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

Chapter 764: Gate [4]

Claude’s gaze lingered over Seth’s lips, his expression stiffening slowly as he blinked a couple of times to make sure he was seeing right.

The head remained where the teacher had placed it, blood gathering beneath the neck while its half-open eyes faced the room.

Claude couldn’t tell whether he had imagined the smile or whether the teacher’s handling had shifted something beneath the skin of his head.

Still, he knew that he couldn’t waste time thinking about such things.

‘Go.’

He signalled towards the door, then pointed at himself.

Rena’s expression tightened when she understood, her gaze moving between the two teachers before returning to him.

Claude repeated the instruction while checking that the wounded member could still walk.

‘Get them out. I’ll follow.’

The teachers hadn’t moved since returning Seth’s head to the podium. Both were close enough to reach the doorway before the others could get through, but their attention could still be drawn elsewhere.

Claude picked up a broken desk leg and activated [Body Lightening] before crossing towards the windows, keeping the teachers between himself and the exit.

Neither followed until he swung the wood against the wall, striking hard enough to split it in his hand.

BANG!

Both burned faces turned towards him, and Claude was already moving when the nearest teacher reached out.

Its fingers caught his sleeve before he twisted away, [Reinforcement] tightening over his forearm as he drove it against the creature’s wrist and forced its hand away.

Through the gap between them, he saw Rena push her way through the door with the others.

Alric followed, keeping his attention on Claude until the last member had cleared the entrance.

‘Good. Now I just need to—Shit!’

A hand swept past his face, close enough that a nail caught his cheek.

“——!”

Claude ducked beneath the arm and drove his shoulder into the teacher’s chest, sending it stumbling into the other creature before slipping between the desks.

As he passed the podium, his gaze caught Seth’s head again.

The face seemed to be turned towards him now, and for a brief moment, a thought struck him.

‘Was it turned like this before?’

He didn’t have much time to dwell over it as he looked away and pulled the door shut behind himself.

BANG!

The door slammed against his back almost immediately. Claude planted himself against it, only for another heavy bang to strike from the other side, making the hinges creak under the force.

Clenching his teeth, he planted his feet against the floor and kept his weight against the door.

Bang! Bang!

Each impact shook through his body, the door jerking against his back as the teachers continued trying to force their way through.

Claude remained rooted in place, keeping the door shut until, several seconds later, the banging suddenly stopped.

He didn’t move as a tense silence followed.

In the meantime, he turned his attention towards the others.

They were waiting farther down the corridor, where Rena was tightening a strip of cloth around the injured shoulder of their member while Alric kept watch over opposite ends of the hall.

“…Is everything okay?”

Rena asked, looking at the door behind Claude.

Claude waited another moment before moving away, his body tense as he looked back.

“For now… It seems to be all good.”

The door remained locked.

Alric lowered his hand slightly, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

“We checked ahead. There’s several similar classrooms.”

Claude nodded and moved towards them. His ribs hurt whenever he breathed too deeply, but everyone who had left the classroom was still standing, which was enough for now.

Rena caught his wrist when she noticed him favouring one side.

“Let me see. You took that hit without your protection.”

Claude’s brow raised the moment he felt her touch.

It was hot.

It felt as though she was running a fever.

“Squad Leader? Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s⎯!”

Claude was just about to shake his head when he recalled something from the documents Kyle and Zoey had shared with him.

[Elon had spoken to Mara near the treeline after she’d disappeared, and her skin had felt remarkably warm.]

Claude’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at Rena and the others.

What if…?

‘No, let’s relax. This could be just due to their node usage.’

He was still considering how to check when a loud creaking sound echoed across the surroundings, forcing Claude to turn his attention.

“⎯⎯!”

Creaaak!

A woman stepped out, her movements incredibly slow.

“Huh?”

“Rena?”

Claude’s expression changed at the sight. It wasn’t just him. The same went for the others as Claude’s hand slowly curled at his side.

Behind the second Rena, Alric appeared, followed by another member of the team.

As if sensing their presence too, they also stopped.

“⎯⎯!”

For several seconds, both groups stared at each other without speaking.

“…Claude?”

The Rena near the doorway looked directly at him, her expression changing as her attention moved towards the woman standing beside him.

“What?”

Her eyes constricted.

Claude’s nodes flared as he immediately made a signal with his hands.

It was a verification signal that the Guild granted them in situations such as these.

He didn’t give either of them time to think.

And⎯

‘…She doesn’t know it.’

As expected, only the Rena behind him knew the signal.

Not even a second later, a burned hand curled around the doorway behind the second group.

“Get ready!”

Claude immediately tensed as his nodes flared, a bright light closing around his wrist while the other Rena on the opposite side rushed at them with the same expression.

The group behind her followed quickly.

In an instant, both sides collided.

Claude stepped into Rena’s attack and struck her across the side hard enough to send her crashing against the wall, but a second figure crossed his vision before he could follow up, forcing him to turn and block.

Several more clues from the documents crossed his mind, and soon a new realization struck him.

‘Copies… They’re making copies of us.’

That explained the second Mrs. Vale and Mara Bell.

They were copies!

BANG!

His fist drove through one of his ‘team members,’ and as expected, their bodies simply faded the moment he killed them.

‘As expected, they’re fakes!’

“No!”

The fake Rena’s expression shifted at the sight, her face turning fierce.

Rena came at him again, catching his arm before he could strike. Claude immediately twisted his wrist free, grabbed hers instead, and pulled her towards him.

His fist buried itself in her stomach.

“Uekh!”

Her body folded forward.

Claude didn’t let her fall. He kept hold of her wrist and dragged her back upright before she could recover.

Even though she was talented, at the end of the day, Claude was the Squad Leader for a reason. His combat experience was the greatest, and his nodes made sure that there was no one that could go toe to toe with him in that regard.

Before the fake Rena could regain her footing, he drove another punch into her stomach.

BANG!

“Uekh!”

A scream followed.

Claude didn’t stop, his nodes churning.

‘I can’t waste time.’

She tried to pull away, but Claude tightened his grip and stepped forward with her.

Without wasting another second, he punched one more time.

SPURT!

This time, his fist drove straight through the fake Rena’s stomach. Warmth enveloped his hand as blood sprayed across the surroundings.

Her body went limp against his arm.

A small smirk played at his lips as he tore his hand free, tossed the body aside, and turned to help his group.

But right as he did⎯

His expression froze.

Standing not far from him, the ‘real’ Rena stared back at him with a smile.

Claude’s breath caught.

For a moment, he simply stared at her.

That smile…

His stomach dropped.

“O-oh.”

His head snapped towards the body beneath him.

The Rena he’d just killed lay crumpled against the floor, blood spreading beneath her while steam-like warmth still clung to his hand.

Claude’s eyes shook.

“T-that’s…”

No.

No, no…

But the warmth.

She also didn’t know the signal.

He had checked.

He made sure.

So how…?

His gaze dropped towards the blood coating his hand.

What?

Wha…

CLANK!

A door opened abruptly, and Claude’s head turned.

Through the open doorway, he could see the classroom podium. Seth’s severed head rested in its centre, facing the corridor with the same faint curve to its lips.

Claude stared at it.

Then slowly looked back towards Rena.

The smile continued to linger in his mind.

His lips began to shake.

“T-that’s…”

“⎯”

“…”