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

Chapter 543  The strangeness of Point Z [2]

The light from the torch wobbled slightly as I positioned it better, the beam slicing cleanly through the fog and settling on the outline of a trapdoor set into the cracked concrete floor. Residual rust bled from the hinges and pooled along the edges, staining the surrounding concrete in dark, dried streaks.

I crouched slightly, angling the beam closer to find the lever to open it. ʼThere should be some sort of mechanism to open the trapdoor. Although I donʼt know why they made it so difficult to enter the research facility, weʼre talking about something that was made a long time ago.ʼ ”Ah, here.” I eventually found the metal lever and reached for it.

The surface felt brittle beneath my grip, flakes of rust snapping free and crumbling against my skin as I tightened my hold and forced it open. It resisted at first, a loud groan echoing throughout before finally moving.

A sharp, metallic snap cracked through the air as the internal locking pins sheared off, the sound ricocheting through the air. It was followed by a heavy, rhythmic clack-clack-clack that caused the trapdoor to shake. ”Ukh—!” With a final tug, the trapdoor finally started to lift as a heavy and deep groan reverberated through the surroundings.

CLANK! As the heavy iron slab tilted upward, it swung back until it hit the concrete with a dull, echoing thud, causing the ground to shake. ”...T...haa.. hat was heavier than I thought.” I wiped my palms against my pants and peered into the void, where a series of metal rungs emerged from the darkness, bolted to the wall of the narrow shaft like a makeshift ladder. Pointing my torch down, I tried to see what was beneath, but the darkness was all I managed to see. Pressing my foot down, I quietly released the Realmwalker to check the situation for me. At the same time, I turned towards the others. But as I did, I noticed the strange expression on Nielʼs face. ”Whatʼs wrong?” His gaze appeared fixed on the trapdoor. ”Iʼm not sure,” Niel replied after a brief stretch of silence, his brows knitting together as he stepped closer to the trapdoor and crouched to examine it more carefully. He brushed his fingers along the edges, studying the worn metal and the flakes of rust clinging to the hinges. After a second, he straightened, his gaze lifting to meet mine. ”It just feels like it was a little too easy to open. For something this old and rusted, I wouldʼve expected it to put up more of a fight.”

His words made me pause. ʼRight, now that I think about it, heʼs not exactly wrong. While it wasnʼt easy, it was still not that difficult.ʼ ”Do you think...” ”I am not sure.” Niel replied after pulling his gaze away from the trapdoor. Patting his hands clean, he looked down the dark hole. ”You never know with this type of stuff. The mist could always be a reason for something like this. I am not sure. What do you think we should do, Squad Leader?” ”.....” Looking down the hole, I eventually crouched down and entered. ʼAccording to the Realmwalker, thereʼs nothing wrong. I think it should be fine for us to go down.ʼ Reaching for the metal rungs, I started to move down. ”Letʼs go.” I climbed down slowly, gripping the cold metal and lowering myself one rung at a time. Each step sent a dull, metallic thump echoing through the narrow shaft, the vibration traveling up my arms before the sound was swallowed by the heavy, suffocating air.

A second later, more thumps followed from right above me. The darkness seemed to press in from every side as I continued my descent, the faint circle of light above growing smaller with each rung. The air felt cooler the lower I went, to some extent thicker, continuing all the way down as I eventually reached the bottom. Stepping off the ladder carefully, the darkness somehow feeling even denser than before. I pulled out the torch and aimed it straight ahead, the beam cutting through the darkness to reveal a long, narrow corridor that stretched as far as my eyes could follow.

The light trembled slightly in my hand, tracing the tight passageway and the low ceiling above us. The air felt damp and heavy in my lungs, and the concrete walls on either side were slick with moisture, glistening under the beam as if theyʼd been coated in oil.

I stepped forward, and a cold splash echoed off the low ceiling.

ʼWhy is it wet?ʼ A thin layer of water covered the floor, hiding the cracked tiles beneath. With every step, the water rippled outward in gray circles. I eventually stopped, looking behind me as several figures jumped down. ”This place...” ”Ukh. What sort of working conditions are these?” Nora and Mia looked around, their eyes wandering.

”...Why is there water here? Accumulation from the rain? Or is a pipe broken?” Niel trailed after them, blinking a few times before letting out a quiet sigh. He slipped off his glasses and wiped the lenses on the edge of his shirt, squinting slightly as he tried to make sense of the dim space without them.

I waited for him to put his glasses back on before shifting my attention back towards the dark tunnel and proceeding forward.

Nobody made a sound, everyone following me in silence as the soft sound of our steps splashing beneath bounced off the narrow walls of the tunnel ahead of us. ʼI shouldnʼt be surprised by how things are,ʼ I told myself, my gaze drifting over the corroded walls and exposed wiring that appeared on the sides of the walls as we headed deeper. ʼThis is an old research facility, of course, itʼs going to look like this.ʼ What unsettled me more was the thought that this was only the first floor. There were supposed to be several more levels beneath us, descending even deeper underground. As far as I knew, the place had been built to study some kind of electrical project.

ʼSo why does it feel like more than that?ʼ

The layout, the trapdoor above, the heavy locks... It felt a little bit more complex than it shouldʼve been. But then again, maybe I was just overreacting. Maybe the dark and the silence were getting to me, turning ordinary and standard things into something far more ominous than they really were.

ʼThe Realmwalker stopped? It seems to have found a door?ʼ My steps slowed for half a beat. Eventually, they resumed as I commanded the Realmwalker to open the door and go inside.

In order to make sure that everything flowed smoothly and minimized the risks, I had the Realmwalker scout ahead and act as a meat-ehm, as a safety precaution in case something did happen. ʼ...Looks like itʼs all good.ʼ The Realmwalker was efficient. In just a few breaths, it did what I had asked it to do and opened the door, entering and making sure there were no problems. We continued down the corridor until we finally reached the door at the end. I raised the flashlight and let the beam crawl over its surface, taking in every detail. Just like the trapdoor above, it was badly rusted, the metal eaten away in patches, and the hinges on its side worn thin with age. The handle looked brittle, as if it might snap under too much force.

I started to reach toward the hinges, intending to open it quickly, but a hand shot out and Niel stopped me before I could touch it.

”Wait.” ”Huh?” I paused and turned toward him, a question already forming on my lips.

Instead of answering, Niel stepped past me and angled his own flashlight downward. The beam slid away from the door and settled on the floor just in front of it, illuminating a series of rusted flakes. ...Oh. ”The door has been opened recently.” His words bounced off the surroundings, causing Nora and Miaʼs expressions to tense up slightly as they moved forward, scanning the flakes with utmost seriousness. ”Youʼre right.” ”Nnn?!” I also pretended to do so, but I was internally beating myself up. ʼYeah, this is on me.ʼ

This was no doubt the Realmwalkerʼs doing. I didnʼt wait for the three of them to continue looking, reaching for the door, and opening it. ”Wait!” ”Donʼt worry, thereʼs nothing inside.” ”How do you know that? If you look—” ”I just know.” I answered quietly, stepping into the room as the air shifted around me, growing heavier, more humid. The door quietly groaned as I let go of it. I lifted the flashlight and swept the beam across the space, taking it all in piece by piece.

It was fairly large.

A long table dominated the right side of the room, its surface cluttered with scattered papers and corroded instruments. Metallic shelves lined the walls, packed with books and binders, some knocked over, others sagging in poor condition.

Large, bulky computers sat on and around the tables, their thick monitors coated in dust, cables snaking across the floor. Several chairs lay overturned, as if the room had been abandoned in a hurry.

”Thereʼs no doubt about it. Someone has been here. And it hasnʼt been long since they were here.” Niel commented, his expression tense as he looked at the state of the room. I looked at the state of the room and pursed my lips. ”Maybe, or the room was just like this, and people ran away due to the mist.” Niel looked at me, opening his mouth to say something, but eventually stopped himself. He still clung to his idea. But it wasnʼt like he was wrong. The idea of someone else coming here beforehand was possible. Perhaps it was one of the teams that we were supposed to rescue, or maybe those from the Evening Sun Guild. I didnʼt dismiss his idea as I made my way toward the desk, boots scraping softly against the damp floor. The scattered documents were brittle beneath my fingers as I gathered them into a neater pile. I pulled out my phone and began scanning each page, angling the screen to catch whatever faded text still clung to the paper.

”Itʼll take a while for the app to properly scan everything and make out the information, but itʼs not a bad idea to scan everything. You all should start doing this too.” glanced back toward the others, about to say something, then froze. Slowly, I raised the torch and flashed the beam back across the room, the light cutting through the thick air and pausing on two figures. Two? ”Whereʼs Mia? Where—” The words died in my throat as a low, distant groan rolled through the corridor outside, like metal bending under intense pressure. It reverberated through the walls and into the floor beneath our feet.

”Shit!” I exchanged a quick, alarmed glance with Nora and Niel, and without another word, we bolted out of the room toward the source of the noise. Our footsteps splashed frantically against the damp floor as the echoes chased us down the corridor.

We rounded the corner and finally spotted Mia. She stood in front of another door farther down the hall, her hand clamped tightly around the handle. The metal groaned in protest as she struggled with it, having forced it only halfway open.

”What are you doing?” I approached Mia, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her back as her shoulders jolted and her gaze fell on me. ”Why did you go by yourself? And why did you open this door?”