"Boss, I was wrong."
Edward rubbed his eyes groggily and looked toward the shadowy figure of the woman standing in the darkness. His mind was still muddled with sleep.
Who was this person? Why had she suddenly appeared in his room? And why was she telling him that she was wrong?
"You weren't wrong—it was my fault," Edward replied instinctively.
A soft giggle floated through the darkness in response, making Edward's mind snap awake a little more. He flicked on the light, and the sight before him left him speechless.
Standing right beside his bed was Tomie, smiling serenely at him. Q and Void were still awake as well, laughing and playing with her as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Edward's mouth twitched. He didn't get startled only because Tomie was technically his employee, but the whole scene was enough to leave him speechless. He really hadn't expected her to just show up in his room uninvited.
"Why are you here?" Edward yawned and glanced at the clock by the bed.
He was staying in a hotel. During filming, he couldn't be bothered to travel back and forth every single day, so he had simply bought out a hotel nearby and let his filming crew live there.
But still… shouldn't Tomie always be in the haunted house attraction? Why was she here of all places?
The clock read six-thirty in the morning.
"Boss, yesterday afternoon three guests came."
Tomie briefly recounted what had happened the day before. Edward listened half-heartedly at first, yawning every now and then, but as her story went on he slowly woke up completely. By the time she was finished, his gaze on Tomie had turned strange.
He hadn't expected Tomie to pull off something like that.
"Did the guests get hurt?" Edward unscrewed a water bottle and took a sip, then looked over at her.
Tomie shook her head lightly.
"No. I can't really hurt them. I only made them experience some hallucinations," she explained calmly. Ever since coming to this world, she had realized she was unable to inflict actual harm on people here—unless Edward lifted her restrictions. And clearly, Edward would never do that.
"Oh, then that's fine."
Edward let out a breath of relief. For a moment he thought something serious had happened. If it was just hallucinations, that wasn't too bad. They could even pass it off as the company's newest feature. Tourists just had to play along; no one usually investigated too deeply anyway.
Still, he couldn't help feeling a little exasperated. She had woken him up for this?
Grumbling, he climbed back into bed. He was used to waking up at eight every morning. Right now it was still early enough to grab some more sleep.
"But Boss, that's not the part I wanted to tell you," Tomie suddenly added.
Edward froze mid-turn and looked back at her.
"When I was playing with one of the children near the end, I accidentally lost a piece of flesh. The kid was a little too rough and tore off a chunk from my hand… he took it with him, and I only realized later." Tomie shrugged as if it were nothing.
Edward just stared at her blankly.
Sister, do you even realize what you're saying?
Losing a piece of flesh might not sound like a big deal. Edward had even heard stories about chefs accidentally cutting themselves while cooking, dropping a piece of their own flesh into the pot by mistake. Usually they'd catch it right away, but by then it was already contaminated and couldn't be put back. No one wanted to eat food that had touched human flesh anyway, even if it had been taken out.
But Tomie's flesh… was definitely not ordinary flesh.
Her most terrifying trait was her insane cellular regeneration and divisibility. If she was cut into pieces, each piece could grow into another Tomie. Absolutely ridiculous. On top of that, she carried an irresistible charm toward men, and even women sometimes couldn't resist her.
"Can you sense where it is?" Edward was fully awake now. This was a problem that absolutely had to be solved.
"Yes. That man is staying in a nearby hotel. But I can only appear in the haunted house and by your side, so I can't go there myself."
Her answer came quickly. Edward sighed in relief, got out of bed, and began pulling on clothes. As he dressed, he glanced over at Tomie. She was still smiling faintly at him, unbothered as always.
"Tomie, don't play games like that again. If you scare someone into madness, that's not good," Edward warned.
The system prevented her from directly harming people, yes—but leaving them with psychological trauma was still terrible.
Tomie just pouted. She enjoyed toying with people; to her, there was nothing more entertaining. And if she could mix in some possessiveness or desire while doing it, that made the game even more fun.
Still, considering the strange and powerful creatures of this world, Tomie decided to hold back—for now. In her own world, she had never seen such bizarre beings.
The two of them left the hotel and followed her guidance to another hotel nearby. Inside, they quickly located the man in question, a certain Mr. Jack. He was sitting in the lobby, trembling in fear, his bloodshot eyes darting about nervously.
Edward waved his hand, and Tomie disappeared from sight.
"Where's the flesh?" Edward asked bluntly.
The man's eyes were wide, his whole body quivering. He looked utterly broken. Edward frowned. Tomie might really have gone too far with this one.
"Not on him. On the fifth floor," Tomie said.
Without another word, Edward took her upstairs. They stopped before Room 504. Tomie slipped inside silently, and moments later she reemerged—holding something in her hand.
It was… a piece of flesh.
Not very large, but bizarrely, it had already sprouted a tiny face. The thing was wriggling, screaming shrilly in Tomie's grip. When it noticed Edward, it even batted its little eyelashes at him.
"Boss~ I'm the real Tomie! Please kill that woman! Once you do, I'll be yours forever~" the little flesh chunk squealed in a piercing voice.
Edward's lips twitched. Honestly, it did fit Tomie's style perfectly.
"Sorry, Boss," Tomie said casually. Then she popped the flesh into her mouth and swallowed it whole. The voice vanished instantly.
Edward raised an eyebrow, scratched his head, and fell silent. Even knowing this was part of Tomie's ability, seeing it in person was… unsettling. He felt a faint nausea just remembering that thing trying to flirt with him.
"Don't worry, Boss. No one else can see those flesh pieces. All they do is mess with people's senses, making them hear things. That's it."
Tomie smiled as if nothing had happened.
That eased Edward somewhat. If it was only auditory hallucinations, then it would fade. Still, the memory of that man downstairs lingered in his mind. He looked unstable—paranoid and on edge. Edward decided he would arrange for him to undergo psychological counseling. If someone in that state suddenly lashed out at other park guests, it would be a disaster.
They went back down to the lobby. Jack was still crouched on the sofa. A staff member had kindly draped a blanket over him, but even so, he remained jittery, scanning the room nervously.
Edward cleared his throat and approached.
"Who are you?!" the man cried in panic, his eyes wild with fear.
Edward sighed. Looking at him, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. But clearly, this man was in no condition to hold a proper conversation right now. Best to let him calm down first. Later, Edward would have Zoroark and the PR department handle the matter.
The other two guests had no problem—they assumed it was just advanced special effects. Only this poor fellow had been tormented too much by Tomie, and to make matters worse, he had taken a piece of her flesh with him, causing hallucinations. No wonder he'd cracked.
"Boss, aren't you going to comfort him?" Tomie teased, smiling as she trailed behind him, her curious eyes wandering around the surroundings. Edward gave her a sidelong glance.
Was she using this as an excuse just to sneak out and play? Since she could only appear by his side or in the haunted house, it wouldn't be surprising if she sought chances like this.
"What's the point? He wouldn't hear me anyway. Only after the hallucinations fade and he calms down will he be capable of talking."
Tomie just giggled and turned her gaze toward a Machoke jogging with its Trainer on the street. Her eyes gleamed with fascination. Such creatures were unlike anything from her own world—some even had the power to harm her. It only deepened her curiosity about this world.
Edward noticed and, with a wry smile, decided to humor her. He took her around Kanaz City for a stroll, treating it as a little bonus for her. Tomie was delighted, laughing along the way, though she wisely stayed invisible the entire time.
"Tomie, what's your world really like?" Edward asked at one point, curiosity getting the better of him.
Tomie tilted her head thoughtfully.
"It's not too different from this one. But there are many dangerous things. For example, in one town, fog rises from time to time. When it does, a handsome boy carrying an umbrella wanders the crossroads…" she said with a mischievous smile.
Edward raised a brow. He had already suspected as much from the system's descriptions. If her world truly was the terrifying world of Junji Ito's works, then… those people's daily lives must be a nightmare.
He couldn't help lighting a candle for them in his heart. How were you supposed to survive if you suddenly ran into a giant floating head balloon, or had your own head turn into a slug's shell, your consciousness intact but unable to speak? That was despair at its finest.
"Boss, you're always welcome to come visit someday~" Tomie said cheerfully before disappearing back to the haunted house. The amusement park was opening soon, and she had to prepare for business.
"Visit your world? Yeah… no thanks." Edward shook his head. Even if his system would likely make him immune to harm, he wanted no part of that place. Just witnessing those mental terrors would be unbearable.
Back at his hotel, Edward found Zoroark in the dining hall, hunched over its phone. Its golden-haired gyaru disguise stared intently at the screen, hands clasped together in prayer.
Edward leaned closer, curious, and realized Zoroark was pulling a gacha. It tapped "ten-roll" and muttered under its breath: Come on, drop, drop, please drop…
The sight made Edward chuckle. He used to be exactly like that when he gamed—at least at the beginning, when the excitement of pulling was fresh. Later, once the grind set in, he barely cared anymore.
Soon the results came out. Edward watched the entire process. When he saw the outcome, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Naisu!" Zoroark whooped, ecstatic. The rarest prize had dropped!
"You lucky bastard, go to hell!" Edward couldn't hold back a curse. He had never seen such ridiculous luck. Out of a single ten-pull, five Ultra Rare's had popped out—all different. Absolutely absurd.
Zoroark flinched so hard it almost threw the phone to the floor.
"Boss, are you a ghost? How do you walk without making a sound?!" Zoroark panted, clutching its chest. For it to be startled like that was ironic—it was supposed to be the one scaring others, as a Ghost-type trickster.
Edward rolled his eyes. He had even coughed earlier, but Zoroark had been so absorbed it hadn't noticed a thing.
"So, in this game, UR is the highest rarity?" he asked.
Zoroark nodded proudly.
Edward's lips twitched. He thought back to the time Zoroark had brushed his arm, and afterward Edward himself had pulled a Master-level skill out of nowhere. Looking at Zoroark now, suspicion grew.
Could this guy actually be… a real-life Luck Emperor?
Ever since he had known Zoroark, its luck was always strangely good. Not always, of course—sometimes it crashed hard and hit pity guarantees—but on the whole, its fortune seemed absurd.
In the end, Edward could only conclude: Zoroark's luck was like Schrödinger's box. When it was good, it was ridiculously, impossibly good. When it was bad… it was catastrophically awful.
(End of Chapter)