Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! novel Chapter 126

Chapter 126: New Project [2]

Clank—

The door shut, and we all sat in front of a large oval table.

Standing by the end of the table was the Team Leader, his bushy and sharp brows furrowed tightly as he crossed his arms together.

"You guys are most likely already aware of the reason why I called you here, correct?"

No, I don’t.

"Yes."

"....Mhm."

Seeing everyone else nod, I also nodded.

But really, I didn’t know.

"Alright then..."

The Team Leader took out a small white controller and pressed on it, prompting the projector installed right above us to light up and flash the wall.

"Given that we had body cams for all of you, retrieving the data and looking through everything, I was able to see everything that had happened during the time when you guys went offline. Most of the things that you’ve said in your reports match what you’ve said, but I’d like to go through your failures with you."

The Team Leader suddenly turned his attention towards Kyle.

Looking at Kyle, he sighed and shook his head. All it took was one look to see just how disappointed he was.

"This is the first time." The Team Leader mumbled, watching as Kyle lowered his head. "This is the first time I’ve seen you perform this poorly. From your inability to keep calm, to the fact that you weren’t able to properly assess the situation on multiple occasions. What happened?"

"....."

Despite the question, Kyle remained silent.

His head remained hung low, and his fists were clenched tightly. This was the first time I had seen him like this.

It was an odd sight to see.

"So...?"

It was when the Team Leader spoke again that Kyle opened his mouth, but before he could get his words out that the Team Leader raised his hand to stop him.

"Never mind. Seeing how much you’re struggling to answer such a simple question, I’ll answer it for you. I can pretty much tell what happened."

The Team Leader turned his attention towards me.

"He’s your weakness, isn’t he? He’s the reason why you weren’t able to keep calm. This is the first time you’ve entered an expedition with someone you could call family. The mere thought of them dying made you panic, and as a result, forget all your training, correct?"

"....."

Kyle’s silence spoke louder than words as the Team Leader sighed once more.

"It’s not like I don’t understand, and this could be a good thing for you. Since joining the Guild, all you’ve been doing is clearing gate after gate without any setbacks. Take this setback as a learning opportunity. Dwell over it tonight and come back to me in the morning."

"....Okay."

Kyle quietly nodded his head, accepting the Team Leader’s words.

"Of course, you will naturally be punished for your failures. I’ll detail your punishment later."

The Team Leader then turned his attention towards Zoey and Raymond.

"For you two, I don’t really have too much to say. You were able to remain cool-headed, and taking into consideration the strenght of the anomaly you were handling, your reactions were understandable. However, that doesn’t mean that the two of you were perfect. There are several things that you both failed to take into account..."

From that point forward, the Team Leader proceeded to dissect every little thing that came from the bodycam footage.

He detailed all of the things that they did wrong, alongside the things that they should’ve done.

It was basically a review session.

Everything that was being said was actually quite useful for me, too. I was learning a little bit more about how things worked and the things that one wasn’t supposed to do when going on an expedition.

But still...

’Why am I here?’

I was really struggling to understand this part.

From start to end, the Team Leader only addressed Kyle, Zoey, and Raymond. Not once did he look at me or speak to me.

I felt at a complete loss.

’So...? Did I make a mistake or not?’

I didn’t get to find the answer until a good half an hour had passed.

"Now, onto you."

With the Team Leader’s gaze finally falling on me, I unknowingly started to tense, expecting to hear something from him.