Horror Game DesignerChapter 27: Hide With Me

It was both hard and easy to clear this game. If one had no fear in one’s heart, one would not be infected. However, having no fear was hard for most people. The ending of the game was very ironic too. To prevent the Illness of Fear from spreading, the city management ordered the slaughter of everyone in the infected areas. The survivors who weren’t infected had to fight with the city officials.

“If this game became a reality, the trouble would be huge.” If the illness spread as fast as the game described, then it would be faster than how horror stories would spread. Therefore, Gao Ming had to stop it at the source.

“I have to find that missing child.” Gao Ming was anxious, and with that, other emotions followed. His forehead started to sweat, his heart palpitated, and he wanted to pee. As a professional psychiatrist, he knew this was the typical symptom of Illness of Fear.

Gao Ming stood up and shouted, “Pay attention! Do not believe what you see, hear and touch! Do not let fear take over you!” He shouted, but there was no response. Gao Ming walked out to the living room. He was the only one there. “This is not good. I seem to have been struck already.”

Gao Ming was worried. Bai Qiao and the driver rated this anomaly as not dangerous because it had no actual ghost. They treated this as a training for newbies. Ten investigators entered the anomaly, but this anomaly couldn’t be solved with pure numbers. Isolation, fear and collapse. Even though the Illness of Fear had no ghost, many people chose suicide to escape from fear.

“I cannot sink into fear. I need to escape to help others.” Gao Ming focused. Fear was a normal emotion. This emotion could warn people of danger, but an overload of fear was a poisonous emotion. If he couldn’t find the source to stop the negative influence of fear, people would be dragged into a cycle of fear. Gao Ming cleared his mind. He’d rather not think than consider the worst possible outcome.

“Help! Help!” Suddenly, someone cried from the corridor. He seemed to have tripped on something as he was being chased. “Let me go!” Something grabbed him. His voice faded away as he was dragged to another floor. Gao Ming grabbed the doorknob and shook it hard. It wouldn’t open, so he kicked it.

The old wooden door was kicked open. Gao Ming looked out and saw nothing but shadow. The screams echoed from the other rooms on the fourth floor. Gao Ming reacted quickly and kicked them down one after another. He abandoned emotions like anxiety and worry. He had to keep going to face the fear!

Gao Ming was fearless as he barged everywhere. “I designed the game. I am familiar with its every step. Why should I be scared?”

The screams couldn’t shake Gao Ming. He kept telling himself that even if a ghost appeared, he would give it a hug.

Gao Ming was ‘tormented’ for about ten minutes before the shadows rolled away. This game could have a terrible effect on human groups, but for special individuals like Gao Ming, it wasn’t too hard.

“The game appears to be sending me out.” The Illness of Fear was a solo game. You could leave once you overcome fear.

Gao Ming glanced at the ugly doll and studied the doodled corridor. If he left just like that, the newbies would be in great danger. Fear was highly infectious. If a group of scared people gathered together, the aftermath would be unimaginable.

“If I leave them here, it might cause the game to go out of control.” After a quick hesitation, Gao Ming made his decision.

The generation of fear could be split into four stages. The first stage was positive, where the brain reminded one of the imminent danger.

The second stage was the amplification of fear. Through past experience, the brain triggered oneself to come up with the solution. If one couldn’t escape from the predicament, then fear would enter the third stage, the negative clear. Anxiety, pain and despair would grow the fear.

The final stage was where the player was fully consumed by fear.

“I must have stayed on the first stage. The person behind the scene wanted to drag me deeper into the abyss, but it failed.” Gao Ming didn’t leave but turned back into Room 405. “The others from the centre might have fallen into deep fear. To save them, I have to embrace fear actively.”

Gao Ming carried his back filled with death portraits and slept in the blanket fort. He accepted his role and put down his defences.

…

Zhu Suisui was a rare female firefighter in the old city. She was better physically than most men. She once had a happy family, but three days ago, her husband and children were lost in the anomaly.

After finding out about the centre, Zhu Suisui immediately joined it and became a newbie investigator who hadn’t been assigned a black band yet.

She wanted to find her husband and children. She thought she was already prepared, but when it really happened, she realised she was not as strong as she thought. She hid inside the bedroom of Room 406 and held an axe with her numb hands. Her colleagues out in the corridor were dragged away one after another. The tortured screams pulled on her nerves. She tried to resist, but when she raised the axe to cut the monsters, she heard her colleagues scream. The warm blood splattered all over her. Zhu Suisui seemed to see her colleague in a pool of blood. She was so scared. She didn’t really follow the rules. She had forgotten all about the rules. Her mind was blank.

“You can’t leave here anymore.” The child’s voice resounded inside the room. Zhu Suisui held the axe and leaned against the door.

“You’re a killer for killing your colleague. Even if you return, you’ll be captured and sent to prison. You’ll never see your family again.” “Who is there?” Zhu Suisui waved the axe around. Moments later, the bedroom closet opened, and a pale kid was hiding inside.

He pulled his broken arm out of the closet and waved at Zhu Suisui. “I know you’re scared. Why don’t we hide here together?”