Chapter 763: Filled with Doubts

Oppression.

This was the strongest feeling Zhang Yi, and all players, experienced while playing Silent Hill.

It wasn't just simple fear; beyond the fear, there was a greater sense of spiritual oppression.

To be honest, were there any designs in Silent Hill that made people feel extremely scared?

Not really.

In the game, there aren't monsters that suddenly appear out of nowhere without warning, nor do you turn a corner or open a door only to see a ghastly face in front of you.

Instead, there are creatures with peculiar physiques. For example, the first time you encounter Pyramid Head, he doesn't immediately pursue the player. The second time is merely a cutscene, and in subsequent chase levels, there are no sudden, jump-scare attacks.

This is also true for the minor mobs in the game.

Silent Hill primarily creates an oppressive and despairing atmosphere through the shaping of its environments.

Such as the heavy fog, the radio alerting players to nearby monsters, and the world becoming eerie after leaving the hospital room.

And after Maria is killed by Pyramid Head, James gathers some information and learns of a term called 'Deep Abyss'.

Here, players must repeatedly descend into a place like a black hole in the Document Hall, seeking a way out.

It's a dark, square hole, pitch black and bottomless at first glance, yet players must leap into it like a Leap of Faith from Assassin's Creed.

Many players endured the town's thick fog, traversed the eerie apartment, and chatted cheerfully with the nurse. But at this point, they genuinely retreated.

Because during the leap into the black hole, it's completely dark the entire time, and besides the sound of falling wind, there's absolutely no other sound.

That silence and the sensation of falling from a great height are truly unbearable.

Many players would even prefer to be startled by a sudden monster than to experience that unsettling feeling.

And it's not just jumping into a hole.

After jumping into one hole, you still need to find the location of another exit.

Narrow, labyrinthine corridors, a strange world as dark as a plaza, and various mechanisms that rapidly drain your SAN points—all of these are enough to drive players insane.

If this was just the environmental strangeness and oppression, then combined with the game's overall plot, it made players feel even more bewildered.

Because at this point, James arrives at the Silent Hill prison, where he again encounters Eddie.

Unlike the chubby guy who was previously throwing up violently into a toilet and eating pizza, this time, a corpse with a blown-out head lies near him.

In the dark setting, Eddie behaves like a psychopath, muttering eerily that killing isn't hard; you just point a gun at a head and bang.

But then he shows a panicked expression, vehemently denies killing that person, and flees.

Meanwhile, in a prison cell, James also sees Maria locked inside—Maria, who should have been killed by Pyramid Head while escaping via the elevator.

Yet, Maria seems to have no memory of being killed by Pyramid Head. She even mentions a videotape that James and Mary left behind during their hotel vacation.

James wants to rescue Maria but can't open the cell door, so he can only delve deeper into the prison to find a way.

Deep within the prison maze, James also encounters Angela, who is being attacked by monsters. But after he saves her, she instead scolds him, saying he never truly wanted Mary by his side and only wished to seek new love.

Through their conversation and some hints, James learns a part of Angela's story: she was violently abused by her alcoholic father, so she eventually stabbed him to death and fled.

After traversing the dungeon maze, James finally reaches Maria's cell, but something eerie happens: Maria, who was clearly alive moments before, is now dead on the cell bed.

Having lost Maria, James has no choice but to press on.

He passes through the maze and arrives at a cold storage room.

He encounters the fleeing Eddie again, with several corpses scattered around him.

Through their dialogue, James learns that Eddie had been ridiculed and bullied since childhood for his obesity.

So one day, he finally snapped, shot a football player's dog, then wounded the dog owner's knee, and escaped.

Now, he vows to kill everyone who ever mocked or bullied him.

He also tells James that since they both were summoned to Silent Hill, they are of the same kind.

After speaking, he immediately attacks James.

So, in self-defense, James is forced to kill Eddie. When he realizes he has killed someone, he also begins to doubt whether Mary truly died three years ago.

Were the memories in his mind real?

Just like James in the game, every player who reached this point was filled with many questions.

What kind of place is Silent Hill?

Why are there so many terrifying monsters here?

And why does the little girl Laura dislike James so much?

Also, why did these people in the game come to Silent Hill?

Including why Maria, when she was still alive in the prison cell, repeatedly emphasized that if James wanted her to be Mary, then she was Mary, and also insisted that she was a real person.

And what Eddie said about them all being summoned by Silent Hill.

So, was Mary's letter real?

Why did the whole world change after stepping out of the hospital room?

Which one is the real world?

Are Maria and these other people real?

Innumerable questions swirled in the players' minds.

What kind of story Silent Hill was telling became a big question mark in the hearts of many players who got this far.

..................

In the game, Zhang Yi had completed the prison level content.

Leaving the cold storage room and sailing a small boat, he arrived at Lakeview Hotel, the place James and Mary had agreed upon.

In front of the Lakeview Hotel, just like in the town of Silent Hill, a thick white fog hung in the air.

The environment was still deathly silent.

But what he was even more curious about now was the truth behind everything in Silent Hill.

From previous events involving Eddie and Angela, and some hints,

Zhang Yi had a guess: the people in Silent Hill all carried some unbearable pasts.

Eddie came to Silent Hill to escape the police after killing a dog and breaking its owner's leg.

Angela came to Silent Hill to search for her mother, but after killing her abusive father.

So what about Laura, the troublemaking Girl Kid in the game, and Maria, who looks exactly like Mary, and James himself?

What led them to Silent Hill?

What is the story between James and Mary, and why are there so many monsters in the town of Silent Hill?

With curiosity, Zhang Yi controlled James as he walked towards their ultimate destination: the Lakeview Hotel.

He had a premonition that here, he would find all the answers. (End of Chapter) <>