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

Chapter 270: Despair in perfection [5]

Da Dang—

My body moved on its own.

The sensation was different as opposed to the previous times.

I was no longer in control of my body.

I could see, hear, and I was conscious.

But when it came to the actual movements...

Dang—!

I wasn’t the one doing the moving.

Dang! Dang— Dang—!

The notes were sharp, and they rang loudly within the silence. The darkness that stretched in all directions pressed even more heavily as I played the tune, and in that moment, it suddenly felt as though a pair of eyes had firmly locked onto me.

I felt a creeping dread.

One that grew with each note that I played.

And yet—

I continued to play.

I couldn’t stop.

Dang, Dang—

My movements were smooth. They were effortless, and most importantly, I wasn’t making any mistakes.

I had long memorized the sheet of music that I needed to play.

Even without the hypnosis, I could play the tune. But things were different now. The pitch was perfect. The tempo was perfect. The posture and rhythm were also perfect.

There were no flaws in my piece.

The melody was haunting, yet beautiful.

For a brief moment, it felt like I had finally cracked the code.

But...

’No, something is missing.’

It was hard to explain, but as my hands moved, and my body played to the rhythm of the music, I felt it even more clearly.

There was something that was clearly missing with the piece that I was playing.

My heart sank.

’What is missing? This doesn’t make sense. I’m playing in the most perfect way that I possibly can. How can there be something missing?’

Dang, Da—

As my fingers traced the keys and the melody spilled into the air, I slowly lifted my head toward the distance. From the reflection, I caught the faint outline of a presence, its body swallowed by shadow, only a pale mask gleaming through the darkness.

My stomach flipped.

That’s—!

*Step*

The figure took a step forward.

My entire body grew tense.

And yet—

Dang!

The movements continued.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

They took another step. They drew closer to me. Their blank white mask became even clearer.

And eventually, they stopped right before me.

’No, no, no...’

I stopped, freeing myself from the hypnosis as my hand pressed down, and I raised my other hand.

Deng!

But it was too late.

Their hand raised, displaying a long, sharp knife.

And—

Spurt!

Time reset.

”Huaaap!”

I woke up startled, clutching my chest as I took deep and heavy breaths, feeling the pain linger at the back of my mind for quite some time.

”Haa... Haa..”

I pressed my hand against my chest, trying my best to calm myself down.

”W-why...?”

Taking a moment to process what had happened, I thought back to the time leading up to the final moments. I recalled how I had played, and covered my face with both hands.

”It doesn’t make sense. My piece was perfect. The notes, everything... There’s nothing wrong with what I played. There should be nothing missing. So why is something missing?”

I clutched my hair so tightly that my scalp started to sting.

’Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think.’

What was I missing?

Why wasn’t it perfect despite being perfect?

Deng!

Why—

I paused for a moment. A certain note struck the back of my mind.

Deng.

A wrong note.

And yet, it was the only thing I could recall about my play.

Why?

Why was that?

I suddenly stood up.

Bang!

I threw the desk to the side and smacked everything onto the ground, breaking everything that I could see. The Dreamwalker came out right after, helping me shatter everything as I eventually walked out of the room and tossed everything to the side before setting up the keyboard like before.

I put my mask on and sat down on the stool.

The notification appeared as before.

I didn’t press it this time.

Instead, I paused with my hands on the keyboard. Lifting my head, I looked at the clown who appeared before me.

”Make it so that I can gain back control whenever I want.”

The clown didn’t say anything, but just nodded.

I looked back at the keyboard and closed my eyes.

I thought back at the piece of music.

This was a piece that the conductor had created. It was a piece that grew in tempo with more time that passed. One that perfectly displayed the despair that came with perfection. The closer one came to it, the more despair they felt.

I had reached perfection using Mr. Jingles.

However, I was still missing something.

In those last moments, right when the serial killer came, I realized what the thing I was missing was.

Despair.

Emotions.

The thing that I was missing was the essence of the music.

And so—

I reached out and grabbed a certain lamp.

Click!

A pale blue glow appeared right after I turned it on.

Steps appeared in all directions, and the surroundings turned colder.

The weight of the hidden stare grew, and my heart pressed tightly against my chest.

”Despair, despair...”

Mumbling the same things, Mr. Jingles’ voice whispered into my head once more.

My hands began to move on their own.

Da Da—

I began to play the perfect piece again.

The notes flowed smoothly, and no mistakes were made.

I was flawless.

I was perfect.

And soon—

*Step*

A certain step appeared, and as I raised my head, a masked figure appeared in the distance.

My heart pressed tightly against my chest.

’No, no, no...’

Fear started to claw at my mind.

But at the same time, the effects of the hypnosis shattered. I regained full control of my body. But even though I regained control, I didn’t stop playing.

Dong!

I started to make mistakes.

Dong Da—

The closer the masked figure became, the more mistakes I started to make.

Ding!

Deng! Dung!

Tang! Da— Deng!

The perfect piece had shattered.

And soon—

Spurt!

Came my death.

”Huak!”

I jolted awake, my head snapping up as my eyes frantically scanned the surroundings. I started to hyperventilate as sweat soaked my entire body, and my face paled to the point where I looked like a ghost.

’Recall. Recall. Recall.’

Standing up weakly, I forced myself to recall the last moments.

The moments when the figure drew closer to me. The moment when the knife stabbed me. The moment when I started to despair.

I recalled that sensation before and held onto my mouth.

”Pftuuu!”

Despite my best attempts, the vomit still came out.

Reaching for the nearby trash bin, I began to puke everything out.

”Uarggggh!”

A strong acid taste lingered in my mouth as I puked everything out. My mind blanked for a moment before I let go and forced myself up, and reached for the keyboard.

I walked to the door right after.

The Dreamwalker appeared right after, shattering and destroying everything present. I put the mask on and pulled the door open, setting up the mask and starting again.

The dim glow of the lamp appeared again.

Da, Dang—

The serial killer came not long after.

Deng! Dung!

Tang! Da— Deng!

I made even more mistakes this time.

”No, wait—!

Spurt!

I died again.

”Uargh!”

I puked again.

Spurt!

I died again.

”Uarggh!”

I puked again.

Spurt!

I died again.

”Uarggh!”

I puked again.

The cycle continued. I lost my sense of self. I just repeated the cycle over and over again, forcing myself to recall the constant sense of despair that I felt each time that I died. From the ways that I died to the pain that came with it.

The number of loops reached quadruple digits.

Each time, the cycles would repeat. I’d die, I’d puke, and I’d force myself to play.

My mind degraded.

Madness started to take over.

’Play! Play! Play! Play! Play!’

Dang! Dang—!

As a result, my movements became more erratic.

The semblance of order and perfection was gone.

I was no longer perfect.

I was playing shit.

And yet—

As I raised my head and stared at the audience that had unknowingly formed, in that moment, I saw it.

My madness.

My emotions.

My despair.

...reflected right in their gazes.

And that’s when I realized.

In my madness, I had reached perfection.