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

Chapter 789: Plague [2]

I stared at the radio for several seconds.

Only the static continued, occasionally growing louder before settling again. I waited a little longer before lowering my hand and putting the radio away.

‘If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.’

It was giving me hints about the future.

No, I mean, I already knew this much. I didn’t forget about it and always paid close attention to it.

That was most certainly my voice. Even though I didn’t know what I was objecting to, I had some sort of idea of what the general scenario was.

The problem was figuring out when all of this was set to happen.

Tomorrow? In a week?

I would have to investigate further before I could understand how much time I had. Sitting around waiting for it to give me another sentence wasn’t going to be enough.

‘Right, I already do have a collection of all the cases they have. But I feel like they won’t help much.’

This felt different…

There was also the issue with VILE-1048.

Too many things at once.

“…Hoo.”

I turned towards the hospital and sighed before making my way back inside.

I hadn’t been gone for very long. Yet, the made the sight waiting for me upstairs was rather concerning.

Two nurses hurried past as I stepped out of the elevator. One was pushing a trolley, while the other was speaking quickly to someone beside her.

Both were heading towards the same ward.

My steps slowed for a moment before they quickened.

Don’t tell me…

Then I heard it.

“Aaaaaah—!”

A piercing scream came from the room ahead, followed by a familiar voice.

“Stop! Please, stop!”

Geneva.

I reached the doorway just as something struck the wall.

Thud!

“Hold his arm!”

I stepped inside.

There was blood on the wall beside the bed. Several marks overlapped, with thin streaks running down towards the floor.

Geneva had both arms wrapped around her brother, desperately trying to pull him back. His feet scraped against the floor as he pushed forward, his face wet with blood.

A nurse caught his arm while another moved between him and the wall.

I looked at the blood, then at his forehead.

“…..”

It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened.

“Seth!”

Geneva looked towards me, but her brother suddenly twisted in her arms, forcing her attention back to him.

“He just started—”

“I can see.”

The monitor was sounding behind them. One of the nurses tried to press a cloth against his forehead, only for him to jerk his head away and scream again.

“Haaaaa!”

It was a scream that seemed to rip straight from his soul.

He trashed all over the place as Geneva held him in place, holding him by the arms as tightly as possible.

Even as Geneva called his name, he kept trying to get past her.

That was when an idea struck me.

‘Maybe…?’

I reached inside my pocket.

A small red ball settled into my palm, the foam squishing beneath my fingers as I moved closer.

‘Let’s see if it works.’

“Hold him for a moment.”

Geneva tightened her arms around him.

“….!?”

“Look here.”

I brought the ball towards his face. He immediately turned his head, and I followed the movement before pressing the soft foam against his face.

“Get a good look.”

His eyes briefly moved towards me before stopping on the ball.

Then he started struggling again.

I kept it there for another moment before taking my hand away. Geneva stumbled as he suddenly pulled to the side, slipping partly out of her grasp.

The nurse caught him before he reached the wall.

“Careful!”

I put the ball away and took out a small piece of colourful cloth. A bell hung from one end, making a faint sound as I lifted it.

The nurse glanced towards my hand.

“What are you—”

“Just a moment.”

The child was still trying to move, dragging Geneva a few steps around the side of the bed. It was a surprising sight considering that Geneva was strong, but evidently, she didn’t want to hurt him.

I followed, keeping the bell in front of him.

His gaze shifted towards it.

Ding.

He twisted away again.

I transferred the cloth to my injured hand, lifted my other hand beside it, and clicked my fingers.

Snap!

He stopped.

‘Done ‘

One moment, he had been trying to wrench his arm free, and the next, he stood completely still, his fingers closed around Geneva’s sleeve.

She almost lost her balance.

“…Ah?”

The nurse holding his arm paused. Her eyes moved from him to me, while Geneva slowly loosened her hold.

She was staring at me with the same look as the nurse.

But I didn’t pay attention to them. I only looked at Geneva’s brother.

He didn’t move.

Neither did his eyes as I lowered the bell.

“…..”

‘Good. It’s really working.’

I watched him for another moment, making sure he wasn’t about to start throwing himself against the wall again. He was hypnotised.

The nurse carefully brought the cloth back towards his forehead. This time, he didn’t pull away.

I opened my mouth to speak, when⎯

“I have a cold.”

The child spoke.

His voice was very low and soft, barely reaching me over the noise from the monitor. It was quite a contrast from his previous screaming.

“…I’m feeling quite feverish.”

I frowned.

Geneva’s lips parted, but I raised my hand slightly before she could say anything.

The child wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t looking at me, either.

His eyes remained fixed on a point somewhere ahead, and after speaking, he waited.

A few seconds passed.

Then his lips moved again.

“How do I make it better?”

My fingers slowly closed around the foam ball.

‘…VILE-1048?’

Was he speaking to it?

I looked in the direction he was facing, but there was nothing that explained his behaviour. Just the bed, the wall, and one of the nurses trying to give the others room.

“…Since yesterday.”

He paused again.

The nurse pressed the cloth against his forehead. He didn’t seem to notice, his attention remaining elsewhere as his head tilted slightly.

“No.”

Another pause.

“I tried. It didn’t help.”

I remained where I was, listening.

The way he spoke was bothering me. There was enough time between his replies for someone to say something, and occasionally, he gave a small nod before answering. But I couldn’t hear anything.

“Will it take long?”

Geneva’s hand tightened around his arm.

He waited for several seconds before lowering his chin.

“…Okay.”

His shoulders relaxed a little.

“I’ll wait.”

A rather unpleasant feeling settled inside my stomach.

Wait.

I looked towards Geneva.

Earlier, she had told me that her brother had said he was next. At the time, I thought he was next for something big to happen, but this felt completely different.

So what exactly was he waiting for?

My gaze returned to him.

Perhaps he had meant that his turn had come.

‘…His turn.’

The words stayed in my head as I watched the nurse guide him back towards the bed. He sat down without resisting, his hands slowly settling onto his knees.

I barely noticed.

A cold. A fever…

He hadn’t said anything about the injury to his forehead. He was asking about a cold as though that were the only thing wrong with him.

My heartbeat started picking up.

I thought back to the information I had gone through. The small complaints that hadn’t seemed particularly important before everything else happened.

Feeling a little unwell. Nothing serious. Then the condition changed.

“…..”

The bell shifted between my fingers, making a faint sound.

I stopped moving.

There was something there. Something I had already seen, but hadn’t properly thought about.

The waiting. The sickness. The words coming out of the child’s mouth.

‘Could it be…?’

Slowly, I looked at Geneva.

She was already looking back at me, her eyes trembling slightly as she waited for me to say something.

I parted my lips.

At the same time, a notification appeared before me.

[You have been haunted]