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

"There was a strong storm."

"Pardon?"

"It... was really strong."

"But it has been sunny for the past couple of days? I didn’t see any storm."

"It was quick. Super quick. Like a supercell-level strong."

"Par... I see. In that case, we’ll get working on fixing everything quickly."

"Thank you."

I wiped my forehead, looking at the workers entering the room to clean up the mess left behind by Sir. Jingle’s upgrade.

’Looks like they bought it.’

I smiled in satisfaction. I could see the hesitation in their eyes, but such hesitation quickly vanished the moment they looked at me. Hmm, but for some reason, the way they looked at me felt weird.

’It’s like they’re looking at someone crazy.’

But I’m not crazy.

Maybe I was in the past, but not anymore.

I was a reborn man.

’These are the best pills yet.’

Whilst reaching the Fifth Order had temporarily stopped the headaches, what truly made me feel refreshed was the addition of the pills. The moment I took one, it was as if the very world around me had changed.

I felt like a new man.

’Right, so in that regard, I’m no longer crazy.’

I was before, but to be honest, it wasn’t that exagerrated.

Now, I was perfectly sane.

"Keep up the good work."

I twirled my finger around whilst moving for the door.

"Not everyday that you get an earthquake of 9.1 magnitude."

"Huh? But wasn’t it a super cell?"

"Ah?"

I stopped, looking back at the worker.

"Did I really say that?"

"Well, you..."

"A tsunami."

I corrected, reaching for the door.

"That’s what it was."

Clank!

I closed the door behind me and moved ahead. Taking out my spare phone, I checked the schedule for today.

’There’s not much that I need to do. Things are still a little quiet due to what happened in Malia, but—oh, right! There’s the new recruit.’

I was supposed to welcome him to the team, but because of the damn volcanic explosion, I didn’t really have time.

’Then again, I think the situation should be alright.’

Even if I wasn’t there, the team was quite reliable. Joanna, in particular, was a great substitute leader. In fact, it was because of her that I was able to handle so many of the things I had on my plate. She was a lifesaver.

That aside, there was a lot of work that I needed to get done.

Not only did I need to focus on creating the new Gate, but there was also the issue of money. I was already struggling financially, and creating another Gate was only going to make things worse.

’Should I start taking on more sponsorships?’

I did get a lot offers that I turned down. Most of them required me to go to certain places to promote certain products or even appear on TV. However, I wasn’t really keen on doing public work.

Especially if it required me to interact with a lot of people.

Just one person was enough to tire me for the day. More than that...?

Hell no.

"This should be the place, right?"

I stopped before a certain door. Besides the door was a metal plate that said; [507].

Double-checking with my phone, I confirmed that it was indeed the right room. Since the Guild had purchased the entire building and rearranged its operations, I was still unfamiliar with the place.

Reaching out for the handle, I opened the door.

Clank—!

It was strangely quiet.

Going into the room, the usual chaos that greeted me was gone.

Click! Click! Click! Click!

Instead, I heard the rhythmic sound of keys being pressed.

"...Make sure you keep your position, don’t stray too far."

"Alright, got it."

"Communicate with me. What’s the progress with the old lady?"

"I don’t see her. I’m in the second room."

"Good, good."

Eh...?

Going into the room, the sight that greeted me left me stunned.

Everyone...

They were diligently playing the games with extremely serious expressions. It was a sight that completely shook me, and just as I took another step, Joanna’s head lifted as she finally caught sight of me.

"Ah, Squad Leader!"

She took out her headsets and placed them down.

With a smile, she walked up to me.

"I was just introducing our new member to the games and getting him familiar with the squad."

"I... see."

I looked around, finally catching a glimpse of the member in question. He was somewhat tall, with a strong bone structure and relatively sharp features. His dark brown hair was cut short, while his narrow eyes gave him the appearance of the kind of bully one might see on TV.

He immediately stood up and greeted me.

"Hello! I’m the new team member, Jordan Krow. I look forward to working with you!"

His voice was loud too.

Still, I could see that he was quite excited.

’Good, good. I like this new recruit.’

I smiled slightly whilst nodding at him.

"I like the enthusiasm. I’m Seth, and I’m this team’s Squad Leader." I looked around the room. "Seeing how you were playing games with the others, it looks like you’re already quite familiar with each other. That’s good."

It really did make me feel happy. That was one problem out of the way.

Looking around, I eventually made my way over to my desk and pulled out my laptop to begin working. As I did, Mia approached me with a coy look on her face.

"Squad Leader~"

"Yes?"

My eyes narrowed.

What’s up with her?

"So, like..." She tapped the tips of her index fingers together. "You know... stuff, and all that."

"What is it? Spit it out."

"This is Jordan’s first day, so I thought it wouldn’t do any good if he played the more intense games. In case you were trying to get us to play the more difficult ones, then..."

"Don’t worry about it."

I waved at her dismissively.

"...I’ve got things to do today. Just do as you were doing. We can do that next time."

"Alright."

Hm? Was it just me or did she almost squeal?

I looked up to see Mia staring back at me with a straight expression. Shifting my attention toward the others, I found them all wearing the same expression. Something was clearly amiss.

Just what in the...

"Oh, by the way. I’m surprised you showed up today. What happened to your office upstairs?"

"A meteorite hit it."

***

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A rhythmic beeping sound echoed through the confines of the small white room, each beep breaking the otherwise oppressive silence. The sterile scent of alcohol lingered in the air, clinging to every corner of the room.

In such a setting, a figure sat on a folded bed, several thin tubes connected to her arm. A large helmet covered her head, with even more tubes extending from it and disappearing into the ceiling above.

The beeping continued.

It pressed onto the silence, until—

"Un-believable."

A shocked voice shattered that very silence.

Staring at the scan displayed on the monitor, alongside the brain scans and close-up images of the Nodes, the man’s voice trembled again. He looked at the woman sitting before him as though he were staring at a ghost.

"It... shouldn’t be possible. I’ve heard of fractures recovering, but not to this extent. You previously had over two hundred miniature fractures, and yet, I can only see eighty at the moment. It’s... unbelievable. This is shocking."

Hearing the doctor’s words, Soran’s lips slowly curled into a smile.

"Well, isn’t that great?"

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