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

Chapter 749: Analysis [2]

“…Are you sure there’s no key around?”

“Yes, I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find anything at all.”

Kyle shut the drawer and stared at it for a moment before opening it again.

There was no reason to. He’d already gone through everything inside twice, shifting through loose papers, spare parts, and whatever other useless things Seth had decided were worth keeping around.

He just… didn’t know where else to look.

“…Nothing.”

Across the room, Zoey was having about as much luck with the cabinet. Several folders and boxes had already been scattered across the floor as she searched through the last shelf.

“Did you check underneath the desk?”

“Three times.”

“What about behind the drawers?”

Kyle slowly looked towards her.

“Zoey.”

“What? I’m just asking.”

“And I’m telling you it’s not here.”

She pressed her lips together but didn’t argue.

They’d been searching for the entire night, and there weren’t many places left. If the key to VILE-303 had been somewhere inside Seth’s room, one of them would’ve found it already.

Kyle leaned against the desk and rubbed his forehead.

More troubling than the missing key was the absence of his connection with Seth. In a way, the fact that he was still talking with Zoey was a miracle.

‘Something definetly happened to Seth’s nodes. I don’t know why else I can’t feel his presence at all.’

Normally, Seth’s presence lingered somewhere at the back of his mind. It wasn’t enough for Kyle to know where he was or what he was doing, but it had always been there. It was a connection he never wanted, but was forced upon.

He had grown used it by now, but…

‘I can’t feel anything at all.’

No matter how much Kyle concentrated, he couldn’t feel him.

And yet, strangely enough, he could still tell he was alive.

Kyle was certain of that much.

He wouldn’t be here if Seth died. But that also made him internally worried.

‘I can probably disappear at any given second.’

If the situation didn’t improve, then this was a very real possibility.

“Anything?”

Kyle looked up to find Zoey staring at him.

“No.”

She let out a short breath and glanced towards the terminal on the desk, where the Guild file for VILE-303 remained open.

There wasn’t much useful information.

Access required a specific key.

Zoey crossed her arms.

“Could he have left it somewhere else?”

Kyle thought for a moment.

Seth rarely had any reason to carry the key around, especially while away on a mission.

Then he thought of something.

“…His place.”

Zoey looked towards him.

“You think it’s at his house?”

“To be honest, unlikely. He’s not the type to leave something so important alone. He probably has it with him, or has hidden it somewhere.”

That was the one thing they knew for certain.

Seth had left for Malovia with the others days ago. As far as the Guild was concerned, he was still there carrying out the assigned mission.

The fact that he was somehow trapped inside VILE-303 made absolutely no sense.

Zoey looked towards the door.

“Then we should go check.”

Kyle didn’t immediately answer.

Their movements were already drawing attention. Over the last day they’d checked the archives, asked about containment access, and gone through several storage rooms looking for the key.

At first, nobody had cared.

Now people were starting to wonder what in the world they were doing.

“We need to be careful,” Kyle said quietly. “If someone realizes what we’re looking for, they’ll ask why.”

“And what are we supposed to do instead?”

“I don’t know.”

That was the problem.

They couldn’t exactly tell the Guild that Seth, who was officially on a mission in Malovia, was somehow trapped inside his own office. At worst, the entire situation would immediately become an official containment incident.

That’d be pretty bad considering their current situation in the Guild.

Zoey looked at him for a moment before asking, “You’re still sure he’s okay?”

Kyle paused.

“…Yeah.”

“How?”

“I just am.”

“That’s not a really reassuring answer, is it?”

“I know.”

Zoey narrowed her eyes, but before she could press him any further, footsteps approached from outside the room.

Both of them turned towards the door.

A knock followed shortly afterward.

To Tok—!

Kyle glanced at the open drawers and scattered folders.

“…Great.”

The door opened before either of them had enough time to clean anything.

The Section Chief stood outside.

His eyes moved between Kyle and Zoey before taking in the state of the room.

“What are you two doing?”

Zoey answered first.

“Looking for something.”

“I can see that.”

His gaze shifted towards the terminal.

“We’re looking for the key.”

Kyle eventually said.

The Section Chief looked back at him.

“What key?”

Kyle was still thinking of an answer when the man stepped further inside.

“Actually, forget that for a moment. Have either of you heard from Seth?”

Kyle’s expression remained still. The same went for Zoey, as the both tried their best not to show anything.

“…No.”

“Neither have I.”

The Section Chief pulled out his communicator.

“He was supposed to send an update from Malovia this morning. Nothing came through, and he hasn’t responded to any of my messages since last night. I did get a few messages from Joanna and the rest, but it isn’t really reassuring when he doesn’t reply for so long.”

Zoey folded her arms.

“The mission might’ve gotten complicated.”

“It might have.”

He spoke slowly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her.

“Do you know anything?”

“…No.”

Zoey shook her head.

Kyle could tell that she wanted to spill everything, but considering the Section Chief’s recent actions, it was probably for the best if they kept the news to themselves.

“…”

The Section Chief’s gaze moved towards the documents scattered across the desk.

“Which brings me back to my first question. Why are the two of you searching through restricted storage while Seth has suddenly gone silent?”

“Like I said, we’re looking for a Key.”

It wasn’t the worst lie.

“What Key?”

Kyle’s lips parted, ready to answer, but right as he was about to, the Section Chief’s attention drifted towards the terminal.

The VILE-303 file was still open.

Kyle noticed the exact moment he read the name.

“…VILE-303?”

The Section Chief looked from the screen to the open drawers, then finally towards the door at the end of the room.

“Seth is in Malovia.”

His voice was slow, but the room seemed to freeze in that moment.

“Yes.”

Kyle replied after a short moment.

“And while I can’t contact him, the two of you suddenly start searching for the key to an anomaly that has absolutely nothing to do with his mission. Is there something that you need from his office?”

Kyle’s jaw tightened.

There wasn’t much room left to maneuver.

The Section Chief stared at him for several seconds, his expression gradually becoming more serious.

“Ye—”

“He’s stuck in there, isn’t he?”

“…..”

Kyle and Zoey remained silent, but that was enough for the Section Chief to understand he paused for a moment and pinched the middle of his brows. After which, he moved toward the door and tried to pull the handle.

Click! Click!

He pulled quite hard, but the door remained closed.

Eventually, he turned his attention back to Zoey and Kyle.

“This is quite the mess, huh?”

“That’s…”

Zoey tried to speak, but the Section Chief raised his hand to stop her.

“I’ll give you a week to deal with the situation before I’m forced to report it to the higher-ups. This isn’t something I can keep under control forever. I know that the two of you understand my current circumstances the best.”

The Section Chief didn’t give Zoey or Kyle the chance to reply.

After which, his gaze immediately turned in the direction of the terminal, where the [VILE – 303] document was still open, and he pointed at it.

“Start with that.”

***

My eyes continued to linger over the door.

Even after another day had passed, there was still no reaction at all. In all honesty, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“Both sides are locked, but how is the one in Sines locked? This doesn’t really make much sense? They should also have the key…”

Unless—

‘Wait, is the key with the Voidwalker?’

I covered my palm with my forehead.

“Fuck.”

A curse slipped out at the same time.

“Right, of course.”

Ever since receiving the message from the Hand, I’d made sure to keep the more important items on me so they couldn’t be stolen. The key was one of them.

“…It’s no wonder they can’t open the door, if they’re trying.”

To make matters worse, with my node not working, I couldn’t call the Voidwalker.

“This is pretty bad, huh?”

My eyes shifted to the corner of the room.

There was still quite a bit of food in the fridge, so I didn’t have much to worry about in the short term. Still, I couldn’t keep this up forever, especially now that my nodes had decided to give up on me.

‘At this rate, I might remain stuck forever.’

I hadn’t wanted to leave before, but now I was starting to worry. As much as I wanted to stay and investigate further, I still needed to find a way out of this place. What good would any of this do if I ended up trapped here forever?

“Ugh.”

I ruffled my hair in annoyance.

“…Let’s relax.”

I pulled out another pill and popped it into my mouth.

“I’ve got a lot of time. There’s no need to worry too much. I’m sure that even if they can’t find a way to get me out, my nodes will recover by then.”

Yeah.

I turned to face the other door of the room.

The one leading to the corridor.

“…I just need to wait.”

This was just a waiting game.

Soon, I was going to get out.

.

.

.

Three days passed since.