I wasn’t smiling because I felt like I had won.
I was smiling because I was scared. I was trying to trick myself into believing that I wasn’t scared. Was I scared? Beyond shitless.
Still, I couldn’t show it on my face.
My heart drummed loudly in my head as I stood before the Twisted Man, its figure hunched over me.
“…You feed on voices, right?”
In the silence that settled around me, my voice was the only sound that broke the silence.
It rang out clearly, and I could hear its faint echo returning to me.
“I heard your true voice. According to the game, you should be feeding on yourself.”
I extended both of my hands, trying me best to look confident.
“I’m still alive, no? The game between the two of us isn’t over. Now that you’ve spoken, it’s time for you to eat your own voice.”
I licked my dry lips, staring at the Twisted Man before me.
I struggled to breathe in its presence, as though the air itself was suffocating me. Every breath felt forced, and the knot in my throat tightened with each passing moment.
But then—
Twitch!
The Twisted Man’s head twitched.
As if it had experienced some sort of glitch, it began to twitch.
Twitch! Twitch!
Its hand raised, a shadow casting over me as it tried to attack me, but—
Twitch!
Its action would immediately stop
I was lost and confused at first, but I soon understood everything.
’…It worked. My plan worked!’
Staring at the Twisted Man and seeing it twitch once more, I could tell that it was struggling to come to terms with the situation.
At this very moment, I took a step back.
Away from the Twisted Man.
Creaak!
The wooden floor creaked under my step, and the Twisted Man stared at me.
But…
Twitch!
It didn’t move.
That was when I fully understood that my plan had worked.
But I didn’t dare relax. Looking around the place, I immediately settled my gaze on the stairs in the distance.
The right course of action would be to directly head there and move to the second floor before leaving. I thought about killing it with the knife in my hand, but I didn’t feel that was a good idea.
’It’s best to leave. I can’t take any risks.’
However, just as I was about to take a step there, I paused.
Slowly turning my head, my gaze fell on the unfinished poem on the wall.
Twitch! Twitch!
The Twisted Man continued to twitch as I stared at the poem.
’It’s a pity I can’t finish it, but the message is clear enough.’
Looking at the Twisted Man one last time, I moved towards the stairs and rushed towards the second floor, where I noticed a familiar device and activated it.
Swoosh!
Almost immediately, my vision shifted, and it started to dim.
It was also in that moment that I saw a notification appear before me.
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed the scenario!]
[You will now be given your rewards]
[App will now update]
Eh…?
I looked at the sudden notification, dumbfounded.
Another update?
What in the world—
The world turned black before I could finish my thoughts.
***
“Team Leader… Did you find anything? Is there some sort of way to enter?”
“Kyle.”
The Team Leader paused, turning his attention towards Kyle, who had been hounding him for the past several minutes. At first, the Team Leader understood where Kyle was coming from. One of the people involved was someone that whom he was close.
He understood that.
But there was a limit to how much he could take.
“If you keep asking me the same question over and over again, how do you expect me to focus and actually try to help your friend out?”
Although he tried his best not to, the Team Leader still ended up raising his voice, prompting Kyle to snap out of it.
Turning his head around and seeing all the eyes that were staring at him, Kyle lowered his head before apologizing.
“I’m sorry.”
He wasn’t usually like this.
In fact, he was usually the cold one in the team.
He was usually the guy who would act indifferent to someone’s predicament and death.
And yet…
When it involved Seth, Kyle found himself growing restless.
This was someone he had grown up with. His brother in a better sense of the word.
How could he not be restless?
“Kyle, I understand that you’re worried, but we’re trying our best to figure the situation out. I’ve already called the Section Chief, and he should be on his way. Once he arrives, we should be able to resolve the situation.”
The Team Leader’s words were encouraging and filled with hope.
But in reality… Even he didn’t believe his own words. He had witnessed the entire situation from the start.
He was well aware of what had transpired beforehand, and seeing just how many elite members had died, he didn’t have any faith that a regular person like Seth was going to survive the ordeal by the time they managed to find a way into the gate.
The Team Leader just didn’t want to tell the facts to Kyle.
He was currently not in the right state of mind.
’That Trauma Counselor would’ve been really useful at this very moment.’
As a support, Seth was never really supposed to be involved in the scenario. He was supposed to be there to handle situations where teammates lost their minds or had trouble remaining calm.
This would’ve really come in handy with the current state that Kyle was in.
“Team Leader.”
Bringing the Team Leader out of his thoughts was a certain voice.
Turning his head, he saw one of the rescue team members walking up to him. Judging from their face, the situation didn’t look great.
“We’ve tried to do more tests, but it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to force our way into the crack. It seems like we’ll need the Section Chief to come directly and fo—”
“There’s a fluctuation!”
With a sudden shout, everyone’s attention turned towards a certain individual as they stood before the crack that led to the strange world.
Staring directly at the crack, they pointed at it.
“…..!”
All of a sudden, a hand shot out from the crack, shocking everyone present as it grasped onto the wooden floor before pulling itself out.
All eyes widened in that moment as Kyle’s face lit up.
“Seth!”
He immediately rushed towards Seth, helping him out of the hole as the others also rushed to help him.
“Quick! Get the medics!”
“Get the other supports!”
“Quickly!”
Chaos unfolded in that very moment as the place turned extremely lively.
And yet, the person in question seemed completely oblivious to the situation as he stared at the string of notifications that appeared before his eyes.
[Bonus Quest Activated!]
• Difficulty: Second Order
• Reward: 15,000 SP
• Objective: Find out more about the Twisted Man.
• Location: Malovia Island
Time Limit: 1 day.
Even as he watched his balance grow, he didn’t look particularly excited.
[Balance : 18,322 SP]
He’d normally be happy upon seeing such a number, but at this very moment, his thoughts were elsewhere.
Another update?
Why? What happened…?
What was it going to be about?
He was dying from curiosity as he wanted nothing more than to just head out of the room and reach for his laptop.
But before he could even do that….
Clank!
The door burst open, and an all too familiar figure walked in.
It was the Section Chief.