Chapter 161: Launch of new game [5]

"Okay, it looks like we have many choices. There are several doors that we can enter, each most likely containing a certain clue to the elderly lady’s husband. My best guess is that each door will pose some sort of challenge, with the ’fear’ factor increasing with each subsequent room that we enter."

Entering the room, Idris started to narrate. As an experienced gamer and as someone who had experience in Anomalous-Gates, he was quite aware of the current setup.

To him, this was child’s play.

"Okay, the first door looks like it will lead us directly to the kitchen."

Idris guided the cursor slowly across the screen, eyes fixed on the scene unfolding. The room was steeped in shadows, lit only by a single, flickering bulb that swayed gently from a frayed cord above.

The white marble tiles on the floor were cracked and discolored, like bones left too long in the dark. A plain gas stove loomed in the corner, while the open cabinets above creaked slightly, revealing their empty insides.

Creak...

The sound filtered into Idris’s room as he raised his brow.

"Hm, this place is rather well designed. But... I wouldn’t say this is quite realistic. This place doesn’t seem to have been used in quite a long time, and we’re all aware of the fact that the old lady lives here. See, look."

Idris pointed towards a certain area where he noticed dust and spiderwebs.

He shook his head.

"...The programmer is clearly trying too hard to make the atmosphere look scary. However, one needs to take into account realism while doing so. Otherwise, it’ll just feel forced."

Licking his lips, Idris continued to look around, criticizing any little thing that he saw.

Taking into account his annoyance, he didn’t hold back at all. He was brutally honest with everything that he said, ripping the game apart.

"There’s also a subtle lag that I feel when moving the character. This dampens the experience quite a little. Then again, I didn’t expect much to begin with. This was made after all by an amateur in the space. However, it is still a step up compared to his previous game, so I’ll give him his flo—Hm?"

Pausing for a moment, Idris moved the cursor as he suddenly spotted something.

His brows furrowed as he moved the character forward.

"What the..."

It was right at the gap between the cupboard and the stove that he noticed faint markings on the wall. He wasn’t able to spot them at first due to the faint lighting, but coming closer, he finally managed to see them.

His brows jumped up the moment he saw the marking.

It was a...

Downward arrow?

"Wait."

Idris frowned in confusion. But as he looked closer, he noticed the arrow was aimed precisely at the narrow gap beside the stove.

With a hesitant nudge, he moved the character forward. The shadows shifted, and just beyond the edge of the appliance, something caught his eye. Something small, partially obscured, lying motionless on the cold tile floor.

"A paper?"

Idris dragged the cursor over the paper, and the paper faded from the spot, appearing right into his character’s hands.

Alongside the action was a faint dragging sound. Most likely put there to indicate that the character had moved the stove forward to get the paper.

Idris didn’t think too much of it and stared at the paper.

[I think she is hiding something from me.]

[A lover? I don’t know. She just doesn’t allow me to enter that room.]

[She says that it was her ex-husband’s room. I’m not sure. She won’t allow me in.]

[It smells horrible in there.]

[Should I divorce her?]

Idris frowned, his fingers brushing against the keys as he stared at the message.

"Some family dispute? Well... It does look like the husband is suspecting her of cheating. There’s also something about her ex-husband’s room. Some sort of jealousy at play?"

Idris’s mind started to churn. All sorts of possibilities and scenarios started to formulate in his mind.

"Looking at our current situation, this seems to be a horror mystery game. We’re supposed to figure out clues regarding the husband’s disappearance, and looking at the letter, our goal should be to go to the ’ex-husband’ room. The old lady also appears to be suspicious. Let’s be careful of her."

As he said these words, Idris didn’t even realize that his tone had grown a lot more serious than before. Unconsciously, he started to treat the game more seriously.

This was something that he himself had yet to notice as he looked around the kitchen for any more clues before coming back out.

"It doesn’t look like there’s anything else here. Let’s go back out."

Moving out of the kitchen, Idris’s gaze fell on the lady. She still appeared where she had left him before, her toothless smile and hollow eyes directed his way.

"Have you found anything? I can help you whenever you’d like. My husband was a very good man. Although he did become quite sick as of late. I wish he had taken his medicine that day..."

Listening to the old lady’s words, Idris clicked his tongue.

"This game..."

The fact that he couldn’t actually interact with the old lady annoyed him. Otherwise, he would’ve been able to ask her where the ex-husband’s room was.

In the end, shaking his head, he moved towards the other room that was on the same floor.

The room stretched out before him, far larger than the cramped kitchen, its space cluttered with worn sofas, tattered carpets, and faded paintings hanging crookedly on the walls. But despite its size.

Dust coated every surface, thick and suffocating, as if the place hadn’t seen a cleaning in years.

WHIM!

The moment Idris took a good look at his surroundings, a certain tune began to play in the air, causing Idris’s brow to jump up.

".....?"

He guided the mouse toward the source of the faint music, his eyes soon landing on the old record player positioned beside a weathered wooden table. The record spun in eerie silence, emitting only a thin, creaky sound.

Idris swallowed upon staring at the record player, moving the character forward as he stopped right before it, yet again noticing a strange arrow etched on the table, pointing towards the record.

Idris left-clicked, and the record disappeared, displaying another letter.

[The doctors say that I’m sick.]

[...I think I’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.]

[I can’t remember things really well these days. What was I even so on edge about?]

[Right... Something about her ex. I am not sure. I am starting to see things these days. It all calms down whenever I close my eyes.]

[Could it be because of my sickness?]

[I wish I got better.]

"...."

The frown on Idris’s face deepened as he read this letter. He started to piece the two letters together, and new scenarios started to emerge in his mind.

’Could it be that rather than having alzheimer, he got poisoned by the old lady? The more I think about it, the more I feel like there’s something up with the old lady. Maybe the ex-husband is still alive, and colluding with her to do something to this guy.’

The more Idris thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case.

"Are you sure? It could just be a simple case of alzheimer. He disappeared after leaving, forgetting the road back."

"Yes, that could also be the case, but I don’t think it’s that simple. It’s never that simple."

"You think so?"

"Ye—!!!"

Idris’s eyes shot up in shock as his hands let go of the keyboard and mouse, and he moved back, staring at the screen with wide eyes as he hastily looked around.

His gaze flicked to the corner of the room, and there she was... An old woman, standing unnervingly close, her frail hands gripping a tarnished lamp.

"....!"

She was watching him, her smile thin and unsettling, her gaze lingering over him as though she could... actually see and hear him.

Not the game character, but... him.

Idris’s body tensed as he looked at her, lowering his gaze to stare at his hand.

It was there that he realized...

His hand.

It was trembling.