Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!-Chapter 559: Limbo [5]

[Herder] was a skill that was similar to [Containment Vessel] to some extent, but also differed in many ways.

Both skills allowed me to control anomalies, but unlike [Containment Vessel], which was permanent, [Herder] wasn’t permanent. There was a limit to how long I could control an anomaly, but I could also control a lot more anomalies than with [Containment Vessel].

The more powerful I was, the more anomalies I could control.

"...Come to me."

The fog condensed into my palm as I created a connection with it.

My fourth node churned as I controlled the fog, but I paid no attention to it as I stared at my surroundings.

Without the fog, I was now able to get a better look at everything around me.

"Yeah, it seems like I’m in some sort of forest."

This much had already been clear to me before. However, it was still good that I could see far ahead now. This made things a lot less tense for me.

With that being said, the surroundings were still dark.

Looking up, I could see no sky.

Just... darkness.

"Where could the others be?"

I looked around me, unsure of where to go.

The Conductor stood close to Mirelle as she remained where she was, her legs wiggling on top of the branch while she took out another gum and shoved it down her mouth.

After which, she said, "I can’t see anything from here."

"I figured that much."

There was no use calling for Mr. Jingles as the clown would be of no use to me at the moment. Perhaps the Realmwalker could offer something, but that wasn’t my immediate concern.

Right now, my real problem was far simpler, and far worse.

Where exactly was I within the Limbo... and how was I supposed to get out of this place?

’With the compass not working, things have become so much harder for me.’

Still, not everything was bad.

I looked at the mist hovering above my palm and clenched my hand into a fist. The mist dispersed, moving in all directions.

’With this, I should be able to move without any problems.’

Now that I was in control of the fog, I was able to sense anything that entered its domain. I could also now hide my figure within the fog, making it harder for anomalies to spot me. The unfortunate thing was that the mist couldn’t spread very far.

There was a limit to how much I could spread it.

But just because it couldn’t spread far, it didn’t mean that the distance was short.

"I should be able to scout the area ahead of me better."

The range was about a kilometer in every direction.

"There’s no use spending time over here doing nothing. I might as well go ahead and try to scout my surroundings."

Without any further ado, I began walking ahead.

*

The number of anomalies that I met on the way was a lot less than I originally expected. In fact, there weren’t many to begin with. The most concerning thing about this place was the absolute silence of everything.

It was as if no soul existed.

Sigh~

’How long have I been walking for?’

The more I walked, the more endless this forest felt. The fog spanned a kilometer in all directions, and it felt as though I had walked for several kilometers by now, and even then, I had yet to find a way out of the forest.

Not even anything related to the teams that had disappeared.

’Could they have been dragged to the layers beneath?’

The thought surfaced in my mind.

My heart sank at the idea. I had learned a little bit about the nine layers of hell, and amongst all of the layers, the Limbo was supposed to be the most forgiving of the layers.

Sigh~

I sighed as I walked.

"At this rate, I’ll be stuck here for a very long time. I hope that time here flows the same as it does on the outside."

I continued to walk.

"But why can’t I find anything?"

Sigh~

My legs started to hurt.

"Maybe I should rest up a little bit."

Sigh~

I was sighing a lot, wasn’t I?

My steps paused.

Bringing my hand to my face, I ruffled my face.

"As expected, this place is trying to mess with my mind."

The more I walked, the more depressed I felt.

It was as if my very energy was getting sucked out of me. At the same time, I started to worry. The more time I spent here, the more disadvantageous things would be for my team above.

I trusted them, but could they handle the situation without me?

"No, they can’t."

My chest tightened.

"I need to get to them quickly. I need to——Huh?"

I stopped abruptly, my head spinning towards a certain direction as I felt a disturbance in the fog. I focused all of my attention in the direction of where I felt the disturbance, and my heart skipped a beat.

’Something!’

...One, two, three...

I could feel the presence of four people.

And they weren’t anomalies.

In that case...!

Swooosh!

I didn’t waste a single second and rushed in the direction of the presence.

***

"Squad Leader, where the hell are we? Do... you still not have any signal?"

"I don’t."

Esteban replied, looking back at his own team members. Everyone present was an elite member of the Melson Sanders Guild. They were all adept at handling situations that would catch one off guard.

But before they knew it, they found themselves lost.

There had been no signal to begin with in Point Z, but at this moment, it felt as though all electronics had stopped functioning. They had also shot a flare, but nothing came out of it.

"...I am not sure about this situation."

Esteban continued, taking out a map and looking at it.

"Are we even in Point Z?"

His words brought a sudden tension to the surroundings as they all looked at the Squad Leader with worry. But as if things were already not bad enough, a sudden fog began to appear, consuming all of them at once.

"——!"

Tensions rose as everyone looked at one another, unsure of how to react.

"Everyone, stay close."

Esteban looked at his Squad Members once more. With him, there were a total of four. They were all trained elites with a lot of years of experience, and under Esteban’s orders, they all moved closer.

"Let’s go back this way."

As Esteban pointed in a certain direction, everyone followed without a word, moving carefully in hopes of escaping the fog.

But the farther they walked, the thicker it became. The mist swallowed the path ahead, curling around their legs and climbing higher with every step. The world around them smeared into shifting shades of gray until even the nearest shapes began to dissolve into formless shadows.

Only the sharp tips of the surrounding trees remained visible, their sharp crowns piercing through the fog like dark spears.

Silence pressed in all directions besides the soft crunch of their steps.

No one spoke. They scanned their surroundings in silence, every step measured. Muscles stayed tight, breaths shallow, each of them braced and ready for whatever might lunge from the fog.

As they walked, however, it wasn’t long before the group noticed a silhouette in the distance.

Esteban raised his hand, stopping everyone at once.

Their bodies turned incredibly dense as their nodes churned at once.

But the figure in the distance remained still. Hidden within the fog, the figure looked to be levitating in the air.

Esteban’s eyes narrowed. He gave a subtle nudge to his team, signaling for them to spread out and encircle the entity as they advanced in silence.

The closer they moved, the clearer the silhouette became.

At the same time, a sound reached them.

Faint at first. Easy to mistake for wind brushing against bark.

A slow, uneven swaying.

Then a soft creak.

One resembling the pull of a rope.

Creaak!

Accompanying the sound, the figure became even more clear, distorting into a humanoid shape. But as the group drew closer, their steps slowed as their eyes caught a better look at what was ahead.

And then—

THUMP!

One of the members stumbled back, their expression turning white as paper as they pointed at the silhouette.

"T-that! That...!"

"What? What’s wrong with you?"

Esteban frowned, taking a close look at the silhouette. But as he did, his expression changed drastically too. For the silhouette was not an anomaly.

No, it was...

"Jordan?"

Creaak. Creaak.

The faint creak of rope swaying echoed through the forest, the sound stretching thin against the suffocating quiet.

This...

"How is this possible? This makes no sense!"

This was none other than his squad member.

But wasn’t he with them just now?

If he was, then how could...?

"He seems to have killed himself a while ago."

A voice shattered the silence, startling everyone present as a figure appeared next to the corpse, looking at it closely before looking back at them.

"...At least an hour ago."