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A man, with nothing but bones left, busily roamed around the guest room.

Clang, clang.

The sound of metal clinking rang every time the man walked.

This guy seemed to have some kind of anxiety disorder; he couldn’t sit still for even a moment.

“Rules, rules. They seem harder than I thought.”

“I’m a genius! Why don’t I understand? Is the problem wrong?”

He kept muttering to himself without pause.

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

And the strangest thing was that he had gathered all the sharp objects from the room and was carrying them wrapped in a tablecloth.

I thought he would get kicked out right away for being such a strange person…

Surprisingly, he succeeded in passing the room’s rule trap.

Still, seeing him struggle for over ten hours with the room’s problem, it seemed unlikely he would pass in the end.

As the man celebrated passing the room, he acted according to the rules.

Congratulations and stamp.

Clap, clap, clap.

“Congratulations, guest!”

*

Finally!

He managed to open the room door.

Looking into the mirror, he saw himself drenched in cold sweat.

What a disgrace.

He lifted his glasses, which kept slipping down, with his hand.

As he saw his bony wrists, he pulled down his sleeves to cover them again.

“Ha, ha. This place seems prepared for intellects like me. Don’t you think so, Mannequin-chan?”

“Wow, that’s totally right. Guest.”

The female mannequin standing next to me, Mannequin-chan, agreed while clapping her hands.

Why Mannequin-chan, you ask?

Because I let her call herself whatever she wants.

Though her face was rather scary, thinking of it like a costume made it quite all right.

The quiz that came out of the room was simple.

Is this some kind of murder quiz?

It was so easy, I couldn’t help but think that way.

For someone who had once been deeply into puzzle games, this was totally ez.

Should I call it EASY MODE?

It’d be rewarding if they threw a proper logical proposition at me to solve.

As I stepped outside the room, a loud fireworks sound welcomed me.

The cool night breeze cooled my sweat-soaked body.

Looking at the large map set up at the entrance of the theme park, I conversed with Mannequin-chan and gathered plans.

“Ha, ha. Well, since we’ve got one stamp from the room, it’s better to strategically aim for similar puzzles.”

I pointed at the food court and asked Mannequin-chan.

“This, this FOOD COURT is supposed to have puzzles similar to the room, right?”

“Yes, guest. They have quizzes that are so similar, it’ll surprise you.”

“Okay, then let’s go check it out.”

Clang, clang.

The sound of blades hitting each other was quite pleasant as I walked.

Not long after, I arrived at the food court, which consisted of a wide, single-story building.

As I opened the food court door, it slammed shut with a bang.

I shook the door to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Ah, just as I thought. It has the same structure.”

Feeling uneasy, I caressed the blade I had tucked away in my pocket.

Inside the food court, countless mannequins were preparing food.

There were seven shops.

Red seafood restaurant.

Orange Japanese-style pork cutlet specialty shop.

Yellow budae jjigae specialty shop.

Green fast food joint.

Blue pizza specialty shop.

Navy bakery.

Purple chicken specialty shop.

It was structured so that if you ordered from the kiosks, you could receive your desired food.

“This is the pride of Smile Theme Park. The food court. It offers various dishes tailored to the tastes of the guests entering.”

“Wow, it definitely has only the food I like.”

So the colors attached to the shops functioned like tags.

Seeing elements similar to the quiz I solved in the room made my nervousness feel foolish.

At this rate, I could solve the objects in no time, and the innocent route was practically guaranteed.

In the food court, there were also rules written on papers and an eraser that had been marked for deletion.

“Isn’t this too easy?”

[Smile Theme Park Food Court Rules.]
[Welcome to Smile Theme Park!]
[Using the food court is free!]
[The prepared foods are made with care by the employees.]
[However, to leave the food court, you must eat at least one type of food out of consideration for the employees' efforts.]
[The following rules apply to free users.]
[Please read carefully!]
[Delete one line from all these rules.]
[At least six types of food among the seven colors contain poison.]
[All red and orange foods contain poison.]
[All yellow and green foods contain poison.]
[All blue and navy foods contain poison.]
[All red and purple foods contain poison.]
[All red and navy foods contain poison.]
[All yellow and blue foods contain poison.]
[All green and orange foods contain poison.]

The [Smile Theme Park Food Court Rules] were practically identical to the room’s rules.

The only difference was that the conditional statements indicating poisonous foods were grouped in pairs rather than threes.

“Ah, purple again. Well, I love chicken, so that’s not bad.”

I erased the line: [All red and purple foods contain poison.]

Mannequin-chan stared at me intently without saying a word.

I felt something strange, but my solution was perfect!

If I’m going to delete a line from the rules, of course it makes sense to erase one that doesn’t overlap, like the purple one.

I ordered one chicken each from all the types available at the kiosk.

Instantly, the chicken was served on a tray, looking delicious just by appearance.

“Shall I give it a try?”

I took a bite from the fried chicken leg.

In that moment, the ceiling spun.

“Uh… I feel dizzy.”

When I looked at my palm, it was purple.

No, that wasn’t it.

The whole world, everything I could see, was purple.

Did Mannequin-chan trick me?

As I rummaged through my pockets to get my knife, I couldn’t exert any strength.

I collapsed onto the table.

Lying on my back, I looked up, and Mannequin-chan was staring at me.

“Why?”

Mannequin-chan just looked at me silently, not saying a word.

*

Dudang dudang.

As I opened the door and entered the food court, a sweet smell filled the air.

Wow!

“Welcome! This is the pride of Smile Theme Park, the food court. It provides various services tailored to the guests entering, so you will be satisfied.”

Just like the mannequin promised, the food court was a paradise.

Not packaged meals but freshly made warm dishes!

Red tteokbokki specialty shop.

Orange apple pie specialty shop.

Yellow fast food joint.

Green global snack specialty shop.

Blue pudding specialty shop.

Navy global candy specialty shop.

Purple cake specialty shop.

It was an abundant lineup to the point of being indecisive about what to eat.

It seemed like orders were made through kiosks.

Bouncing, bouncing.

The problem was that the kiosk was so high that without jumping, it was hard to see clearly.

I jumped and picked the purple shop!

First, the strawberry cake, my favorite!

I chose the strawberry cake and dashed to stand in front of the purple shop.

Peeking closely at the purple food court counter, I saw mannequins inside working incredibly fast, almost ten times their normal speed.

Should I get a skill like that too?

It looked cool and convenient.

Time itself seemed to be over ten times faster because the cake was ready in an instant and handed to me.

I appreciate it!

Om nom nom.

*

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

Now I had three stamps!

I lifted the paper with the stamped marks.

Three smiling doll faces.

They weren’t particularly cute, but collecting stamps like this was quite fun.

However, even if I wandered around the amusement park like this, I’d only end up with nine.

The invitation doll’s condition for destruction was ten, so what could the last one be?

Actually, I had a rough idea of the answer.

Once, when I presented the paper to a mannequin, it had been extremely startled, and I realized then.

The big circle in the middle.

The size was the same as the mannequin’s face.

ヒヒ.

*

Kekek.

The invitation doll’s actions changed once again.

It seemed like a thief caught in the location of a hidden treasure box.

It acted as though there was no hope left in life.

Sitting quietly in the corner, it merely watched outside the isolation room.

The size had already exceeded 5m.

But it wasn’t causing a ruckus, just drooping down.

Kekek.

Kekek.

The doll’s strange laughter now sounded sorrowful.

What was happening inside?

The highest probability was that the top-grade danger object, the Gray Reaper, was doing something.

“Good job, Gray Reaper. Go ahead and kill that doll.”

Hearing Director Lee Sehee’s mumbling, I opened my notebook.

[Gray Reaper Mental Pollution Report.]
[Director Lee Sehee.]
[Feeling ecstasy while mumbling over phenomena that seem to involve the Gray Reaper.]
[Grade 4 mental pollution?]