I looked down at the ground.
‘…The bricks are a different color.’
As if by magic, two white brick lines were under the decorative archway. The mascots couldn’t cross from the red brick floor beyond.
I glanced down at my admission ticket.
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]
[(Cheerful) Fantasyland Admission Ticket ■□□]
The voice faded away. The mascots clustered in front of us stood perfectly still, and then, in a blink…
The sound of our gasping breaths filled the now-silent air. I swallowed hard.
“…It seems this is the end of Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland.”
“We made it. We escaped.”
The Y-squad newbie collapsed to the ground, clutching his shoulder in relief and pain. I leaned my head back against the wall, gazing up at the sky, catching my breath.
‘I thought I was done for…’
My heart was pounding out of my chest.
The A-squad assistant manager glared icily at the researcher who had pushed her, but then, glancing at the nail-shaped wound in my hand, regained her composure. It seemed she’d decided there was no need to get worked up over killing the researcher right now.
It was impressive how calm she remained, despite the intense pain she must have felt from the acidic liquid splashed over her head.
The A-squad assistant manager took a deep breath.
“Thanks. I owe you my life.”
I hadn’t expected that.
“It’s nothing. You survived thanks to your specialized equipment…”
“There’s no point being modest here. Just say, ‘Got it.’ You’ve landed yourself on the right side here.”
The researcher desperately avoided her gaze.
The A-squad assistant manager gave him a brief look before returning to business.
“This place seems like a sort of buffer zone. Was that your plan? But it’s too cramped to just stand here… what’s the next step?”
“This isn’t the destination.”
After catching my breath, I turned completely to face the decorative gate.
“Did you know that large theme parks sometimes have more than just the amusement park itself?”
Technically, this area under the archway wasn’t in Magic Bunny’s territory or any other mascot’s.
It was a blank zone in the theme park, so they wouldn’t come after us for damaging property here.
I rapped my knuckles on the wall that was made to look like a door.
“Assistant Manager, can you use your special equipment to pry this open?”
The assistant manager silently raised her hand and extended her fingernail again, wedging it into a crack in the wall and yanking it hard.
One of the brick panels cracked open, and a gust of fresh air flowed in, carrying… the scent of water.
The sound of refreshing splashes, a boat horn, and seagulls filled the air, along with a lively marching tune.
Through the crack in the bricks, I glimpsed open space and sunlight streaming down.
Enormous, swirling water slides descended into a pool below, shimmering in different shades of blue as water and inner tubes streamed down.
[Blue Dream Waterland]
A water park, the summer zone of this large-scale theme park.
“It’s the Blue Zone.”
The Y-squad newbie whipped his head around to look at me, eyes wide with shock.
“When I looked at the Fantasyland color map earlier, there wasn’t a single water-themed attraction.”
“So I just guessed that there must be a large water section located separately elsewhere.”
I took a deep breath.
“And I also figured it wouldn’t be accessible through regular routes. They typically sell separate tickets for water parks, after all.”
“…So that’s why you pried open the wall?”
I recalled my earlier conversation with Squad Leader Lee Jaheon.
Of course, the squad leader had probably meant the west side within Waterland itself. But since we were at the far western edge of Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland, it allowed me to deduce the existence of a separate Blue Zone.
‘The east side was blocked by the forest, the north led to the entrance, and the south was a cliff…’
Really, the only plausible place for more space beyond Magic Bunny’s Fantasyland was the west.
“It seems the blue mascot, exiled from Fantasyland, created a new zone here.”
“For now, let’s get through as quickly as possible.”
Hands busily pried away the remaining bricks. Even the Y-squad newbie, injured as he was, used his one good hand to help.
Meanwhile, the researcher lingered in the corner, looking sly, as if he’d finally noticed things were going in his favor.
And within a few moments—
One by one, we began crawling through the now-exposed gap. I was the last to emerge, standing on both feet in Waterland, gazing at the blue pools and bright sky above.
A breeze, heavy with moisture, brushed by.
It felt so unbelievably good.
And as I stood, momentarily feeling a strange sense of liberation, I spotted people waving and running toward us from afar.
The members of D-squad.
The D-squad members bustled over, each carrying some bulky load, likely inner tubes or other gear.
Relief surged through me, perhaps from the familiarity of seeing the people I’d been working with for the past month.
“How have you all been!”
I greeted them happily and stepped forward, wondering if I should help take some of the load off the squad leader’s shoulder, as any proactive newbie would…
Hanging limply off the lizard squad leader’s shoulder was a human body.
Looking closer, I realized the person wore a teal duck mask.
It was the A-squad leader.