Horror Game Designer Chapter 1: A Normal Night

“Happy birthday!”

The living room light shone on the faded yellow table cloth. In this happy atmosphere, father and mother carried the cake into the room. They didn’t bring their emotions back from home. Even though they had been working for the whole day, they were full of smiles.

Pulling up the curtain that led to the kitchen, Gao Ming carried out the trays of cooked food. He didn’t talk to mother and father. He sat alone at the other side of the dining table.

“This kid…” Father shook his head helplessly. He removed his raincoat and rubber shoes and placed his slippers beside mother’s feet. The father in his suit was tall and handsome. The mother, in a white shirt and jeans, was gentle and kind. She praised Gao Ming’s cooking skills and then moved the dirty laundry into the bathroom. There was the sound of running water. After mother washed her hands, there were dark red stains around the sink.

“It’s your birthday today. No matter how busy we are, we’ll hurry back to accompany you.”

Gao Ming didn’t seem to hear his parents. With his head lowered, he listened to the news on the television.

“Reappearance of the Rainy Night Murderer! Third murder in our city’s Old City!”

“The police have zeroed in on the suspect! The public is advised not to panic. Keep your doors and windows locked. Do not go out at night!”

The storm slammed against the glass window. The storm outside and the warm room inside formed a great contrast.

“Why do you keep watching this news?” The father took up the remote with concern. “The media like to focus on these anxious and dangerous things too much.”

Gao Ming did not answer. He moved his line of sight silently to scan this warm room. All the walls were fitted with soundproof materials. As long as there was no loud argument, the neighbours would have no idea what was happening inside the room. The living room had a new fridge. The fridge had a fan to blow freezer air into the fridge so that the meat inside wouldn’t rot so easily. There was a lot of saran wrap in the kitchen. There were containers perfect for storing fist-size meats. There was also a heating compound under the counter. This thing could speed up the decaying process of meat after being mixed with water. So… some were stored inside the fridge, and the others were processed?

A plastic tarp was spread all over the bathroom. It looked like this was where the meat was prepared. Of course… what kind of meat needed to be processed in the bathroom?

The place looked clean and nice, but Gao Ming kept seeing horrible scenes. The whole room was pleasant, but his hands kept shaking.

“Come. Eat some cake. Your dad and I carried it back through the heavy rain.” After mother washed her hands, she carefully opened the cake box and placed eighteen candles on it.

“18…” Gao Ming was 26.

“Why don’t you make a wish?” Father lit the candles, and mother switched off the lights.

Darkness shrouded the living room. The candlelight lit up father and mother’s faces. They stared at Gao Ming through the darkness with similar smiles on their faces. Even the curve of the smiles was the same. Gao Ming could sense his parents approaching. Their bodies appeared to be morphing in the dark.

“I hope my mom and dad can stay with me forever.” This was the first time Gao Ming spoke since his parents got home. Actually, Gao Ming loved his parents, and his parents loved him. They would come back every night to see him, no matter how tired they were. The lights came back on. Gao Ming’s back was covered in cold sweat. He removed the candles one by one. After he wiped them clean, he placed them back in the box. The box had many candles.

“If you say your wish aloud, it won’t come true.” Father was hungry and started to stuff his face with food. The mother looked at Gao Ming with love as she put food on his plate. Gao Ming didn’t touch the food he cooked. He put a slice a cake before him and counted his heartbeat. He carefully massaged the calluses on his fingers.

“We are sorry to interrupt with an emergency news. The Rainy Night Murderer might have escaped into the residential area! We have to remind the citizens of the Old City to lock up all windows and doors. Do not let any strangers in!

“Based on the info from the police, the murderer is between 20 to 30. His height is between 1.75 meters to 1.85 meters…”

About 15 minutes later, after Gao Ming observed Father and Mother’s situation, he picked up a small bite of cream and put it in his mouth. The cream was milky and fragrant. It melted in his mouth.

Bang!

Mother, who stood up to ladle the soup, collapsed to the ground. Her arms shook terribly, and her eyelids slowly closed. Seeing this, the father rushed to help her, but his body seemed to be filled with lead. He couldn’t move.

“The dosage is too heavy. Even though this is not my first time, I am still nervous.” Gao Xing’s hands stopped shaking. He looked at his parents on the ground, and his expression became weird.

“I still don’t understand this. Am I crazy, or the world that is crazy?” Gao Xing opened the closet and took out the ropes to tie up his parents. The news about the murderer continued to broadcast, and the rain poured, but these things appeared not to affect Gao Ming. He used a lot of strength to drag his parents to the bedroom door. Gao Xing loved his parents, and his parents loved him. They came back every night to see him but…

He pushed the bedroom door open, and the lock jangled. Strange laughing faces stared at Gao Ming. The bedroom was filled with Fathers and Mothers! Their bodies were woven together! They had inhuman expressions!

Gao Ming’s father and mother would return every night, but they were not Gao Xing’s parents. Even if he tied them up, new Father and Mother would come home every night!

“Are they humans or monsters?”

The mouths slowly opened. When the Mothers and Fathers in the bedroom saw Gao Ming, blood appeared in their eyes. They were like hooked fish, struggling hard. At the same time, they gurgled, Stay here! Stay here!

Gao Ming leaned against the door, lit a cigarette and looked at everything silently. This was his third day being trapped in the room.

It was the Hungry Ghost Festival three days ago. He quit his job as Hen Shan Heavy Criminal Penitentiary’s psychiatrist and planned to throw himself fully into the job of a game designer.

At 2300, he took the last bus from Han Jiang back to Han Hai. At the time, he was designing a game to improve familial relationships on the bus. To earn more money, he had to include an ad for his land owner’s bakery in his game. The game was mostly about how parents needed to go home more often to be with their children. No matter how busy they were, they had to go home to be with their family.

There were not that many passengers on the bus. At around 1 am, the bus strangely stopped inside a tunnel. Gao Ming removed his headphones and looked around. He realized he was alone. Even the driver was gone. Then, a huge part of his memory was lost. Gao Ming had no idea how he got home. He could remember he had seen some scary things.

He was nervous and anxious, so he locked himself at home. However, he was woken up by knocking at 3 am. Once he opened the door, he saw his parents standing outside with a cake. Gao Ming invited his parents into the home. He went to pick up the slippers, but he got a call from his mother. His mother said that it would rain for days at Han Hai, and she hoped that Gao Ming would look after himself. Chill climbed up his spine. He turned around and saw his parents standing behind him, looking at his phone. The birthday cake, the company and his parents…

The game he made turned into a reality, but some changes had been made. He tried to escape, but it was total darkness outside the anti-theft door. It seemed to connect an unknown world. With no other choice, Gao Ming had to clear his own game.

How difficult could this game be? So his parents would come home every day. So his parents would turn into monsters in the dark. So, was his goal to survive until he was 18 and could leave home?

Thinking about the events that happened in the past three days, Gao Ming’s eyes twitched. At the very least, he didn’t want to eat another cake in his life. Gao Ming pinched the cigarette out and pushed his latest parents into the bedroom. His fathers and mothers didn’t want him to leave either.

“Whenever mother and father came home, there would be more candles on the cake. Eighteen candles is the adulthood moment. This should be when I clear the game.

“I thank you for your accompaniment. But if you’re really my parents, you won’t force me to stay here but hope that I can bring you away from here with me.”

Gao Ming’s parents had not reacted so strongly before. This proved that Gao Ming was close to clearing his own game. Gao Ming shut the bedroom door, and the temperature rose again. The news became clearer, and the storm outside the window became more real.

“After three days, I can finally leave this damn place!”

Gao Ming hurried to the front door. He looked out the peephole. The corridor was no longer covered in darkness. The dim lights seemed to guide Gao Ming somewhere. “My memory about the tunnel is blurry. The tunnel has to be related to why the game I made has become a reality.”

Gao Ming knew he had to get to the bottom of this. He was a lover of thrillers. He knew more about death than a normal person should. If everything he made became true, then the whole city was in danger. The light in the corridor chased away the darkness. As Gao Ming was about to open the front door, rapid footsteps came from outside. His heart raced. He stared out the peephole, and veins popped on his arms.

“I should have cleared this game already!” Gao Ming held his breath and looked down the staircase corridor.

Moments later, a man in a raincoat around 20 plus appeared. His face was gloomy as he looked around. Gao Ming narrowed his eyes. The man looked similar to the drawing of the murderer released by the police.

“I was so scared. It’s just the Rainy Night Murderer. I thought it was my parents again.”

He looked around the bedroom. There should be a reward for clearing the game but Gao Ming didn’t dare to get it. He found the bandage and wrapped it around his leg. He pretended to be injured, carried the trash bag and opened the front door. The wet air wafted into the room. Gao Ming took a deep breath.

The man in the raincoat was about to leave when he heard a door open. Rain slid down the rim of his hat. He tried his best to hide the excitement in his eyes. He turned to grab the door.

“It’s raining so heavily. Your clothes are wet. Please come in to warm yourself up.”

Before the man could speak, Gao Ming offered first. Then, he hobbled to warm the dishes on the table. Seeing how defenceless Gao Ming was, the man entered the room. He saw Gao Ming’s ‘injured’ left leg and the half-eaten cake. The happy atmosphere triggered his urge to destroy and he revealed a cruel smile.

‘This might be the last happy night you’ll ever experience.’