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

Chapter 511  Ranking Announcement [5]

It was as if all the noise had been stripped away from the surroundings.

With the silence, thousands of eyes shifted in my direction. My skin crawled. I felt every hair on my body raise as I struggled to comprehend the situation. And yet—

My body moved on its own. Standing up as though it was only natural, I began to walk towards the stage. The gazes felt piercing, but strangely, they didnʼt seem to affect me as much as Iʼd expected them to. Instead, the more time passed, the more the gazes felt ʼrightʼ. It was odd. This strange sense of calmness... Even when facing the Guild Master a while back, I had felt this strange sensation. For what reason am I acting like this? For what reason was I able to remain so calm under such extreme circumstances? It wasnʼt like I didnʼt feel fear anymore. I still felt it. Just not as much as before. But even under such fear, my body and expression remained calm. It was a strange feeling that I couldnʼt quite explain. ”Take this. Congratulations. From this moment forward, youʼll be a Paragon.” Arriving by the MC, he handed me a sleek metal card. Taking it, I got a good look at its simplistic design. The card was entirely black, with a photo of me on the right. Written in large, light-gray numbers, big enough to span the entire card, were the digits 98.

That was all the card had. However, I knew that it wasnʼt that simple. The card wasnʼt just an ID; it had extra features I could use.

ʼI think Iʼm supposed to download an app or something?ʼ I wasnʼt too sure. Nevertheless, I knew that Kyle and the others most likely knew. I could just ask them. ”Thank you.” Putting the card away, I walked toward the main area and stood next to the 99th- and 100th-ranked. Their expressions werenʼt quite good. It looked like they had both eaten shit. They werenʼt the only ones. I could see the same sort of expression on many of the people in the venue. If not for the fact that the rankings were fixed, I wouldnʼt have been surprised if they had all jumped out of their seats and started shouting things like, ”This is bullshit! This is unfair…! What went through your mind to do something like this?”

Ah, yes, thereʼs also them... I looked at the cameras that were pointed at me. Thinking about the online discourse at the moment, and the articles that would inevitably be churned out, I knew the next few days were going to be very annoying.

Still, I couldnʼt change the situation. Since things had already progressed to this point, the only thing I could do was accept the result and make the most of the benefits assigned to me as a ”Paragon.”

Names continued to be called after that, but the mood had already been ruined. Standing under the bright lights, I felt increasingly uncomfortable, not just from the eyes of the audience, but from the people around me as well

They were clearly the most annoyed ones. ”Our next honoree is a name well known to us all. A longstanding presence within the rankings, her most recent exploits during the Malovia incident have propelled her several places higher this year. Representing the Royal Chamber Guild, and entering the 54th spot, please welcome, Geneva!”

Finally, the applause grew more genuine as a certain woman stood up. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back as she wore a suit that, despite looking rather loose with her tie not done properly and top buttons unbuttoned, fit her well as she walked toward the stage and received her card.

After which, she proceeded to stand with us. Just like the others, the moment she arrived, she also stared at me. Her gaze in particular felt rather bothersome to me as she fiddled with the card in her hand. Personally, I had never interacted with her. However, the same couldnʼt be said for the doppelganger. As the ”boss” of the Gate, I had been aware of everything happening inside. I knew that the doppelganger and she had teamed up for a brief moment. While I didnʼt know the exact words exchanged, I knew the doppelganger had given her a hard time.

I could practically feel her resentment coming from miles away. ʼAh, shit.ʼ ”That concludes this batch. Please join me in giving all our honorees a well-deserved round of applause. We kindly ask those on stage to exit through the rear and return to their seats.”

The round of applause did come. It wasnʼt very enthusiastic, but it came. Shortly after, we filed out through the rear, slipping past the heavy curtains beyond the stage. Staff were waiting on the other side, quietly guiding us along the proper route back into the venue.

I followed in silence, trying to not bump into anyone, afraid of giving them an excuse to start something with me, but it looked like I didnʼt even need to do that as I soon felt a hand press against my shoulders. I came to a direct stop while holding onto my breath. ”You...” A rough voice followed as several others followed. Drake Ferguson? This was the man who had ranked right after me. Seeing his expression, I knew that he didnʼt mean well. And sure enough—

”Frankly, itʼs difficult not to find this… embarrassing. People here have worked relentlessly, pushed themselves to the brink, to earn their place in the rankings. And yet someone like you, barely within the First Order, has managed to reach a position many of us nearly died countless times to achieve. All because of some luck. You may fool the world, but you canʼt fool me.” The few around us stopped, turning their attention towards me. I could tell from their expression that none of them appeared to be interested in stopping whatever was happening. If anything, it looked like they were interested in seeing how Iʼd reply. ”I could have accepted it if youʼd merely made the rankings. Absurd as that already is, I would have let it pass. But for you to climb this far? Itʼs difficult to call that anything but absurd.”

His grip over my shoulder tightened. Surprisingly, my expression continued to remain unchanged. Not because it didnʼt hurt, or not because I wasnʼt scared, but because my attention was elsewhere. It was towards the numerous red dots on his body. My hand twitched. For a moment, I almost felt my hand grasp something. Almost like a knife. But the sensation only lasted half a second. I quickly realized I wasnʼt holding anything.

But I couldʼve sworn... ”I have a suggestion for you.” Drakeʼs voice pulled me out of my thoughts. Looking straight into his deep brown eyes, I watched as his bushy brows narrowed. ”If you have any sense of shame, return your card. Other people deserve the ranking over you, and—” ”Stop.” A soft voice suddenly cut through. All heads once again turned, falling on a certain woman.

Drakeʼs expression changed. ”Geneva? Thatʼs... I am.” ”Shut up.” Reaching into her pocket, she took out a pack of gum and shoved a few pieces into her mouth. Chewing, she looked around and shooed them away with a wave of her hand.

”What is this crap? All of you are old enough to start your own families, and some of you already have children. Iʼd expect better maturity from the lot of you. Go on, stop holding the line back. Canʼt you see youʼre troubling the staff?”

”But...” ”Fucking, did you not hear me?” Chewing even harder, Geneva glared in Drakeʼs direction. He stared back at her, unwilling to back down, but eventually shook his head, realizing it wasnʼt worth it. In the end, he childishly bumped my shoulder and walked away. Of course, he didnʼt forget to glare at me the entire time. I didnʼt bother looking at him and instead looked at Geneva. Just as I was about to thank her, she walked past me and muttered, ”I didnʼt do it for you. I did it for him.” A loud chewing followed. ”...I know what I saw.” She proceeded to leave right after that. Blinking slowly, I lowered my head before looking back at the staff. ”Where am I supposed to go exactly?”