Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!

Chapter 341: 71 [3]

The voice whispered slowly, almost hoarse, dragging each word like it wanted them to sink beneath my skin.

The moment the sound reached me, my body locked in place. I couldn’t even breathe as a blank face turned and fixed its hollow gaze directly on me.

“…With this one, we should have our last sacrifice.”

A heavy and cold feeling settled over me as I stared at the blank face, peeking from the gap before me. Sacrifice? For what…?

All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind as I tried my best to make sense of the situation.

But before I could properly make sense of everything…

BANG!

“…..!?”

Another hand shot through the wall, long pale fingers curling out and tearing the gap open as several more figures appeared. My breathing grew even quicker as I stared at the arm poking out of the wall, a large room appearing behind it as several figures with faceless expressions appeared, and equipment ranging from violins to a grand piano.

I didn’t have time to get a proper look at the room as I looked behind me.

But…

“Ah, shit.”

Several figures appeared, blocking my path.

I knew in that moment that I had fallen into a trap.

’This is bad. This is pretty bad.’

Still, I tried my best not to panic. This was the worst moment possible for me to panic. I needed to remain calm.

And… it wasn’t like I was alone.

’It’s time you make yourself useful…’

I suddenly turned my attention back towards the room within the wall.

It was there that my gaze fell on the piano again.

WHAM!

The loud clatter of keys slammed in unison echoed across the surroundings. Then, just as suddenly, the noise stopped, leaving behind a heavy silence.

As all heads slowly turned toward the noise, they all settled on the figure at the piano. It sat rigidly, back unnaturally straight, fingers resting lightly on the keys. Its lips were pulled tight across stitched seams, and its stitched gaze seemed to pierce through the eyelids, seemingly making him aware of everything that was happening.

’Yeah…”

I smiled to myself.

’It’s about time my newest slave makes itself useful.’

***

Fwap—!

Seth closed the book in his hands, turning his attention back towards the team and Myles.

“…Let’s go. I think this is all there is to this room. There isn’t anything else that we need to pay attention to.”

He began to walk past the group. From his appearance and demeanor, there was nothing strange about him. He acted exactly the same as before. It was such a demeanor that made the others frown.

…Was he really this unbothered by everything?

Did Sarah’s death mean this little to him?

’No, he’s just being professional.’ Joanna repeated to herself, looking at the Squad Leader before sweeping her gaze over the room. It was as he said. There was nothing else noteworthy about the room besides the picture and the strange symbol on the floor.

Taking several pictures of it, she put her phone away.

’It doesn’t look like the symbol is active. For now, I’ll take photos of it and send it over to the Guild.’

She didn’t really have to do this since everything was being broadcast, but her phone provided better quality images, so it wasn’t a bad idea to do so.

“…..”

While all of this was happening, only one individual remained quiet, the dimples slowly beginning to fade from his face as his gaze fell on Seth.

“I’ll contact the Guild and make sure to pass everything to them, including this book in my hands. I’m sure they’ll be able to figure—”

“Let me see the book for a second.”

Myles suddenly cut Seth mid-sentence, prompting him to pause.

Turning slowly in Myles’s direction, the two clashed gazes. The surroundings suddenly turned silent as the dimples on Myles’s face returned and he extended his hand forward.

“I didn’t get the chance to see the book. Will you give it to me?”

“…..”

Seth remained quiet, his expression fixed on Myles.

A strange tension began to settle in the room. One that made everyone pause and turn their attention towards the two.

Just what the hell was going on?

“Squad Leader…? Why don’t you—”

“Because he isn’t your Squad Leader.”

Myles answered matter-of-factly. If there had been any doubt before, it was gone now. The man standing before them wasn’t Seth. He was someone else. Someone wearing Seth’s face, pretending to be him.

“What? What are you saying?” Nora suddenly interjected, her brows furrowing tightly as she turned in Seth’s direction. He stood still, book in hand, while his expression remained unchanged.

Nora’s lips pursed for a moment.

“…I don’t see anything that is strange about him? Why do you think he’s not the Squad Leader? Are you doing this because he punched you?”

“No.”

Myles shook his head, the dimples on his face growing while he tapped on his eyes.

“I can just see it.”

Blinking once, Seth’s appearance warped in Myles’s eyes. What stood before him was no longer the look he was used to; Seth’s face was wiped clean, smooth and empty, with only shallow cavities marking where eyes and a mouth should have been.

Despite the sudden change, Myles didn’t look at all scared.

Instead, his dimples only grew as he turned his attention towards the book in Seth’s hands.

“Let me guess…” His voice softly drifted around the room. “That’s the key to clearing this scenario, and bringing him back, right?”

***

Outside the Gate.

“The situation inside seems to have calmed down a little. However, we’ve lost contact with at least seventy agents. This…”

The Section Chief’s expression turned extremely somber. This was almost half of the entire members who had entered the Trials. He could see from the comments and the news articles that were popping up that the news of the incident was starting to spread everywhere.

He already tried mitigating the news, but it had reached a point where he couldn’t stop what was happening.

’…This is really bad. At the rate that things are going, everything that we’ve built up until this point will crumble down before my eyes.’

From the numerous talented members to the sponsors, and even their reputation. They were going to lose a lot of things from this one massive blunder.

“Alright, I need to relax. We can still figure this out.”

The Section Chief already knew the root problem of the situation. They were being attacked by an external force. Having watched the broadcast, he also understood the situation inside. He had been going back and forth with Zoey to try and see if she could find a way out, but that was easier said than done.

He had also tried breaking into the place, but that was impossible despite his skill.

The ones responsible for all of this had planned it thoroughly. This was a clear attack on them.

Taking a deep breath, the Section Chief steadied himself, lips parting to initiate another attempt at resolving the situation, when—

Clank!

The doors of the monitoring room opened.

All heads snapped toward the figure that had just emerged. The moment they did, the atmosphere froze solid, like ice creeping into every corner of the room.

Only one person moved, springing upright with their back rigid and shoulders squared in respect.

The Section Chief’s gaze locked onto the distant figure as he sighed a visible breath of relief.

“You’re finally here, Guild Master.”

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