Six minutes later.

Mestre Library entrance out in front of him, the chimera drummed his fingers. Here it was, the Biblioteca coumale di Mestre. How many years had it been since he had last been here? Probably six. He hadn't been around these parts since the summer before leaving for the culinary school. He remembered to return all the recipe books and manga, right? Oh, no, what if he forgot and he couldn't renew his library card?

"Do you want me to go in with you?" Pira asked. "I know you probably don't want to chat with the librarians."

Nodding, the chimeras fingers trembled. He didn't forget to return that recipe book he borrowed, right? If he did, he probably owed over two hundred euros by now! Maybe he's on the library's most wanted list for missing books, too. But, the food enthusiast popped such thoughts with a bubble. No, no, he's being ridiculous, come on now. He definitely returned them!

Large towering bookshelves every which way, the hyena broke into a sweat. The Mestre library was the same as he remembered it, tall and intimidating. Maybe he should have just gone to the one in the next town over instead. But, no, that wouldn't work out in his favor, would it? Strolling over to the front desk, his brother soon excused himself.

Librarian at the front desk typing away at her computer looking up his name while chattering away in Italian, instructions had come his way to take out an identification card. Doing so, the chimera broke out into a sweat. It wasn't expired, was it? How often did he have to renew those again? He didn't know. Lady at the front desk informing him he had been good to go, Pira's eyes soon met his.

"When you're ready to come home, text Varg and he'll come get you," Pira said. "See you later, kiddo."

Brother exiting, the hyena headed off towards the public computers. Signing into the furthest one from the back, he broke into a sweat. Oh, no, he forgot to ask what Varg set the Circle Space account name to. Opening up his business e-mail, he scrolled through the junk mail. E-mail entitled, your Circle Space account name and password, he puffed a sigh of relief. There it was, thank goodness.

Circle Space dashboard practically burning his eyes, the young adult almost wanted to close out of it. Who set the default dashboard theme to yellow with light green text? Someone at this company must have gotten fired for this. Hovering over to a plain white and black theme, he navigated through the website builder options.

Reaching a for restaurant owners template, the chimera clicked such in an instant. There it is, the perfect layout for him! A million lorem ipsums screaming at him, he placed his finger on his chin. Alright, what should he say to drive traffic to his odd jobs website? He needed to boast as much as possible at being a valedictorian, that'll do it. Stretching out the text, Ingne Odd Jobs in a dark pink skewed style, he typed away for minutes on end. Reading it over, he almost wanted to swipe his finger across his nose.

"Ingne Odd Jobs!

My Story: Hello, my name is Siorc Ingne, future restaurant owner. I am a hyena chimera and I was this year's valedictorian at the culinary school over in Chicago. I reside in Mestre Italy, and I would be thrilled to do any odd job you require of me. I am flexible and can do almost anything you ask. Travel? No problem, I am versatile and ready for your every need.

If you need me to fill in for you at any food establishment, I'm your hyena. If you have any questions or concerns on what my odd job services provide, feel free to reach out to me through any of my social media outlets listed below. I am very eager to work with you. And, if you have a cooking job for me, you might even get a discount.

I am culinary licensed and can cook basically whatever you need of me, and I am very flexible and accommodating. If there are ingredients you need me to get for you, worry not, I will pay the whole price. Food is my passion, and I am looking forward to be able to make something for you if you ever need.

My Rates: Payment depends on the complexity of the job and how many hours you might need me for. But, my base rate is around nine euros an hour. If you would like to negotiate prices, feel free to contact me. Payment will be collected when the job is done. I do not accept payments in advanced.

Catering rates: If you require me to cater for a party, please let me know in advanced. Depending on the size of your party, I might charge per person rates, but I am willing to negotiate as you see fit. Please note that if you need me to cater for more than a hundred people, it is best to contact me far in advanced.

Other Rates: Anything else that you require of me can be discussed on a case per case basis.

What kind of jobs don't I accept: I have a right to refuse a request if I deem it dangerous or if I feel as though I cannot accommodate you. Please understand that I am just one person and cannot do everything for you. Contact me for specifics if you are curious. But, if I feel you are a threat to my safety, I will not work with you.

Thank you for considering working with me. I look forward to accommodating whatever you require of me."

Eyes hovering over the final portion, the chimera could not help but wonder. Should he maybe elaborate further on what kind of jobs he doesn't accept? Maybe he should. Making a special tab and adding a hyperlink to such, he tried with all his might to make the forbidden list clear. Surely, no one would submit a request to do anything dangerous or disgusting, would they?

Little flash drive soon plugged in, the young adult added a website background. Gazing at the clock on the corner of the screen, he rubbed his eyes. Man, how was it already two in the afternoon? Just how many words had he typed up at this point? If he had to code this entire thing, this would have taken a lot longer. Thank goodness for the visual editor.

Adding a picture of his culinary license somewhere on the website, the chimera's cheeks grew pink. Was this too much? Maybe it would push traffic away from his website. It probably would, wouldn't it? Shrugging, he pressed the save button. It's not like anyone would navigate to that page anyway, right? Probably not.

Adding a request a recipe and request for catering buttons on the side of the page, the food enthusiast wondered. Should he add a little floating waffle on the corner of the page? But, he shook his head. No way, this wasn't Toombler, he needed to make this look a professional as possible! This was a business, not a game.

Navigating through the dashboard, the college graduate searched for a countdown function. Setting the counter to five days from now for the website to go live, he double checked his grammar. Please, please don't be any errors. Adding an Italian translation, hours dragged on like a puppy chewing on their favorite toy across a rug. Various other languages added, he plopped his head on the desk as he finally pressed the publish button.

Everything set, the chimera returned to the anonymous food blogger's website. Returning to the comment, the hyena knew. He needed to join this investigation team no matter what. These food monsters, ghosts, whatever they were, they needed to go away for good. Long response typed out, the chimera clicked send. Mouse hovering over towards the end session button, he cracked his knuckles. It's not like they're going to answer anyway, right? Probably not.

Heading over to the comics and manga section, the chimera let out a sigh at the miserable collection laid out in front of him. Not a single volume of interest was here as expected. He was going to have to import the rest of the series he had been reading from the United Flop of America, wasn't he? How wonderful.

Varg coming by on his motorbike, the hyena gulped as he placed himself on the second seat behind him. Returning home after a speedy tired screech, the young adult's heart practically leapt out of his chest. Working from home sure gave him a lot of time on his hands, didn't it? But, he knew he couldn't say such a thing. Heading into the kitchen for the evening, he prepared a juicy beef stew.

Cleaning up from dinner, the chimera removed his phone from his back pocket. Three notifications waiting for him, a sea of surprises waited for him. Bar entitled, from anonymous, the food enthusiast swiped in immediately. But, what waited for him immediately dropped a chill down his spine as he read further.

"Welcome to the team, Siorc Ingne,

Thank you for joining us on our Paranormal Food Investigation Team. It is quite unfortunate you have been plagued with this curse that harms us all. You can expect a welcome gift at your home within six business days. Consider it my gratitude for helping me out.

Since you seem eager to work with me, I will give you your first task upon this food monster extermination journey you will be taking with us. There is a small town in Japan that has reported they are seeing hotpot ghosts that have been coming after small families. Go celebrate a hotpot with them and eliminate the monsters that come.

Do not worry about travel, head to this address and rest assured, you will be there before you even know it. I appreciate your quick response and look forward to making this world safe from this wretched monsters once again."

The chimera's heart skipped a beat at the text laid out in front of him. Wait a second, how did this person know his name? They traced his IP address, didn't they? How very sneaky. Should he really agree to work with this person? He did not know, maybe he shouldn't. But, it would be nice if these food ghosts would just disappear before the problem got any worse.

Putting the address into his maps app, the hyena rose an eyebrow. What in the world is this swirling blue thing? Note left beneath it reading that if he sees this, he is to come here at four in the morning, the young adult broke into a sweat. Why so early? Something was fishy about this. Adding a thumbs up emoji, the chimera crawled into his bed, sleepy panda pajamas practically hugging him. Dozing off, red flags were waving as dreamland took him away.

Something wasn't right about this, wasn't it?