Looking at the black, gaping hole above his head, still dripping with viscous blood, Song Ren was glad he was experiencing this inside a Huanyu VR gaming pod. Otherwise, he would already be leaning against a table or wall, because his legs had gone limp.
What was even more infuriating was that the old man, after leaving, took his shotgun with him.
Compared to the small pistol in his hand, the old man's shotgun felt much safer.
It was worth noting that in the previous generation, the shotgun was arguably a very effective weapon in the early stages.
Although it had fewer bullets, one blast could take down a small monster, completely unlike the pistol, which felt like merely 'scratching' the enemy.
After calming himself slightly, Song Ren sighed, looking at the small pistol in his hand.
Well, a small pistol is better than rushing forward with a fruit knife to fight monsters hand-to-hand, right?
And he still had no idea what kind of monsters lurked outside.
With a sense of regret, Song Ren prepared to venture out and investigate.
But just as he was about to move.
Crack!
With a shattering sound, a grayish-white claw suddenly pierced through the floor beneath his feet, grabbing Ethan's calf.
"What the hell, you old bastard!"
Amidst Song Ren's terrified scream, Ethan was dragged directly into the basement.
Thump.
The in-game camera wobbled back and forth a few times, indicating Ethan had taken a bad fall.
Song Ren was still shaken.
Who would have thought that while just walking, a hand would suddenly burst from beneath the floor and drag him down?
The in-game camera stabilized, and as the flashlight turned on, a ghastly pale face instantly appeared before Song Ren.
"Damn it!"
The raw expletive expressed the most profound fear, and a series of combination punches made Song Ren's heart pound rapidly.
When he finally got a clear look at his surroundings, he gasped even more sharply.
'Dead people? All dead people?'
'What's going on? What happened to this village?'
Ethan, too, asked the question that echoed Song Ren's inner confusion.
However, this was a question that would remain unanswered for now.
"No, something spooky just dragged me down. Where is that thing now?" Song Ren suddenly realized something, and his heart skipped a beat.
Clearly, that thing was a monster. It couldn't possibly be a bus driver, specially creating a path for Ethan, could it?
Looking at the numerous corpses, Song Ren discreetly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
His mind was already picturing a scenario: that monster was hiding among the corpses, just waiting to deliver a harsh blow when he advanced.
Moreover, he noticed that some of these corpses even had interactive options.
This immediately reminded him of a game he once played—Outlast.
It made you curiously approach, and then a seemingly dead body would suddenly reanimate, scaring the player to the point of a breakdown.
Taking a deep breath, Song Ren's eyes narrowed slightly, as he slowly controlled Ethan to move forward and trigger the interaction button.
Slowly, Ethan reached out and grasped the head of a hanging corpse, lifting it.
The face was ghastly pale and covered in blood, as if it had suffered some brutal harm before death.
But unexpectedly, this really was just a corpse.
"What's going on? Is this Mr. Chen's mercy?" Song Ren felt a pang of curiosity.
Based on his understanding of Mr. Chen, he shouldn't be that kind of person!
The moment that thought appeared, a sharp, piercing roar suddenly erupted behind Song Ren, startling him into a tremble. The next moment, a grotesque figure with disheveled hair, a pale face, gray eyes, and sharp claws and teeth, bit fiercely into Ethan's left hand.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of bones shattering echoed, and blood spurted continuously from the palm of his hand. Just watching it made Song Ren's heart clench.
In the basement, Ethan struggled and fought with the monster in front of him. With another crack.
Ethan's pinky and ring finger were actually bitten off directly by the monster.
The monster then viciously grabbed Ethan's clothes and slammed him against the wall.
The wooden house was instantly smashed, leaving a large hole, and at the same time, Ethan was flung out of the basement.
"No! My hand! This really is like Outlast! But in that game, they used scissors to cut off fingers, one from each hand. This thing just took two of mine? And swallowed them? Can these fingers even grow back?"
Looking at Ethan's bloody left hand, Song Ren was completely bewildered.
What did Ethan's left hand ever do to deserve such treatment?
The previous game featured a 'physical breakup' (dislocated hand), and this one starts with two fingers gone. And in the last game, the hand was intact and could be reattached. But these fingers are probably chewed to a crunch by now, right?
Seeing the monster emerging from the basement, Song Ren quickly pulled out the small pistol and began firing at the monster's head.
He had a total of 20 bullets, but Song Ren was very careful and precise when firing the pistol, always aiming for the enemy's head.
After all, this was a horror game, not an FPS game; every bullet was precious.
However, even on the lowest difficulty, Song Ren still needed twelve bullets to take down the creature.
Of course, a major reason was that the creature was incredibly agile, even ducking and sidestepping to avoid attacks.
Another thing that pleasantly surprised Song Ren was that Ethan could also perform blocks in the game, and after blocking, he could kick the monster in the groin to counterattack.
While it couldn't compare to Chris's unparalleled physical combat in the previous DLC, it was clearly a setting that made players feel more secure.
Recalling Ethan and Mia's conversation, Chris seemed to have trained Ethan for a while, so learning to block was perfectly reasonable!
"But are my fingers really gone?" Looking at the monster on the ground, Song Ren felt a pang of 'egg pain' (a euphemism for extreme discomfort/frustration).
He tried washing his hand with the only bottle of hand sanitizer he had, but the fingers didn't grow back.
This made Song Ren murmur to himself.
Could it be that Ethan's two fingers would remain missing forever?
How inconvenient would that be for daily life?
And if there were sequels, with his left hand suffering in every installment, he might end up as a 'one-armed hero'.
After dealing with this wolf-like villager, Song Ren returned to the previous room to scavenge and successfully found a pair of wire cutters.
Clearly, in terms of puzzles, the game was essentially the same as the previous one, requiring various items to open the way forward.
Cutting the chain on the large iron gate, Song Ren took a deep breath, looking at the path beyond.
Following the path ahead, Song Ren controlled Ethan to another farmhouse.
Inside, there was a radio. From the radio, Ethan received some information: a woman was telling survivors to go to Luisa's house, located by the farmland.
But soon, this farmhouse was attacked by the wolf-like villagers again.
Fortunately, on the first and second floors of this room, Song Ren found another twenty bullets.
He managed to take down the wolf-like creature without much trouble, but then something strange made Song Ren pause.
Firstly, after the wolf-like creature died, it didn't turn into a corpse but calcified into powder, just like Eveline from the previous game.
So, was this village connected to the Mold virus?
Secondly, what surprised Song Ren was that killing monsters actually dropped money!
Although the number wasn't very appealing – it gave him exactly 250.
But that wasn't the point! The point was money!
What did money represent?
It represented a shop, it represented the ability to spend!
(End of Chapter)
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