Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! Chapter 771: Return [4]

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

Seth returns from the Gate to find himself swarmed by reporters. He deflects their intrusive questions by recounting his "ordeal" of being stuck, hinting at a psychological struggle. As Seth leaves with Kyle and Zoey, the two women seem to be flirting with him, much to his confusion.

Breaking — [Seth Emerges as Valmere Gate Disappears. Hoarding Department Members Recovered Unconscious. What exactly happened?]

Footage from Valmere Island spread before the Guild could release a detailed explanation.

The same recording appeared across several news outlets, showing Seth standing in front of the school while medical personnel attended to the people behind him.

Some articles called it another achievement for one of the Guild’s most controversial members. Others were considerably less generous.

Breaking — [A Successful Rescue, or Another Unexplained Incident? Questions Remain over Seth’s Involvement]

Breaking — [What Happened to the VILE-1048 Investigation?]

The comments beneath them had already turned into arguments.

⎯I knew he wasn’t a fraud! Look at the Hoarding Department. They needed him to bring them out.

⎯Lol, he’s still a fraud. Shouldn’t he be searching for VILE-1048?

⎯He gave up on that. That’s his level.

⎯So clearing a Gate doesn’t count now?

⎯You saw him standing outside. Where’s the footage of him clearing it?

⎯Can someone explain why he spent the whole interview talking about doors?

The last comment had more replies than several of the arguments above it.

I put down my phone and shook my head.

"...There’s complexities to doors that people just can’t seem to grasp."

From the exterior finish to the internal mechanism.

"Doors..."

I wistfully looked up.

"Such enigmatic technology."

That aside, the comments were also rather funny.

Apparently, leaving a Gate alive wasn’t enough. I also needed to provide a recording, explain every decision I made, and somehow clear another anomaly while doing it before they could deem it as enough.

Thankfully, I wasn’t particularly interested in satisfying people who probably wouldn’t believe me regardless.

I pushed the phone aside and leaned back against the couch in the waiting area. There were more important things to worry about, starting with the footsteps approaching much faster than necessary.

"Squad Leader!"

I turned just as Mia reached me, barely managing to sit forward before she grabbed my sleeves.

"You’re really here..."

Her eyes were already red, and the way she kept looking over my face made me wonder if I had just come back alive after dying right before her eyes.

"...Were you expecting someone else?"

"I thought you were gone!"

Mia’s grip tightened as tears started slipping down her cheeks. Behind her, Joanna and the others slowed near the couch, their expressions easing when they saw me properly.

I looked between them before awkwardly patting Mia’s shoulder.

"I’m here. You can stop checking whether my arms are attached."

"Nobody would tell us anything. You weren’t answering, and then we heard there was a Gate, and people were being carried out—"

"Yes, but I’m clearly not being carried anywhere."

"You aren’t, but the others that came into the Gate are."

Joanna muttered.

I glanced towards her, and waved dismissively.

"...Indeed."

"You had something to do with that, didn’t you."

"No.....?"

Joanna gave me a meaningful look, alongside the others.

That seemed unfair.

Accused like this out of nowhere without any proof.

Yes, I did do it.

But, like...

"No......?"

Mia eventually released my sleeves and moved back, wiping her face while the others shook their head. They all looked tired, their bags still hanging from their shoulders as though they’d come straight here.

No, they probably did.

"When did you get back?"

"Just now."

Joanna replied, massaging her forehead.

"They kept us in Malovia."

"Even after you lost contact with me?"

"Considering the fact that we couldn’t just tell them what was happening, we had no choice but to to remain there."

Several of the others nodded, their expressions becoming less pleasant.

"And then we saw you on the news."

Mia added, still sniffing.

"Arguing about a door."

"I wasn’t arguing. I was explaining what happened."

"That didn’t explain anything!"

I considered defending myself before deciding that probably wouldn’t help. Mia was still holding a handful of tissues, tossing each one on the floor.

"...Well, you’re all here now."

Joanna lowered her bag beside the couch, but instead of sitting, she took out a folder.

"There’s something else. We found the person from Silver Lantern."

My attention immediately moved towards her.

’Right, I was supposed to do that...’

I secretly wiped my forehead. Thank god for my team.

"You found him?"

"We confirmed his identity and traced where he’d been staying. Everything we managed to collect is in here."

She handed me the folder, although her expression didn’t look nearly as pleased as it should have.

"What’s wrong?"

Joanna hesitated before answering.

"He’s alive, but he’s in a coma."

My fingers stopped against the cover.

"...He was already like that when you found him?"

"Yes. We haven’t been able to confirm exactly when it started, but we found him in that state when we went looking."

I opened the folder and went through the first few pages. There was an address, a photograph, and several records attached behind it. Joanna had marked the information they’d verified separately from the things they still needed to check.

A coma.

My thoughts drifted towards VILE-1048, although I stopped myself and shook my head.

’No, I am jumping to conclusions.’

"Any changes in his condition?"

"Not while we were there. We left instructions to contact us if anything happened."

I nodded slowly and closed the folder. It wasn’t the result I’d hoped for, but finding him was better than having no idea where to look.

"Alright. You’ve done well."

Joanna’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

"I’ll go through this properly. For now, put your bags down and get some rest. You all look like you’ve been the ones stuck somewhere."

Mia gave me a particularly unpleasant look.

"...What? We actually were stuck."

"Ah..."

I nodded, wistfully looking up.

"Stuck... I was once stuck."

"...."

"....He’s lost it hasn’t he?"

"Yes, it wasn’t this bad before."

"It’s really bad, isn’t it?"

"...Should I quit?"

***

At the same time, Severed Stars Medical Ward.

Secretary Kim was waiting outside the ward when Section Chief Johansberg arrived.

The Section Chief took the folder offered to him but didn’t open it immediately, his bulky frame remaining still as his attention settled on the closed door behind the Secretary.

"Have they said anything?"

"Nothing useful yet. Most of the team is still unconscious."

"And their injuries?"

"Nothing serious enough to explain their condition. The doctors have checked them more than once."

Johansberg’s brows lowered as he opened the folder. He went through the first page, then returned to the beginning as though he had missed something.

"All six?"

"Yes. Their nodes are responding too."

"Then why haven’t they woken up?"

"That’s what they’re trying to establish."

The Section Chief looked through the remaining pages without speaking. Kim waited beside him, listening to the movement of staff farther down the corridor.

"Seth was able to walk out..."

Johansberg eventually said.

"He was."

"And Claude’s entire team needed to be carried out."

Kim didn’t answer. There wasn’t much he could add that wouldn’t make the silence around them more uncomfortable.

Clank!

The door opened before Johansberg could continue, and a doctor stepped out, pulling it nearly closed behind him.

"Claude is awake."

"...Good timing."

Johansberg immediately moved towards the room, but the doctor remained in his path.

"He’s very distressed. Keep your voices down, and don’t try questioning him about what happened yet."

"I only need to speak with him."

"Then please do so carefully."

Kim followed the Section Chief inside.

Claude was sitting against the raised back of the bed, both hands pressed around his head. His fingers were pressed against his hair, and his shoulders were drawn so tightly upwards that the hospital gown had bunched around his neck.

Johansberg paused at the sight, his voice softening a little.

"Claude."

Claude flinched at the sound of the voice.

His eyes shifted towards them without properly settling on either face. Then his attention caught on the door behind Kim, and he pulled his knees closer beneath the sheet.

"Claude, it’s me."

Johansberg took another step.

Claude’s hands tightened around his head as he shook it, his breathing becoming strained enough that the doctor moved forward. He wasn’t looking at Johansberg anymore, but at the space just beyond his shoulder.

"No, no..."

His voice barely carried beyond the bed.

"Please n-o..."

"Claude."

Johansberg moved closer to the bedside and reached out, his hand briefly brushing against Claude’s shoulder.

Claude immediately pulled away.

His back struck the raised bed as he tried to put more distance between them, forcing Johansberg to withdraw his hand.

"Easy. Nobody’s going to hurt you."

Claude continued shaking his head.

"You’re safe now. You’re out of the Gate. I just want to understand what happened inside of the Gate, and Seth’s involvement in it."

Claude froze.

For the first time since they entered, his eyes properly focused on Johansberg.