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

Chapter 676: Walking Disaster [6]

BANG!

The crash thundered through the surroundings, startling everyone present. The sharp sound of metal against metal rang out throughout the entire room.

As all heads turned, they focused on the man who had suddenly gone crazy, his expression tight and his knuckles pale as he raised the chair again, ready to bring it crashing down onto the precious equipment.

“Hey!”

The captain’s voice thundered across the surroundings, freezing everything in place. Even the hum of the machines seemed to quiet down.

Sonorous?

I took note of the information as the researcher stopped whatever he was doing, and blood began leaking out from his nose and ears.

Almost a moment after, he snapped out of it as his blank expression returned and his grip over the chair loosened.

Blinking rapidly, he looked around, taking note of everyone’s attention on him. The chair slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.

“H-huh? What…? Why is⎯”

BANG!

He was never able to finish his words. Without a second thought, I activated [Trait Transfer] as my body melted onto the ground and I appeared behind him in the time it took for someone to blink.

Reaching for the back of his neck, I smashed him down onto the table.

“Huek!”

The impact rattled the equipment nearby. Ignoring his scream, my eyes narrowed.

“What were you doing? Why did you suddenly go crazy? State your purpose.”

“A-ah… I…!”

I continued to press my hand against the back of his head, making it impossible for him to speak as he struggled to get his words out.

“I… akh…!”

“Enforcer.”

A voice suddenly reached me from behind.

When I turned back, I saw the security captain staring at me with a grim expression, his gaze shifting to the man in my grasp.

The lines around his mouth were tight. His hand rested near his side, not quite reaching for anything, but close enough that it made it seem like he was about to.

He looked extremely angry.

“Let me handle this. He’s under my jurisdiction, and for something like this to happen right under my nose, I take full responsibility.”

“….”

I didn’t move immediately.

Instead, I stared straight at the security captain as he maintained his expression over the man in my grasp. The silence persisted for the next few seconds, the tension in the air as thick as it could be, broken only by the faint whirring of the ventilation above us.

Eventually, I let go of the man’s neck and moved back.

Just before moving away, I gave the security a stern warning.

“Make sure to handle this well. This isn’t the first incident that has occured to day. Investigate this properly and make sure you extract all information.”

“…Leave it to me.”

Without saying anything else, the security captain moved to where the man was. His expression changed subtly, and his gaze shifted towards me after a brief moment. Realizing why, I shrugged my shoulders.

“I didn’t intend to go that hard; however, considering the situation, this was something that I couldn’t control. He should wake up soon. Bring him out of this place.”

“…Yes.”

With a low whistle, several other people moved in as the security captain reached for the man and escorted him out. As he was about to leave, the captain looked at me, holding my gaze for just a moment longer than necessary.

“I’ll be going for a short moment. Please look after this place for me. If you have any troubles, ask the engineers here, and they will immediately help you look out for the situation.”

“Alright.”

I nodded and didn’t say anything else. The captain nodded back and escorted the suspect out of the room. The door sealed shut behind them with a soft, pressurized click.

As they left, the place fell silent, all eyes locked in my direction. I didn’t mind the stares. They didn’t really bother me as I began moving forward, heading towards the control panel again. I started to check the logs once more as the hologram cast a blue light across my hands.

I did this for a few seconds before I felt the stares subside.

It was only when I was certain that nobody was looking that I brought my hand to my face again and wiped away at my mouth. When I looked down, I caught a glimpse of the red that stained it.

I placed my hand over the table and tried to keep myself balanced.

‘…My nodes are already quite messed up. I probably shouldn’t strain them any further.’

The strain my body undertook when I held the knife back in Malia was real.

The toll that my mind took was quite heavy.

But that wasn’t really what made things difficult for me.

Normally, someone who was in the Fourth Order or below couldn’t use two nodes at the same time. This was the universal truth about those in the Fourth Order.

But it really wasn’t because they couldn’t do it.

It mainly had to do with the fact that it put a heavy strain on the nodes.

If someone of the Fourth Order used two nodes at the same time, there was a good chance that their nodes would crack. This was why most people at the Fourth Order or below never tried.

I was different, however.

My nodes were already shattered, and to be honest… I wasn’t one to care about the damage that my nodes had sustained. Reaching into my pocket, I popped a pill into my mouth as I felt a cool sensation wash over me.

It almost felt refreshing. However, the sensation washed away rather quickly as I was left disappointed with the result.

Having taken quite a lot of them, they no longer had much of an effect on me.

‘I should get to the Fifth Order as soon as possible.’

It wasn’t hard for me to reach the Fifth Order. I already had most of the stuff collected, and even if I didn’t, I could always ask the Guild Master for it.

‘After this is done, I’ll make sure to reach the Fifth Order. At this rate, I really might lose myself.’

Things were already bad enough as they were.

“Hoo.”

Nevertheless, taking a deep breath, I looked up. The air in the room tasted faintly of metal and recycled air.

My lips curled faintly as I looked around me.

‘Looks like the sacrifice wasn’t for nothing.’

The Enforcer’s ability was to teleport. While I couldn’t teleport, I did use the Realmwalker’s ability to make it seem like I had. This was probably what made the security captain ‘trust’ me with this place. As things stood, he probably had no suspicion about me.

This was all I needed.

‘Now, I should probably get started.’

I looked around me, taking note of everything that was happening as I pressed my hand against the table in front of me.

At the same time, I activated Mr. Jingles’ ability and had him connect with the electrical system of the place. Somewhere beneath the floor, something faintly hummed in response.

Watching as everyone got busy with their work, I crossed my arms while staring at the data in front of me.

Eventually, as someone passed me, I nudged them with my head.

“Hey.”

“Yes, sir?”

They stopped the moment I called for them as I nudged at the data in front of me.

“I need help with this. Can you explain to me what is happening?”

“Ah, this…”

The engineer walked forward, taking a look at the data. As their eyes scanned the entire thing, they began to explain the same situation that the captain had.

I pretended to care while nodding before eventually asking, “I’m curious about something. How does this entire system work? I was given a brief overview by the security captain, but I never paid much attention to it. From what I’m aware, this is the work of an item, right?”

“Yes, indeed.”

The engineer answered.

“Everything routes through the transmitter. It interfaces directly with the facility’s sensor network, aggregates the environmental and biometric data, and runs continuous diagnostics against the established thresholds. Any deviation outside acceptable parameters gets tagged, timestamped, and pushed to the log feed automatically. There’s no manual input required on our end.”

“I see. And it oversees everything, doesn’t it?”

“Well, not quite everything.”

The engineer explained.

“There are certain places that are more sensitive than the rest, so naturally the transmitter’s range doesn’t reach them. Especially with the doctor’s recent research.”

A fervent look appeared on the engineer’s face as he spoke about the doctor.

“The moment the research fully comes out, it’ll be massive for the entire world.”

“Haha, of course.”

I laughed.

My curiosity was piqued.

“Looks like you’re quite excited about his research.”

I scanned the engineer from top to bottom.

“Why is that?”

“Why?”

The engineer blinked several times. He seemed confused by the question, but the confusion merely lasted a few seconds before his face became heated again.

“The doctor’s research will undoubtedly revolutionize the entire field. For decades, we’ve struggled to maintain structural stability within our nodes. They grant us extraordinary capabilities, but they are inherently unstable. Every activation places stress on the node’s pathways, and excessive output can cause irreversible degradation. That’s why we’re forced to operate well below our theoretical limits. Most of us spend our lives carefully managing accumulated damage, but chronic node deterioration carries more than physical consequences. The neurological strain alone has driven countless operators into psychological collapse, self-harm, and, in the worst cases, suicide.”

I listened in silence.

All of this was true. I myself was very well aware of the side effects of node damage.

If the doctor’s research truly…

“Hm.”

I cleared my throat, trying to bring my thoughts away from the matter.

“Where is it located?”

“Pardon?”

“…The transmitter.”

The engineer froze. It was the kind of reaction that didn’t come from confusion. It came from something akin to realization.

In that instant, I realized that I had probably misspoken as I watched his face change, the color draining from it slowly.

‘Ah, I shouldn’t have asked that.’

For just the briefest of moments, I lost focus. All the talk about the doctor’s research had made me forget about my current situation.

However, I didn’t panic. Instead, I reached for my pocket, retrieved a small bell, and showed it to him.

His face froze the moment he caught a glimpse of it, his eyes locking onto it the same way the previous engineer had reacted.

My node strained further, the pain so sharp it nearly made me wince, but I paid no attention to it as I drew a cold breath and pressed onto the notification that appeared before me.

‘Good thing he’s just a regular human. I would’ve had a hard time otherwise.’

I put the bell into the man’s pocket and patted him on the shoulder. However, my expression nearly changed as I watched his eyes shake; the dullness that was supposed to be present in his eyes was not quite there.

‘…Ah, well… this is a bit troublesome.’

I only had a few seconds.

My pulse was steady, but just barely. The room felt tighter than it had a moment ago.

Without wasting a single moment, I asked him my question.

“Where is it?”

His lips parted, and his eyes shook more fiercely. The tendons in his neck stood out faintly.

“T… T…”

His lips shook, and his voice came out thin. Barely more than a whisper.

However, he seemed to be fighting it, some part of him pushing back against whatever had taken control of his mind.

My eyes narrowed as my ears strained, my heart drumming inside my chest as I continued to look at him.

“Ta… ta…”

Ta…?

My heart pressed tighter against my chest.

I strained my ears further.

Around us, the soft ambient noise of the lab continued.

Keyboards clicked, the fan of the machine, and the soft voices of a few engineers.

It all started to feel loud.

But I paid no attention to it. I couldn’t, as I kept my eyes locked on the man before me.

His lips continued to shake. His eyes gained even more clarity as my heart pressed tightly against my chest, my control over him slipping further and further as my hand reached for him.

If he couldn’t say anything, then…

“Tabl…”

His eyes snapped out of it before he could finish his word, his eyes widening in alarm as he looked at me.

And then…

He began screaming at the top of his lungs.

“INTRUDER! THERE’S AN IN⎯”

His shout stopped halfway as I reached for his face and covered his mouth, my palm pressing hard against his lips. His breath came hot against my skin as his muffled shouts continued to echo.

“MHHH! MHHHH!”

All heads simultaneously turned in that moment.

But it was already too late.

Flick!

The lights flickered off.

Darkness took over the surroundings.

After which, a soft tune began to play in the air as I retrieved a pair of sunglasses and placed them on.

“…Ugh.”