“I realized that something was wrong the moment that Kyle and the others left me alone in the apartment. I believe it was when I saw the moonlight flicker and a large shadow appeared before me. I immediately stopped moving and did nothing. I thought I was a goner back then. With my strenght, there was no way for me to defeat that thing.”
Within the confines of a small room, two people sat in front of a metallic desk. The room was rather plain. Besides the lamp above that shined a white light beneath, coupled with the metallic desk and chairs, there was nothing else in the room.
“…But it was also in that desperate moment that I realized something. The monster… or whatever that thing was, it fed on noise. So long as I made no noise, the anomaly wouldn’t attack me.”
Currently, Seth was sitting in front of the Section Chief, describing to him everything that had happened in the crack.
He wasn’t the only one questioned.
The others were too, with everyone brought to a different room.
Nobody was in trouble or anything like that. These were just the standard procedures the Guild took in order to ensure there was no physical or mental damage to the agents who had just come out from a traumatizing mission.
It was also for the Guild to keep tabs on the situation and understand exactly what had happened.
“So you were able to find out the anomaly hunted through sound with just that observation?”
Sitting opposite Seth with his legs crossed, the Section Chief proceeded to make several notes, his tongue pushing onto the bottom of his lips.
Making his notes, he gestured for Seth to continue.
“Fill me in on the rest.”
Seth obliged and proceeded to narrate all the events that transpired shortly after.
From how the anomaly began to use voices to lure him.
From how it tried to trick him many times to make noise.
From how it had several weird corpses try and attack him, causing him to defend himself and barely manage to come out of it alive.
“Wait, you were able to defeat the creatures with just a knife?”
“….They weren’t very strong. I believe its goal was just to make me speak.”
“I see.”
The Section Chief didn’t think too much of this part. This sounded a lot like a scare tactic.
He proceeded to write another point in his notebook.
Seth proceeded to narrate the other events. How Kyle and the others arrived. How it had been a trick the entire time, and the reason why the corpses had arrived was due to it wanting to get Kyle and the others to come back and get him to speak.
To the poem on the wall, and everything else that followed.
Seth narrated everything without leaving anything behind. He remained as consistent as possible, knowing that there were other witnesses at the scene.
From his observations and his thought process during the entire situation. He didn’t leave anything out.
The only time he made any changes was in the parts where he was by himself.
“When the anomaly went up the stairs to chase after Kyle and the others, it remained on the second floor, and when Kyle canceled his node and I woke up again, I went up to the wall and started sculpting new lines on the walls. I was unfortunately never able to finish. It arrived before I could finish.”
“And…?”
“It was still enough,” Seth replied, his face lowering as he seemed to fall into deep thought, “…In the end, the anomaly got angry and used its real voice. That was when I knew that the game was over, and how I managed to get out.”
Seth’s words were followed by a brief moment of silence as the Section Chief’s hand paused, the ball of the pen hovering above the paper in front of him.
He quietly processed the words before nodding.
“Is there anything else that you’d like to share with me?”
“…No.”
“Alright.”
The Section Chief brought the pen onto the table and nodded.
“You may leave. Thank you for sharing everything.”
“Understood.”
Without wasting a single second, Seth stood up and proceeded to walk in the direction of the door.
’Didn’t even waste a second.’
The eagerness in Seth to leave was quite obvious to see, and it made the Section Chief smile wryly. Nonetheless, he understood where Seth was coming from and merely shook his head.
It was understandable.
Watching as Seth opened the door and left, the Section Chief remained seated in his chair, his eyes hovering over the paper in front of him.
All sorts of bullet notes appeared on them, detailing everything that Seth had told him.
And…
“As expected…”
The Section Chief dropped the paper on the table, his fist slowly clenching.
“I really. Really want him.”
He wasn’t wrong about his previous assessment of Seth.
He really was a monstrous talent that the Guild couldn’t do without.
If before he wasn’t fully convinced, looking through the thought process Seth had gone through in order to escape the situation, the Section Chief found it extremely hard to contain himself from just forcing Seth to become an agent for the Guild.
It was just a pity that doing so would probably lead to not-so-ideal situations.
’If I want him to join the Guild as a proper agent, I’ll need to do it slowly. I’ll also need to prepare enough of an incentive for him to make him want to take the switch.’
Seth was a talent that the Guild couldn’t do without.
If nurtured properly, he could very well take his position in no time. Of this, the Section Chief was sure.
He was never wrong when it came to judging people.
Trrr—
Lost in thought, the Section Chief didn’t even notice his phone ringing. By the time he noticed, the phone had rung multiple times.
“Hm?”
Taking it out and checking who the caller was, his brow rose.
He quickly answered it.
“What is it?”
The Team Leader’s voice echoed right after.
His voice was low and sounded rather grave.
—The rescue squad… has just come back.
“And…?”
—There are no survivors. The remaining members have all been turned into the mummified versions, and we’ve also located the Twisted Man. He appears to be standing still, staring directly at a certain poem.
“A poem?”
The Section Chief suddenly recalled the conversation that he had not long ago with Seth and quickly asked, “Do you have a photo of the poem? Send it to me.”
—We do. I’ll send it over to you right now.
A few seconds later, the Section Chief’s phone rang again, and an image appeared.
The Section Chief didn’t hesitate to open the image before settling his gaze over the poem.
As far as he knew, Seth had added a few words at the end in order to anger the Twisted Man. He was curious to see what it was.
Just what exactly did he write to piss off such an anomaly?
And then—
He saw it.
“H-ha.”
Covering his mouth, the Section Chief had a hard time holding back his smile as he stared at the last verse of the poem.
While it was indeed incomplete, he could more or less tell what it meant.
And soon, completing the entire poem, he found himself unable to hold his smile.
“What a fitting last verse…”
Tick-tock, listen, don’t make a sound,
Or else the Twisted Man comes around.
He walks in echoes, he creeps in noise,
He feeds on whimpers, he drinks your voice.
First, just a shadow, then at your back,
His fingers hum where the sound waves crack.
Speak but a word, and he’ll draw near,
Scream but once, and he’ll appear.
Games he loves, games he plays.
His voice may change, but his appearance will not.
Careful of the voice, as it may be his.
So bite your tongue and mute your cries,
Lest your last sound be his whispered lies.
The Twisted Man won’t leave, you’ll find…
Unless you leave your voice behind.
For he steals your voice for his wicked game,
A tale of sound, mind, and shame.
A twisted man, within his twisted tale.
Who lost himself within his game.