Seoul Object Story
Chapter 54: Theme Park (5)

With a swing of the doll’s fist at the containment room wall, the entire institute shook as if rocked by an earthquake. Due to such a sudden and unfamiliar vibration, I fell to the ground.

“Seoah Unnie! Are you okay?”

Researcher Oh Yerin helped me rise to my feet when all of a sudden, a strange laughter echoed through the air.

Cackle-!

The size of the doll inside the containment had drastically increased as it ran around the room wreaking havoc. It should now be clear to everyone just how strange the < Theme Park Invitation Doll > was. Previously standing at a mere one meter, the doll had now tripled in height, towering at a formidable three meters.

“Director Lee Sehee, if we don’t take any actions, the doll will become uncontrollable. If it grows by ten more meters, our containment room won’t be able to hold it anymore.”

“Ugh, what a pain in the neck. Was it a mistake to use death row inmates?”

The doll’s growth accelerated immediately after the death row inmates disappeared, and once it exceeded two meters in height, the doll displayed rampant behavior.

“Don’t worry! Everything will be fine. I’m sure the Reaper will do something!”

While everyone else had serious expressions due to the Object’s rampage, researcher Oh Yerin, just flashed a big bright grin.

I really should find out if the Gray Reaper can corrupt people’s minds or not…

Cackle-! Cackle-!

Suddenly, something strange came out of the Theme Park Invitation Doll’s mouth—a shredded finger, covered in blood. The doll proceeded to spew blood and human fragments—finely shredded flesh and dismembered fingers came pouring out.

“Oh? I’ve seen that ring before!” Researcher Oh Yerin exclaimed, pointing to the finger on the floor.

“Yeah, I remember! It belonged to that big guy who looked kind of shy.”

Fortunately, the doll stopped its growth after spitting the blood out.

“This is a significant issue. If it continues to grow with the death of each death row inmate, the research institute won’t be able to handle it.”

“If it grows two meters for every person who dies, It could reach an additional eighteen meters in height.”

Even if we generously consider the strength of the containment room’s outer wall, it could probably only withstand the doll until it reached ten meters. Therefore, it was imperative to urgently devise a plan in case of a containment failure.

“Reaper! Hurry up, rip open its gut and get out!”

However, Director Lee Sehee didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

Hah… it seems the Gray Reaper really can corrupt minds…

***

I woke up on a bed so comfortable that it actually made me uncomfortable.

“Whew.”

I took a deep breath as I looked around the place. It’s really comfy, I’ll give them that. But I wasn’t about to get too comfortable in the belly of the beast.

Objects interested in humans? As if! From what I had heard, most of those Objects were just looking to off some humans, and one of those Objects gave an invitation to humans? Pfft, I wasn’t falling for that one. Of course it’d be some kinda death trap.

Suddenly, the door of the room opened, and a mannequin, with the same face as that stupid doll from the containment room, came in and greeted me politely.

“Ah, so our guest this time is a cool woman with tattoos, huh? Well, well, welcome, dear guest. Welcome to the Smile Theme Park!”

The mannequin had a real friendly-like atmosphere, but I wasn’t buying it for a second. Let’s see what kinda game you are playing here.

“Ah, you are quite the quiet guest, aren’t you? Here, please take this before you start enjoying the delights of our theme park.”

What the mannequin handed me was just a piece of paper full of circles to stamp on.

“What’s this paper for, huh? Is it really necessary?”

“I can’t say for sure. It’s not necessary, but it might come in handy if you ever plan on getting out of this theme park alive.”

So, according to Mr. Plastic Brain here, I can only escape if I collect all nine stamps.

“Okay, then. Lead the way to the ‘fun ride’ where I can get that stamp, pronto.”

There was no time for dilly-dallying. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it outta here in one piece, so I gotta keep pushing forward confidently.

“Well, well, isn’t that a shame, my dear guest? Turns out, this room right here is also a ‘fun ride’ where you can get yourself a stamp. Sorry to break it to you, but you can’t leave right away.”

Following the finger of Mr. Plastic Brain, I spotted a piece of paper hanging on the wall, plastered with all sorts of room rules.

Instead of a straightforward quiz, it was some kind of ridiculous wordplay nonsense. Of course, it probably wasn’t nonsense, since people’s lives were at stake.

Thankfully, there wasn’t any particular time limit. So, I could take my sweet time to mull it over before drawing an answer. After some heavy thinking, I came to a conclusion.

Purple.

The rest of the colors show up more than once, and even if I erased one, they’d still be there.

But what pissed me off was that nowhere was it written ‘’purple ain’t poisonous!’ so there was no guarantee it was the right call.

“Oy, mannequin. Got a question for you.”

“Of course. We’re here to serve and guide you through our delightful theme park experience.”

I waved the paper with the rules written on it and fired away.

“I ain’t convinced that purple isn’t really poisonous. What if it is, huh?”

“Hmm, sorry, but we are prohibited from providing direct help. However, what I’m about to say might give you a clue.”

The mannequin then spoke with a voice straight outta a cheesy commercial jingle.

“♪ At the Smile Theme Park~, our attractions never bore~, rest easy~, none are 100% deadly~, that’s for sure~! ♪”

Is that so?

So, I can just grab the food with a purple tag and chow down?

I swung open the cupboard and snatched the food with a purple tag. Turns out, it was just some energy bar, easy to eat then.

But as I peeled it open, about to eat it, that damn mannequin’s stare got under my skin. It was just straight up staring at me.

I mean, seriously? What’s its deal? Is there something strange?

“Hey, once I solve this damn puzzle, I just gotta eat the matching food, right?”

“Hmm, I can’t say for sure, The rules are there for a reason, they are just rules. Everything written there is the truth.”

“What?”

Everything written there the truth? Then that means the food with the damn purple tags was poisonous too, right?

I tossed aside the energy bar I was about to eat and gave the rules another careful read.

I see, ‘remove,’ huh?

I get it now, gotta remove it.

I looked around and spotted an eraser with ‘Remove’ scrawled on it.

“What a fucking idiot.”

With the eraser in hand, I rubbed out the line that said, < Food in orange, blue, and purple tags are all poisonous. >

And just like that, the line that said, < Of the following rules below, you may remove one line. > vanished too.

I grabbed another energy bar from the cupboard and took a bite.

It …isn’t poisonous.

“Congratulations~! You’ve cleared the first attraction. Did you enjoy yourself, dear guest~?”

Hearing its obnoxious laughter, I flipped the bird at the clapping mannequin.

“Hmm, seems like this attraction didn’t quite tickle your fancy. Then, how about I introduce you to another one? There’s an attraction with rules very similar to the ones in the guest rooms!”

“No thanks, I’ll pass. Your damn recommendation stinks worse than a week-old fish.”

Following that damn mannequin’s instructions, I swung open the door, and bam! My eyes got hit by a spectacular show of large fireworks lighting up the dark night sky.

“Once again, welcome to the ‘Smile Theme Park’, where festivities never end, 365 days a year!”

Fireworks going off like there’s no tomorrow, and a ticket booth as empty as my pockets.

Just me and that damn mannequin, standing there like a couple of fools.

The odd atmosphere finally made me feel like I’d stumbled right into the heart of the Object.

***

Woah, that was a close one! I almost lost my neck there.

Trod-! Trod-!

Hopping off the ‘Smile Drop Tower,’ I gently patted my neck, relieved to find it firmly attached.

It was such a thrill, but I had to admit, it had been a long time since I was that surprised.

As this Smile Theme Park thingy was an amusement park, it also had my absolute favorite type of ride—‘Drop Tower’.

The moment I saw one, I dashed over, super pumped, and took a look around. Guess what? The drop tower here had no height restrictions! Can you believe it!

So, naturally, I hopped right on. Safety bar down, I was ready to roll!

But, uh, turns out this wasn’t your average drop tower type of ride. Nope, it had a little twist—a noose. So shocking!

The attraction was a cruel one. Like, they had this thing where they’d slap a noose on your neck just when you reached the peak of the ride. On top of that, instead of just hanging you by the neck to snap your neck bone, this ride implemented a completely new concept!

While the noose made of iron wire would pull your neck up, the safety bar would pull your shoulders back down. Resulting in your neck getting ripped out of your body! So innovative!

By the looks of it, unless you sat on one of the few no-noose safe seats, it was basically a ride with the sole purpose of ripping out people’s necks.

Well, there was this quiz to figure out the safe seats so people enjoy the ride safely, but who has time for quizzes when there’s fun to be had? So I just ignored it.

And the rest was history.

If I wasn’t an Object, I’d have been toast. Phew!

But still, check it out, I already have two stamps to my name! Go me!

Huh, what’s that? Hearing a loud racket, I looked up at the sky—huge fireworks were exploding in the night sky.

Oh look at that, it’s the mannequin. It had been tagging along ever since I left the room, and it seemed to be in a very good mood for some reason. Was it because I got a stamp?

Hmm, I wonder… Should I get even more stamps?

“Ah, my dear guest, you truly are remarkable. So much so that I find myself questioning the competence of the doll who serves as our receptionist. Why on earth would it invite someone of your caliber, I wonder?”

Why did it give the invitation to me? Well…

Of course, it was because the doll goofed up and gave it to me by mistake at first.

It was totally the doll’s mistake! Not at all my fault, right?

As I gently massaged my neck, I thought about my next destination. Sure, it didn’t hurt or anything, but after that surprise, I definitely needed something delicious to calm my shaken nerves!

And lo and behold, when I looked up at one of the large maps installed throughout the theme park, I saw just the perfect spot.

It was a large restaurant called the ‘Food Court’.