“…..”
I felt nauseous staring into its eyes.
How could I even describe its figure?
It was just like its name.
Twisted.
But not in the way a branch might twist, or cloth might fold. No… this was unnatural.
Its limbs were too long. Joints angled where there shouldn’t be joints. Half its body looked broken, as if it had tried to turn itself inside out and stopped halfway.
It didn’t move. Not yet.
But even standing still, it felt pressuring.
My skin prickled. My stomach churned. My legs refused to listen.
Everything in me screamed.
Don’t look at it.
And yet I couldn’t look away.
And in that stillness, staring into its twisted form, I finally understood.
The conductor’s warning.
This figure…
This anomaly…
It wasn’t like the others. Not like the conductor. Not like Mirelle. Not even like the Dreamwalker.
This one was different.
I didn’t need logic to grasp it. I felt it. In my skin. In my bones. In the pit of my stomach.
This wasn’t an anomaly bound by rules or reason.
This was something else entirely.
This was… Evil incarante.
Deee! Deee—
It was then that an alarm jolted me out of my thoughts. Staring into the monitor, the twisted figure was long gone, and in its place was a mummified husk that I had grown somewhat familiar with.
Deee! Deee—!
The alarm grew louder as the entire room flared red.
“What’s going on?”
“What is this alarm?”
The others grew alarmed at the sight, looking around in confusion as the Team Leader’s expression grew somber.
He didn’t panic like the others and immediately pressed a certain button as a figure appeared on one of the monitors. Their features were obscured, and so was their voice.
However, everyone in the room could hear it clearly.
—There’s been a situation.
The monitors shifted, displaying several different beds in which mummified figures appeared.
“…..!”
The eyes of many changed as they saw the mummified figures spasm uncontrollably, their lifeless eyes and faces shaking.
—Despite having been declared functionally braindead and in a vegetative state, the previous victim of the Twisted Man are currently suffering from the same violent seizures.
The rattling displayed in the monitors intensified as the mummified figures continued to shake, several people in white coats moving next to them and injecting their bodies with what I could only assume to be some sort of tranquilizer.
But even that seemed to be useless.
—We’ve also detected several anomalous activities around the island. Of which, one is happening right close to where you all are.
A map of the island was displayed on another monitor, with several dots appearing at the same time.
—These are the locations of the activities. We’ve yet to find any connection, but we will begin the investigation immediately.
The details being revealed at this very moment felt extremely disturbing as everyone looked at one another.
Everyone but me… as I slowly removed the glasses from my face.
Sweat poured down the side of my cheeks while my chest rose and fell repeatedly, my legs weaker than usual.
I could hardly breathe while thinking about the twisted figure from before.
That… That thing…
How could something like that exist?
I shuddered just thinking about it.
—This is it for now. I will be reporting more on the situation once we find out more.
The call ended just like that.
Silence fell over the room shortly after as the Team Leader stood in silence.
Then—
“Get the teams to start moving. Have each one on standby at each respective house. The situation is starting to change. I’m afraid…”
His tone grew grim.
“…We might be heading towards a Thrall class.”
And as if his words weren’t enough to make my chest heavy, a notification appeared shortly after.
[You have been haunted]
*
The next morning.
Following the events that transpired during the night, all personnel had been dispatched around all houses, ready to engage at any moment.
However, nothing truly happened the entire night.
Despite everyone being on high alert, the twisted man never returned.
It was as if it had vanished right after acting once.
By the time daylight returned and the teams were sure the twisted man wasn’t going to return, many decided to go get some sleep. The Guild, prepared for this kind of aftermath, had thrown together a makeshift housing unit.
It was simple and had all the necessary facilities.
I wish I could’ve done the same.
“….”
I lay there, motionless.
Eyes fixed on the ceiling.
The weight of the room pressing down on me.
The bed pulled at my body like it wanted to swallow me whole.
And I let it.
I didn’t move.
I couldn’t.
Each time I tried to sleep, the image of the twisted man would appear in my mind, preventing me from closing my eyes.
…And all of it came as a result of the notification that had appeared not too long ago.
’The glasses… They’re a lot more dangerous than I previously thought.’
It allowed me to see things that others couldn’t, but at the same time, allowed ’others’ to feel and sense me.
I understood that the twisted man was aware of my existence.
It was going to come for me.
But… it needed a specific requirement in order to haunt me. So long as I didn’t follow the requirement, I was safe.
…Or at least, I hoped that would be the case.
I pressed my lips tightly.
“No, I can’t leave this up to chance.”
Sitting up on the bed, I threw the sheets away and got up. There was no point in trying to sleep since I knew that it was impossible for me to do so.
Going out of the room I was in, I walked out to find a mess waiting for me.
“We’re tired! Do something about the situation!”
“We can’t live like this!”
“Give our homes back! If you can’t figure the situation out, you may as well leave!”
A large mob stood outside the makeshift residential area for the field agents as they each held onto banners and posters that said [Get out!], [You are useless!].
The crowd didn’t look pleased at all.
I was just about to turn back when a hand pressed against my shoulder.
“…..!”
Caught off guard, I almost flinched, but the moment I turned my head, I saw the rat standing next to me. His dimples stood out once more to me.
“Couldn’t get any sleep?”
“…None. I take it that you are also the same?”
“Something like that.”
The rat answered ambiguously, staring at the distant mob with a complicated expression.
“If only they knew just how much we work each day. Feels like complaining is a lot easier when you’re ignorant of the matter.”
“You can say that.”
But then again, it probably didn’t matter.
Even if they knew how much effort we poured into figuring it all out…
The mob wouldn’t care.
They just wanted to be safe. That was really all they wanted.
And this was the job that the Guild was in charge of. Looking around, I took a deep breath while slowly pulling out my glasses again.
Staring at them, I looked at them with a complicated expression.
Although I didn’t really want to use them, I knew that they were also the key to helping me in this situation.
But I held on using them just yet.
Slowly turning my head to look at Myles, I pointed towards one of the distant houses.
“Since you can’t sleep. Want to go check out one of the places while we’re at it?”
Although the rat was the last person that I wanted to go with, I didn’t want to go alone.
That’d be way too scary.
And so for that reason, I made the offer. This seemed to catch him off guard as the dimples on his face momentarily faltered.
But then they returned. Deeper this time.
He smiled.
“It’d be my pleasure.”
It was also in that moment that it happened.
I received a sudden quest.