Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! Chapter 719: VILE - 1048 [3]

~5 minute read · 1,222 words

Previously on Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!...

Geneva explains the mysterious VILE - 1048, an anomaly that causes victims to fall into an unbreakable sleep with an unsettling smile. Despite extensive investigation by the Bureau, no clues about its nature or origin have been found, and its victims show no common pattern. Geneva shares her personal connection to the anomaly through her brother, Theo, who exhibits the same symptoms, and reveals the chilling possibility that the victims may still be conscious, dreaming.

"Squad Leader... Are you sure about this?"

After hearing everything Geneva had to say, we all left the room. The first thing I heard as we stepped outside was Mia’s questioning voice. I sat down on one of the metal benches outside the room, still trying to process everything Geneva had told us.

"Did you hear the stuff that she said? This isn’t something that we can just tackle because we want to? Where would we even start? It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack... No."

Mia stopped herself.

"...It’s not even that. I think finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than this."

I know.

I fucking know.

I really wanted to hold my head in my hands at that moment, but I had to maintain some semblance of composure.

’To be honest, I feel like this isn’t an accident.’

This entire case and scenario...

No. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that was the case. In the first place, the doppelganger didn’t really do much with Geneva back in Malovia. It felt oddly strange that it had told her to cooperate with him.

It never needed her help from the start. And even if it did, wasn’t it weird that it knew all about her circumstances from the start?

’Then again, the "system," or whatever this thing is... it feels almost omnipotent to me. I’ve always assumed it knew things because it knew everything. But what if it had orchestrated this entire situation from the beginning? What if it wanted me to find VILE-1048 all along?’

Yes, that would make sense...

The system had been unusually quiet ever since what happened in Malovia. It probably realized that it couldn’t control me the way it wanted, so it decided to work through other means instead.

I pursed my lips tightly.

’Ah, fuck.’

To make matters even worse, it wasn’t like I could simply back out like before.

"Squad Leader?"

"Right."

I lifted my head and looked back at the others. They were all staring at me.

I rubbed the back of my head.

"Even if we wanted to quit, it’s not like we have much of a choice. The entire world already knows what we’ve set out to do. Our people in the Guild have made sure we can’t really back out of this one."

"What? You mean the news about us doing this?"

Ariel was the one to speak up this time as she gave me a strange look.

"Who cares about that? Just quit. The worst that can happen is that you take a hit to your reputation. This quest is obviously just going to be a waste of time. We can easily recover our lost reputation if we handle other cases. Plus, can’t you just say it was a misunderstanding?"

"...I can’t do that."

I shook my head.

"I personally handed in the request form. That got leaked too."

"Can’t you just say that it was a fake?"

I smiled at Ariel.

"We’re not dealing with simple nobodies. These people are coming after us because we stand in the way of them becoming the next Guild Master. It won’t just be the Section Chief from the Hoarding Department. The other departments will probably find ways to make sure none of our excuses hold up."

All of a sudden, I started to miss the Guild Master. I had my apprehensions about him, but it only now became clear to me just how much better life was when he was present.

"In that case, let’s just say we changed our minds. We can take the reputational hit."

Niel suddenly said, lifting his glasses.

"It’ll hurt our reputation, but we hardly started. The longer we drag this out, the more it’ll hurt us. And as the others said, we can always make up for it later."

I wish that were the case.

I really did.

But there was an issue.

I was in no position to do something like that. At the moment, I couldn’t show any semblance of weakness. My every movement and action was being closely monitored by ’them’. The moment I showed even a moment of weakness was also the moment that I’d be attacked by them immediately.

I was in a position where I couldn’t reject this proposal at all.

As if... someone had orchestrated this entire thing from the start.

But the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. How could anyone have orchestrated this? Especially when even I had no idea what I was going to do next.

I stood up from my seat and sighed.

"Well, it’s not like we have much of a choice, if I’m being honest. We could do what you guys suggested, but we might as well give it a shot."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Squad Leader..."

Joanna and Ariel were the first to protest, but I raised my hand to stop them.

"The more you tell me not to do something, the more I want to do it. Since things have already turned out this way, then we might as well just go for it. Who knows...? We might be able to find something."

I forced a smile, but just as I did, something warped across my vision, followed by the familiar sound of a notification ringing inside my head.

Ding!

[Quest Activated]

Difficulty: ???

Reward: 8, 500,000 SP + <?> Rank Anomalie — VILE - 1048

Objective: Find the anomaly.

Location: N/A

Failure: N/A

Description: One hundred and ninety-three ■■■■■■■■ are currently waiting for their turn. Locate the entity designated VILE - 1048.

Warning: No data regarding this entity exists.

Time Limit: N/A

[Will you accept the quest?]

▶ [Yes] ▷ [No]

[If you accept this quest, a clue will be provided.]

The sight of the quest window made me stop dead in my tracks as I silently read through each section. My eyes immediately fell on the blurred-out section, but after reading the last part, I almost burst out laughing.

I mean, my thoughts were already made up.

There was no way for me to reject the quest.

And yet—

Right as my hand hovered over the option below, I stopped. For just a brief moment, my hand hovered over the [No] option before I accepted the quest.

Ding!

[You’ve made the rich choice.]

Skrr—

A static sound suddenly echoed across my ears.

It was a familiar static sound that brought me back to the time I was in the hearing.

My heart skipped a beat.

But just as it did, a new notification appeared before me.

It was blurred, but I could still make out the words.

[You’ve... already...]

Skrr—

What’s going on?

I almost spoke aloud as the static sound grew stronger, and the notifications grew blurrier.