Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! - Chapter 271: Easy Clear? [1]
Chapter 271: Easy Clear? [1]
“Haa… Haa…”
Heavy breaths.
*Step* *Step*
The sound of rushed steps.
“Follow the music! Go to the music!”
Rushed voices.
Da Dang—
And a haunting melody.
“We’re getting closer. Make sure you follow closely behind.”
Several people rushed ahead.
They all had one goal.
Reach the music.
“We’re closer!”
The more they ran, the louder the music became.
Unknowingly, their steps started to match the tempo of the tune.
And soon—
They came upon an opening, dimly lit by a faint blue light.
Da Dang Da!
Shadows spilled outward in every direction, and at their center stood a figure hunched over a keyboard, their fingers gliding across the keyboard in an erratic manner.
DANG!
Their movements weren’t clean.
In fact, they were extremely erratic, and the notes didn’t match well with one another.
But at the same time…
Listening to the piece, the people present couldn’t help but feel something stir within them.
Their skin crawled at the sound of the music.
At the sight of the Jester.
Deng! De—!
Each note seemed to carry a madness that left them unsettled.
DONG!
It made their hearts race.
In that moment, the Jester seemed to be the central figure within the factory.
Nobody could take their eyes away from the Jester.
The Jester… was all anyone could see.
Dang! Dang—
***
The more I clung to the madness, the more it seemed to consume me.
This consumption was directly reflected in my music.
Deng! Du—
I started making more and more errors.
I started to miss the tempo.
I started to lose rhythm.
And yet…
It was such simple errors that were drawing the piece closer and closer to perfection.
The growing madness.
The growing craze…
All of it was highlighting the main principle of the piece.
Despair.
This was a piece that highlighted one’s despair in pursuit of perfection. It was the story of the conductor, and the closer I came to reaching the despair that was needed to embody this piece, the more I realized that I was starting to lose sight of myself.
The madness. The despair….
It was slowly starting to consume my mind.
“Uekh… Uekh…”
Each breath that I took seemed harder than the last.
My hands and face were numb.
I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t think.
All I did was cling to the madness and despair of my situation and pour it all out on the keyboard in front of me. Even as people gathered before me, I learned to ignore them. I learned to pay no mind to them.
But it was also in that moment that I started to lose track of my mission.
Deng Di— Di!
’…How many are here?’
I caught a glimpse of the people watching me. I slowly began to count every one of them.
One, two, three, four…
In total, there appeared to be twelve of them. Some looked to be knocked out, while others looked to be in terrible condition.
I could pretty much tell what had happened.
’A lot of time must’ve passed since I started to play the music.’
I had been so immersed in playing the keyboard that I lost track of everything. However, just by looking at the situation in front of me, I understood what had happened. Clara, following our brief interaction, most likely didn’t trust me immediately and looked for an exit on her own.
That probably led her nowhere.
She most likely tried other methods, but those, too, led her nowhere.
In the end, she had no choice but to listen to my words. Meeting the other members in her squad, she relayed the entire situation to them and started gathering everyone present to where I was.
She had no choice but to trust me.
And it would’ve been the right choice in the past.
But…
Deng!
I was too far gone into my madness to care anymore.
All I was programmed to do was play the keyboard in front of me.
Anything else was just useless noise.
This right here…
It was all that I needed to do.
Dang!
***
“This should be the last person.”
Clara appeared behind a figure, smacking her hand against the back of their head and knocking them unconscious. Placing them over her back, she turned towards the distance where a certain tune played in the air.
It was soft, but it quietly whispered in the air.
’…It’s different than before.’
She could tell that the tune was different from the first time she heard it.
It was faster.
More erratic.
More… desperate.
Dang, Deng—!
There was something haunting about the tune that played in the air. The more desperate it grew, the more anxious she felt.
But most importantly…
’Something is off with this gate.’
For a <B> ranked gate, that potentially increased to <A> rank, this gate…
It was far too easy.
She could no longer feel the presence that lingered in the shadows, watching her every movement. In fact, it was almost as if it had completely disappeared. This allowed her to do everything that she wanted without much trouble.
She informed her other members about the situation.
They all tried to look for an exit, but regardless of how hard they tried, they couldn’t find an exit.
They tried all sorts of other methods to get out.
But in the end, there wasn’t one.
And it was then that Clara decided to listen to the Jester.
She had no choice but to listen.
And—
’Easy. This is too easy. How can it be this easy? No, I refuse to believe that a gate of this rank is this easy.’
And yet, despite her beliefs, there was no denying the reality that was unfolding right before her very eyes as she turned a corner and spotted a dim blue light coming from the distance.
Da Dang—!
The tune grew closer, and as she rushed ahead, a single figure appeared in the distance, bathed in the dim blue glow of the lamp as his fingers pressed heavily on the keyboard, the notes screaming in the air.
…And in that moment, as if sensing her presence, the Jester stopped.
The surroundings grew silent, and his head slowly turned.
Their gazes met.
And he pulled his hands away from the keyboard.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Creak.
A single step echoed through the space.
It did not belong to her. Nor to anyone near them.
Her heart clenched as the sound came again.
Closer.
Heavier.
*Step*
From beyond the shadows, a masked man emerged. His face was hidden, yet Clara felt as if his gaze pierced straight through her.
The Jester rose from his seat, his movements relatively smooth, and the tension in the air thickened to the point of suffocation. The blue glow from the lamp seemed to dim, swallowed by the silence pressing in from every corner.
No words were spoken.
None were needed.
The simple presence of the two, Jester and masked man, was enough to make Clara’s body tense completely.
Without waiting for the others to react, the Jester finally moved. He turned his head and walked towards the door near him.
As he did, he stopped before looking back.
Though he didn’t say anything, his gaze said it all.
Clara swallowed quietly, her body growing even tenser before looking at the others.
“Let’s go!”
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
