Chapter 762: Full of Malice

For Zhang Yi, playing "Silent Hill" brought not only fear but also a very unique feeling.

This feeling was akin to when he first saw the bundles of giant snakes in the Forbidden Woods while playing "Bloodborne".

As the game's story progressed, he encountered more NPCs.

In a kitchen-like room, a corpse was stuffed inside a refrigerator.

In a restroom halfway through, there was a fat man throwing up wildly into a toilet. Through dialogue, James learned his name was Eddie.

He claimed he hadn't killed anyone, and judging by his speech, Eddie's mental state seemed a bit unstable.

What made Zhang Yi break down was that to collect clues, he had to fish items out of a toilet filled with filth.

Watching James kneel before the toilet and reach his hand in, Zhang Yi couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea.

Although this scene in the game was a cutscene, preventing players from directly looking at the filth in the toilet themselves.

Yet, combined with the action, the splashing sound of rummaging in the toilet, and the motor vibrations from the palm sensor.

It was impossible not to let one's imagination run wild!

Coupled with the immersive VR experience, Zhang Yi was somewhat grateful that his VR gaming pod didn't have scent sensors.

Otherwise, he felt he wouldn't be able to eat anything today.

While Pyramid Head was intense, it was still a monster.

But now, James was performing a bare-handed poop-scooping act, which was truly hard to stomach.

And besides Eddie, who had been throwing up violently in the restroom earlier.

On the rooftop, Zhang Yi also saw the woman he had first encountered in the cemetery.

When he met her, she was lying in front of a full-length mirror in a room. Through dialogue, he learned her name was Angela.

Like Eddie earlier, Angela's mental state was also very unstable.

She held a dagger, and her entire demeanor was very negative, appearing to have suicidal tendencies.

She was also easily startled. When James invited her to explore Silent Hill together, Angela refused and asked him if he could hold her dagger for her.

But when James tried to take the dagger from her, she got scared and ran off, leaving the dagger on the cabinet.

"No, why are you running? You asked me to hold the dagger for you!"

Watching Angela run away, Zhang Yi in the room was momentarily stunned, but compared to before, he felt a bit better inside now.

Because, from their current behavior, Eddie and Angela, although mentally troubled, seemed relatively normal.

However, next, on the top floor, Zhang Yi encountered Pyramid Head again.

Like most chase bosses in horror games, Pyramid Head couldn't be killed no matter how much you shot it.

It would only turn and leave after being hit a certain number of times. Having driven Pyramid Head away from the apartment and returning to the fog-shrouded scene, Zhang Yi didn't know whether to be relieved or sad.

In the thick fog, he wished for a darker environment, but in the dark, he longed for the fog.

This psychological dilemma troubled Zhang Yi. At the same time, on the fog-filled streets, he again encountered the mischievous, unlucky child he'd met in the apartment earlier.

And from her, he learned that this child also seemed to know Mary. But before James could ask further, the little girl vanished.

This felt very eerie, especially when Zhang Yi controlled James to Rosewater Park, where the eeriness intensified.

Because there, he saw a woman who looked exactly like his wife, Mary.

A stripper, Maria.

James told her about receiving Mary's letter and asked if she had seen Mary.

They conversed, and James recalled a place where he and Mary shared special memories: Lakeview Hotel.

But as James prepared to leave, Maria also asked him not to leave her alone in this monster-filled place; she wanted to go with him.

Thus, what was originally a solo journey became a journey for two.

"No, no, I need a break. If I keep playing, I feel like I won't be scared to death by monsters, but rather scare myself to death."

In the dead silent, foggy town, listening to the two sets of footsteps in his ears, Zhang Yi took a deep breath, muttering softly.

Logically, in a horror game, switching from solo to co-op, gaining a reliable teammate, should be a joyous occasion.

Just like "Blooming (Game)" before, how nice it was to have Teacher Chen accompany him.

But the key was Maria in "Silent Hill." From their dialogue, he learned she looked exactly like the deceased Mary, and her behavior also felt a bit strange to him.

Compared to the mischievous little girl from earlier, the suicidal Angela, and Eddie throwing up in the restroom.

The Maria before him, aside from being a little more seductive, was simply too normal.

And it was this very normalcy that made Zhang Yi uneasy.

After every two steps, Zhang Yi would stop and look back at Maria.

Fearing that Maria might suddenly vanish as they walked, or that he would turn around to find her transformed into a female ghost.

After all, this was a horror game!

Players like Zhang Yi made up the vast majority.

Time and again, they would enter "Silent Hill," feel a moment of relief, only to discover even more terrifying things awaiting them.

Just as they adapted to the thick fog, they were thrown into a dark apartment.

Just as they adapted to the darkness, Pyramid Head and all sorts of bizarre plot developments unfolded.

Yet, these elements, while instilling fear in players, also revealed more secrets, making players unable to suppress their curiosity.

For example, the various characters appearing in the game also made players curious about their fates.

When James tried to enter the bowling alley, Maria, who was accompanying him, refused to enter.

Upon entering, he found the mischievous little girl chatting with Eddie.

From their conversation, it was learned that the little girl's name was Laura, and Eddie seemed to be evading police pursuit, though apparently not for serious crimes like robbery or murder.

Laura suggested he should apologize to people, but Eddie said it was useless because no one would listen to him.

When James entered, Laura fled immediately, as if intentionally avoiding him.

James tried to persuade Eddie to join him in pursuing Laura, but Eddie was preoccupied with eating pizza, saying that following Laura would only hold her back.

So James could only leave Eddie behind and go after her, learning from Maria that Laura had gone to the back alley.

Following Maria through the back alley and Heaven's Night Club, the two saw Laura go to the hospital alone, open its front doors, and enter.

Inside the hospital, new monster types appeared.

Very sexy nurse girls, provided you didn't look at their heads.

Their heads were swollen like balloons about to burst, wrapped in blood-stained bandages, showing no human features whatsoever, with the only facial characteristics being bloody chins and teeth.

As they advanced, their bodies twitched and writhed violently, as if each joint had a mind of its own and wanted to detach from the body, and they wielded steel pipes, unfitting for their appearance, unleashing violence.

It was quite eerie, but if you covered their heads, their bodies alone were actually quite appealing.

One might even struggle to suppress their urges, as their figures and attire perfectly amplified a certain XP.

However, for players, after reaching the hospital scene, their situation would become much worse.

First, there was a sense of letdown.

Before this, when players first met Maria, they would generally feel a bit suspicious.

After all, encountering a normal person in Silent Hill seemed anything but normal.

Yet, Maria had behaved quite normally throughout their journey.

But upon arriving at the hospital, just as players had subconsciously accepted Maria as a reliable teammate and helper, Maria told James she wasn't feeling well.

So James had no choice but to leave her in the ward to rest and go find Laura himself.

If he hadn't had the experience of being with Maria before, being alone from the start wouldn't have been an issue.

But now, having grown accustomed to Maria, the sudden separation brought an immediate sense of loss, especially in this horror game, combined with its extremely grim atmosphere.

But this was just the beginning. The more critical aspect was the changes in the game's scenes.

When James found Laura, she told him she had met Mary a year ago. James was furious, believing Laura was deceiving him.

Because Mary had died three years ago. Laura then claimed she could prove it, tricking him into believing there was a letter from Mary in the room.

But after James entered, Laura locked the door, and three caged monsters appeared on the ceiling.

After defeating these three monsters, the game's environment completely changed.

Amidst the sharp air raid siren, countless deep red, flesh-like substances instantly appeared on the walls and spread.

Water stains, bloodstains, and mold were everywhere, as were rusted wire mesh or iron fixtures.

Corpses were scattered everywhere. Some previously passable roads became impassable, while some previously impassable roads opened up.

Fortunately, in the basement, James found Maria, who had escaped there.

Maria was very angry, scolding James for only caring about his deceased wife and not saving her.

However, after the argument, they reconciled and decided to search for Laura together.

But just as players were celebrating Maria rejoining the team, it wasn't long before Pyramid Head appeared.

Unlike the Pyramid Head in the apartment, which would retreat after being shot a certain number of times.

The Pyramid Head in the hospital, no matter how it was attacked, simply advanced slowly, swinging its massive greatscythe.

James could only desperately flee with Maria, running all the way into the elevator, but before Maria could get in, the doors closed.

And no matter how hard James tried, the elevator doors wouldn't open.

Finally, James could only watch helplessly as Maria was killed by Pyramid Head.

Giving players hope, only to then shatter that hope.

It can be said that in terms of level design and pacing, "Silent Hill" undoubtedly demonstrated a strong sense of malice.

(End of Chapter) <>