“Buuurp!”
A lazy figure sat within the confines of a small room, his legs resting on his desk, as all sorts of trash littered the ground. Scratching his stubble, Idris Diamantis quietly sipped on his beer as he scrolled through his phone.
’This month’s statistics aren’t too bad. I should be able to make quite a bit of money. While I won’t be able to enter the top one hundred streamers, I shouldn’t be too far off.’
As a retired containment expert of the Second Order, Idris was fairly skilled.
Had he not picked up an injury during one of his expeditions, he probably wouldn’t have retired.
It was an unfortunate circumstance that pushed him towards content creation. Now, he streamed regularly and produced videos for his growing fanbase, dabbling in everything from gaming to commentary and whatever trends caught his eye.
Even so, as of right now, his career had started to stagnate.
While the revenue was good, his growth had completely stalled. He was seeing no new influx of viewers tuning in on his channel.
This was usually not a very good thing since this meant that he could only lose viewers, and not gain them.
In short, if he didn’t do something quickly, then there was a good chance that his views would start to sink.
“But what exactly can I even do?”
There was nothing interesting happening as of late. Be it tournaments or games, there was nothing that was particularly interesting or trend-worthy.
Idris was currently stuck in a limbo.
Biting his nails, Idris was just about to make a quick call when he suddenly received a message.
“Jamie?”
Opening up the message, Idris’s expression turned strange.
“What the…”
The message was simple.
[Play the game and make a video of it. You can thank me later.]
“Huh?”
Looking down, he also saw a file attached to the message. The name of the file was ’Game Proxy 1’
“Wait, what?”
Idris immediately tried to call Jamie, but his call was immediately brought to voicemail. This left him utterly lost and confused. Why was he not answering, and what even was this game?
“Has he lost it or something?”
Idris scratched the side of his cheek before looking at the file again.
Curious, he loaded the game onto his computer and started it. Soon, a plain interface appeared before his very eyes.
“….”
Calling it plain was an understatement.
Looking at the lazily made interface that only had several lines written, Idris’s face fell as he immediately went on to grab his phone and texted Jamie.
[What is this?]
He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
[It’s a horror game.]
“Ah…?”
But the answer that he received from Jamie made his face twist.
A horror game?
“Is this a joke?”
Was Jamie not aware of the fact that he was of the Second Order? That he was experienced in handling scary situations?
Why in the world was he trying to get him to play the game?
“…Yes, this must be a joke.”
[Haha. Very funny. I take it that you were lonely? Is that why you’re suddenly texting me this nonsense?]
Idris shook his head as he wrote the message. Thinking about it, this was how Jamie usually was.
He was the type of person to make these kinds of jokes.
“A horror game…”
Idris felt like laughing.
He began typing another message to Jamie.
[Next time you want to prank me, at least give the game a name and a proper interface. This is just too laz—]
[It’s not a joke. Play the game.]
Idris’s fingers stopped as his brows furrowed tightly.
Not a joke?
Now he was really starting to get annoyed as he shifted his attention back towards the plain interface. The more he looked at it, the more annoyed he got.
Ding!
Another message came.
[Have you heard of ’A regular day in the office ’? It’s made by the same guy.]
“What? That shit game?”
Idris was, of course, aware of the game. How could he not? The game had been trending for a short month.
He even gave it a chance due to the few newspapers that mentioned the disturbance the game caused by the screams it caused. Curious, Idris also tried the game.
But..
Shit. Beyond shit.
The game was one of the most boring games he had ever played in his life. Whatever video he had been planning on making, he had to quickly scrap it.
He even went as far as asking for a refund, but was promptly rejected, causing him to waste five dollars on the game. In his opinion, they were five dollars too many.
“Wait, you’re telling me that this game is created by the same one that created that garbage?”
Idris shifted his attention towards the interface once more and leaned back on his chair, his face turning strange.
“…Now I have even more reason not to play this game.”
Taking aside the fact that he was of the Second Order, given how shit the previous game developed by this guy was, Idris was even more certain that this one was going to be just as shit if not worse.
Chuckling, Idris texted Jamie.
[If it’s made by the same guy, then I have less reason to play it. I’ve got stuff to do, so if you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll go.]
Sending the message, Idris shook his head before tossing his phone onto the bed.
Ding! Ding!
His phone continued to buzz even as he threw it, but Idris ignored it.
He was done listening to Jamie’s nonsense. Letting out a small yawn, Idris reached for his mouse, intending to quit the game. But just as his fingers brushed against it, he accidentally pressed onto the left side of the mouse.
Click!
With the cursor hovering over the [Start] button, the interface changed the moment he left-clicked.
“Ah, shit.”
Annoyed, Idris frowned and moved the mouse around in order to quit the game.
However, right as he started doing that, the game loaded.
Immediately, the screen shifted to reveal a small room with a checkered marble floor, a long flight of wooden stairs leading upward, and several open doors lining the walls, whatever was behind them hidden by a deep and foreboding darkness.
An extremely dim lighting enshrouded the space, adding a sense of mystery and grimness to the surroundings.
Idris paused the moment he saw the sight.
The graphics…
They were actually not bad at all. While it wasn’t anywhere near most modern games, it was actually quite passable.
But that was just about it.
The graphics were great, but it was still not enough to grab his attention.
At least, that was the case until a sudden light flared to life, followed by the unmistakable sound of footsteps echoing from one of the far-off doors.
A circular dot of light suddenly appeared behind the darkness that enshrouded the doors in the distance, hovering in the air. It expanded slowly, growing brighter with each echoing footstep that crept closer.
Tak. Tak—
The steps were slow, but at the same time rhythmic.
Closer and closer they came, the expanding light dragging a glare across the screen like a searchlight sweeping through the dark. It stopped just inches away from the main screen, making it hard to see.
Then—
The light pulled down, revealing the face of an elderly woman with hollow eyes.
“Ah, you’re here.”
Idris held his breath.