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

Chapter 765: Gate [5]

“You!”

Claude’s thoughts were shattered by a sudden shout. The moment he turned around, he found Alric dashing in his direction.

“⎯!”

His elbow shot towards Claude’s face, forcing Claude to raise his arm at the last possible moment.

Bang!

A dull impact echoed across the corridor as Claude staggered sideways, his jaw tightening from the force of the blow.

“Stop! That was⎯!”

Alric didn’t listen.

[Motion Reading] activated almost immediately, his eyes following every subtle movement of Claude’s body as he moved forward for another strike.

“There’s been a misunderstanding!”

Claude twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the fist heading towards his chin before grabbing Alric’s wrist.

“Look around you! There are copies everywhere!”

“Let go of me!”

Alric pulled against him and drove his knee towards Claude’s abdomen. Claude managed to shift his body before the strike connected properly, but pain still spread across his ribs.

His expression immediately darkened.

“I told you to stop!”

This time, Claude didn’t hold back.

He activated his node; [Reinforcement] tightened around his arm as he caught Alric’s next attack, pulling him closer before driving his fist directly into his chest.

BANG!

Alric’s body struck the wall behind him.

Cracks spread through the plaster.

Claude thought that would finally make him understand, but Alric pushed himself away from the wall almost immediately.

“He’s lost it!”

“Alric—”

“He’s killing us!”

Claude’s pupils contracted, especially when he noticed the others rushing in his direction.

“What?”

Alric rushed forward first.

Claude stared at him, noticing the blood running from his mouth, the anger in his eyes, and the familiar way he moved his feet before activating [Motion Reading].

Claude’s breathing became slightly heavier. Looking back, he could see the other Alric fighting the others.

His jaw clenched.

‘Right… This must be a trick. A trick!’

The Alric he knew wasn’t this careless.

Alric swung, his fist driving through the air rapidly.

Claude ducked beneath the attack and drove his elbow directly into his throat.

Crack!

A sharp crack echoed.

Alric’s eyes widened.

Neither moved.

His hand slowly reached towards Claude’s shoulder before losing strength, and his body gradually fell forward.

Claude caught him instinctively.

“…I told you there was a misunderstanding.”

Alric didn’t respond.

Claude looked down at him.

His eyes were still open.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth before falling against Claude’s sleeve.

Claude remained like that, staring at the body in his arms before slowly letting it drop.

Thump.

A tense silence followed.

Then a certain voice spoke.

“…Claude.”

He turned towards his other members.

They all had pale faces, their hands clean, unlike his, which were covered in blood.

“What?”

“What did you just do?”

Claude frowned.

“What did I do?”

His attention shifted towards Alric’s body before returning to them.

“That’s not Alric.”

“No… look at the blood. That’s him.”

“No.”

Claude shook his head.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t kill them. They were fake.”

The words left his lips quickly. But as he opened his mouth again, his attention fell on Rena and Alric lying on the ground beside the others, their bodies squirming against the floor.

Unlike the ones he’d killed, however, there was no blood.

T-that’s…

He bit his lip and forced the words out.

“You saw it too… I was being attacked by them. I had no other choice.”

“Claude…”

“Don’t.”

His hand rose immediately.

“Don’t come closer.”

His members stopped as they looked at him.

There was something in the way they looked at him that irritated him more than it should have.

Pity…?

No, it seemed closer to fear.

Claude couldn’t tell which one it was anymore.

“I know what I saw.”

“I didn’t say you didn’t.”

“Then stop looking at me like that!”

Claude’s words reverberated loudly across the surroundings. His attention moved across the group before abruptly stopping.

One of the remaining members had taken a step forward.

“Claude, listen to me. Something is clearly messing with what we’re seeing. If we keep attacking each other, we’re doing exactly what it wants.”

“…What we’re seeing?”

Claude looked towards Alric’s body beside him, blood still running from the corner of his mouth, before turning towards the other Alric lying farther away.

Yet again, there was no blood.

The difference was obvious.

That… was very likely the fake.

His teeth clenched.

‘No, it’s a trick!’

“Then which one is real?”

The team member opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Claude laughed, finding the situation amusing.

“Exactly.”

“Claude, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then tell me.”

His voice grew louder.

“Which one is real?”

Nobody answered.

Their hesitation irritated him more than it should have.

They’d worked together before, fought together before, and yet now they were standing several meters away from him as though he were the anomaly they needed to deal with.

One of them slowly raised his hands.

“We don’t know.”

Claude stared.

“But that’s exactly why we need to stop attacking until we figure this out.”

“…Right.”

He nodded slowly.

“That makes sense.”

The tension never eased. Claude took a step closer, followed by another.

“What… are you doing?”

“I’m coming closer to analyze the bodies. Is that not okay?”

“Claude…”

“What?”

“…Do not come any closer.”

Claude stopped, staring at his team member. In these sorts of situations, they were trained to perform several key signals, but the thought never crossed Claude’s mind.

All he thought about was the small curl of the headless face.

His jaw tightened.

Neither of them moved.

That was all it took.

‘He’s afraid of me.’

Why?

Because Claude would notice something?

Because his skin would be warm?

Because he’d realize that the thing standing before him wasn’t actually one of his teammates?

The member seemed to notice the change in Claude’s expression.

“Claude, wait—”

Claude moved.

[Body Lightening] activated beneath his feet as he crossed the distance almost instantly. The member reacted quickly, throwing his arm up to protect his face, but Claude changed direction halfway through and drove his fist into his stomach instead.

Bang!

The member’s body folded.

“Claude!”

Another member rushed forward.

Claude turned immediately, catching the incoming arm before twisting his body and throwing him over his shoulder. His back struck the ground hard enough to crack the floorboards beneath him.

“Stop!”

“Why?”

Claude’s breathing grew heavier as he looked between them.

“Why should I stop?”

“They’re copies.”

His voice trembled slightly.

“They’re all copies.”

The first member tried standing again.

Claude kicked him across the face before he could.

Blood scattered across the floor.

This time, there was blood.

Claude’s movement slowed.

His eyes followed the red droplets before returning to the member lying beneath him.

“…”

Doubt briefly appeared across his face.

Then he remembered Alric.

He remembered Rena.

Blood didn’t prove anything.

Why would it?

If something could perfectly copy someone’s face, voice, movements and nodes, why wouldn’t it be able to copy their blood?

‘Right.’

Claude’s breathing steadied slightly.

That explanation made sense.

It had to.

The member beneath him coughed, blood spilling between his lips.

“Claude… please…”

Claude’s fist tightened.

“Stop talking with his voice.”

He struck cleanly, then followed with another attack.

The body stopped moving after the third blow.

Claude slowly straightened, only for another presence to appear at the edge of his vision.

A burned figure stepped out from one of the classrooms.

The teacher.

Claude turned towards it.

For some reason, the sight almost came as a relief.

At least he knew what that was.

“You.”

The teacher moved.

Its long arm swept towards Claude’s head, but he ducked underneath it and drove [Reinforcement] through his fist, striking directly beneath its ribs.

BANG!

The teacher crashed into the wall.

Claude followed before it could recover, grabbing its shoulder and slamming it back against the plaster before striking its burned face.

Again.

BANG!

And again.

BANG!

Each impact sent fragments of its skin scattering across the floor, but Claude continued until the creature’s head sagged unnaturally to one side and its arms finally stopped reaching for him.

Only then did he let go.

Thump!

The body collapsed.

“Haa… Haa…”

Claude stared down at it as his chest rose and fell heavily.

Nobody approached him. Slowly, the silence around him became noticeable.

Claude gradually turned.

Bodies covered the corridor.

Some belonged to the people he’d entered the school with. Others belonged to things that looked exactly like them, while the teacher remained crumpled against the wall behind him.

Blood covered his hands, his clothes, and parts of his face.

He couldn’t tell how much belonged to him anymore.

“…Copies.”

The word came out softly.

Claude looked towards Alric’s body.

“They were copies.”

He swallowed before nodding to himself.

“Obviously.”

That had to be it.

Otherwise…

He looked away before the thought could finish.

Something inside one of the classrooms caught his attention.

Claude slowly turned his head.

Seth’s severed head remained on the podium.

Still facing him.

The same faint smile remained stretched across its lips.

Claude’s face stiffened.

“What?”

The head didn’t move.

Claude stepped towards the doorway.

“What are you looking at?!”

His voice shook through the surroundings.

His jaw tightened as he entered the classroom, the blood on his shoes leaving faint prints behind him.

“Even when you’re dead, you’re pissing me off!”

Claude reached the podium and stretched his hand towards Seth’s hair.

Before his fingers could touch it, the lips slowly parted.

“Is that so?”

Claude froze.

His eyes widened as a cold sensation spread through every part of his body.

Then something pressed against his back.

A hand.

Five cold fingers slowly spread between his shoulder blades.

Claude’s body jerked violently as a scream tore from his throat.

“Haaa!”