Seoul Object Story

Chapter 56: Theme Park (7)

The Mannequin POV:

---

At the ticket booth entrance, there was a woman covered in tattoos reading a map.

Just from her attire and the language she was using, it felt like she had lived in a completely different cultural sphere.

A guest appearing in a garden that hadn't had visitors for nearly hundreds of years.

The garden changed its composition into an unfamiliar form.

The newly appeared ones had a completely different culture and language, but those were all trivial differences.

Not important at all.

What's important is the treatment of 'Object'.

The issue was how this guest who just arrived treated what they called the 'Object'.

Too lax.

It was incredibly disrespectful.

The understanding of it was severely lacking.

"Hey, mannequin!"

The tattooed guest turned her head and called out to me.

"Yes, what is it? Guest."

Clearing my thoughts, I responded in a friendly voice.

In fact, more important to me than the matter of treatment was whether that woman would pass through the theme park or not.

***

Another Guest POV:

---

Fireworks filling the sky.

The wide and desolate ticket booth.

The creepy smiling statue.

Not a single person could be seen anywhere in the wide and desolate ticket booth.

I asked the mannequin following closely behind me.

"There must have been many people who entered besides me, so why can't I see a single one? Even if they are superhumans, it's hard to believe not a single one passed through."

"Hmm, unfortunately this theme park is temporarily open, so we are responding separately to each guest. The heated competition between guests will have to wait until the official opening, I'm afraid."

So in the end, I have to pass through this theme park alone?

Shaking off the slight disappointment, I looked up at the large map placed next to the smiling statue.

Smiling merry-go-round, smiling shuttle bus stop, smiling roller coaster, smiling drop tower, smiling viking, smiling Ferris wheel, smiling food court, smiling maze, smiling haunted house...

The first place I should check is the exit route.

The smiling shuttle bus stop.

I called out to the mannequin staring at me as I examined the map.

"Hey, mannequin!"

"Yes, what is it? Guest."

"You do guide people around too, right? Let's go to where the shuttle bus is first."

"Hmm, you won't be able to use it even if we go now, are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's fine, let's go take a look."

The mannequin seemed rather reluctant for some reason.

Is there something at the shuttle bus stop?

I followed behind the mannequin as it slowly walked towards the shuttle bus stop.

***

The shuttle bus stop existed quite far removed from the theme park itself.

For the shuttle bus stop to be this far from the ticket booths...

"Is it okay for the shuttle bus stop to be this far?"

"It's because the opening hasn't finished yet. It's supposed to be properly set up for the official opening."

The place the mannequin brought me to, calling it a bus stop, was a strange location.

Sticky black mud.

A petroleum smell so strong it gave me a headache.

A building constructed in an unfamiliar style, with marble stacked in layers.

And a regular shuttle bus connected to the marble building.

Aside from being connected to the building by boarding bridge like an airplane, the parked shuttle bus had a design commonly seen in Seoul.

The sky had completely changed as much as the bizarre environment of the bus stop.

It was like being in a completely different space from the theme park.

The fireworks filling the sky could no longer be seen here, instead something strange filled the sky.

Six moons.

Six moons of various colors were floating in the sky.

"Hmm, guest. Please come this way. I'll explain about using the shuttle bus."

What welcomed me upon entering the marble building was a head.

Human heads were hung all over a metal rack.

Like bowling balls!

'!'

And I saw a familiar head.

The anchovy guy's head and the pig guy's head.

I had thought those two would never survive, but to confirm it like this...

"Ah, you seem surprised. These heads are used as coins in the Smile Theme Park. One head per coin, that's how it works."

The mannequin took out a head and tapped it.

"The shuttle bus requires 10 coins to use for a fee."

"So if I take those 10 heads on display, I can ride the shuttle bus right away?"

"Oh no no. Those are just coins on display. They're assets of the theme park. Currently, the only coin you have is your own head. But luckily, there's an event going on now, so if you collect all the stamps, you can use the shuttle bus without coins."

The mannequin tapped the head, and it got dented and turned into a grotesquely shaped coin.

I had already judged it to be a murderous Object from the point of giving out the invitation, but it was an even stranger Object than I thought.

10 coins.

9 stamps.

The numbers don't seem to match, but does it matter?

***

Reaper (MC) POV:

---

Ommyonmyon~

I was lying comfortably on the table, eating this and that.

Even if I tried to sit on the chair, it was too low and uncomfortable.

We will rely solely on your kindness! Click here!

Donate now

There are no other guests in the theme park besides me, shouldn't the chair size be adjusted for me?

Anyway, it's the theme park's fault.

While enjoying my time at the food court, I sensed a change.

The mannequins were increasing in number.

It seemed like only a few mannequins were placed where needed besides the dedicated one following me, but now they were gathering in large numbers around the building.

"Guest, we have prepared a VIP facility just for you at the food court. Would you like to go take a look?"

Following the mannequin's guidance, I entered a spacious area.

Inside were many things familiar to me.

TV. Ball pit. Bed. Snacks. Game console.

It was a space filled with just the things I liked.

"How is it? This is the VIP room prepared by the Smile Theme Park. Furthermore, if you use this kiosk over here, you can order any food you want."

For some reason,

I felt an intention to keep me confined here.

Well, it doesn't really matter though.

If I get bored, I can think about it then.

That's because these mannequins look too weak anyway.

I ordered popcorn from the kiosk and turned on the TV.

A drama I hadn't watched in a long time welcomed me.

Come to think of it, TV comes out in the Object too?

***

Yerin POV:

---

I'm depressed.

It's already been 5 days since Reaper disappeared.

Going to work, which was always enjoyable, has become dislikable now.

"Yerin-ah. Want to go eat?"

Doridori~

T/N: "????" is a Korean onomatopoeic expression often used to mimic the sound of someone or something shaking or wobbling. Correct me if I'm mistaken.

These days, I don't even have an appetite.

When I'm listlessly moping around without energy, Seo-ah unni suddenly appears.

And she wanders around jotting something down, but what is it?

She just smiles and doesn't show me when I ask what it is.

When it was time to get off work and I was organizing my things, I suddenly sensed Reaper's presence.

Of course, it was impossible for me to actually sense Reaper's presence.

Even though it was clearly a delusion, I ran with all my might towards where I sensed the presence.

The place I arrived at was the 'Theme Park Invitation Doll' isolation room where Reaper disappeared.

The now nearly 7m tall giant doll was crumpled up like a ball, powerlessly twitching.

Hmm, something seems strange?

Something was protruding out from the top of its round head.

An antenna.

It was a large antenna.

For some reason, it felt like Reaper might be beyond that antenna.

***

Reaper (MC) POV:

---

It's been roughly 3 days here, though the passage of time is ambiguous, but I'm not sure.

Even though it hasn't been that long, just 3 days, I'm already bored.

It's as comfortable a place as the isolation room I used to stay in, but why is this happening?

The flame in my heart told me the answer.

It's because there are no people around, so nothing is fun to do.

No matter what I eat, I don't enjoy it.

I should slowly start leaving.

I walked briskly to the VIP room door, and when I opened it, there were many mannequins.

"Guest, where were you planning to go? The theme park is currently under preparation, so you cannot use it."

Following the mannequin's gesture, I looked around and saw that the amusement park had disappeared, except for the food court.

Instead, the space was filled with mannequins as numerous as an ant swarm.

When I showed them the stamped paper, the mannequin gave a wry smile and said, "Of course, you cannot get stamps either. Please wait for about a month until we have our grand opening."

The flame burning inside me sensed the mannequins' hostility.

It was ambiguous before, but now it became clear.

While the guiding mannequin seemed to have free will, and it was unclear if it was hostile towards humans or not,

these mannequins blocking my path clearly had no free will and were definitely hostile towards humans.

I swung my arm and sliced off the neck of the mannequin blocking me.

Feeble mannequins cannot stop me.

The condition to destroy the mannequins was [cut off their necks].

The decapitated mannequin's body turned to dust and scattered, leaving only the round head rolling around.

Then, the mannequins swarming outside the food court all rushed at me at once.

In terms of numbers, I was not inferior either.

Golden Reapers appeared from under my feet, posing victoriously.

However, the golden Reapers prioritized clinging to my body, whether the mannequins rushed in or not.

Starting from my feet, they began clinging to me, gradually climbing up until they covered my head.

I had become a golden Reaper statue.

Hey, you guys fought well, didn't you?

Why are you doing this?

The situation changed when a mannequin punched the golden Reaper statue.

The golden Reapers that fell off the statue and flew away looked pitiful like baby birds losing their nest as they crashed into the walls.

At that moment, all the Reapers snapped their heads up and glared at the mannequins.

And then, a massacre began.

A wave of golden Reapers started tearing the mannequins apart.