Sorry! I'll Politely Decline! (ONC2025)

(ONC 2025 Longlist)

"A missing woman. A chain of murder cases where the corpses refuse to stay dead. A cryptic phone. And an infuriatingly vague mystery texter."

Superintendent Inspector Ahsan Kabbo has faced superhuman criminals, underground conspiracies, survived Freadmin's tyranny, and-most terrifying of all-Nishi's cooking. But nothing prepared him for this.

Nishi Eumireqa-the woman who drove him insane, saved his life, and then disappeared without a trace after their final battle with the Head Father. No body, no farewell, just... gone. Everyone insists she's dead. Kabbo refuses to believe it.

Then his phone starts acting possessed. Creepy messages. Random glitches. A mysterious informant who keeps dangling clues in front of him like a carrot to a very skeptical donkey. "Solve this case," they say, "and I'll think about telling you what you want to know."

Kabbo would love to politely decline. Really. But he's bad at ignoring puzzles. Even worse at convincing people he's not crazy for chasing after a woman the world has already buried.

Now, he's following cryptic songs, investigating a tea shop that shouldn't exist, and chasing the one woman who may not want to be found. And if he does find her? What's next? What awaits them after that?

Will Kabbo outwit the world's most annoying informant? Or, for once in his life, will he have to accept defeat?

(Mystery? Check. Thrills? Check. Chaos and comedy? Double check. And a detective who'd rather fight a chocolate mascot than his feelings? Check ♾️. If that's your vibe-welcome home, my dear!)