Chapter 53: My Heart Can't Take It Anymore

Chapter 53: My Heart Can't Take It Anymore

Sun Yixie closed the Wooden Door and pulled down the switch, camera set to night vision mode.

A sound similar to a machine engine rotating echoed through the air.

Sun Yixie carefully hid himself in the Corner of the Wall.

After waiting roughly six or seven seconds, nothing seemed to happen.

"Brother Sun, why are you still crouching there? Come on, trust me—now's the time to move while the monster isn't here. Don't just wait around and invite it over!" Huang Donglai chimed in from the side.

"Hold on… I'm just a bit panicked. Let me catch my breath," Sun Yixie gasped, though he started moving again. After checking the room and finding no items to collect, he prepared to open the Conduit.

Meanwhile, Huang Donglai kept talking: "What's there to panic about? The monster won't spawn right at the door."

As Huang Donglai finished speaking, the doorknob slowly turned, and the Wooden Door creaked open.

The moment the door swung wide, a pale, ghastly face filled Sun Yixie's view.

"Aaaaaaah!"

A tenor scream worthy of Pavarotti burst from Sun Yixie's mouth.

He fell backward, collapsing into his chair.

The insane patient was now face-to-face with him, staring blankly.

This sudden door jump scare was completely unexpected, terrifying him to the core. The nearby camera was knocked crooked by his flailing.

In the game, the monster raised a spiked plank and swung it straight at his character.

"I'm not dead! I'm not dead yet!"

Though utterly frightened, Sun Yixie noticed his character was still alive. He quickly pushed his chair forward and resumed control, desperately fleeing.

The background audio in his headphones shifted to shrill, dissonant orchestral music—its melody deeply unsettling. Combined with the hunted down chase and the night vision goggles visuals, Sun Yixie's heart raced and cold sweat poured down his back.

"Damn it, damn it! Where should I run?!"

"Come on! Damn it, if only I had a weapon, I'd kill you myself!"

Controlling his character, Sun Yixie darted through the dark catacomb like a headless fly.

He plunged into every corridor he saw, leaped over every box in his path.

Sweat beaded on Sun Yixie's forehead as he sat before the computer. His normally narrow eyes were now wide and round.

Even his hand gripping the mouse trembled slightly.

Because this game was just too terrifying.

The scenes, the atmosphere, the pacing—how could such a horror game even exist?!

Hearing the heavy, muffled footsteps of the monster closing in, Sun Yixie didn't dare look back.

Right now, he had only one thought: run.

Everything else?

Completely out of the question.

In the game, Sun Yixie moved purely on instinct, unaware of where he was going.

Then, just after turning a corner and vaulting over a step-like obstacle, a sharp electric zzzt rang out.

The red battery bar in the upper right corner of the camera flashed twice. The night vision画面 flickered, then the screen plunged into darkness.

He'd kept the night vision mode on the entire time, never checking the camera's power—now the battery was completely drained.

"Damn it, damn it! Why did it run out?!"

"What was the button to change batteries again?!"

Sun Yixie completely lost his composure, momentarily forgetting even how to swap batteries.

The corridor was pitch-black. In this darkness, Sun Yixie had completely lost his sense of direction.

Worse still, through his headphones, he could hear the monster's bellow and footsteps drawing closer and closer.

Finally, with a click sound, Sun Yixie managed to reload the battery.

But the moment he reactivated night vision mode, he screamed again—a high-pitched shriek rivaling Pavarotti's finest.

Right in front of him, the monster had already lunged forward. Under night vision, its face looked like a ghost, nearly scaring the souls right out of his body.

"Damn it, get away from me! Get away!"

At this point, Sun Yixie didn't even know what he was shouting.

He only knew to run in the opposite direction. Reaching a corner, he spotted a Wooden Door and charged inside without hesitation.

Inside the room was the final switch—but Sun Yixie wasn't focused on that.

Because apart from the switch, he noticed two boxes in the room.

Like a traveler in the desert spotting an Oasis, or a starving Wolf catching sight of prey, Sun Yixie was overjoyed at the sight of the boxes.

He dashed forward, triggered the interaction, and dove inside one.

Then—thud! thud!—the door shook under heavy impacts.

With a crash, the Wooden Door burst open, and the monster entered the room.

Just like before, it wandered around, opened the box beside Sun Yixie, muttered something, then left.

Sun Yixie let out a long breath, leaned back in his chair, and pressed both hands against his chest.

Then, silently, he chose to save the game and exit.

"Alright, alright… that's enough for today. That's enough."

Sitting upright again, Sun Yixie covered his face with his hands.

"My heart can't take it anymore… I'm embarrassed, really embarrassed."

These weren't excuses. He genuinely felt overwhelmed.

Truthfully, he wasn't particularly brave to begin with. While it's true that horror games scare people—thinking about it, most rely on jump scares and monsters chasing you—elements not unique to this game.

But in other games, after the initial scare, that's usually it.

Outlast, however, was entirely different. The sound effects and Atmosphere were simply too well-executed.

Especially the night vision mode on the cameras—this single setting made the entire experience relentless, with no breaks.

Binding the most uncomfortable darkness to the night vision function meant players always had a thorn in their side. And to find more batteries, they inevitably had to Search & Destroy unknown areas.

Secondly, the game wasn't dark throughout. In fact, many areas were quite bright.

This dynamic shift in scenes created constant psychological pressure and subtle self-doubt in the player.

When combined with terrifying scenes in the game, these elements created the true horror of Outlast—the kind that lingers.

Now, thinking about having to complete all levels of this game, Sun Yixie had only one thought: despair!

But he wasn't the only one feeling this despair.

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