The resort must open its doors.
Even if someone died three hours ago.
Even if that person was a close coworker of mine.
Even if their blood and entrails flowed back into him and he was resurrected as something no longer human.
“Welcome, dear guest! What kind of room would you like?”
We stand side by side at the front desk.
…Right next to me, the staff member in the yellow mascot mask is courteously attending to guests.
Cold sweat trickled down inside the costume. As I mechanically handed a room key to a guest, I kept thinking…
What in the world is this?
‘Did I bring Jang Heowoon back to life?’
But can I really call that thing Jang Heowoon?
My sense as a mascot recognizes the employee standing next to me as a being pledged to me by contract.
However, for him to start working with a wide smile like that… It’s not the reaction of a human being who was impaled through the spine and brought back to life.
But since the resort must operate, and since Jang Heowoon also has to work diligently to fulfill the conditions as an employee and get his ride ticket stamped, I stand here.
But now, I even doubt whether escape is possible at all.
If you’ve already become part of a ghost story, can you really escape back to reality under human rules?
And is it even okay to escape…?
“Wow… thank you so much!”
He’s no longer overly tense.
He really acts like a hotelier, even toward the strangest-looking guests.
No matter how bizarre the requests, he doesn’t sweat or get flustered.
Even at lunchtime, instead of joining the other employees and heading to the staff cafeteria I had set up, he continued to work among the standard mascots.
He wouldn’t even look at Ladybug—the one who killed him—who was now muttering to himself, cleaning in a deranged state in the corner.
No resentment, no forgiveness, no interest.
All of that incongruity made my stomach churn and sent chills down my spine.
Thankfully, the mascot suit hid everything.
I sent off a guest and glanced around as I saw the next guest approaching, mouth half-open.
A modern person in a hoodie and jeans, looking flushed and glancing around nervously.
Was she caught up in the theme park board game? If so, then all I could hope for was that she’d just fill up her ride ticket and get out quickly.
“This is the resort from that magazine, right? Amazing…”
I checked both her wrists.
…No ride ticket band.
“Huh? There’s a theme park here too? I just, um, saw the review ad… Huh? But how did I get here? I remember wanting to visit, but why am I here?”
The person’s face went blank.
And I felt a chill down my spine.
…A human has shown up, dragged here by a method other than the board game.
Just for this resort?
“Um, but I don’t know how I got here. How do I leave?”
“This way, dear guest!”
Jang Heowoon cheerfully pointed toward the lobby door.
But the exit to this resort… Wait a second.
You can’t just let them walk out that way…!
A legitimate theme park guest will safely return to where they entered from. But a mere visitor… Wouldn’t she have a high chance of just ending up ‘outside’ the theme park?
And who knows what’s outside the theme park…
Just think of Death Lane or the Mansion of the Blind!
I hurriedly stopped the person.
I handed over one of the room keys hanging behind the desk at random.
“Huh? Ah, no, I’m fi…”
And I gave the last chance to become my guest to this bystander who had entered the resort, not even as a guest.
The mascot’s pupils stared at the bystander.
The person, trembling, held out her hand and accepted the room key.
It was basically a forced sale.
But there was no other way.
‘Just let her stay for now.’
“How would you like to pay?”
Jang Heowoon, in the yellow mascot mask, smiled as he handed the card back.
“That’s not a payment method accepted at Cheerful Theme Park, dear guest! Please pay in Cheerful Coins.”
“Uh… um, where can I get those?”
“It’s simple! At the Theme Park ■■’s where you can ■■■■■ your ■■■ ■■ and ■■■■■.”
“Aaaah! Ohthere’sawaylikethat!”
“Yes! It’s very simple.”
“I’ll go exchange it now! It’s so reasonable! Imagine, evenhumanscanbeusedascurrency!”
He’s saying things that should never be heard! He’s talking about things that should never be known! There’s a reason I deliberately assigned a human staff member, not a mascot, as the assistant front desk attendant! And there’s a reason I make sure not to think about it but of course as the mascot I already know. No, I won’t think about it! No…
The staff member closed his mouth.
The drooling human guest looked up at me.