[Bonus Quest Activated!]
• Difficulty: Second Order
• Reward: 15,000 SP
• Objective: Find out more about the Twisted Man.
• Location: Malovia Island
Description: The Twisted Man has once again made an appearance. With each victim dying faster than before, and its strength slowly increasing, there isn’t much time before the Twisted Man evolves. Find out more about the Twisted Man and how it manages to escape! But be aware… The Twisted Man knows about your appearance!
Time Limit: 1 day.
I drew a cold breath while staring at the quest.
In particular, the last sentence made my body involuntarily shiver. Even though I was already aware, seeing it written down before my very eyes made me extremely apprehensive.
The only silver lining about the situation was the difficulty.
It was only at the Second Order.
This most likely meant I wouldn’t have to deal with the Twisted Man.
At least… I hoped that’d be the case.
“I’m surprised you asked me to come instead of Kyle. Wouldn’t things have been much easier if he had come along?”
Managing to walk past the mob in front of the make-shift building, the rat continued to speak. He looked to be in a good mood today.
Was he that happy that I invited him to join me?
“I’m sure he’s a lot more qualified than I. What made you want to go with me?”
The fact that people would immediately notice if Kyle went missing?
The fact that I didn’t want to go alone?
…And the fact that I didn’t know anyone else?
There were plenty of reasons.
Still, it wasn’t like I could just tell him that.
I merely shrugged my shoulders and gave the most random answer.
“I just felt like it.”
“Oh. That’s nice.”
Thankfully, the rat didn’t seem to mind my answer at all. He just looked happy as we walked towards a specific house.
Spotting the familiar place, we both stopped.
Yellow tape appeared to surround the entire house, preventing anyone from entering as agents appeared all around.
‘Looks like this might be more difficult than expected.’
I thought while staring at the distant building. Looking at all the agents around, I realized that getting in was probably going to be a challenge.
…At least, that was what I thought at first.
“Hello.”
Stepping forward, the rat took out an ID badge and displayed it to one of the agents.
Turning his attention towards me, the agent nodded his head and raised the tape as the rat waved at me.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“…..”
Staring at him, I didn’t know what to say.
He got in just like this? That…
“You know, the tapes are only there to stop regular citizens from coming in. Since we both work for the Guild, they won’t stop us from entering.”
“….Oh.”
His words made a lot of sense.
‘I guess bringing him along wasn’t a bad decision, after all.’
The two of us finally stepped into the house, its all-too-familiar layout unfolding before my eyes. As I looked around, the place felt deserted. No lights, no signs of life, and not a single agent in sight.
The only way I could see was through the flashlight on my phone. It was also then that I took notice of the yellow tape that appeared by the stairs that led to the second floor.
“What now?”
The rat asked, his eyes fixed on me. He looked quite eager for some reason.
His eagerness took me by surprise, but I ignored it as I looked around the place.
The air was stale and somewhat stuffy. The kind that came from when one entered a room that had been left sealed for days.
Peeling wallpaper curled like dead leaves at the edges while the floor creaked under my weight, groaning with each step that I took.
Still, I moved.
Slowly.
Towards the light switch.
Although I could see thanks to my phone, it wasn’t enough.
But…
Click.
Nothing.
The darkness continued to cling to me from all sides.
“The light switch doesn’t work?”
“….No.”
“How odd.”
Taking out his phone, the rat illuminated the area before him.
“This should be enough for now.”
Turning around, he looked towards the yellow tape that blocked the path to the second floor. He turned towards me as he pulled the tape up.
“Shall we?”
I hesitated, but then, thinking about the quest, I eventually followed along.
Each step up the stairs drew a low groan from the wood, the air growing thicker with a musty scent that clung to everything. A sudden chill settled over me, creeping under my skin and making me shiver.
It suddenly almost felt like winter had come…
“Don’t worry too much. This is normal.”
The rat spoke while passing me.
“Strong anomalies often cause a noticeable drop in temperature. It’s something to do with the cold seeping into our world from the world the anomalies come from. Not much is known about their world, but from what I know, it appears to be some parallel Earth. At least, this is what most researchers suggest.”
“Is that so?”
I paused for a moment, my thoughts pausing on the Spectral Glasses.
Could it be…?
“We’re here.”
Finally reaching the room in question, the rat pushed the door open and shone his phone’s flashlight inside.
The room appeared before our eyes.
It looked exactly as before, but with tape wrapped around the bed, the sheets tossed aside, and a wet stain spreading across the mattress. The musty scent hung heavier in the air, made worse by the cold that clung to the room.
I started to shiver as I held onto the sides of my arm.
Cold… Too cold.
Even so, I remained standing while observing my surroundings.
Eventually drawing a breath, I retrieved my sunglasses and slowly put them on.
“Haaa…”
The world before me changed.
The cold sharpened into a piercing chill, and the world around me shifted into shades of blue. The rat was close by, sweeping his flashlight under the bed in search of clues. I had considered doing the same, but…
I couldn’t at all.
Staring towards the corner of the room, my eyes fell towards a certain crack on the floor. It was large.
Large enough to fit a single person, and as the wood groaned under my steps, I stopped right before it.
Eventually, after removing my glasses, the crack disappeared, only appearing again once I put on my glasses.
This…
I swallowed nervously, I lowered my body to stare at the hole.
“Did you find anything? I couldn’t find anything at all.”
I didn’t know how long I stood like that, but by the time I heard the rat’s voice again, my head had lowered towards the crack.
That’s when I saw them.
“…..!”
A grotesque sea of mummified bodies, stacked and pressed together in a suffocating mass beneath the floor, their limbs twisted, eyes hollow, and faces mouths opening and closing as they all stared at me.
I shuddered, hastily pulling my glasses off.
But as I did…
Crack!
The floor beneath me split, and the figures appeared once more.
“O-oh, shit.”