Seoul Object Story

Chapter 55: Theme Park (6)

The man with only bones left was restlessly wandering around the room.

Clang clang.

The sound of metal pieces colliding kept ringing every time the man walked.

This man seemed to have some kind of anxiety disorder, unable to stay still for even a moment.

"T-The rules seem harder than I thought."

"I-I'm a genius. Why can't I figure it out? Is something wrong with me?"

He kept muttering to himself without pause.

On top of that, his self-rationalization and boastfulness were severe.

And the strangest point was that he had gathered all the nails in the room and put them in a table drawer that he carried around.

Unexpectedly, he managed to pass the room's trap rules.

But seeing how he agonized over the room's problem for over 10 hours, it will be difficult for him to pass through to the end.

As the man rejoiced at passing the room, I acted according to the prescribed rules.

Congratulatory greetings and stamping.

Clap clap clap.

"Congratulations, guest!"

***

Finally!

I barely managed to open the room door.

Looking in the mirror, I saw my drenched appearance covered in cold sweat.

What an unsightly display.

Looking in the mirror, I keep using my hand to push up my glasses slipping down.

Seeing my bony, emaciated wrist, I pull my sleeve down to cover it again.

"Heh, heheh. This place seems prepared for intellectuals like me, doesn't it? Right, Miss Mannequin?"

"Wow, that's right, guest."

The female mannequin standing next to me, Miss Mannequin, clapped in agreement.

Why 'Miss Mannequin'?

Because she told me to freely call her what I want.

Though her face looked too scary, if I think of it as wearing a doll mask, it's quite alright.

The quiz from the room was simple.

Is this supposed to be a murder quiz?

It was too easy for such a question to come up.

For someone like me who was once obsessed with those kinds of puzzle games, it was way too ez.

Should I say EASY MODE?

They should give me proper propositional logic problems to solve, then there would be a sense of accomplishment.

As I stepped out of the room, the sound of huge fireworks welcomed me.

The refreshing night breeze cooled my sweat-drenched body.

Looking at the large map set up at the theme park entrance, I discussed the plan with Miss Mannequin.

"Heh-heheh. First, since I GOT one stamp from the room, it's better to strategically aim for similar puzzles."

Pointing at the Food Court, I asked Miss Mannequin.

"This place called FOOD COURT has puzzles similar to the room, right?"

"Yes, guest. The quizzes are so similar, you'll be amazed."

"Goo-good. Then let's go there."

Clang clang.

The sound of blades colliding as I walked was pleasing to hear.

Not walking far, the Food Court I arrived at was a wide one-story building.

As I opened the Food Court door and went inside, the door closed with a bang sound.

I tried shaking it to open, but it didn't budge at all.

"A-As expected. The same structure."

With an uneasy feeling, I stroked the knife I had put in my arms.

Inside the Food Court, numerous mannequins were cooking food.

There were 7 stores:

A red sushi restaurant.

An orange Japanese tonkatsu restaurant.

A yellow budae-jjigae restaurant.

A green fast food place.

A blue pizza place.

A navy bakery.

A purple fried chicken place.

It was structured so you could order desired food from the kiosks and receive it.

"This is the pride of Smile Theme Park, the Food Court. It's a place that provides various dishes tailored to the taste of the guest who enters."

"In-indeed it only has the foods I like."

So the colors attached to the stores must play a similar role as the tags in the room.

Seeing similar elements to the puzzle I solved in the room, my earlier tension felt foolish.

At this rate, the Object task can be resolved in an instant, and acquittal is almost guaranteed?

Inside the Food Court, there was also a paper with rules written and an eraser with 'delete' written on it, as expected.

"T-Too easy, isn't it?"

<Smile Theme Park Food Court Rules>

<Welcome to Smile Theme Park!>

<Food court usage is free!>

<The prepared foods are made with the employees's sincerity>

<However, if you want to leave the food court, you must at least try one type of food, considering the employees's efforts.>

<The following rules are for free users>

<Please read them carefully!>

<Delete one line from all these rules.>

<Out of the seven colored foods, at least six of them contain poison.>

<Both red and orange foods contain poison>

<Both yellow and green foods contain poison.>

<Both blue and navy foods contain poison.>

<Both red and purple foods contain poison.>

<Both red and navy foods contain poison.>

<Both yellow and blue foods contain poison.>

<Both green and orange foods contain poison.>

<The rules of the Smile Theme Park Food Court> were almost identical to the room rules.

We will rely solely on your kindness! Click here!

Donate now

The only difference was that the conditions indicating which foods contained poison were grouped in pairs, not triplets.

"Again, purple. Well, since fried chicken is my favorite, it's not bad."

I deleted <Both red and purple foods contain poison.>

Miss Mannequin didn't say anything and just stared at me intently.

I felt a strange feeling, but my solution was perfect!

It's only natural to delete the non-duplicated purple line if you delete one line from the rules.

I ordered one of each fried chicken being sold at the kiosks.

The chickens that instantly arrived on the tray looked delicious.

"Then shall I try eating it?"

I took a bite of the fried chicken's drumstick.

At that moment, the ceiling spun.

"Ugh...dizzy."

When I looked at my open palm, my palm was purple.

No, that wasn't it.

The world, everything I saw was purple.

Did Miss Mannequin trick me?

I tried to take out the knife from my arms, but I couldn't muster any strength.

I collapsed onto the table.

Looking up from my collapsed state, Miss Mannequin was watching me.

"Why?"

Miss Mannequin didn't say anything and just kept watching me.

***

Reaper (MC) POV :

---

kreak

As I opened the door and entered the Food Court, a sweet aroma filled the air.

Wah!

"Welcome! This is the pride of Smile Theme Park, the Food Court. It's a place that provides various services tailored to the guest who enters, so you'll be satisfied."

As the mannequin assured, the Food Court was heaven.

Not sealed, packaged dishes but freshly cooked warm dishes!

A red tteokbokki specialty store.

An orange apple pie specialty store.

A yellow fast food store.

A green world snack specialty store.

A blue pudding specialty store.

A navy world candy specialty store.

A purple cake specialty store.

It was such an abundant lineup that made me wonder what to eat.

It seemed orders were placed through kiosks.

Hop hop.

The problem was the kiosks were too high, so I couldn't see the contents well without jumping.

I hopped and selected the purple store!

First, my favorite strawberry cake!

After choosing the strawberry cake, I scurried over and stood in front of the purple store.

I leaned over the purple food court counter and stuck my head out to watch.

The cake took so long to make that the mannequins inside moved as if they were going ten times faster.

Maybe I should acquire an ability like that too.

It looks cool and convenient.

As if time itself was moving at 10x speed, the cake was ready and in my hands in no time.

Let's eat well!

Omnom nom~

***

After finishing one cake, the mannequin stamped another stamp for me.

Now I have 3 stamps!

I raised the paper with the stamped faces.

Three smiling doll faces.

Not particularly cute faces, but it was quite fun collecting stamps this way.

However, even if I go around the whole theme park, that's only 9 stamps.

The destruction condition for the Theme Park Invitation Doll was 10, so what's the last one?

Actually, I had a rough guess.

That one time I held up the paper to the mannequin, it was extremely startled, and that's when I realized.

This big circle in the middle.

The same size as the mannequin's face.

Hehe.

***

Park Seo-ah POV:

---

Kek-Kek.

Kek-Kek.

The Theme Park Invitation Doll's behavior changed again.

Like a thief whose hidden treasure location was discovered.

Acting as if it had lost all hope in life.

Just sitting quietly in the corner, looking out of the isolation room.

Already exceeding 5m in size.

But not rampaging, just slumped over.

Kek-Kek.

Kek-Kek.

The doll's eerie laughter now sounded sorrowful.

What's happening inside?

The highest probability is that the highest danger level gray Reaper is doing something.

"Well done, gray Reaper. Just kill that doll."

Hearing the mumbling of the Lee Sehee Research Institute director, I opened my notebook.

<Grey Reaper Mental Contamination Report.>

<Director Lee Se-hee.>

<Muttering with excitement about an incident that appears to involve the Gray Reaper.>

<Grade 4 mental contamination?>