Horror Game Designer

“Impossible! Gao Ming should be dead! This corpse can absorb Gao Ming’s death portrait. This corpse has to be Gao Ming!” Yuan Hui blurted out loudly. It was not that he couldn’t control his emotions, but the scenario before him was too preposterous. Jing Tuoshen and the headquarters had clarified the situation for them. Only Gao Ming’s dead body could pull the portrait fragments out of their bodies. What was the issue?

“Why are you shouting?” The painted Gao Ming had no idea what Yuan Hui had done. He merely found the man annoying for blocking his conversation with Zuo Jun. Everyone present noted his air of condescension.

“Is Gao Ming not dead?! Is that corpse a fake one?”

“I knew the Dead Water Forum was not a simple forum. No one from Class 13 is easy to deal with.”

“How can this man be an official security member? It feels like he’s only there through connections.”

The sound of discussion grew louder. After Gao Ming showed up, the horror game players seemed to have found their support. They were less scared of the investigation centre.

“Gao Ming is dead! You are not Gao Ming! Speak! Who are you?” Yuan Hui couldn’t accept this truth. His face was red when he remembered all the things he said earlier. The painter Gao Ming was different from the other Gao Mings. He was not really Gao Ming, either. He was Xia Yang. However, only he knew that secret.

The painter Gao Ming narrowed his eyes in response to Yuan Hui’s interrogation. Murderous intent poured out of them. However, the smile on his face became warmer. “If I’m not Gao Ming, are you?” The painter Gao Ming took a step forward. His power was suppressed by the figurine. He couldn’t draw the entire Yuan Hui. He could only draw a part of Yuan Hui. Just as the painter Gao Ming was pondering which organ of Yuan Hui’s he should draw, a horror game player removed his cap and mask as he walked out of the crowd. He took out a white student council badge. After he put it on, he walked to the centre of the lobby with a lamp.

Everyone hid in the corner. This person's action instantly grabbed everyone’s attention. The voice-activated lights went out at that moment. The lamp the player was holding became the only light source.

“We won’t wait for the others. Time is limited.” The player slowly raised his head. The people around him sucked in a cold breath. There were a lot of stitches on his face. His face was combined from pieces of different human faces. The dual-coloured eyes scanned everyone. His uneven lips trembled open. “I am Gao Yun, but this body is not mine. It is merely a bait to fish for the Past.” The voice that came out of the body was similar to the voice from the broadcast. However, his appearance was too shocking and scary.

“The core of this anomaly is two mud figurines. The Past’s power is related to memory; the Future’s power is related to time. Our current situation is formed once the two collaborate. Everyone is trapped inside the building. Our power and memory are continuously taken away until we forget even ourselves.”

Gao Yun’s words set off waves of despair. However, there were some who were unwilling to give up.

Fan Li raised his hand to ask, “If Gods are not omnipotent, we should be able to kill them, right?”

“Time and memory have betrayed us to side with the Gods. However, the two mud figurines have to exhaust a lot of faith to use their power continuously. The first thing we need to do is to curse the Gods. Do not beg for Gods’ forgiveness due to fear.” Once Gao Yun said that, the painter Gao Ming laughed.

“If you don’t know Gods’ appearance, I can help you.” The painter Gao Ming used the blood on the floor to paint the mud figurines on the walls of the lobby. “They are the source of the tragedies here. Use your most vicious power and thoughts to curse them.”

Gao Yun and the painter Gao Ming didn’t need to say anything more than that. The players and investigation centre had already made their moves. They needed a target to vent their hatred. Verbal hatred was just the beginning. Everyone had their own methods to desecrate the two Gods. The drawings became blacker. The paint rotted and decayed. The people’s hatred appeared to have influenced the Gods.

Gao Yun glanced at the painter Gao Ming. After confirming certain things, he continued, “Cutting off the faith is the first step. Next, we need to kill the manifestation of Gods’ consciousness.” The skin of Gao Yun’s face cracked. However, he didn’t care about it. “There are two monsters in this building. One is called the Past, and the other is called the Future. You can’t change what has happened in the past. The people who have been eaten by the Past won’t return. However, it also cannot eject its victims out of its body.” Gao Yun held the pieces of his face. “It’s simple to kill the Past. I need you to lure it over and have it consume this body of mine.”

Have it eat you?

Such a surprising request shocked many people. However, Gao Yun was prepared.

“This body is sewn from pieces of the worst past I’ve seen. The despair is so intense that it is a veritable poison.” Gao Yun stopped explaining, “As for the future, I’ve not found a way to kill it. However, I hope that you’ll remember what Future is. As long as you refuse to believe in it, the future will never come. The past is fixed, but the future is not. As long as you do not fear the changes the future might bring, the future will never bring you towards death.”

The anomaly at Everlasting Life Apartments couldn’t be solved alone. Anyone could be used by the figurines. Therefore, one had to unite more than half of the people inside the building to escape.

“Once we kill Past and Future, it means we’ve blinded Gods’ both eyes. Then, we need to find the real exit before the new Past and Future are born.” Gao Yun shared his plan with everyone. Most of the players were willing to cooperate, but there were opposing voices too.

“So after all that, you also don’t know where the real exit is.” Zuo Jun took out a strange blade from his uniform. “This is the first time everyone has been here. So I wish to know one thing. How do you know about these things? Why should we trust you? What if you’re Gods’ trap?”

“Before the headquarters started the selection, the founder of Dead Water Forum, Gao Ming, found me. He led the student council members to infiltrate this place yesterday night.” Gao Yun stared at Zuo Jun silently, “I will not force you to listen to me. After all, even if you leave this place, I’ll murder you in real life. I have not forgotten how much energy you’ve exhausted to trick me to get on that death bus back then.”