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

Chapter 531  Shocking everyone [3]

“Waaaah—!” The noise was deafening. I could barely hear over the noise filling the arena as I felt countless eyes turn toward me. But unlike before, there was more than just jeers and hatred in their gazes. There were quite a lot of cheers. “That was incredible!” “…How is it possible!? How the fuck did he do it?” “That’s insane! He was even faster than Leon! What the hell is going on with this guy?!” The shock was palpable. Standing at the center of everyone’s attention, I lowered my head. My stomach churned more than ever before, the feeling of wanting to leave stronger than ever. There were just… too many people. Ah, I hate people. But more than anything… ‘Mysterious. Mysterious. Mysterious.’ I had to keep up with my facade. ‘I’m sure those from the PR team will be satisfied with my acting.’ They were the ones to tell me to act like this. “Not bad.” Kyle arrived next to me before I knew it. He was smiling. Judging from his expression, it seemed like he had given up on the idea of being shocked by anything that I did. “Err, about your face though…” “What about my face?” My acting was flawless. “Ah, nevermind. Honestly, I thought you’d rank high, but not this high.” “…I got lucky.” “Sure. Sure.” No, I really did. “How often can someone be lucky? From Malovia to everything else that I’ve seen you do. At some point, you’ve just got to admit that you’re incredibly talented at this.” “…..” “Still, it’s a good thing that we passed. It means that our teams will now be able to pass for the next round. It would’ve been bad otherwise. The more teams we have on our side, the more points we can accumulate. I’m sure they’ll announce the Guild Rankings soon. Given that you’ve reached the top spot, we should be able to get a decent ranking.” “I guess.” The reason why we were all in different groups and not in just one single group formed of the most elite members of the Guild was specifically because of this. The final ranking was based on the cumulative points earned by each representative team of a Guild. If there existed only one good team, then the chance of the Guild ranking high would be minimal. More points would be earned by multiple good teams instead of one elite team. This was the usual strategy that most Guilds followed. It was essentially a ‘star’ driven strategy. One ‘star’ and members built around that ‘star’. “S-squad Leader.” A hesitant voice suddenly grabbed my attention. Turning my head, Mia stood not far from me, her eyes swimming in all directions as she bit her lips, alternating her gaze between Kyle and me. Seeing her act like this, I became curious. “What’s going on?” “That… Ehm.” Mia clenched her teeth before speaking. “…There’s a bit of an issue with Joanna. Can you help out a little?” “Joanna?” I looked around. What sort of issue could there be? If there was anyone that I trusted the most in my squad, it’d be Joanna. She was extremely reliable and was able to lead the team when I wasn’t there. Looking around, I eventually spotted her. She appeared to be talking with another group. From the way they were smiling at each other, it seemed like it was a good conversation, too. Well, at least that was how it seemed from the outside. “Those are the members from her ex-team.” “Ah.” Realization dawned on me. “They… apparently joined another Guild. A pretty big one. They’re doing quite well, and while I don’t know what they’re saying, Joanna looks quite uncomfortable. Can you…” “Alright.” I still couldn’t see how she was uncomfortable, but seeing the worry on Mia’s face, I decided to check things out. This was my duty as the Squad Leader. Giving Kyle a look, he merely patted my shoulder and muttered, ‘Well, good luck with your thing. I know how things can be.’ He then went ahead and joined his group. Seeing him off, I headed towards Joanna. Mia didn’t join. She didn’t want to make it seem like she was worried. Despite not wanting to, my every action appeared to attract eyes and murmurs. I felt uncomfortable as I walked, but I had no choice but to ignore the noise around me as I drew closer and closer to Joanna. It didn’t seem like her or the people she was talking to noticed me, and as I drew closer, I finally started making out their conversation. “It was quite disappointing to see you leave our group like that. However, in the end, we all managed to make a name for ourselves after you left. Do you think it’s a coincidence?” “…Probably not.” “Had you stayed with us, you probably would’ve gotten scouted with us, but then again, there’s also a chance that the scouting offer wouldn’t have come. You can say that we both benefited from your departure. I’m really glad you’re doing fine.” “I’m also happy where I am.” “Oh, but I heard you failed your first trial. The same for your team. Are you guys not holding your Squad Leader back? We all somehow passed, haha.” The more I listened to their conversation, the more I felt like I was being shoved shit into my mouth. What sort of ridiculous nonsense were they spouting…?

“Well, the Squad Leader is quite capable. He’s—” “I hope that he does well with you. But then again, our fortunes did get better after you left, so maybe you bring bad luck. Haha. Joking. Joking. I—” “If there’s anyone that brings back luck, it’s probably me.” I suddenly interrupted the conversation, causing the five figures standing in front of Joanna to abruptly turn in my direction, their expressions quickly shifting at the sight of me. Then—

“Hello! We’re Crimson Vow from the Arithmus Guild!” “Hello! We’re Crimson Vow from the Arithmus Guild!” “Hello! We’re Crimson Vow from the Arithmus Guild!” In a rehearsed manner, they all bowed down to me and greeted me. Their voices were neither loud nor small, but I immediately felt stumped. “It’s a great honor to meet you! You must be Joanna’s Squad Leader! We’re very glad that someone like you is looking out for her. Although our paths have diverged, we still care deeply for her.” They were all pretty, with the one speaking being a woman with long brown hair and matching eyes. Her skin was pale-white… pale to the point where it felt unnatural. Perhaps, a lot of make-up. No, it certainly was a lot of make-up. “Actually, it’s not like we can say that we don’t have any connections with each other. Our senior, Hermes, comes from the same Guild as us. We really look forward to the upcoming trials!” The more they spoke, the more I felt like puking… So forced. I kept my expression even as I thought about their words. Hermes… I do remember him, but also don’t. Who was he again?

For some reason, they mistook my confusion for some sort of glare as they all started to tense up. But I really was just thinking though… With forced smiles, the group looked at each other, and then the leader, who lowered her head to bid me farewell. “We wish you the best of luck!” The others followed her lead. “…We’ll see you later!” “Good luck!” Staring at their departing backs, I quietly massaged my stomach. Lately, it felt as though I felt like puking for completely different reasons than in the past. “Thank you.” A small whisper brought me out of my thoughts. When I turned my head, Joanna was staring in the direction of Crimson Vow with a complicated smile. “They were the first team that I joined.”

She started to explain, her voice low.

“We used to get along in the past, but as our performances started to become worse and worse, they decided to kick me out because they thought I was holding them back. Given how much they’ve grown, maybe they weren’t wrong.” “…..” “Even now, I failed. Maybe…” “If you suck, I’ll carry you.” “Huh?” Joanna abruptly turned her head in my direction as I looked away from her, and onto the other members of my squad. They were standing not far from us, all pretending not to look in our direction, but from their expressions, I could tell that they cared. The corner of my lips curled. “If you’re worried about doing back, don’t worry. I’ll carry you and everyone else. So don’t care about making mistakes. So long as I’m here, make as many mistakes as you want. Don’t care about anything else.” Because…

“I’m your Squad Leader.”