[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-horror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary":3,"chapter-horror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary-horror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary-chapter-418":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},429631,691,"Chapter 418: Follow Up [2]","horror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary-chapter-418",418,"\u003Cp>[Continuation Quest Activated]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Difficulty:N\u002FA\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reward:Emblance Shard\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Objective:Who they worship!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Location:N\u002FA\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Description:You’ve infiltrated the cult, but your presence hasn’t gone unnoticed. Their whispers follow you through candlelit halls and smoke-filled chambers. Uncover the secrets buried within this branch, its hidden rites, forbidden texts, and veiled motives, and learn the true identity of the entity they worship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time Limit:N\u002FA\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Staring at the quest, my heart grew heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially when I saw the ’N\u002FA’ in the difficulty section.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What does this mean? Why is there no difficulty description?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quiet sense of dread crept up my spine as I thought about it, but that feeling faded a moment after as I caught sight of the Reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Emblance Shard?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What the hell was that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pressed on it, but there was no description.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I even went as far as checking the shop, but there was also no description about it. My phone...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no signal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What the hell is this Emblance Shard?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My thoughts wandered to my condition. I wanted to believe this could be the cure I’d been waiting for, but with no description, that hope was all I had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clanka! Clanka!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\".....!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strange noises echoed from the elevator as it descended, a mix of grinding metal and distant creaks. My expression tightened, and I pressed my back against the cold metal frame, listening carefully as the sounds grew louder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’How far down am I going?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know how long I had been going down, but I knew it was a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I turned to see my reflection, I took a look at my face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was tense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hoo. Hoo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to take several deep breaths in order to calm myself down as I focused my attention on the quest description.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Undercover the secrets of the cult? Find who they worship?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reading the description, I knew that I was in for a massive pain. To make it worse, the drone was no longer recording, and the chat had long died. This only meant one thing. The stream had ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’...Maybe this is good.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I swallowed silently, focusing my attention on the door of the elevator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I don’t know why there is no difficulty set, but it doesn’t matter. I have a feeling that I need to complete this mission for my own sake. Not just for the reward, but for all the information that I’ll learn alongside it.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clanka! Clanka!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elevator shuddered and came to a stop with a metallic groan that echoed for what felt like minutes. The single light above me flickered twice, then steadied before flickering again as I stared at the doors where a small gap started to form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors were opening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without a second thought, I activated my second node.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Trait Transfer].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shift occurred around me as I was pulled into the darkness beneath my feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors slid open with a hollow groan, revealing nothing but a long, narrow corridor stretching into darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Thankfully, I have a skill like this.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for this skill, I would’ve been afraid of suddenly getting attacked by cultists from all sides. Even so, as I stepped toward the corridor, a faint tension lingered in my chest, like the air itself was holding its breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was dark, and within the darkness, I felt a sudden shift in the surroundings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt suffocating, and just standing still felt as though thousands of different eyes were staring at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite the feeling, I knew that I had to keep going forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the only path for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Step—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The echo of my step reverberated loudly across the surroundings. Thin pipes snaked along the ceiling, dripping occasionally, while the soot-stained walls bore symbols carved deep into the concrete. For a fleeting moment, each mark seemed to shift, but the moment I looked at them, they returned to normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Am I imagining things...?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn’t sure, but I kept going forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deeper I went, the heavier the air became.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every breath felt heavy, the scent of iron growing stronger and stronger. The faint hum that had haunted the upper levels was gone now, replaced by a slower, deeper rhythm, almost like the heartbeat of something buried beneath the factory itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The narrow passage eventually split in two. Both directions were identical, same rusted piping, same soot-caked walls, same smell of burnt oil, but the right corridor carried a faint light at the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, I moved towards the light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With each step I took, I felt increasingly tense. I didn’t know what was ahead of me, nor did I know if there was anyone waiting for me. I knew that I wasn’t exactly in the real world, but in an opposite realm, and I also understood that the cult had many anomalies under its control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, I knew that I had no other choice but to keep going forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And eventually, I drew close enough to the light to see what was waiting for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a small room, dimly lit by flickering candles placed unevenly along the walls. Their wavering light cast long, shifting shadows across the floor. In the center stood a narrow podium, and resting atop it was an old, weathered book, its cover cracked, while its pages were yellowed from age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I grew breathless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something about the book threw me off, and yet, before I knew it, I found myself walking towards it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was almost as if my body moved in its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flip!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I opened the book, a faint hiss escaped from within. The pages were brittle, clinging together beneath a thin layer of soot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I carefully brushed it away, my hand stopped mid-motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A familiar symbol stared back at me from the very first page, etched in thick black ink. Beneath it, a large[71]was scrawled in uneven handwriting, the numbers slightly smeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I leaned closer, studying the lines of the mark, a faint whisper brushed past my ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\".....!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I immediately grew alarmed, turning my head to look around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was nothing around me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I frowned, feeling a gentle throb in my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, I returned my attention to the book as I flipped to the next page.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flip!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, there were words, written in flowing cursive that had nearly faded with age. I had to narrow my eyes and lean closer, tracing each letter carefully just to make out what they said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[He was but a mere librarian. A keeper of sorts.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The world turned against him, and he fell from grace.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[When god rejected his wisdom, heaven lost its wisdom alongside him.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[He’s but a vault of borrowed faces, his real face hidden beneath the lies.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reading the pages, I felt my breathing come to a complete pause. I didn’t understand what the words meant, but with each line that I read, the headache became greater. It soon reached a point where I had to stop, a groan escaping my lips as I held onto my head with both hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Save me from this torture!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’...Give me a path of guidance!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’The mist is like a—’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Swooosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It happened abruptly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world changed, and the second node ceased to function.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately, I was brought out of the other realm, and I suddenly found myself standing inside a different room. No, it was the same room, but the place was different. There were tables and weird equipment around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air also felt colder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I blinked, looking around in confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wha... Where is this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My mind was blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All thoughts appeared to have stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Where am I?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bits and pieces of images flashed across my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cult? Quest?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>None of it made sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tilting my head, I rubbed my head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The headache intensified, pulsing behind my eyes until it felt like my skull might split. My gaze drifted to the bag slung over my shoulder. Without thinking, I pulled it off and started rummaging through it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant my fingers brushed against what was inside, a flood of distorted images crashed through my mind, fragments of memories, voices, and some other things. By the time I came to my senses, I realized I was gripping something tightly in my hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flip phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"W... what?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I opened it, a single number appearing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, for whatever reason, I dialed the number.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du! Du!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It rang in the silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tone echoed through the silence, each ring stretching longer than the last. Just as I began to think no one would answer—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The line connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I exhaled slowly, the sound shaky in the quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Hello?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>",1446,"2026-05-30T08:34:27.148Z","2026-06-01T04:30:46.873Z",1,"novelbin.me","5ff056a79e6029e796823085194aa9cf4086cd3f964a021125eeb3a1c1668a7a","horror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary-chapter-419","horror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary-chapter-417",656,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhorror-game-developer-my-games-aren-t-that-scary-cover.jpg"]