Within the Containment Department, several floors were specifically designated for housing anomalies brought in by the Guild. These areas were strictly off-limits to anyone outside or within the Guild, with exceptions made only for authorized personnel such as researchers and those holding the rank of Team Leader or higher.

Any of the anomalies brought into the Containment Section could cause major harm to the world, and as such, had to be carefully monitored and kept in place.

The only reason why the Guild contained them was so that they could research more about them, and learn about their origin and how they came to be.

“Sir, we’ve contained the anomaly as you’ve instructed. The Twisted Man will now be referred to as [VILE – 819].”

“Mhm, I understand.”

The Section Chief nodded faintly, staring at the researcher next to him. VILE stood for ‘Vaulted Index of Liminal Entities’, and it was a prefix that denoted certain anomalies, which helped keep things cleaner and more organized when brought into the Guild database.

“Has there been any reaction from 819?”

“No, not at all. The anomaly appears to be glued to the wall, staring at the poem etched on the wall without moving.”

“I see.”

The Section Chief massaged the bottom of his chin, his hand grazing against his stubble as he turned towards a certain metallic white door where a small window appeared, displaying an all too familiar figure inside, staring blankly ahead, where a wall appeared.

It took quite a bit of effort for them to extract the anomaly alongside the wall.

However, looking at how things appeared, the anomaly was contained.

“Keep me informed if you notice anything or learn anything about the anomaly. I will talk with the Guild Master about the situation.”

“Understood.”

Looking at the researcher, the Section Chief nodded and proceeded to leave the facility.

There was still quite a lot that was on his mind.

Although the situation looked to be over, the Section Chief understood that that was the furthest thing from the truth. For now, they had managed to contain the anomaly, but who was there to say there was only one 819?

‘From what I’ve been told, the separate dimension created by the Twisted Man has yet to break down. Not only that, but who is Mirelle? Does this name have some sort of connection to the anomaly?’

Anomalies were still a mystery to the Guild and the world.

They all came out randomly, and they appeared to be manifestations of certain pasts and histories. They were still unsure yet, but with more samples, they were confident in quickly finding out the truth.

In the Twisted Man’s case, they hardly knew much about it besides the fact that it reacted to sound and voices. But why? Why did it like to steal voices?

What was the reason behind its appearance?

…And were things truly over?

Given how anomalies worked, there was certainly some sort of context behind the power. And as such, he planned on investigating the situation further.

His face grew a little grim as he thought about the situation with the Twisted Man.

Perhaps…

This was merely the start of something bigger.

‘I’ll share my findings with the Guild Master first. I’ll wait for him to see and decide how to handle the situation.’

The agents from the Bureau were also supposed to come to closely analyze the anomaly.

He wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to come, but at least within the month.

If they deemed the anomaly to be Thrall class, then it’d be a massive boon for their Guild, pushing them closer to the King Grade.

‘If that does happen, I guess I’ll have to think of a good reward for the expedition squad.’

Thinking about the expedition squad, and in particular, a certain figure, the Section Chief’s mood alleviated a little as his lips pulled up.

‘…What could be a good reward for him?’

***

Days passed since the incident with the Twisted Man.

Nothing eventful happened in those days. Perhaps because the losses were quite big, or because there was truly nothing happening recently, I was able to pass most of my time without any annoyance.

…Well, more or less.

To Tok—

Hearing the knock on the door, I proceeded to ignore it.

But…

‘Hello…?’

A voice soon followed.

‘Hello? Seth…? I know that you’re in there. Please give me a bit of your time. I don’t need much. Just ten minutes. No, twenty…’

To Tok—

‘Hello???’

On any normal occasion, I would’ve opened the door. Even screamed at them to stop annoying me, but I had already done that.

They just continued to come back as though nothing had happened.

‘…Please. I can’t sleep. I need therapy.’

So did I with how much he was annoying me.

I was starting to regret ever doing therapy sessions with Rowan. Ever since that day, he had been hounding me nonstop to get me to do a session with him. At first, I agreed, thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal.

But then…

He started to come in every day, talking to me for hours, sharing things about his life.

About how lonely he was. About how Zoey didn’t look at him.

…About how he hated this job and his life.

Just a bunch of nonsense.

‘I’m depressed as is, hearing him speak makes me even more depressed.’

It was for that reason that I started to only help him three times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Anymore than that, and I was going to ignore him.

Well, today was Thursday, and as such, he was on his own.

‘Please~!’

Putting on my earphones, I booted up my laptop and prepared to fiddle around with the engine when my eyes fell on the date, and my eyes widened.

‘Holy shit!’

I nearly jumped out of my seat as I hastily closed down the app and opened the Dock page, where I opened my analytics page.

[Game : A regular day in the office]

[Sales : 25,901]

[Income : 91,154$]

[Ready to collect. Will you collect?]

Finally!

I could finally collect the money from Dock. I didn’t even waste a single second and immediately collected the payment, which arrived just a few minutes after.

[You have received 91,154$]

This was the first time I had ever seen this much money in my account, and it felt unreal. I really couldn’t believe I had actually made this much money.

There were so many things that I could buy with the money. I could probably even get enough of a down payment for a new house.

I could do so much, and yet…

I could spend none of it.

Sighing to myself, I turned off my phone and leaned back on my chair. Although I wanted to spend the money, I knew that I couldn’t.

The game sales had cooled off, and so I knew that the money coming in from it in the future wouldn’t nearly be as much as I gained now.

Not only that, but I also needed to think about the future.

“From fragments, to items, and then to medicine. This isn’t nearly enough money. I need more.”

That wasn’t the only thing I needed to spend money on.

There were other things. Perhaps even a new piano teacher.

‘Yeah, this is not nearly enough.’

I rubbed my hair while looking ahead at my computer as my eyes fell on the app.

“I guess it’s about time.”

I have already more or less figured out the layout and structure. It was what I had been working on for the past several days.

All I needed to do was get to work.

Moving my hands towards the keyboard and covering my ears with my earphones, I immediately got to work.

“…Looks like it’s time I start my new project.”