“Haa… haaa…”
The collective sound of heavy breaths echoed through the room, pooling near one of the cubicles where several figures sat, unmoving, eyes fixed on a pitch-black monitor.
The screen showed nothing.
And yet…
None of them could look away.
All noise seemed to sharpen. The low hum of the fan, once barely noticeable, now seemed to roar in their ears, adding to the increasing tension of the game.
This all persisted for several seconds until—
Flick!
The lights turned on, and the light returned.
As if they could all finally breathe again, everyone took a deep breath.
Terrance was no different as his earlier expression vanished. Momentarily closing his eyes, he collected himself.
He appeared to be faring better than the new recruits.
“Don’t think too much. Remain calm. You all just came out of the trial yesterday, so it’s normal for you to be a little tense after seeing something so similar.”
His words seemed to calm the new recruits considerably as they all laughed.
“I guess you’re right.”
“…It’s almost like a carbon copy of the trial. I guess I was reminded too much of my time yesterday.”
Seeing everyone settle down again, Terrance gave a small nod and pressed ‘W’, guiding the character forward.
As he turned down one of the dim hallways, a door came into view, lining up by the side of the wall. At the bottom of the door were several flowers and letters.
“Hm?”
This change didn’t go unnoticed by the new recruits and Terrance as he guided the character forward, moving towards the flowers.
The moment Terrance reached the flowers, control slipped from his fingers. The screen shifted on its own, seamlessly transitioning into a cutscene.
“A cutscene?”
It started with the character turning on the MP3 as the music from before returned.
A soft tune drifted through the speakers, weaving its way into the minds of everyone present.
On screen, the character came to a halt before the flowers, then slowly bent down to pick up one of the scattered letters.
[In memory of Ramille Niel]
“This must be the employee who was talked about at the start of the game. The one that killed themselves,” one of the new recruits quipped, speaking what was on everyone’s mind.
“It is.”
Terrance nodded as he saw the character place the letter back before words flashed across the screen again.
‘…Will I also turn out like him?’
The cutscene ended, and Terrance found himself where he was before the cutscene.
“Interesting.”
Terrance mumbled under his breath as he stared at the scene. He could see what Seth was trying to do—still clinging to his psychological tricks, trying to draw a connection between the ‘steps’ and the IT employee who had taken their own life.
He smirked.
‘It’s not a bad attempt, but since I already know—’
Flick!
The lights suddenly turned off, and the music faded. The smirk on Terrance’s lips suddenly faded as his body tensed up unconsciously.
‘What’s going on with me?’
Realizing the changes, Terrance frowned and peeked to his right.
His heart almost leaped out of his chest when he saw the new recruits standing next to him, their heads peering into the laptop with blank expressions.
Terrance’s expression changed at the sight. Something about the situation was off!
He was just about to react when—
Step!
The gentle sound of a step echoed from the speakers, and Terrance felt his entire body shiver.
Unconsciously, his pinky pressed onto the ‘shift’ key, and the character started to move faster.
Tatatata—!
The sound of footsteps grew louder, merging with the heavy breathing of the main character.
Terrance quickly pulled his hand away from the mouse, wiping his damp palm on his shirt before placing it back, his fingers tightening slightly as he pressed forward once more.
Before he knew it, he started to become immersed in the game.
His surroundings began to blur, reality slipping away as he found himself immersing into the character. The surrounding noise, from each breath, each creak, each step… it amplified in his ears, dragging the tension taut like a wire about to snap.
Flick!
The lights turned on and off in repeated patterns, each time the music returned and the steps hurried with each return of the darkness.
It was just like in the trial.
And yet…
Step!
Another step echoed through the speakers, and Terrance shivered—his mind imagining the image of one of the colleagues that had passed away in the past, reaching out with trembling hands to grasp his shoulder.
His body shook, and he pressed the shift again.
‘It’s just my imagination. This is not real. Don’t fall for such a simple trick.’
“Haa… Haa…”
The heavy breathing sound of the character became even more hurried as it echoed through the speakers, as Terrance, almost involuntarily, matched the character’s pattern.
He wasn’t the only one.
The new recruits were no different, their heads pulling closer to the monitor.
Terrance continued to run forward with the character, his fingers tensed and mouse clutched tightly.
The steps followed rapidly, never stopping as the darkness engulfed everything.
Just barely, Terrance was able to outrun the steps.
‘More, just a little…!’
He could tell he was near the turning point of the game. He just had to resist until—
The character stopped completely.
A notification flashed shortly after.
[You have run out of stamina]
The notification took over the bottom part of the screen, written in blood red as Terrance’s mind went completely blank. Completely losing the ability to think, the steps behind suddenly increased, sprinting in their direction.
Terrance instinctively turned the character back, his fingers trembling.
And then—
A face.
A blank, featureless face.
It filled the screen, staring directly at him. Empty eyes, black as night, locked on his own soul.
“Ahhhhhhhh—!”
A scream tore through the office. The mouse slipped from Terrance’s hand as he recoiled in horror.
The new recruits followed a step after as their faces paled and they fell back, their bodies trembling.
The screen flashed, and two blood-red letters appeared shortly after.
[Game Over]
***
Unaware of the chaos unfolding in the office, Seth tossed and turned in his bed, the sheets tangling around his legs as he desperately tried to sink into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.
He previously assumed he’d fall asleep the moment he touched the bed, but for some reason, he still had yet to fall asleep.
Tossing again, the bedsheets followed.
But yet again, he couldn’t sleep at all. There seemed to be something nagging at the back of his mind.
“…What the hell is wrong with me?”
Eventually, Seth’s eyes fluttered open, his gaze fixed blankly on the ceiling. The dim light of the room did little to ease the tiredness in his eyes as dark circles beneath them were more pronounced than ever.
“Don’t tell me that I’ve been cursed to be unable to sleep?”
Seth mumbled while he massaged his face.
He sighed before closing his eyes again and attempting to sleep as he tossed to the side.
‘Oh, I think this might be the good one.’
He felt his mind slowly sink into a state of sleep.
He was close.
And just as he was about to finally reach his so-desired sleep…
Ting!
A notification flashed, and his eyes flared open.
[Congratulations, you have completed the first quest!]
“…..”
Seth blankly stared at the notification before groaning.
“Just kill me already.”