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

Chapter 779: Troubling Anomaly [3]

“…Let go.”

Please?

I tried pulling my hand away, but its fingers only tightened, pressing against the bones in my wrist. The pain from the failed containment had yet to fade, and this wasn’t helping.

In fact, it hurt quite a bit.

Stop it.

“Mirelle.”

“Hehehe…”

The anomaly didn’t react despite Mirelle’s laugh. Its grip remained exactly the same.

I looked down at my wrist.

‘Oh, shit.’

It wasn’t using an ability to hold me. Those were just its fingers, and unfortunately, I found myself unable to break free despite trying to pull away.

I had been rather occupied with everything it might do with the body swap that I hadn’t given much thought to what it could do physically.

‘Fuck, it’s pretty strong.’

Thankfully, I wasn’t completely helpless.

A thin veil of darkness stirred behind the anomaly as the Voidwalker emerged without a sound, its arm narrowing as it lifted it above the anomaly’s shoulder.

But as if sensing the Voidwalker’s presence, the anomaly suddenly pulled me closer.

“…!”

My balance gave out as I stumbled forward, my free hand catching its shoulder. At the same time, Mirelle stopped laughing as the anomaly brought its hand to my face.

My eyes widened at the sight, its fingers already reaching for my eyes when⎯

Ting!

A thin sound echoed across the room.

The hand stopped.

Its fingertips remained a short distance from my cheek, trembling slightly as the Conductor lowered his finger.

“Careful there.”

I immediately pulled backwards and tried to free myself from the anomaly’s grip.

But…

Even with the rest of its body still, the fingers around my wrist refused to open. I caught its thumb with my free hand and tried bending it away, but before I could loosen anything⎯

“Hehehe…”

Mirelle’s laughter returned.

The anomaly’s grip over my wrist tightened, the pain reaching me. I tried my best not to show much of a reaction, but I could feel the bones creaking under the force of its grip.

“Could you… like, let go a bit? It’s starting to hurt.”

It looked up.

Behind it, the Voidwalker moved once again.

I caught a glimpse of a dark blade forming before the anomaly suddenly twisted, dragging me across its body. My shoulder entered the path of the blade, which stopped close enough for me to feel something cold against my shirt.

“…..”

The Voidwalker looked at me.

I looked back and drew a cold breath.

“…It’s good that you’ve stopped⎯uekh!”

The anomaly pulled again, forcing my arm across my stomach as it pressed itself against my back. Its free hand slid beneath my jaw, grabbing from below, and ready to snap my neck at any given second.

‘This is getting rather unpleasant.’

The Voidwalker moved to the side. The anomaly turned with it, keeping me between them while its thumb slowly pressed beneath my chin.

The Conductor’s hand remained raised. Mirelle stood a few steps away, her shoulders shaking as another strained giggle escaped her lips, but it was of no use as the anomaly held me completely hostage.

Everyone was looking at me.

I understood how they felt. I was also wondering what they were supposed to do.

“Perhaps we can talk about this.”

The fingers beneath my jaw tightened.

I could tell…

With one simple movement, it could end me.

“…Apparently not.”

I tried shifting my arm again, but the pain spreading through my wrist made me stop. With its other hand against my face, I couldn’t even turn my head properly.

At the same time, I could feel its gaze directed towards Mirelle.

It was waiting…

Waiting for her to pause before taking over.

Haha.

I wanted to laugh.

Really…

“He… hehe…”

Her laughter was becoming quieter and quieter by the second. I could see that she was trying her best to keep laughing, but she couldn’t do so forever as I looked towards the others. Even they were a little stumped, considering that any action from them would lead to the anomaly killing me.

That…

‘I’m a hostage.’

“That is I.”

The anomaly’s cheek brushed against the side of my head.

I tried working my first node again, but the moment I tried, I felt the anomaly press its hand deeper into my neck, forcing me to stop.

“…Stop it.”

It even spoke. With my own voice.

Wonderful.

The Voidwalker tried moving once more, but I could feel the anomaly turning before it had even finished moving. The Voidwalker stopped immediately. There wasn’t much room for me or anyone to do anything.

This anomaly…

It seemed to be prepared for everything.

Eventually, I shrugged.

It wasn’t a particularly good shrug, considering the circumstances.

“…Well, this is rather bad.”

“Hehe… he…”

Mirelle’s voice grew more and more strained, tears forming at the sides of her face as she looked at me.

In the end, I just shook my head.

She stopped.

“….”

For a brief moment, the room went completely silent.

Then the hand against my face pressed closer.

And soon⎯

My entire body went cold, my mind losing connection to all my limbs.

“⎯!”

I felt my jaw move.

Not open, but move…

The sensation felt as though someone had reached beneath my skin and pulled my face slightly from beneath.

My feet were still touching the floor.

I could feel that.

But when I looked down, I saw my shoes from behind.

‘…What?’

Another string sounded.

It seemed to come from somewhere outside the room, although I could still see the Conductor standing in front of me.

In front of which me?

I tried raising my free hand.

The hand I was looking at remained by my side. Something moved beside my face instead, and I felt fingers pressing against my cheek.

Except now, I could feel the cheek beneath those fingers too.

My stomach turned as the room moved again. For a moment, I was staring at the back of my own head, watching my body lean against me while my lips slowly opened.

I could still feel my wrist hurting.

Only now, I could also feel how tightly I was holding it.

‘Stop.’

I tried releasing the grip.

Nothing happened.

My mouth moved somewhere in front of me.

“…Stop.”

The voice sounded like mine, but I didn’t mean to say it aloud. I was struggling to understand what was happening. It was as if I was continuously swapping between the two bodies, but also acting more like a spectator.

It felt… incredibly weird.

Something pressed against the inside of my forehead.

Then… came the absolute silence.

It was a silence that felt so weird that for a moment I stopped struggling.

Usually, I’d be assaulted by dozens of voices inside of my head, telling me what to do and what not to do. It was hard for me to tell which one I had to follow and which one I had to ignore, but at this very moment…

All the voices were gone.

All I heard was a strange silence.

One… that felt strangely comforting.

I tried closing my eyes, but the view of my own back remained. Instead, the room disappeared from the other side, leaving me looking through only one pair of eyes.

Something else was still trying to look through the pair I had closed.

My eyelids twitched.

Then opened.

“No.”

I wasn’t sure which mouth had said it.

The pressure continued moving further inside my head, and the voices returned.

Each seemed to be telling me to do something different, and for a moment, I felt my body trying to listen to all of them.

‘Turn around.’

‘Stay still.’

‘Open your mouth.’

‘Which one?’

The same words started coming through the mouth beside my ear, overlapping until I couldn’t make out where one sentence ended and another began.

But then, the voices faded completely. My vision shifted as well.

I couldn’t tell which was me.

Until⎯

Something stiffened behind me.

I felt its fingers before I could see them, each joint bending painfully as its grip over my jaw started to loosen. Its arm jerked away from my face, then reached towards it again, missing and catching its own cheek instead.

“N-no…”

My voice came out of its mouth.

Then another sound followed, several voices struggling through the same throat.

“N-no… No… no… NO… N-o.”

Then⎯

“AAAAAAAAH⎯!”

The anomaly suddenly shrieked.

It was a heart-wrenching shriek. One that seemed to come directly from the soul as the anomaly started twisting against the wall, one shoulder rising while the other pulled backwards. Its hands clawed at its head, fingers digging into its hair as its mouth opened far wider than before.

The sensations started to return to me, alongside the voices.

That was reassuring in a way.

‘…That was trippy.’

I remained where I was for several seconds, trying to breathe while the anomaly slowly stopped shaking. Its hands lowered, and its eyes moved across the room before finding me.

It immediately pressed itself further against the wall, its body trembling.

Almost as if… it was scared of me.

Ah?

“…..”

I looked down at my wrist. Blue marks were starting to form where its fingers had been, and my hand wouldn’t quite stop trembling.

Did it break?

When I looked back at the anomaly, the anomaly tried moving away.

There wasn’t anywhere for it to go.

I rubbed the side of my head before understanding what was going on.

‘Don’t tell me it got scared after body-swapping with me and hearing all the voices in my head.’

I mean, anyone would go crazy over them.

Not me though.

“My head is a little fucked up, I know.”

It stared at me.

This time, it didn’t try repeating my words.

I approached carefully, keeping my attention on its hands. The Voidwalker moved beside it while the Conductor watched from the other side.

The anomaly looked between them before returning its attention to me, its back pressed against the wall as its hands tried to look for a way out.

“…Let’s try this again.”

I reached towards its shoulder.

It flinched, turning around in desperation as it tried to claw away from the room.

“There. There.”

My first node activated as I used [Containment Vessel].

The pain returned, but the force pushing against me before was gone as I pressed my hand against the anomaly’s head.

Then…

Its mouth opened, but nothing came out.

A moment later, my fingers closed around its head as a notification appeared before my eyes.

[Containment successful.]

[ Ranked Mimic]