Screeech.
Halfway up the nameless mountain behind the city, a black van climbed onto the broken road.
The van raced along the road, but as its end came into view, it gradually slowed.
“We’re here.”
The driver in sunglasses turned the wheel and parked on the shoulder. As the doors opened, men and women in black suits poured out.
They were agents from the Bureau’s Response Division. Unlike the usual arrangement, in which they moved in designated teams, the agents gathered here all belonged to a chaotic mix of teams.
It couldn’t be helped.
The basic requirement for entering the theme park was possession of a ticket. Because of that, those who had failed to obtain one could not come, no matter how much they wanted to. Even a veteran with supernatural powers could not be transferred into a bizarre phenomenon without fulfilling its conditions.
As a result, two members of Response Team Three, three from Team Five, and one from Team Six were present.
A response team consisting of six people.
It wasn’t a small number, but neither was it large. It was an awkward number for investigating and dealing with an unidentified bizarre phenomenon.
Still, this was not a situation in which they could do nothing but complain. In the first place, no talent capable of asserting their ego against such irrationality could survive long in the Bureau.
Since when had the Mysteries ever taken human circumstances into consideration?
Unfavorable conditions were practically a daily occurrence for the Response Division. So, instead of voicing their dissatisfaction, they quickly composed themselves and began preparing to enter.
“The signal from the reconnaissance team members carrying tickets cut off right here. It seems the address written on the tickets wasn’t false.”
Park Jia spoke.
She skillfully operated her terminal and showed the screen to everyone.
“A team of three disappeared at the broken road. Their life signals were cut off as well.”
“You mean they’re dead. That happened how many minutes after they went inside?”
The man with a massive shotgun strapped to his back removed his sunglasses as he asked. Park Jia immediately replied.
“Fifteen minutes. The cause of death is… listed as mutation?”
“Mutation. Is this some kind of zombie theme park?”
“We don’t know. But if all three of them mutated within fifteen minutes, it’s certainly not something we can take lightly.”
“Of course not. A bizarre phenomenon that connects reality to an alternate space like this couldn’t possibly be simple.”
The man inhaled cigarette smoke with practiced ease, then turned to the agents from his team.
“Grab your gear and let’s go in. I’d prefer it if we didn’t have to fight, but that isn’t up to us.”
“Yes, sir.”
“This damn ax. It’s filthy heavy…!”
The members of Team Five, including the man, each collected their weapons.
“……”
Mireu, the sole agent from Team Six, stood alone, waving her ticket while fiddling with the sword at her waist.
Team Six consisted solely of the strongest members of the Response Division. There was no doubt that she would play a major role in the theme park.
Park Jia watched Mireu’s back for a moment before turning toward Kim Iseo, who had a gun case strapped to her back.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. All my injuries have healed, too.”
Kim Iseo answered while lightly tapping the thigh that Palcheok had injured. Her pink hair fluttered in the wind.
“What about you? Is your condition all right?”
“Not bad. It’s enough to support the team.”
Park Jia answered with a bright smile. Just as Kim Iseo smiled back, Mireu, who had been standing still until then, returned with her ticket in hand.
“When did everyone first discover their tickets?”
It was an unexpected question, but rather than express confusion, the Bureau agents immediately took out their tickets and answered.
“This is my third day.”
“Today makes five days for me.”
Park Jia and Kim Iseo spoke. The members of Team Five also reported that they had found theirs within the past week.
Except for one person.
There was one man for whom today marked exactly one week.
“I found mine in front of my lodging at around three in the afternoon, exactly one week ago.”
“……One week ago. Exactly the sort of time when something would be likely to happen. Did you notice anything unusual?”
“Not particularly. My mental state is normal, and there don’t seem to be any physical problems.”
It was at that very moment the man said this.
The minute hand of the world turned, pointing precisely to three in the afternoon.
And the man disappeared before their eyes.
There had been no warning whatsoever. His figure vanished as though he had never been standing there in the first place.
Boom!
Instead, a tiny clown doll appeared beneath the spot where he had been standing. A balloon string was wrapped around its neck, and the limp, corpse-like doll convulsed madly before bursting, blood gushing from it.
“……!”
“Goddammit!”
The agents’ demeanor changed in an instant. Before anyone could say a word, they each gripped their tickets and ran toward the entrance to the theme park.
“Move in, move in! Begin the operation!”
“Agent Park Jia! Forced transfer occurs after a week of possessing a ticket! Record it and send it to the Bureau immediately!”
“Yes, yes! I’m recording it!”
She hammered on her terminal without slowing her pace.
After one step, then two, and finally three—
“……Ah.”
The world changed.
*
The condition of the contract posted by the Cartel was to extract the Administrator’s heart. But finding where the Administrator was would be difficult.
“I-I think the tower over there is the most likely place….”
Yuna pointed toward the enormous blood-red tower standing at the center of the theme park. Ian agreed with her.
“If he’s anywhere, it’ll be there. But we can’t be certain. If we charge in recklessly and get trapped, it’ll become a real headache. And more than anything, even if he is there, we can’t kill him right now.”
“R-Right… We have to prepare a way to escape first….”
Everything would not end simply because they extracted the heart. They had to leave the theme park with it in hand.
If killing the Administrator caused this space to collapse, then it wouldn’t matter. But unless they could be certain of that, they couldn’t act recklessly.
For now, the sensible thing was to experience at least three of the attractions in the theme park and secure an escape route in advance.
The problem was that none of the rides were remotely sane.
Some had no safety bars at all. There was a roller coaster that raced between saw blades, a haunted house where a killer chased its guests, and a drop tower that continued rising into the sky instead of falling, allowing clown clouds to seize and devour its riders alive.
Everywhere was filled with attractions brimming with malice, all designed to kill humans. No matter which one they used, an ordinary person clearly wouldn’t survive.
However, there were several that a mage could overcome without much difficulty.
If they cleared only those, securing an escape route in advance would not be particularly hard.
Ian studied the attractions listed in the pamphlet once more and planned their route ahead of time.
“W-What…?”
It was then that Yuna suddenly pointed toward the plaza and raised her voice.
“S-Someone suddenly appeared over there…!”
“……What?”
At her words, Ian furrowed his brow and whipped his head around.
In the center of the plaza, where a blood-red fountain flowed and grotesquely dressed clowns, dolls, and guests crawled about, a man in a suit had suddenly appeared.
Unlike the other anomalies, he was dressed normally. He did not immediately realize that something about his surroundings had changed and merely stared blankly. But soon, he drew the pistol from his waist and aimed it at a bug crawling nearby.
“W-What the fuck is this?!”
His face was colored by bewilderment, terror, and fear. The moment Ian saw his clothes and pistol, he realized that the man was an agent of the Bureau. Yuna seemed to reach the same conclusion, as she mouthed something inaudible and stroked the guitar case with one hand.
But the agent failed to notice the two of them.
No—he had no time to do so.
“……”
“……”
With his appearance, the anomalies that had been moving energetically around the plaza all stopped at once. Then they creaked their heads around and stared at him.
It wasn’t only the plaza. Those riding the attractions, those selling food, even the clown clouds in the sky—
They all glared fixedly at him, capturing his image in their eyes.
It was a chilling sight. Ian twisted his face and took a step back.
*There’s nothing to gain from getting involved.*
He did not know why the man had been sent here, or how he had arrived.
But he suspected that something had gone wrong while the Bureau was dispatching an agent to resolve this phenomenon.
It certainly could not be anything good.
“H-He’s going to die….”
Yuna muttered while watching the agent. Yet there was no sadness or sympathy on her face.
She was merely stating reality in a calm voice.
Ian nodded and turned around.
“Let’s move. If we stay in the plaza, we might get caught up in it.”
“Y-Yeah… I think we should go to the h-haunted house first… We have to pass through here no matter what if we follow the route….”
“I thought the same. More importantly, do you intend to save that agent?”
“Y-You do…? Why bother…? It’s already too late, anyway….”
Yuna scratched her cheek and answered awkwardly.
“Let’s just go… It looks like it’s about to begin….”
Yuna glanced behind her as she spoke. Ian followed her gaze and turned his head slightly.
[Intruder detected. Intruder detected.]
A grotesque voice began pouring from the speaker installed beside a bench in the plaza.
[All employees of this theme park are requested to swiftly eliminate the intruder. I repeat. All employees of this theme park are requested to swiftly eliminate the intruder.]
[Wheeeeeee-eeeeeng!!]
Along with the sound of the siren, the employees who had been standing still began to move. The Bureau agent shouted and fired his pistol, but that only allowed him to deal with a few of them.
Thud!
Before long, an employee’s arm pierced through his abdomen, tore out his organs, and began chewing them noisily. His body, drained of strength, collapsed face-first onto the ground, while the severed arm fell precisely toward the two mages.
“Heeheeheehee!”
“Keh-reuk, kuh-heeeek!!”
The employees and guests gathered around the fallen agent. Then they tore into his body and devoured him as though he were a feast.
Ian watched for a moment before turning away.
*Fortunately, bullets seem to work.*
It had been unintentional, but they had obtained valuable information.
Ian wished the man a silent rest and continued walking.