“That’s… That’s…”
Kaelen stood frozen, lips trembling, his face a shade too pale. Kyle watched him from a couple of meters away, doing his best not to frown.
’What’s going on? Why did he get scared?’
He looked around him, and he saw Zoey looking at Kaelen with the same expression as him. The same was true for the others.
’What happened? Why are they reacting like this?’
Mainly because they couldn’t hear a single thing that had happened in the game.
For that reason, they didn’t get to experience the same thing they did.
Only Rowan was visibly shaken, eyes locked on the monitor, his shoulders subtly quivering.
’I don’t get it. What’s so scary about the game?’
Kyle thought back on the situation.
Sure, the game had changed slightly. But at its core, it was still the same design. He’d played it himself. From his perspective, the exchange group had simply made mistake after mistake.
’Sarah most likely fell for the old lady’s voice trick, while Serelith fell for another trick Seth added. Considering how I heard Kaelen say something about it not being him, I can assume that Seth added a feature that can mimic voices. She likely fell for that, and Kaelen just fell for the fake letter trick.’
All in all, this was a poor performance in Kyle’s eyes.
The clues had all been presented at the start of the game, and as one navigated, if they paid close attention to everything that had been presented, none of them should’ve fallen for the tricks.
But it wasn’t like Kyle could exactly blame them entirely for it.
’In the end, it’s because they are all inexperienced in how to handle this stuff.’
There was a reason why they didn’t bring the exchange members to higher gates despite clearing the lower ones in record time.
It was because once they reached higher gates, they wouldn’t be able to brute force their way into clearing the gate. The anomalies that would appear would be far stronger than any monsters they’d ever faced, each one following its own rule.
In order to clear the gate, they needed to follow the rules.
This right here was the result of them not following the rules. And all of it came due to their lack of experience.
Thinking about it, the way Kyle looked at the game that Seth developed changed.
A certain thought crossed his mind as he looked around. In particular, his gaze fell on Rowan, who was still trembling.
’Hmm, it doesn’t look like he’s faking it. Should I take some time to talk with the Section Chief?’
While the game didn’t feel scary to him at all, after witnessing how the exchange members behaved, alongside Rowan, Kyle felt that the game could actually be used by the department in order to train the new recruits.
If it really had an effect on them, then this really could be a good way to train them.
’It’ll be much safer than sending them to actual gates, too, and I can train them without needing to be constantly on alert. We can also have as many tries as possible without needing to dive into the dungeon over and over again. That’ll probably save up on a lot of the budget.’
The more Kyle thought about it, the more feasible he felt the idea was.
’Still, it might be too early to tell. I might just be overthinking things.’
After all, the game had no effect on him. It was better to just tell the Section Chief or one of the Team Leaders before deciding on what to do with the game.
“This makes no sense!”
Kaelen’s voice snapped Kyle out of his thoughts.
He stared at the [Game Over] screen on his monitor, then looked around, locking eyes with Kyle.
“You did something! That’s the only explanation!”
Kyle suddenly frowned.
Before he could respond, Zoey cut in.
“You lost fair and square. We didn’t do anything. If we really did try something, you would’ve been able to detect it.”
“That’s bullshit!”
Kaelen’s voice rose as he pointed from his screen to her.
“…You clearly did something. At one point, the old lady… that thing. She replied to my stuff as though she could hear me. That makes no sense. Isn’t this developed by one person? You definitely did something—”
“The reason why she was able to speak with you is because you’re predictable.”
The new voice sliced through the room, drawing Kaelen’s attention as a figure stepped out from the department entrance. His hair was still damp, but pulled back, revealing his face to everyone, momentarily stunning the exchange members as they wondered who they were seeing.
He wore a plain white T-shirt, the top buttons undone, paired with black pants.
Wiping his hair dry, he slowly made his way forward. His eyes swept across the monitors, then settled on Kaelen.
“I built an algorithm to simulate responses based on player behavior. If you thought it was listening to you… that just means you’re easy to read.”
“That’s…”
Kaelen stiffened. His face twisted with something between anger and confusion.
But Seth didn’t seem to care as he sat down on one of the chairs and looked at the time they spent on each game.
“If you’re still hesitant about the game, then you can have it tested by someone you trust. You can even have someone look at the surroundings to see if some sort of item has been used to influence your mind. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
He spoke with a disarming nonchalance, his eyes just a shade less lifeless than before. But that same eerie quality still lingered, and it was that very presence that kept Kaelen and the others from arguing.
There was something about him that felt deeply unsettling.
That was why neither Sarah nor Serelith said a word as Seth’s lips pulled into a thin smile and uneasy smile as he turned his attention towards Kyle.
He pointed at the time on the bottom of the screen.
“They hardly lasted as long as you. I guess the game is scary after all.”
“Haha.”
Kyle forced a smile.
Was it really?
However, looking at the members of the exchange group, Kyle could only concede.
“I guess…”
“Good.”
Seth suddenly clapped his hands and looked at the three exchange members.
“Since you’ve lost your bet, it’s time to pay up.”
Seth added a finger with each member that he pointed at.
“Three of you, so that would be fifteen fragments.”
Standing up, he patted his hands again, his lifeless eyes showing some sort of sign of life.
“If you don’t have them with you now, you can directly give them to me later, or give them to Kyle.”
He turned to face Kyle.
“Give them to me once they hand them to you. I’ve got a few other things that I need to do.”
Having said everything that he wanted to say, Seth quietly moved towards his office before entering.
Clank!
The door closed.
Silence settled over the department a few moments later.
And just like that, the bet came to an end.
The three exchange members. The stars of their departments.
They all lost.