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

Chapter 787: Ivory Thorn [2]

“You can answer me, you know.”

I heard Mia’s voice before I reached the team office. When I pushed the door open, I found her leaning against Jordan’s desk while he sat with both hands resting on his knees.

Nora was watching from nearby, looking rather entertained.

“I asked if you wanted something to drink. You only have to say yes or no.”

Jordan’s lips moved a little, but nothing came out. Mia leaned closer, trying to hear him.

“What was that?”

He slowly shook his head.

“Is that a no? Then why didn’t you just say so?”

I stopped near the entrance, watching as Jordan glanced towards me. Our eyes met for a brief moment before he immediately looked away, his shoulders growing a little stiff.

Hmm?

I tilted my head. He seemed to notice, because his gaze lowered even further.

Wait, wait.

The sight looked a little familiar.

“Jordan.”

“…Yes?”

At least he could speak. I looked at Mia, then at Nora, before returning my attention to him.

“You aren’t scared of us, are you?”

“…!”

His head shot up.

Mia straightened almost immediately, her eyes widening as she looked between the two of us.

“What? You’re scared of us? What? Why?”

“I…”

“Have we done something?”

She moved closer, and Jordan leaned back in his chair. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much room for him to go anywhere.

“What’s happening?”

Sarah appeared behind him, leaning forward slightly to look at his face.

“Hieek!”

Jordan practically jumped out of his seat. His knee struck the underside of the desk, making several things rattle as he turned towards her.

Sarah paused, and Nora’s eyes widened.

“…Holy shit.”

Mia stared at him with her mouth slightly open. Jordan, on the other hand, looked as though he wanted to crawl beneath his desk.

Well, that answered my question.

“Alright, enough.”

I raised my good hand before Mia could start asking him anything else.

“Give him some space.”

“But I only asked if he wanted a drink.”

“Yes, and now he’s been questioned by three people. Let him breathe.”

Mia looked as though she wanted to say something, but she eventually moved away from his desk. Sarah followed, although she kept glancing back at him.

Jordan slowly settled into his chair.

I left him alone and made my way towards my own seat. There were more important things to take care of at the moment. I could more or less tell why he was so scared of us.

I mean, I’d be scared of myself too.

Although I was curious about the extent of his fear.

‘Oh, no.’

I suddenly wanted to create a Gate and throw him inside.

No, don’t do it.

“In any case, listen up.”

I pulled out my chair and sat down, waiting until everyone turned towards me.

“For the time being, you can forget about going into Gates.”

Mia blinked.

“…What?”

“We’re taking a break.”

“All of us?”

“Yes. If any requests come in, ignore them. Don’t agree to anything, and don’t let someone talk you into helping for just a little bit.”

Several expressions changed.

Nora looked towards the others before turning back to me.

“What about the requests we’ve already been getting?”

“Those too.”

“But the Section Chief⎯”

“Can speak to me.”

I rested my uninjured hand against the desk.

“This is an order from your Team Leader. I’ve already taken care of it, so don’t bother worrying about that side of things.”

They still looked rather doubtful.

Understandable. Normally, someone telling them to ignore their work probably wasn’t a good sign. Fortunately, I wasn’t just anyone.

I was their Team Leader. A very talented, competent, and considerate one.

“So… we don’t have to go?”

Mia asked again, as though she wanted to be absolutely certain.

“You don’t have to go.”

“Oh.”

Her shoulders slowly relaxed.

I nodded in satisfaction, only for the door to open before I could say anything else.

“Cult Leader, is it true?”

Rowan came in first, holding his phone in front of him. Kyle and Zoey followed shortly after, with Zoey stopping just inside the doorway. For a moment, it almost looked like a question mark had appeared on top of her head.

“Are you the one who spread the news?”

Rowan approached my desk and turned his phone around.

I lowered my gaze.

[Severed Stars Linked to Recruitment Talks as Ivory Thorn Faces Uncertain Future]

Ah. That one.

According to the article, our Guild had started approaching personnel from Ivory Thorn. There was quite a lot written about what that might mean, along with speculation about whether we intended to make a larger move.

They hadn’t outright said we were trying to absorb the Guild. They had, however, made sure that anyone reading it would think so.

I nodded.

Yup, that was me.

At the same time, Zoey slowly turned towards Rowan.

“Wait, what did you say?”

“Yes, pretty much,” I said, looking back at him. “We’re overworked.”

Rowan glanced towards the others. Mia nodded immediately, as though someone had finally said something she could fully agree with.

“If we’re going to take on more work, we need more people. I thought that was rather obvious.”

“Does that mean you’re against Section Chief Johansberg?”

“No, no, no…”

Zoey stepped forward, looking between us.

“How is this conversation still going? Did you not hear what Rowan said?”

She turned towards Kyle.

He looked at her for a moment before slowly shaking his head and looking elsewhere.

I could almost hear what he was thinking.

‘I see nothing. I hear nothing. I think nothing.’

A sensible approach.

“Yes, pretty much.”

I answered Rowan’s question while Zoey stared at Kyle.

Section Chief Johansberg didn’t want me around in the first place, which had made it rather difficult for us to get along. He couldn’t be too surprised that things had turned out this way.

He had asked for a truce later, but by then, it was already too late.

“I see.”

Rowan nodded thoughtfully.

“No, seriously.”

Zoey’s voice grew louder as she looked around the office.

“Am I really the only one here who finds what he said weird? He called him a Cult Leader!”

Everyone looked at Rowan, then at me.

“…What about it?”

Mia asked.

Zoey stared at her.

“What do you mean, what about it?”

I sighed.

We had been having a rather productive conversation before this.

Leaning forward, I carefully interlocked my fingers in front of me and looked at Zoey with a serious expression.

“I know you like me, but there’s a time and place for everything.”

“…I…”

Her mouth remained open. Mia turned towards her so quickly that she nearly bumped into Nora.

“What? You like Seth?”

“Hold on⎯”

Nora looked between us, her eyes widening again. Even Sarah seemed interested now, moving a little closer to the desk.

I nodded.

“That’s right. We’re dating.”

“…What?”

Zoey’s voice came out rather faintly.

“Since when?”

Mia asked.

“Since now.”

“Wow!”

“Congratulations!”

Nora brought her hands together, and Mia quickly joined her. Sarah nodded towards us before starting to clap as well.

I leaned back, rather pleased with how the conversation had improved. Nobody was asking about the cult anymore.

Nobody had to know about the cult.

Jordan watched the others for a moment before cautiously joining in. Then, from near the doorway, I heard another pair of hands coming together.

Kyle.

Zoey turned towards him, but he continued clapping. For several seconds, she simply stared at him, her expression changing as he gave us a small nod.

“What the fuck!?”

“Now, now⎯”

Trrr!

My phone vibrated against the desk.

I reached for it with my good hand, still intending to say something to Zoey. However, the moment I looked at the screen, the smile disappeared from my face.

I straightened in my chair and read the notification again.

It was a message from Geneva.