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

Chapter 551: Temptation [3]

A soft chuckle reverberated across the walls of the stairs as the Conductor looked at me in amusement.

Taking my eyes away from the mask in my grasp, and in its direction, I could feel that it found this situation to be rather entertaining.

Eventually, its voice reached my ears.

"That’s a really good question."

The Conductor tucked its chin under its long and slender fingers.

"...Which one should you choose? What a difficult question."

The Conductor tapped its foot against the ground, as if weighing its options. The Conductor looked incredibly torn by the decision, and I understood rather quickly that I wouldn’t get the answer that I wanted.

"Between the two, I don’t know which would create more chaos. If you become the Jester, you might make the people above panic. You might even give the ones here a heart attack... kek."

Covering its face, the Conductor trembled, the mere thought of what would happen if I became the Jester sending it into a spiral of excitement and euphoria.

"There’s also that butcher... If you turn into that and slaughter endlessly, you might truly send the world into a spiral. Both would create chaos, and... kek!"

I shouldn’t have asked.

Looking away from the Conductor, I regretted summoning it.

’I shouldn’t have expected an answer to begin with. The Conductor loves chaos and will always choose the most chaotic path.’

As the Conductor wavered between the two choices, my gaze drifted back to the mask. The longer I stared at it, the more conflicted I became. The temptation still lingered at the back of my mind, whispering to choose one of the two.

If I simply chose either option, then...

’No, not yet. I can’t be careless yet. This is a double-edged sword. I can’t fall for the temptation.’

I took a silent breath, trying my best to push away the temptation.

But it was hard.

’Ha... HaHAhaHa.’

The laugh still lingered at the back of my mind, alongside the sudden impulse to shred everything that was in my path.

The hand holding onto the mask trembled as I struggled to put it away.

But what if...? What if—

"Although I would like to see chaos, I would advise against it."

Reaching for the mask, the Conductor pulled it away from my grasp and placed it on its face, eventually making a face as it did nothing to it.

Shifting the white mask slightly to the left so half its face was visible, the Conductor’s strings pulled taut as it whispered, "Chaos breeds fun, but it also breeds misfortune. I care nothing for my life or whatever happens to me, but it would be a pity to let it all go to waste like this. Especially when you have so much potential yourself."

Lowering the mask completely, the Conductor handed it back to me.

"...The Jester might sow chaos. The Butcher might spill blood. But they’re both you. If I had to choose which one I’d invest in, it would be you."

Pressing its slender finger against my chest, the Conductor’s lips stretched into a wide grin as the strings drew even tighter and its eyes twisted with ecstasy.

"You’ll be the most devastating of them all at the end of it all. I wouldn’t want you to waste your life like this. Especially in a situation that you can resolve yourself."

"So, do you have an idea of the anomaly that I’m dealing with?"

The Conductor paused, its smile fading slightly as it looked at me with a wide look. Tilting its head slightly, it asked, "Anomaly?"

I frowned.

"I’m talking about the current situation that I’m dealing with. Do you have any idea as to what sort of anomaly I’m dealing with?"

"Anomaly...?"

The Conductor repeated the same word, looking even more confused.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, it smiled once more.

"Oh, so that’s what you were talking about."

Chuckling, the Conductor’s smile faded after a brief second.

"I’m not quite sure myself. It could be an anomaly, or it could not be."

"What?"

My eyes widened slightly, feeling a little taken aback by the sudden seriousness in its expression.

Above all...

’If it’s not an anomaly, then what the hell is it?!’

"I’ve been trying to figure out since you’ve come here, but I am not quite sure myself. This is the first time I’ve experienced something like this. This strange Mist too... something about it is quite weird. I’m not sure how to put it. But let me tell you this."

The Conductor suddenly leaned closer to me, its head next to my ears as it whispered into my ears, the seriousness fading from its face as it chuckled once more.

"Even I am feeling the tingles. I... recommend you get out of here as fast as possible. This might very well be an entity that you can’t deal with."

A knot formed in my throat as I absorbed its words, the meaning settling deep and unwelcome in my chest.

It felt as though the space around me tightened without warning. The walls seemed closer, the air turning stale and heavy in my lungs.

I stared at the Conductor as it tilted its head back slowly, then drifted toward the wall as though it found the entire situation to be amusing, its stitched smile never faded.

For even the Conductor to feel chills...

What the hell was I dealing with?

What—!

"Oh."

Suddenly, with one shoulder resting casually against the wall and its arms folded across its chest, the Conductor shifted its gaze past me.

Snap! Snap!

The sound was small but sharp in the confined stairwell. One by one, the stitches lining its mouth split apart. The threads gave way and curled down loosely around its lips, the tension within the room rising as its lips slowly stretched wider.

Its smile deepened into something far more exaggerated, far more sinister.

What had once been restrained amusement twisted into open, extreme delight.

Every hair on my body immediately rose.

And soon—

"It’s looking at us."

Its voice reached my ears, its hand raising as it waved.

"Hello~"

My head immediately snapped back without warning, every node inside of my body churning as I prepared to deal with whatever was behind me, but the moment I turned my head, it was gone.

"A pity."

The Conductor’s laugh echoed all of a sudden, patting me on the shoulder.

"It looks like it’s a shy one."

The chills didn’t stop.

"But you’d better hurry. Although I don’t quite understand what you’re dealing with, I do know something..."

Pausing long enough for a tense silence to settle in, the Conductor brought his hand away from my shoulder and muttered, "...There’s not much time left."

No, that wasn’t what it wanted to say.

"You all don’t have much time left."

***

The darkness pressed in on them from every direction, swallowing the edges of the corridor beyond the reach of their light.

Mia, Nora, and Niel stood back to back, forming a tight circle.

Their shoulders brushed as they slowly turned in place, the beams of their torches slicing through the black in sharp, trembling lines. Dust drifted through the light, catching briefly before vanishing again.

Niel kept his gaze fixed on the door where the Squad Leader had disappeared.

The silence between them felt suffocating, but it was soon shattered by Mia’s voice.

"The Squad Leader has been inside for quite a bit. When... will he come back up?"

"It shouldn’t be long."

Niel did his best to stay calm as he answered, but the grim edge in his voice made it hard to hide his worry. The Squad Leader had been gone for a bit, and they had yet to hear anything from him.

Above all, something about their surroundings felt unsettling.

As if they were being watched.

"How... long do you think it’ll take for him to come back?"

"I don’t know."

"But what if it’s not him when he returns?"

"Then we can just use the keyword and make sure that its truly him."

There was a subtle pause between the three before Mia continued.

"What if he never comes back?"

"...He will come back."

"But what if—"

"If he doesn’t, we look for him."

Nora suddenly cut off the conversation, seemingly annoyed by Mia’s persistent cries as she mumbled under her breath, ’Just how long are you going to keep this nonsense up for?’

"If he doesn’t come back, it’ll mean that something has happened to him and that its our job to rescue him. We’re a team."

Nora emphasized the last part, bringing Mia to a quiet.

Nobody said a word from that point forward.

The silence felt even more unbearable. So suffocating that the soft hum of their torches was the only source of comfort. But as time passed, and they heard no news of their Squad Leader, they all started to become more and more unsettled.

So much that Mia started to become fidgety while Niel wiped his glasses more times than he could count.

And just as the tension reached an all-time peak—

Clank!

The door opened, revealing a familiar figure as a pair of dark eyes fell on the group. But just before anyone could get a word out, his voice echoed sharply across the walls.

"We don’t have much time. Let’s find what we’re looking for and leave as fast as possible."

It was only then, beneath the steady beams of their torches, that they truly saw him. His face was unnaturally pale, his expression marked by a strange seriousness that made everyone hold their breath.

"Hurry up."