Chapter 753: Advocate Science, Break Superstition

As he slowly explored the game,

Soon, Song Ren discovered the unique aspect of this game; it wasn't just the Chinese background of funeral culture within the game.

More importantly, Song Ren realized that in Mirror (Game), there were no unique jump scare scenarios typical of horror games, the kind that suddenly startle you.

A jump scare is that scenario where, two seconds before you look in the mirror, nothing intense happens, but then in the third second, a sharp scream suddenly pierces your ear, and a ghost face with dead fish eyes appears in the mirror.

For horror games, such a design, if overused, can be sickening, but if cleverly arranged in a particular segment, it can achieve unexpected results.

This includes many horror games previously developed by Nebula Games, such as Resident Evil and even PT, which was just a DEMO, all of which utilized this in certain segments.

However, in Mirror (Game), at least so far, Song Ren hadn't encountered any such thing. The game's fear primarily stemmed from the oppressive atmosphere and his own self-induced paranoia.

After playing in this environment for a while and finding nothing terrifying, Song Ren's sense of fear greatly diminished. As he collected more and more content, his attention shifted to the game's plot itself.

He also gained a deeper understanding of the game's background.

In the game, Lin Lixun, the character he played, possessed a very special physique, able to see and hear things that normal people couldn't.

To put it simply, it was clairvoyance. The previous scene, which his colleague Zheng Ming perceived as Lin Lixun fainting on the ground, was actually Lin Lixun seeing things invisible to ordinary people.

“So much for 'advocating science and breaking superstition,' this isn't scientific at all!” Reaching this point, Song Ren couldn't help but complain, recalling the painted slogan he saw earlier at the village entrance.

Controlling Lin Lixun to get out of bed, a radio in the background was playing some news.

‘September 15th, a family of four in Qingtan Town was found dead in their home…’

‘The head of the household, Mr. Tian, his wife, Ms. He, and their granddaughter, Ms. Tian, died from rat poison. The head of the household’s daughter-in-law, Ms. Zhao, committed suicide by hanging.’

‘Police suspect Ms. Zhao, the daughter-in-law, may have had mental health issues, killing the other three before hanging herself…’

Listening to the broadcast about this family massacre, Song Ren couldn't help but click his tongue.

Got it!

Combining with the clues gathered earlier, it was clear that this family massacre and the previous arson case were connected.

He just wondered if the two Yuan owed to Wang Jincai still needed to be repaid.

Following the in-game prompts, Song Ren guided Lin Lixun to explore.

After a conversation with the smoking doctor Ye Jingshan at the clinic, he obtained some key information. According to Ye Jingshan, Wang Jincai was haunted by a ghost.

It was because he had spread rumors that the Tian family's daughter-in-law was insane and had killed her entire family in a fit of madness, which then led to the ghost seeking revenge on him.

But after leaving the clinic room, Song Ren encountered another teacher named Chen Qinghui.

Unlike the information provided by Ye Jingshan earlier, according to Chen Qinghui,

Zhao Xiaojuan, the Tian family's daughter-in-law and mother of their granddaughter Tian Fangfang, would absolutely not kill Tian Fangfang.

She suspected that the killer was Dr. Ye Jingshan from the clinic and believed he had a strong motive.

Previously, Tian Yu, the Tian family's son, was sent to the town's clinic after an epileptic seizure, but ultimately passed away after resuscitation efforts failed.

Tian Fangfang's grandfather believed the doctor had killed his son and, during the medical dispute, broke the doctor's ribs.

That doctor was Ye Jingshan, and on the day of the incident, according to the clues provided by Chen Qinghui, Zhao Xiaojuan had also visited the clinic.

But after she returned, the Tian family of four were murdered.

Song Ren meticulously explored the game's content, piecing together numerous details from fragmented clues.

Zhao Xiaojuan's father-in-law, Tian Xiangrong, had previously worked at a bank but was fired. He then opened a public phone booth in town, but his true identity was a grave robber. He profited by stealing burial objects from tombs and reselling them as antiques. He was also very vain; even when his family had no money, he would insist on borrowing money, hoping to win the lottery.

As for Zhao Xiaojuan and Ye Jingshan, clues from their conversations revealed that neither of them were natives of Qingtan Town. Zhao Xiaojuan had married into the town, while Ye Jingshan had been abducted as a child.

The death of Zhao Xiaojuan's husband, Tian Yu, was due to his lifelong epilepsy. However, Tian Xiangrong and his wife (Tian Yu's parents) never took him to a hospital, instead treating him with various folk remedies, ultimately leading to his condition becoming incurable.

Tian Fangfang’s diary also revealed that her previous teacher never liked her and often punished her by making her write characters.

However, after Teacher Chen Qinghui arrived, she treated Tian Fangfang very well and would play games with her, so Tian Fangfang liked Teacher Chen very much.

Also, the diary revealed some important information: after Tian Yu’s death, his grandparents had sought out a shamaness-like person to summon his soul.

The entire game process, at first, made Song Ren a little uneasy due to the various eerie scenes.

For example, the pig-head birthday cake, the eerie mourning hall, and the Tian family mansion with strange noises, along with a sewing machine and a radio.

But there were no intense jump scares throughout. Especially after encountering Teacher Chen Qinghui midway, who also wanted to uncover the truth, Song Ren even felt like this horror game had turned into a romance game.

Especially when investigating Zhao Xiaojuan's photo studio, Lin Lixun and Chen Qinghui even took a sticker photo together, adding a touch of warmth to the entire game.

However, this also allowed Lin Lixun to see Zhao Xiaojuan's past.

In this segment of the story, Song Ren's controlled character switched from Lin Lixun to Zhao Xiaojuan, and she seemed truly possessed by Tian Yu's spirit.

She, who never smoked, began to smoke. She, who would gag at the smell of fish, surprisingly started eating fish.

But the next moment, the scene shifted, and the controlled character reverted to Lin Lixun, who then arrived in a hell-like setting.

Here, Lin Lixun saw Tian Yu's spirit. Because his father engaged in grave robbing and he benefited from it, he had to suffer punishment on his father's behalf.

Recalling Lin Lixun's clairvoyant character setting, if Tian Yu was truly suffering in hell all this time, then who was possessing Zhao Xiaojuan?

Or was there no such thing as possession at all?

Was it all intentionally faked by Zhao Xiaojuan?

Song Ren had an inaccurate guess in his mind.

At this moment, a call from the past rang out. After answering, he could hear a conversation between Zhao Xiaojuan and Chen Qinghui on the phone.

It turned out that Chen Qinghui was not a volunteer teacher but a reporter. She came to Qingtan Town as a volunteer teacher to obtain a ledger from Tian Xiangrong that contained a list of grave robbing buyers.

She had made an agreement with Zhao Xiaojuan: if Zhao Xiaojuan could get the ledger, Chen Qinghui would find a way to help her leave the town that had trapped her in the mountains.

Playing up to this point, based on the clues already gathered, the entire truth of the game was gradually being unveiled.

Although the game's scenes remained grim and the atmosphere oppressive,

at this moment, Song Ren no longer felt any fear.

Instead, it was more a sense of heaviness.

He also finally understood what the six large characters 'Advocate Science, Break Superstition,' painted in white on the red brick wall at the beginning of the game, truly meant.

Because the entire game was a complete tragedy born out of feudal superstition.

(End of Chapter) <>