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

Chapter 680: Walking Disaster [10]

Holding onto my head, I walked closer to the Team Leader.

I could still hear the rushed sound of footsteps outside, but I paid no mind to it as I stopped before Soran.

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure if what I was about to do would help, but considering my situation, it was better to try than nothing.

‘Well, it’s not like it works on me anymore.’

I reached into my pocket and retrieved a familiar pill, opening the Team Leader’s mouth and placing it directly inside.

‘From what I gather, the doctors must’ve stabilized her nodes. This should be of some help to her. Although an Emblance Shard would probably do the trick, I kind of need that myself.’

“⎯⎯!”

There was an immediate reaction the moment I popped the pill into the Team Leader’s mouth.

Her entire body started to spasm as strange sounds escaped her lips.

For a brief moment, her eyes snapped open.

I pressed my hand against her mouth, preventing her from making too much noise.

‘It wouldn’t do us any good if you made too much noise.’

I looked outside, making sure that nobody had been startled by the sound.

Only then did I loosen my grip over her lips as I felt her body starting to relax as well.

“Let’s get rid of this stuff too.”

I grabbed the numerous wires attached to her body and pulled them away.

I didn’t quite know what they were, but she wasn’t going to need them any longer as I felt the Team Leader’s consciousness return.

Warmth returned to her shortly after, and as her eyes opened once more, I smiled.

“Been a while, Team Leader.”

“…..”

A momentary silence stretched after my greeting as the Team Leader blinked a couple of times, her gaze settling on me as she tried to make sense of the situation.

Her eyes glossed over my entire body before shifting toward the surroundings, and as everything settled inside her mind, her lips finally parted.

“Did…”

Did?

The Team Leader’s voice was hoarse.

Staring at her, I paused for a moment before taking out a bottle of water and handing it to her.

“Here.”

I could see that she was thirsty.

Sure enough, the moment I handed her the water, she immediately reached for it and started to drink, barely managing to lift herself up.

I helped her a bit, and after she finished the entire bottle, she rubbed her head while groaning slightly.

“…Where is…”

She stopped.

“No.”

Looking back at me, she asked,

“Did you get kidnapped as well?”

Hm?

I blinked twice.

Did I get kidnapped?

Well, not really.

I mean, yes.

But it was something that I had chosen myself.

In that case, was I really kidnapped?

“Yes.”

I still went along with it.

It wasn’t like I could just say that I had purposely gotten kidnapped.

“I… see.”

Soran nodded, rubbing her head once more as she shifted her attention back to me.

“You… fed me something. What was that? My mind… it feels fresh. No…”

Soran stopped while closing her eyes.

I didn’t say anything and simply observed her.

When her eyes opened again, a look of shock spread across her face.

“My nodes…”

“…I’m also somewhat shocked.”

I rubbed the side of my head.

“I remember being experimented on with some stuff, and some of the cracks that I had sustained somehow healed. I’m not quite sure what happened, but it seemed like they were experimenting on our nodes.”

“….”

Soran didn’t reply.

Her gaze fell onto her hand as she clenched and unclenched her fingers.

The more she did this, the faster she became, until she eventually shifted her attention back to me.

“It’s not perfect. I can still feel that I’m not quite the same as I was in the past… However, it seems like I am better than I was before Malia? This is strange.”

I could see the confusion on Soran’s face as she tried to figure out what was happening, but I quickly interrupted her as I tapped her on the shoulder.

“Team Leader, this might not be the time to think about that stuff. There are more troublesome things that we need to take care of.”

I pointed at the door, and it was only then that the Team Leader finally realized in what sort of situation we were in as the loud sound of the sirens reached her ears, and her head flicked in my direction.

“You…”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“It wasn’t easy for me to get to you. I kind of disabled and broke their monitoring systems, and disguised myself as some of their people? Even took care of everyone in the monitoring room? They’re not quite pleased.”

“…..”

Soran’s lips parted, but the words that she seemed to want to say never managed to come out of her mouth as she eventually closed her mouth and reached for my shoulder, patting me several times.

She even went as far as whistling.

“As expected of the man that I’ve chosen to marry. Not bad.”

She brought her thumb up as if saying, ‘Good job.’

“…..”

Was it bad of me to say that I felt flattered?

Ehm.

I cleared my throat and prepared to say something else, but right in that moment, several muffled shouts coming from outside reached both of our ears.

“Check every room here! They might be hiding there!”

“…Be fast! Don’t overlook anything!”

I exchanged glances with Soran.

Neither of us said a word.

We didn’t need to.

She was already moving before I could even gesture, lowering herself back onto the bed, picking up some of the wires, and doing the best she could to make them stick.

I slipped beneath the bed frame, pressing my back flat against the cold floor as she drew the blanket up to her chin.

The shadow beneath the door grew.

Clank!

The door swung open, and with it came the heavy thud of boots. There were three, maybe four sets? I wasn’t quite sure.

They spread out immediately, covering every inch of the room. I turned my head slowly, just enough to track their feet from beneath the bedsheet.

“Check every corner of this room. The patient here is rather special. Make sure not to harm her.”

“…Understood.”

I rubbed my head, trying to curb some of the pain inside my nodes. It was making it hard for me to think.

The footsteps drew closer. One pair broke off toward the glass window that allowed one to overlook the room. Another swept along the far wall. The third moved directly toward the bed.

I could even hear their muffled voices as they scanned the room from top to bottom.

Eventually, they stopped.

They stood right in front of me.

They were close enough that I could see the dried mud caked into the grooves of their soles.

I pressed myself flatter against the floor, my cheek nearly touching the ground, and did not move.

A bead of sweat traced down the side of my face.

Normally, this would’ve been nothing. I could’ve suppressed my presence entirely, slipped through the gaps, or even used the Realmwalker’s abilities.

But I was now crippled.

My nodes didn’t work.

I was just a man lying on the floor, completely visible to anyone who bothered to look.

But just in case something did happen, I had the Realmwalker ready to act. I could at least do that much.

‘Not yet. Wait…’

This was a last-ditch attempt.

If I used it here, Soran would see. And if Soran saw…

‘She’ll probably realize.’

She was there in Malovia, after all.

I drew a small breath.

The boots moved. The guard above me drew a small breath, and I could hear the faint creak of his knees as he began to crouch.

“There’s nothing here.”

“…Not here, either.”

“I’m checking under the bed.”

The words made the entire room freeze over.

My entire body went stiff.

In the space of a single heartbeat, I ran through every option available to me and found each one worse than the last. From the Realmwalker to a direct confrontation, I didn’t have many options.

Pressing my hands against the floor, I prepared to move when⎯

“…..?”

The scenery before me shifted completely.

The boots that had been facing me were gone, replaced by two bodies lying on the floor, their heads lolling at weird angles. All sound around us seemed to have disappeared completely as well.

Click!

The door clicked shut on its own.

I remained where I was, struggling to understand what had happened.

A few seconds passed like that, until the bedsheets suddenly pulled open and a head peeked from above.

“…Boo!”

I didn’t react.

Soran’s face changed as she clicked her tongue, and she released the bedsheets.

“I’m starting to have second thoughts about us.”

So it was her…