Horror Game Designer Chapter 86: Different Timeline

The room became quiet. Gao Ming paused for a second. Then, he stood up to grab the food for Wan Qiu and sent him to his room. After Wan Qiu left, Gao Ming sat back down. His expression didn’t change, but his gaze was different.

“Just say what’s on your mind.”

“I was surprised when I saw you get on the bus at Hen Shan Penitentiary. I wanted to greet you, but you were busy with headphones on.” Liu Yi opened her phone and showed a drawing of the bus to Gao Ming, “After I got on the bus, I noticed something was wrong. There were problems with the passengers, driver and the bus itself. When the bus got into an accident inside the tunnel, I survived and remembered the bus.”

“It looks no different from a normal bus. Just the plate is blurred by blood.”

“I compared the route with the buses who had accidents…” Liu Yi opened a hidden folder. She opened an old news. “Look at these two pictures. Do they look familiar?”

Gao Ming looked at the screen. The bus in the article was similar to the bus Liu Yi drew. Even the details, like the number of shattered windows and the scratches on the shell, were the same.

“They look like the same bus.”

“That’s what I want to tell you.” Liu Yi scrolled down. “Look at the date. This article was reported on the Hungry Ghost Festival ten years ago! The bus we took had an accident 10 years ago!”

Gao Ming didn’t have any impression of the bus. He was too focused on himself.

“A bus that is trapped in time?” Gao Ming’s brain spun. “Lawyer Liu is not simple. Even in that dangerous situation, you can still remember so many things.”

“It’s nothing compared to you.” Liu Yi turned her phone over, and she slowed down. “I’ve come here to look for you three times, but you are not home.”

“You came to look for me?!” Gao Ming thought back to his last life. He was trapped at home for three days and thus missed the meeting with Liu Yi and entered the other timeline. In other words, if Gao Ming didn’t retain the God of Blood and Flesh’s memory, he would never have met Liu Yi.

“Speaking of, I need to thank you. If you hadn’t led the way that night, I might not been able to leave the tunnel.”

“Follow me?” Gao Ming felt like something was wrong. “I was carried out by a woman that night.”

Liu Yi was confused. “But I only saw you. You were talking to someone. Something about things going out of control and ghosts being everywhere. The games you have made in the past could become a reality.”

Gao Ming’s pupils started to shake. He had heard this many times. “What else did the voice say?”

“I can’t remember.” Liu Yi said uncertainty. “The voice also said that you should have died, but it gave you a chance to survive because you had accepted a trade.”

Gao Ming stood up. He had goosebumps.

He heard Wen Xuan say these exact same words in his last life. When he walked out of the tunnel, he asked Xuan Wen to stop hunting down the other eight female characters. It was unknown if Xuan Wen followed his suggestions, but Xuan Wen’s fate had been changed. However, after Xuan Wen’s fate changed, Liu Yi found Gao Ming and told him the same thing Xuan Wen would have told him. Assuming Gao Ming lost his memory, then he would hear this info from Liu Yi and find out that his games had become real and complete a trade with someone inside the tunnel. This feeling was very surreal. No matter how you struggled, all the choices pointed to the same outcome. Nothing could be changed.

“Is this fate?” Everyone and things were chess pieces. Everything would be moved back to their trajectory.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Yi stood up to pat Gao Ming on his back. “You look scared. Don’t mind my words.” Liu Yi poured a glass of hot water for Gao Ming, “No matter what the voice in the tunnel said, if you think there’s a problem with it, just think of it as nonsense.”

Liu Yi and Xuan Wen had two different personalities. Xuan Wen couldn’t observe others easily and accomplish her goals without people noticing; Liu Yi trusted her own judgement and hoped to lead everyone to accomplish a united goal.

“I came here not to tell you this. I want to discuss something else with you.” Liu Yi took over her bag. She pulled out a graduation picture and placed it before Gao Ming.

After a quick glance, Gao Ming couldn’t pull his eyes away.

The graduation picture was made of black and white. All the students looked like dead people. Some of the students’ faces were scratched off.

Most students were black-and-white. Five were exceptions. Gao Ming, who stood at the left corner; Liu Yi, who knelt at the front; Song Xue, who leaned on Liu Yi; a tall student at the back called Zuo Jun; and a young man in the middle whose face was cut off.

“Song Xue was on the bus with us too. The two of us were invited to be bridesmaids. On the way back, we ran into the accident.” Liu Yi was very calm, but the story she told was scary. “The bus tipped over. Song Xue’s head was crushed and died on the spot. However, I found this picture on her. I have no idea why she would reprint this picture. The scariest thing was after I got home, I received a message from Song Xue.”

She opened her message inbox. Song Xue and a few students talked about having a reunion at Han Hai. They kept saying that every year, but it had never succeeded. However, this year, they were determined.

“Have you received a message from Song Xue?”

“I have never noticed.” Gao Ming took out his phone. He looked in his inbox, and he got an invitation from Song Xue. Back then, he was talking with Zhao Xi.

“Dead people are inviting people for a reunion. Plus, look at this picture and this young man in the middle.” Liu Yi pointed at the student who had a scratched face. “Do you have any impression of this person? How come I can’t remember we have this person in our class?”

“I don’t remember either.” Gao Ming shook his head. “Is there a problem with our memories? Or is there a problem with the real world?”

Gao Ming tried his best not to think too much about it, but he felt a headache. “If this can’t work, I’ll eat the whole class.”

“What did you say?” Liu Yi didn’t hear Gao Ming clearly.

“If we can’t remember, we should invite the whole class to a feast.”

Gao Ming looked behind the picture. There was no writing behind it. No shadow moved in the picture.

Since the innocents were saved, Gao Ming slowly changed many people’s fate. He entered the timeline he had missed out. He had no idea if this was a trap or the real exit.

“They plan to have the reunion after the rain stops. We haven’t met in many years.” Liu Yi put away the picture, “If you are not busy, we can go together. It’s better if we can watch each other’s back.”

“I’m designing a game for a big client. I’ll go after that’s done.” Gao Ming was not curious about his classmates’ life. His biggest goal was to kill the future chief of the east city investigation centre.