The first thing I did after arriving at the Guild was make a beeline for my office.
“Hey, wait! Where are you going in such a hurry? Didn’t I tell you to rest?”
“Don’t worry, I am. I’m just going to pick some things up. That’s all.”
“Wha—Hey!”
That was all I said to Kyle before hurrying up. I wasn’t lying to him. I really was going to my office to pick up some things.
During the car ride and the day that I spent at the hospital, there were many things that I realized.
In essence, I couldn’t continue living like this.
There were a lot of things that I needed to change about myself.
But before that—
Clank!
Closing the door behind me, I looked around before settling my gaze over to my desk, where I sat down and took out my laptop. The dim light from the laptop illuminated the otherwise dark room. I was in such a hurry that I didn’t even bother turning on the light and just got to work
I booted the app and immediately checked Mr. Jingle’s information.
But…
———
[Mr. Jingles]
[?????]
———
“Ah, right…”
Seeing the question marks on its skill, I suddenly recalled the fact that Mr. Jingles was an anomaly that was far stronger than I.
’…And the main reason I struggled so much to contain it.’
I had a feeling that I had been on the verge of having my node explode during the time I tried to contain it. I could tell that several fractures had formed on my node, but I didn’t know the full extent of the damage.
For now, I didn’t know how to solve the situation, but I was certain that the system would have a way.
Hopefully.
’Fragments are just precursors to Cognitive Shards. Those should be easier to fix… right?’
Whatever the case was, there was nothing that I could do at the moment besides develop more games and reach higher orders.
“Okay.”
I leaned back against the chair and stared at the screen in front of me.
While the skill was filled with question marks, having already experienced it before, I was more or less aware of what it did.
In the end, I realised something. My Order was too low for me to see the skill, but that didn’t mean that the anomaly couldn’t use it.
It was just that I couldn’t use it using [Trait Transfer].
’In that case, maybe my plan can still work.’
“Hmm.”
Taking a deep breath, I stared down at the monitor in front of me and closed down the app.
“Come out.”
I summoned Mr. Jingles.
But…
Nothing.
The room darkened as if the shadows had thickened, pressing in past the soft glow of the monitor. A chill slid through the air, raising goosebumps along my arms.
A certain coolness washed over the surroundings as the hair on my arms stood up.
But strangely… I didn’t feel scared.
Rather…
I felt nothing.
Yet again, I felt this weird sense of emptiness as my eye twitched.
’What’s happening? Why… am I acting like this?’
I knew myself well. On any normal occasion, I’d be scared shitless.
And yet… I didn’t really feel much at this moment.
Several thoughts occurred to me.
’Is this a possible side effect of the fractures? That my emotions started to numb? Or is it because I’m more used to scary stuff?’
I wanted the answer to be the latter. However, a sinking feeling told me it was the former.
’I really need to find a way to get this solved.’
It wasn’t like my emotions had completely faded. No, it was more like… on certain occasions, they became incredibly numb.
Fear, anger, sadness… in those short moments, everything seemed to numb. The worst part of it was that I couldn’t control when such episodes occurred.
But it didn’t matter.
Tatata~
A familiar tune played softly. My monitor flickered, the display warping—
—and something stood in front of me.
Not on the screen.
In front of me.
I slowly looked up.
Red nose. Painted face. Tattered winged suit. A single red balloon in hand.
Mr. Jingles stood there, expression blank and eyes dark. The air in the room dropped several degrees.
And yet—
I still felt nothing.
“Looks like you’ve finally decided to show up.”
“…..”
Silence.
The room was incredibly silent as Mr. Jingles just stared at me with its deep black eyes.
“You’re not going to sag anything? Hmm. You were talking quite a lot before.”
I shrugged my shoulders before turning my attention towards the screen in front of me.
The same background, and the same everything as before. The only difference was that there was no one present in the small town in the monitor.
The thought made me grow curious.
’Is there a possibility that I can put people inside here? That would be rather interesting…’
It was merely a thought, however. Before that, I needed Mr. Jingles to cooperate with me, and as of right now, it didn’t really look like Mr. Jingles wanted to work with me.
’I guess I need to find a way to increase its favourability.’
Unlike Mirelle, who came willingly, and the Dreamwalker whom I beat up, Mr. Jingles’s situation was different.
Its favourability was at its lowest.
It was a whopping…
23.
…This is certainly not good.’
The fact that it had yet to attack me was a miracle.
Tapping my finger against the desk, I studied the anomaly in front of me. This was the first time that I had seen it in person, and it was much taller than I expected.
“What do you want?”
“…..”
Still nothing.
The clown just stared at me in silence.
But then—
The clown finally moved its hand, pointing its finger right at me as a slow and creepy smile started to form on its features.
Finally, I felt something. A shiver. A sliver of fear creeping up my spine.
The numbness was fading.
“No can do. If I die, you die as well. We’re connected now.”
I made some bullshit up on the spot, but it wasn’t too far from the truth. At the very least, this seemed like the most logical conclusion.
Whether that was the case or not, I wasn’t sure. Nor did I plan on finding out since I had no intention of dying.
Ba…
Something skipped in my chest as I looked up at the clown, and I closed my eyes to think carefully about what it might want.
Thump!
I thought about everything I knew about the case and the potential intentions behind the cartoon.
Ba… Thump!
As my heartbeat increased, my thoughts started to become more scattered.
’Focus. Focus… Don’t let the fear take over your mind.’
I clenched my teeth and strained my mind further.
The pieces didn’t fit. What did the clown want? Revenge? Justice? Chaos?
I forced myself to breathe, to focus.
Clearing the father’s name? No. If that were it, the clown wouldn’t be haunting everyone else.
What tied this all together…?
My chest pounded.
Then—
It clicked.
“The little girl…”
The moment the words left my mouth, Mr. Jingles’s smile began to fade.
And mine took its place.
That was it.
She was the key. The one thing the clown cared about.