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

The smile on the Guild Master’s face didn’t change despite the sudden words from Myles. Instead, he just sat down and wordlessly stared at Myles.

A tense silence lingered between the two, until—

BANG!

A fist came smacking down against the metal table.

“Say something!”

Myles’s face twisted beyond recognition while staring at the man before him.

And yet—

“You’re still the same.”

The Guild Master’s tone and expression remained the same. Casual. It was almost as if he didn’t care at all about Myles’s current outburst.

No, he really didn’t care.

Myles’s face twisted further upon realizing this fact, and as his mouth opened to shout once more, he found himself giving up shortly after, his chest heaving up and down in uneven rhythms.

“…Are you done?”

It was only then that the Guild Master began to speak.

“I will speak if you’re done. Otherwise, you can keep going for a while. Although… ” The Guild Master paused, turning his wrist to check his time. “I don’t have a lot of time. There are quite a few things that I need to take care of.”

“…..”

His words were followed by an immediate silence as Myles kept his head lowered, his eyes focused on the metal table before him.

He remained seated like that, the silence pressing on further.

“Alright then.”

Pressing his hands onto the table, the Guild Master stood up.

“Since you don’t have anything to say, then I wil—”

“H-how long?”

Myles’s voice came out extremely hoarse.

The Guild Master paused.

“How long…?”

“H… how long have you known for?”

“About?”

“…..”

Myles slowly raised his head, staring directly at the Guild Master, his lips curling downwards in hatred and disgust.

“How long have you known that I’ve been here?”

“Oh.”

The Guild Master had a sudden look of understanding as he smiled.

“For quite some time, actually. While your face may be different than what I remember, you’re still my son. You also reminded me too much of me when I was younger. It wasn’t very difficult to make the connections. Your Decree and powers are also a big giveaway.”

“Hah.”

Myles smirked, his expression filling with amusement.

“Really…? After everything that I did… This is how you found out? Hah…”

Myles’s hands shook underneath the table, his hands balling into tight fists as his teeth clenched at the same time.

For nearly half a decade, he had been forcing himself to become the best version of himself, entering gates and living near the edge of death constantly. His goal had been simple.

To join the Guild that his father had set up and catch his attention.

…And the only way to do that was by becoming the best. His father only looked at those who could bring results. He cared nothing for the useless.

He had been confident in his abilities. He thought that it would’ve been easy for him.

And yet—

‘He’ showed up.

A variable that he had never expected to appear.

Despite supposedly being a game developer, every time he acted, he would somehow gain the attention of everyone present. Despite saying he wanted to focus on creating games, he ended up becoming a Squad Leader of a fairly successful group. Despite supposedly not wanting to be involved in gates, he had somehow ended up having one of the highest clearance rates within the Guild over the past months.

‘He’ was grabbing all of the attention that was supposed to go to him!

In order to achieve his goal, Myles had to get rid of ‘him’.

He thought he had done so, but… It had all gone wrong.

‘How did it go so wrong? Why…?’

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Myles.”

The Guild Master’s voice whispered in the air, carrying a certain warmth to it that made Myles pause as he lifted his head to stare at his father. For just a brief moment, his face quivered.

The smile on the Guild Master’s face softened as he turned away from Myles.

“Sometimes… you have to accept that there are people who are simply better than you. No matter how hard you struggle, they will stay above you. So you do one of two things: remove them, or bend them to your will and make them an ally. You failed at both, and now you find yourself in this position.”

Shaking his head, the Guild Master walked towards the door.

“…I’ll find you a good place where you can go. Your time with the Guild is over. Whatever you were trying to accomplish, I must unfortunately put an end to it. I hope you won’t resent me too much.”

He reached for the handle and paused.

After a moment, he turned towards Myles and smiled. As he did, a pair of dimples appeared.

“…Do try your best there.”

He left right after.

Clank!

A heavy silence hung over the room after his departure, Myles’s eyes remaining fixed on the spot where the Guild Master had stood only moments ago.

Then, slowly, his lips curled into a smile, his body trembling faintly with the motion.

“Ueth… kh…!”

Weird sounds began to emerge from his mouth as he started to comprehend the situation.

‘So that’s what he did…’

Seth…

He had decided to work with the Guild Master to get rid of him.

“Kek! Uekh!”

The thought made his chest tingle even more, a low laugh slipping from his lips as he found it harder and harder to contain his laughter.

“Kuk… what a fool.”

Of all people, he had to choose ‘him’.

“Keak.”

The devil.

***

Myles’s sudden outburst threw the entire Guild into chaos and confusion… especially among those who knew him personally.

“This doesn’t make sense. Was he always like this?”

“…Maybe.”

Kyle, Zoey, Rowan, and several others gathered in a small room, their brows furrowed in disbelief. None of them could fully grasp what had just happened. They were all still struggling to come to terms with Myles’s actions.

And yet, they had all witnessed his words and actions.

There was no denying it.

“But if you think about it, it kind of makes sense.”

Rowan was the first to break the silence, his voice cutting through the tension as he drew everyone’s attention toward him.

“What do you mean?” Kyle asked, his head tilting.

“No, think about it,” Rowan replied, tucking his hand under his chin. “Regardless of how much you can deny it, there’s no denying that Seth isn’t normal. He came in at the same time as Myles did, and despite him focusing most of his attention on his games, he’s constantly been overshadowing Myles. It’s understandable that he developed an insecurity.”

The room fell silent shortly after. Rowan’s words made sense.

Seth’s achievements were impossible to overlook. Everyone in the room knew them well, and there was no denying that he was exceptionally capable.

If put in the same position as him, then…

“I guess you have a point.”

Kyle let out a weary sigh. He knew all too well how these things unfolded, having faced the same insecurities and jealousy from some of his own colleagues. He could understand why something like this had happened.

“Still though…” Kyle suddenly chuckled, shaking his head as he thought about what had happened. “To even go as far as accusing Seth of being the Jester…”

Kyle sighed.

“He really must’ve been desperate.”

“Yeah…”

Rowan laughed alongside the other colleagues.

The tension in the room eased slightly after that, but there was one person whose expression remained unchanged.

“Jester…”

Zoey mumbled under her breath, her eyes narrowing.

“It can’t be, right?”