“Here, have this to drink.”
“…Thank you.”
I received the warm cup of water from the police officer as I sat down on the stairs of the abandoned museum, quietly staring at the night sky above.
The event had come to an end.
Or at least, I hoped that was the case. I had yet to receive the quest completion notification.
Nonetheless, seeing the cops around me, I felt a lot safer. My tactic had ended up working somehow, and I was able to scare all the weird cultists away. That bought enough time for the cops to finally show up and for the event to come to an end.
But there was only one problem…
‘What about the cultists? Did the cops catch any of them? Did they catch anything…?’
I was worried about this. They had seen my face.
They knew how I looked, and this was what worried me the most.
I looked behind me to see the beams of several flashlights slicing through the darkness behind.
‘Nothing, it doesn’t seem like they’ve found anything.’
My heart sank at the sight.
It really did seem like I was in for a lot of trouble. Thankfully, I usually spent most of my time in the Guild.
I felt safe thinking about that.
Surely they wouldn’t be able to do anything to me if I were there, right?
“I’m telling you. This is not a setup! This is all legit. We have a stream to prove it.”
“But then, how can you explain the things we found on the second floor?”
“That… that was me. I had set it up in advance in order to scare my guest, but everything else is real. I’m telling you!”
A certain conversation brought me out of my thoughts. Turning my head, I saw Jamie talking with one of the police officers, a blanket draped over his body as his arms swung around wildly as he tried to explain the situation.
“Yes, this was originally a prank! But things turned out this way. Timing? I don’t know. If possible, I wish I didn’t have such timing.”
‘It seems like they found something on the second floor that makes them think this is all a setup.’
Well, it wasn’t like I was unaware of the fact.
Understanding Zoey’s personality quite well, I saw this sort of scenario happening from miles away.
I also understood that this cultist scenario wasn’t a setup.
It felt too real to be a setup, and sure enough, several officers emerged from within the abandoned building, carrying long white bags.
Judging from their somber expression, I could tell what was within the bags.
‘The bodies of the two accomplices that Jamie had brought.’
I drew a cold breath.
They… really had died. It wasn’t my imagination.
It was real.
This just reminded me of how close I was to dying myself.
It also made me question the system. If this were a Second Order Mission, just how hard were the higher-order missions?
The thought alone made me want to puke.
I couldn’t wait to get back to the dorm and get some sleep.
In fact, looking at the time and seeing that it was almost midnight, I stood up from my spot. It was time for me to leave. I had a certain painting to tend to.
‘Huh, wait…’
A thought crossed me as I stood up.
Since I had more or less completed this mission, did I still need to stare at the painting?
Logic said no, but at the same time, I had yet to receive the quest completion notification. I wasn’t sure why, but since that was the case, it was best to play it safe and return to the office.
I was just about to do that when a certain voice echoed from behind me.
“You’re leaving already?”
I turned around to see a tall man with a neatly trimmed brown beard. His hazel eyes matched the warmth of his hair, which was tucked beneath a hat. Dressed in a dark blue blazer adorned with several gleaming medals, he carried an authoritative air around him.
I looked towards the golden plate on his right chest.
Micheals?
“I was busy with the investigation, so I didn’t have time to introduce myself.”
The officer held his hand towards me.
“I’m Senior Officer Micheals.”
Senior Officer? My right brow rose. He was probably the one in charge of the current operation.
I shook his hand back.
“I’m Seth.”
“….Nice to meet you, Seth.”
“Pleasure is mine.”
The Senior Officer looked around before moving to the side. I followed along.
“Alright, I called you aside because I wanted to talk to you about the current situation. I’m already mostly aware of the stream and have watched it, so I doubt asking you many questions will help with the situation. It’ll just be a waste of time. All I can do is fill you in on what we found out.”
“I see.”
I was starting to like this Senior Officer. Straight to the point.
“Well, first things first, we weren’t able to find the body of the little girl. By the time we arrived at the secret chamber, it was already gone.”
“…Oh.”
To be honest, I figured something like this would happen.
The timeframe for when the cultists ran away from the siren and when the real police came was approximately five minutes. That was more than enough time for them to get the body and run away.
“We’ve already started a search mission around, but so far we’ve yet to luck out.”
The Senior Officer paused while looking at me, his expression somewhat grim.
“We also have reason to believe that the group’s motives behind the girl’s preservation are not as simple as some cultist tradition. Our initial investigation makes us believe she was being used as a possible ingredient.”
“Ah?”
Ingredient? For what?
“You don’t need to understand this stuff, considering that you seem to just be a normal citizen. And taking into consideration your circumstances, I am afraid that this might not be the last time you see them. For that reason, I’ll have no choice but to escort you back to your residence. We might also have to place you under witness protection.”
“That’s…”
I guess I was fine with that. Not that it was necessary.
Still, I was really curious about what he meant by ingredient. The curiosity was killing me, but I managed to hold myself back.
‘I’ll just ask Kyle later.’
He probably knew.
But most importantly…
“I need to be back by one. Is that okay?”
“One?”
The officer looked at me weirdly, but after a while, he flicked his wrist and checked the time.
“That can be done.”
“…That’s great.”
I was starting to like this officer more and more.
“Well, for now, I’ll head back and take care of some matters. I’ll come and find you in a couple of minutes. Is that alright?”
“Yes.”
I readily nodded my head before watching the Senior Officer enter the museum again. I was just about to sit down and get a few minutes of rest when I felt a hand suddenly tug me on the shoulder.
“Dude!”
“Ah…?”
I turned to see Jamie’s face near my shoulder, his eyes wide for some reason.
What…
I was just about to pull away when he suddenly shoved his phone to my face.
“Look! Just look!”
“Wha… ah?”
Pulling my head back, I narrowed my eyes before settling my gaze on his phone. It was then that I saw it, and my heart almost leaped out of my chest.
● Live
Viewers: 37 567
“The stream…”
Jamie’s voice came out hoarse.
“It’s starting to go viral!”