Kami berempat berlari sekencang mungkin untuk menyelamatkan diri.
Dari segala penjuru, suara napas terengah-engah memenuhi udara. Kadang-kadang, terdengar jeritan atau teriakan panik dari kejauhan.
Aku tak bisa berhenti. Berhenti berarti mati. Atau lebih buruk lagi, aku punya firasat kuat aku akan berakhir dalam kondisi yang lebih mengerikan.
Satu-satunya kelegaan adalah tujuannya sudah dekat!
Bahkan sang peneliti, bukannya merengek, malah meneteskan air liur saat berlari dengan putus asa.
"Minggir! Minggirrrr!"
Topeng kupu-kupu itu berteriak. Dia tampak ingin melempar sang peneliti untuk membeli waktu, tapi tak tega melakukannya.
Itu bisa dimengerti.
Maskot-maskot yang berkerumunan ke arah kami berkembang biak dengan cepat, dan sekarang, beberapa dari mereka sudah sangat dekat—mengerikan.
Saat rasa takut menyergapku—
Pria bertopeng sapi itu tumbang.
Tanpa menoleh ke belakang, aku berhasil melempar koin di sakuku untuk memanggil sarung tangan. Lalu aku melempar beberapa koin 500 won untuk menciptakan bayangan tangan semi-transparan di udara.
Bayangan tangan itu terbang ke depan dan mendorong kepala maskot yang mengerikan itu.
Anggota baru skuad-Y yang nyaris lolos tadi, terhuyung bangkit dan berlari dengan panik.
"Huff… ha… t-terima kasih…"
Tak ada waktu untuk menghentikan pendarahan. Peralatan spesialku tak akan berguna saat ini!
'Bayangan tangan itu akan hilang begitu melewati jarak tiga meter…'
Sakit yang membakar menjalar ke tangan kiriku.
Aku hampir terjatuh, memegangi tanganku sambil berteriak kesakitan. Rasanya seperti tanganku sedang dihancurkan dan dilarutkan dalam mesin pres bergerigi.
'Peralatan spesial!'
Aku langsung menyadarinya. Bayangan tangan yang kupanggil di udara pasti mengalami nasib mengerikan di mulut atau tentakel maskot itu.
Saat itu, aku menemukan kelemahan peralatan spesialku: jika tangan yang diciptakan sarung tangan itu hancur, tanganku sendiri akan merasakan sakit yang sama persis!
Tapi tak ada waktu untuk berteriak. Aku berlari sekencang mungkin.
Titik tujuan mulai terlihat.
Dicat dengan warna-warna cerah, mengikuti gaya taman hiburan pada umumnya…
[FANTASYLAND (GERBANG SISI BARAT)]
Sebuah gerbang hiasan yang menempel di dinding kastil yang mengelilingi sisi barat taman hiburan.
Aku segera melangkah ke bawah gerbang hiasan itu dan menoleh ke belakang. Hampir seketika, dua orang lain mencoba masuk: asisten manajer skuad-A dan anggota baru skuad-Y.
Sang peneliti, yang berada di belakang, berada di posisi yang lebih berbahaya…
"Sial, cepat pindah!"
Sang peneliti mendorong asisten manajer skuad-A ke samping, menggunakan momentum itu untuk maju ke depan.
Tubuh ramping asisten manajer yang tak siap itu, menabrak seorang maskot.
Cairan hitam-merah dari maskot yang sebagian meleleh menetes ke lengan kanannya saat itu.
Suara daging mendesis terdengar di telingaku.
Karyawan skuad-A itu terjepit di bawah maskot yang terdistorsi mengerikan, anggota tubuhnya bergetar tak terkendali.
Wajahnya, yang sebagian terlihat dari balik topeng kupu-kupu, sudah melepuh dan hancur. Di matanya ada kepasrahan—tatapan seseorang yang tahu dirinya tak bisa diselamatkan.
Saat mata kami bertemu—
"Asisten Manajer, kukumu—di sini!"
Pada saat yang sama, aku merentangkan tangan kiriku ke depan. Mata asisten manajer skuad-A melebar, dan dia meraih ke depan, mengulurkan jari telunjuknya.
Kuku itu melesat keluar, menancap di tengah telapak tanganku.
'Ini sudah sakit sekali sebelumnya!'
Mengabaikan rasa sakit, aku mencengkeram kuku itu dengan erat, menariknya ke arahku.
Dengan suara pendek dan tiba-tiba, tubuh bertopeng kupu-kupu itu tersentak maju, nyaris menghindari rahang yang mengatup dan lendir yang meleleh dari para maskot.
Kami runtuh di bawah lengkungan, terengah-engah mencari napas.
Tepat di depan kami, tak terhitung maskot kelinci yang meleleh seperti menangis darah, menatap kosong dengan mata hampa, membeku di tempat seolah ditahan oleh penghalang tak terlihat.
Tampak seolah dinding tak terlihat telah menghentikan mereka.
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Panduan Taman Hiburan Ceria (Berlaku hingga Catatan Eksplorasi #64)
5- Nikmati berbagai zona!
Apakah penampilan maskot atau warna atraksi berubah? Kamu kini berada di zona baru.
Sayangnya, maskot dari zona lain tak bisa berada di zona baru. Ucapkan selamat tinggal dengan hangat!
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The four of us bolted out of the exit of the ‘Fantasy Train’ and ran.
The sounds of desperate panting came from both sides, the kind of breathlessness only achieved when running for your life.
It couldn’t be helped.
The mascots were pouring out.
From every attraction entrance, store, and sign, strange, unsettling bubbles of ooze burst, spewing forth grotesque mascots.
Occasionally, their bodies would lurch, and gooey, tentacle-like things would protrude from their drooping ears and arms.
– ♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪♩♪♬♬~♩♬♬~♩♪♪
– Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!
The noise was deafening.
The theme park music and laughter swirled together, creating a disturbing cacophony all around.
It was chaotic, frightening, disorienting, and utterly terrifying!!
The overwhelming sounds were disorienting, making it hard to think straight. But…
I gritted my teeth, turning in the direction I’d memorized with determination.
The slimy end of a tentacle just barely grazed my head.
The hair where the slime touched started to melt, and I caught a whiff of something burning.
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
But my feet didn’t stop moving. They couldn’t.
‘Stopping would mean the end.’
I’d die. Or worse, I had a gut feeling I’d end up in an even more horrifying state.
The only relief was that the destination was close!
Even the researcher, instead of whining, was drooling as he ran in desperation.
“Get away! Get awayyyyy!”
The butterfly mask shouted. She looked like she wanted to throw the researcher to buy time but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
It was understandable.
The mascots swarming toward us were multiplying like crazy, and now, some of them were getting alarmingly close.
In the moment that terror gripped me—
The guy in the cow mask went down.
Without even looking back, I managed to flip a coin in my pocket to summon the glove. Then I tossed a few 500-won coins to create a semi-transparent shadow hand in mid-air.
The shadow hand flew forward and shoved the head of a grotesque mascot.
The Y-squad newbie, who’d barely escaped, staggered up and scrambled to run.
“Huff… ha… th-thanks…”
There was no time to stop the bleeding. My special equipment wouldn’t be of any help at this point!
‘The shadow hand will disappear once it goes beyond the three-meter range…’
A searing pain shot through my left hand.
I almost dropped to the ground, clutching my hand and screaming in pain. It felt like my hand was being crushed and dissolved in a spiked press.
‘Specialized equipment!’
I realized instantly. The shadow hand I’d summoned in mid-air must have suffered some horrible fate in the mascot’s maw or tentacles.
In that moment, I discovered the flaw in my specialized equipment: if the hand created by the glove was destroyed, my own hand would feel the exact same pain!
But there was no time to scream. I sprinted like mad.
The target point came into view.
Painted in bright colors, following the style of a typical theme park…
[FANTASYLAND (WESTSIDE GATE)]
An ornamental gate attached to the castle wall encircling the western side of the theme park.
I quickly stepped under the ornamental gate and looked back. Almost immediately, two others tried to step in: the A-squad assistant manager and the Y-squad newbie.
The researcher, being behind, was in a more dangerous spot…
“Fuck, move already!”
The researcher shoved the A-squad assistant manager aside, using the momentum to propel himself forward.
The slender body of the assistant manager, caught off guard, collided with a mascot.
The black-red ooze from the partially melted mascot dripped onto her right then.
The sound of sizzling flesh echoed in my ears.
The A-squad employee was pinned beneath a grotesquely distorted mascot, her limbs shaking uncontrollably.
Her face, partly visible beyond the butterfly mask, was already blistered and ruined. In her eyes was resignation—the look of someone who knew they couldn’t be saved.
The moment our eyes met—
“Assistant Manager, your nail—here!”
At the same time, I stretched my left hand forward. The A-squad assistant manager’s eyes widened, and she reached out, extending her index finger.
The nail shot out, embedding itself in the center of my palm.
‘It already hurt like hell before!’
Ignoring the pain, I gripped the nail tightly, pulling her towards me.
With a short, abrupt noise, the butterfly-masked body was yanked forward, barely missing the snapping jaws and oozing slime from the mascots.
We collapsed under the archway, gasping for breath.
Right in front of us, countless rabbit mascots, oozing like they were crying blood, stared blankly with empty eyes, frozen in place as if held back by an invisible barrier.
It looked as if an invisible wall had stopped them in their tracks.
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Cheerful Theme Park User Guide (Applicable up to Exploration Record #64)
5- Enjoy the various zones!
Has the appearance of the mascot or the attraction color changed? You’re in a new zone now.
Unfortunately, mascots from other zones can’t exist in the new zone. Say goodbye warmly!
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