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

Chapter 517: Update [3] The shock merely lasted a few seconds before I was able to calm myself down.

No, calm myself down was a bit of an overstatement.

The shock still lingered as I stared at the new section that appeared on the app’s interface, integrated with it.

[Select Game Engine] ------------------------- ◉ U-Engine ◉ Game Developer Engine ◉ Virtual Game Engine ◉ Horror Gate Developer Engine ------------------------- "So this entire time the system was trying to get me ready for this?

" It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought about the possibility.

In fact, it made sense.

Why would I receive a system that would help me create better horror games?

There had to be more to it.

And in fact, there truly was.

"...

Given how a three-star rated game was so hard to create, this only makes sense.

" I thought back to my recent smiles and laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, this makes sense.

" If reaching a three-star rating was this hard, I couldn’t help but wonder how difficult reaching a five-star rating would be.

It almost felt impossible.

But now...?

"I think it’s possible.

But...

" Frowning, I sat down on the chair.

"Why do I have a feeling that I can still create a five-star game?

" Realistically speaking, a game’s limit was most likely three stars.

After which, one had to move on to Gates and create higher-rated games.

But for some reason, I had a feeling that I could still go higher.

I wasn’t sure why I was feeling this way.

But I just did.

"How ridiculous.

" I ruffled my hair.

However, just as I did, I received a new notification.

Ding—!

[Main Quest Activated] Difficulty: N/A Reward: 1,000,000 SP Objective: Develop your first gate!

Location: N/A Description: You’ve finally met the requirements to create your own Gate.

With the experience you’ve gained, you are now capable of completing one on your own!

Use everything you have learned to create a Gate.

The minimum acceptable result is a 3-star grade.

Anything below that will not be accepted.

Time Limit: 3 months!

"Not unexpected.

" In fact, it was pretty obvious that this was coming.

I was quite used to the system by now.

I pretty much knew that it was coming, hence my lack of surprise.

Looking at the quest reward, I nodded.

"This is quite a lot of SP.

" It was a number that I had never seen before, and had not even come close to in the past.

Taking into consideration how I needed to use SP to develop my latest games, I knew that things wouldn’t be different for the Gates.

In fact, there was a good chance I’d have to spend quite a lot.

"Right, now that I’m in the Fourth Order, I should have unlocked even more things in the shop.

" I planned on checking the shop, but before that— "Let me see the new features.

" I pressed on the [Horror Gate Developer Engine] section.

The moment I did, my surroundings changed completely, and I was brought into a white world.

"Hm?

This isn’t much different from the VR interface.

" A panel appeared next to me.

—[—[Furniture]—]— ● Oak Bookshelf: 40 SP ● Mahogany Chair: 25 SP ● Walnut Cabinet: 60 SP ● Pine Stool: 15 SP ● Cherry Dresser: 55 SP ● Ebony Side Table: 35 SP —[—[Furniture]—]— In this regard, it wasn’t much different.

Other than that, there were also: Furniture, Background, Structure, Items, Miscellaneous, Smell, Temperature...

"Oh?

" I paused, finally taking note of two particular sections that weren’t present before.

[Type] [Anomaly] I immediately clicked on [Type], which expanded into several clickable tabs.

---- ◉ Anomalous ◉ Hoarding ◉ Timed ◉ Zoned .

.

---- "So it’s for this...

" Out of curiosity, I pressed on the [Anomalous] section.

A new screen popped up after that.

---- [Set the rules of the Gate] Rules : ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ Description: Set the rules of your Gate.

You have a maximum of four rules you can set.

The rules must align with the selected anomaly’s abilities.

More rules don’t necessarily mean better!

---- "I see.

" I instantly understood.

’In essence, before starting the Gate, I need to set four rules that must be followed.

That lines up with what I know.

But can I increase the number of rules?

Since I can set at most four, is it tied to my Order...

or am I overthinking this?

’ Despite the small description, I was practically going in blind.

There were a lot of things that I didn’t understand and could only make assumptions.

Next...

I pressed onto the [Anomaly] section.

I wanted to see how this one worked.

---- [Anomalies] ◉ Twisted Man: 40,000SP ◉ Blood Butcher: 25,000SP ◉ [Slot Open] ◉ [Slot Open] Description : Available anomalies are judged based on those encountered and analyzed.

The maximum available slots are four.

Encounter more anomalies to unlock additional ones.

Captured or contained anomalies will not be included in the list!

---- "Hmm.

" I narrowed my eyes while reading the description.

In the end, I closed the panel.

I more or less understood how it worked now.

In essence, in order for me to unlock more anomalies, I had to encounter them.

If I did end up capturing them, however, it wouldn’t count.

But why?

Not only that, but it seemed like the contained ones would also not count.

This was quite annoying since my original plan was to go to the Guild Containment area and find an anomaly to analyze.

"Well, I guess I can understand the ones I captured.

" Those anomalies were synonymous with the Jester.

I couldn’t allow them to appear in the near future.

Their appearance would create too much chaos.

"I think this should be all.

" Honestly, it wasn’t too different from the Virtual Developer Engine.

It didn’t feel like it was something that I couldn’t do.

The only issue was the price of the anomalies, but considering what sort of anomalies they were, I could justify the price in my mind.

I planned on closing the interface, but right as I was about to, something else captured my interest.

[■■■■■■■] It was a different section that I hadn’t seen at first.

The letters were obscured, and the entire engine was grayed out.

I tried pressing it, but nothing happened.

Instead, I received a notification.

[Locked] I wasn’t even surprised.

In fact, it almost felt as though it was the most natural thing.

"Yeah, of course.

" There were still more features that I needed to unlock.

’I’ll leave that for later.

For now, I should take care of the Dock situation.

Given how much the anomalies cost, I need to make as much money as possible.

’ That wasn’t all.

I needed to carefully think about which gate I planned on entering next.

Since I needed to analyze the anomalies in order to place them in the interface, I had no choice but to enter Gates.

Especially since I couldn’t analyze the ones the Guild had already contained.

[Exit] The white world faded, and I massaged my eyes.

Standing up, I reached for my coat and headed outside my room.

Now that things had reached this point, I needed to get to the bottom of the situation and figure out just who in the world was messing with me.

For what reason were they messing with me, and how could I handle this as cleanly and fast as possible?