Chapter 48 Horror Games Are as Simple as Breathing for Me
Chapter 48 Horror Games Are as Simple as Breathing for Me
By mid-November, about seventy percent of the content for Outlast had been completed.
The remaining thirty percent mainly involved voice acting, scene construction, and cinematic sequences.
For Chen Xu, the biggest takeaway during Outlast's development was a deeper understanding of the editor's capabilities.
Meanwhile, the game content for Outlast fit comfortably within the monthly resource quota allowed by his current 2048M resource permissions.
Aside from game development, the Nebula Games Platform had quietly launched during this time.
Chen Xu promoted it with a post on his official Weibo account.
But it barely caused a ripple.
No industry giants took notice, no media outlets reported on itânothing like that happened at all.
Only a few media outlets, desperate for content, placed the news in a minor sub-section.
Unless you specifically went looking, you wouldnât even notice it.
At launch, only two games were available on the platform: To the Moon and Undertale.
As for sales, the two titles combined had sold 172 copies.
Total playtime across all players didnât even reach 50 hours in a single day.
Clearly, those who bought the games were likely Chen Xuâs fans, purchasing them simply to support their favorite designer and game company.
Chen Xu wasnât discouraged by this. He knew platform growth wouldnât happen overnight.
As time progressed day by day, early December arrived.
Development on Outlast had finally wrapped up.
Promotion began rolling out accordingly.
One day, Chen Xu suddenly published a post on his official Weibo.
The message was simple: a short statement and a game poster.
âOnly by escaping can you survive!â
âOutlast launches December 15!â
Below the text was the poster for Outlast.
The background depicted a hospital room, with medical equipment scattered across the floor and tables.
On the wall were two large words: ESCAPE.
Rendered in night vision mode, the color appeared black, immediately evoking images of bloodstains.
Under a bed in the corner, a person crouched with a terrified expression, right index finger pressed to their lipsâan eerily unsettling sight.
Following Chen Xuâs post, various media outlets began reporting on Outlast.
Meanwhile, the game had already been released early on the Official Game Platform.
Though currently still in pre-sale mode.
Priced at 65 Yuan, it wasnât particularly expensive.
After all, the Game Scale of Outlast wasnât very large.
At the same time, gaming communities and forums buzzed with discussions about Outlast.
Of course, this wasnât organic player-driven interest. Despite Undertale gaining some renown and To the Moon winning first place in a sci-fi game contest, Chen Xuâs reputation alone wasnât enough to generate such widespread attention.
The driving force behind this buzz? None other than Money Power.
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As time progressed day by day, the launch day of Outlast finally arrived.
On Shark TVâs gaming section, in a live stream room titled Commentator Old Boy:
"Why am I the only one here? Brother Huang went for a medical check-up and probably wonât be back for a while."
"Stop spamming about horror games. Iâve told you beforeâhorror games are no pressure for me at all. Theyâre as simple as breathing."
"You want me to stream horror games because youâre hoping to see me get scared out of my mind. But when you see me completely expressionless, youâll realize itâs just like breathing. Youâll be extremely disappointed, right? Disappointed one will be your reaction."
"Alright, fine. Hereâs the planâeveryone knows I donât feel any pressure with horror games. Iâve played so many before. So letâs try this one first. If itâs not scary, weâll wait for Huang to return and play something else."
"Fine, fine, Iâll turn on the camera. But honestly, youâre really going to be disappointed. The reactions youâre expecting? I wonât show any of them."
"Because Iâm an extremely calm person. Horror games are as simple as breathing for me."
Sun Yixie, currently commentating on a game replay, remained composed and unfazed by the bullet comments flooding his live stream room.
He emphasized three times: as simple as breathing.
He was quite confident in his courage.
Opening the Official Game Platform, ignoring the stream comment saying, "Big Bro canât even independently launch the game," Sun Yixie, after some effort, installed the game, turned on his camera, and entered the game.
A brief sizzling sound played, then the game interface appeared.
The entire game graphics were tinged with blue-green, resembling the color tone of old Hong Kong films and ghost films.
The background showed a structure similar to a hospital, with sparse lighting and dynamic clouds overheadâvisually creepy.
"Iâm getting a slight feeling, just a slight one. Still, like I saidâhorror games are as simple as breathing for me," Sun Yixie said, glancing at the bullet comments.
He still appeared highly confident.
"For difficulty, Iâll start with Regular on my first try."
Upon entering the game, darkness filled the screen. A low narration began, accompanied by eerie BGM and a crackling car radio.
âMy name is Miles Upshur, a regular reporter. Deep in the remote Colorado Mountains, an abandoned asylum has reopenedâMount Massive Asylum.â
âBut one day, a mysterious person sent me a letter, claiming thereâs a huge secret hidden within this asylum. To investigate, I came here.â
Through the car radioâs narration, the gameâs background world was briefly introduced.
Sun Yixie showed no emotional fluctuationsâjust as he had claimed, remaining completely calm.
Most horror games, or horror films, started this way anyway.
After the narration, the gameçťé˘ appeared.
However, it was still in an uncontrollable mode.
The protagonist drove toward Mount Massive Asylum.
The dim color tone, combined with the static-filled car radio, instantly built a tense atmosphere.
Soon, the car reached its destination, stopping at an entrance to Mount Massive Asylum.
The gameâs tutorial appearedâpick up the camera from the passenger seat, along with a letter.
The letter contained the same text as the earlier narration. As a reporter, the protagonist had come to Mount Massive Asylum to uncover a big news story.
After picking up the letter, a mission prompt appeared on the game screen: Enter Mount Massive Asylum.
From this point, players could begin free movement.
Stepping out of the car, the night, wind sound, rustling of leaves, and the inherently unfriendly reputation of an asylum caused Sun Yixieâs heartbeat to quickenâjust slightly.
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