“Help! Help me…!”
The commotion was impossible to ignore. Rowan’s frantic shouting filled the air, and the sheer panic on his face as he desperately clawed at the doorway left everyone momentarily stunned.
The same was true for the exchange members as they looked at one another.
“What’s going on?”
“Did something serious happen?”
The commotion didn’t just catch their attention. It drew the eyes of everyone in the area. One by one, heads turned toward the distant office, a heavy silence settling as Rowan’s shouts continued to fill the space.
Seeing just how big the commotion they were causing was, Seth’s face started to scrunch up. The attention was too much for him.
He raised both of his hands.
“Fine. You don’t need to continue. I’ve gathered enough data.”
“Really?”
Rowan fell silent almost instantly, his eyes wide with surprise as he slowly turned to face Seth. For a moment, he almost forgot about everything.
However, the fear quickly clawed back into his mind as he started to stutter.
“A-are you telling the truth? I… I don’t have to continue anymore?”
From the way he was speaking, he was still clearly shaken up by the situation. Noticing this, Kyle’s brows furrowed tightly as he moved towards Rowan.
“Is everything alright? Did something happe—”
“…Uh?!”
The moment Rowan heard Kyle’s voice, he flinched instinctively, startling Kyle in the process.
“Go back! Go…”
But as his eyes settled on Kyle, the panic in his expression gradually eased, giving way to a flicker of relief.
“Ah, it’s you.”
Rowan covered his mouth in relief.
’What’s going?’
This was the first time that Kyle had seen Rowan so shaken up. The two of them had dived in gates together on several occasions, and while he had seen Rowan shaken up on a few occasions, it was never to this extent.
Staring at him and seeing his eyes, which still appeared to be trembling, Kyle felt that something was extremely wrong. Eventually, he turned to look at Seth.
He was just standing behind Rowan with an innocent expression.
He looked like shit. His hair was a mess. His clothes were a mess, and he smelled like shit. His face was also pale, and there were glaring black circles beneath his eyes. He looked to be in even worse condition than Rowan.
And yet…
For whatever reason, Kyle had a feeling that Seth had something to do with the situation.
’But that doesn’t make sense. Did something go wrong with their therapy session? But last I heard, Rowan was having a really good time there.’
The more Kyle thought about the situation, the more confused he became.
He wanted to ask more about the situation, but before he could do so, a voice cut through the surroundings.
“Don’t mind him too much. He was just doing me a favour.”
“Hm?”
Looking up, Kyle saw that it was Seth who spoke. Yawning slightly, Seth’s shoulders slumped a little as he looked at Rowan and mumbled, ’It’s safe to say that it went well. I might need to make a few tweaks, but this is good.’
He then looked up towards the others, focusing on the exchange members for a brief moment before pushing Rowan out.
“Okay. I have work to do.”
As he pushed Rowan out, he kept his eyes on the floor.
Then…
“Have a good day.”
Clank—
He proceeded to close the door then and there, leaving everyone stunned.
“…..”
It took a few seconds for everyone to register what was happening. The first to snap out of it was Kaelen, his expression growing a little odd.
“Quite the eccentric therapist. He’s a therapist, right? Or counselor?”
His words were enough to make the others snap out of it, as several turned to look at the doors with frowns.
“What the hell was that?”
“…Did he just close the door like that? Wh—”
“Don’t mind him.”
Seeing how the situation was starting to escalate, Zoey promptly cut in.
“He’s usually like this. Don’t take his actions seriously. He’s… very anti-social.”
Zoey turned to look at Kyle as she said so. Feeling her gaze, Kyle forced a smile.
“Yes…”
She wasn’t wrong. Seth was indeed antisocial.
’No, it’s more like he’s introverted. Well… same thing?’
Whatever. Kyle wasn’t really all too bothered by Seth’s actions. He was already used to his behavior. In his mind, this was nothing unusual. He hated interacting with new people, and so this was in line with his character. What really set him off was Rowan, who was still breathing heavily, his face pale, and his back leaning against the wall as he tried to catch his breath.
Kyle wasn’t the only one who noticed Rowan’s current condition.
By the time Kyle noticed, almost everyone noticed as they started to focus their attention on him.
“Rowan, are you okay? What’s going on?”
“…What happened? Why are you acting like this?”
Everyone who knew Rowan was quite worried when they saw him like this. Even the usually indifferent Zoey was taken aback by Rowan’s behaviour. Just what in the world had set him off like this?
Why… did he look like someone who had just seen the devil itself?
“Rowan! Rowan—!”
“Ah…!?”
It was after several shouts that Rowan finally snapped out of his state as he raised his head and saw the multiple gazes fixed on him.
“W-what’s going on? Why is everyone…”
“Rowan.”
Kyle was the first to step forward, placing his hands over Rowan’s shoulders to calm him down.
He looked at Rowan straight in the eyes.
“I need you to relax for a second. You’re in a state of panic. Take a couple of deep breaths.”
“I’m trying… Ha.. I’m really trying.”
“Just listen to my words. Take a few deep breaths and calm yourself down.”
“But—”
“Just follow my instructions.”
Seeing how serious Kyle was being, Rowan closed his mouth and proceeded to follow Kyle’s instructions. He began to take a few deep breaths, allowing him to finally even out his breathing as his face returned to normal, and his eyes stopped shaking.
By the time a minute had passed, Rowan was back to his usual self as Kyle removed his hands from Rowan.
“Alright. It looks like you’re good now.”
“…I am.”
With his mind now clear, Rowan was able to process the situation more calmly as he felt the gazes of everyone present more clearly. He could even feel the judgmental ones coming from the exchange members.
Eventually, Rowan settled his gaze back on Kyle, who opened his mouth.
“What in the world happened? Why were you acting like that…?”
“What happened?”
Rowan blinked his eyes slowly, his mind wandering back to the events that had transpired a few moments prior. Everything… began from the moment he began that game.
Yes, that was where it all started.
At first, Rowan didn’t think too much about the game. His mind had been preoccupied with ways of trying to act so that he wouldn’t offend Seth too much. This was all he thought at first when he started the game.
It was a rather decent game, with decent graphics and good mechanics.
Rowan thought he’d be able to clear it in no time. He… really thought it was going to be an easy game.
But… but that was when everything turned for him.
Rowan didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, every thought slipped from his mind. All that remained was the game in front of him. It pulled at his attention like a void, leaving him utterly fixated, unable to focus on anything else.
That was probably when it all started.
The start of his nightmare.
Unable to tear his gaze away from the game, Rowan found himself slowly getting sucked in by the game. Almost as if he were the very character of the game. A weak and helpless character that could only helplessly navigate the game without any way to fight.
Rowan found himself getting more and more absorbed by the game, his eyes glued on the screen and his fingers glued to the keyboard.
He found both his thoughts and mind completely taken over by the game, forcing him to continue the game. Guiding him towards an unknown path.
Rowan could still remember the outline of the environment, and… the whispers.
Yes, the whispers.
As if reading his thoughts, the game whispered them back to him, each echo sowing seeds of doubt in his decisions. His mind began to drift, lulled into a haze, and for the briefest moment, he forgot all about the monster that lurked within.
He let his guard down.
He…
“A-ah.”
Rowan covered his mouth, his hand shaking alongside his body as he slowly raised his head to look at Kyle, and then the others.
His previously calm expression once again shattered, and in its place was a clear look of panic.
“What…? Rowan? What’s going on? Why are you acting like this? Wha—”
“Don’t do it.”
Rowan grabbed onto Kyle’s arm, his eyes bloodshot as his mouth trembled.
“What?”
Kyle stopped, his expression turning as Rowan put more force in his grip while he looked towards the others.
“W-whatever you do… Don’t… agree to play his game. E-ver!”