My mind stirred in all sorts of ways. I was having a hard time processing the information, but before any of that, looking around me, I took the bottle and left the basement.
’I’ll give it a better look outside. For now, I need to leave this place.’
Recalling the events from a moment prior, I felt that this was the most appropriate course of action.
My movements were stiff as I ascended the stairs, each step landing with a sharp, echoing thud in the silence. The beam of the flashlight coming from my phone trembled slightly as I kept it fixed ahead, its narrow glow pressing against the darkness.
Taking small yet repetitive breaths, I looked ahead.
Towards the door where the shadow appeared, and for a moment, my steps paused.
’It can’t see me anymore. I’m not wearing the glasses.’
I clenched my teeth and continued.
But… was it really not looking at me?
It could just be standing in front of me. Watching me.
…It was just that I couldn’t see it.
I licked my lips, feeling the anxiety building up from deep within me.
However, that faded quickly as I soon managed to find myself out of the basement and onto the first floor again.
Clank!
Closing the door behind me, I wiped the sweat on my forehead before going to the second floor and heading to my room.
“Haa… Haa…”
It was only there that I relaxed and sat down on my bed.
Taking out the bottle again, I stared at the faded label.
[Lumenol]
My hand shook.
“How does this make any sense?”
I was well aware of the medicine that I took. It was called Menxylanis. Lumenol, on the other hand, was the name of the medicine that I bought from the system.
In fact…
“It’s the same.”
I took the bottle from the system and held it beside the one in front of me. Aside from the yellow tint of age and the fact that it wasn’t empty, the bottles looked identical.
“H-ow is this possible…?”
I could hardly contain my shock.
“Is it possible that these aren’t my old pills but someone else’s? No, that’s not it…” Looking at the label again and seeing my name written there, I was certain that these were mine.
But in that case…
“Is it possible that the Matriarch knows about my condition? About the fact that I have a Cognitive Shard? But even if she did, how did she manage to get her hands on these pills…?”
As far as I was aware, these pills weren’t something that could be bought. In fact, it didn’t even seem like Kyle was aware that such pills existed.
’Wait, given that I used to take these pills, how is Kyle not aware of what they do? In fact, how does he not know what my condition is?’
Kyle was aware that I was sick.
This was something that I was well aware of. However, given my previous interactions with Kyle, I also knew that he wasn’t aware of the fact that I had a Cognitive Shard.
’Something is off. Something is extremely off about the situation.’
Fiddling with the bottle in my hands, I felt my heartbeat rapidly increase.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
Each thump felt louder than the last, and a steady ringing sound echoed inside my mind.
I sat like that for what felt like forever, but when I snapped out of it, I realized that only a few seconds had passed.
“Hoo.”
I was practically drenched in sweat at this point, the back of my shirt feeling slightly cool as I hid the bottle under my bed.
’The only person who knows about the bottle is the Matriarch. I should observe her better later. Maybe, even find some time to ask.’
The obvious solution was to ask her, but at the same time, I felt rather hesitant about it.
It felt like I was prying open a Pandora’s box. One that was never meant to be touched. But if I wanted answers, I had no choice.
“But not now.”
I took a deep breath, trying my best to calm myself down.
Even though I was dying with curiosity, I knew that this wasn’t the time for me to dwell on this stuff.
“Mr. Jingles…”
The goal of the mission was to find Mr. Jingles.
I thought back to when I wore the glasses and almost spotted the anomaly. Indeed, the mission would be over once Mr. Jingles appeared, but the same would be true for my life. Furthermore, I knew that things weren’t that simple.
But maybe they were.
’…It’s not like I can’t try again. However, I need to do so in a setting where I can guarantee that it won’t attack me.’
For example, I needed to figure out its rules.
…And the key to the rules was all of the drawings.
Unfolding the paper, I set it down on the wooden table by the window, where the steady tap of rain against the glass filled the silence.
I was immediately drawn to the swirling dots of black on the clown’s eyes.
Thinking back to when I checked the drawing with the glasses and saw the swirling disappear, I knew that some sort of important clue lay there.
But what?
What exactly was this clue?
To Tok—
“Hm?”
Snapping out of it, I turned towards the door as it slowly opened to display a familiar face.
“Rat?”
“Eh…?”
The rat paused, tilting his head.
“What did you say?”
Oh, shit.
I had been so absorbed by my own thoughts that I had accidentally called him by his nickname.
“I said Rats…” I pressed my hand against my chest. “You startled me.”
“Oh.”
“Well, anyway, good timing. Do you have any drawings from the children?”
“I’ve got quite a few.”
The rat extended his hand to show a small stack.
’He may be a rat, but he’s actually quite useful.’
“Nice. Come quickly.”
“You found something…?”
Closing the door behind him, the rat curiously tilted his head while staring at the drawing in front of me.
“That looks—”
“I know, you don’t need to tell me.”
I extended my hand to receive the drawings before placing them on the table. Standing up, I arranged them in a simple order.
Those that had everything but the eyes missing would be in one pile, while those that had missing parts were in another.
With the rat helping, this wasn’t very hard.
“Okay, so it looks like we have four completed and seven non-completed.”
I put the completed drawings on the side while memorizing the names of the children who drew them in my mind. At the same time, I looked at the non-completed ones.
“What are you trying to do?”
The rat asked, still seemingly at a loss about what I was trying to do.
I didn’t answer and just arranged the drawings.
’This one is missing a button, but has everything else. This one over here is missing the shoes and the button. This one over here is missing just the button. This one is missing the shoes, button, and the balloon…’
“Aha.”
Eventually, however, I found it.
The pattern.
“You found something?”
As the rat’s curious voice rang, I quietly nodded.
“Yes, I have.”
I looked at the drawings while gently arranging them from least completed to most completed. Eventually, once I did, I looked at the rat.
“This right here is the pattern. Mr. Jingles’ pattern.”