Chapter Text
It was 3:00AM in the morning, just a normal tuesday. You were getting ready to go to bed, but a little nagging thought in your brain decided to rear it's ugly head. It won't take long, why not scroll through your phone? You have all day tomorrow anyways.
Truth be told, you hated this lifestyle. Going to work at ungodly hours, doing god knows what work, getting home late, and not even having the time to rest before going back to work like the slave you are. You even decided to skip on meals on occasion, telling lying to yourself that "It was for a good cause!" and that, "I don't need food right now, all I need is a hot bath and my phone!~" (You were not wrong on the hot bath though, you can't even remember the last time you've taken a shower that felt good.)
No, instead you stayed awake through the night with your phone in hand scrolling through whatever fan-made content you find of your new hyperfixations. Doesn't matter how much of your life you spend, you always dedicated atleast a little significant portion of your life just doomscrolling through your phone. It was your only escape from hell.
It just so happened that your new hyperfixation was a small visual novel called "The Freak Circus." made by NekoBoyDreams on Tumblr. Apparently, hot clown boys were also your type. That was definitely not on your 2026 bingo card list.... Who are you kidding, you'd fall for anyone that's hot.
While scrolling through your phone, consuming (Is that even the right word?) through all of the content of this silly game, you stumbled upon a fairly good written fanfic. It was about a random person like yourself isekai'ng into the world of fiction. And an ugly thought reared it's head into your mind.
.... What if you were isekai'd into your favorite game? What would happen then? Would you even do anything in the first place?
On one hand, you definitely did want to experience it just once. Getting to see your favorite characters in real life? It's like a dream come true! You'd get to see them! And by them you definitely meant your baby who could do no wrong who has done very wrong things Pierrot! But on the other hand, you wouldn't have your own privacy. No private life, aswell as the fear of getting eaten by cannibalistic monsters who eat human flesh. What if you became their next meal? What would you do then?
..... This is definitely what the internet was created for. For you to dwell on topics that you know would never happen no matter how much you begged.
"... Just... One... More post..." You say, eyes tired and burning from the long hours you've been staying up. (Yeesh, you know your mental health won't get better but at least keep your physical health in better condition yeah?)
But the question stayed in your mind, like an ex that just did not leave. Not that you'd have an experience like that or anything.
... But if you were to somehow get isekai'd into The Freak Circus.... Would you take it?
"If I were.... Somehow... Isekai'd into TFC... I would want to meet them..." You said, eyes already begging to shut the moment you'd stray away from your phone. "I want to hug them, and give them the warmth they deserve and desperately need." You uttered the last part, knowing that your body wasn't going to hold on much longer.
As your conscience slipped away from reality, the only thing you could hear were the faint noises of jingling bells and a soft voice.
"Thank you for saving me... Don't worry, you'll be meeting me soon. Along with everyone else you helped. I don't know how to thank you enough for saving my life... I hope to see you soon dear." Is all you hear before everything fades to black.
You woke up drenched in sweat. An old melodic voice echoed throughout your head, something you can't quite place in your brain but one you've definitely heard before. "What is this? Why do I feel this way?" You sputtered, your heart thumping.
You knew this voice, long long ago. You were just a young adult back then, having to take care of s̠҉͍͊ͅỉ͔͖̜͌x̛̘̠̹͋ ḿ̬̏ͤͅo̯̱̊͊͢ṇ̤͛̒̍s̠҉͍͊ͅt̲̂̓ͩ̑ẹ̿͋̒̕r̴̨̦͕̝s̠҉͍͊ͅ-
Your thoughts cut off. "Young adult?" you still are one!! You sighed. You didn't understand where that memory came from, but you were sure it was fake-.
However, as.... intriguing as your morning may be, you wanted to know the time of day. Although you didn't have any work today THANK GOD it doesn't really mean you wanted to stay bed-rotting the whole day. Isn't that what you always did? Why do you want to change that routine now?
Getting up lately had been a chore for you, not only due to the fact that you under eat had work to do but also the fact that you just felt sluggish for these past few days. Today was the same, you struggling to get up from your bed and finally, after much effort, checking the time.
8AM? It doesn't feel like 8AM for you. All you can really think of is how much work you've been not doing sideloading for more important things in your life. Such as.... your fandoms! Oh you definitely have to see if people uploaded new content while you were sleeping.
But before you could do that, your body decided to be a little bitch mean to you by making you feel awful about your dirty disgusting rotting body. It feels uncomfortable to be inside of it, but what could you do? It's not like you could change how your body was. If you could you wouldn't be having your shitty job.
You slowly walked towards the bathroom, half expecting to change your mind. But you didn't. You took some casual clothes, a towel and headed straight towards the bathroom. To wash all of your sins away? You know that's not possible.
As you stepped inside the shower all you could think of was that voice. It lingered inside your brain, the voice sounded so pretty, all you wanted to do was hug the person behind it, telling them it was ok, that they tried their best and they didn't have to do anything. But that was a voice in your dreams wasn't it? Why do you want to coddle it when you don't even know if it was real or not? Why do you care about fictional people more than your life and your relationships?
.... The bathroom smelt awfully like flowers. Something that you'd already attributed to the voice that spoke yesterday night. Must be nothing. That or you just didn't think it was important.
Your body finally felt clean after washing away all of the dirt and grime away. It felt nice, seeing your bare body clean for once.
You head back into your own room, after finally being comfortable in your own body. You went to your table, where you always kept your phone and computer charged, along with your personal items. Such as your sketchbook for personal drawings, even if you just draw for a hobby. You also have most of your gifts given by friends hanged up on the wall or on the shelves of your room to always remind you of them.
It has been several months since you last interacted with them. They offered to take you out on a movie night as "My treat!~" for becoming fiancé's with the love of their life...
... You miss them alot. They helped you through so much.
Although moping will not help you with your mental illnesses problems however many there are.
You picked up the phone on your desk to scroll through media. Specifically, the social kind. You yourself are anti-social yet love social-media? Wow.
Atleast doomscrolling through your phone won't be so bad, right? So you decided to check up on the one game you were eagerly waiting on new updates for!
Typing the one thing you were hyperfixating on to find out that there were no results probably should've made you question your sanity a little. Just a little though.
But Oh no- you thought that it was just a bug on your phone! And that your internet wasn't working as well as you'd hope it did. And your oblivious mind never thought once how strange it was to not only have the weirdest dream ever known to mankind, but also for that very same day to have the worst internet? Wow your luck must suck.
Pondering over it won't solve anything, not with the brain of a 5-year old that is. But you know what could help in this situation? Walking!
...
You dont want to leave your house. But left with no choice but to leave your comfort zone, you got up and started preparing to head out. Taking your essentials with you (such as your phone, wallet even if it doesn't have any money inside of it, and other miscellaneous items) you started heading out.
You took the elevator, the only sane choice you thought before heading down your apartment complex.
The look on your face change completely once you realized that you were not on the familiar roads of your city, but the empty roads of a familiar looking town. You can't put your finger on why it looks familiar.
You always lived by a motto, "Panic later, question now." And even today that quote rang true. Because, while searching for answers, you found a peculiar looking pamphlet hanging on the streetlamps of the town.
"The Freak Circus of Horrors"? ...
"Don't tell me..." you muttered under your breath.
"The Freak Circus of Horrors came into town!?"