Horror Game Designer Chapter 10: Family

Normal people would scared and panicky when they encountered a horror story. A careless mistake would lead to death. Gao Ming was the other kind. He predicted the worst outcome and then lowered his expectations to the maximum before making his move.

2409 Fang Shuqi, “Bad things might have already happened to Brother Wang and Xiao Qiu. The rest of us have to stick together, and maybe we could survive. I hope Zhao Xi’s family will explain themselves. His return to this apartment has to do with you!”

2304 Li Li, “Even though Zhao Xi was found on the streets, we’ve already treated him as family. You people keep on calling him Brother Zhao, but I know you look down on him! You created rumours behind him and said that I had an affair with him. Do you think I don’t know that? Zhao Xi was forced to death by you!”

Li Li’s screen started to shake. She was very scared. She carried her child and opened the living room door. The dead body was on the second floor, and she was on the third floor. She didn’t dare to go down, so she wanted to go up to hide with others. Zhao Xi’s adopted mother flowed behind Li Li. Tears slid down her wrinkles. The basket she carried was filled with paper money.

“Why are you taking those things with you? You’re the reason why he’s back!” Li Li lectured Zhao Xi’s mother. The sound of crawling came from the dark corridor like several hands were climbing up the stairs. Li Li screamed in fear. She abandoned the old lady and her phone and started to run. The camera shook, and nothing could be seen.

2409 Fang Shuqi, “Li Li, did you abandon your mother-in-law?”

2501 Huang Mingming, “How about we go to the rooftop and stay together? It’s not a solution to hide in our own rooms.”

2607 Jia Qi, “No! Then, we’ll trap ourselves on the roof!”

2707 Yao Yuan, “My house is closest to the staircase. Everyone can come to me first.”

2409 Fang Shuqi, “Teacher Yao, have you recovered?”

Everyone was shocked to see Yao Yuan speak to the camera. Yao Yuan was 70 plus, and he was a retired police academy teacher. He knew how to lock-pick, fist-fighting and anti-scamming. However, he was diagnosed with a fatal disease two years ago. Many people at Li Jing Apartments knew about this. The formerly buff Teacher Yao was tormented by disease until he barely looked human in two years. He could only sit in the wheelchair and could barely eat.

“I…” The elder smiled sadly, “I don’t know what happened. I gave up on the treatment three months ago. I stayed at home and waited for death. But tonight, I feel like I’ve been healed. I don’t feel pain. In fact, I’ve never felt better.” Seeing the disbelief, the elder slowly removed his shirt. His skin was deathly pale. Black veins pulsed around his chest. It was like his blood was trying to mesh with this world. “I don’t know why this is happening, but I know I’m still me.”

No one spoke. After the tenants after Teacher Yao’s body, they subconsciously showed fear and disgust. This made Teacher Yao very uncomfortable.

Teacher Yao was an experienced officer. He knew words were powerless, so he put his shirt on silently and didn’t say anything else.

The tenants didn’t believe Teacher Yao, but Gao Ming was an exception. He had seen how ghosts had replaced his parents. They could perfectly mimic humans. They wouldn’t leave behind such obvious flaws in their discuss.

“Based on the info on the back of the death portrait, dying people could enter the game too. Is that how is it with Teacher Gao?”

All the normal neighbours made Gao Ming feel uncomfortable. In contrast, Gao Ming felt close to Teacher Yao.

“If there are actual ghosts among the normal neighbours, they will pin the blame on the living humans so that the humans would go after each other.”

Gao Ming was ready to leave Zhao Xi’s room to find Teacher Yao. Gao Ming’s idea was good, but he just inched the door open when he heard running footsteps. It was Li Li carrying her son past the fifth floor.

“Should I detain them?” Gao Ming leaned against the door. “This is the simplest way to verify their identities.” Gao Ming only hesitated for half a second. Li Li and her son were alone. This was a rare opportunity.

“The group chat allows me to monitor the other neighbours, but they are monitoring me too. I can’t let them see this.” Gao Ming covered the camera and exited into the corridor. He ran as fast as he could, but he didn’t see Li Li even when he reached the 7th floor.

“This is wrong! Li Li has a child with her. No matter how fast she is, she can’t be faster than me to reach the 7th floor!”

The smell of decay lingered in the air. He looked down. The lower floors were silent as a tomb. “Are they really all ghosts?”

Sounds of argument came from the phone. Gao Ming lowered the volume and returned to the chatgroup as he crouched in a corner.

2409 Fang Shuqi, “I can’t leave! Zhao Xi is outside my door. He is really back!” The tenant on the 4th floor sent a video. It was from the surveillance camera at his door. In the black-and-white video, Zhao Xi wiggled on the steps. His face brushed against the floor, and his broken neck swung around. Zhao Xi seemed to sense something. He slowly raised his head. He revealed a strange smile at the camera and then used his head to bump against the door of Room 2409.

This video struck fear in everyone’s heart, most of all Fang Shuqi who was trapped inside the room. His hands that held the phone shook harder. As the door shook for the ninth time, he screamed.

Everyone heard the sound of glass breaking. The camera spun away. Then, there was the sound of a heavy object hitting the drop.

He grabbed the phone as he plummeted. The camera stuck on Fang Shuqi’s face. He was pushed from the fourth floor and died the same way Zhao Xi did. The screen was dyed red. Gao Ming was shocked, too. Resisting the discomfort, he ran to the end of the 7th-floor corner, shattered the old window and looked out.

“I knew it!”

In the video, Fang Shuqi fell and died, but Gao Ming looked down and only saw a pool of blood and no dead body in the yard. These neighbours appeared to only exist in the videos.

“There’s something wrong with the video and the neighbours in it! The ‘ghost’ probably left behind this phone inside Zhao Xi’s room!”

If Gao Ming couldn’t solve this game soon, he might end up like Fang Shuqi.

“In real life, Zhao Xi’s phone wouldn’t be left in his room. After his suicide, his adoptive mother and sister-in-law would try their best to take over everything he had. After all, when Xuan Wen rented the room, there was nothing left but useless furniture.”

Covering the camera, Gao Ming studied the victim’s phone. He was reminded of the game he helped Wei Dayou design for a competition many years ago, My Only Family.

The main character was a useless, middle-aged uncle. However, he had a beautiful wife, a clever daughter and parents who loved him. He often used his phone to talk to his family. His connection was made only through the phone. One day, he met a woman who looked like his wife on the street.

He rushed to hug the woman, but the woman escaped into the arms of another man. The player would investigate the truth from his perspective. In the end, one would realise that his wife was formulated by the phone. His life was despairing. He took other people’s family as his own. In reality, his parents had cut him off, and his only family was that old, broken phone.

He was the biggest antagonist. He shredded his disguise and exposed his dirty heart to everyone.

There were three endings. The uncle found his missing drugs and diary. This was his fifth time waking up from the dream, but he took the drugs again to refuse to his beautiful nightmare; The good ending was helping the uncle shatter his phone. He would start a new life. He tried his best to turn over a new leaf and reconnect with his parents; The last ending was the scariest. The uncle lost his mind and treated the phone as his real family. He died with the phone, and the phone was eventually found by a child who was a victim of bullying.