"Have a good thought about our conversation. I think it would be best for the two of us if you switched to another Guild. This is also me being quite nice to you. I’m sure you understand how troublesome things might become once they fully start to suspect your identity as the ’Jester’. In a way, you can say that I’m helping you."
The rat pointed at the papers in front of me before standing up.
"Anyways, I hope you take some time to think properly about the situation. I... really don’t want to do this, you know? I quite like you, after all."
So he said...
However, it was clear to me that he detested me.
He wouldn’t do something like this to someone that he liked. I knew this better than most people.
"I’ll wait for about three days to hear your answer. I hope it’s a positive one."
The rat proceeded to move out of the door shortly after that.
Clank—!
Even as the door shut and silence fell into the room, I remained seated on my chair, quietly alternating my gaze between the door and the paper in front of me.
In the end—
"Kek..."
A laugh escaped my lips, my fingers just barely keeping the smile from revealing as I covered my face with my hand.
"...Kek!"
I could barely hold back my laughter as I replayed the conversation in my head. The more I dwelled on it, the more amusing it became, bubbling up inside me until I almost let it slip.
’For him to go this far... Just how insecure must I have made him?’
The rat’s character in the game was clear.
Incredibly competent, but also incredibly insecure, calculative, and ruthless. He was the type of person to do anything to get to his goal, even going as far as backstabbing the people with whom he was close.
’It’s obvious that my actions have started to make him incredibly insecure.’
But that wasn’t the part that amused me.
The part that amused me was the fact that he became insecure despite my best attempts at trying to mind my own business and lay low.
It made me realize something...
"Just how insecure would he feel if I actually tried?"
Kek!
I suddenly felt like laughing again, my chest and shoulders trembling at the thought. Unfortunately for him, I had already started laying out plans to stand out even more. This was something that I had come to terms with when I revealed to Joanna and the others about the fact that I had a node.
"...And even if the rat really does reveal what he’s found, he can’t prove it."
That being said, he was right about it making things more troublesome for me. I was aware of the fact that everyone in the Guild was quite smart. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together.
I needed to quickly think of ways to escape this dilemma.
But how...?
How was I going to do that?
"Hmm."
I narrowed my eyes, racking my brain on the matter. However, regardless of how much I tried to think about it, I couldn’t come up with anything.
Drumming my fingers over the table, I ended up taking out a certain compass.
"Maybe this can help."
The description stated that it would lead me to the thing that I desired most. As of right now, the thing that I desired the most was finding a way to deal with the current situation.
"Hopefully I can get something..."
The hope was there, but the result wasn’t. The moment I activated my node and tried to activate the compass, it began to spin rapidly in all directions. Even after several minutes had passed, the compass never came to a stop. It continued to spin, and that was when I realized that it couldn’t find a solution.
"That’s annoying."
Unable to hide my disappointment, I turned my attention towards the offer presented on my table.
"Ah, I see. So he went behind my back to talk to that guy..."
This offer was from the same Guild that Hermes came from. It looked like the two of them had made some sort of deal behind the scenes.
’Judging from the terms presented, he also seems satisfied with my performance at the Trials.’
It was just unfortunate that the offer was still too low for my liking.
500,000$ yearly salary, alongside a company car and some other benefits. The offer wasn’t bad per se, but it was far below my current value. There was also nothing about sponsoring me for the games.
I didn’t even think about it before scrunching up the offer and tossing it aside.
"Tempting, but far from good enough."
I had no plans on leaving.
"Three days..."
Drumming my fingers over the desk, my eyes narrowed as I thought about the time that the rat had given me. Reaching for the drink next to me, I took a quiet sip and focused my attention back towards the compass.
’Right, I have about three days. That should be enough for me to—’
My thoughts came to a sudden pause as I turned my attention towards the drink. This was the drink that Zoey had given me. I turned it around and looked at the brand.
’Oh.’
Realization came rather quickly.
This was...
The Kyle special.
I closed my eyes, feeling my mind go blank.
"Pftttt—!"
That bitch!
***
Despite several days having passed since the end of the Trial, news articles and talk shows continued to talk all about it within the island. It was all everyone could focus on.
It was so rare for such a large incident to occur on the island.
At the same time, a few concerns rose in my mind. Who exactly was the group behind creating such a mess, and what was their ultimate goal?
"There’s no official statement yet, but sources suggest it’s very likely the work of a small independent group. We can’t confirm at this time, but for those living on the island, we advise caution while the bureau continues its investigation into the sit—"
Click!
"Bah."
A middle-aged man with a pot belly and receding belly tossed the remote to the side while clicking his tongue.
"Tired of hearing about this news. It’s what they fucking talk about."
His frustration was clear.
With twelve-hour working days, the little leisure time he had available was sacred to him. But with the broadcasts looping the same reports again and again, irritation slowly began to set in.
—I hope they stop talking about this bullshit. Getting fucking irritating.
Leaving a message online, he walked towards his PC and booted it, his hand reaching out under his shirt as he scratched his belly.
"Let’s see."
The moment he booted his laptop, he opened Dock and browsed through the games.
"I’ve already played this. Mid."
"This one is also mid."
"Mid."
He scrolled through all of the recommendations with a drowsy look. And just as he was about to get bored with that too, he paused.
A certain game caught his interest.
"Oh, shit."
The game appeared to be trending, too.
"...Oh, wait."
He paused the moment he saw the studio.
Nightmare Forge Studios.
"Ah, it’s them."
He immediately felt a wave of disappointment. In the past, they used to be a very good company; however, from the moment they got taken over by another company, the quality of their games had dipped significantly, releasing one flop after another.
The middle-aged man had tried all of their games, and as such was aware of what sort of slop they released.
It was also a horror.
He didn’t quite like horror.
"I guess I’ll skip this—"
Just as he thought about skipping the game, his gaze fell on the review sections.
[Overwhelmingly Positive]
"Hm?"
His brows shot up the moment he caught sight of the ratings. His surprise only increased when he realized that the number of ratings was over a thousand.
"This game... It’s good?" For the briefest of moments, the middle-aged man thought that to be the case.
But soon—
"No, I doubt it."
He quickly shook his head.
"I bet it’s just bots."
This wasn’t an uncommon strategy employed by big companies.
"Yeah, it has to be that."
Despite coming to this conclusion, he still ended up downloading the game. The curiosity got to him, and as he booted the game up and stared at the screen, he cracked his fingers.
"This should be easy."
He smiled, turning on his camera to catch his reaction.
"...I’ll clear this in no time and expose those bots."
Cackling, the middle-aged man began to play the game.
But—
Not even a few minutes in, and the smile was completely gone from his face.
Five minutes in...
"Haaaaaaaaa!"
A scream ripped through his throat.
That moment was the start of a chain reaction.
A new horror game began to trend on that day.