The parade plaza of Magical Land was situated right at the heart of Neverland.
This meant they would have to cut across exactly half of the theme park to reach the exit.
The problem was that this half still spanned the country’s largest theme park.
To make matters worse, their enemies were no longer just mascot costumes and mannequins.
Now, the entire theme park was transforming into horrifying monsters.
“Crazy! What the hell is that?!”
“Eeek! The carousel horses turned into man-eating beasts and are chasing us!”
“Watch your head! There’s something up in the sky!”
The carousel horses lifted their heads as if they were alive. Their eyes turned a deep terrifying red as they bared their teeth.
The dragon-themed roller coaster, as if truly believing itself a real dragon, spread its wings wide and soared into the sky before breathing fire directly at the group.
“Ugh…!”
Team Leader Song Ji-hye threw a talisman and created a rounded barrier that shielded them from the flames.
Na-yoon narrowly avoided being roasted as she was saved by Song Ji-hye’s quick action, but the situation was still far from safe.
The entire theme park was chasing Na-yoon and the others with killing intent.
Perhaps it was just their imagination, but it felt like the number of mascots and mannequins had multiplied since a moment ago.
In the end, a giant dinosaur monster appeared and it was blocking the middle of their path.
Originally it was a giant statue in the Hollywood-themed area, but now it was moving as if it were a real dinosaur.
A Tyrannosaurus, as if resurrected from the Cretaceous period after 70 million years, opened its huge mouth wide at the group.
“Kuoooooooo!”
“Kyaaaahhhh!”
The devil itself hadn’t even shown up, but at this rate, they would all be dead just trying to escape.
Team Leader Song Ji-hye quickly made a decision.
“This isn’t going to work! Let’s head in there and hide!”
“Are you serious?! They’re all chasing us! How are we supposed to hide?!”
As Song Ji-hye tore a talisman, a burst of blinding light shot out in all directions.
It was bright enough to illuminate the entire sky.
Team A who already knew what she was about to do closed their eyes quickly, but Na-yoon was just a second too late to react.
“M-My eyes…!”
Na-yoon started fumbling blindly, but Seo Na-ri grabbed her arm quickly.
With Team A and Seo Na-ri guiding her, Na-yoon hid inside a nearby churro stand.
The flashbang talisman seemed to work, as the monsters wandering nearby were left searching aimlessly. They couldn’t find Na-yoon and the others at all.
They entered the churro stand to catch their breath and were relieved for a moment.
With six people squeezed into the small stand, it was so cramped that there was barely room to stand.
“S-So cramped …”
“Team Leader, was this spot really necessary when there are so many others?”
“All the big buildings have some weird gimmick. At least this place won’t turn into a churro stand that eats people, so it’s good enough.”
Having barely managed to hide inside, the team decided to use the moment to discuss their next steps.
Na-yoon was the first to speak with a sullen face.
“I-Is it normal for archdevils to be this strong? Isn’t it way too much?”
“It’s because we’re in its lair. And it’s not actually an archdevil. It’s just a high-level devil that comes very close to one.”
“Th-That’s basically the same thing! Isn’t 89 and 90 just a difference of one point?!”
“…….”
“Eek! S-Sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t raise my voice again!”
Team Leader Song Ji-hye tried to correct the rookie’s misunderstanding.
The difference between an archdevil and a high-level devil was much greater than she thought.
To put it in perspective, it was like comparing a being that wielded divine power itself to a being that could only channel divine power.
It might sound similar, but their essence was completely different.
In the end, she decided to hold back her words. Just as an ant couldn’t comprehend the difference in strength between a chicken and a human, it made little difference to them now whether they were up against an archdevil or a quasi-archdevil; either way, their current strength was far from enough.
Song Ji-hye irritatedly ran her hand through her hair.
“For a devil whose essence is entertainment, it’s definitely a bit too strong….”
“I have a thought about that; care to hear it?”
“Out of nowhere? What is it?”
Despite the situation, Park Seo-joon grinned as he spoke.
“You know I once took exorcism classes at the seminary, right? Part of that involved learning Latin. Man, I thought my head was going to split back then.”
“Hey, stick to the point.”
“Well, ‘entertainment’ in Latin is ‘Lusum’ and its participle is ‘Lusus’. While it does mean a game or play, there’s another meaning.”
Na-yoon who was listening asked curiously.
“Wh-What meaning?”
“Mockery.”
“…Ugh.”
“It can also mean toy, joke, ridicule, and amusement.”
Song Ji-hye nodded her head.
“So it’s not just about providing entertainment. The essence of this type of devil lies in mocking and tormenting someone.”
“H-How is that supposed to be entertainment?”
“It doesn’t matter what we think. The important thing is that the devil thinks this way. It introduced itself as an ‘Entertainment Devil’ and while that might not be a lie… if we were to give it a name we could better understand, calling it a ‘Mocking Devil’ would be more fitting.”
Then, the absurdly strong power of this devil started to make sense.
If it were simply about entertainment, its power would be limited, but mocking and tormenting others has been repeated throughout history in countless forms.
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. The point is, we’re out of options as things stand.”
Even now, the entire theme park was transforming into a living nightmare.
The devil’s minions were furiously rampaging and wreaking havoc around them, and it was only a matter of time before this churro stand was smashed to bits.
If that happened, they would be overwhelmed and surrounded by enemies from all directions and would inevitably be annihilated.
After some thought, Team Leader Song Ji-hye made a decision.
“I’ll be the bait.”
“What?”
“…….”
Park Seo-joon’s expression hardened as he spoke.
“Team Leader, are you crazy? Or do you have a death wish?”
“Neither, okay? But you know as well as I do; no matter what, even if we reach the exit, In Ha-young and I won’t be able to escape.”
It was a fact everyone knew, but no one had spoken aloud.
Song Ji-hye and In Ha-young hadn’t obtained the tickets necessary for escape.
So only the other four could leave the theme park.
Team Leader Song Ji-hye continued speaking.
“In the end, reaching the exit without any sacrifice is impossible. If someone has to buy us time, it should be In Ha-young and me. Things got this bad because we were the only ones who couldn’t pass the game.”
“Team Leader, that’s just hindsight. In a case involving devils, anything can happen.”
“Even so, I’m the team leader. The responsibility for everything ultimately falls on me. So stop arguing. This is a direct order.”
The group didn’t know what to say and fell silent.
Team Leader Song Ji-hye spoke up in a lighthearted tone.
“Don’t make that face. It’s not like I’m rushing in to sacrifice myself. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can, so you go on ahead and bring back reinforcements. The stronger, the better. That way, my chances of surviving will go up, right?”
“Team Leader….”
Ugh… What should I do?
To be honest, Na-yoon didn’t particularly care what happened to Team Leader Song Ji-hye.
She seemed to be eccentric; they had only met today, and from the very start, she had been calling her a “bomb”. Plus, she didn’t seem to get along with her superior, Team Leader In Ha-young.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she didn’t care if someone died. But that didn’t mean she wanted to stay here and die with them, either.
The only thing that weighed on her mind was that Team Leader In Ha-young would be left behind as well.
S-Sir Kang-joon? You’re watching this, right? What am I supposed to do?
But still, no answer came from Kang-joon.
Seriously, he works me to the bone when he needs me, but now of all times, he stays silent?
If only he would give orders like last time, telling her to do this or that, she could just follow along. But in a situation like this, with him saying nothing, she had no idea what to choose.
Ugh, forget it! I don’t care anymore!
Trusting that he would protect her if things got dangerous, Na-yoon decided to follow her gut.
“I-I’m staying!”
“What?”
Team Leader Song Ji-hye’s expression hardened.
“Hey, bomb. Didn’t you hear me? This is an order from your team leader. Are you disobeying a direct order?”
“But… but Team Leader Song Ji-hye, you’re not my team leader… are you?”
“What?”
Na-yoon spoke up boldly, but as Team Leader Song Ji-hye’s icy gaze bore down on her, her voice started to shrink.
“M-My superior is Team Leader In Ha-young, so… technically, shouldn’t I be following her orders? I mean, I don’t really see why I’d have to obey a command from a leader who isn’t even in my team… or something like that…”
Team Leader Song Ji-hye gave a dry laugh.
“Wow, you’ve got some nerve, huh? Alright, go on. What exactly do you plan to do here, rookie? Planning to get entombed along with the rest of us?”
“E-Entombed? What does that mean?”
“…What?”
Na-yoon who wasn’t particularly interested in history and hadn’t even made it to college trembled as she added,
“Wh-What I mean is… we only need one person to call for reinforcements, right? So if that’s the case, wouldn’t our survival rate be higher with three people staying behind instead of two… or, you know, something like that.”
“Ha! This is too good!”
Park Seo-joon burst out laughing. He even slapped Na-yoon on the shoulder a few times.
Na-yoon looked back at him with an incredulous expression, but Park Seo-joon didn’t seem to care at all.
“Team Leader, the rookie’s got a point. We only need one person to go for reinforcements anyway, right? The rest should stay here and hold out as long as we can. Ah, I’ll stay behind. Send someone else if you’re gonna send anyone.”
“Hey, are you serious?”
“Why not? If we want to raise our survival chances, we need at least one decent shot left behind, right? Just send Na-ri or Min-ho, they don’t really know how to do much besides swing a knife.”
“I’m staying too.”
“Mhmm…”
Huh? Huh?
Suddenly, everyone seemed to be volunteering to stay.
Wait, so… does that mean I should be the one to go?
Since one person had to go, wouldn’t it make the most sense for the weakest one here to be the one to call for reinforcements?
But after being the first to insist on staying, it felt awkward for Na-yoon to suddenly say she wanted to leave… even for her, it felt a bit tactless.
Just then, In Ha-young who had been lying in the corner let out a faint groan and opened her eyes.
“Ugh…”
“T-Team Leader!”
In Ha-young slowly sat up and clutched her head in pain.
She glanced around, as if trying to assess the situation, and asked,
“Where… are we? How did the mission go?”
“Ah, well…”
Na-yoon quickly explained to In Ha-young, who had briefly lost consciousness, everything that had happened while she was out.
She covered how they had secured two of the treasures, figured out the devil’s weakness, and were now discussing who should go for reinforcements.
When she understood the situation, In Ha-young nodded her head.
“Alright, I get it. Sounds like everyone worked hard while I was out.”
At that, Team Leader Song Ji-hye brushed her hair back and remarked curtly,
“Well, at least you finally woke up. Now we don’t have to fight while babysitting dead weight.”
“You really are…”
In Ha-young began to retort but stopped herself and sighed instead.
“Fine. I’d like to add one suggestion to the plan, if that’s alright?”
“A-A suggestion?”
Everyone, including Na-yoon, looked at her with puzzled expressions.
“Yes. Since we’re already planning to buy time… why don’t we go ahead and set up a plan to hunt the devil instead?”
Everyone stared at In Ha-young with their eyes wide in shock.
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