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

Chapter 34 - Painting [3]

”Wait, what?”

I saw the shock flash across Kyleʼs face as he turned to me. I couldnʼt blame him. Considering how much I hated anything remotely related to horror, this was definitely out of character for me.

But then again, I had done the same thing with the first trial.

”Youʼre interested?”

More importantly, staring at Zoey and seeing the doubtful look on her face, I nodded.

”Yes, Iʼm interested.”

This was actually a good opportunity.

Not only would this bring potential exposure to my game, but if I could do this well, then... I could also clear the optional quest. This was two birds with one stone.

”But I have a condition.”

”Ho? You have a condition?”

Zoey raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a half-smile. I could almost hear her thinking, Iʼm already doing you a favor, and now youʼre asking for more?

I ignored her look and just stated my condition.

”Thereʼs a certain museum that recently caught my interest recently. Iʼd like to visit it for some inspiration. Itʼs an abandoned one, so it might be intriguing for your contact.”

”...An abadanoned museum?”

Zoey frowned, seemingly not expecting such an answer from me.

Then—

”Whatʼs the name of the place? Let me see what it is first.”

”Velora Art Museum.”

”An Art Museum?”

Zoey appeared a little surprised by the answer, but soon typed up the place on her phone.

”No. 12 Ivory Hollow District?”

”...Thatʼs the place.”

”Hmm. It says it closed five years ago because of a gas leak? But wait—here it says it shut down due to insufficient funds. No, wait...”

Rolling her finger across the screen, Zoeyʼs eyes squinted.

”Ah, here.”

Her finger eventually stopped.

”It says here the museum shut down five years ago after it was robbed of its most important painting—The Lady of the White Umbrella. After it disappeared, a string of unfortunate events followed: a gas leak, the sudden withdrawal of their main sponsor... and eventually, the closure.”

Zoeyʼs voice slowed down as she read.

Eventually, tearing her eyes away from the phone, she looked at me.

”This is the place that you want to visit?”

”...Yes.”

Though I said that, I wasnʼt actually sure. I wanted to go, but would the system allow it? It did previously say that I couldnʼt do anything that would compromise or reveal it. Would something like this be allowed?

And more importantly...

That painting that got robbed, it was none other than the one that was in my office, wasnʼt it?

”Hmmm.”

Zoey tapped her arm thoughtfully, deep in thought.

And then...

”Let me see what I can do.”

”Really?”

Kyleʼs tone rose. It usually happened whenever he was excited. He looked pretty happy for me.

However, I was anything but excited.

I knew her well enough to know things were probably not going to be as easy as they seemed.

”Iʼll get in contact with him. Iʼll let you know if they agree soon.”

”...Thank you.”

”Sure.”

Zoey nodded before glancing at Kyle and finally moving away.

I stared at her back as she left.

ʼShe might make things a little harder for me, but at least she wonʼt go too far.ʼ 

Zoey was petty, but she knew when to draw the line. I could only get myself ready for whatever she had planned.

In any case, I turned to look at Kyle. There were quite a few things that I needed to ask him.

”Thereʼs something that I wanted to ask you.”

”...Oh, me too.”

His eyes narrowed.

Oh, right. He probably wants to ask me about why I accepted the offer to livestream... I already had an answer to that.

”I want to improve my game—and for that, I need inspiration. I never had the chance before; I was always stuck in the office. But now that Iʼm free, Iʼm thinking of exploring new places to find it.”

Kyleʼs mouth paused. He bought my words. In fact, he almost seemed happy.

ʼWell, whatever pleases him.ʼ 

I took the chance to go straight to my point.

”Anyways, I wanted to ask you about something that Iʼve recently overheard.”

”Okay. What is it?”

”Itʼs about something called order? First order? ...Second Order? Well, something like that.”

It seemed like this topic caught him off guard, as his face stiffened. At the very least, I now knew that he knew something.

”Itʼs... eh.”

Kyle scratched the back of his head. Then, looking at me, he made a complicated look before eventually deflating with a resigned look.

”...I guess it doesnʼt hurt to tell you, considering where we are. You were bound to find out sooner or later.”

He paused briefly, then moved to the nearest computer. After booting it up and tapping a few keys, an image flickered onto the screen—a strange gray lattice dotted with various glowing points.

It was weird to look at, but looking at it closer, this looked like a neural network.

ʼNo, thatʼs exactly what it is.ʼ 

The only key difference was the strange dots connecting each neural path.

”This is a scan of my brain. Or, well... yeah. Letʼs just go with that for now.”

Kyleʼs words were enough to confirm my thoughts.

”Do you see the dots on here?” Kyle said as he pointed at the screen.

”Yeah...”

”These here are nodes.”

”Hm?”

My ears suddenly perked up. Node? This... I was quite familiar with this term.

”Nodes are separated from Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Prime. See, look, this one right here is the intermediate one, while this one over here is the Basic one.”

Kyle pointed towards two dots on the screen. They were rather easy to tell apart. The ʼbasicʼ dot or node appeared to be half the size of the ʼintermediateʼ one.

”What about the Prime one?”

”Prime? Pftt..”

Kyle laughed.

”Iʼll need to be at least in the Seventh Order before I can touch that thing. Iʼm already struggling to unlock an advanced one.”

”...Oh.”

I pretended to nod, but I didnʼt really understand.

Kyle explained further.

”Essentially, nodes are pockets of synthetic energy we can channel into various skills. In order to be of the First Order, you must have access to at least one basic node.”

Things started to become clearer to me from this point. Connecting the current information with the bits and pieces that I had already been exposed to, I finally started to understand my current situation.

ʼSo the Containment Vessel Iʼve got now is just a basic node, which means Iʼm considered this... First Order thing or whatever.ʼ

I thought back to the application window and further verified my thoughts.

”Iʼm sure youʼre already starting to get an idea, but the reason why we enter the gates and clear them is so that we can collect what we call ʼMyst Fragmentsʼ. In short, an extremely dense energy source that we mainly use to keep the island afloat.”

”Uh?”

Keep the island afloat? But...

Kyle smiled but didnʼt elaborate.

”Itʼs also the main source of our powers. By consuming the fragments which come in many different types and forms, we gradually gather enough energy to create new nodes, and eventually, once weʼve created the node, depending on the type, we rank up to a higher Order.”

”So thatʼs the case...”

In that case, considering that I was in the First Order, taking on a Second Order mission was impossible?

”Oh, but donʼt get too deceived by the Order stuff.”

Kyle suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

”While itʼs true that your power increases with each higher Order, that doesnʼt mean someone of a lower Order canʼt win. With the right preparations, items, or depending on the type of Decree you follow, itʼs entirely possible to defeat someone ranked higher.”

”Thatʼs good to hear.”

In that case, it wasnʼt completely impossible for me to defeat the conductor. Although I wasnʼt sure about its ʼOrderʼ, I knew it wasnʼt anything low.

ʼThat being said, he did say something about a Decree? What is that...?ʼ 

I was just about to ask him when he cut me off.

”Oh, right.”

His face suddenly turned serious as he looked at me.

”Iʼm only telling you this because you asked. But for your sake, I hope you never get involved in something like this.”

”Why?”

”...Because itʼs dangerous.”

As if he didnʼt make the point clear enough, Kyle looked around before shifting his attention back to the computer. His fingers pinched onto the trackpad, slowly moving out, and it was then that I saw it.

The multitude of severed paths.

”There are consequences to using these powers. Iʼm one of the lucky few who hardly have any fractures, but if youʼre one of those unlucky ones with a cognitive shard...”

Kyle pursed his lips and shook his head. The meaning behind his words was clear. However, it was also in that moment that I felt my lips quiver.

”Are those shards... dangerous?” I asked, my mouth feeling strangely dry.

”Seizures.”

Kyle replied, his gaze locked onto the computer and away from me.

”Muscle stiffness. Loss of cognitive function. Eventually, your mind just starts to deteriorate.”

”...Wha.. what else?”

”Bradykinesia.”

He added, his voice lower than before.

I could only silently swallow as I tried my best to keep my lips from trembling.

That was because—

These symptoms...

They were identical to the ones from my disease.