Chapter 765: Deeply Moved

Walking down the corridor, James’s inner monologue slowly emerged.

‘I am weak.’

‘So, I need you.’

‘I need someone to punish my sins.’

‘But it’s over now… I know the truth… It’s time to end it.’

Although he still didn't understand what kind of place Silent Hill was, combining it with the experiences of Angela and Eddie, James now had a general understanding of everything.

All this time, the suppression of emotions and guilt within James’s heart had warped his subconscious, making him believe his wife had died from illness three years ago. Pyramid Head was the manifestation of James’s self-punishment, concretized in Silent Hill, a peculiar place with both a real and an 'otherworld'.

Before this, James had been unwilling to face the truth. That's why, when confronted with this self-punishment figure, no matter how many times he shot, he couldn't kill Pyramid Head. At most, it would only temporarily disappear.

But now that he knew the truth, he no longer needed them.

Facing James's attack, the two Pyramid Heads committed suicide with the spears in their hands.

After obtaining two red eggs from the slain Pyramid Heads, James entered a long corridor.

In the dark corridor, his and Mary's voices echoed.

Those were memories James was unwilling to revisit.

Mary: ‘What are you doing?’

James: ‘I, I brought you flowers…’

Mary: ‘Flowers? I don’t like flowers, go home.’

James: ‘What did you say?’

Mary: ‘Look at me! I’m disgusting! I don’t deserve flowers, it’s all sickness and medicine all day, I’m like a monster. What are you looking at, get out! Stay away from me, I’m useless, I’m going to die soon anyway, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow…’

‘Why are you still here? Go quickly, get out, don’t come back!’

‘James… wait… don’t go… don’t leave me, I didn’t mean it, please James, tell me I’ll be fine, tell me I won’t die, save me…’

These were Mary's words to James when she was tormented by illness. Under the torment of disease, Mary's body worsened day by day; her beauty and health were completely destroyed by the illness.

This made her psychological state extremely unstable, and she vented all her negative emotions onto James. But after venting, once James left, her regret towards James and fear of death would make Mary desperately plead for him to return.

James had experienced countless such days, from discomfort to finally being unable to bear it.

As James walked deeper into the dark corridor, the entire corridor slowly began to change, reflecting the darkness within James's heart. Mottled bloodstains and various filth gave an incredibly oppressive feeling.

Passing through the corridor and walking down a long iron staircase, James arrived at the hotel's rooftop. There, he finally met the person waiting for him.

However, James knew very well that this person was not Mary, even though she looked exactly like Mary now, both in voice and appearance. But James knew this person was Maria, not Mary.

‘Maria? It’s you… I don’t need you anymore…’

‘What? Are you kidding? But you can have me… I’m always yours, I’ll never shout at you or make you sad, isn’t that what you want? I’m not like Mary… How can you abandon me?’

Following Maria’s conversation with James, the next moment Maria transformed into a floating monster in the sky, her limbs confined to a metal bed, with steel needles inserted into her wrists and neck, like syringes.

By this point, Zhang Yi no longer felt the previous fear. Although this monster was a bit demonic, he was no longer defenseless. He easily killed the monster Maria had become with his shotgun. In fact, Zhang Yi felt that Silent Hill’s combat system was a bit unsatisfying; compared to Chris’s endless shooting with infinite ammo at the end of Resident Evil Village, this wasn’t quite as exhilarating!

However, after a brief sigh, his attention was drawn to the game’s story. Looking at Maria, who lay there as a monster, it felt as if time and space had been traversed, and James seemed to be back in Mary's final moments on her sickbed.

‘Mary… forgive me’

Mary lay on the sickbed, her face extremely pale, her expression even distorted by pain.

Mary gently shook her head: ‘James… I told you I wanted to die, I wanted to end this suffering.’

James sat there, his hands covering his head, not daring to look at Mary: ‘That’s why I did it, Mary… I couldn’t watch you suffer, but that wasn’t true, you also said you didn’t want to die. The truth is, I hated you, I wanted my life back…’

Mary interrupted James: ‘James… If that’s true, why are you so sad?’

‘James, please do one thing for me, live well.’

Then, Mary handed James a letter she held in her hand.

The screen went dark, then transitioned to a graveyard. Laura and James slowly walked towards the road out of Silent Hill.

The white fog shrouding Silent Hill seemed to slowly dissipate. Mary’s voice, calm, read the letter she had written to James.

‘In my broken dreams, I saw that little town, Silent Hill.’

‘I felt so pathetic and ugly, lying here, waiting for you… Every day, I looked at the cracks in the ceiling, all I could think about was how unfair it all was…’

……………………

‘The doctor came today, he told me I could go home for a short time.’

‘It doesn’t mean my condition has improved.’

‘It just means, maybe this is my last chance.’

‘Every time you came to visit me, I could see how difficult it was for you… I don’t know if you hate me, or pity me… Or, maybe I just disgusted you… I’m sorry.’

‘When I first learned I was going to die, I just didn’t want to accept it.’

‘I was so angry all the time, I lashed out at everyone I loved.’

‘Especially you, James. So I can understand if you hate me.’

‘But I hope you understand, James, I always loved you.’

……………………

‘I told the nurse to give you this letter after I died.’

‘This means, by the time you read this letter, I will be dead.’

‘I can’t ask you to remember me, but I also can’t accept you forgetting me.’

‘In these three years that I’ve been sick… I’m so sorry for what I did to you, to us… You gave me so much, and I couldn’t give anything back.’

‘So I hope you start living for yourself now, take good care of yourself… James.’

‘You truly made me very happy.’

In the final departure scene, the theme song “Overdose Delusion” echoed in Zhang Yi’s ears. Watching James and Laura leave, Zhang Yi’s mood suddenly became incredibly complex at this moment.

Without a doubt, Silent Hill brought him not only fright but also deep emotion.

(End of Chapter) <>