Chapter 10

  Morning arrived quietly.

  No laughter. No ringing bells. No collapsing bodies. Only sunlight slipping through the curtains, spreading softly across the room.

  “Huaaah…”

  Jack stretched lazily. The heaviness from yesterday had disappeared. There was no headache, no crushing fatigue. His body felt light again—almost normal.

  Then his stomach growled.

  Loud.

  Persistent.

  He blinked.

  “…Alright. Breakfast first. I want to try breakfast outside.”

  After washing his face, he stepped outside his apartment.

  The hallway was silent.

  Too silent.

  Then he saw Emil playing near the corridor.

  “Hey, Emil. Playing by yourself? Where’s your dad?”

  The boy turned.

  And froze.

  In Emil’s eyes—

  Jack was no longer human.

  Not flesh.

  Not bone.

  A mass of black fog stood where the man should have been.

  Thick.

  Coiling.

  Something moved inside it.

  Whispers leaked outward.

  Faint screams followed—

  like voices buried underground, struggling to escape.

  Emil’s breathing faltered.

  His hands trembled.

  He stepped back slowly.

  Then—

  “Uwaaaaaah!”

  He burst into tears.

  Jack blinked in confusion.

  “Hey—Emil? What happened?”

  He stepped closer.

  The fog loomed nearer in Emil’s vision.

  The whispers grew louder.

  “EMIL!”

  A man’s voice cut sharply through the panic.

  The boy turned instantly.

  “Dad!”

  He ran forward.

  John caught him in his arms.

  “It’s okay. I’m here.”

  Emil clung tightly to him, still shaking.

  Jack stood awkwardly nearby.

  “Good morning, Mr. John.”

  John frowned slightly.

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  “Why is Emil crying?”

  “I just greeted him. He suddenly started crying.”

  Jack took another step.

  Emil saw him again—

  and screamed.

  John’s expression darkened with concern.

  “Easy… calm down.”

  He looked apologetically toward Jack.

  “Sorry. I should take him inside.”

  “Yeah. No problem.”

  The door closed.

  Silence returned.

  A notification appeared before Jack.

  [Congratulations, Host. You gained 75 Points from your performance.]

  Jack stiffened.

  He frowned.

  “I wasn’t performing.”

  “I wasn’t even in danger.”

  “So why did Fear Carrier activate?”

  His stomach growled again.

  “…Food first.”

  Outside, nothing unusual happened.

  No hallucinations.

  No panic.

  Yet as Jack walked down the street, people subtly moved aside. Conversations lowered as he passed.

  Then stopped entirely.

  An invisible boundary seemed to follow him wherever he went.

  By the time he returned home, unease lingered in his chest.

  He sat down, thinking.

  “If people avoid me…”

  “How am I supposed to perform?”

  He scratched his head.

  Then paused.

  “…Wait.”

  If Fear Carrier had activated, he should feel exhausted.

  Yesterday he had nearly collapsed.

  Today?

  Nothing.

  He replayed the church incident in his mind.

  The bell.

  The apparition.

  Julia’s breakdown.

  Then he compared it with Emil.

  Emil had only seen something frightening. Nothing deeper. No mental invasion.

  Understanding slowly formed.

  The stronger the manifestation—

  the heavier the toll.

  Jack closed his eyes.

  Something shifted.

  His awareness sank inward.

  Darkness surrounded him.

  Thick.

  Viscous.

  Like drifting through black ink.

  At the center—

  two spheres floated.

  Wrapped in mist.

  One large.

  One small.

  “What is this…?”

  He reached toward the larger sphere.

  Blocked.

  An unseen force pushed him away.

  So he turned toward the smaller one.

  It reacted.

  “…Alright.”

  The moment he touched it—

  the world tilted.

  His perspective shrank.

  Lower.

  Smaller.

  “What—?”

  He couldn’t move.

  Couldn’t control his body.

  The hallway appeared before him.

  Then—

  “Hey, Emil. Playing by yourself?”

  His own voice echoed.

  And Emil turned.

  Jack saw it.

  Himself.

  The black fog.

  The whispers.

  The thing that was no longer human.

  Fear exploded through Emil’s body.

  Pure instinct.

  Primal terror.

  Jack screamed.

  “Aaah—!”

  Reality snapped back.

  He gasped violently.

  Sweat clung to his skin.

  Hands shaking, he checked his body.

  Normal.

  Back.

  Safe.

  “Huuuh…”

  That hadn’t been imagination.

  It was Emil’s memory.

  He swallowed hard.

  “…No wonder he cried.”

  A dry laugh escaped him.

  “If I saw that…”

  “I’d scream too.”

  Understanding settled in his mind.

  Cold.

  Precise.

  “I can alter how people perceive me.”

  “Make them see something else.”

  “But it costs mental energy.”

  He looked inward again.

  The larger sphere floated silently.

  Unreachable.

  “If I can access that one…”

  He remembered the church.

  The bell.

  Julia’s scream.

  The smaller sphere felt fragile—

  like thin glass.

  Julia’s presence, however, lingered within the larger orb.

  Dense.

  Frozen.

  Echoing with terror.

  “…Level One.”

  He exhaled slowly.

  Fear became anchors.

  Each victim left behind a sphere.

  A doorway.

  “To control Fear Carrier…”

  “I access the fear I planted.”

  A slow smile formed.

  He hesitated.

  The thought felt wrong.

  Yet logical.

  “Then maybe…”

  “It’s time to plant more.”

  Fear, after all, was becoming easier to grow than laughter.

  He paused, remembering yesterday’s collapse.

  “…Carefully.”

  Preparation came first.

  He opened the System Shop.

  Skills.

  Too many choices.

  Unfortunately—

  no martial arts.

  He counted his remaining points.

  “Acrobatics.”

  Mobility meant survival.

  “Puppeteer.”

  Control.

  “Ventriloquism.”

  Voices without moving lips.

  Four hundred points vanished.

  515 remained.

  Accessories.

  He scrolled down the list.

  Then he saw it.

  — Cursed Puppet — 250 Points —

  A grin spread across his face.

  “Perfect. I’ll take it.”

  More items followed.

  — Bloody Mirror — 450 Points

  — Poisoned Knives Set — 350 Points

  — Hellium Balloon Set — 300 Points

  — Unknown Outfit — 150 Points

  Jack’s gaze lingered.

  “…Hellium?”

  He frowned.

  “Not Helium… Hell-ium?”

  A balloon filled with gas from hell.

  “…Yeah. That tracks.”

  The system clearly had a twisted sense of humor.

  His attention shifted again.

  If fear spread while he dressed normally, Grim Mirth would collapse as an identity.

  “But what does ‘Unknown Outfit’ mean…?”

  The icon kept changing.

  Almost tempting him.

  “…This really feels like a gacha system.”

  He laughed softly.

  Points dropped again.

  115 remaining.

  [Best Professional Clown System]

  [Name: Jack Wilson]

  [Points: 115]

  [Talent: Fear Carrier Lv.1]

  [Skills: Card Trick (Expert), Magic Trick (Proficient), Throwing Knives (Proficient), Acrobatics (Beginner), Puppeteer (Beginner), Ventriloquism (Beginner)]

  “…That’ll do.”

  Jack wanted to see what the Cursed Puppet could do.

  He reached into his inventory and pulled it out.

  The puppet was about the length of his forearm.

  Wooden.

  Old.

  Cracked.

  Its carved smile stretched too wide.

  Too knowing.

  He placed it on the table.

  It slumped there.

  Lifeless.

  Then—

  slowly—

  its head lifted.

  Its gaze locked onto him.

  The temperature in the room dropped.

  Subtle.

  But undeniable.

  The hairs on Jack’s neck rose.

  He leaned back instinctively.

  The puppet stood upright, rigid and mechanical, before bowing slowly and deliberately.

  Its mouth moved.

  No voice emerged.

  Only—

  KTAK…

  KTAK…

  KTAK…

  Dry wood striking wood.

  And inside the quiet room—

  it sounded unmistakably like applause.