Horror Game Designer Chapter 9: Neighbours

A light smell of decay lingered in the air. The whole room felt like it was consumed by darkness. The familiar suffocation returned. Gao Ming knew that he had returned to the location where the two worlds overlapped.

“Xuan Wen’s method was right. This is the correct way to actively trigger the Horrors.”

Avoiding the gaze of the dead body, Gao Ming turned back to the living. The four candles were out. The room felt like it had stilled in the moment the victim killed himself.

“Where’s Xuan Wen?”

There was only Gao Ming in the room. The murderous woman who wanted to enter the game with him had disappeared. “Has she left? Or she can’t even get in here?”

The gooey shadow flooded his body like a black sea. Gao Ming stood there and tried to calm down. He needed to figure out which of his games had become the reality.

“The dead body appeared downstairs. In terms of space, this game is much larger than the one I cleared. At least it involves the entire Building Two.

“Brother Zhao had talked with me many times. I also designed many mini-games for him to relax his mind. What were them…” The sound of phone vibration interrupted Gao Ming’s thoughts. He slowly pushed open the bedroom door and saw a phone on the bedside table. The case was yellowed and old. The charger port was dirty with stains and hair. The phone was not locked, and a new message popped up. “I’ve seen Zhao Xi with this phone when I talked to him.”

Gao Ming clicked on it and realized that Zhao Xi had joined the chat group for tenants of Building Two, Close Neighbours.

Earlier, Mr. Wang on the first floor sent three videos to everyone in the group. He stood on his balcony and took videos of Zhao Xi’s dead body at a close distance. The victim landed with his head first. His face was misshapen. His neck was prolonged. The shattered bones punctured the skin.

2101 Wang Kuisheng, “I saw Zhao Xi being pulled away with my own eyes! How did his carcass return? What is going on?”

The chatgroup exploded. Some tried to call the police. Some wanted to go out to check the situation, but soon, everyone quieted down.

2203 Xiao Qiu, “Brother Wang, there’s something wrong with your three videos. Zhao Xi’s location in the first and third videos is different. It’s like… He’s moving!”

Every tenant, including Gao Ming, checked the videos again. Zhao Xi’s location did change.

2101 Wang Kuisheng, “How could a dead body move? It should be a problem with the angle! I’ll go back to the balcony to take a look!”

The tenant on the first floor planned to take another video. Gao Ming grabbed the phone, ran to the balcony, and looked down. The rain washed away the blood, and the dead body had disappeared.

“Has he crawled into the building?”

Wang Kuisheng, who went to take another video, didn’t return to send another message. It was like he had disappeared.

Li Jing Apartments was a typical old city apartment. It was located in a secluded place, and many rooms were empty. Not many tenants stayed in Building Two. After Wang Kuisheng disappeared, the remaining tenants became more scared. Those who said they wanted to go out and check became quiet.

2203 Xiao Qiu, “This is bad! None of the calls are going through! Other than this group, I can’t send messages to anyone else! Why is this?”

2304 Li Li, “Is it because Zhao Xi is in this group?”

Li Li was Zhao Xi’s sister-in-law. She stayed with Zhao Xi’s adopted mother, Zhao Yuan, on the third floor.

2409 Fang Shuqi, “Why would Zhao Xi’s body return? Did your family do something bad? Living above you, I often heard you arguing! Your whole family are vampires sucking him dry. Now, karma is here to get you!”

2304 Li Li, “Fuck you! His death has nothing to do with me!”

2203 Xiao Qiu, “Shut up! I heard it! I heard something in the corridor! Something is crawling up!”

Due to nervousness, Xiao Qiu sent a voice mail, “There’s really something crawling! It’s just outside my door!”

2409 Fang Shuqi, “We should open face cam so that we can see each other. This can help calm each other down.” This tenant on the fourth floor appeared to wish to prove something. After he said that, he pulled everyone, including Zhao Xi, into the video chat. When everyone saw Zhao Xi’s video cam being opened, they sucked in a cold breath. But then, they saw Gao Ming inside Zhao Xi’s home.

2304 Li Li, “Who are you? Why do you have Zhao Xi’s phone? Why are you at his home? Did you bring his dead body back?”

Before Gao Ming could answer, knocking came from Xiao Qiu’s cam. There would be something knocking their head against the door every two seconds. Xiao Qiu’s face was pale. She moved the couch to block the door. The knocking did not slow down. Instead, it became harder. The door shook. Xiao Qiu was frightened. She was trapped. “What should I do? Can you help me? We’re all neighbours. If I’m gone, you’re next!”

Xiao Qiu pleaded with everyone, but no one responded. Xiao Qiu’s eyes watered. The lights in her room suddenly flickered and then went out.

Darkness descended upon Room 2203. The weak light from the phone shone on Xiao Qiu’s face. Her body was frozen. She gripped the phone as she stared at the living room. There was a creaking sound that came from the dark living room. She covered her mouth and nose.

A heavy object was dragged to the ground. The door was slowly being squeezed open. The broken nails scratched against the brick. The silhouette moving in the dark cleared.

Xiao Qiu switched on the flashlight on her phone with trembling fingers. Temporary light shone in the bedroom, and then Xiao Qiu screamed. She opened the bedroom window. She kicked the safety net and wanted to jump down. The rain drenched her pyjamas. Her phone fell from her hand onto the balcony. Xiao Qiu went crazy. Everyone could only see one side of the window and the bedroom ceiling from the camera. Xiao Qiu hadn’t escaped, but a pale face appeared on the lower left corner of the window. It was slowly moving up. The neighbours in the group shouted to warn Xiao Qiu, but she didn’t seem to hear.

Her face was twisted from fear. Xiao Qiu’s mouth widened as she tried to scream, but before the sound left her throat, she was yanked into the darkness. Silence claimed 2203, and Xiao Qiu’s cam went silent.

Gao Ming studied every other tenant in the chatgroup. He memorized everyone’s micro-expressions. Then, he hurried to the living room.

The body was still coming up, but that was not the worst.

Gao Ming recognized the face outside Xiao Qiu’s window. It was not Zhao Xi but Wang Kuisheng from 2101.

His eyes moved away from the chatgroup. Gao Ming did not see anyone get killed. He thought back to his ‘parents’. He was worried that all the neighbours had been swapped out. And he was the only ‘human’ remaining in the building.