Clank—
The door of the office slammed shut, and I stood outside with the Section Chief.
’Why am I outside here? What does he need? Why does he look so serious…? Did something happen? Did they decide not to agree with the previous deal?’
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind as I stood outside with the Section Chief.
I stood in silence without saying a word, waiting for him to say something. Each second of silence felt like they were dragging for an eternity.
And then—
“There are a few things that I’d like to talk to you about.”
The Section Chief finally opened his mouth to speak.
I quietly nodded my head.
“First things first… You’ve probably noticed a mob outside of the Guild, correct?”
“…I have.”
I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted.
“In short, we paid a lot of people and bots to review your game positively. The news of it got leaked.”
“Huh?”
My face froze.
They did what…!?
But more importantly, who leaked it?
“We were the ones who leaked it.”
The Section Chief followed up as though it were the most obvious answer.
“While we do want the people to understand that the game is scary and that we aren’t lying, we also want to maintain an advantage against the other guilds. If my guess is not wrong, many of the guild’s higher-ups will have tried your game. Most of them will dismiss the game after trying it. For some reason, your game works only after a certain threshold.”
“Mhm.”
Yes, this I knew.
“By getting the news to leak that we paid people to give the game positive reviews, we’re trying to get the other Guilds to not realize the true potential of the game. Of course, this might not work for every guild, or might not work at all, but it’ll at least delay things. And coupled with the advantage our games have, we should be able to build a sizable gap with the other Guilds in a few years.”
“….I see.”
The Section Chief’s explanation made sense.
I could see why he’d want to do it. I wasn’t exactly losing out in this since the money from all the purchases was going to me.
However, what I was worried about was the potential hit to my reputation.
’I might not suffer that much, but the Guild will definitely suffer a hit from this.’
The Section Chief and Guild Master were probably aware of this and yet still chose to go through with it. This showed just how committed they were to the entire ordeal.
’…It’s also true that they might not be able to fully make the other Guilds realize the potential of the game since the lower recruits may try it out of curiosity and eventually spread the news, but this might delay the entire thing.’
This was a price the Guild Master and Section Chief were willing to pay.
“Setting the bad news to the side, I’ve got good news.”
As the Section Chief’s face relaxed, he handed me a small paper.
“This is…?”
“A cheque for the money that we’re willing to invest in your next game. We already talked about the terms before, but we’ve changed things up.”
“Huh?”
I looked at the number on the paper and nearly forgot how to breathe.
“I’m not seeing this wrong, am I?”
“You’re not.”
The Section Chief chuckled.
“Three million dollars.”
But this…
Was this way too little?
’No, of course it’s not little. However, it’s nowhere near the amount of money that I need in order to develop a VR game. This is…’
“Don’t worry.”
The Section Chief placed his hand over my shoulder.
“This is just the money that we’ll be giving you to develop the game. Regarding your Virtual Reality requirements, we’ve already contacted several large suppliers and other studios. We’re discussing terms with them. The three million is an addition to that.”
“…Oh.”
I finally felt my breath return.
Alongside it, my heart also started to leap inside my chest.
’If it’s really true, then this is massive! My games will definitely reach a whole new level.’
But with that being said, the learning curve for this was going to be incredibly hard.
Just thinking about it made me feel anxious.
“…That’s all regarding the investments. There’s one last thing that I want to talk to you about.”
“Yes?”
There’s more?
What else could he want to talk about?
Tok!
He tapped his knuckle against the side of the wall before looking at me.
“The recruits that are under you are all excellent. None of them is prideful, and while they may not be the best of the best, they all have high potential. The reason why I chose you to be the Squad Leader is that I think you’ll be able to lead them well.”
The Section Chief pinched his chin.
“…I’m not sure why, but I just think you’ll do well.”
“I’m not so sure about that…”
How was it that the Section Chief had more confidence in me than I had in myself?
“I trust my judgement and I’m never usually wrong about this stuff. But with that being said…”
The Section Chief’s face turned serious.
“…I can only protect you so much. Team Leader Soran isn’t as nice as I am. If she does not deem you good enough, then expect her to kick you out of your position. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
This was only fair.
“Good.”
A satisfied smile marred the Section Chief’s face as he patted me on the shoulder.
He then looked behind him before patting me on the shoulder.
“That’s all from me. I’ll be going back to the lower floors. Tomorrow will be your first true day as Squad Leader. Take some time to decide which gate to enter and study it well. Oh…”
As if recalling something, he snapped his fingers.
“You should also go check up on your missing member. As the squad leader, it’s your job to make sure that she’s doing fine.”
“Me? But…”
“What? You’re going to tell me that you’re not good at this stuff?”
Err…
How did he know?
The Section Chief gave me a knowing smile.
“Did you forget your original position in the Guild?”
“Trauma Coun… oh.”
“That’s right.”
With a laugh, the Section Chief patted me on the shoulder.
“It’s time for you to do your job.”
*
I still didn’t fully believe that Sarah got traumatized because of my game. However, the Section Chief wasn’t wrong about me needing to check up on her due to my role.
And as such, I followed up on his advice and went to the dorms to meet Sarah.
“This should be the room, right?”
I looked at the door and then back at my phone.
Making sure it was the right one, I knocked on the door.
To Tok—!
“Sarah? Are you in there?”
“….”
No answer.
It was quiet.
I frowned.
Was she not inside?
I paused for a moment, then pressed my ear to the door, straining to catch any sound from inside. But just as I did, something tapped my shoulder.
I turned, and it felt like my soul nearly left my body.
’A ghost!’