Developing Games: To scare players all around the world! - Chapter 107: The Temple [2250PS]

Chapter 107: The Temple [2250PS]

[A.N Going to stop doing the PS Chapters for a while as I’m not feeling well, will let you know when I’ll start it up again]

The faces on the piled heads were still faintly recognizable. Old and young, men and women, all stacked together to form a grim pyramid.

Before this mountain of skulls, three incense sticks stood in the dirt. Long extinguished, their ashes spoke of prayers unanswered.

“Holy shit… those must be the villagers heads.”

“They stacked them into a pyramid…”

“Damn it, Ashina and the Inner Palace are monsters!”

“This is the second blade of New Worlds’s cruelty, more ruthless than those Taro Soldiers!”

The barrage scrolled wildly. Everyone felt a chill crawl up their spines. Natalie’s hand tightened on her sword hilt until her knuckles turned white. Her chest felt suffocated, rage and sorrow pressing against her ribs.

How could anyone be this cruel?

But she had no time to mourn.

Creak… creak…

A bone-grinding sound echoed in the darkness, followed by a low, eerie wail, like ghosts crying, like wolves howling. The system’s BGM twisted into something unnatural.

From the shadows emerged a bloated, half-naked figure, a crude loincloth wrapped around its waist, a massive blade in its hand. Its body was built like the brutish Taro Soldiers… except this thing had no head. Around its neck writhed tangled coils of black hair.

“Shit… is that the Headless?”

“Damn, it looks terrifying!”

“My back is tingling…”

Compared to this monstrosity, the ghostly villagers earlier looked almost kind.

Natalie let out a shaky breath. The oppressive aura, the uncanny background music, it all pressed down on her. This Headless… this was one of the monsters Reina had unleashed to crush the Inner Palace. At least as strong as the Red Demon.

“For the villagers… don’t be afraid. Just cut it down.”

Muttering to herself, Natalie charged forward.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She unleashed a flurry of slashes. Each strike landed cleanly. But when she looked at the Headless’s health bar… it hadn’t moved an inch. Her attacks did nothing.

“Crap! It’s completely immune to physical damage!”

The monster moved. Slowly. Its blade swung down at her as though wielded by an old man.

“So slow!” Natalie’s eyes lit up. She stepped in, perfectly deflecting the strike.

CLANG!

The monster’s weapon was knocked aside, but at that moment, a new bar appeared on her screen: [Terror]. A third of it had already filled up.

A system prompt flashed.

[When facing unspeakable horrors, Fear builds up within you. If the bar fills completely, you die instantly.]

“Oh shit… this is what the villagers meant by being scared to death!”

The realization hit her like a hammer. The Headless couldn’t be harmed by ordinary steel. Worse, just fighting it pushed her toward death by sheer terror.

No way she could win like this.

Natalie spun on her heel and bolted. Staying here meant certain death.

She risked a glance back, and exhaled in relief. The Headless was as slow in its steps as in its swings, dragging itself forward like a corpse. It couldn’t keep up with her.

“Alright, guys, this thing’s impossible without the right items. We’ll need the Divine Snow and the Fear-Banishing Powder before we can take it on.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t bleed at all when you hit it!”

“Looks like we’re off to the Temple next.”

“A shame though… can’t avenge the villagers right away.”

“Don’t worry! Once we deal with those monks, we’ll come back and wreck this thing!”

Natalie chuckled faintly, letting the audience’s chatter steady her nerves. But mid-sentence, she froze.

She had bumped into something. Something icy cold. The texture was stiff, like skin stretched over frozen flesh.

Her eyes shot forward.

And there it was.

The Headless, blocking her path. At some point, it had appeared before her, its bark like belly pressed against her. That chilling sensation she’d felt… came from its corpse like skin.

“FUCK! FUCK!! FUUUCK!!!”

Natalie nearly screamed herself hoarse. What the hell?! Wasn’t it behind her?! How did it teleport in front?!

Before she could react, the monster’s empty left hand shot forward. Its claw like fingers drove straight into her chest.

PUFF!

A coldness like death pierced through her abdomen. Natalie looked down in horror.

That hand was buried deep into her body.

Then, the Headless yanked out its left hand with a wet squelch. In its palm lay something red and white, dripping, Natalie’s very heart.

“Ugh…” The Wolf let out a low, broken groan. Her health bar plummeted instantly to zero, an instant kill.

“Damn it! This thing is impossible! Totally impossible to fight!” Natalie broke down in despair. She didn’t even bother choosing [Resurrect]. Instead, she selected [Die Here]. She knew perfectly well, even if she revived, she would still be powerless against this terrifying monster.

Moments later, she reappeared at the Buddha idol near the village entrance.

“Forget it… Let’s just head to the Temple first. That Headless is too much… it’s pure nightmare fuel.” Natalie sighed as she stepped away from the pitch black cave, fear still written across her face.

“Yeah, that thing can’t be killed at all. It teleports, it’s hideous, and it’s scary as hell.”

“Feels like Silent Hill all over again.”

“The dev really went too far this time. Why throw something so horrifying into an action game?!”

The chat scrolled endlessly. Everyone agreed: the Headless wasn’t just a boss, it was despair incarnate.

Though Natalie burned with righteous fury for the murdered villagers, the reality was cruel. The Headless was far beyond her current strength. She couldn’t recover their stolen heads yet. Her only option was to continue toward the Temple.

From Ashina Isshin’s earlier words, she knew the temple’s entrance could only be reached through an old dungeon.

That dungeon had once been used by Ashina to hold bandits. But now? It served a far darker purpose.

Following a hidden path, Natalie slipped inside. A suffocating stench of rot hit her nose. All around lay men and women wrapped in bandages, their bodies twitching weakly.

Most were adults, but their condition was horrifying, red glowing eyes, or worse, their skin crawling with fat centipedes. They looked half dead, more like test subjects than prisoners.

“This dungeon… it’s being used for immortality experiments.” Natalie’s voice was icy.

The viewers shuddered. Along the way, they had already witnessed too many atrocities, Taro Soldiers created from children, entire villages massacred by the Inner Palace, pyramids built from severed human heads… And now, human beings used as fodder for grotesque experiments.

It was hell made flesh.

With a heavy heart, Natalie pressed on. The dungeon twisted upward. She spotted firelight ahead, accompanied by voices. Peering closer, she saw Ashina soldiers on guard.

“So close to the temple already?!” she muttered.

Silent as a shadow, she struck. One by one, the soldiers fell.

Finally, after a long ascent, Natalie emerged into a small wooden hut. A notification appeared.

[You have arrived at the Temple, Mount Kumgang.]

“It seems… we’ve finally reached it.” Natalie stretched, her face showing clear fatigue. “Alright, guys. We’ll end the stream here today. I’m exhausted…”

She had been battling Genichiro earlier, and now it was already past two in the morning. Sekiro was a relentless game, both physically and mentally draining. The endless tragedies she had witnessed weighed heavily on her.

“Rest well, Natalie! We’ll continue tomorrow!”

“Yeah, don’t push yourself too much!”

The viewers understood. Sekiro was exhilarating, but the strain, both from the gameplay and the story, was enormous.

Over the past few days, Sekiro had become a true national sensation, stirring heated discussion everywhere. Most players had already defeated Genichiro, and like Natalie, were advancing toward the Temple. Even those who hadn’t reached this stage knew of the horrors ahead from streams and forums.

And the verdict was unanimous, Tony had once again driven a knife straight into their hearts.

On forums everywhere, players lamented.

“The Ashina commoners are too pitiful… slaughtered by the Inner Palace, their heads cut off to worship some monster…”

“Not just that, used in immortality experiments, turned into weapons. I’m starting to think the civilians are all doomed.”

“Yeah… At this rate, the whole nation is finished. Just waiting for the final clash with the Inner Palace.”

“When the empire prospers, the people suffer. When it falls, the people suffer even more.”

“No wonder people call Genichiro’s uncle a lunatic. The man’s driven his country into hell. What good is protecting an empty shell without its people?”

“Too extreme. He’s not just cruel to his people, he’s merciless even to himself!”

1438 Words.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by AiKurou