"There are two days left before launch."
Checking the date and time, I sat back in my chair and drummed my fingers over the table. The game was practically done, only requiring a few tweaks.
In all honesty, I was quite nervous.
I couldn’t guarantee that my game was going to be a success.
"They say all publicity is good publicity, but I may have gone a little overboard this time."
Taking out my phone and checking out the comments that were flooding my page, I winced at the number of hate comments that I was receiving.
A lot of them belonged to [Samurai71] ’s fan club, but there were also several that belonged to outsiders. In particular, people who belonged to other Guilds and just people who didn’t find my games scary at all.
Even now, the ratings of my previous games were dropping.
"Still, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing."
The more people who played my previous games, the better.
This was because there were a lot of connections between the three games. I was planning something big, and connecting all three games was going to be important.
"I might even go as far as releasing the VR versions of my old games alongside the new game."
I had added quite a few changes in order to make the games sync.
"...It might be hard, but not impossible."
There was still something more pressing at the moment.
Click! Click! Click!
"Come on. Come on. Come on."
I continued to refresh the page on my computer screen. Seeing no changes, I started to grow impatient.
"...I’ve applied for this a while ago. Come on!"
Right now, I was waiting to get news back regarding the music of my game. It was an original piece that I had created with the Conductor and everyone else. In order not to make the same mistake as last time, I decided to send it over to the copyright department.
Who would’ve thought that they’d be so slow?
It’s been almost two weeks.
"Just what is taking them so long?"
I had even paid them around 1000$ to make it faster. Otherwise, it would usually take several months.
However, they were being unusually slow.
"It can’t be that the music is making them go mad, right?"
The thought made my breath pause, but I quickly shook my head.
"No, that’s not possible."
I had specifically made sure to send them a copy that didn’t have any effect. This was so that it wouldn’t accidentally cause someone to throw themselves out of the window... Not that the effect was that strong anyway.
’At least, that’s what the Conductor promised me.’
I licked my lips.
On second thought, trusting the words of the Conductor wasn’t exactly the best thing to do...
"It should be fine. Yeah, it should be fine."
I closed down the laptop and blankly stared at the painting before me. Unlike usual, Mirelle didn’t show up the moment I looked at the painting. She was currently throwing a tantrum, feeling betrayed by what I had done with her.
The same was true for the Realmwalker and Mr. Jingles.
They were all on strike.
The only one who was happy was the Conductor.
’Sorry, but it had to be done.’
This was all for my newest gam—
Trr—! Trr!
"....."
A sudden vibration shattered my thoughts, echoing within the silence of the room as I slowly turned my attention towards the side of the desk where a certain flip phone appeared.
Trr—! Trr!
Hearing it ring again, I felt my breathing quicken slightly.
"Oh, shit."
[Unknown Caller]
I had been waiting for quite some time for the next phone call.
Time was slowly running out for the deadline of the quest, and it appeared as though the final phone call had arrived.
Trr—! Trr!
Hearing it ring again, I took a deep breath before reaching out for it.
’Let’s get this over with.’
I had gathered enough evidence to know where the cult was, but it was best to pick up more information so that I wouldn’t be blindsided.
"Hoo."
Taking another deep breath, trying to shake the nervousness away, I picked up the call.
—....
The room instantly chilled.
The sound of heavy breathing echoed from the other side of the phone as I stood still, waiting for my surroundings to change like they usually did.
But...
Something was different this time.
Besides the cold, there were no real apparent changes to my surroundings.
My heart tensed, feeling that something was wrong.
And then—
—E... verywhere.
A hoarse voice echoed from the speakers of the phone. It sounded tired, almost desperate, as if they were struggling just to get the words out.
—E-eyes, everywhere.
I didn’t need to see to imagine what was happening as I suddenly felt as though a series of eyes were watching me, all latched onto the surroundings of the room, staring down on me.
My throat tightened, and my hand shook.
—They’re... looking at me from every direction. It’s all I can see. I... don’t know what’s going on, but there’s no way out for me. This is it for me.
I could feel a certain level of acceptance in the voice. As though the person the voice belonged to had finally accepted their fate.
—One, two, three...
Suddenly, the man started to count.
—Nine, ten, eleven...
I didn’t need to guess to know what he was counting.
’The eyes.’
He was counting the eyes.
—Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three..
A heavy tension lingered across my room as he continued to count. For some reason, my heart started to beat faster, and cold sweat started to pool down my back.
—Fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six...
It was just a simple countdown, and yet—
Why did it feel so tense?
—Sixty-eight, sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one.
I waited for him to continue counting, but no other number came after.
71.
Such was the final number.
"H-haa."
The sound of a shaky breath achoed across the room.
Was it mine, or was it his?
I wasn’t so sure anymore, feeling a strange tension spreading across my blood and bones.
’It’s that number... again.’
I had done a lot of research regarding that number over the past months, but I hadn’t been able to get a proper answer. All I managed to see was useless information and horoscopes.
But what exactly was that number?
Why did it keep popping up?
The more I thought about the number, the heavier the stifling weight in my chest grew. It pressed down hard, almost digging into me, and as I swallowed quietly, the voice from the phone echoed again.
But this time, it was different.
The voice...
It was hoarser than before, almost sinister.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
—Haaa...
The back of my neck suddenly tingled; a warm breath brushed against my skin from behind, sending a sharp chill through me and making me freeze completely.
That...
"So many faces, so many fears. I wear them all, and none are mine."
Slowly, my head turned towards my phone.
It was... off.
The air suddenly seemed to have been sucked away from my surroundings as my back tingled once more, a warm breath brushing against my neck.
Who?
"Who am I...?"
Who was the person standing behind me?