Horror Game Designer Chapter 11: Rules

The horrors manifested through the phone, and the encroaching nightmare helped Gao Ming identify the game that had been turned into reality.

Zhao Xi was similar to the main character from My Only Family. One was hardworking, and the other was lazy, but their situations were so similar. They had family and friends, but behind closed doors, only they knew how horrid their families were.

“Other than Zhao Xi, I haven’t discovered the dead bodies of any of the neighbours. I only heard voices. The videos on the phone might have been imagined. The neighbours who were killed were those who looked down on Xiao Xi.” Gao Ming knew a thing or two about the situation in Building Two from the aunties at the resident centre.

1st floor’s Wang Kuisheng was a small business owner. He stayed at Li Jing Apartments to avoid debts; 2nd floor’s Xiao Qiu was unemployed. She was the one who started the rumours about Xiao Xi and his sister-in-law; 3rd floor’s Fang Shuqi was a tech worker at the port. He was the one Zhao Xi tried to save in the process of breaking his leg.

Negative pressure from all sides gathered to break someone. In the end, Zhao Xi walked into the night sky.

“My Only Family has three endings. To trigger the good ending, I have to get Zhao Xi to break his own phone.” The phone was playing those videos because Zhao Xi wanted to see him. Gao Ming decided to face his fears, and to do that, he had to shake off the influence brought on by the victim’s phone.

“I can’t do this alone.” Gao Ming stepped on the shattered glass and stopped before Room 2707. “If Teacher Yao is not home, then the video of Room 2707 is different from real life; If Teacher Yao is home, then either my hypothesis is wrong, or Teacher Yao is another living human inside this game.”

Gao Ming knocked on the door of Room 2707. Before the door opened, the door of Room 2706 eased open a gap. Gao Ming immediately readied to leave.

“Don’t worry. It’s me.” A familiar and scary face appeared behind the door. The investigator waved at Gao Ming. “Don’t just stand there. Get in!”

Under that condition, why would Gao Ming trust this man?

“I know you’re scared and helpless! But I can help you!” The investigator was anxious too. “We’ve been dragged into a supernatural event. I was moved from Xin Lu to Han Hai to investigate such incidents! I know you have many questions, but if we’re not careful, we’ll die!”

The investigator did not seem to have malice. He dragged Gao Ming into the room and sighed after closing the door.

Gao Ming looked around and grabbed a chair leg. “Why are you here?”

“I told you to move. Now, do you regret it?” The investigator wiped away his sweat. “After leaving Room 2507, I went upstairs to chat with the other tenants. Then, the strange things happened. I was unfortunate enough to be dragged into it.” He pointed at the black band that beeped red. “Once you’re inside, communication will be cut off. We won’t be able to contact the people outside. It’s like we’re in a different world.”

“All comms will be cut off?” Gao Ming’s face paled. He remembered in the previous game, he had received a call from his mother! If the investigator were telling the truth, then all the calls he received last game were from ghosts!

Gao Ming panicked. His parents lived in Xin Lu. He hoped they were not affected.

“It’s hard for normal people to accept this.” The investigator saw Gao Ming’s reaction and comforted him. “It’s normal to be scared, but we still have hope.”

Gao Ming was too lazy to explain, so he asked, “What do you mean by the anomaly?”

“Incidents that are impossible to explain started to appear at Xin Lu half a year ago, and then they suddenly disappeared.” The investigator shared with Gao Ming.

“This went back half a year ago?” Gao Ming was shocked.

“The news was sealed to prevent panic. The Anomalous Tragedy Investigation Center was formed to investigate it.” The investigator shared his identity with Gao Ming, “The centre is split into three departments: investigation, archive and security. Our existence is to figure out the reason behind these incidents.”

“Then, what’s your result?” Gao Ming remembered how Yan Lin treated this investigator. It appeared that even the lowest-ranking investigator had very high access.

“Every incident happened along a trajectory and within a specific range. Other than that, everything is an unknown.” The investigator forced a horrible smile to encourage Gao Ming. “It’s very low for normal people to get involved in these things. It’s rare.”

“You do know how to console someone.” Gao Ming digested all the news. The tunnel he passed on the night of the Hungry Ghost Festival was at the intersection of the three cities. He wondered if something escaped from Xin Lu and entered his body.

“Regardless, since this has already happened, there’s no use complaining. We need to be careful, and we’ll be able to survive until dawn.” The investigator touched his band and showed the message on it to Gao Ming. “Many Xin Lu investigators traded their lives for this info. They will help you survive. Memorise all of them.”

“When you’re dragged into an anomalous incident at an apartment, remember these to save yourself.

“One, find all the tenants and come up with a code for communication. This is to prevent yourself from being swindled by replaced tenants.

“Two, do not trust your watch or clock. Time is not accurate.

“Three, after midnight, do not open the door unless something is threatening you inside the room.

“Four, do not open the lights.

“Five, do not listen to any broadcast…”
“Does this mean that we can survive if we don’t do anything?” Following the rules meant not making mistakes, but Gao Ming wanted to solve the problem. “Based on the rules, we should go back to bed to avoid all the misfortunes.”

The investigator shook his head seriously. “As stated in Rule 11, do not fall asleep.”

“Thank you for the notes, but I need to do something.” Gao Ming used Zhao Xi’s phone to message Teacher Yao in Room 2707. He needed to confirm something.

“Everything you see is traded with people’s lives. You can question them, but don’t risk your life to test them!”

“Rules are dead, but people are alive…” Gao Ming opened the door of Room 2706. Looking at the dark corridor, he didn’t finish his sentence.

As the game designer, in a way, he was the rule-maker.