What Must Be Done

I stared down at the progression structure floating below the status window.

But as I kept looking, something felt off.

"…This feels a bit boring as is."

"Huh? Adel, who had been glued to my side peeking at the status window, tilted her head.

"Boring? It already looks fun to me!"

"The framework's solid. But it's still too… lacking in fine details, I guess."

The atmosphere was decent enough, and there was plenty of reason for the player to venture deeper in—why they had to.

'But we can't stop here.'

It wasn't enough to just push horror in a horror game. People who saw the required item was empty would take that first step, no doubt. I was confident of that much, but I couldn't guarantee what came after.

On the surface, repeating similar patterns to push deeper inside would get stale fast.

"First off, the early part needs to be simpler."

"Ooh! Great idea! If this weren't a game you made, Chase, I'd have quit in under ten minutes? Come to think of it, it does feel like there's more to it…"

"…People's heads are gonna explode later anyway, so tormenting them from the start would be too harsh."

"…Isn't that the worse option?"

Ignoring Adel's snark, I revised the items in the first section.

I shortened the unnecessarily long corridor and cut back on the explanatory text I'd added for atmosphere.

Instead, I sharpened one scene that would grab attention right away.

The spot where the item should be was empty, and the surroundings were drenched in blood…

"Chase? Chaaaase?"

"Huh, yeah."

"Anything else to change now?"

"Gotta give the player one more reason to head inside."

"Isn't emphasizing the missing item like this enough?"

"It's enough at first. But looking at the whole game, it still falls short."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tweaked the traces left on the storage room wall.

Short, hurried, vague content—

I cut off the sentence abruptly, and Adel's eyes widened.

"What? Why didn't you finish writing it?"

"That's what makes it intriguing."

"Umm…"

"And this isn't just explanatory text."

I placed one item below that trace.

Worn name, broken clasp, and a few numbers scrawled in blood.

"Picking this up reveals the next destination. But…"

Gulp—

"It'll also make them think: Why is this person's badge in such bad shape?"

"Aha…?"

"Letting them know someone got here first will complicate things in their heads, right?"

I kept the momentum and refined the next section.

The second space the player encounters. The pitch-black corridor needed tweaks.

Since I'd deleted the long stretch earlier, leaving it as is might work, but…

'Players need a breather too.'

Strangle them nonstop, and all that's waiting at the end is death.

Give a brief respite, a moment to breathe—

"And the next hit lands harder."

"…You're such a perv."

"Ahem! Cough!"

Now we were nearing the end of the game's early section.

Adel, growing chattier as the nagging unease built up, finally lost patience.

"When does… the scary stuff actually show up?"

I thought about the progression and pointed to a spot.

"Not right away. Around… here?"

"Huh? That's way later than I thought!"

"Facing the thing that stirs fear head-on makes it less scary."

I drew from my recent revelation and moved a few scenes revealing the monster's true nature to the back.

"Alright."

I sat in the dim mental space and lightly snapped my fingers.

The polished early section slowly began to fill the mental space.

"This should do it."

"That's it?"

"Yeah…"

No sound effects, BGM, or modeling yet—

"But it's enough for testing."

Adel rolled her eyes anxiously at my words.

"Testing…?"

"Yeah."

"Wh-who's doing it?"

"…"

"…"

"What're you waiting for? Start it up."

"Huh? Me?"

"Why, don't wanna?"

"No no no! It's not that I don't want to! I do wanna…"

After a moment's hesitation, Adel puffed out her chest confidently.

"I've played so many games in this mental space, and I'm confident with this level!"

"Good."

I floated the test section in front of her.

She started with a calm expression.

Well… she'd been right there while I built it, so she'd built up some immunity.

Passing the worn entrance, she reached the blood-splattered storage room and manipulated the console to look around.

"Whoa… I really hate this."

The dim lighting flickered on and off.

"Ah! Found i—wait."

"…This is different from what I made earlier."

"Eek—"

"…"

"KyaAAAAAHHHH!!!! Waaahhh!!! Hueeeek!!!"

As expected.

I'd slipped this in when she was pretending not to notice, and my hunch was right.

Feeling I'd gone too far with the prank, I explained the gimmick to Adel as she rolled on the floor.

"Pfft… Huff, if you clear it once, later runs get too easy, right? So I made the hints randomize per playthrough."

"Yooou… just you wait!"

After fuming for a while, Adel turned back to the console.

The game restarted.

Thankfully, the badge had no randomness, so she picked it up and left the storage room.

The next corridor was a breather space, but…

'She's had plenty of breather by now.'

Adel crossed it without hesitation.

Creak—

"Eep."

A fork in the corridor.

One door half-open, creaking.

Adel tried to play it cool and reach for another door—but

Thud.

Drip. Drip.

A tiny sound from somewhere.

So faint it might be a mishearing.

Adel froze the game and grabbed my arm.

"Chase."

"Yeah?"

"I'll… play this slowly…"

Her reaction was spot-on, and I felt pleased.

"Why?"

"It's not scary or anything… but I suddenly wanna watch Running Man episode 5, y'know."

That was her excuse?

I turned away, stifling laughter as my shoulders shook.

"You just laughed!"

"Nohohoho…"

"You laughed!!!"

"Whew. Just glad the game's working well."

"…"

Adel pouted and puffed her cheeks.

"Now I get what you said earlier."

"What?"

"The scariest thing is the unknown."

"Exactly."

But that sparked some worry too.

This world didn't have a clearly defined horror genre.

This game might pioneer it.

'People ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might reject it.'

Adel's reaction showed it could evoke negative emotions just fine.

What it needed was a carrot to make players keep playing.

A huge, alluring sense of accomplishment.

"…Mind if we tweak it? I'm, I'm fine with it as is…"

"Yeah. It's hitting harder than I expected."

"Means no quitting the game, right?"

"…Not bad."

"Heehee."

She perked up instantly at the praise.

'Wasn't she just bawling about how scary it was?'

Anyway, thanks to Adel as tester, the direction was clearer now.

Back in reality, a hazy sky was still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠peeking through the window.

"…Too early for a full meal."

Gurgle—

Maybe from working so long in the mental space, but my stomach was rumbling despite the hour.

After a brief debate, I headed downstairs and grabbed a top-quality morning set.

"…Weird how food's the same here as in my past life."

I piled runny fried eggs and bacon atop buttery bread and took a bite.

Eating breakfast while watching the street come to life after work—perfect start to the day.

Feeling lighter after the meal, I stepped out.

Knock knock.

"Who's there~?"

"Here for my assistant."

"…"

Rustling sounds, then Yaruru opened the door with half-lidded eyes.

"Yaaawn—what brings you here so early~?"

"Yaruru, got work for you as my assistant."

She froze at that.

She'd get it— the game was shaping up.

"No way, did you pull an all-nighter again~?"

"Got fun, lost track."

She gave a you again? look but soon shouted confidently.

"Got it~! Just trust me~!"

…Her eyes still half-closed, though.

"You okay? Wanna rest first, then test?"

Only then did she remember the genre, adding a beat late:

"It's scary… but this is what I gotta do~…!"