—Th… that wasn’t me speaking. I swear it wasn’t me! The game suddenly muted for me!
—Help! Help…! W-hat am I supposed to do?
It had just been ten minutes since the start of the game, and chaos had already unfolded.
—…I don’t know what to do! W-what is this!
—Calm down! Everyone, calm down!
Idris tried his best to keep everyone calm, but even he was struggling. He was at the part where he had first lost during his first trial. In the part where the ’monster’ started to hunt.
Idris expected to be able to clear this part without much of a problem, given how he already had built up a lot of experience, but to his utter shock and rising dismay, the monster had changed.
It had evolved.
If before it was terrifying, it had now reached a point where even he left someone in utter despair.
Not only could it copy the old lady’s voice, but it could now also mimic the voices of everyone present.
…And as if that wasn’t enough, as if the improved graphics had done something to the game, he could now actually ’feel’ things. From the warm breath of the monster to the subtle tickling sensations that came from time to time.
It sent shivers down his entire spine and body.
—Haaaaak!
Screams followed, and one by one, the team that Idris had formed disappeared from the game.
The moment they vanished, their channels muted.
It was now just him.
Him and the silence.
But within the silence, he could feel the hot breath of the monster… tickling his ear as he found the last clue of the game. One that included a certain metal key.
’It’s the final room. It’s the final room.’
Taking several deep breaths, Idris looked at the chat next to him.
—Lmao! He’s scared shitless!
—How come I am not scared?
—Is this fake?
—No, I played the game. It was really scary.
—I also played. It was really fucking scary. I think the game is even scarier now. I’m going to download the game again. I previously deleted it because it was repetitive, but this is nice.
Idris brought his eyes away from the chat and walked towards the final room.
He made sure to keep his gaze lowered as he moved.
The gentle creak of his steps echoed across the hall as he finally moved to the final room and placed the key into the keyhole.
Click!
A gentle clicking sound echoed, and the door opened.
“…..”
Idris held his breath.
All that met his gaze was darkness.
Slowly inching closer into the room, Idris followed everything according to his memory.
’If the part hasn’t changed, the TV will soon turn on and a video will appear. It’ll show the lore of the monster and how the husband is the monster, and that the character that I’m playing is not actually the cop, but the husband who turns out to be a cop. After that, the goal of the game is to run away and find the exit.’
Idris followed the steps in his mind as he walked deeper into the room.
Then—
Flick!
The TV turned on, and Idris turned his attention towards the TV.
He prepared to watch the video, but…
“Huh?”
As opposed to what he expected, the TV displayed something different.
It displayed…
His face.
His real face.
“…..!?”
Idris’s entire body tensed as he raised his head to look at the camera in front of him.
Then, lowering his head again, his gaze fell on the TV once again.
Creeeak—
A loud creaking sound echoed.
It came from right behind.
Idris’s entire body was tense as he tried to pull his mouse down, but realized that he couldn’t.
His expression changed.
A figure appeared right behind him.
Not in the game.
…In his reflection on the TV.
And then—
Idris felt something tap against his shoulder, and his face changed drastically.
“Hueeek!”
A scream pierced through his surroundings as he jumped up from his seat and hastily looked behind him.
However…
Nothing.
There was nobody standing behind him.
’Wait, what?’
Idris’s gaze slowly drifted back towards the game.
And then—
She appeared.
Her face was right before the screen.
“Oh my, did I scare you?”
“Huak!”
Idris nearly choked up at the sight. Unable to take it anymore, he pressed several keys and quit the game.
“Haa… Haa…”
The silence returned to the room shortly after as Idris sat back down on his seat, blankly staring at the chat in front of him.
—What happened?
—What’s going on…?
—Why did you suddenly jump on? Is something the matter?
—This has to be fake, right?
Seeing their confused expressions, Idris paused.
A thought occurred to him then.
Could it be…?
’Am I the only one who saw what happened on the TV?’
***
To Tok—!
I knocked on the door of the Section Chief several times.
To Tok—! Tok!
I knew that he was in there. I could see his figure from the obscured glass in front of me. It was just as I was about to knock on his door again that he eventually arrived and pulled the door open.
“Oh, it’s you.”
His hair was messy, and the circles beneath his eyes looked especially glaring.
I nodded my head.
“It’s me.”
I then moved into his office.
“Hey, wait…”
I didn’t bother with the Section Chief and just found a seat.
Looking around the place, I waited for him to sit back down. He gave me a very suspicious look as he sat back down.
“You know, you’ve changed. I didn’t—”
“Are you busy because of the interview?”
“…It looks like you’re aware.”
The Section Chief looked at the phone on the table and shuddered. His phone was currently vibrating in silence, numerous missed call notifications appearing on the screen.
He groaned.
“I’ve been getting calls all day. I can’t take it anymore.”
“I see.”
I could more or less understand his situation.
“Then it’s a good thing that I’m here.”
“Hm?”
The Section Chief looked at me in confusion.
“You’ve got an idea?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Oh?”
The Section Chief looked intrigued.
“Tell me. I’ve been trying to solve this entire situation for the entire day. I’ve also talked to the Guild Master, and he laughed at me, saying stuff like this is just a minor inconvenience.”
The Section Chief slammed his hand against the table.
“For him, maybe! But it’s really annoying for me! I barely got any sleep today.”
“Hmm. That’s not good.”
I look at the Section Chief with pity.
“Did you know that a human needs at least seven to nine hours of sleep a day?”
“Huh? Really? I thought four hours was pretty good.”
“I know, right?”
I shrugged then.
“But this is what science says, so it must be right.”
“That’s fair.”
The two of us nodded in understanding before I quickly snapped out of it.
“No, that’s besides the point.”
I snapped out of it quickly. I was quickly going into a different tangent.
In any case…
“Double down on the interview.”
“Hm?”
The Section Chief cocked his head.
“You want me to agree with the interview and say that everything he said is correct?”
“Yes.”
I took out my phone to show him my Dock app.
“Look here. I just released my game today. It’s obviously different from the one provided to the Guild, but the essence is still somewhat the same. If—”
“I see what you’re trying to do.”
The Section Chief leaned back against his chair, covering his mouth as his brows furrowed tightly.
“…In essence, you want us to publicize the game. Get people to try it. Since we’re all confident that it’ll scare people, it’ll reduce the backlash significantly while at the same time make your game more popular.”
The Section Chief suddenly smirked at me.
“That’s pretty smart of you. Two birds with one stone.”
I nodded my head.
“You also don’t have to worry too much about other Guilds using the game for training. The game isn’t as scary as the one I provided to the Guild. Even if they do use it, we’ll have the advantage.”
The game that was put on the market was only rated as a 2-star, while the one I gave to the Guild was rated at 2.5 stars.
“Hmm.”
The Section Chief’s fingers drummed against the table before eventually pausing.
In the end, looking at me, the Section Chief smiled.
“Alright.”
He stood up from his seat.
“This might actually work. Let’s do it.”