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

Chapter 283: Prelude of the Gate [2]

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A crowd had formed in front of the opera house.

The entire Zone 2 was shut down. One black SUV after another came into view, elite members coming out from each car, their gait poised, and their backs straight.

Along the barricades, journalists clustered with cameras and microphones, their voices cutting through the air as they pressed in with questions, eager to capture every word.

Suddenly—

”It’s the members of Crownfall!”

With the shouts from one of the reporters, all attention fell on the most recent van as the reporters surrounded it.

The door slid open, and a man emerged, dressed in a loose shirt patterned with flowers, casual shorts, and dark sunglasses. The moment he set foot outside, the air itself seemed to shift, the atmosphere tightening as every eye turned toward him.

The air itself seemed to tighten, pressing down with an invisible weight.

For a brief moment, it all turned quiet.

But then, slowly pushing his glasses up to his thick red hair, exposing his deep brown eyes, he suddenly smiled.

”Looks like it’s quite rowdy today.”

His words shattered the silence, echoing through the space for several seconds.

The silence carried on for a few seconds, until—

”Cairon! Cairon! What do you think about the chances of the upcoming gate increasing in rank? Do you think it’ll reach the Tier? If so, do you have anything prepared for it?”

”What do you think Crownfall will do to stand out compared to the other Guilds?”

”Are you confident in clearing the gate?”

The reporters began to bombard him with questions. And yet, Cairon seemed completely unbothered by all of the chaos before him.

As the Team Leader of the Cointament Department of Crownfall, he naturally had been exposed to many situations such as these.

This was nothing new to him.

He waited for all of them to finish speaking before finally speaking.

”...We’ve prepared quite a lot for the upcoming gate. I’d say that we’re more or less ready to tackle whatever comes for us. With regards to whether we’re confident in the gate?”

Cairon smirked.

”Of course we’re—”

”Yes, sure.”

A voice suddenly rang out, slicing cleanly through the chaos. Somehow, it carried to every corner, reaching every ear. Instinctively, all eyes turned toward its source, where they were greeted by a man with slicked-back hair, square-framed glasses, and a suit so immaculate it seemed almost unnatural.

For a moment, the noise died down.

But then—

”What is it that you just said?”

”...Do you believe the Ivory Dominion will be able to take the upper hand at the gate? What makes you so confident?”

”Is this a declaration of war on the Crownfall Guild?”

The reporter’s eyes shone as they suddenly exploded with questions.

Just like Cairon, Marcus was used to such a crowd. As the Section Chief of the Containment Department of the Ivory Dominion Guild, the only other King Grade Guild within the island, this was a given.

He lifted his frames while answering flatly.

”The answer is yes. We’re confident in the upcoming scenario.”

He was a man of few words. Following a brief exchange, he led forward with his group as they followed behind him in an orderly fashion.

The scene was caught by one of the nearby cameras, broadcast to the entire world.

”Wow.”

A voice whistled while staring at the scene from a distance.

Zoey turned to look at Kyle.

”Talk about making a scene the moment they come. They really love being the center of attention.”

”....Yeah.”

Kyle answered with a weird expression on his face. In all honesty, they had also been barraged by questions when they had first arrived. However, it was clear that the pull of two King-Grade guilds was much higher.

Still, he wasn’t one to care much about this stuff. He was just happy that he had somehow managed to convince the Section Chief not to bring Seth. At the end of the day, Seth didn’t want to go, and the Guild couldn’t force him to go.

As such, he got to stay back at the Guild.

This made Kyle feel a lot better.

”Let’s not bother with stuff like this. Let’s focus on the up—”

The crowd stirred once more.

This time, more than before, as he felt the atmosphere shift.

Feeling a bad premonition, Kyle slowly turned his head. It was in that moment that several SUVs suddenly appeared at once, each stopping at the same time before the doors suddenly opened and several individuals walked out.

Almost immediately, the atmosphere shifted.

The air grew stale, and Kyle’s expression couldn’t help but change as he set his gaze on a certain individual.

As if noticing his gaze, the man slowly turned his head.

A smile immediately formed on his lips as he raised his hand and waved.

But not for long. He was soon immediately surrounded by the reporters, including several others.

That was the last that they saw of him.

However, just a glance was enough to turn the atmosphere heavy.

Kyle looked around him, and just as he tried to lighten up the atmosphere, a certain noise grabbed his attention.

Not just his...

Trrr—!

It was soft at first, but it grew with each passing second, and the noise around ceased as all attention turned towards the broken-down opera house. An invisible pressure began to spread out from the opera house as the place began to shake.

The hair on several people rose at the same time.

And then—

Clank! Clank!

The doors of the opera house slammed wide, unveiling a darkness that seemed to spill out from within.

Everyone seemed to understand what they needed to do from that moment, as everyone began to move forward.

Towards the doors of the opera house, their figures slowly began to fade within the darkness.

One by one, the groups stepped forward, their bodies dissolving into the gate as the camera captured each body fading into its darkness.

That very moment.

It marked the start of the gate.

The world held its breath.

***

”.....”

It was absolutely quiet in my office.

I stared at my phone in front of me without much of an expression. I watched as the figures slowly entered the opera house, their bodies slowly melting into the darkness.

I took a deep breath.

The moment the last person entered the gate would be the moment that I also entered it.

Was I ready?

No.

I wasn’t ready.

However, I had done everything possible to make sure that everything would flow smoothly. From the hypnosis to the sensations that I felt back during the looping gate. I had all the means to complete this trial.

And—

’There’s also the new skill, yeah.’

Looking at my new skill and thinking about its abilities, I felt a lot better.

”Almost there.”

Standing up, I reached for the white mask on the desk.

I also put on the Quickstitch Outfit. It fit snugly on my body as it eventually morphed into a tuxedo. A pair of white gloves also formed on my hands.

I turned my attention back to the phone.

The last person had finally entered the gate.

It was at that moment that I brought the mask to my face, and it was also in that moment that my scenery changed.