I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

Ding.

A cheerful chime rang out as I stepped inside the shop, revealing a space far larger than I had expected.
Every wall was lined with shelves packed full of doll-related merchandise—plush toys, keychains, animal-shaped mittens, and more.
There was even a claw machine in the corner.

At a glance, it looked like nothing more than a slightly oversized, totally ordinary doll store.
I forced myself to stay calm, pretending to be a regular customer browsing for a toy, and began casually inspecting the items on display.
At the same time, I opened the map to check the situation here.

Thankfully, there wasn’t a single red dot in the front area of the store. For now, this space was clear—just a normal shop, no monsters in sight.
A normal shop, huh.
It struck me that this was actually the first time in my life I'd ever stepped into a place like this. I wasn’t even sure if this was what a normal doll store was supposed to look like.

Just then, one of the store clerks approached me with a friendly smile and asked,
“Welcome! Is there something in particular you’re looking for?”
I responded with the phrase like it was a secret password.

“Yes. I’m looking for something… a little more special.”
The clerk, seemingly unaware of anything unusual, tilted his head and asked innocently,
“Oh, by ‘special,’ do you mean like a collaboration product? We just got a new limited-edition keychain from an anime called Hearts Aflutter☆Critical. Are you a fan of that series?”

“…Huh? Ah… Critical… huh?”
I was momentarily at a loss for words at the mention of an anime I’d never even heard of.
Was this guy really that clueless?

I stared at him suspiciously, and maybe it was the sharpness of my gaze, but he suddenly flinched, his face going pale as he began to fumble his words.
“D-Did I… say something wrong…?”
That’s when it happened.
A middle-aged man who had been watching from the counter rushed over in a panic.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry, sir! This kid’s only been working here for a month—he doesn’t know anything! Go help organize the storage room, would you?”
“A-ah, yes…”
He quickly shooed the younger employee away and turned to me with a polished, professional smile.

His eyes were nothing like the younger one’s.
“You’re here for… the back, aren’t you, sir?”
Finally—someone who understood.

I nodded silently.
If worst came to worst, I was ready to smash my way through the wall, but it looked like things were going to be simpler than that.
The middle-aged man led me toward the back of the store.

He kept up a friendly tone, but I could feel his eyes constantly evaluating me.
“This your first time at our store, sir? May I ask who referred you? We usually only offer our… special dolls to returning clients.”
“I know someone,” I said calmly.

I explained that an acquaintance had told me about the place, but that something had come up, so I came in their place.
My bluff was convincing enough. The man nodded, seemingly satisfied, and led me into a side room.
The room was packed wall to wall with dolls of every kind. In the center stood a single, old chair.

I checked the map again. Among the rooms filled with red dots, this one had the fewest—it was a small room, relatively speaking.
“Please have a seat and wait here while we finish preparing in the back.”
With that, the man stepped out and closed the door behind him.

There was a glass window in the door, so we could see each other from both sides.
Then—clack—followed by a mechanical grinding noise as something started turning just outside.
They were locking the door.

And then I heard the man’s voice again, now full of malice.
“I don’t know who the hell you are, but looks like a worm just wandered in to die. Enjoy getting torn apart alive by the special dolls you love so much!”
He shouted—not at me, but toward someone else in the room.

“Kill him.”
The moment he gave the order, I instinctively dropped into a combat stance, facing the shelves of dolls.
No telling which one might come for me.

But… nothing happened.
“…?”
Only silence filled the room. The dolls stared at me from their shelves, motionless.

Even the man outside noticed something was wrong.
“Kill him! I said kill him!”
He shouted over and over, but nothing changed.

His face, visible through the door window, turned from confusion to rage.
Still yelling—but now with panic and desperation instead of menace.
I smirked at him and slowly stood from the chair, inspecting the dolls one by one.

They were all animal plushies—rabbits, cats, bears.
Some of them, however, were trembling.
Like there was a small earthquake in the room.

“…"
I picked up the closest rabbit doll, one of the ones trembling.
It began shaking even harder in my hands, like it was having a seizure.

I made sure the man outside could see, and gently stroked the doll’s head, pretending to be clueless.
“Huh? Who are you talking to?”
“T-That rabbit in your hand is going to rip your throat out!”

“What? This cute little bunny? No way. Right?”
The rabbit in ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ my hand nodded up and down.
Desperately.

…You’re not supposed to move your head, you idiot.
I scolded it silently.
Animals were said to have good instincts.

These doll-ified monsters seemed especially sensitive.
They weren’t even trying to fight me.
Had my recent training in channeling energy for talisman crafting started to affect my aura without me realizing?

Outside, the man was clearly losing it, screaming at the dolls.
“You ungrateful little freaks! Just wait until I deal with you later! And you! Rot in there for the rest of your life!”
“Hmph…”

He’d shown his true colors.
Time for me to do the same.
I calmly walked to the heavy steel door.

And tore it open. As always—by force.
KWAANG!
The thick metal door exploded outward with a deafening crash, slamming directly into the man standing just beyond it.

“Guhhh—!”
He didn’t die, but it was obvious he wasn’t getting back up anytime soon.
Crushed beneath the door, he lay groaning on the floor.

I felt no pity for him.
He’d tried to murder someone in cold blood. This was just the consequence.
“Take it.”

I checked the map again and headed toward the deepest part of this wretched place, keeping an eye on Leo inside my hood.
Had he been here before?
Is that why he’d been so desperate to come?

I reached up and gently stroked his small head.
“Grrng.”
That soft fur—no doll could replicate it.

Thankfully, Leo wasn’t like those animal dolls in the other room, controlled by someone else.
He was a real, living cat.
Or more accurately—a real, living monster cat.

Maybe… he’d once nearly become one of those dolls too, only to escape just in time.
I set the thought aside and moved toward the part of the map with the most densely packed red dots.
It was at the very end of the corridor—a door larger and sturdier than the others.

I grabbed the doorknob and turned.
This time, it opened smoothly without resistance.
And finally, the hidden laboratory behind the doll shop revealed itself.

“…The laboratory?”
I stepped inside and found myself confused.
This wasn’t the cold, sterile lab of glass and steel I’d imagined.

It looked more like a chaotic workshop.
There were piles of thread, fabric in every color, scissors, wrapping paper—everything needed to make dolls, all strewn about in total disarray.
And in the far back, unknown animal-shaped monsters were crammed into iron cages, stacked one on top of another.

Some lay limp, while others stared at me with terrified eyes.
In the center of it all, across a small table, sat a man and a young girl, sewing diligently.
When I entered, the man looked up and glared at me with clear displeasure.

Then, in a stern voice, he said to the girl,
“My dear. We have a guest—please see him out.”
The girl stopped sewing, slowly lifted her head, and looked up at the man.

Her voice was clear and innocent, like a child’s.
“Why? Why would I chase out such a cute human?”
“What? No, that’s not—”

The man grimaced in frustration.
I glanced at the map.
He seemed to be just a regular human.

But the girl—she had a clear red dot above her head.
So she was the true owner of this workshop—and the real monster.
And once again… these monsters were absolutely terrible at following orders.

Though, that made them all the more monstrous.
“Welcome,” the girl said.
“…”

I was welcomed by the monster girl into the heart of the laboratory.
[Quest completed.]