—What the hell did he just say?
—A regular day in the office? He’s a game developer?
—Wtf is he doing? This shit has to be fake!
—LMAOOOOO! This is so obviously staged. Who in their fucking minds would advertise this shit in the middle of a situation like this?
Seth’s words made the chat instantly explode, and the number of viewers increased as those with malicious intentions added fuel to the fire.
—This is bought through a production.
—I almost got fooled lol.
Though it was obvious that some sort of ‘hidden’ competition was manipulating the chat, it still didn’t take away from the fact that the entire stream suddenly felt fake.
“Oh, so that’s the case…”
Zoey felt a similar feeling as she leaned back on her chair, expression easing a little. For a moment, it almost had her fooled.
‘Jamie really went all out with the production.’
Zoey didn’t know how to feel. On one hand, he had done the task as she requested, on the other… he kind of went a little overboard.
The others also seemed a little more relaxed at the realization.
But that didn’t last for very long as Kyle’s voice echoed shortly after.
“Wait, hold on..”
His expression changed as he looked at his phone.
“What? What is it?”
“…Is something wrong?”
Noticing the sudden change in his demenour, the others grew curious. Just as they were starting to grow impatient with his actions, Kyle slowly turned his phone to display the guild alert system.
———
Location: Velora Art Museum.
Danger: N/A (Estimated to be Second Order)
Alert: Suspicious activity detected in the region. Possible gate opening reported. Further investigation required. Field Agents will be dispatched shortly.
———
“Velora Art Museum…” Zoey mumbled the title of the location for a brief moment before her gaze changed drastically as she hastily looked at Kyle. “Isn’t that…!”
“Yes.”
Kyle replied, his expression growing tense as he looked at Zoey’s phone.
His voice grew a little strained.
“..The stream might not be fake after all.”
The app he was using was the Guild App. It indicated and displayed any event that was happening within the Guild and needed the Guild’s attention.
Seeing the new alert and the description, Kyle understood the gravity of the situation.
“That’s… but…”
Zoey was at a total loss for words as she turned her head slowly towards her phone. She found herself staring at Seth’s figure as he appeared in the video, calmly detailing information about his game in spite of his current situation.
To make things even worse…
He was doing all of this while wearing sunglasses.
“Keep the video playing. I want to see what happens next.”
Hearing Kyle’s words, Zoey bit her lips before nodding faintly and continuing the video. That was when they saw Seth move all the furniture toward the door.
—What is he doing?
—He’s trying to block the door.
—Isn’t he being chased by those weird guys in white? He’s making too much noise.
In spite of everyone calling the entire stream fake, everyone was still absorbed in the stream. They all found themselves immersed in the situation, and just as everyone was starting to doubt Seth’s actions, they saw him turn the camera away from himself.
However, it wasn’t fully turned. They still managed to catch a glimpse of him and the door.
It was also then that it happened.
BANG!
Terrance flinched as a loud crashing sound echoed.
Zoey and the others were able to remain unaffected, but it wasn’t as though their bodies didn’t tense a little.
But this was only up until the moment they saw the cold gleam of the axe and the eye that came right after.
“He’s here!”
A hoarse voice echoed shortly after, bringing the tension to the upper limit. In that moment, they all felt as though they were there in Seth’s shoes, and that only served to heighten the growing tension.
Would he be able to get out?
This situation… It looked completely hopeless.
And yet, as opposed to them, Seth remained ‘calm’. Besides the obvious increase in the pace of his breath, he didn’t look at all fazed.
This suddenly reminded Zoey of the time when he came out of the trial. He was the same back then, and it started to make her question whether he could be scared at all.
Myles’s brows furrowed slightly, while Terrance drew a deep breath.
The only one that didn’t look confused by Seth’s calmness was Kyle.
‘He’s probably holding his puke back.’
Kyle knew Seth well enough to know this. He really did have a weak stomach when it came to situations such as this.
It was a good thing that he was still able to think in spite of the situation that he found himself in.
But soon…
BANG!
The axe smashed against the door, over and over again. The furniture rattled as Seth tried his best to keep the furniture by the door, preventing them from entering. However, that seemed like a futile struggle from his end as splinters flew all over his face, hands reaching out to grasp it.
Unknowingly, everyone forgot how to breathe in that moment.
—Run! What are you doing!?
—Shit!!
—Fuck, fake or not this is creepy as fuckkk!!
—HFIAHISHDFI
Everyone was on the edge of their seats as the situation turned desperate. BANG! And just as the door split apart again, they saw Seth fiddle with his phone before tossing it away, or at least, that’s what it seemed to be.
The camera angle made it hard for them to see.
BANG!
The door shattered, and Seth fell back, his eyes staring at the raised axe.
…The creepiest part of it all was his lack of reaction as he stared at the axe.
And just as the situation appeared to have turned for the worse…
WHEEEE— WHEEEE!
A sudden blaring sound echoed, and the men in white stopped.
“Crap!”
“…The police?!”
Seth quickly came out of view shortly after, as he started screaming.
“They’re here! Help!!!! Second floor! Get here quickly!”
His shouts were loud, and the people in white grew startled.
“Over here! Second floor! If you get here quickly, you can stop them on the first floor!”
With clear and visible bloodlust, the people in white stared in the direction of where Seth was before turning around and scrambling back.
The sound of the sirens continued for a little while until Seth moved into frame again, his phone in hand.
“So that’s the case…”
It was then that everyone realized what he had done.
—Wait, so the police never came?
—It was all a recording?
—Holy shit!
The number of viewers had now spiraled towards the thirty thousand that Zoey had previously seen before opening the stream. It was also not long after that the sound of the real cops echoed in the distance.
Zoey was just about to end the video when all of a sudden, Seth’s voice echoed once again.
“Ha…”
Was that a chuckle?
His next words made everyone freeze.
“…It was boring.”
The chat went deathly quiet, too. That was also when the video ended.
The surroundings turned silent as everyone stared at the phone in Zoey’s hands. But the silence only lasted until they felt a certain presence coming in the distance.
Slowly raising their heads, they saw the man in question enter the area, his shoulders slumped and eyes baggy.
As if sensing their gazes, he raised his head, and their gazes met.
He was just about to speak when…
“Ha, shit.”
Terrance suddenly took a step back, his expression pale.
“I fucking knew it. I… knew it.”
His lips trembled as he took another step back.
“That guy… he’s just like Kyle. Lunatic freak. Total freak.”