Chapter 28
The moment they entered the theme park, what greeted the Bureau agents was a grotesque sight.
A blood-red sky and a stained theme park entrance. Staff members with animal heads grafted onto their heads. Clowns tearing off their arms to hand out balloons, and caterpillars crawling forward as they laid down red carpets, and so on.
Horrors that were terrifying by their very existence filled every direction.
But the agents didn’t panic. They quickly assessed the situation and each took up their stance.
“Inside, time flows differently from outside. The clock is spinning like crazy.”
Park Min-a said.
A pocket watch that didn't measure the physical flow of time, but the gap between the anomalous phenomenon and reality. Its minute and second hands were spinning rapidly.
There was only one thing that meant.
“Time here is faster than outside.”
“Yes. Five minutes here will probably only be a few seconds outside.”
“Then the scouts and the others didn’t actually die in fifteen minutes. They must have held out for quite a long time in there.”
Team 5 agent Park Sang-cheol clicked his tongue and hefted a shotgun. Kim I-seo also opened her gun case and strapped two pistols to her waist.
“Agent Park Min-a, start the manual write-up.”
Mir said as she drew her sword. Park Min-a nodded, gripping the terminal in her hand.
They had entered immediately because one agent had been forcibly abducted, but the urgency faded the moment they saw the inside.
The device that could confirm whether a teammate was alive or dead had gone dead the moment they entered this place. There was no way to tell whether the member had died or survived.
But given an environment like this, there was a high probability they were already dead and had become part of this space.
It might not be that way, but they couldn’t rush in recklessly for the sake of something uncertain.
Securing the body was important too, but the objective mattered more than that.
The Response Division’s job was to resolve anomalous incidents, or to draft countermeasures. Their role was to choose between those two according to the wishes of the agent with the most authority among those deployed onsite.
And right now, the one with the most authority was Mir of Team 6.
“With our current personnel, it’s impossible to clear this. Given the nature of a space like this, simple armed conflict won’t solve it. Even if we kill the administrator-class entity, it won’t improve matters.”
It was a type of anomaly that parasitized the space itself. Even if the administrator died, from the theme park’s perspective it would just hire a new one.
So a force-based solution was ruled out. In cases like this, they’d either have to collapse the space through a specific gimmick, or bomb it so massively that the theme park itself judged it permanently unable to operate.
Either way, it was impossible with their current personnel.
Mir made a quick decision.
“So we’ll abandon resolution. Switching to strategy mode. From this point on, record everything that happens here and begin drafting a corresponding strategy. Classification: Stage 4 catastrophe class.”
“Understood.”
Park Min-a nodded. She immediately plugged a device into the terminal and attached a silver sticker to her temple.
At the same time, a description of the theme park began to be written on the terminal screen.
[This anomalous phenomenon, known as “Magic Eden,” is classified as Stage 4 catastrophe class based on the Response Division’s provisional judgment.]
[The moment we enter the theme park, we are dropped into another space. Time flows faster than in reality, and communication with the outside seems impossible. No signal can be received. Since both the device that reports a teammate’s life or death and the Bureau’s communication gear have gone dead, it has been confirmed that the phenomenon has completely severed the outside and inside worlds.]
[However, the terminal can still be used. It has been confirmed that this strategy guide can be registered in the Bureau’s database.]
[We will continue the exploration. The theme park’s outward appearance will be described below, so please review it.]
Click.
The terminal entry was finished. Park Min-a nodded, and Mir approached the employee standing at the theme park entrance.
“Welcome! Are you a guest?”
The employee responded with a cheerful smile. Park Sang-cheol hooked a finger around the shotgun’s trigger, and Kim I-seo also let out a tense breath with one pistol in hand.
Trying her best not to provoke him, Mir held out the ticket in her hand.
“We’ll enter.”
“Verified! However, a parade is currently in progress, so I’ll give you entry instructions after it ends! Please wait a moment!”
“...A parade? Can you tell me what that is?”
“Ah, sorry. It’s our policy not to leak information outside, so I can’t tell you.”
“...I see.”
“Yes! But you’ll like it much better if you see it in person! More importantly, what about the others? Will you be entering?”
The crushed dog head turned toward the other agents.
They immediately held out their tickets to the employee.
“5 minutes, verified! Please wait just until the parade ends!”
The employee turned back toward the entrance holding the tickets. The agents kept watch on their surroundings and waited for the guide’s instructions.
A little while later, the guy spoke again.
“The parade has ended! You may enter!”
“Thank you.”
Mir gave the employee a slight bow and passed through the turnstile into the theme park. The others followed behind her.
Over the shelf lined with pamphlets, a severed human head screamed at them to take one. The agents each took a booklet and rode the escalator up.
“Please record everything written in the booklet.”
“Yes.”
Park Ji-a answered. The rest of the team peered into the booklet and exchanged opinions.
“This place is absurdly huge. It’d take at least a full day to look around it all. Is it even possible to search for survivors in here?”
“We brought a life-sign detector, so it shouldn’t be difficult. Though I do wonder whether there are really any survivors left in an environment like this.”
Even at a glance, it was a place where ordinary people would have a hard time surviving. An ominous place where even the agents would lose their heads the moment they let their guard down. Hoping that the abducted victims were alive and unharmed was wishful thinking.
They weren’t optimistic. The outcome for humans caught up in phenomena like this was usually death. Only with incredible luck could they barely cling to life.
Even then, there was a high chance they wouldn’t be in one piece.
“At least ride three or more attractions... Hah, that’s basically the same as telling us to die.”
Park Sang-cheol muttered as he crumpled the booklet.
Kim I-seo folded the booklet and tucked it into her pocket.
“The odds are high that anyone who hasn’t used any rides at all is still alive. Or they’re hiding somewhere.”
“Whatever it is, the fact remains that we have to save them.”
Kim I-seo nodded at Mir’s words.
“Humans—
The moment she said that, two green dots appeared on Kim I-seo’s device. She widened her eyes and said to everyone,
“Two human presences detected above the escalator. They’re survivors.”
“...! Let’s go. Securing them comes first.”
“Yes.”
The group hurriedly ran up the escalator.
What they saw was a group of anomalies scattering away and two humans wearing cat masks.
One was a woman with a guitar case on her back, and the other was a man wearing a coat. The two stood still, staring at the Bureau agents.
Mir gripped her sword tightly and asked while looking at the two.
“Are those the two?”
“Yes.”
“...Their aura is strange. They’re definitely human, but something feels off.”
“Isn’t it because of the masks? They look like they’re wearing them to survive.”
“...That could be. Though... no. Anyway, they’re definitely human, so let’s hurry and rescue them.”
Mir said, and the agents nodded.
“P-please save us!”
At the same moment, the masked man suddenly shouted and ran toward the agents. The woman beside him also ran after him.
The agents’ faces stiffened at the sudden outburst. They didn’t stop the two, but they narrowed their eyes sharply and kept watch on the anomalies around them.
Fortunately, the anomalies showed no particular interest and kept walking along their paths. Some occasionally threw glances their way, but that was all. None of them came closer.
“Phew...”
Park Min-a let out a sigh of relief. Kim I-seo also relaxed the finger she had hooked on the trigger and took in the two people who had come right up beside her.
“Are you survivors?”
“Y-yes...! We got tickets and came here to have fun, and then all of a sudden we ended up in a place like this...!!”
“Please calm down. We are agents dispatched from a government agency. We came to rescue you.”
“...! I-I knew it!”
The man spoke brightly, as if he had expected as much. From behind him, the woman who had only peeked out muttered in a trembling voice.
“T-then can we leave now...? I-I want to get out of here fast. Just imagining what happened here... urk.”
“...I’m sorry. We can’t get you out right away either.”
“W-what?! W-why?”
“It seems there are conditions for escaping. As you saw in the booklet, you must ride at least three attractions.”
Kim I-seo said in a calm voice.
The woman, on the verge of tears, buried her face behind the man.
“Uu, sniff... Mom...”
“...I-I understand. Then what are we supposed to do now?”
Gently stroking the woman’s head, the man asked in a tense voice. This time, Mir answered instead.
“For now, please follow us. We’ll guarantee your safety as much as possible. It feels strange to say this ourselves, but we’re experts who have encountered phenomena like this many times. Staying with us is the safest option for you too.”
“Ah, understood. We’ll follow you.”
The man nodded. Mir carefully slid the blade into its sheath so as not to scare them, and said,
“More importantly, how did you end up wearing those masks?”
“It was a basic requirement to participate in the parade. The atmosphere was so threatening, like they’d kill us if we didn’t wear them, so we had no choice...”
“I see. By any chance, can you take them off?”
“Y-yes. When I tried to take it off, it felt like my whole face was being ripped away...”
“Hmm.”
Mir examined the grotesque-looking mask from various angles and nodded as if she understood.
“Understood for now. Then let’s move. Do not ever stray far from us.”
“Y-yes...!”
“Agent Kim I-seo, take care of those two. We’re moving.”
“Yes.”
Kim I-seo slid her pistol into the holster and led the two to stand right beside her. Then she smiled gently and reassured them.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to protect both of you.”
“...Thank you.”
“Khh... thank you...”
Hearing the two thank her, Kim I-seo stepped forward.
In that brief opening.
Taking advantage of the scattered attention the moment they started moving, Ian wrote on Yuna’s palm.
[Use them for now.]
Yuna, understanding the meaning, gave a small nod.
The two once again trembled like frightened victims and walked along with the agents.
*
Meanwhile, the grimoire Ian had thrown into the grass the moment he spotted the Bureau agents, Hand of Re-Creation,
It lay face down on the ground for a while before vibrating briefly and venting its dissatisfaction.
Bzzzt!