’…Are we really going to be playing a game on our first day?’
The trainees all started to wonder the same thing as they stared at the monitor in front of them. They were somewhat baffled by the current situation, but unlike the trainees who had just left, they didn’t really have the ability to leave at will.
To them, this Guild was the best that they could find.
While they were talented, their talents still fell short of the elites from Andora.
“I will call the teams now.”
Seth’s even voice echoed within the room as he took out a small notepad and started to recite the names of the teams.
“Team one. Min, Mia, and Joanna.”
He paused.
“Team two. Niel, Nora, and Sarah.”
Putting the notepad down, he looked around the room.
“These will be the teams. You can immediately start creating the servers and join in. Don’t create any aliases. Just use your real name.”
Following his words, the six members all followed his instructions and created two servers. The respective members joined.
—Hello? Hello?
A soft voice suddenly whispered into the game.
It was a somewhat cheerful voice.
—Can anybody hear me? Heeeello?
—Will you stop that?
Joanna suddenly spoke, trying her best to keep it together.
She wasn’t exactly in the best of moods. This was a massive opportunity for her. Unlike the others, she didn’t come directly from the Academies, but rather, she used to be a recruit of another Queen Grade Guild.
She decided to make the jump when she saw no hope of rising up further.
But looking at the situation right before her, she couldn’t help but feel gloomy.
’…I didn’t make a mistake, right?’
—Hello.
Another voice entered the communication.
The voice was incredibly soft.
Joanna spoke.
—I take it that you’re the third member of the team?
—Yes.
—Okay.
’He doesn’t seem like much of a talker.’
She took note of that and looked around the page until her gaze fell on the ’start’ button.
—Is everyone ready? I will be starting soon.
—I’m ready.
—…Me too.
—Okay.
And with that, Joanna pressed on the ’play’ button. Even though she didn’t have many expectations for the experience, she still planned on doing her best. Since she had already burned her old bridges, she had no other choice but to try her best.
The screen flashed before changing.
Flick!
An old house appeared before their view.
Immediately, a faint static sound echoed in their ears. It was faint, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
—Wow. This is not bad. Hehe, I like this.
—…..
—….
Besides Mia, Joanna and Min remained quiet. Joanna was somewhat taken aback by the faint static sound in the background, feeling that it was trying to dig its way into her mind.
Min, on the other hand, was just quiet by nature.
The surroundings were dim, and one could barely see too much ahead. However, at first glance, the graphics of the game weren’t too bad.
Joanna could notice subtle details about the place that were interesting.
It was also in that moment that a light flickered in the distance.
Flick!
It started as a small ball, one that slowly inched its way, accompanied by a faint creaking sound.
The three looked in the direction of the light, until—
“I thought you wouldn’t have come, officers.”
An old lady appeared.
Her voice was strained, and her eyes had a faint shade of light blue. Almost as if to appear as though she were blind.
—Nn?! What the hell is this? She’s so damn creepy!
Mia, of course, had to make a comment.
Joanna, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the sight of the old lady. Looking at her, she didn’t feel much at all.
She looked realistic and all, with the graphics being quite good, but this was far from scary.
“…I have been waiting quite a while. I was starting to get impatient.”
Her lips slowly pulled up to reveal her toothless smile.
“It hasn’t been long since my husband disappeared. Perhaps you might be able to find some clues if you look inside. I am happy to be of your assistance.”
Basic instructions on how to play the game were provided after.
—This is quite simple!
—…It is.
Joanna’s eyes narrowed when seeing just how simple the game looked.
Although her disappointment increased, she didn’t show it and looked around.
Seth’s voice echoed shortly after.
“If you’ve already started the game, then you don’t need any more instructions from me. You’ll figure things out as you go. And…”
Seth paused.
“…Don’t react. That’s all you have to do.”
Joanna quietly pursed her lips.
As if she’d react.
—Let’s go. I believe the first thing we should do is enter the room up ahead.
Given the composition of her squad, it was up to her to take the lead.
Mia was the first to rush forward.
It looked like she had no ounce of fear in her.
—Wow! Look at this! This place sure looks creepy!
The first room appeared to be a kitchen. It was quite worn down, with the marble floor cracked, and several open cabinets that creaked faintly in the background. Looking around the room, it didn’t take long for them to find the first letter.
—…Even I write better than this. Still creepy.
Mia commented while staring at the letter.
Though her words seemed to indicate that she found the situation creepy, her tone suggested otherwise. It almost felt… as though she found the situation amusing.
Joanna sighed and put the letter away.
—Let’s go to the next room. It looks like we have to-
She stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes had caught something in the corner of the room, and as she froze, the others did too, slowly turning to see what had drawn her gaze.
—That’s…
Joanna’s eyes squinted.
Was that there before?
She tried to think if she had seen it before or not, but regardless of how hard she tried, she couldn’t think at all.
Moving towards the top hat, she picked it up, but other than that, she wasn’t able to do anything else with it.
—…Maybe it’s a decoration?
—Maybe.
Joanna replied, her actual head turning in Mia’s direction, but pausing when she saw the tall wall of the cubicle.
Putting the hat back down, she decided to go to the next room.
The others followed.
They didn’t think much of the situation from that point.
However, what all three didn’t notice was the sudden flickering of their eyes.
They soon entered the next room.
They found a letter there, too. Alongside a black coat and an older record player that played a creepy tune for them.
—They really couldn’t afford to buy a proper sound engineer? What is this? My ears are starting to hurt… What the hell.
The bathroom was next.
Everything had been relatively smooth up to that point.
Neither of the three noticed anything wrong with the game.
But it was also at the exact moment that they entered the bathroom that something about the environment seemed to shift.
The shadows on the walls stretched, their minds grew in number, and something slowly seemed to seep into their minds, slowly caressing them with its soft hands.
Their changes didn’t go unnoticed.
At least not to Seth, as his lips curled.
It was too late now.
The game had already pulled their minds in.
’The fun part is about to start soon.’