Chapter 486: Tonight, Gehrman Joins the Hunt (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

“Holy cow, this isn’t going to be a scene from a new game, is it!?”

“This damn well isn't a horror game, is it?” Song Ren, lying in the VR gaming pod, shivered instantly.

What did he see? A hazy gray sky, the moon and stars obscured by countless dark clouds, and white flakes, like snowflakes, drifting in the wind.

In the darkness, a colossal monster stood in the distance, its entire body composed of fur and white bones, but in the next moment, it vanished. The distant streets were filled with an eerie atmosphere: dim streetlights, sculptures holding candles, and a distant church and bell tower.

The dark clouds in the sky slowly dissipated, and a blood moon hung low. At the same time, the church bell in the distant bell tower tolled.

This was a strange little town. Song Ren, being well-traveled, recognized the town's architectural style as Victorian, yet mixed with Gothic features. Under the blood moon and dim yellow lights of the night, it appeared mysterious and ominous.

Countless towering spires and the silver flocculants drifting in the night sky made it both bizarre and ethereal.

‘Gulp…’ Song Ren silently swallowed a mouthful of saliva. For a moment, he even wanted to exit. The environment and scenery were simply too intense!

However, despite the creepy feeling in his heart, his curiosity about Nebula Games' new title still urged Song Ren to explore.

He felt extremely constrained; Song Ren discovered that here, he could only do one thing: move forward. It was like being a controlled puppet, just like Desmond in Assassin's Creed when Juno controlled him to stab Daisy. At that time, players couldn't control their characters either, only push them forward.

Carefully controlling his character to move forward, the entire town's appearance unfolded before his eyes.

The spires on the rooftops and the omnipresent railings seemed to exude hostility in the dark night, exquisite yet chaotic and decayed. A few dim yellow streetlights illuminated the cluttered, messy alleys.

The distant bell tolled again.

Turning a street corner, he arrived at a square-like area in the center of the town. Before him was a throng of people, but they all moved like walking dead. Additionally, in the streets and alleys, groups of people wielding torches, sickles, and other weapons, accompanied by two or three mad, blood-soaked dogs, patrolled as if on watch, creating a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Just by looking, Song Ren felt a chill run down his spine.

Continuing forward, he pushed open a large door, and an old, mysterious voice echoed in his ears.

‘Dear friend… Beware, this blood is evil! And when night falls, the hunter will return…’

As the words faded, Song Ren suddenly noticed the camera slowly zooming out from its original first-person perspective. He then saw his character, whose attire was not what he had worn on the island before. He wore a dark trench coat stained with black and crimson blood, a tricorn hat on his head, a shotgun in one hand, and a Saw Cleaver in the other.

The town's main gate was pushed open, and the camera extended into the distance. Burning monsters on crucifixes, women praying before gravestones, the cries of infants, and the tolling of bells filled the scene.

With another toll of the town bell, the screen before Song Ren gradually blurred.

When it became clear again, he found himself lying in a hospital bed. Above his head hung a transfusion bottle, filled with murky yellow liquid, its exterior covered in congealed blood, dust, and scratches.

Was this perhaps a hospital clinic? Before he could figure it out, a voice spoke from beside him.

‘Yharnam… home of the Blood Ritual. All you need to do is unravel its mysteries, but how should an outsider like you begin? It’s simple, just inject yourself with some Yharnam blood.’

‘No matter what happens, you will only believe it to be a tiny nightmare.’

A drop of crimson blood fell from the top of the transfusion bottle, mixing with the yellow liquid inside. The crimson blood slowly spread, and its color gradually deepened within the yellow fluid.

‘Long ago, the Beastly Scourge raged through Old Yharnam.’

‘They were left to rot until death, and now all that can be heard there are the roars of beasts.’

As the narration continued, scenes of ‘hallucinations’ appeared before Song Ren. Wolf-like beasts howled savagely in the night. But in the next moment, hunters appeared from the darkness, wielding shotguns in one hand and Saw Cleavers in the other, swinging their weapons to decapitate the beasts.

‘We are filled with a thirst for blood, that fills us with satisfaction and soothes our fears.’

‘But, beware the weakness of human will, this blood made us human, made us transcend humanity, but also made us no longer human!’

Amidst the wandering crowds of Yharnam, the burnt bones, and the incense-filled churches, as the bells echoed, a figure in the dark shadows let out a beastly roar. An unspeakable monster appeared under the moon, then suddenly vanished.

In the next instant, the scene returned to Yharnam.

A werewolf’s claws pierced the hunter’s chest.

The bloodthirsty monster seized the hunter like a ragdoll and tossed him aside.

The scene before Song Ren also plunged into darkness, then a cemetery-like graveyard appeared before him. Under the moon, not far away, stood a European church-style building, and on its steps stood a tall woman in Gothic attire.

‘Farewell… good hunter. May you find your worth in the Waking World.’

Without waiting for Song Ren to fully comprehend what was happening, his in-game character knelt before a gravestone and slowly closed his eyes.

Next, a series of battle scenes unfolded before him.

Burning flames, rotting corpses, and the eerie, sinister graveyard. The hunter used various weapons to slaughter countless bizarre monsters. The black trench coat gradually turned crimson as he hunted the beasts.

Finally, countless hunters slowly disappeared, leaving only one hunter whose face was obscured, speaking in a hoarse voice with his back to Song Ren under the moonlight.

‘Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt!’

………………

Returning to the Nebula World, Song Ren was still disoriented.

Clearly, this was a promotional video designed for him to experience firsthand, transformed into a VR-themed mode.

One thing he could now confirm:

This was indeed likely not a horror game. After all, no horror game would be so violent, with the hunter slaughtering monsters throughout. From a performance standpoint, it was undoubtedly a satisfying game.

But combined with the game's style, why did it feel so familiar? It had a sense of déjà vu!

(End of Chapter) <>