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

Chapter 836: Eve of the Court [3]

Swoosh!

Several figures emerged from the Gate.

Their dark suits were covered in dust, and one of them stumbled as his boot caught onto a wire.

Kyle immediately caught his arm.

“Careful.”

The man nodded, although he seemed to have difficulty keeping his head up.

Kyle helped him towards the shelter before turning back.

“Keep moving. There’s room over here.”

Another member came through, followed by two more. Their faces were pale, and none of them said anything as the support personnel approached to take their equipment.

Kyle waited until the last person stepped out.

Only then did he let out a breath.

“Ha…”

He wiped his forehead, barely noticing the rain running down the side of his face.

His arm ached.

So did the back of his head. In fact, every part of him ached.

For a moment, he simply stood there, waiting until he could feel like he could breathe again.

“I… I can’t anymore.”

A voice came from behind him, prompting to turn his head.

One of the members sat on an equipment case, struggling to undo the fastening across her chest. After trying twice, she lowered her hands.

“This is too much.”

She muttered, her voice hoarse.

Nobody argued with her.

A man beside her leaned forward, his elbows resting against his knees. He kept his eyes closed while another member helped remove the harness from his shoulders.

Kyle approached and crouched in front of the woman.

“Hold still.”

He undid the fastening.

She took a deeper breath as the strap loosened.

“Thank you.”

“It’s fine.”

He stood, looking towards the others.

“We’ll head back once everyone’s been checked.”

“And after that?”

Kyle stopped.

The woman looked up at him.

“Are they going to send us somewhere else?”

“…..”

For a moment, he couldn’t answer.

That seemed to tell her enough.

She lowered her head.

“I… can’t.”

Kyle looked towards the support personnel before taking another breath himself.

‘We can’t go on like this.’

The workload was too much.

Ever since Seth left, Section Chief Johansberg seemed to lose whatever restraint remained. Every day brought news of another license, and another Gate that they needed to clear.

The Ivory Thorn’s licenses were changing hands faster than the Guild could prepare teams to handle them.

They were being worked like dogs.

Kyle looked at his phone, taking note of the new messages he received from the Guilds. It was all extra work that he felt too tired to do.

He was already overworked before, but now…?

It almost felt as though he was getting no rest.

‘This can’t continue.’

He looked back at the member sitting with his eyes closed.

Though subtle, his hands were shaking.

For some reason, Seth’s face came to Kyle’s mind.

He though about all the nonsense and crap he used to pull in order to confront the Section Chief.

Kyle used to find it rather troublesome.

Now…

He was starting to understand just how vital his nonsense had been to the Guild. He was pretty much the Guild’s safeguard.

Ding!

His phone vibrated.

Kyle took it out, his heart sinking as he thought it could possibly be another order from the Guild.

Instead, Zoey’s name appeared.

⎯I’ve seen Helios Vanguard members at the Ivory Thorn negotiations. They’re working with the Guilds buying most of its assets.

His brows drew together.

Another message followed.

⎯What’s strange is where they aren’t bidding. The Guilds they’re backing have been competing over nearly everything, but none of them is challenging the licenses Johansberg wants.

Kyle read the message again.

⎯I don’t think he’s beating them to those Gates. I think they’ve already agreed on who gets what.

“…..”

His breath felt heavier than before.

‘I knew it.’

Kyle had always known that Section Chief Johansberg had someone to support him from behind.

That much was clear from the confidence he showed recently, and the way certain people stopped objecting to his proposals.

But Helios Vanguard…

One of the Big Five.

That made things rather troublesome.

Kyle looked towards the vehicles parked beyond the shelter, and shook his head.

‘Right, I’m also sure that they hate Seth…’

Kyle could still recall what he had done to their prized member, Leon. A lot of the backlash had died down, but the stain it had left on Leon’s resume had never been cleaned. It was always there.

Whenever his name was mentioned, there’d always be someone to mention Seth’s name alongside it.

In a way, Seth had singlehandedly ruined a top Paragon’s reputation singlehandedly.

Kyle lowered his gaze towards the phone again.

⎯They may be the ones backing him.

Kyle started typing, but soon stopped.

To be honest, there wasn’t much he could say. Even if it was true, so what…? What could he even do about it? The same went for Zoey.

What could she do about it?

Ding!

Another message appeared.

It was still from Zoey.

⎯There’s something else. Several Guilds have approached me about transferring.

Kyle’s brow rose.

Then⎯

⎯I might consider one of them.

His expression stiffened.

“…..”

For a while, he stared at the words. It wasn’t like he didn’t see this coming, but not now.

Before he could type, someone hurried past him.

They seemed to be in a rush.

“Get the vehicle ready.”

Hm?

Kyle raised his head.

Two support personnel were moving towards the road. One held a radio close to his ear, while the other abandoned the case he was carrying beside the shelter.

A little farther away, someone opened the back of a van.

Then another person started calling for the supervisor.

“What’s going on?”

Kyle looked around in confusion. He could hardly understand what was going on.

Trrring! Trying!

Several phones rang at once.

“Hold on. What’s happening?”

Kyle tried to ask around, but nobody answered him. Eventually, he stepped towards a member of the support team as he hurried past.

“Hey.”

He caught the man’s sleeve.

“What’s going on?”

The man stopped, looking at him in surprise.

“You haven’t heard?”

“We just came out.”

“Right…”

He glanced towards the Gate behind Kyle before looking back.

“Another Gate appeared. They’re calling in teams from across the area.”

Kyle frowned.

A new Gate wasn’t good news, but that wasn’t anything that was unusual for those in their line of work. So what prompted such a reaction?

“Where is the Gate?”

“Near Sines. Very close.”

“How close are we talking?”

“I don’t know exactly. The Bureau is already clearing the surroundings.”

The man’s phone rang again. His expression changed after glimpsing at it.

“The readings are still going up.”

Kyle’s brows furrowed, feeling a strange sense of foreboding as his heart felt heavier by the second.

“What’s the rank?”

“That’s the problem.”

The man looked at him.

“I think it’s around Rank. It doesn’t seem to be anything crazy. But…”