Tatatat~
A merry tune suddenly played out of the phone, drowning out the tapping of the rain outside. The screen flashed, and a cartoon background of a town appeared, people smiling with their eyes wide as they raised their hands to wave.
Staring at the sight, I froze.
Horrified, I turned my attention towards the rat, who also froze on the spot.
And then—
A figure peeked from the corner of the screen.
The figure hid in the corner with both hands covering its face. However, one look at its clothes and hair, and I knew who it was.
’Mr. Jingles…’
Tatatat~
The tune played out again, and my body started to stiffen.
For whatever reason, my body refused to listen to me.
But then—
“Mr. Jingles says~ Face each other.”
“——!”
My body started moving on its own.
’Shit! What is going on…!?’
As if strings had been attached to my limbs, my body started to slowly turn, and the rat and I stood face to face with each other.
I could tell from his expression that he was equally shocked.
I wanted to open my mouth to speak, but I was horrified to realize that I couldn’t at all. My breathing started to grow heavier, and as I looked at the rat, he stared right back at me as if he seemed to try to say something.
However, it was useless.
Tatatat~
The music played once more, and a soft chill swept down my back.
Mr. Jingle’s voice echoed right after.
This time, it felt as though the voice had directly whispered into my ear, causing shivers to run down my neck.
“Mr. Jingles says…”
There was a pause. One that seemed to last for an eternity.
But then—
“…Strangle each other.”
The command came, and my hands raised.
“——!”
The same was for the rat as he similarly raised his hands.
Neither one could control our own movements.
The world grew silent.
A flash lit up the room, illuminating the rat’s face before me.
I took a step forward.
So did he…
And then—
BANG!
The lightning came, and the rat was the first to snap out of it.
I did a few seconds later.
“Shit!”
Immediately, the first thing I did was rush towards my phone, where the tune continued to play, and I shut it down.
“Haa… Haa…”
Breathing heavily, I turned to face the rat. His face was pale, and just one look at him and I could tell that he was just as shaken as me.
“What… What in the world just happened?”
“Illusionist Decree…”
The rat muttered, wiping his forehead as he took out his phone and turned it off.
“Mr. Jingles is of the Illusionist Decree.”
“That’s…”
“If you have any electronics, it’s better if you shut them off.”
“I already did.”
Be it my phone or watch, both of them were off. Looking around the room, there wasn’t anything else that needed to be shut off as my breath started to settle down.
Although I had imagined myself strangling the rat many times before, I didn’t think it would happen this way. In a way where I wasn’t in control at all. In that very moment, I felt completely helpless.
“Hoo.”
I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.
Scanning the room once more, my eyes eventually settled on the doodles scattered across the table. Specifically, mine and Myles’s.
Recalling how Myles was able to snap out of it before me, a thought occurred to me.
’Could it be that the degree of completion of the doodle determines how much one can be controlled by Mr. Jingles?’
Looking at the drawings, the rat only had one fewer item than I did.
In that case…
’Yes, this is the most likely situation.’
Thinking back, even while I was under the influence of Mr. Jingles’ voice, I still had control over my thoughts. But what if the sketch had been more complete? Would I even be able to tell if I were being controlled? …Or would I completely black out?
The thought made me shudder as I slowly turned towards the rat, who looked back at me.
“…Did you figure something out?”
“I… might’ve.”
Pointing to the drawings on the table, I began explaining my thoughts and conclusions. The rat listened intently, nodding at several points until, eventually, a smile tugged at his lips, his dimples appearing once more.
“You’re quite smart.”
“…Oh, err. Thank—”
“It’s no wonder the Section Chief likes you so much.”
“….”
I didn’t really know how to reply. Looking at the rat and seeing his genuine smile, I found myself at a loss for words.
In the end, all I could offer was a silent ’thank you’ before turning my attention back to the sketches laid out before me.
“Okay, so from what we managed to figure out, this anomaly is one that belongs to the Illusionist Decree. That’s a…”
“Decree that revolves around creating illusions and hypnotization.”
“…I see.”
This made sense.
I was still unfamiliar with the numerous Decrees that existed. I didn’t really have a book that taught me this kind of stuff.
’Probably should ask for it though.’
“To hypnotize someone, Mr. Jingles uses objects from his own clothing. These items appear seemingly at random, often out of place, but possess an unsettling ability to go unnoticed. The more of them that are discovered, and the more complete the doodle becomes, the deeper you fall under his hypnosis…”
“Yes, pretty much.”
The rat said as I jotted all of this down on a random paper. I planned on sending this later to the Guild.
If only my phone…
“What we don’t know is how to snap out of the hypnosis, and how to clear the anomaly. We also don’t know the origins of the anomaly, nor can we use our phones or any electronics at the moment. This…”
I pursed my lips tightly.
This was a rather troublesome situation.
’Should I just get out and abandon this quest?’
There was no real penalty for me abandoning the mission. The only thing I would lose would be the potential ’50,000 SP’ that I could earn from this quest.
’Ugh, no wonder this is a Third Order mission.’
Of course, it wasn’t going to be an easy mission.
Standing in silence while leaning on the wooden table while both of my knuckles pressed against it, I stared blankly at the drawings before me, trying to think of a way to clear the current situation.
However, regardless of how much I thought about it, I couldn’t quite find a solution.
Turn off all electronics in the house?
’I don’t think it’s that simple, but it might be worth a try?’
If Mr. Jingles used electronics to hypnotize people, then so long as I shut them down, I’d be able to stop it from controlling me.
But were things really so simple?
I thought for a moment before pulling out the quest window again.
Ding!
[Quest Activated]
• Difficulty: Third Order
• Reward: 50,000 SP
• Objective: Hide and Seek.
• Location: N/A
Description: Find Mr. Jingles before it’s too late!
Time Limit: 2 days.
Find Mr Jingles before it’s too late…
I was already aware of this. I knew that I had to find Mr. Jingles.
But then, my gaze couldn’t help but pause on the quest objective.
“Hide and Seek?”
What could this…
’Wait.’
A thought struck me then.
What if…?
What if Mr. Jingles’ real body wasn’t some sort of object I needed to find? What if… Mr. Jingles was hiding in plain sight?
What if… Mr. Jingles was one of the staff or the children?
My breath paused.