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

Chapter 434: Impossible Gate [5]

The more the Section Chief looked at the interface, the more he was certain.

”It’s a Tower Defense game.”

However, it was a bit cruder than the ones he was used to playing. The space was empty, and it was up to him to fill it.

He also looked to have a specific number of credits.

[1000 Credits]

With the credits, he could buy [Reinforced Doors], [Visual Detection], [X-Ray], and so on. There were quite a lot of options.

But...

’What in the world is this?’

The Section Chief struggled to make sense of what he was seeing.

With his brows furrowing, his mind focused on everything that he was seeing. Eventually, he came up with a hypothesis.

’The main purpose of a Tower Defense game is to defend the ’tower’ from the approaching enemies. However, when I look at the screen, I don’t see any towers. This means that the goal isn’t to defend the tower, but something else.’

Narrowing his eyes, the Section Chief looked at the screen more closely.

It was also there that he noticed it.

”Ah.”

Two green lines, each placed at the top and left of the screen.

When he dragged his cursor over the areas, he immediately understood.

[Zone 6], [Zone 8].

’I see.’

The Section Chief’s eyes flashed upon seeing the labels.

’What I’m defending is not the ’tower’, but I’m trying to prevent it from reaching the other zones.’

His eyes narrowed further.

”This is really odd.”

He had never encountered a gate like this before, and he began to question himself. Just what in the world was he trying to prevent from reaching the other zones?

Pursing his lips, the Section Chief moved the mouse once more.

But as he did—

Khhh!

The walkie-talkie next to him sprang to life.

—Section Chief? Section Chief?

Looking at the walkie-talkie, the Section Chief grabbed it and responded.

”Kyle? Do you have any issues? In fact, does anyone have any problems? I have somewhat figured out what we’re supposed to do.”

—I was contacting you regarding that.

Kyle’s voice echoed slowly from the speaker.

Looking at the walkie-talkie, the Section Chief knew everyone else was listening in on the conversation.

And after a brief pause, Kyle spoke.

—...This is a Tower Defense game, isn’t it?

The Section Chief fell silent for a moment before eventually cracking a laugh.

”That’s what I thought.”

However, his laugh couldn’t last for very long.

Step!

Not even a moment later, he heard a step, and his entire body froze on the spot. Without even thinking, his body moved on its own, dropping the walkie-talkie as he started working on the game.

But—

”.....”

The step stopped right as he did.

The Section Chief’s body tensed. And not even a moment later...

Slide!

The door of his cubicle slid open.

***

Slide—

The cubicle doors slid open, and a group walked in a moment later.

Click! Click!

Besides the soft clicking of the keyboard, there was no other sound as the group looked around, their eyes narrowing as they tried to look for any clue.

”Make sure not to touch anything. Considering what had happened before, I don’t think I need to remind everyone, right?”

Section Chief Rasmus’s voice echoed quietly as he scanned the place, his gaze sweeping the cubicle before falling onto the papers.

[...We’re meant to stop it]

[How can we stop it?]

[I am tired.]

[The boss is really strict.]

[Why am I even here?]

The Section Chief’s eyes narrowed as he looked at what was written on the papers.

’Meant to stop it? Can we stop it? Boss is strict?’

These were all clues.

However many times the Section Chief read it, he couldn’t make sense of the words. The group had been at it for quite some time, gathering all sorts of bits and clues regarding the Gate. Unfortunately, they still struggled to grasp the setting.

”How should we proceed?”

The Section Chief from the BlackRose Guild asked.

”We’ve been going around looking at each cubicle without actually doing anything. We’ve yet to figure out a single thing about the gate besides these weird encrypted messages. Don’t you think we should follow along with what those from the Severed Stars Guild did?”

An element of frustration had built up amongst the group.

This purely stemmed from their inability to find anything. For a moment, the steps that appeared to be approaching stopped, but it didn’t take long for them to resume. Everyone was sweating bullets, feeling the presence drawing closer and closer.

”.....”

Philip Rasmus remained silent.

He didn’t answer and just stared at the papers in front of him.

His mind was scrambling for answers.

Step. Step.

But with each second that passed, the steps drew nearer.

An invisible pressure they hadn’t felt before began to spread through the surroundings, turning the air cold.

”H-haa.”

”Haa...”

Everyone’s breathing grew rougher.

Eyes locked with each other.

Step.

Another step.

”S-section Chief Rasmus.”

A quiet voice called out.

Flip! Flip!

”S... Section Chief.”

Flip!

”Section Chief!!”

Coming to a stop, the Section Chief looked back.

He could feel it then.

Step—

The slow and dragged-out step coming from a distance.

Almost in unison, all heads turned.

And soon, every eye locked onto the figure walking past the rows of cubicles.

A long, sharply dressed leg in a crisp black suit emerged first. Almost instantly, the air froze as the carpet cushioned its step.

Then came the rest of it: a thin frame, long arms hanging loosely at its sides, the fabric of its suit fitting it almost too perfectly, as if stitched directly onto its skin.

But it was its face, its... appearance, that made their breath catch all at once.

The moment they saw it, every trace of air seemed to vanish from the room.

”...Ah.”

Nobody knew who it was, but a soft yelp escaped from someone’s lips as the figure slowly turned its head in their direction.

The instant it did, everything stopped.

The air.

The movement.

Even the surrounding clicks.

The entire room fell into a perfect, suffocating stillness.

But soon, that silence was shattered.

RIIIIP!

With a raw ripping sound, the figure’s lips pulled into a wide smile as it stared at them.

”...So we have slackers.”

Its voice rolled through the air, making their skin crawl. The unsettling timbre vibrated in their ribs, forcing shallow, rapid breaths from every person present.

R... run!

They needed to... run!

Their minds screamed at them, but their bodies refused to listen.

Not even Philip could react.

His entire body was locked in place, completely unresponsive as a soft tune began to play in the air.

’W-what is going on?!’

’What is happening!!’

Step!

”...The boss doesn’t like it when we have slackers.”

With another step, the figure’s voice rippled through the room again, deeper and more distorted than before.

Its smile stretched further, widening unnaturally with every passing second. Then, with a sudden, wet tear, its eyelids split open, revealing not eyes, but a pair of dark, empty holes that swallowed the light around them.

Eventually, it came to a stop before them, its hand leaning against the top of one of the cubicles as it looked down at them.

”Tell me...”

Its voice whispered once more.

”...How should I deal with you?”

Nobody moved.

Nobody dared to move.

All eyes were fixed on the figure before them, their body trembling at the sheer pressure coming from it.

S... S... rank.

This was, without a doubt, an S-rank anomaly!

B-but..

If this was S-rank... and there was still a boss, then how s-trong was this ’boss’?

Impossible!

Everyone screamed the same thoughts at once.

However, it was during such thoughts that Philip made his move. His nodes began to churn, and for a moment, his mind started to recover.

He was just about to move when—

Flick!

He felt something flick behind him.

A soft light.

Then—

”Hehehehehehe!”

He heard the loud sound of laughter. One that was soon followed by a pair of cold hands that grasped him from behind.

”....!!”

”HeHeHeHeHeHeHe!”

The sound grew more twisted, causing everyone to tremble.

But before any of them could even think to react—

Slide! Slide—

A chorus of sliding doors echoed from every direction.

When they snapped their heads around, their eyes went wide.

Figures were stepping out from each cubicle, one after another, dozens of them.

”T-that’s...! T-that’s...!”

”....!”

The moment they recognized the silhouettes, their expressions drained of all color.

”V–VILE-0267!”

”V... VILE-099!”

”VILE-829!”

In the span of a heartbeat, countless anomalies appeared, each recognized by them as they turned their attention towards the group. Their presence alone made the air feel suffocating.

And from the front, the ’supervisor’ watched it all unfold.

His smile stretched, farther and wider, pulling at the sides of his face until it reached his temples.

”...Looks like even your colleagues aren’t happy you’ve been slacking.”

With a low, delighted laugh, the supervisor casually turned his gaze away from them, as if the horrors surrounding them were nothing more than an office inconvenience.

”Don’t let me catch you again.”

He started walking away a moment later.

As he did, the faces of everyone changed to the point of despair.

From start to finish...

They couldn’t do a single thing.

”H-haaa... H-haaa...!”

Through the trembling gaps between his fingers, still pressed against his face, Section Chief Rasmus watched the figure fade into the maze of cubicles. His chest shook violently, each breath shallow and uneven.

”H-haa.”

This...

From the very beginning, he’d allowed himself to believe they might clear this gate.

He’d imagined earning the achievement, rising to the top, proving his worth.

But now...

But now...

A single, brutal truth crashed down on him.

This Gate—

It couldn’t be cleared.

It was an impossible Gate!