Chapter 757: A Story of Urban Romance and Ethics

In Nebula Games' office, Chen Xu was surrounded by Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, and Qin Yi. Everyone looked at him with great surprise.

After a long moment, Yang Xin was the first to speak: “Mr. Chen, are you really going to continue with Silent Hill?”

The team had actually been discussing the next project internally, but no one really expected Chen Xu to make such a promise to the players.

As for the registration for the slots, the players were having a blast, but Yang Xin and the others knew very well that it was no big deal.

The list seemed long, but one shouldn't forget Nebula Games' massive user base; it wasn't a question of whether it could be completed, but how quickly.

It was clear that Silent Hill was a done deal, but it was this game.

Everyone thought back to that DEMO. That version, they knew, was designed to test the pressure valve and safety of the VR gaming pod, with every aspect – colors, sound effects, interactivity, and psychological level design – pushed to the absolute maximum.

It was definitely something that could scare people senseless, and the later PC version was actually a stripped-down version.

If they were to follow that model, Yang Xin was genuinely concerned whether players' minds could handle it. The gaming pod might be alarming every ten minutes.

Listening to everyone's concerns, Chen Xu couldn't help but smile. “Don't worry, is it really that exaggerated? I'm not a bad guy.”

He paused, then continued, “This Silent Hill will be a standalone story. As for the story's direction... well, you could understand it as a story about urban romance and ethics.”

Chen Xu recalled the game's plot and attached a few labels.

Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin on the side were utterly speechless.

What the heck is urban romance and ethics! Go ask the players if they'd believe that!

“Once you see the story, you'll understand that every word I said was the truth.” Looking at their expressions, Chen Xu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Heaven and Earth bore witness, he hadn't told a single lie.

This was all content revealed within the game itself!

It just might be a little different from what ordinary people would imagine.

……………………

Regarding the joint petition event, although Chen Xu had stated that players would have some time, with the efforts of the enormous player base,

the required number of participants was met on just the third day.

Of course, regardless of whether these co-signing players genuinely anticipated a horror game that would scare them senseless, or simply enjoyed watching the drama unfold.

In any case, not only were the conditions met, but by the deadline, the actual number of registrants was three times higher than required.

Similarly, these players were not disappointed. On the very day the petition concluded, Nebula Games' official Weibo account reposted this data and, much to everyone's surprise, announced a mysterious new event.

Just looking at the rewards, the new event was full of benefits.

There were three main rewards.

First, anyone who played the game for over 120 minutes would receive a CD key that could be gifted to a friend. Naturally, players who subsequently used that key could not participate in the event themselves.

The second was even more straightforward: players who completed “Silent Hill,” including those who used a CD key, could purchase a Nebula Games Redemption Voucher for 999 Yuan, which could be exchanged for any two first-party Nebula Games titles, including future releases, valid for two years.

The third was a limited-slot event: in each different map scene within the game, a fragment would be randomly generated. The first ten thousand players to collect all the fragments would receive 1000 game coins for the Nebula Games Platform, usable to purchase any game on the platform.

Of these three rewards, the first two were participation prizes; virtually anyone could achieve them if they wanted to.

After seeing Nebula Games' event, many players were surprised, especially those who had previously shown little interest in horror games, now found themselves a bit tempted.

As for the third reward, the limited-slot event, although the reward was even more generous, the limited spots meant it was practically exchanging one's life for money.

But the first and second were different. Gifting a CD key to a friend fostered good relationships with your bros.

And after clearing the game, there was also the Nebula Games Redemption Voucher, despite its 999 Yuan price tag.

But for two first-party Nebula VR games, that was absolutely worth the money.

If one player bought a voucher, it was like Mr. Chen losing a few hundred yuan. If ten million players bought one, Mr. Chen would lose billions. This was practically a Nebula Loss Voucher!

Although it required completing “Silent Hill,” it was just a horror game, right?

At worst, they could just turn off the sound when playing. Wouldn't that limit the impact to just the visuals?

Or they could grit their teeth and push through it.

Plus, it was a buy-one-get-one-free deal, essentially a freebie.

Buying a redemption voucher meant directly earning a few hundred yuan from Mr. Chen. At this rate, Mr. Chen might end up so broke he'd have to ride the bus.

Many players enthusiastically discussed the “Silent Hill” event, although some also appealed to everyone not to be blind, to think about who Mr. Chen really was, and under what circumstances he had announced the launch of “Silent Hill.”

But these faint voices were drowned out by the general discussion.

……………………

Meanwhile, in Nebula Games' office, Chen Xu was beaming as he watched the online discussions among players.

He was almost impatient, eager to see the emotional reactions players would have when experiencing the game.

Regarding “Silent Hill,” in his previous life, it was considered a classic series.

The first installment established the atmospheric tone, the second was considered the peak of its story and music—especially “Promise,” one of the ending theme songs composed by Akira Yamaoka, which was revered as a classic by many players. The third installment reached its gameplay zenith, and its plot was also the only one in the series that wasn't character-independent but rather a continuation of the first. As for the subsequent fourth and fifth installments, their quality drastically declined compared to the earlier ones.

The version developed by Chen Xu primarily focused on the story of the second installment, while also optimizing the action gameplay and camera perspective.

Early December, a very special day.

On various live streaming platforms, many viewers noticed that streamers in the gaming section seemed to have all agreed on something.

They uniformly chose to go live early in the morning.

Moreover, many streamers' VR gaming equipment appeared to be from the same batch of products.

All of them had quality issues.

Some streamers reported that their VR equipment suddenly couldn't connect to the internet for no apparent reason.

Others claimed their VR had no video or audio after entering the game, while some said they had internet, sound, and visuals, but simply couldn't control anything.

In short, there was a variety of excuses, and it seemed that 90% of this batch of faulty VR equipment was concentrated among these streamers.

Initially, many viewers were a bit baffled.

But after quickly checking Nebula Games' platform and Chen Xu's official Weibo, they understood exactly why.

Because “Silent Hill” had launched!

Although many players online had previously declared, “It's just a horror game, scared of what?”

And the rewards were so generous; playing it meant earning, and clearing it meant Mr. Chen losing money.

But talking big is one thing, you have to remember this is Mr. Chen!

For timid players, “Outlast” and “Resident Evil” from back then were eternal nightmares.

Similarly, for these streamers, the memory of being scared senseless was still vivid. And as streamers, there was no escaping a horror game like this; after all, didn't viewers just love to see streamers get scared?

But while escaping wasn't an option, how to face it was still their choice!

Therefore, most streamers who usually broadcast at night shifted their streaming times to the morning on this particular day.

Meanwhile, some more extreme ones even “damaged” their VR equipment, claiming they couldn't stream the VR version of “Silent Hill.”

Of course, for these streamers, most viewers very generously said, “No problem, just stream something else for now. Save this kind of content for after your VR equipment is fixed; we're not in a hurry.”

However, there were still some who gritted their teeth and went ahead with streaming.

In Shark TV, in Brother Shu's live stream room, he lightly coughed twice, looking at the screen full of bullet comments.

“What are you talking about? How could I possibly be scared? Although I haven't streamed horror games before, I'm telling you, it's not that I'm scared; it's mainly because I have a clear conscience.”

“How should I put it? Horror games are mostly about scaring yourself. If you have a guilty conscience, then you'll feel scared. But I'm a rather upright person, so streaming horror games would be very boring; I wouldn't be scared at all.”

“I'm not putting on a show for you! This is the plain truth, positive energy! If your heart is full of sunshine, whether you're playing a horror game or doing anything else, you'll have confidence.”

“Our ancestors had a good saying: 'If you do no evil in broad daylight, you'll fear no ghosts knocking at your door at midnight!' If there are no demons and monsters in your heart, why should you be afraid?”

“Didn't Mr. Chen make some fireworks earlier? Feudal superstition, I don't believe in any of that, so I won't be scared of these horror games at all.”

“Don't worry, don't worry, my streaming equipment definitely isn't broken. I won't be like those other streamers.”

Brother Shu looked at the screen full of bullet comments. Although he felt a little panicked inside, his expression remained very calm.

“Enough talk. I'll stream the game for you, let you see just how big Brother Shu's guts are.”

Brother Shu said, and at the same time, launched “Silent Hill.”

Black screen.

Then, a ticking, dripping sound entered his ears.

The first thing that appeared before his eyes was a rusty faucet, dripping water.

Next to the faucet was a stained, mottled sink, and a mirror with some cracks.

Accompanied by the protagonist's heavy breathing, a faint, soft melody began to play.

The toilet wasn't completely dark; there was a faint light. Unlike typical horror games, this light wasn't flickering; it was just dim.

“Mary, are you really... here?”

Looking at the cracked mirror, the protagonist in the game took a deep breath.

Next, Brother Shu could move freely.

He looked around the toilet, noting the walls, floor, and toilet bowl, all covered in grime.

He pursed his lips, and his brow involuntarily furrowed.

On the toilet walls, there were large amounts of red graffiti and dark red, mottled stains, indistinguishable as paint or blood.

Combined with the subtle, almost imperceptible sound effects, he felt his heart beginning to beat a little faster.

(End of Chapter) <>