Despite being a loyal fan of Nebula Games, this time Song Ren didn't choose to stay up all night to play the new game, Firework (Game).
Like most players, Song Ren had every reason to believe this was a super scary game.
Especially with a Chinese background, for foreigners who don't understand, the sense of horror might plummet, and they might not even know what's supposed to be frightening. But for domestic players, it was completely different.
To be honest, he didn't have much interest in horror games himself; it was simply because it was a Nebula Games production.
Of course, there was another more important factor: he was planning to drag Zhang Yi into it. He slept until broad daylight, and there was still no message from Zhang Yi on his communicator. This could only mean one thing: Old Zhang definitely hadn't played the game yet, or he would have come to provoke him by now.
So, he decided to strike first, play it himself, and then provoke him later.
As for them coexisting peacefully and pretending nothing happened?
No way! One of them had to die!
With these little thoughts, Song Ren took one last look at the bright sunlight outside the window, then put on his gaming equipment and entered the game.
There was a brief black screen, followed by a sizzling sound like an electric current in his ears.
'Ghosts delight in consuming karmic burdens, those who gladly bear their sins. They dismember bones and suck marrow, inflicting endless torment—Scripture of Strict Law.'
Accompanied by the current-like narration, a white subtitle appeared in his dark vision.
Then the sizzling sound of electricity grew louder, and the corresponding visuals appeared in the game.
At this moment, he was driving a police car, with a partner in the passenger seat.
The car was traveling on a muddy country road, the surroundings pitch black.
'Gulp…'
Even though it wasn't his first time playing a horror game, and he had seen such scenes many times, Song Ren still instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He was particularly afraid that his police partner beside him might suddenly turn into something horrifying, like a Zombie.
However, thankfully, that didn't happen. When they reached the entrance of a small town, the car suddenly broke down.
"How unsettling, why did the car suddenly stall when it was perfectly fine?" Zheng Ming, the police partner beside him, tried repeatedly, then pushed open the car door with a grimace and got out.
"Brother Zheng, the caller is still waiting in town, why don't we leave the car here for now," said Lin Lixun, the character Song Ren was controlling in the game.
"That's not urgent," Zheng Ming shook his head. "Besides, the fire itself isn't really our business. But now the car has stalled, and we don't even know what's wrong with it. If Captain Lu finds out the car broke down, we'll definitely get chewed out."
The two chatted for a while, and through their conversation, Song Ren got a general idea of the game's background.
The protagonist he was controlling, Lin Lixun, was a newly recruited police officer who had received an emergency call. The report stated that a coffin had suddenly caught fire during a funeral in Qinghe Town, and the caller claimed it was arson. So, Lin Lixun and another police officer were dispatched to investigate.
But now, their flashlight was dead, and the car had broken down.
So, the officer named Zheng Ming decided to fix the car first and told Lin Lixun to go buy a battery.
"This is purely a horror-themed game, just like those novels, movies, and TV show tropes!"
"Brother Zheng, how dare you! It's the middle of the night! How dare you split up?!"
Listening to Zheng Ming's words, Song Ren couldn't help but shiver.
As everyone knows, in horror-themed films or games, the protagonist's party is often picked off one by one. And they always separate in a death-courting manner, with restrooms and other confined spaces being high-incident areas.
This eerie little town, is Brother Zheng really not going with him?
Song Ren circled the car twice, wanting to see if there was anything to explore.
But he quickly realized that the game's freedom was not as high as he thought, or rather, there wasn't much content to explore. The main operations were just normal walking, running, and crouching; there was no jumping function in the game.
This was also some of the content Chen Xu made for the VR version. The game primarily focused on puzzle-solving. Players were meant to piece together the game's story and the truth of the events through clues in the environment and items. Naturally, there wasn't much action, and the scene construction didn't need to be extensive, as the main activity areas were just those few locations.
However, for a horror game, the size of the scene isn't really key; the most crucial part is whether the scene is eerie enough.
And right now, Song Ren felt it was eerie enough!
On the old red brick wall beside the town street, a line of large white characters was painted:
'Embrace Science, Break Superstition.'
On the utility poles and lampposts, there were also fake advertisements for "miracle cures for all diseases."
Coupled with the big iron chain locking the tires of a parked car to a pole in front of a shop, it instantly gave Song Ren that specific sense of era.
But it was precisely this sense of era that made Song Ren feel even more creeped out. Because the feeling brought by this environment was too familiar.
From the background, it naturally added a layer of immersion.
At the same time, perhaps it was Song Ren's illusion, but the dim light emanating from the streetlights always felt extremely bizarre to him.
"Brother Zheng, I hope you're still in one piece when I get back."
Song Ren looked at Zheng Ming, who was still fixing the car behind him, swallowed, and controlled his character to walk into the town, plucking up his courage.
The map wasn't very big. After walking a short distance through an alley-like street, Song Ren saw a small convenience store with a sign that read Tobacco, Alcohol & Groceries.
The dark red light from it was even grimmer than before.
What made Song Ren a bit anxious was that, so far, there hadn't been any high-tension scenes. It was just the store owner, whose blank expression made his scalp tingle when he paid. The feeling he got was as if the owner was a puppet.
After giving the purchased battery to Zheng Ming, the latter continued fixing the car and told Lin Lixun to wander around the town.
"What the heck! You want me to wander around town? Is this even possible? Can't I just wait here for you to fix the car?" Song Ren felt a pang of frustration listening to Zheng Ming's words.
But apparently, this was how the game was designed; otherwise, the game couldn't progress.
Suppressing the fear in his heart, Song Ren could only continue exploring the town.
But this time, Song Ren quickly discovered something different.
Supernatural Loop!
He had encountered a supernatural loop!
Before, everything was fine, but when he reached the entrance of the convenience store where he bought the battery, Lin Lixun in the game would return to the original scene again upon trying to move forward.
However, the difference was that there were now many bloodstains on the wall, and the originally normal light had turned dark red, like drying blood.
"What the heck... why does this feel so familiar?"
Song Ren looked at the scene he had just passed, and memories involuntarily flooded his mind. In a game with the subtitle PT, wasn't the map structure exactly like this?
Instinctively, he looked back, fearing a female ghost might be following him, ready to give him an unexpected 'surprise'.
(End of Chapter)
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