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“Left?”

“Right.”

Aileen was diligently following Team Leader’s directions, asking for the way.

“Are you sure it’s reliable?”

“If you can’t trust it, what are you going to do?”

Song Ah Rin squinted suspiciously at the Team Leader and Aileen, letting out a sigh.

“Well, those two should be able to find the way.”

“Then leave the directions to them and explain the situation to me.”

“What about?”

“What’s going on?”

My gaze shifted towards Song Ah Rin.

“I’ve been too busy to listen, but there must be a reason why we ended up here suddenly.”

Even holding an escape ticket from Team Leader?

“…”

Song Ah Rin frowned deeply.

“Like everyone else, getting caught up in an anomaly is usually far from one’s expectations.”

“True.”

“We also want to say we were sucked in by coincidence, but there’s something fishy about this.”

Something fishy?

“What do you mean by that?”

Are you suggesting someone pushed these four into this?

Seeing my dubious expression, Song Ah Rin nodded slowly.

“We aren’t as lucky as you to encounter containment objects out of the blue.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight?”

“Anyway, just listen.”

Song Ah Rin raised her index finger, halting me.

“Everything was too smooth.”

“What do you mean?”

“We were all playing separately.”

What on earth is she talking about?

“No, I didn’t send everyone to play together, did I?”

“You didn’t send everyone to play together. You just wanted someone to check how unlucky you are.”

I recalled the relationship between Jang Chae Yeon and Song Ah Rin.

Yeah, asking them to play together might have been an overly naïve request.

“…Anyway, so?”

“So, I was playing separately with the white-haired one, while I hung out with the Team Leader, and the black-haired one stuck with the white-haired one. I only had… um, a person to talk to, right?”

“To be precise, it would be Yu Da On.”

“Don’t cut me off. Anyway, after hanging out separately, we decided to meet up and head back.”

“And then?”

“That’s what’s strange.”

Song Ah Rin raised her finger again and continued.

“Look. As I mentioned, we agreed to meet up and go back early. In fact, we were supposed to return around dinner time.”

I nodded at her words.

“I asked that blonde girl separately earlier, and she said the activation condition for the entrance is to stay here after closing time.”

“…That’s right.”

In other words, the four of them could not even meet the activation conditions.

My expression naturally became serious.

“I’m listening.”

“So we were supposed to meet at the agreed place for dinner.”

Song Ah Rin began to move as she continued her story.

“But then, someone in a mascot costume came in and started dancing.”

“Dancing?”

“Yeah.”

Aileen nodded her head.

“Out of the blue, when they started dancing, all three of us tried to respond except for the confused black-haired one.”

“…”

“But when I suddenly regained consciousness, I found myself here.”

“That is odd.”

“Right?”

Song Ah Rin rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

“It’s strange. It’s as if someone knew exactly when we would be here.”

They surely knew and set this up.

And when my response team and I accepted the balloons, did something come flying in to pop them?

If that too was arranged with prior knowledge, it would be even more unsettling.

It sounds far-fetched, but a peculiar instinct started implanting one theory into my mind.

If someone could do such a thing, my deductions would undeniably narrow down.

The face of a terribly skinny man suddenly appeared in my mind.

But why? What could he possibly gain by deliberately targeting these four?

As I was lost in thought, Song Ah Rin tilted her head up at me and asked.

“You didn’t, like, earn the wrath of a time traveler, did you?”

“…”

“…Hey.”

A hint of anxiety crossed Song Ah Rin’s face.

“…You didn’t, did you?”

“I wouldn’t know; I’m not aware of what I might have done.”

Did I do something? Or was it something my past or future self did?

“…At least so far, it hasn’t been the case.”

Song Ah Rin furrowed her brows and glanced at me.

“Wait a minute, then does that mean there’s someone with time-related abilities inside the Management Agency right now?”

“…”

For a moment, my gaze locked with Song Ah Rin.

Should I tell her this?

As I opened my mouth to speak, she quickly reached out to cover it.

“Don’t say anything.”

“…”

Her eyes were locked onto mine.

“I don’t know the exact information you have, but once you say it, you can’t control it anymore.”

“…”

“The moment I know it, or others know it, everything becomes a variable. Have you thought about that?”

I felt like I understood what she meant.

The more people prepare, the more the future changes, and someone who has already seen that future will prepare differently. In other words, our actions could backfire.

I slowly shook my head at her words.

The balloon tied to Song Ah Rin’s wrist trembled precariously.

“That’s okay.”

After she slowly nodded, she spoke again.

“I believe you will prepare well.”

“…”

“I don’t know anything.”

Song Ah Rin closed her eyes, opened them, and put her hand on her temple.

Her expression became momentarily dazed before returning to normal.

“…What was I saying?”

Did she just erase her own memory?

Song Ah Rin frowned for a moment before her expression softened as she looked at me.

“I don’t know what it is, but since I said it, remember it well.”

She removed her hand from my mouth.

“Understood.”

“Good.”

“Hey! There’s the exit!”

While we were looking at each other, we turned our gaze toward Team Leader’s voice.

Holding a dark curtain in front of him, Team Leader was smiling and nodding.

“Here, here!”

“Are you sure?”

“I can’t be sure, but we have no choice! We have to go out anyway!”

Team Leader’s gaze turned to Aileen, who let out a small sigh but nodded.

“I’ll go out first.”

“Indeed, the Response Team is different. Team—”

“Aileen.”

“…Aileen will go out first!”

With a slightly murky look, she sighed and walked past the black cloth.

“…”

After a brief silence, she moved the cloth aside and called us.

“It’s the exit.”

What a relief.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I followed her as we crossed the dark curtain, and soon she held out a golden ticket towards me.

“…Is this all of them?”

Let me see.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

“It seems we have them all.”

“Great.”

Aileen sighed with relief, then took out her old notebook and began to write something down.

“Now we can go out safely.”

From the very beginning, she had been writing down something in her notebook.

What on earth is she writing?

I stepped closer to Aileen and opened my mouth.

“But what are you writing?”

“…It’s for the manual.”

With a sharp sound, she closed her notebook in response.

“…Can’t you just write it down?”

“You think it’s that easy?”

Aileen sighed.

“Writing a manual takes tremendous focus and accuracy—”

“Starting from now, I’m recording. Area Name: ‘Amusement Park.'”

-Para ra ra rak!

The manual unfolded, and the text began to appear.

[Manual for Office Staff]

[AREA – Amusement Park – First Entry by Human Resources Team Kim Jae Heon]

“When arriving at the amusement park, receive balloons as a gift from the clown. Be sure to take the balloons. Treat them like your life.”

[When arriving at the amusement park, receive balloons as a gift from the clown. Be sure to take the balloons. Treat them like your life.]

-Clap!

The manual that was lightly floating in the air fell into my hands.

“…”

Both Aileen, with her jaw dropped, and Jang Chae Yeon, who approached me sighing.

“Not just anyone can do this.”

“Really?”

“I can’t do it.”

“…How did you do that?”

Aileen stared wide-eyed at me.

“…How did you do that?”

“What?”

“How can you handle the manual as if it’s second nature?”

Aileen pressed closer with wide-open eyes.

This is kind of scary.

“…No, it just happens, right?”

I wanted to tell her, but instinctively felt there was no way to express it other than “I just realized.”

“…That’s absurd.”

Her gaze shifted towards Jang Chae Yeon, who shrugged at her.

“That’s just how he is.”

“Yeah. Figure it out when we get outside.”

With a sigh, she began to walk away.

Leaving the Land of Adventure and heading towards the exit wasn’t difficult.

We just had to retrace our steps.

The only difference was,

“…It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?”

Yu Da On murmured to herself as she rubbed her arms, feeling the chill.

She was right.

It was colder than before.

Narrowing my eyes and looking around, I spoke.

“Are you all holding onto the balloons properly?”

“Mine popped earlier!”

Everyone nodded, and finally, Yu Da On also nodded in response.

“But it inflated again!”

“…”

I shouldn’t expect common sense from her.

We emerged into the plaza.

“…”

The mascot characters, along with the tourists forcing smiles, were nowhere to be found, leaving only a dismal ticket booth behind.

The man we had given the tickets to was missing.

“It seems we managed to escape properly.”

Aileen sighed in relief behind me.

“…Let’s hurry out.”

Because we don’t know what else might be waiting.

I walked forward with the tickets in hand towards the ticket booth.

The person inside appeared to be a man, at least from the silhouette, but the surrounding darkness made it impossible to see clearly.

“I’m trying to exit.”

I pulled out six tickets to hand over.

The ticket booth employee looked up.

Soon, a translucent window appeared above his head.

[Name: Lee Cheol Soo]

[Age: 34 years old]

[Specialty: X]

[Talent: X]

[Background: Response Team member Lee Cheol Soo dreamed of escape. Currently, he can only dream.]

[Vulnerability: Life has issues. You must solve them before you can exit.]

-Zhang,

The man who had given us tickets was seated.

Response Team member Lee Cheol Soo.

With a bizarre smile, he locked eyes with us.

This man was no longer human.

“Planning to leave, are we, guests?”

“…That voice…”

Aileen’s voice turned cold as the man opened his mouth to continue speaking.

“But you can’t just leave.”

Are we going to fight again?

Shouldn’t they let us go if we took the tickets?

Seeing the people around us preparing, he shook his head and turned to look at me.

“Fighting might not be a good idea anymore.”

Looking around.

Do we really have to fight holding these balloons? That doesn’t seem easy.

“How about this? Let’s do a riddle.”

“…A riddle?”

Suddenly?

“Weren’t we supposed to just hand over the tickets and get through?”

“Since when has common sense applied here?”

“Never.”

Aileen responded coolly as she pulled out a gun.

“Can’t we just fight?”

Ignoring Jang Chae Yeon’s words, the lights went out.

-Swooosh!

The world darkened, and red street lamps flickered to life.

In the eerie glow resembling a movie set, he flipped a page.

Words were written on the golden paper.

<There are five people. Some tell the truth, while others lie. One alternates between truth and lies. The statements of each person are as follows:>

Kim Jae Heon: Jang Chae Yeon is telling the truth. Yu Da On lies constantly.

Jang Chae Yeon: Kim Jae Heon and Heo Chan are the same type of person. Song Ah Rin is lying.

Yu Da On: Jae Heon is telling the truth. Team Leader Heo Chan is lying, though.

Song Ah Rin: Jang Chae Yeon is lying. Yu Da On is also lying.

Heo Chan: Song Ah Rin is telling the truth. Kim Jae Heon and Jang Chae Yeon are different types of people.

“…”

“It’s a very simple game.”

He looked at me.

“Think carefully, one among them is the one who alternates between truth and lies.”

He smiled at me.

“Who could that be?”