Seoul Object Story - Chapter 54: Theme Park (5)

Park Seo-ah POV:

—

The doll swung its fist towards the outer wall of the isolation room, and the entire Research Institute shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

I fell over from the unfamiliar sudden vibration.

“Sister Seo-ah! Are you okay?”

As I got up with the help of researcher Oh-Yerin, a strange laughter echoed.

Kek-kek kek-kek.

Inside the isolation room, there was a doll making a ruckus that was clearly a different size than before.

Now anyone could see that this ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’ was strange.

The theme park doll, which was about 1m in size, had now become a giant 3m doll.

“Director Lee Sehee, if this continues, it will become uncontrollable. If the size of that doll exceeds 10m, we can no longer contain it in our Research Institute isolation room.”

“Ugh, it’s a headache. Was it a mistake to carelessly bring the death row inmate?”

The doll started growing in size right after the death row inmate was gone, and it started rampaging when it exceeded 2m.

“It’s okay. Reaper will definitely do something about it!”

When everyone had serious expressions due to the Object’s rampage, only researcher Oh-Yerin was bright.

I should seriously consider whether the gray Reaper has the ability to mentally contaminate…

Kek-kek kek-kek.

Something strange came out of the doll’s mouth.

A bloody, severed finger.

The theme park doll now started spewing blood human pieces from its mouth.

Finely crushed flesh and severed fingers poured out incessantly.

“Huh? I’ve seen that ring on that finger before!”

Researcher Oh-Yerin pointed at a finger that fell on the floor and said,

“It seems to belong to a large man with a rather timid expression.”

Fortunately, after the doll spat out blood once, the phenomenon of increasing in size stopped.

“This is big trouble. If it grows that much for each death row inmate killed, the Research Institute won’t be able to handle it.”

“Assuming 2m per person, it could grow an additional 18m.”

Even generously considering the strength of the Research Institute isolation room outer wall, 10m was the limit for containing the doll, so an urgent plan was needed in case of isolation failure.

“Reaper! Quickly tear open the doll’s stomach and come out.”

But Director Lee Sehee of the Research Institute didn’t seem to have any such intention.

It does seem like the gray Reaper has the ability to mentally contaminate?

***

I woke up on a bed that was too comfortable to be comfortable.

“Phew.”

I take a deep breath.

It had a cozy atmosphere, but I kept in mind that this was inside the mouth of a murderous Object.

An Object interested in humans? According to reports, most were murderous Objects.

An Object giving out invitations to humans? It was naturally a murderous Object.

Suddenly, the room door opened, and a mannequin with the ominous doll’s face that I saw in the isolation room politely greeted me.

“Our guest this time is a lady with cool tattoos. Welcome. Welcome to Smile Theme Park!”

The mannequin had a friendly atmosphere, but it looked even more dangerous.

“Hmm, you’re a quiet guest. Before enjoying the theme park, please accept this first.”

What the mannequin handed me was a sheet of paper made for stamping.

“What is this paper? Is it really necessary?”

“Well, I can’t say it’s absolutely necessary, but you’ll need it to get out of this theme park.”

According to the mannequin’s explanation, it seemed structured so that if you collect all 9 stamps, you can escape.

“Then hurry and guide me to the ‘fun rides’ where I can get those stamps.”

There’s no need to waste time.

Whether I live or die, I always move forward boldly.

“Hmm, well, unfortunately this room itself is a ‘fun ride’ where you can get a stamp. So you can’t leave right now.”

The mannequin pointed to a paper hung on the wall that said Room Rules.

<Smile Theme Park Room Rules>

<omitted>

<Delete one line from the following rules.>

<At least 6 out of the 7 colored foods are poisonous.>

<All red, orange, and yellow foods are poisonous.>

<All red, yellow, and blue foods are poisonous.>

<All orange, blue, and purple foods are poisonous.>

<All green, blue, and navy foods are poisonous.>

<All orange, green, and navy foods are poisonous.>

Nonsense quizzes that are more like wordplay than quizzes.

Of course, if your life was at stake, it wouldn’t be just a game.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any time limit.

Slowly and surely, I’ll come to a conclusion.

After pondering, I reached my conclusion.

The answer is purple.

The other colors appeared more than twice, so they can be crossed out.

We will rely solely on your kindness! Click here!

Donate now

But the suspicious part is that it doesn’t definitively state ‘There is no poison in the purple food!’

“Hey mannequin, can I ask a question?”

“Of course. We’re here to answer your questions and guide you through the theme park.”

I waved the paper with the rules written on it and said,

“This doesn’t definitively say there’s no poison in the purple food, so does that mean there is poison?”

“Hmm, we’re prohibited from giving direct help. But this might be a hint.”

And the mannequin spoke with an intonation that seemed fitting for a commercial jingle.

“There are no boring attractions where you 100% die at the fun Smile Theme Park.”

I see.

So does that mean I can eat the purple food?

I opened the cupboard and took out a food item with a purple tag.

A simple purple-tagged energy bar that looked edible.

As I tried to peel off the wrapper to eat it, the mannequin’s gaze bothered me.

It was staring at me blatantly.

Why is it staring like that? Is there something strange?

“Hey, if I solved this problem, I can eat the corresponding food, right?”

“Hm, well, the rules aren’t a problem, rules are rules. Everything written is the truth.”

“What?”

Everything written is the truth?

So does that mean there is poison in the purple food too?

I threw away the energy bar I had taken out and reread the rules carefully.

Right, delete.

I have to delete one.

Looking around, I found an eraser with ‘Delete’ written on it.

“What a fool.”

I used the eraser to delete the line that said <All orange, blue, and purple foods are poisonous.>

After deleting it, the line <Delete one line from the following rules> had also disappeared.

I took out another energy bar from the cupboard and bit into it.

There was no poison.

“Congratulations. You’ve passed the first attraction. Did you have fun?”

“Hmm, you don’t seem very satisfied. Shall I introduce you to another attraction? There is an attraction with rules very similar to the room!”

“No, I absolutely won’t do anything you recommend directly because it seems too suspicious.”

Following the mannequin’s guidance, I opened the room door and a huge firework filled the dark night sky.

“Welcome once again to ‘Smile Theme Park’ where it’s a festival 365 days a year!”

Fireworks kept bursting without a pause and the deserted ticket booth had not a single person.

And there was just me and the mannequin standing there.

That subtle atmosphere felt very Object-like.

***

Reaper (MC) POV :

—

Whoa, I thought my neck would snap off.

tak-tak

As I walked out slowly from the amusement ride called ‘Smile Drop Tower’, I held my neck, still feeling the surprise.

There were no particular injuries, but it had been a long time since I was startled like this.

This Smile Theme Park being an amusement park, it had my favorite ‘drop tower-type’ ride.

I excitedly went over to check it out, and this drop tower surprisingly had no height restrictions.

Of course, I happily took a seat, lowered the safety bar, and boarded!

But sadly, this ride was not a drop tower-type ride, but a drop tower-type gallows.

A cruel attraction where a noose is placed around your neck when reaching the highest point.

The safety bar grabbed my shoulders to pull me down, and an iron wire noose pulled up around my neck.

Not an execution that breaks your neck bones, but a new concept attraction that completely rips off your neck!

Looking at its form, except for the safe seats where no noose comes out, everyone would get executed on this ride.

It was a ride where you solve a quiz to figure out the safe seat before enjoying it, but I ignored the confusing quiz and boarded, resulting in this mess.

If I wasn’t an Object, I would have almost died.

But I already have two stamps!

I looked up at the sky from the loud noise.

The huge fireworks were still endlessly bursting in the night sky.

Looking back, the mannequin seemed to be in quite a good mood.

It had been following me ever since I left the room, and somehow it seemed to welcome me getting stamps.

Is it better for me to get a lot of stamps?

“You are truly amazing, guest. In fact, the serving doll thought ‘Maybe I gave the invitation to the wrong person?’ That’s how amazing you are. Why on earth did it give you the invitation?”

Well, why did it give it to me?

The doll that initially tried to give it made a mistake.

It could be seen as the doll’s mistake, couldn’t it?

Feeling around my neck area, I thought about where to head next.

It didn’t particularly hurt, but since I was startled, I should go eat something tasty for a change of mood!

Looking up at the large map installed throughout the theme park, I saw a suitable place.

It was a large restaurant named ‘Food Court’.