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

"Truthfully, I don’t know. It was just an idea that crossed my mind."

I shrugged whilst looking at Geneva.

The back of my palm felt sweaty, but I tried my best to articulate myself clearly and not show any of my doubts.

"Who is there to say that we haven’t fallen for 1048 just yet? As you said, there’s nothing that lets us know if we’ve fallen victim to it. What if we’ve already fallen for it and we just don’t realize it yet?"

The more I thought about this possibility, the more I felt the back of my spine shudder.

A strange silence settled between us as the gravity of the situation finally sank into the minds of the others. I took a good look at everyone present before clapping my hands once.

Clap!

"As I said, this is just a hypothesis. Whether this is true or not, we don’t know."

"You’re right."

Geneva replied as she looked at us.

"What I do know is that in the dream, everyone is waiting for something. A turn of sorts. If you can somehow keep that in mind, you should be able to get some sort of clue. It’s not much, but it’s all we have."

"...Right."

That system message did say something like this too.

But...

It was all too vague.

One could be waiting for their turn for many things. Bathroom, food, games, hearing...

There were just so many things that one could be waiting their turn for

’No, wait.’

Something suddenly clicked inside of my mind.

At first, I thought the clue that the system had given me was there to startle me, but now that I thought about it, it was actually a pretty big clue.

’Since I’ve already met the anomaly, it must mean that if I trace back to the things that I’ve done, I should be able to get a clue. Added to the clue that I just received, I can narrow things down considerably.’

I had the sudden urge to slap my thigh.

’Right, of course...!’

That wasn’t all.

I also had the compass with me.

This situation... It was actually not as hopeless as I previously thought it was.

Right, of course not.

"Squad Leader?"

Hearing someone call for me, I raised my head to see that everyone was looking at me once more. I gave each person a look before finally settling my gaze on Geneva.

She looked composed, but deep down, I could see that she was incredibly nervous.

I offered her a small nod.

"I think I more or less understand the situation. Since I did promise you before, I’ll see things through to the end. I... might have an idea."

"Really?"

Geneva’s voice rose without her realizing it as her eyes lit up.

I offered her another nod.

"Yes."

And it wasn’t like I had any other options. The situation surrounding me at the moment made it hard for me to refuse the mission.

’It’s a good thing that I at least have a sort of direction.’

I could see the changes that my team members were making, but I ignored them. Right then, I turned and spotted a familiar figure. Donning the same white robes, his sharp eyes scanned us from behind his glasses as he offered the most polite smile he could, his gaze settling on Geneva.

"It’s time for us to change the IV liquid for Theo."

"Ah, right."

Geneva hurriedly opened the door for the doctor.

"Please."

"...Thank you."

Staring at the doctor’s back, I had a sudden thought.

’I wonder how my head is doing at the moment.’

The migraines were noticeably less annoying than they had been in the past, but they were still present. It was obvious that I was doing better ever since getting the pills from the Fifth Order store, but I was still quite worried about the potential side effects from the pills I had taken back at the lab.

’I should probably get myself checked out as a precaution.’

The issue was that I didn’t quite want others to see what was inside my head.

But as things stood, it was probable that I might in the future.

’I guess I’ll put more thought into this later.’

I knew for a fact that I wasn’t going to be doing the checkup at the Guild. At least, not with the mess that was currently happening over there.

Sparing one last glance in Geneva’s direction as she entered the room and offered me one last look, I turned around and decided that it was time to leave.

"Alright, let’s go."

There was a lot of thinking that I needed to do.

***

"Wait! This makes no sense at all!"

BANG!

Zoey’s hand came smacking down against the Section Chief’s desk as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Why are you suddenly assigning us so many tasks? You know damn well there’s no way we’ll be able to clear all of these gates within such a time frame!"

Zoey wanted to keep her voice low, but the frustration she felt with the situation made it impossible for her to do so. Clenching her jaw tightly, she looked back to see the numerous eyes directed at them through the see-through glass walls before moving to close the curtains.

Once she did, she directed her attention back to the Section Chief.

This time, her voice was noticeably lower.

Part of it was because she didn’t want the others to hear, but another part of it was because of the way the Section Chief looked.

His eyes were incredibly baggy, and his features were unusually pale. Even his cheeks were more sunken than usual. It was clear that his condition was quite bad.

"Sir, look."

Zoey sat down on the chair opposite him.

"I know that you’re currently overworked, but you must understand that this isn’t sustainable. If we go on like this, everyone will start quitting. That’ll be terrible for the Guild. I’ve already received several offers from other Guilds, alongside the others. Although I can’t say for certain, I know quite a few of them are considering accepting those offers. At this rate, the Containment Department will be dismantled."

"...Right."

The Section Chief replied after a short moment, his attention still focused on the papers before him, his pen never stopping.

His lack of reaction drove Zoey mad as she tried to push her thoughts forward.

"This is obviously an attack by the other members to curb our department. Our momentum has made them all act, and with the Guild Master gone, it won’t be long until things get even worse. Heck! They’ve already started targeting our best agent! He’s the last person that we can afford to lose."

Zoey hated to admit it, but there was no denying it.

Seth was currently the star of the department.

The blatant targeting by higher management didn’t go unnoticed by her or the others.

"He’s the last person that we can afford to lose. He’s also got no reason to stay at the Guild when every Guild out there is salivating at the thought of having him. If you don’t do something, then—"

"Don’t worry about Seth."

Finally putting his pen down, the Section Chief raised his head, his sunken, darkened eyes staring directly at Zoey.

"He won’t be leaving."

"But—"

"The Guild Master may be dead, but his leash still exists."

Zoey’s voice caught in her throat as she looked at the Section Chief as he quietly stood up and moved towards the curtains.

Flick.

He pulled them up at once.

"...Nothing escapes the Guild Master’s leash. Dead or alive."

He turned slowly.

"Not even me."

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