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Chapter 2: Distortion Phenomenon - Visitor
For years, the rate of missing persons cases in this neighborhood had been ten times higher than in nearby areas.
Given that most residents were poor, including a mix of criminals and illegal immigrants, the area was notorious for its chaotic security and high population turnover. Overwhelmed by various criminal activities, the police had long abandoned detailed investigations into the numerous disappearances. Kyle only stumbled upon a series of strange emergency call recordings during a routine telephone check.
"There's someone in my house... no, I don't live with anyone—I didn’t imagine it! I just wanted to get a glass of water from the kitchen, and when I stepped out, it was standing in my hallway, then vanished in a blink! I’m not on drugs, I swear it’s true!"
"Hello, I called earlier. I need help; I saw it again, closer this time, right at my bedroom door... I'm not joking! Hello? Hello?"
"Help me, please... I thought it had left, but it’s... by my bed, I can't... Help! Hel—"
When the landlord entered the caller's residence after overdue rent, there were no signs of intrusion or moving out. The tenant had simply vanished.
Ultimately, the case was hastily labeled as a rent evasion and closed.
Kyle investigated and pinpointed this infamous neighborhood, conducting interviews and screenings to establish some basic characteristics, which he quickly submitted to The Management Bureau.
[Preliminary Investigation Report on the Distortion Phenomenon (hereafter referred to as "Visitor"):
[The visitor will target a bedroom where someone is sleeping within ██ neighborhood, appearing between midnight and 12:30 AM (the reason it is always spotted remains unclear).
[The visitor initially appears far from the targeted room and will gradually approach over 3-7 days, ultimately causing the sleeper inside to disappear.
[The visitor does not differentiate the number or specific identities of humans inside the "targeted room." Changing sleepers or leaving the room unoccupied during the tracking period will not interrupt its course; the visitor will always reach the room at the end of the tracking period and take the sleeper.
[Completely evacuating surrounding houses might interrupt the visitor's activity.
[The affected area is small, with an estimated 7 to 10 people at risk, initially classified as a Distortion Phenomenon.]
The family Kyle had just evicted was the latest victim; the visitor appeared at their bedroom door last night.
If he hadn’t come, someone would have disappeared forever tonight.
Giving this cramped family of four living in a one-bedroom apartment enough money to move could temporarily solve the problem, but Kyle wanted to confront the distortion directly, eliminate it, and make it vanish entirely from the world.
The Management Bureau’s mission was clear: control hazardous objects, contain anomalous entities, and eradicate distortion phenomena.
For phenomena often targeting individuals and difficult to contain, eradication was the best option, and ordinary firearms were sufficient.
One bullet, one solution.
Kyle wasn’t new to this. If not for fear of post-action scrutiny, he wouldn’t even need to wait for intelligence.
Hopefully, the analysis would be completed quickly...
If it ended early enough, he could grab a late-night snack on his way back.
According to standard procedure, he shouldn’t risk entering the scene, let alone personally face the danger. It was safest to obtain detailed files and plan actions accordingly. But there wasn’t enough time. Visiting, clearing, and confirming the latest witness consumed precious daytime hours, and the visitor would appear soon.
He could evict the tenants and leave the scene to await intelligence, but he couldn’t be sure if the "Visitor" would switch to a nearby target if it found the room empty. Given the area's poor security and frequent gang activities, too many people had gone missing, fled rent, or left quietly. It was hard to determine how many were taken by the visitor—perhaps seven who left traces of alarms and pleas, maybe ten, or more.
...Once he left, another disappearance might occur in the building.
After ensuring the bedroom door was closed, Kyle sat by the bed, waiting for the "Visitor" to appear in the room.
It was just a Distortion Phenomenon; he knew what to do.
He hoped the Intelligence Department would act swiftly and not hold him back.
If the analysis wasn’t complete by 12:10 AM and the procedures weren’t in place, he’d have to leave and wait another day. If the intelligence arrived, he would use his gun to terminate the Distortion Phenomenon immediately and later hide evidence of his unauthorized actions.
The night breeze carried the scent of grass and soil. Under the dim moonlight, the cartoon clock on the wall ticked its minute hand towards "12."
The surrounding silence made him uneasy, and even a meteor streaking past the window failed to catch Kyle’s attention.
Though aware that the minimum analysis time was still far off, he opened his palm-sized communicator to check for errors.
[File Completed]
So fast!
He had never seen the Intelligence Department work with such efficiency.
In the silence, Kyle steadied his breathing and began reading the now-standardized file.
[CVA-C-8052 - “Midnight Visitor”]
[Type: Hazardous Object]
C-Class!
Fear gripped Kyle’s heart.
Not a Distortion Phenomenon, but a Hazardous Object!
He leapt up from the bedside and bolted toward the door.
There was a world of difference between a Distortion Phenomenon and a Hazardous Object. The former posed relatively low danger and could be completely neutralized with direct gunfire, while the latter was a deadly threat that could only be contained or suppressed!
A C-Class object was far beyond what he could handle alone. It required an entire mobile task force, specialized equipment, and...
The tightly shut bedroom door was clearly just two steps away, but no matter how hard Kyle tried, he couldn’t reach it. The doorknob wavered in front of his outstretched hand, morphing into two blurry shadows, splitting into four, and then floating upward.
He collapsed, his head hitting the floor with a thud, eyelids twitching a few times before closing.
Outside the door, something visited the house.
Two pale, inhuman legs stepped into the living room, navigating through crowded furniture, their joints bending unnaturally, steadily approaching the bedroom, finally stopping at the door. Facing the closed door, it raised its body, repeatedly slamming its head against the panel—
Kyle jolted awake.
He lay less than two steps from the bedroom door, and the front door was wide open, swaying with the night breeze.
Two taps sounded from the living room.
His nightmare visitor had arrived.
Kyle tried to rise, but his body wouldn’t obey. His limbs were numb, overcome by unnatural weakness.
The previous family hadn’t mentioned such effects; perhaps those who experienced them firsthand disappeared without leaving any information.
Damn it, this clearly seemed like a Distortion Phenomenon. How could it...
His communicator lay on the floor beside him, its digital display neatly showing [00:00].
Midnight had arrived.
The gun was still in his hand, but he could barely move his fingers. He spread his left hand, dragging his palm toward the communicator, pulling it closer to his face.
Thankfully, the file page was still open.
With great effort, he read the top details.
Countermeasures essential for combat were always listed first. If headquarters had changed the format again, he’d haunt the website creators in the afterlife.
Tap.
A pale leg stepped into view, stepping behind the communicator.
[Combat Countermeasures: The visitor possesses...]
Tap.
Then another leg.
The "Visitor" seemed like a monster crawling from nightmares to reality, only manifesting after Kyle woke up.
No wonder all witnesses knew of its arrival—he hadn’t asked this detail. All victims must have had a brief dream...
Kyle couldn’t lift his head, unable to see its full form, relying on residual sensations from his dream to know it was grotesque.
The twisted-jointed feet approached him, bringing the smell of earth and fresh grass after rain, as if emanating from a grave. Something on the "Visitor" tore apart, extending to both sides.
It must have a mouth or a stomach-like container to swallow victims...
The paralysis slightly subsided, and the agent mustered all his strength to raise his right hand, holding it in front of him. A pulling sensation came from his hand, something biting down, swallowing his entire arm, sharp teeth sinking deep into his skin, gnawing at his bones. The force lifted Kyle, sucking him into a meat grinder-like maw—
“Bang!”
The bullet pierced the "Visitor's" spine, hitting the wall.
Kyle, eyes wide, kept pulling the trigger until the magazine was empty, turning the pale monster into a sieve. It was forced to release his arm, collapsing into a heap of flesh, its remnants rapidly dissolving in the air, evaporating before touching the ground. The intense earthy smell flooded the room, soon carried away by the night breeze.
Kyle lay on the ground, looking up. Besides his right arm, which looked like it had been through a pencil sharpener, and the room filled with gunpowder smoke, there was no trace of the "Visitor."
"Damn it, it must be a biome, a hazardous object residing somewhere in this neighborhood... to encounter such a thing... I must have used up all my luck for the next life..."
After the "Visitor" died, the numbing effect on him disappeared, replaced by pain that brought clarity, though he trembled uncontrollably. His right hand was useless, skin hanging like peeled fruit, blood dripping to the floor. Kyle cradled his injured arm, switching hands to call for support using the communicator. When he returned to the file page and saw the crucial explanatory text, he couldn’t help but laugh.
[Countermeasures: "Visitor" has the ability to create hallucinations, anesthetize, and subdue victims. Its physical strength does not possess anomalous effects; ordinary firearms can harm it. Killing the "Visitor" will not bring negative consequences.]
[File Analyst: Mud Truck]
Using his still-functional left hand, Kyle typed his message.
[Field Agent Kyle: The intel came just in time. I owe you my life, “Mud Truck”!]
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