Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 23

After countless hardships, finally escaping the crazy red mascot zone, I arrived at the blue zone.

There, I met the welcome D team… Lizard Manager’s shoulders were carrying the A team leader’s body.

“…….”

I barely asked.

“Th-the team leader’s body on your shoulders…”

“Ah, he fainted.”

Aha.

They were safely moving him.  Just as I was regaining my composure, the D team deputy pointed to a giant tube that he and the supervisor were dragging with his thumb.

“The body’s in there.”

“…….”

To see a body… stuffed into a tube and dragged around….

“It’s well-packed, but some parts are broken.”

Please don’t describe it.

“No, it was really gruesome! Wow…”

“Noru, be careful here, the mascot is like some kind of embodiment of justice.”

“Yes?”

The explanation that followed was this:

The mascot here intensely disliked inter-team killings.

“But the A team, that mantis-masked deputy, did an experiment, right?”

While riding the first attraction, he drove one Y team member to their death after another, giggling.

Unbuckle your seatbelt, stand up, sing along, do a handstand and go down the track….

“Three Y team members died like that. The last employee begged while crying, but he didn’t bat an eye… it was a bit disgusting.”

“…….”

And apparently, it wasn’t only my companions who felt that way.

The D team deputy frowned.

“When we got off the attraction, the mascot was waiting for the mantis mask.  Calling him a ‘bad child.’ And…”

Omitting the description for the sake of my mental health.

“I thought I was going to throw up.”

“…….”

“Well, honestly, he did poop, though! …Although the manager didn’t agree.”

The supervisor subtly pointed to the A team leader hanging on Lizard Manager’s shoulders.

“Speaking of which, why did he faint?”

“Well… our team leader, uh,”

“…….”

Wa-wait a minute.

Could it be?

“Actually, at that time, he made some unreasonable demands of us. He seemed to be trying to save his team members somehow.”

And when that went too far….

“The team leader’s neck snapped.”

“…….”

“Hey.  Let’s just say his blood pressure got too high and he collapsed, so Noru, shut your mouth.”

“Yes.”

I’ll take this to my grave.

“Oh, and, the reason why the Y team members received that treatment…”

“I heard the gist of the story. From him.”

I subtly gestured towards the deputy with the butterfly mask.

“…Oh? Okay.”

The supervisor’s complexion improved slightly.  It seemed to be because he had avoided a topic too dark to talk about himself.

“But how are your team members doing?”

Ah.

I hurriedly checked the cow mask with a hole in the shoulder and the butterfly mask with bubbles on the face.

“Some people need first aid. Could we get some help?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, Lizard Manager dropped the burden… the A team leader… on the floor.

And started shaking his shoulders.

“Wa-wait a minute, Team Leader!”

“Ugh!”

“…?!”

Lizard Manager, who had shaken awake the A team leader, calmly said.

“Manager Seok, we have an employee who needs treatment.”

“Wh-what…”

The A team leader, who had been dazed, soon looked as if he had come to his senses and pointed at Lizard Manager.

“You!! You!”

“Yes.”

“What happened to Section Chief Lee! The one with the mantis mask…”

“He’s dead.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…What were you doing while he was dying?”

“We waited until he died, secured the body, and rode to the next attraction.”

Good heavens.

The A team leader’s face was momentarily speechless, then he stammered and opened his mouth.

“I-I was watching my A team die??  Lee Jaheon, are you insane?? How are you going to take responsibility! This loss…!”

“? I am the D team leader. The A team is not under my jurisdiction.”

Lizard narrowed his eyes as if puzzled.

“The loss caused by the death of A team’s Lee Seokjong is your responsibility as the team leader.”

“…….”

Th-this… to actually see someone say this at a company.

Even if the job titles are the same, if it’s an elite team, they would unconditionally be superior.

It sent a chill down my spine in a different sense.

“…….”

A-team’s leader stared intently at Lee Jaheon, the supervisor, with bloodshot eyes.

 

“Even though you fainted, you also rode all three attractions and met the clear conditions. Now, treat your employees and take responsibility…”

“Team Leader.”

This wasn’t a voice trying to stop Lee Jaheon, the supervisor.

It was the Butterfly Mask representative calmly addressing the A-team’s leader, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“Wouldn’t it be better to talk outside? Let’s clear this before more variables appear. You need to meet those crazy people from Research Team 1, too.”

“…Right. That’s right.”

The eyes behind the duck mask blinked, then slowly calmed down.

It seemed the primary target of their anger was fixed again.

But in the end, they left one more word.

“Lee Jaheon, let’s talk outside.”

“Yes.”

The foreman whispered to me quietly.

“It’s okay. Our team leader hears lines like that annually.”

“….”

Really… is it okay?

‘What’s certain is that I’m not qualified to interfere.’

Let’s just shut up and stay out of sight.

In any case, A-team’s leader used their specialized equipment to treat the Butterfly Mask representative.

The sight of the skin around their jaw and head regenerating like rewinding was marvelous.

“Very few employees have specialized equipment like that. I’m envious.”

Me too.

‘Is there any way to get one?’

It seemed like having something like that would significantly increase survival rates.

I carefully observed A-team’s leader’s specialized equipment, the healing ring.

‘Healing…’

After checking on the Butterfly Mask employee, who was now quite neatly treated, the A-team’s leader was about to ignore the Y-team employee whose shoulders were riddled with holes…

“Could you please treat this person as well? We need to travel together, and I’m worried about their mobility.”

“…!”

Surprisingly, A-team’s representative subtly offered to treat me and the Y-team newbie.

Thanks to this, the Y-team newbie, whose shoulders were healed unexpectedly, blinked under their Cow Mask.

“…Thank you.”

A-team’s representative nodded slightly.

‘Are they really the type who only thinks about work efficiency…’

They had grasped the mechanism of this rumor mill, and as soon as safety and escape methods were secured, their decision-making shifted towards minimizing risk.

‘Is this type of person an elite in this company…’

I decided to take note of and remember A-team’s equipment and characteristics. …And it would be nice to forget about those bodies in the tubes as well.

“Now then, let’s ride the two attractions we haven’t ridden and get out quickly.”

“Ah, thank you.”

As soon as the red team’s treatment was finished, they moved towards the attractions to fill the remaining slots on their ride bracelets.

The others also followed without leaving.

“It’ll be over in exactly 30 minutes, so don’t worry.”

It seemed they were waiting partly to confirm the situation and partly to look after the newbie.

I was grateful, but considering the tube of bodies following us, it might be less frightening if they just left…

“Like I said before, the mascot here is quite moral for a monster.”

Hmm. I suspected that from the call.

‘If they rode three attractions so quickly, there’s only one reason.’

A lenient mascot who demands nothing excessive.

These teams were lucky enough to have gotten that area with an incredibly low probability.

“They even answered questions about what’s inside the attractions kindly? They even gave souvenirs for being the first to ride all three.”

Lucky them.  Having it easy.

Meanwhile, someone is struggling in the crazy Magic Bunny Zone…

The surprising thing is that, judging only by the survival rate, the red team had a higher survival rate, with everyone surviving.

In any case, the red team soon arrived at the entrance of the attraction where a blue dragon character riding a dolphin was smiling.

And as they entered the attraction… a cutely exaggerated figure of a blue dragon’s head was visible.

A blue mascot wearing a life jacket.

[Hello]

The mascot waved an introductory sign.

I bowed slightly in greeting. The mascot returned the greeting.

“Hmm.”

Then we boarded the Plum Ride called ‘Blue Mountain’. It was a typical amusement park ride where you ride a boat and enjoy the water jets.

The other two field investigation team members safely boarded as well.

However, the last person was the problem.

“F*ck.”

The researcher twitched their mouth and spat at the mascot.  It seemed the hatred and fear towards Magic Bunny finally erupted upon seeing a similar, less terrifying mascot.

“You freaking disgusting things…”

“Get on quickly.”

“Yes.”

Glancing back at the mascot, the researcher boarded the attraction.

The blue dragon mascot’s button-like eyes silently watched.

“…….”

Thus, the remaining attractions were boarded without incident.

[(Happy) Fantasyland Boarding Pass ■■■]

“Finally…!”

“Whew.”

Finally, all the boarding pass slots were filled.

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

“Yes!”

They were soaked, but it didn’t matter.  Escaping this damned theme park was what mattered.

‘I don’t want to go anywhere near a theme park within a 1km radius for a while…’

[Goodbye]

Above the gate devices at the north exit, a typical goodbye sign glittered.  And next to it stood a formally dressed blue mascot.

“They say to stamp your used boarding passes here before leaving.”

The blue mascot politely pointed to the gate device with its hand.

“Alright then, let’s have the team leaders go first. Quickly.”

Team D’s supervisor made the wise choice of quickly sending the superiors ahead by organizing the situation.

One by one, people left.  Around the time the supervisors and below were leaving…

“Now then, let’s start with Assistant Manager Jin…”

“Get, get out of the way!”

The researcher shoved past the employees and rushed to the gate.

“Wha…”

The supervisor and team leader looked somewhat dumbfounded, but seemed to shrug it off with a feeling of, ‘That’s just how civilians are,’ or something like that.

It wasn’t like they’d lose anything by being a few seconds late.

Regardless, the researcher frantically tried to have their boarding pass wristband recognized at the gate.

‘That seems to be a habit of theirs.’

Honestly, it made me frown…

“…Huh?”

The researcher turned their head.

The blue dragon mascot was holding their boarding pass wristband with its claw.

The paper wristband crumpled.

Rip,

Rip, rip,

It tore.

Whoosh.

The researcher stared blankly at the pieces of the wristband falling to the floor, seemingly unable to comprehend.

And.

“Haaaaaaaack, Aaack!!”

The blue dragon’s mouth opened wide.

“Help! Help!”

They were sucked in.

Beside them, the cow mask muttered like they were possessed.

“Ooooh, it’s terrifying! The sea god is enraged! The wicked person is being sucked into the abyss! Terrifying…”

I covered the Y-team’s rookie’s mouth and pressed down on their head.

I myself also bowed my head so I wouldn’t see.

“Aaaaaaaaaack!!”

So it would end like this…

Moving to a different area would make the aggro drawn from the mascots in the previous area disappear.

However, their actions accumulate.

———————

Happy Theme Park Usage Guide (Applicable to Exploration Records up to No. 64)

6. Don’t forget that the theme park is a shared space!

Observe etiquette and manners when using public facilities! Countless eyes are watching you, and no one forgets.

Look, a mascot’s behind you.

———————

All the mascots know what happened inside Happy Theme Park.

That includes what the researcher did earlier.

– Get out of the way, you bastard!

Even pushing Team A’s supervisor in front of them to be killed while running from the red mascot.

‘I think they were trying to let it slide once, considering the extreme circumstances…’

The problem was that they repeated the same act.

‘Karma, I guess.’

The researcher’s scream in their ear was now turning into a wail.

“That freaking bastard also tried to kill me!! Why me, why me!! You trash, you…”

That’s right.

But Team A’s supervisor never actually did it. Because they listened when persuaded.

‘But you didn’t listen.’

Even for a coward like me, who lives in a safe haven, I think this is self-inflicted.

-Help… me… Aaaaaaaaack…

The researcher’s voice stretched like taffy, leaving a chilling feeling of dread.

‘Ugh.’

A coward’s heart reacted reflexively, making my body flinch.

“Don’t.”

“…….”

A Team employee grabbed my arm and held it down.

And they said, in a restraining tone,

“You can’t save them.”

I… didn’t even intend to try.

Anyway, I remained quiet as instructed.

Soon, the screams disappeared, and the strange feeling around me subsided.

When I looked up, the impeccably dressed blue dragon mascot was politely standing there.

It didn’t look like it had killed anyone.

It became slightly more eerie.

‘More stringent standards than I thought.’

Is this a haunted place after all?

This mascot seemed to have its own beliefs and standards, beyond simply not harming its team members.

‘Let’s act cautiously.’

“…Let’s go out again.”

“Yes.”

One by one, the remaining people left.

I wondered, but was it seniority based after all?

“Let’s go see.”

I gave up and sent my superiors out first.

And after seeing off my fellow scaredy-cat.

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

“…….”

The cutely deformed dragon looked at me with round eyes.

Look, could you please not look at me?

Actually, it’s really scary. I’m incredibly scared of being the last one left. I’m trying hard not to show how scared I am.

That’s when it happened.

“…!”

Ah, is it reassuring me?

The mascot’s voice didn’t sound strange like before.

‘Property damage… It seems to be letting me go.’

Thank goodness.

“Thank you.”

I nodded and tried to pass by.

However, the mascot moved and blocked my way.

“…?”

The blue dragon reached out its hand.

And gently grasped my wrist.

To be exact, the wristband with my pass.

[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Pass ■■■]

The wristband felt slightly warm, and after the mascot removed its hand…

[◎ (Cheerful) Fantasyland Membership ◎]

The text changed.

…Huh?