Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! - Chapter 386: Interference [1]

Chapter 386: Interference [1]

Scribble~ Scribble~

’I can’t… live like this anymore. I beseech you, Da■■■■■■■! Help me!’

“Haaa—!”

I awoke with a scream.

A blank ceiling greeted my sight as I sat up in my bed, feeling my breath come out in ragged gasps.

“Haa… Haa…”

My mind throbbed as I held onto my forehead.

“F-fuck.”

I felt like utter shit.

In spite of a day passing since the incident with the phone call, the images of what had happened continued to haunt me. They persisted in my thoughts and dreams, making it impossible for me to catch more than a couple of hours of sleep.

Even if I were to return to my bed right now, I was certain that I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

This…

It was almost as if it were a curse.

’I can’t live like this anymore.’

There had been times in the past when I used to get little to no sleep, but it had never been this extreme. I felt haggard, and my mind was constantly hazy.

Plop!

The only relief that I had was the pills that I had gotten from the shop.

For just brief moments, they relieved a lot of my symptoms.

“…Ugh, what time is it?”

I checked my watch.

It was still [3:00 A.M]. It was very early in the morning.

Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I got off the bed and turned on the light, heading to the bathroom to wash my face and wake myself up.

But the moment I did, I paused.

“…..”

I stared at the reflection that greeted me.

“Is this me?”

The entity that greeted me in the reflection felt foreign to me. My eyes were extremely dark, and the dark circles beneath were more glaring than ever. I could even see that the tone of my skin was extremely pale, and for just a second, I almost thought I was looking at a ghost.

“This is pretty bad.”

I looked like someone suffering from a terminal disease.

’No, I am suffering from a terminal disease.’

Shaaa—!

Opening the tap, I calmly washed my face.

The situation was dire, but I still remained calm. I could more or less tell the reason for my current situation, and also knew how to stop it.

’I need to get going with the cult mission.’

Thankfully, I was almost ready.

But more importantly, there was another thing that I needed to handle.

Today…

Today, my new game is going to be released.

*

Click! Click! Click!

The moment I headed to my office and entered the ’Studio’, I was greeted by the repetitive sound of keyboards clicking.

I checked the time.

It was around 8:00 A.M.

Looking ahead and seeing my team members working, I felt gratified.

While I still felt like shit, popping a few more pills into my system, I was able to function properly. Besides the small headache that lingered at the back of my mind, I felt completely normal.

“When did you guys get here?”

“…Not too long ago,” Noah replied, his attention focused on the keyboard in front of him. “Since you didn’t allow any of us to work overnight, we decided to come at the earliest possible time in order to add the finishing touches to the game. We’re trying to see if there are any bugs and glitches that we may need to fix before it’s too late. Dock has also approved of the game. We can launch at any moment.”

“Mhm. That’s good.”

It usually took a couple of weeks for a game to be released. One had to send the game for review in advance before getting Dock’s approval in order to send.

Given how it had been approved, we could now launch it any given time.

“Hmm.”

I headed towards my desk and booted up the developer system.

Because of my limited budget, I wasn’t able to add any additional software to the game. In fact, I even removed a couple of software that had been present in my past games.

This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but that didn’t matter.

’There’s no need to add any new software. The main star of the show will be something else entirely.’

By something else entirely, I meant the music track that I had added, worked on with the Conductor and the others.

This was the key to everything.

Not just because of the effect provided by the Conductor, but because of the combined effect of Mr. Jingles and Mirelle. Indeed, the music alone had three different effects. This was no simple piece.

’Nobody can complain that I stole as well since I’ve just gotten the approval for the copyright.’

Finally, after a couple of weeks of waiting, I had the official confirmation that the music was mine. There was no way for Nightmare Forge Studios to say anything about it.

Taking out my phone, I immediately looked through my socials.

As expected, it wasn’t pretty.

—Who here is hyped for the new game that is coming out?

—What? Don’t tell me you’re actually planning on wasting your money on that crap? Just watch it from streams. There’s no way I’m wasting money on crap like that. I bet it’s gonna be way worse than Death Company.

—Speaking of Death Company, I heard that there’s a new patch coming out today.

—Holy shit! You’re right! Hahaha! How fucking sinister! They’re releasing it on the same day that the game is coming out. They’re doing it on purpose!

—Are you sure it’s on purpose? Nobody was going to buy the game anyway..

To say it wasn’t pretty was an understatement.

The comments were utterly ruthless.

A lot of the people were completely dismissing my games, with some even going as far as encouraging people not to buy the game.

The comment section was heated, and I was also starting to get heated reading it.

But at the same time…

[07/04 #21]

The date of my announcement was starting to trend.

It wasn’t anywhere near the top, but it was around the 21st spot. This was good in my opinion.

The more people talked about it, the more interest there was.

I could see how my entire debacle from a few months back had helped keep the game relevant until the launch date.

’Yeah, there’s no need to be too worried. I know the game better than anyone else. This is not just a computer game, but a VR one. The graphics are also not some low-level graphics, with the Game Developer helping me create the best setting possible. Even the noise and texture are incredibly realistic. There’s just no way for the game to be a flop. I am extremely confident.’

I wasn’t the only person who was confident in the product.

“I’m almost done, hehe.”

“Same here. I can’t wait for the game to be released. I can’t wait to see what sort of reaction the trolls will show online.”

“…I bet they’ll be scared out of their wits.”

Noah, Joseph, and Ryan were all extremely excited. Having worked on the game for the past few months with me, they were all confident in the product.

I felt even better when seeing them like this, and just as I put my phone away, they all stopped moving at the same time, their heads turning in my direction.

“Are you guys done?”

“Yes, it’s completed.”

“I’m also done.”

“Same with me. We’ve also got Dock’s approval. They have validated the game.”

“Good.”

I stood up, taking a deep breath and calming my racing heart.

Checking the time, I looked back at them.

“Officially launch the game.”

But…

“Huh?”

“What the…!”

The launch wasn’t as smooth as previously anticipated.

Turning my attention towards the others, I saw Noah look at me in shock.

“The game…” He spoke, his voice shaky, “It’s been blocked from launching!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com