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

Chapter 710: Undercurrents [2]

“Hello.”

The man returned the greeting as the secretary entered the elevator. Reaching past him, the secretary pressed the button for the first floor.

His movements seemed casual, but from the corner of his eye, the Secretary tried to catch a glimpse of the figure standing behind him.

‘It’s him.’

The man of interest.

Seth Thorne.

‘…I didn’t expect we’d meet so soon, but this might not be a bad thing.’

The Secretary stepped back, his attention shifting towards the elevator’s monitor. Having just gotten a glimpse of him, he seemed pretty worry-free. The Secretary’s lips gently arched upwards.

‘I wonder for how long he’ll be like that.’

The higher one went, the greater the fall.

‘Well, it’ll mostly depend on which side he chooses in the end. I do hope to work with him in the future. After all, he’s quite talented.’

But if he didn’t…

“I’ve never seen you before. Are you new?” Seth’s voice echoed in the otherwise quiet elevator, initiating small talk.

The Secretary was slightly taken aback, his eyes shifting to the phone in his grasp. The call was still on.

He smiled politely and turned around.

“How rude of me.”

The Secretary extended his hand.

“I’m the new secretary hired by Section Chief Johansberg. Today is my first day, and I was just heading home.”

“You’re heading home now?”

Seth glanced down as he turned his wrist to check the time. His brow raised.

“Seems rather late. You must have worked quite a bit.”

“I’m merely trying to familiarize myself with the new environment. Working under such an esteemed figure, it’s only natural to put in this much effort.”

“That’s commendable.”

Seth’s praise was sincere.

“Thank you.”

The secretary dipped his head, raising a hand as though attempting to return to his call. He clearly had no desire to prolong the conversation, but Seth didn’t seem to read his actions.

He appeared completely oblivious to the obvious hints.

“He’s a very capable man.”

“Hm?”

The Secretary turned, watching Seth lean back.

“Section Chief Johansberg.” Seth smiled faintly, keeping his eyes on the floor indicator above the door. “He managed to build the Hoarding Department into what it is today. To handle all of that alone. He’s certainly capable, don’t you think?”

“He is,” the secretary replied with the same polite smile. “It’s an honor to work alongside him.”

“Though he isn’t without flaws.”

“Pardon…?”

“I’ve heard he tends to eat out quite a lot.”

“…..”

The Secretary paused, the smile on his face fading slightly.

“…He’s a large man. He requires a lot of fuel.”

“Right?”

Seth nodded easily.

“Yet he often overeats. He’s never been particularly good at knowing when enough is enough. But then again…”

Ding.

The elevator chimed, the metal doors sliding open. Seth stepped forward, walking past the secretary.

“…He isn’t the only one with that flaw. Plenty of people struggle to know when they’ve had their fill. When someone bites off more than they can chew, they usually end up sick. I happened to overhear this from some of my colleagues.”

Seth paused just outside the threshold.

“I hope you’ll keep that in mind when advising him.”

The doors began closing as Seth turned around, facing the Secretary face to face.

His smile faded ever so slightly.

Enough for the Secretary to fully understand his message.

Curb your greed.

Consider this your warning.

This guy…

***

There was another thing that I had learned in my time in this world.

Problems became bigger problems when left unchecked. The earlier a problem was caught, the easier it was to get rid of. I had yet to reach the point where my influence ran through every corner of the Guild, but it didn’t mean that I didn’t know who to watch out for.

In order not to get caught off-guard, I needed to be prepared.

‘It’s obvious that there’s more to it than he’s showing. I’m rather curious to see where he comes from.’

This new secretary…

It was thanks to Sir. Jingles that I became aware of this new presence. Although I couldn’t quite monitor the entire Guild as I pleased, I at least was able to monitor who came into contact with who.

I couldn’t quite tap into phone conversations, but I had a feeling I’d be able to in the future.

“What are you doing?”

Not even a minute after coming into my office, I saw Kyle appear by the door.

I looked back at him.

“…Can’t you see? I’m packing my stuff.”

“I can see that. I can also tell that you’re leaving for somewhere. Why are you leaving?”

“Hmm?”

I thought for a moment.

There were two answers. The surface answer: ‘I need to maintain a certain promise someone else made in my stead.’

Even though I hadn’t been the one to make the promise, I still planned on fulfilling it. But above all, I was also interested in this new anomaly.

It had been known for quite some time, and yet…

There was hardly any information regarding it. It was to the point where it felt almost creepy. Especially since even a Paragon couldn’t find an answer to such a mysterious anomaly.

I was really dying to see just what sort of entity I was dealing with.

‘Of course, although I’m curious, it isn’t to the point where I’d just drop everything and leave the safety of the Guild.’

The real answer, on the other hand, was something else entirely: ‘Things are about to become quite messy in the Guild, so I’d much rather leave until the first bloodbath has passed.’

With the death of the Guild Master, the snakes had come out.

A bloodbath was inevitable, and I didn’t want to be a part of that.

By the time I returned, I hoped I’d have a better picture of the situation within the Guild and a clearer understanding of who the real players were. The scene at the Guild right now was too much of a mess.

I needed to give it some time to get a good picture of everything.

Only then would I react.

Naturally, I also planned on monitoring the entire thing and setting up measures to protect myself.

“So…?”

As Kyle’s voice echoed again, this time sounding more annoyed, I simply waved him off.

“Well, it’s nothing serious. I’m just going to catch a certain anomaly. Make up for the failure in Malia.”

“And you’re going alone?”

“Nope, not this time. I’m going with my team. It’s been a while since we’ve done anything together. I think it’s time that we go out for some field experience.”

“Did you get the approval?”

“…On my way.”

I flashed the paper in my hand.

“I already filled it in and everything. All I need to do is hand it to the Section Chief, and I should be good to go.”

Kyle’s eyes narrowed, alternating his attention between me and the paper.

In the end, he sighed.

“You don’t sign it, did you?”

“No, no… I didn’t.”

I dropped my bag and took a pen, placing the paper down and filling in all the information.

‘It’s not like I forgot or anything like that. I was just busy.’

There were just a lot of things that I need to do.

“Well, at least this part of you is the same.”

My hand paused.

Thinking about the true meaning about his words, I couldn’t help but smile myself as I thought about his current nagging.

“…Same for you.”