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

Chapter 450: World Trembles [2]

The world of anomalies was unnatural.

The more powerful an anomaly became, the sharper its mind remained.

Yet beneath that clarity lay something else—

Not whispers.

Not voices.

Something lower.

Something darker.

It was the raw and unfiltered inner nature buried deep within the human heart.

For when a being turned into an anomaly, its true, feral nature emerged—

Hehehe.

’No... Not yet.’

From the moment Seth turned into an anomaly, he tried to curb that ’instinct’. He tried to restrain it so that he could retain his consciousness.

But there was no fighting the primal instinct that was coming from deep within his body.

He knew that it wouldn’t be long until the instincts took over.

Until his consciousness truly faded.

He held on for a while.

The power that came with the turn was unimaginable.

But at the same time, it was hard to control.

It was for this reason that he created a Gate. The purpose was to hold the demon at bay until he could finally control his power.

And now—

Swoooosh!

Seth’s eyes opened.

The blinding light receded, withdrawing from his vision.

In its wake, he found himself exposed.

Surrounded by thousands of eyes, all fixed on him from every direction.

All of them... simply staring.

Time seemed to slow down in that moment.

But it was amidst that restless crowd that he began to look around. His gaze drifted over countless faces... expressions twisted with fear, anger, tension, and even calmness.

And then his eyes settled.

On one person.

He stood out.

Not because of anything unusual in his appearance, but because of the expression he wore. Among all the numerous expressions around, he was the only one smiling.

’Dantalion.’

Of that, Seth was certain.

There was no trapping him. He... had also escaped the moment the Gate shattered. And now, Dantalion had settled himself amidst the crowd.

Blink!

Sure enough, in just the blink of an eye, the man’s expression snapped back into one of fear. As if on cue, another face in the crowd shifted.

This time, it was a woman.

Her lips curled upward, forming that same uncanny smile, stretching just a little too naturally across her face, like one that was waiting to see a great show.

And sure enough—

’They’re coming.’

Seth could feel it.

Looking at the ground, and the shifting muscles and churning of Nodes, he could tell that the numerous humans were getting ready to attack him.

He stared at them calmly before reaching for his tie and adjusting it.

As he did, a quiet, yet low voice rang out.

”...Come.”

***

Come...

The Boss’s voice was quiet, its features completely masked by a dark mist that covered its entire body, save for the pristine suit it wore. However, it was the sound of its voice that made several people’s expressions change.

Its entire demeanor appeared to change in that moment, and a pressure that was unlike anything that it had exerted before burst out from its body.

”Careful——!”

”Move back! Move back!”

Rather than attacking him, the Guild Master and Paragons retreated.

There was too little information regarding the ’Boss’. But that wasn’t the main reason why they retreated.

They were searching...

Looking for the other ’entity’ that was supposed to appear.

Where was it?

Where was it hiding?

Everyone looked around, but there wasn’t a single trace of another anomaly. For a brief, breathless moment, the surroundings fell deathly silent.

But that silence didn’t last for long.

Swooosh—

One of the Paragons eventually moved.

”Haaaa!”

”—!!”

It was Kai Latcher.

His gaze was hazy, and his expression frosty. The moment he moved, several of his nodes churned at once. His momentum grew exponentially as a loud whistling sound arose across the surroundings.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the Boss, and without a moment of hesitation, he unleashed every ounce of built-up power into a single, devastating punch.

”Haaa—!”

The air screamed alongside him, and the punch soon arrived before the boss.

The entire sequence of events occurred in less than a fraction of a second.

And soon—

BOOOOM!

A thunderous explosion tore through the air, the force of it making the entire area shudder. The ground trembled beneath their feet, air vibrating as the shockwave rippled outward, swallowing every other sound in its wake.

”Careful!”

”Move back!”

The impact was powerful, raising a large cloud of dust.

For a moment, the world held its breath.

They all stared in the direction of the cloud.

Waiting.

Anticipating the result of the clash.

But the anticipated result never came, the hearts of many sinking.

Especially when their eyes landed on the figure standing before the ”boss.”

With both hands pressed together, an anomaly, pitch black from head to toe, took the full force of the impact. It simply stood there, unmoved, as if the blow had meant absolutely nothing.

Cracks split the ground at its feet, dust rising in thin wisps, while Latcher’s breathing grew heavier and heavier behind it.

”Haa... Haa...”

The boss stood silently, staring at all of it amid the haze covering its face.

For just a moment...

Everything froze. Nobody moved. All eyes fixed on the spectacle before them.

But that was only for a moment.

”Go!”

Soon, the other Paragons moved. Kai’s actions had started a chain reaction.

Nodes started to churn, and everyone began to move at once.

”Attack!”

”...Surround them!!”

”Attack quickly!”

Their momentum was terrifying.

The instant they launched forward, the collective force of their movement collided with the boss’s pressure and pushed it back. The suffocating weight that had filled the area just moments ago was forced to retreat under the sheer power of their advance.

And this was before the main Guild Masters or the upper echelon of the Paragons had even taken a single step.

They hadn’t moved yet...

And still, the balance had already shifted.

The boss didn’t pay attention to any of it.

Its focus never once drifted toward the chaos unfolding around the battlefield.

Instead, its gaze locked onto Latcher.

Latcher stood with his head lowered, shoulders rising and falling with strained breaths. At a glance, it looked as though he had poured everything he had into that one attack.

But looking closer...

The boss caught sight of something else.

A thin smile.

Indeed, he was smiling.

Using Latcher’s body, Dantalion had pushed everyone into action.

Same tricks...

Finally lifting his head, the boss stared at the numerous figures rushing toward him. The boss didn’t panic. He didn’t tense. He didn’t even shift his footing.

He simply watched.

His eyes traced each person barreling his way, taking in every movement, every stance, every node... Almost as if he had all the time in the world.

Their momentum was terrifying.

It had long overwhelmed his momentum. If he took their attacks head-on, the result would be obvious.

But he wasn’t alone.

Fixing his tie again, the mist covering the boss’s face shifted slightly. It was brief, almost easy to miss, but in that moment, the veil thinned just enough for a hint of the face behind it to show. A faint curve at the corner of the mouth.

One... that seemed to belong to a mask?

”Hehehe.”

A laugh rippled through the air a moment later.

It was a soft and eerie laugh.

And yet, the moment it carried through the air, the momentum rushing toward him came to an abrupt halt, leaving everyone frozen in disbelief.

Nobody understood what had happened.

But before any of them could even begin to process the scene before them, the laugh grew louder, rising through the silence, echoing across the world with a depth that made every hair on their bodies stand on end.

”He... he! He! He!”

The laugh carried through the air, its pitch high, and the deep sense of madness that hid within it spreading through every corner of the surroundings.

For just a moment, the boss’s body hunched, the mist covering its face fluctuating wildly, revealing hints of its true features.

Jingle~

Subtle bells rang in the air.

The boss’s body hunched further, its hand reaching up to cover its face.

”Ha! Haaa...! He! He! HE! HE!”

Its laugh grew even more terrifying, its movements growing more and more erratic.

In that moment, it was as if something was taking over its body.

Something...

Extremely sinister.

But most horrifying was what came with the laugh.

”My... node...”

”W-what’s...!”

The Nodes of several recruits stalled all at once, freezing as if they had suddenly turned to stone.

No matter how hard they tried to force them awake, no matter how desperately they pushed, their Nodes refused to churn.

And amidst such a situation, the boss continued to laugh, its laugh growing higher and higher in pitch as laughs continued to whisper in its head.

’Hehehe!’

’He! HE! HE!’

The more he heard the laughs, the more they made him want to laugh.

”Ha... Ha! HA!’

’No... Ha! Not... HaHA ...yet!’

Covering his mouth with his hand, forcing the laughs to come to a stop, his eyes swept over the surroundings before the mist closed in again, hiding his features and pulling the area into a brief, heavy silence.

That silence lasted only a moment, ending the instant his low voice echoed once more.

”...I... I guess I’m a little stressed from all the work.”

Cra Crack!

The ground cracked beneath its words, thin fractures spreading outward like roots. A moment later, hands began to claw their way up through the openings. One after another, they surfaced, dragging out creatures of all shapes and forms.

Gasps broke through the crowd as horror settled in.

The things rising from beneath the earth were nothing any of them wanted to see.

”That’s...!”

”VILE - 001. VILE -038.”

”VILE - 402.”

A man suddenly spoke, his voice grave as he scanned the numerous creatures rising from the ground.

”VILE - 920”

”VILE - 882”

”VILE - 1930”

Eventually, he stopped, his breath coming to a pause as he moved his hand behind him, trying his best to cover its trembling.

”...They’re here.”

He may have been able to hide his hand, but not his lips, as he muttered, ”A-all the missing anomalies. They’re here.”

The employees were here.