For approximately a week, an unusual calm settled in. Bill Cipher, the cosmic menace, appeared to have taken a break from his relentless attacks. The absence of anomalies provided a brief respite, a window of opportunity to investigate the strange occurrences that had become a part of my life.

I suspected these anomalies were the result of Bill Cipher's influence, offering a twisted preview of the horrors he might unleash when he eventually arrived in this world. It was crucial to understand their nature, locations, and how to confront them.

The journal proved invaluable in shedding light on these anomalies, but destroying them presented its own set of challenges. Many of them possessed incredible speed and stealth, making them elusive adversaries.

Among the unsolved mysteries was the enigmatic bottomless pit. My curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to experiment by dropping a rock into its depths. To my surprise, there was no sound of it hitting the bottom, and it remained eerily silent for a while. Then, inexplicably, the rock shot back up, returning to the surface. I even dared to jump in myself, armed with a pocket knife just in case. After precisely 25 minutes, I was expelled from the hole, unharmed but none the wiser. The bottomless pit remained an enigma beyond my reach.

Returning to the present, I found myself at the Mystery Shack on a typical, uneventful day. The usual lack of significant customers left Wendy and me manning the gift shop counter. I was reading a book, Wendy read a magazine.

'The mountain walked, or stumbled.'

Despite Lovecraft's occasionally awkward dialogues, his ability to craft chilling narratives was undeniable. However, a dark realization tainted my appreciation for his work. The very horror stories he created might become tools that Bill Cipher could employ against me, and the thought of facing eldritch horrors was deeply unsettling.

Nevertheless, I had a theory concerning Bill's method of deploying these stories. The more terrifying and challenging the story, the longer Bill seemed to need to prepare it for use. In my opinion, the lake monster and the darkness were the most formidable adversaries. They posed psychological and physical threats, with a single misstep leading to madness or unbearable torment. The darkness, in particular, had the power to warp reality to our deepest fears and desires. Mabel's timely awakening had saved me from its clutches.

In contrast, the wax shoggoth and the Echo were more tangible, with clear vulnerabilities to heat and a degree of understanding of their physical forms. They resembled animals in some aspects, making them relatively realistic foes.

The curse, while undeniably dangerous, had a peculiar and rare means of activation, setting it apart from the others.

My analysis led me to a vital insight: the difficulty and danger of the story seemed to correlate with the time Bill required to unleash it. There appeared to be a cost, or a waiting period, for Bill Cipher to deploy these nightmarish scenarios. The harder the tale, the longer the cooldown.

However, Bill had refrained from sending me anything for the past few days, nearly a week. It left me uneasy, wondering what he might have planned next.

-flicker!

The sudden flicker of the lights made both Wendy and me jump, still haunted by the memory of that day's darkness. I recalled Soos had repaired the lights not long ago, and their sudden malfunction was unsettling.

"...Hey, Ray. Check this out. BABBA is releasing a new album."

In an attempt to shift our focus, Wendy mentioned something called "BABBA." I was left puzzled, having little knowledge of pop culture.

"...Ray, dude, don't tell me that..."

"What is BABBA?"

Wendy's disbelief was evident as she looked away from the magazine.

"You can't be serious. Have you been living in a cave or something? They're super famous, man! The pop band? Don't you know 'disco girl'?"

"Sadly, no. I don't take much interest in pop culture."

Wendy regarded me as if I were an alien, perplexed by my ignorance. To me, there were more meaningful pursuits, such as studying "Kritik der praktischen Vernunft." Ja, ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.

"Like I said, loosen up a bit, Ray. You're already working too hard."

"There's no such thing as 'too hard,' only 'not enough.'"

"Soos! Ray! Wendy!"

A few hours later, Stan summoned his three workers, including me, Soos, and Wendy. Wendy had just woken up from a nap, and I had to nudge her to get her attention.

"Yes, Mr. Pines."

"What's up?"

Stan was reviewing some plans, and I caught a glimpse of them, which seemed related to a party.

"The shack has been losing customers! And losing customers means losing money! And I don't accept that! So, I propose... a party! We've got to make the youngsters in town spend some money here!"

While I was taken aback by the sudden idea, both Soos and Wendy seemed excited.

"Oh, oh, Mr. Pines! Can I be the DJ? Please, let me be the DJ! It's my lifelong dream!" Soos begged, kneeling and pleading for the opportunity.

Stan pretended to think for a moment, then let out an evil laugh before making his decision.

"Fine. I'll consider it, but you have to work for free."

"YES! FREE WORK!"

I couldn't help but be impressed by Soos's passion and enthusiasm, even if it came with a touch of naivety. As for me, the idea of a party...

"Mr. Pines, I..."

"Cool idea, Mr. Pines. Not your usual style, huh?"

"Well, Wendy, it takes more than just a sharp tongue to run a business."

"Mr. Pines!"

Finally, Stan turned his attention to me, looking a bit puzzled. I, on the other hand, faced a challenge.

"... I've never been to a party before, so I don't really know how it works. I don't think I can be of much help this time."

"Hm, you can handle the ticket stand. Use your talents to get as much money as you can from the townsfolk!"

I nodded in agreement. It shouldn't be too difficult; these townspeople were rather gullible.

"Now then, all of you, back to work!"


Friday arrived, the much-anticipated day for the party. I had invested significant effort in its preparation, from cooking to rearranging furniture for the dance floor. Negotiating contracts with party supply vendors had also been a priority, all in an effort to keep costs down.

"BBLAAA!"

Meanwhile, Wendy, Soos, and the twins were engaged in some spirited fun with silly string they had acquired from the market. Their playful antics were typical.

"Alright, that's enough, you guys. Wendy, kids, let's get back to work. I'm not the only one getting paid here."

Wendy wore a mischievous grin as she playfully sprayed some leftover silly string into my hair, which I promptly wiped away.

After Dipper and Mabel had completed their respective tasks assigned by Stan, we gathered for final job assignments.

"Alright, party people... and Ray and Dipper. Let's talk business. Soos, since you're working for free and you've been so enthusiastic about it, I'll let you be the DJ."

"You won't regret it, Mr. Pines. I even got this book to teach me how to DJ R-R-Right!" Soos proudly displayed his DJ manual. I couldn't help but wonder how challenging DJing might be, but I knew it wasn't my forte.

"Ray, as I mentioned earlier, you'll be working the ticket stand... with Mabel!"

"What? But, Grunkle Stan, this party is my chance to make new friends!" Mabel protested, and to my surprise, Wendy raised her hand.

"I could work with Ray."

"You? Whoa, never thought I'd hear you volunteering for work."

"I've got some debts to repay."

"Keep in mind, if you do this, you're committing to staying at the ticket stand with Ray. No getting out of it, just the two of you, alone, all night."

Wendy seemed unfazed by the warning and nodded her agreement. Stan regarded her with suspicion but eventually accepted her decision.

...It was at that moment that Dipper began to chatter his teeth and shake his legs, vibrating like a mixer.

"...A..A..alone? Together? To-Get-Her?! NO!"

"...What are you talking about, Dipper?"

I inquired, but he urgently ran over to Stan, grabbing his pants.

"I'll work with them too! At the tick..ticket stand!"

"...Um."

Stan raised an eyebrow, clearly puzzled by Dipper's sudden enthusiasm.

"Why the change of heart, boy? I thought you hated to work."

Dipper stammered, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"I just thought, you know, it might be a good idea to help them out. They might get overwhelmed with all the people coming in, and... it's a chance to learn how to manage a ticket stand."

Stan seemed unconvinced but ultimately agreed.

"Alright, if that's what you want. But you better work hard, kid."

Dipper nodded eagerly, a glimmer of relief in his eyes. I didn't think much of it at the time, assuming he genuinely wanted to help out.

The party was set to open at 7 pm, so I headed back to my home to change into my tuxedo. Stan had told me it would help attract more people to the event.

"...Weird."

Upon arriving at my house, I tried to open the digital door lock, but it wasn't responding. Had the battery died?

"Hey, Mom? Can you open the door? It's not working!"

With no other choice, I called my mother to open the door.

"Hon, welcome home. I heard the shack is opening a party, right?"

"Yeah... yeah, we are. I have to go back there at about 7 pm."

The door opened smoothly when my mother touched it. Strange, but electronic devices could be temperamental at times.

"So, I wanted to say... take your sister with you, okay?"

"...Candy? Um..."

I was hesitant. All the peculiar occurrences around the shack made me question the safety of bringing her along. I didn't want to put her in any danger.

However, my mother had already made up her mind, and I could see it in her eyes.

"...Okay, fine."

"Yeah! New friends! I'm going to tell Grenda."

Candy, who had been hiding behind my mother, jumped with joy. I chuckled and headed upstairs to my room.

...

-Tick!

That's when I sensed something was amiss. As I grasped the doorknob to my room, the memento mori ticked in eerie silence.

...Something was behind the door. I could feel it.

-Creak...

Slowly, I opened the door, revealing a silhouette, tall and slender, with unmistakable red hair.

"...Wendy?"

"Hey, serious guy."

It was indeed Wendy. She stood in the middle of my room, flipping through my papers and folding them into paper planes.

"...What are you doing in my room? How did you even get in here? And..."

The room dimmed as the lights failed, casting a dark atmosphere as we locked eyes.

"...Why are you holding... a nail gun?"

"Nice room, dude. I thought it'd be filled with books. But this is better than I expected, still kinda mundane... I'm sorry, Ray, but you'll need to find me when you return. I can't explain now."

"Return? What the..."

In an instant, Wendy aimed the nail gun at me, and a loud sound followed as I crumpled to the floor.

"Ugh...How..."

"See you again."

[Critical user function failure detected. Life signal... Negative. Commencing respawn sequence at the last checkpoint...]

[Calculating amount of caused time paradox... 0. Expurgation complete. Restoring Data...]

[Restoration complete.]


'The mountain walked, or stumbled.'

I stared at the book in front of me. It was 'The Call of Cthulu'. Lovecraft's book, which I read...three days ago. I was at the gift shop counter.

"...How..."

I was back, on the day when Stan announced the party.

"Huh? What did you say, man?"

...And there she was, my would-be assailant.

"...Ray?"

"We have to talk."