Thankfully, after the lake incident, the kids and Soos made it back to the dock without any issues. They explained that the Gobblewonker turned out to be just a robot created by the old man who warned us about it.
...Which was weird, but I shrugged it off because, well, this is a Disney show, and in this world, practically anyone can create a giant human-killing machine.
That day, I came straight home and headed for the bathroom, tossing up everything I'd eaten, as if purging the lingering effects of the monstrous illusion. Even though the pain it caused me was entirely fabricated, it seemed to have messed with my head.
"..not good."
Alright, let's be honest, it was more than "not good." I had nightmares about that lake monster crushing me, like, four times in a row. I ended up spending the whole night staring at the ceiling, haunted by those gruesome visions.
But, weirdly enough, that sleepless night gave me some time to think. I realized that the Echo and the lake monster had something in common. They both had these stories and legends associated with them before I ever came across them.
The Echo? It was eerily similar to that Jangsanbeom story I'd heard a while back. And the lake monster? Well, that was a no-brainer. There were tons of tales about sea and water creatures tricking people into watery graves, like Sirens or those Asian water ghosts.
So, maybe these things are connected somehow to imagination and stories. Ghost stories, urban legends, the very stuff that used to make me beg my mom to let me sleep with the lights on, now it's keeping me up with the dead.
I'm feeling super stressed, and I can't tell if it's because of that creepy lake monster or the fact that I might have to do this all over again.
...Fortunately, there are usually some breaks between the episodes, giving me a breather for a few days. My daily routine? Oh, it's pretty simple. I convince customers to buy more random junk, mop the floors, organize the merchandise, write essays on a bunch of books, tackle homework, grind through calculus, and...
"Dude, seriously, take a break! What's with all this stuff?"
"Huh..? Oh, hey Wendy."
...And dive right back into even more A.P. stuff. I looked around and noticed that I'd stacked up books on the counter. Yeah, it wasn't looking too tidy. Wendy had a point; I should probably straighten things up.
"No, seriously, not about tidying up, man! Why are you working so hard? Chill! Take a nap or something. Hang out with friends!"
"...Let me ask you one thing, Wendy. What's your take on 'Labor'?"
"...Uh..."
"I mean, I'm not sure how you see it, Corduroy. But to me, labor is a promise. I made a deal with Mr. Pines to work, and he'd pay me for it. And I'm sticking to that promise."
"But you should take a break when you can, dude."
"Wendy, we're high schoolers. In two years, we..."
"But hey, we've got two years..."
"Two years can fly by quicker than you think. I want a future where I can do what I want. Thanks for looking out for me, but you don't need to worry."
Wendy just looked at me, her expression a mix of curiosity and maybe a touch of guilt. Yeah, she's probably kinda feeling bad about leaving all the work to me while she takes it easy. Usually, Stan disappears to do his own stuff, and Soos works on some cleaning and fixing stuff.
But I? I handle the counters, and pretty much everything else that Wendy does. Our tasks tend to overlap. So, if she takes a break, there's someone to pick up the slack.
Me.
However, she's got a free spirit that's not really accustomed to working hard. Besides, I don't really mind all that much. Sure, it's annoying that I'm the only one who actually works here, and I'm already stressed without any work, not to mention taking care of the kids... But I get it. She's still young, well, at least mentally young. I'm the odd one here.
By the way, it was surprisingly easy to 'borrow' Dipper's journal.
"Hey, Dipper."
"Oh, what's up Ray?"
I approached him, pretending to be totally wiped out. He regarded me with pity in his eyes.
"So, remember that day at the lake? I actually encountered... something. You know, those creatures."
"You met what?!"
After giving him a vague explanation about the lake monster and how I needed the journal to survive, he agreed to lend it to me for a day. Yeah, that's all I needed. Now I just have to... copy it. HaHa, well, it might not reveal everything since there are parts written in invisible ink or something, but it should be enough. Now I'll have my own copy of one of the journals!
...Come to think of it, isn't it a little strange for Dipper to carry that old book around with him every day? And how does he even manage to fit that thick book in his... jacket? Like, what's the deal with that?...Well, another amazing mystery of a cartoon show, I guess.
Three days had passed since the lake monster incident, and I hadn't encountered any anomalies. Hooray. Soos and I were cleaning the hallways since there were no customers around. Soos was a hard worker, so it didn't take us long to clean the hallways, precisely 12 minutes and 24 seconds, as indicated by the memento mori.
"Yo, dude! Check this out!"
Soos called to me from another part of the hallway. I walked over, and then...
-Tick!
"..Uh.."
"Dude! hurry!"
"Yeah, Soos. I'm coming."
Something felt off, really off... but I just followed Soos's voice. He stood in front of a wall, smiling as if he'd discovered something incredible.
"What is it, Soos?"
"See that?"
I looked carefully at the wall Soos was pointing to. Its wallpaper was ragged, and there was a doorknob-sized hole... A doorknob-sized hole?
"Is this..."
"Yeah! a secret door, man!"
...It sure was. Whatever was behind that door, I didn't want to open it. But Soos had already swung it open before I could react.
"Whoa! Dude! It's super creepy!" Soos exclaimed, and he wasn't wrong. The room was filled with an absurdly large number of wax figures of historic people, and they were incredibly detailed.
And... well, here I am, in the third episode. Let me guess. A parody of the House of Wax? Come on, show makers, give us something like unicorns and rainbows for a change! This is supposed to be a children's show!
"We should tell the kids. They'll love this!"
"Actually, Soos, why don't we just burn all these wax figures right now? Doesn't that sound fun?"
Yeah, maybe if I burn all of these, we won't have to deal with any spooky scenarios. And I won't die either, so that's a happy ending!
"Um, I don't know, dude. Isn't this like... Mr. Pines's stuff? Are we allowed to burn it?"
"...That... makes sense."
Well, there goes my skip ticket.
Soos and I went to the living room, where the kids were engrossed in a show called... Duck-tective? Huh. Isn't that the weird show where the duck acts like Sherlock Holmes, and all the evidence and stuff are brutally obvious? Why are they wasting their time on that? Shouldn't they be studying?
"Hey, dudes, you'll never guess what we found!"
"Buried treasure?!"
"Buried... Hey, I was going to say that!" Mabel said, playfully pushing Dipper. Wait, what's that sparkly stuff in her mouth? Has she been eating toothpaste again? ...I'm not even going to ask that...
Anyways, Soos, Dipper, Mabel, and I went to that room again. And yes, it was even creepier than before. But... huh, seeing it again, there are lots of interesting figures. Wax Sherlock Holmes, Wax Queen Elizabeth, Wax Edgar Allan Poe, Wax Shakespeare...
"They're so lifelike..."
Mabel seemed to be fascinated by the quality, while Dipper seemed to be freaked out. He turned on his flashlight and pointed at something.
"Except for that one."
The one Dipper pointed to really looked weird. It had a huge nose, a dirty beard, a black suit, and a huge grumpy face... Wait.
"Hello!"
"AAHHHH!"
That's Stan. And yeah, he looks... creepy in the darkness. Soos and the kids screamed loudly enough to make my ears ring.
"It's just me, your Grunkle Stan!"
"AHHHHHH!"
They ran away. I just stood still and stared at Stan, who seemed to be a bit hurt.
"...Do I really look that scary?"
"Yes. Yes, you do."
The fact seemed to tear the old man's heart.