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

Chapter 786: Ivory Thorn [1]

“So…? What did you think about my actions?”

I sat in front of my department’s Section Chief, waiting for him to answer. His tired eyes remained fixed on his phone as he scrolled through something, occasionally stopping to type a reply.

He hadn’t looked at me since I entered.

“Section Chief?”

“I heard you.”

“Ah. I thought you were sleeping with your eyes open.”

His thumb stopped moving. Eventually, he lowered the phone and looked at me, a long sigh escaping his lips.

“…You’ve created quite a mess for me.”

“But isn’t that what you wanted?”

I smiled as I leaned back in the chair. The Section Chief stared at me for a moment before shaking his head.

“What I want is to sleep.”

Looking at the dark circles beneath his eyes, I slowly nodded. That did seem like something he needed more than a meeting with me.

“Makes total sense. In that case, why don’t you⎯”

“Because you exist.”

“…..”

“…..”

“That’s mean.”

He returned his attention to the phone as it vibrated again. I waited while he read the message, watching his expression grow worse.

“Is that about me?”

“Most of them are.”

“Oh.”

I leaned forward a little, trying to look at the screen. He moved it away before I could read anything. Well, I didn’t need to see to know what it was about. It was very likely the thing that I had accidentally ‘leaked’ to the press.

“You’ve made quite a few people interested in our position.”

“That’s good. That means that you can get more sleep since you won’t have to delegate as much work to the others like before.”

“No, I’m getting more work.”

“Well, cheer up.”

“I’m getting less sleep.”

“…Right.”

That did seem to be his main concern.

The Section Chief finally put his phone away and rested his arms against the desk. His eyes were still tired, but his expression had grown considerably more serious.

“Since things have come to this, I’ll tell you straight. There’s a limit to how much I can protect you from all the external pressure.”

I stopped smiling.

“Section Chief Johansberg has more power than you believe. You can point out that he isn’t the Guild Master all you like, but there’s a reason the others hesitate to oppose him.”

“I noticed.”

“And yet you kept going.”

“Well, stopping halfway would’ve been awkward.”

His tired eyes glossed over me as I adjusted my position and let him continue.

“That guy… he’s been planning for a very long time. He also has the backing of several Guilds. They have their own reasons for wanting him in charge, and they’ll hardly be pleased if someone starts interfering.”

His gaze briefly lowered towards the phone before returning to me.

“What you did…”

“It pissed off those very Guilds, right?”

He looked at me without answering.

That was enough of an answer.

A smile returned to my face as I stood up, resting my injured hand against my stomach.

“…Actually, that’s nice.”

The Section Chief slowly rubbed his forehead.

“Did you listen to anything I just said?”

“Yes. Several Guilds are backing him, and I’ve annoyed them. It was quite easy to follow.”

“Then why do you look pleased?”

“Because that means they’ll be targeting me soon.”

I glanced towards his phone.

“Before this, I didn’t even know who to look at.”

The Section Chief’s expression paused.

“Wait, you…”

I just continued to smile.

Section Chief Johansberg was a problem, but not the main problem. He was a man who had a large beard and a habit of sitting at the head of every table.

But he wasn’t the most troublesome one.

It was the people helping him that were more troublesome.

If they had interests tied to him, then they’d eventually have to do something when those interests were threatened.

It wouldn’t tell me everything, but it would give me somewhere to start.

A hidden enemy was considerably more annoying than a known one. If they wanted to keep quiet and help Johansberg from the side, then I would simply have to make that difficult for them.

I pointed towards the Section Chief’s phone.

“See? It hasn’t rung in a bit. I bring good luck.”

“… Yes, you’re right.”

“That’s good.”

I nodded and turned towards the door. Just before reaching it, however, I heard his phone vibrate again, followed by a rather tired sigh.

Poor man.

He really did need some sleep.

***

Krrr⎯

The radio sat near the edge of my desk.

With the lights off, most of the office was dark, the faint glow from the computer barely reaching the chair beside me. I remained where I was, listening to the static while my good hand rested near the dial.

At some point, the voices in the corridor had stopped.

I didn’t notice when.

“…Still nothing?”

I turned the dial slightly. The static grew louder before fading again, and I carefully returned it to its previous position.

Nothing.

I had done the same thing several times already, but I still waited a little longer before taking my hand away.

It wasn’t as though staring at the thing would make it work. I understood that perfectly well.

I kept staring anyway.

Something was going to happen in the near future, and whatever was going to happen, it was clear that it would be something big.

It was also clear that, somehow, I would be involved.

Beyond that, I didn’t know much.

When would it happen? Where? And how much time did I have to prepare?

The radio didn’t seem particularly interested in helping me with any of that.

Krrr⎯

I rubbed the side of my face and leaned back.

VILE-1048.

My gaze lowered towards the bracelet around my wrist.

My head felt clearer. The voices were fainter, and I could think without having to fight through them as much. I appreciated that, but it didn’t mean I could afford to relax.

With VILE-1048 still unresolved and the radio refusing to do anything, I was struggling to determine my next set of actions. It seemed like problems were piling up one after another, without me being able to do anything about them.

And those weren’t even all of them.

‘Let’s not forget about the Hand.’

They had yet to do anything to me, at least as far as I could tell. The message I had sent them had worked, but their silence was becoming rather worrying. I doubted they had simply forgotten about me.

Perhaps they werebeing cautious. Perhaps they were looking into things before deciding what to do next. Neither possibility made me particularly comfortable.

The longer they remained quiet, the more time I spent wondering whether they were doing something in the background.

I only realised how tightly I was gripping the armrest when a dull pain travelled through my wrist.

Carefully, I moved that hand back into my lap.

“…Hoo.”

I took a deep breath and looked towards the ceiling.

I had just told the Section Chief that knowing who my enemies were would make things easier. Now that I was trying to work out what they might do, I found myself understanding his tired expression a little better.

Just a little.

My eyes returned to the radio as the static briefly changed, and I waited until it settled again.

Still nothing.

I reached over and lowered the volume.

Waiting for it wasn’t getting me anywhere. Neither was sitting in the dark, trying to guess what everyone else was doing.

There were things I could prepare, but even those required money. Creating a Gate wasn’t free, and I would rather have the funds ready before I needed them.

I moved the mouse with my good hand, bringing my attention back towards the computer.

In the end, there was one thing I could do.

“Make money.”

Right. I needed to make money.

…I was also in debt.

“…”

“”…

“……”