In that moment, all eyes turned away from Seth.
He was no longer the focal point of anyone present. He had long been forgotten as all eyes shifted towards the inconspicuous door that stood at the end of the corridor.
[Manager’s Office]
It was just a plain door.
And yet—
The moment all eyes fell on it... It was as if the very air had been sucked away from the surroundings.
Ba... Thump!
Hearts drummed in unison as nobody dared to make a sound.
The drones that hovered overhead captured the entire scene, showing the door to everyone watching.
*
BUA Malovia Branch.
"This is..."
"It’s the boss’s room."
"...We’ve finally found the final room."
Tension ran high within the auditorium, every face drawn tight as dozens of eyes fixed on the inconspicuous-looking door. It wasn’t ornate, nor did it carry any markings of importance. In fact, its plainness was exactly what made everyone uneasy. Something so ordinary had no business feeling this ominous... yet the atmosphere around it was suffocating.
Soon, the Guild Masters all stood up.
The sheer gravity of the situation weighed on everyone’s mind as the branch leader had no choice but to speak up.
"Please calm down, everyone. I understand what you are feeling, but for now, we can’t send any more people into the Gate. There’s still some buffer time since the last team entered. The best we can do for now is tell them to wait."
The buffer time wasn’t too long.
It was just a couple of hours. Once 100 people were sent in, another 100 could be sent over a couple of hours later.
These were the general rules of this Gate.
"For now, I will deliver the message to stay put. We’ve already marked the room’s location. We may go whenever we wish. The best course of action is to acquire even more information regarding the Gate."
Despite the situation, the branch leader remained relatively calm.
The Guild Masters of the larger Guilds were no different. They were one of the few that remained seated, their hands crossed as they stared at the door indifferently. They didn’t feel the same way as the others.
They weren’t as intimidated by that plain door.
"...I will be delivering the message now."
Taking out a small flip-phone from his pocket, the branch leader sent over a message real quick, "Hold position for now. Do not approach the door. I repeat, do not approach the door. Hold position."
The message was clear.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, he repeated it a couple of times.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Chimes began to echo across the feed as the message spread across all members.
And once they took out their phones—
—Eh?
—What...?
—We’re going in?
—Why are they instructing us to go in? This doesn’t make sense. We don’t know anything about this room.
—What’s going on?
There was a slight delay between the broadcast and the real live events.
But it wasn’t too long.
However, upon hearing the words coming out of the members inside the Gate, the faces of the people in the auditorium couldn’t help but change. But none reacted more sharply than the branch leader. His face drained of color the moment he heard their words, the tension in his jaw tightening visibly as the weight of the situation settled on him like a stone.
"Impossible!"
He stared at his phone again.
’——!’
It was to his utter shock and horror that the message that he had sent was completely different from the one he had intended to send.
How did...
Crrr! Crrrr—
A loud scraping sound echoed across the entire room.
When the branch leader lifted his head, he saw all the Guild Masters stand up and head towards the exit of the room.
The branch leader said nothing at the sight.
There was nothing that he could say.
At this moment, all Guild Masters were starting to get ready.
They all understood that it’d soon be their turn to move.
There was something extremely sinister at play.
***
"This makes absolutely no sense..."
"Why do they want us to enter the room. We don’t know anything about it. Wouldn’t the best approach be to wait for more people?"
"S-hit..."
"It’s because they can’t feel what we feel!"
"They’re trying to send us to our death in order to get more information!"
The messages caught everyone completely off guard. A heavy silence fell over the area as the weight behind the door pressed harder and harder against them. With every passing second, the pressure intensified, wrapping around their chests and shoulders like an invisible vice.
It felt as though simply standing there was enough to crush them.
"What do we do? Do we have no choice but to listen?"
"Shit!"
"Guild Master!"
Eventually, all eyes fell towards a single person.
The most qualified person.
The Guild Master of the Royal Chamber Guild. Unlike the rest, and a few others, he was still relatively calm, his expression fixed on the phone in his hand. Feeling everyone’s gazes, he looked up.
Eventually, he put his phone away.
"We wait."
"Huh?"
"What...?! But—!"
"Do not be fooled by the messages."
The Guild Master replied, his tone low.
"The command makes absolutely no sense. It’s far too erratic. I refuse to believe this is a message the BUA would issue. Even if they intended to gather additional information, their standard procedure involves several verification steps before anything like this is ordered. This feels fabricated. Either we’re trapped in an illusion, or our devices have been tampered with. The safest course of action is to wait for reinforcements and have them confirm the situation firsthand."
His words brought a certain calm to the group.
When thinking about it, his words made sense.
Standing not far from him, Kai shared a similar opinion, "I’ve encountered similar situations like these before. Although it shouldn’t be possible to tamper with our devices, this is no normal gate. It is best to exercise caution."
There was still some doubt in the air.
However, with the two most qualified people speaking, everyone started to calm down. If it was them, then...
"Huh?"
"What are you doing!?"
But of course, how could things flow smoothly?
Before anyone realized it, a certain figure had already walked towards the door. Latcher was the first to react, but by then, it was already too late as Seth reached for the handle of the door and pulled it open.
"No!"
"You—!"
Creaaaaaaaak!
The moment the door opened, a suffocating darkness poured out from within. The air seemed to collapse inward, pulled violently toward the threshold as if the darkness itself were devouring it.
Every sound vanished.
Voices. Breathing. Even the faint hum of the lights.
All of it was swallowed whole, leaving the surroundings in a perfect, chilling stillness.
But soon—
Click! Click! Click!
A clicking sound echoed.
One that was neither hurried nor slow.
Within the darkness, a faint light flickered. It was small, pale, and strangely steady. It came from what looked like a lone monitor, its glow cutting a thin line through the void.
And behind it, partially swallowed by the shadows, sat a figure, its silhouette barely visible behind the monitor.
Click! Click!
His fingers continued to move quietly across the keyboard.
Click!
It was almost as if he hadn’t even noticed them.
Click! Click!
But everyone present knew...
Click!
It was aware.
Click!
Observing them.
Click!
Evaluating them.
Click! Click!
Judging them.
But soon—
Click!
The last key echoed.
A tense silence followed.
One that was broken by a certain voice.
A voice that...
Sent chills down everyone’s spine.
"...You’re here."