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

Chapter 800: Relationships are hard [1]

“This is a serious matter, Seth. You could be stuck here for a very long time.”

Zoey pulled her chair upright, although she didn’t sit down again. Her hands remained against the back of it as she looked at me through the glass.

“Stuck…”

I sighed and lowered my gaze.

“I’ve been stuck before.”

“Then you should know—”

Kyle raised a hand, stopping her before she could continue.

“What are your plans for now?”

I looked at him.

“Well, I guess I’ll relax?”

“…Relax?”

“Yes.”

I leaned back against the pillow.

I hadn’t been sleeping particularly well lately. There had always been somewhere to go, someone to speak with, or something trying to make my life more difficult.

Now I had a bed and several people making sure nobody bothered me without permission.

Looking at it that way, this could be a rather good vacation.

The location could’ve been better.

So could the circumstances.

But I wasn’t exactly in a position to complain.

“But aren’t you infected?”

Zoey’s question made me look towards her.

“It’s only a guess. Nobody knows if it’s true.”

“…..”

No, I was very likely infected.

There was the notification, the way the two victims had reacted, and what the investigator had said. I didn’t have much reason to believe otherwise.

I just wasn’t telling them that.

They were already looking at me strangely enough.

Kyle’s eyes narrowed a little. He remained quiet for several seconds before lowering his hand.

“The BUA is raising the danger level assigned to VILE-1048.”

My attention settled on him.

“By how much?”

“They haven’t told us. But they’re preparing to involve several Guilds in the investigation.”

“Ours?”

“Yes. We’ve already been looking into it, and they’ll want whatever information we’ve gathered.”

That made sense.

It also sounded like quite a lot of work.

Fortunately, I was on vacation.

“The major Guilds are being approached as well.”

He continued.

I slowly straightened.

“…The major Guilds?”

Kyle nodded.

“That’s what we were told.”

I looked between the two of them.

They didn’t seem to be joking.

“Based on what they know so far, they’re treating this as something that could go well beyond the city. Depending on what they find, it might be enlarged even more. This is a very serious case.”

“Hmm.”

I rubbed the side of my face.

This was starting to sound considerably bigger than I originally expected. Well, I did expect things to get this bad, but not now.

“So everyone is going to be looking into it?”

“Possibly. An anomaly nobody can detect, with no clear way of knowing who it’ll affect next… This is not something that the BUA can ignore. News of the anomaly is already making waves to the public.”

Zoey finally sat down.

“They don’t know whether it’s a disease either. That’s part of the problem.”

I glanced towards the partition.

Right.

Nobody knew much of anything.

That didn’t stop them from putting me here, although I could hardly blame their choice. I’d do the same if I were in their position.

‘Well, I would’ve let myself leave.’

But I was probably a little biased.

“If they find something that suggests it can spread more widely, this will become an international matter,” Kyle said. “The Section Chief wants you to be prepared for that.”

I whistled.

There were quite a few powerful people in the world. Surely, if enough of them looked into the situation, someone would figure something out.

Preferably before whatever was happening to me became worse.

“Then I guess I can rest more easily, huh?”

“…I wouldn’t count on it.”

Kyle smiled slightly before standing.

I raised my brow, watching as he turned towards the door.

What was that supposed to mean?

He didn’t explain.

After a moment, I decided not to ask. I actually couldn’t really be bothered.

“We’ll let you know when we hear anything.”

He said as he waved back.

Yeah, yeah.

Zoey stood as well, pushing her chair back into place. She followed Kyle towards the entrance, but stopped just before reaching it.

For a moment, she looked back at me.

I smiled.

Then I brought my good hand to my lips and blew her a kiss.

She immediately stepped to the side.

“…..”

I stood up.

Did she just dodge it?

I stared at her, feeling as though she had insulted not just me, but several generations of my family.

“You!”

Zoey raised her middle finger.

Then she walked out.

The door closed behind her, leaving me standing beside the bed.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and sat back down.

“Relationships are hard.”

***

Kyle and Zoey walked down the corridor in silence.

An agent near the end checked their visitor passes before directing them towards the exit. Kyle nodded and continued walking, occasionally glancing at the other agents stationed along the corridor.

There were more than when they had arrived.

That didn’t seem like a particularly good sign. It really did seem like there was no way for Seth to ever leave this place.

“We should speak with the Section Chief as soon as we get back.”

Zoey didn’t answer.

Kyle looked ahead.

“If the major Guilds become involved, it’ll be harder for him to do anything about Seth’s situation. It won’t just be a matter of speaking with the investigators here. I feel like Seth will go mad if he’s stuck here for longer, and knowing him, things will turn very bad if he goes mad.”

No, he was already mad.

A lunatic beyond all lunatics.

But it could be even worse. Kyle understood this concept all too well, and he shuddered upon thinking of the possibility of Seth becoming even worse.

‘Absolutely not.’

Their footsteps continued down the corridor.

“The investigation could move faster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll let him leave. Especially if Section Chief Johansberg plays a hand in the case. In fact, I’m almost certain he will do so.”

Still nothing.

Kyle turned his head.

Zoey was walking beside him, her attention fixed somewhere ahead. She wasn’t looking at him, nor did she seem particularly interested in what he was saying.

He tilted his head.

“Zoey.”

She continued walking.

Kyle reached over and poked her shoulder.

No response.

His brows furrowed slightly before he poked her again.

Only then did she turn towards him.

“What?”

“You…”

He studied her face for a moment.

“You’re not thinking about Seth, are you?”

“Ah?”

“I know you have a crush on him, but now isn’t the time. We’ve got more important things to handle.”

Zoey stopped walking.

Her expression became completely still as she stared at him.

Kyle took another step before noticing that she was no longer beside him. He stopped too, looking back at her.

“What?”

“…..”

She opened her mouth.

Then she closed it.

For several seconds, she remained where she was, looking at him as though she couldn’t quite decide what to say.

Eventually, she sighed and waved her hand.

“Whatever, whatever.”

She started walking again.

Kyle watched her pass before following, shaking his head slightly.

“I really don’t see what you see in him.”

“…..”

“I mean, I don’t judge, but…”

Zoey’s gaze remained fixed ahead.

Kyle looked at her again.

“You have weird tastes.”

“…..”

“Crazy.”

“…He’s not that b—”

“What?”

“Nothing. Nothing.”

She waved her hand without looking at him and started walking faster.