Christian had no memory of his death. One moment he crouched behind his monitor, desperately applying duct tape to his overheated GPU as sparks burned his fingertips. The next, he found himself lying in a puddle of lukewarm soda with a broken turning arm digging into his spine.

  The overwhelming stench of caramelized sugar and rancid grease filled his nose, causing his empty stomach to roll with nausea. Then a chime followed, jarring, artificial, like a smartphone alert blasted through concert speakers.

  「WELCOME TO SALEM HOLLOW」 「Status: [Lost Guest]」 「Tutorial: ERROR. ADMINISTRATOR NOT FOUND.」 「Ride status: Mixed.」 「Soul Value: 0.7」 「Enjoy your stay!」

  Christian blinked several times to clear his vision. A grease-stained paper ticket stuck to his face like wet tissue. He peeled it away and examined it closely, leaving dirty fingerprints across its surface.

  No text appeared on it. Just a crude drawing of a smile with empty circular eyes that somehow seemed to follow his gaze. A voice pierced the silence, high-pitched, childlike, yet fundamentally wrong, echoing from all directions simultaneously.

  "Good morning, honored guest! Please stay calm as your physical form adjusts to our environment."

  He rolled onto his side, hacking up liquid. His hoodie was completely drenched, sticking to his body like a clammy second skin. The ground beneath him wasn't concrete or asphalt but rubber, cheap amusement park flooring covered in what looked like teeth marks and distorted areas that suggested someone had attempted to burn it.

  When he pressed down with his palm, the surface gave way with a disturbing squelching noise.

  "Congratulations," the voice continued, increasing in volume as if the speaker had moved right next to his ear. "You have been chosen for permanent VIP admission to Salem Hollow! As a Lost Guest, your initial mission is simple: Survive Orientation."

  A flickering hologram materialized inches from his face. It appeared to be some sort of mascot character with oversized eyes, wearing a sailor uniform and a fixed smile mask. The edges of its digital form crackled with static, casting an eerie glow across Christian's ashen features.

  "Hemlock," the figure announced in a singsong voice, performing a spin that left trails of corrupted pixels hanging in the air. "Your Personal Park Companion."

  The hologram extended a hand formed of glitching code, its fingers phasing in and out of proper shape. Christian recoiled, pushing himself further against the turnstile.

  "What is this place?" he demanded, his voice breaking from either dehydration or terror.

  Hemlock cocked her head at an impossible angle, the motion unnaturally swift and mechanical. "This is your eternal home now! Attempting to leave the ride is strictly forbidden under clause 0.6-C. That's what bad guests do."

  Her voice suddenly deepened on those final words.

  "I never agreed to any of this," Christian protested, frantically searching his empty pockets for his phone.

  "Soul signature verification complete. Welcome once more!" Hemlock's grin stretched inhumanly wide across her face.

  In an instant, she disappeared, leaving only the faint scent of electrical burning and sugary sweetness.

  Christian hobbled forward, attempting to understand his surroundings while grimacing as his shoes peeled away from sticky patches on the rubbery ground. Nearby, a carousel rotated slowly, but something was terribly wrong with its horses.

  Each horse featured a human face locked in a scream, their eyes blinking independently. The sign above it alternated between "WHIRLY WHIRLY FUNLAND" and "JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES."

  Previous visitors had scratched new words into the metal plate: "NEVER LOOK BACK."

  From a haunted house across the central plaza came screams that chilled his blood. One particular cry repeated endlessly, the same exact sound looping like damaged audio. Christian tried covering his ears, but the noise penetrated through his hands, vibrating inside his skull.

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  The most disturbing thing? The park stood completely empty of visitors.

  No creatures or monsters roamed the paths either.

  Just an overwhelming sense of wrongness, as if everything had been constructed by someone whose only knowledge of theme parks came from distorted nightmares.

  His fingers made contact with something metallic. Another turnstile gate. It had been forcefully bent inward, suggesting someone had violently entered or escaped.

  A black armband dangled from the railing, swinging slightly despite the complete absence of wind. After a moment of hesitation, Christian grabbed it and slid it over his wrist, where it immediately constricted to fit him perfectly.

  「ITEM ACQUIRED: Guest Band (Tier F)」 「Status: Unregistered」 「Functions:」 「– Basic Inventory [LOCKED]」 「– Guest Map [ERROR]」 「– Request Help [DISABLED]」 「– Prayer [Cooltime: 8hrs]」

  Perfect.

  He jumped as a new voice spoke. Monotone. Mechanical. The sound vibrated directly from the armband against his skin.

  「Quest Update:」 「Welcome to Orientation.」 「Objective: Find the Park Guide」 「Reward: Access to Safety Zones」 「Optional: Do Not Scream」

  Heavy footsteps broke the silence, uneven and accompanied by splashing sounds from puddles he couldn't see. Christian tensed every muscle in his body, flattening himself against a carnival game booth.

  A park employee rounded the corner. Unnaturally tall. Skeletal thin. Wearing what appeared to be a mascot costume, misshapen bear ears topped a permanently smiling face.

  But the suit was drenched from the knees down, dragging something metallic behind it. In several places, the matted fur had worn away to reveal glistening patches of what looked like wet, raw leather.

  The figure clutched a security baton that crackled with blue electrical current. Its gaze fixed on Christian, the glossy black button eyes somehow projecting a predatory hunger.

  Christian bolted, lungs burning as he gulped air in desperate gasps. He took cover behind a cotton candy stand, struggling to catch his breath.

  The surroundings blurred around the edges of his vision. Each light in the park pulsed with its own unsynchronized rhythm.

  Distorted music drifted from faraway speakers, interspersed with what sounded like children's laughter playing in reverse.

  「New Trait Unlocked: Anxious Awareness」 「You hear system announcements before activation.」 「Warning: May intensify existing paranoia.」

  "Just what I needed," he muttered, nails digging crescents into his palms.

  "You're most welcome!" Hemlock's voice chirped right beside him. She perched upside-down on the stand's roof, her smiling mask mere inches from his face, her digital hair floating unnaturally.

  "I found you! You're performing admirably. That was Orientation Ted you saw. He's quite stab-happy today. Last week he preferred hugging people until their ribs shattered."

  "That thing is actually park staff?" Christian whispered, cautiously glancing around the corner to confirm he wasn't being pursued.

  "Well. Staff. Guest. Cult member. Management prefers we avoid using such specific terms." She wrapped a glitching strand of data-hair around her finger.

  "They claim labels complicate the extraction process."

  "You mentioned I need to find some guide."

  "That's right! One waits by the South Gate. But before that—" She gestured with an arm that stretched to impossible length, her finger extending like a pointing stick.

  A vending machine glowed blood-red in the darkness. The display glass flickered constantly, revealing indistinct shapes inside, possibly syringes? Candy? Keys?

  Whenever Christian tried to focus directly on the objects, they shifted and transformed, only becoming clear when viewed from the corner of his eye.

  「Park Machine Detected: "CHOICE DISPENSER"」 「Payment: 1 Soul Credit」 「Balance: 0.7」 「Insufficient. Apply for Debt?」

  Hemlock clapped her hands together.

  "It's time to make your very first choice."