-tick. tick. tick.

-Ha...

The memento Mori ticked. I closed my eyes and counted the sound, shutting out whatever Bud Gleeful had just said. I focused on the count, completely indifferent to his words.

1...2...3...4...

The heavy breathing above me intensified. It felt as though an unseen force was coiling around my neck, slowly tightening its grip.

-tick. tick. tick.

6...7...8...

I waited, teeth clenched, focusing solely on the numbers. Precisely 10 seconds.

9...10.

"Now!"

I opened my eyes the moment the final tick resonated. The oppressive breathing ceased. Simultaneously, the phone started to ring again.

...I picked up the phone reluctantly.

[Huh! You're still alive! Impressive! I really thought you'd be dead by now.]

"Stop joking with me, Bud Gleeful. What the heck do you guys want?"

[Seriously. Why don't you care to join our society? You can start with the two-month tutorial and then become an official crew.]

He was not taking anything seriously. For now...Okay, fine. Think...think about this situation. Can I do anything against him...? Maybe. But that'll take some time...

...but right now what I should do, is...to find out his real purposes.

"...If I join the cult, will you let me live?"

[Sorry, young man. In any case, you won't be able to live.]

"..."

I had to think. Why was he trying to kill me? And in this twisted scenario, why offer me situations where survival was possible? If his goal was my demise, he could have set the rules as simple as '1. When you breathe, you'll die.' No need for elaborate games.

Could he manipulate the rules? It seemed plausible. He wouldn't be engaging in this conversation so casually if he couldn't. He knew the rules were bound to change in a certain direction.

Then it hit me—the cult leader. The mastermind behind the scenes, pulling the strings of these anomalous rules to test and manipulate me. They knew something about me and chose this indirect, experimental approach.

"...I get it."

[Excuse me?]

"You can't kill me right now, huh? The leader...whoever that man is, is cowardly testing me. You guys know something is up with me, so instead of confronting or interrogating me directly, you're experimenting."

[...Do not...]

"Cowards. Do you want to know what I can do? I'll tell you myself because I'm different from you guys."

[DO NOT SPEAK OF OUR LORD IN THAT DISGRACEFUL MANNER!]

Bud Gleeful's voice rang out, filled with indignation. This was working. I understood his character—a mundane man with little courage, loyal enough to follow orders but not brave enough to confront me directly.

"Why? I'm calling a coward a coward...Is that wrong?"

[He has plans, Ray Chiu...Plans far beyond your understanding!]

"And he's not even sure about them. If you can't even share your intentions with a victim who's about to meet his end sooner or later..."

Bud Gleeful seethed with anger over the phone, his frustration palpable. I maintained my composure, pressing on.

"Now, I think that the leader is just a lucky guy with a chance to use some anomalies, that's it."

[...]

"Come on, Buddy. Will you really let me 'disgrace' your leader like this? Say something."

[...Our lord is something more than just a guy...Even I can't understand his intentions, but he told me to kill you. And now, I won't waste any time.]

-ring! ring! ring! ring! ring!

Wait, what...?

Phone calls. The incessant ringing echoed from all corners of the shack—under the cabinet, upstairs, and even downstairs. The cacophony of repeating phone bells filled the entire space.

This defied logic. If the sole purpose was to kill me, then why resort to this elaborate scheme?

Wait. What if... What if Bud Gleeful and the 'leader' had different motives? What if the leader, the only one fully aware of my powers, used Bud Gleeful as a pawn to test me? Bud, being the loyal henchman, followed the orders and used the anomaly to kill me...

Bud Gleeful left a fail-safe, a way to ensure my demise by giving me an objective he could control—the phones. In this anomalous shack, phones were plentiful, and all he had to do was call them simultaneously.

...But why the ruleshorror? Is there something that he could have found out with this certain anomaly?

[Try surviving now, kid... go get the phones.]

"Nah."

[Nah? What do you mean nah?! You should go and take the phones! Or else, you'll die!]

"Right. I'm supposed to tell you my powers. My power is not giving a shit about worthless people like you."

[W...Worthless?! I'm not worthless! I'm...!]

-ringringringringringringringringring...

As the phones clamored, my heart started to feel strange. Breaking the 9th rule... I clenched my teeth as I collapsed to the ground. After a moment, everything went dark.

[Ha! See?! That's what you get when you mess with us...]


And once again, I found myself in the storage room. This time, I was confident in the trick's success. These types of 'stories' usually had a pattern that transcended individual experiences.

Now, I needed another person.

I exited the storage room, grabbed my cell phone, and dialed a number.

...it was time to end this all.


"...Come on..."

Inside the telepathy tent, Bud Gleeful waited anxiously for the phone to be answered. Something was amiss. The boy should have followed the established script, heading to the gift shack. However, he was not picking up the phone for some reason.

This was not good. The Leader's commands were absolute; whatever he said... it was law. Bud wasn't sure what was happening, but if something went awry, he would fail to execute the anomaly on the boy.

'Maybe, maybe the boy just decided to ignore the rules... In any case, I'm technically causing his demise with this anomaly, right? It shouldn't be a problem...'

However, Bud Gleeful couldn't shake off his unease. Something... felt wrong.

He persistently called the phone, aware that the rules dictated a specific sequence for the person to pick up. The original rules were not sufficient for him to ensure the boy's demise.

Then, someone answered the phone.

[Hello?]

"..."

It was strange. The voice was not that of a young boy. It sounded more like that of a middle-aged man.

"Wha...What...? Who are you? Where is Ray Chiu? Isn't he supposed to work today?"

[...May I ask who you are, sir? And why are you looking for my son?]

...Son? Son?! This made no sense to Bud. He had ensured that the boy was in the shack, and once he entered again, he must've triggered the anomaly.

"Wh...Where's your son? And who are you?! What are you doing in the shack!?"

[...I...My name is Ryan Chiu. I'm here to look over the Mystery Shack for my son, who said he had something urgent to do...Who are you? Why are you looking for my son? And how do you know my son? You don't sound like the manager guy of this place...]

Bud bit his fingernails anxiously, sensing that something was going terribly wrong. He realized that without the boy, all the plans and orders given by the leader would be in vain. And the leader... didn't tolerate failures.

"I...I...I need to know where your son went, Mr. Chiu...Where is he? WHERE IS HE?!"

[Who are you?! I'm going to call the police if you don't tell me who you are and how you know my son!]

Things were spiraling out of control, and at that moment, he heard something over the phone.

[ding...creak...]

[Son? Do you have any idea why this man is asking where you are?]

It was the sound of someone entering the shack. He was now safe. The moment he entered, the anomaly must've been triggered...!

"HAHAHA! Ray! You're here! Thank the eye...!"

As he reached out to his other phones to call every single phone in the shack to end it all, he heard the boy's voice. Unfazed and relaxed, his voice cut through Bud Gleeful's ears.

[Why? Are you about to...well, use the anomaly? Let me guess. You're going to call all my phones, right?]

"...How did you..."

[Anyways, look at the side of the tent's entrance. I think I made a good shot of that paper airplane.]

Bud Gleeful slowly turned his face toward the entrance of the telepathy tent. There lay a paper airplane and an amulet, no...an eye-shaped rosary sitting on the ground. He walked over and picked it up, sensing an eerie familiarity.

He unfolded it slowly.

Employee Guidelines for the Care of the Telepathy Tent.

The tent does not tolerate Bud Gleeful. If you're Bud Gleeful, we strongly advise you to bash your head to the ground, before further mental damage of the upcoming event.

Thank you for reading, and have a terrible day.

"...You...Fu...!"

[Sorry, man. But it's a checkmate.]

Before Bud could react, something tightened around his neck.

"...no...!"

Screaming didn't last long inside the tent that day.


[AHHH!]

"Welp, dad, it's over."

"...Goodness son. What in the world just happened? Who is that man?"

"He's...a poor man that I know. He suffers from some mental health issues...I helped him several times, and he started to call me sometimes for no particular reason."

"Well son, I appreciate your kindness but...it's not safe."

Dad said, shaking his head. Today was his day off from work, so I knew he was lying on the sofa reading books.

One thing I noticed about the rules in the shack was... that it was written: Employee Guidelines for the Care of the Mystery Shack. This meant that my dad, who's not an employee... would be able to ignore all those weird, human-killing rules.

I asked him to bring the eye amulet and the paper out of the shack after calling him to the shack. He did it, and he also volunteered to look out for any phone calls at the counter while I headed off to the telepathy tent to set this...' trap' of mine.

Unlike Bud Gleeful, who didn't use the rules to the extreme, I decided to well...retire him from being an obstacle for me and made those rules. I actually doubted myself whether this would work or not, but well...it did.

...Now all I have to do is investigate. Ha, now what? I already had enough with the stupid Dorito. Now I have to investigate a local psycho cult that makes its people kill me.

...I'm not even sure who to trust in this town anymore. Anybody could be a part of the cult...

Guess I've gotta stick most of it to myself.

"Dad, let's go get some ice cream."

"Don't you have to look over this place today? I thought you..."

"Let's just...get some ice cream."

"...Sure. Why not."

But now, I have to take a rest.


It was a dark room with almost no light, except for a single sign that emitted a dim light. The sign was shaped like an eye, and people were all kneeling beneath it.

A man, standing in front of the kneeling congregation, rose carefully above the ground. With a moved expression, he breathed out with awe.

"...The leader has spoken."

The people who were kneeling all let out a small gasp. Without giving much attention, the man took off his red hood.

"The failure of Bud Gleeful will be punished. And from now on, no one shall touch, or even try to talk with the 'boy'."

"But...Why?"

"Are you questioning his intentions, Toby Determined?"

"No..No...But..."

Toby Determined, the editor of the town newspaper, slowly retreated back to his seat. He could feel the glare from other members. There were more people in the room than he could count, but he knew he could be killed if he asked something more.

"Indirect impact will still be allowed... Our lord told us that he already found out what he wanted to know. And he wanted us to fill the town with more members of our society..."

As the night deepened, the people of the society kept talking about their leader's words, even without the leader around them.