Horror Game Designer Chapter 25: Cry

“Gao Ming? Station Master Chen said you’d be here three days later. Why are you here now?” The only female investigator among the four shook hands with Gao Ming, “I’m the vice leader of Team One, Bai Qiao. The three of them are newbies. They haven’t experienced any anomalies before.”

“Are you bringing three newbies into the anomaly?” To Gao Ming, all anomalies were scary, and people had a hard time surviving.

“Based on the description of the survivors, there is not actual ghost in this incident, just some signs. The preliminary study deems this a Level One Anomaly. This is very friendly for newbies.” Bai Qiao touched her band and broadcasted a video, “Someone called the police yesterday because a child in Min Long Street’s Fourth Building’s Fourth floor kept crying. The police searched the entire floor but couldn’t find any child. Then, they found out from the elders here that a family of three once lived on the fourth floor. The father was heavily abusive, and the mother wasn’t a pushover either. About a few days ago, after another argument by the couple, they suddenly moved away, but the child didn’t seem to follow them.”

“Was the child killed?” Gao Ming thought of this possibility instantly.

“No idea. We tried to find the couple, but they had disappeared in the old city.” Bai Qiao switched off the video. “After the couple moved away, children crying could be heard on the fourth floor. It was very weak at first and would stop. But since yesterday night, the crying hadn’t stopped. We suspect this anomaly continues to worsen, and thus, we have to investigate it now.”

“Just crying? No one is hurt?” Gao Ming made many games that used crying. There was not enough info to identify the game.

“Temporarily, no one is hurt.” Bai Qiao glanced at her watch. “The other investigators are rushing here. We’ll enter the building when it’s almost dawn.”

The storm finally weakened, but the clouds covering the city were still there. There were around 40 minutes to dawn. A black van stopped at Min Long Street. The driver wore a cap and was very muscular. His band cut into his flesh.

“Sister Bai, morning.” The driver tapped the door. The other doors opened, and four investigators came out carrying various devices. The two youngest among them didn’t even have a band.

“Pack the stuff into the bag. We need to test seven objects in this anomaly…” The driver stopped as he looked at Gao Ming, “This brother looks unfamiliar.”

“He is the newbie recommended by Ol Qin. He’s experienced Level 3 Anomaly.” Bai Qiao listed everyone and raised her band. “I don’t need to repeat the danger of the anomaly. You’ve received the education at the centre. I hope you’ll be focused and follow the rules.”

“Understood!” The three newbies led by Bai Qiao and the four newbies from the van answered at the same time. There was no fear in their eyes. Only nervousness and curiosity.

“Move out!”

Including Gao Ming, 10 investigators entered Building 4. Only Gao Ming, Bai Qiao and the driver had survived an anomaly.

The centre was severely understaffed. Therefore, when the old agents encountered low-level danger anomalies, they would bring newbies with them. This mission was also a training for the newbies.

Various trash littered the narrow corridor. Footprints were left on the steps. The walls were filled with children’s drawings. The investigators slowly approached the fourth floor. Gao Ming switched on the flashlight on his phone to study the paintings on the wall. The doodles appeared to tell a full story. There were three people drawn with black crayons.

The largest one seemed to represent the father. The one with long hair was the mother, and the smallest one was the child. The characters of father and mother kept fighting, but as they tore at each other, smaller characters drawn in red fell out of them. Many of the red characters gathered around the child. As time progressed, the red characters became scarier. They removed their heads and arms. Even though they came out of the parents, they didn’t care about the child. The fighting continued, and the red characters became worse. They would appear when the child wanted to do something.

In one of the doodles, one of the red characters climbed out of the table when the child was doing homework. It pulled his hair and choked him so he couldn’t study. In another doodle, the child was sleeping in bed when red characters came out of his bed and blanket. They pulled the child’s eyes open so he couldn’t sleep.

The child was scared. He hid under the blanket no matter how hot it was. When he showered, he didn’t dare to close his eyes even though the shampoo got into them.

Seeing the cowardly child, his parents were angrier. They started to beat the kid too.

“The police couldn’t find the child. Is he trapped in the shadow world?”

Led by the driver and Bai Qiao, the investigators placed all the devices on the fourth floor.

“There are six units on this floor, but they have all moved away. Form a pair and enter the rooms. No matter what, do not leave the other’s sight.”

The investigators took out the key provided by the police. They unlocked the doors. As the key touched the lock to Room 405, everyone’s bands lit up.

At that moment, Gao Ming saw the shadows rush out of Room 405 and envelope the whole building. Gao Ming took a deep breath, and the hidden game was triggered.

Gao Ming looked down and shivered. The shadow covered a space as large as the one that happened in Zhao Xi’s game. This meant that this was not a Level 1 Anomaly.

“There’s 20 minutes to dawn.” Bai Qiao raised her arm again. “We’re now officially in an anomaly. Any info you gather here will be greatly useful in the future. Record anything you find in the files. Of course, you have to ensure that you can bring the info out.”

The driver straightened his body. “The red light on the band meant that the coms had been broken off. Do not trust the time you see here. When the band lights up with yellow light, then you’ve really escaped the anomaly.”

“Twenty minutes can be really long or really short.” Bai Qiao had no smile as she scanned everyone. “The investigation starts now! I hope everyone will leave the night safely!”