"Huaam."
For once, I woke up on time.
I looked at my watch and saw that it was 8 AM. Rubbing my eyes and stretching my body, I got out of bed before taking a quick shower and getting ready to work.
'Right, I did say I would check once I woke up...'
As I was brushing my teeth, I turned my attention towards my phone.
I suddenly grew curious about the game.
How was it doing?
Opening the phone, I stared at it nervously, my thumb hovering over the Dock app. My heartbeat was a little too fast as I tapped the icon, watching as the app loaded slowly.
The moment it opened, my eyes were drawn to the account status: Suspended.
My heart sank, just a little, but it wasn't like I hadn't been expecting this. I just hoped they'd have resolved the situation by now.
'It's not strange, though, they usually take a day or two with this stuff.'
I was still confident I'd get my account reinstated soon enough.
What was most important was to see how the actual game was doing. Did the marketing stunt work or not?
I swallowed my saliva while nervously typing the name of the game in the search bar.
My mind couldn't help but wander to the worst possible scenarios. I started to think about Kyle's reaction and the things I'd have to do in case I failed the mission.
The few seconds it took for me to type the name of the game felt like forever, and once I searched the name of the game and pressed on it, a series of results appeared.
Soon, my eyes fell on my game, and my expression slowly grew slack shortly after.
Tak!
The toothbrush fell from my mouth, my mind blank.
It took a moment for me to snap out of it, and when I did, I felt the toothpaste slip away from my mouth.
"That... that...."
Quickly whipping the toothpaste away, I blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I even double-checked to see if it was the correct game that I pressed on.
But even as I blinked, no change occurred. It was the right game, and it was all real.
"A-h."
[Recent Reviews] (Neutral) 731 reviews
My hand shook as I stared at the number of reviews that were on the game's page.
While the 'neutral' on the review page meant that the game had mixed opinions, what mattered was the number of reviews.
731...?
That was a ridiculous number of reviews! This was especially so when taking into account that only a small player base would go out of their way to send a review.
This meant that the game had sold quite a lot of copies!
"H-ho."
I could hardly contain my excitement as my chest trembled with each breath, and I started to search for my game on the web.
I wanted to see the reason for its sudden explosion in popularity.
"Is it because of the stream? If so, I should do it more often..."
However, the moment the first search loaded, my excitement almost faded. In its stead, I found my face slowly starting to stiffen.
"Well..."
This... I wouldn't be sent to jail for this, right?
I didn't even know how to react when staring at the first title that appeared.
[Screams rattle neighborhoods, flooding police lines with panicked calls. The culprit? A game called A Regular Day in the Office]
I clicked on the website to see a long article about the events that transpired this past night, and how several neighborhoods were terrorized by such screams.
"H-haha."
I forced out a laugh before finally looking at the reviews on the game.
The more I read them, the more I covered my face.
[Terrible! Just terrible! I couldn't sleep at all because of this! The police were called, and everyone was questioned! Terrible!"
[Awful game! Just awful!]
The page was flooded with negative reviews.
Most of them seemed to come from the victims who had suffered the previous night due to the screams. However, there were also quite a few nice reviews right beneath.
[I am not an avid fan of horror games, but I decided to try this because of the stream. The quality of the game is nothing to be proud of. The rendering sucks, and I could tell the developer cut corners in several areas. But... but... despite all of these flaws, the game managed to make me scream. Loud enough to make my neighbors concerned. And for that, I can only give it a high score. I recommend.]
One review in particular stood out to me. Not only because of the number of likes it received, but also because of how genuine it felt.
I read it a couple of times before liking it.
"....."
Shortly after, I just found myself standing by the mirror, my expression oddly calm.
To say the negative reviews didn't affect me would be a lie. They did to some extent. The game, while a bit rushed, was still something that I had developed after a lot of struggle and suffering.
To see people trash my work didn't feel good.
But even though the bad reviews bothered me, it didn't surpass the other feeling that I felt as I leaned closer to the sink, staring at my reflection within the mirror.
Though not as bad as before, my eyes were still baggy while my disheveled hair covered my face.
Gripping the edges of the sink, my arms shook like they could barely hold me up.
I hated horror.
I hated it so much it made me sick.
Made me want to puke my guts out.
And yet...
I lowered my head, staring at my trembling hands, feeling something ugly coil tighter inside me. My lips pressed into a hard, bitter line.
"I-I'm more twisted than I thought."
Because no matter how much I hated it...
...I realized just how much I loved to traumatize people with my very own creations.
More.
I wanted to do more.
***
On the outskirts of the Velora Art Museum, several footsteps crunched through the overgrown greenery.
Following the incident that had occurred the previous day, and after careful investigation by the police, it was found that the situation was a lot more serious than previously anticipated, necessitating to involvement of the BAU directly, and forcing a specialized team to come and investigate the situation.
This matter became especially concerning when the agents dispatched on the mission heard a certain beeping noise coming from the energy detection meter.
Beep! Beep!
One of the agents, a tall man with a sharp jawline, frowned as he stared at the blinking light on his device. "I'm getting a reading," he said, his voice tense as he brushed the shoulders of his suit. "It's coming from inside the building."
"Same here."
Another agent responded, his expression tight.
"I'm getting a strong signal."
The third agent, a woman with dark, intense eyes, glanced up from her screen and met the others' gaze.
"Something's wrong. This... this is no ordinary energy reading."
The fourth agent, a younger man, swallowed, his fingers tightening around the device.
"We need to be careful. This isn't just a routine situation. There's something else going on here."
A reading suggested an abnormal presence of excess energy. This was not good news.
"Let's go."
The agents walked into the building with caution, their steps careful as they followed the beeps of the meters in their hands.
Coming to a stop in front of a trapdoor, they looked at each other before walking in and slowly walking past a long and narrow tunnel, the sound of their steps echoing loudly in their ears alongside the beeps of their devices.
The tunnel opened up into a small, dimly lit room. A single, empty coffin lay in the center, its polished wood gleaming faintly in the weak light. The beeping now rang in their ears, growing more frantic with each passing second.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The expressions of the four agents changed as they settled their gazes on the empty coffin that sat in the middle of the room.
"It's coming from right here."
The agents grew tense as they stared at the coffin, and as one approached it, he took a deep breath before slowly opening it.
Creaak!
A creaking sound echoed as the agent slowly opened the lid of the casket.
As the lid slowly rose, the agents' eyes widened in shock. There, swirling inside the coffin, was a vortex of black, a void so dark it seemed to suck in the light around it. The air in the room grew heavier, colder, and everyone's faces changed drastically.
"Shit!"
The woman hissed, her hand reaching out for her phone.
"...A gate has opened! Quickly report the situation to the Bureau!"