.’

At any rate, it wasn’t something to worry about right now.

What was important now was…

That Magic Bunny was gone.

Even if someone remained at the resort, the possibility of being killed by Magic Bunny was gone.

‘It’s done.’

My heart felt lighter because of that.

[No-ru was the one who suffered, though!]

[Thanks to giving all the credit, that mascot’s habit of thinking it’s the protagonist of a drama will get even worse.]

Oh dear.

‘But it’ll be okay.’

I led the employees and walked out of Magic Castle.

Dawn was breaking.

The Fun Theme Park was about to open for business.

We returned to the yellow zone’s connecting gate, but the passage of the gate we used was not Bluedream Waterland.

It was the gate Magic Bunny had installed.

But now a different sign was attached there.

[Bluedream Fantasyland Gate]

The blue mascot, having put its mascot suit back on, waved from its now-conquered zone.

The employees awkwardly waved back.

[My goodness, it’s like Stockholm Syndrome.]

…That’s what Brown would have said if he were here.

But as dawn broke, the receiver lost its function, and the connection with Brown was already cut.

Still, I would see him soon.

I hung the receiver near my thigh.

Just then, Chief Lee Seonghae spoke to me.

“Excuse me, Mascot. Are you going back to your mascot suit now?”

I looked at her silently.

If there were no other countermeasures, I would have to.

And I, unable to follow the others out, would have to remain in this theme park as a mascot forever…

Because if I stopped being a mascot, there would be no ‘me’ left. …I would disappear.

However.

• The Fun Theme Park has opened!

With cheerful music, the moment operations began.

My resort business uniform began to cover my security team clothes.

But it wasn’t a mascot suit.

“Wh-what?!”

A neat suit uniform, with a yellow bow tie.

“A-an employee?”

That’s right.

Finally, the horns on my mask were neatly arranged, and I stood as a complete ‘Flower Golden Resort’ employee.

“Mascot…?”

Hmm.

Strictly speaking, no.

This body was an employee.

Since when?

Since just before the illumination started!

‘I signed an employment contract!’

Employer: GOLDEN

Employee: No-ru

Yes.

I brought my original body, which was by the blue gate, and made it sign an employment contract.

To be separated from me, the mascot!

‘A living entity can be made an employee, right?’

Since the ceremony ritual hadn’t been performed yet, not all of my mind and body existed for the mascot.

However, the mascot’s self was strong enough to use even a standard-issue mascot as a body, so this separation was subtly achieved.

And so, my main body was separated as an employee!

This is why Magic Bunny couldn’t have noticed even if I was buried in the shelter.

Because I was an employee, not a mascot.

“Ohhh…”

I felt a little sorry that I couldn’t give a security-team-concept smile to some employees who looked at me bewildered.

‘But I have to do my job.’

…Of course, there was a problem in this process.

My consciousness is splitting into two.

Experiencing my death inside the standard-issue mascot was not a pleasant experience.

But I could bear it.

No, I had to bear it.

For this outcome!

‘Now I can leave.’

Anyway, most of the yellow mascots were dead except for a few standard-issue ones, and the resort had even collapsed.

Taking advantage of this weakening of the mascot’s power, I, the ’employee,’ could quickly resign and leave this theme park.

My consciousness, torn as a mascot and remaining in the ghost story… was chilling, but I had to accept it.

As Brown said, if I had shifted all this onto the employee, both of us would have been torn to shreds by Magic Bunny.

‘…Wouldn’t my already weakened self have been unable to bear it then?’

Furthermore, this Fun Theme Park exploration was specially organized by Director Ho at my request.

Even if the support was voluntary, especially Mr. Jang Heo-un… no matter how I thought about it, it seemed like Director Ho had put him there.

So, if I had to bear something, this was better.

I breathed.

And allowed the men residing in the standard-issue mascot to emerge from the collapsed resort…

‘First, let’s have everyone resign and then rebuild the resort.’

It would be easy if I poured in the fun coins distributed after conquering the red zone.

Then the remaining employees would have a place to work, and we could escape quickly.

There would be no problem.

It was the moment I thought that.

Good child

The blue mascot beyond the gate stared at me.

And then it raised a hand towards the air… pointing to the zone it was standing in, the one Magic Bunny had pioneered.

Hmm?

Here

Good child

Take

‘…?!’

W-wait a minute.

But it was already happening.

The color of the zone ‘transferred’ by the blue dragon began to change.

The blue color of the promenade once again turned golden.

And the golden light, climbing along half of the promenade, began to conquer ‘Fantasyland’.

‘My goodness.’

The areas corresponding to resort facilities in Fantasyland, almost a third of the total area, were tinged with golden light.

And cat mascot decorations with flower branches on their heads began to appear everywhere.

The good child

Did it for me

No.

No!! I had no intention whatsoever of expanding the yellow zone…!

‘It would have been enough if it just gave me some money to rebuild the resort!’

I suppressed a scream, looking at the blue mascot’s face which somehow looked expectant.

The yellow zone now has five… no, seven facilities!

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I feel it.

The mascot’s consciousness was growing too large.

Wait, at this rate, I can’t resign…!

‘The mascot is becoming too powerful!’

Things incomparably more powerful than when I only had one resort are flooding into my mind, pushing out my employee self and constantly trying to shift my vision to the standard-issue mascot. No!

‘If I resign now, will I, will I be able to remain?’

At that maddening moment, where fear threatened to consume me, yet the mascot’s joy surged in.

Light emanated through my security team uniform.

“…!”

I lowered my head.

Light was leaking from my wrist area in the shape of letters.

: 恩主 :

The tattoo that functioned as an inventory.

And that light detached from my skin, forming a shape.

That shape was…

‘The employment contract!’

The crumbled contents within it began to revive.

A being with innate, existential nobility.

The strike-through line, which had been drooping as if rejecting it,

A being with innate, existential nobility.

Disappeared.