The Haunted Game Designer

Room 2507 had mostly remained in its original state. Everything belonging to Brother Zhao was left intact—cupboards, sofas, coffee tables—every piece of furniture the deceased had used in his lifetime was still in the room.

Old Zhao had been an extremely frugal man. The decor was plain, giving the room a cold, desolate atmosphere, filled with an indescribable chill.

Raindrops pounded against the window glass. The sky was gloomy, and though it was only a little past six in the evening, the room was already shrouded in darkness.

Xuan Wen did not turn on the lights. She walked straight to the balcony, overlooking the courtyard below, gazing at the torrential rain.

After an intense inner struggle, Gao Ming finally entered Room 2507. His eyes were quickly drawn to the wall in the living room, where a large picture frame covered by a black cloth hung in the most conspicuous spot.

"Do you want to know what's behind it?" Xuan Wen, without turning around, seemed to know exactly what was on Gao Ming's mind. "You can lift the cloth and see for yourself."

Gao Ming grabbed a corner of the black cloth and gently tugged. As the cloth slipped off, a massive black-and-white wedding photo appeared before him.

In the photo, Gao Ming and Xuan Wen wore blissful smiles. However, only Gao Ming was in color—Xuan Wen, along with her stunning, exaggerated wedding dress, was entirely in black and white.

"Another memorial portrait?" Gao Ming couldn't recall ever taking wedding photos with Xuan Wen—especially such an eerie one.

"Are you starting to remember anything?" Xuan Wen turned around, her smile warm and gentle. Yet the aura emanating from her was anything but normal—there was a secret hidden deep within those beautiful eyes.

"What exactly happened in the tunnel that night on the Ghost Festival?" Gao Ming had never strayed far from the door, always ready to flee.

"You boarded a bus you weren't supposed to, heading to a place you were never meant to go." Xuan Wen's gaze was filled with a sickly, obsessive affection—both unsettling and oddly familiar. "You forgot what happened in the tunnel because your body was protecting itself. Your subconscious knew the truth was too terrifying to accept, so you selectively erased the memory."

"Then why do you know what happened in the tunnel? You only appeared because of my game—there's no reason for you to know about that night." Gao Ming backed closer to the door.

"Because that night, I was the one who brought you home." Xuan Wen took another step forward. "Do you remember the design of my side quest in To Our Fading Love? I always know where you are... My favorite thing is watching you. This twisted ability and uncontrollable affection made me seek you out the moment I woke up."

Just listening to Xuan Wen's words sent chills down Gao Ming's spine. He had never played a dating sim before—he had no idea they could be this terrifying.

"What did you see?"

"The tunnel walls were embedded with corpses—twisted, agonized faces. When I arrived, you were talking to something, walking deeper into the tunnel. I pulled you out." There was no way to tell if Xuan Wen was lying, but a flicker of fear crossed her eyes as she spoke.

"If it was just a wall of corpses, I wouldn't have been scared into memory loss... But I did hear something." Gao Ming strained to remember but drew a blank. "Do you remember what the voice said?"

"Everything is spiraling out of control. Vengeful spirits are rampant, anomalies are emerging, and the malice buried deep in people's hearts will overturn the city. The games you've designed—based on murder cases and urban legends—may all become reality. They will crawl out from decayed memories. The only way to weaken their resentment is to let more people play your games. You can choose to guide them through... or sacrifice them to feed the legends. Different choices will yield different consequences—and different rewards."

Xuan Wen paused, then added, "That voice said you were supposed to die. It gave you a chance to live. You seemed to have made a deal."

"I was supposed to die..." Gao Ming mulled over the implications. "Did I... experience death in that tunnel? By the time you arrived, I'd already been brought back to life? That's completely irrational!"

"If you don't believe me—or think I'm lying—you can verify it with the other passengers from that night." Xuan Wen sat down on the sofa. "I saw other living people while bringing you out of the tunnel."

"There are still passengers alive?"

"Yes. I was in such a hurry at the time that I didn't get a clear look at their faces. Otherwise, I would have found a way to imprison them and uncover the truth." Xuan Wen slipped into her slippers, speaking in the most casual, homey tone while uttering the most terrifying words.

Having gathered some information and with nightfall already upon them, Gao Ming took another step back.

"You got what you wanted, and now you're in a rush to leave?" Xuan Wen smiled at him. "You probably don't even remember what you promised me in the tunnel, do you?"

"I don't remember."

"That's fine. You'll have time to recall it later." Xuan Wen retrieved a black-and-white memorial photo from inside her clothing. "When I opened my eyes and woke up in reality, this memorial photo was right beside me. Over the past three days, as I eliminated the other female leads in the dating game, the wedding dress in the photo seems to have changed."

She held the black-and-white memorial photo up against the large wedding portrait hanging on the wall. The difference was obvious—colors had begun to emerge on the wedding dress in the photo she held.

"The other girlfriends in the dating game also appeared under some unknown influence. Strictly speaking, they were already dead. But the problem is…" Xuan Wen brought the photo closer, her eyes burning with madness. "A memorial photo represents the memory of the deceased lingering in reality. If a black-and-white photo turns to color, does that mean the dead have come back to life? Killing the others seems to be breaking some kind of restraint on me."

"So that's why you can roam freely in the city, just like a normal person?" Gao Ming broke into a cold sweat upon hearing Xuan Wen casually mention eliminating the other girlfriends. Three days—eight girlfriends—this was absolute hysteria!

The most overlooked side character in the dating game, the abandoned and twisted outcast, had, once the game became reality, used her sharp judgment and ruthless decisiveness to understand the current situation even better than Gao Ming himself.

Xuan Wen's existence also opened up a new perspective for Gao Ming. In horror and suspense games, there weren't just dangerous monsters and vengeful ghosts—there were also terrifyingly capable lunatics.

"I only want to become someone like you." Xuan Wen's speech grew faster, her demeanor becoming increasingly unstable as she revealed her true reason for seeking out Gao Ming. "After countless attempts, I discovered that when a game turns into reality, there is a process. The more terrifying and dangerous the game, the slower it merges with the city, accompanied by various omens and warnings. If you want to trigger a supernatural event before it fully forms, three conditions must be met: a haunted house where someone has recently died, a memorial photo from that world, and you."

Standing inside Room 2507, the haunted house, Gao Ming finally understood Xuan Wen's intentions. She wanted to hunt supernatural horror games—devouring them before their ghosts fully matured!

"A haunted house serves as the game's setting, a memorial photo is the ticket to enter early, and you… you are the gateway." Xuan Wen grabbed Gao Ming's shirt with both hands. "That voice told you to bring more players into the game. I should count as a player, right?"

Her bloodshot eyes gleamed as she unzipped the handbag she had been carrying. Inside were eight blank memorial photos—completely empty, without any faces.

"I have plenty of tickets."

"Calm down. This is all just your speculation for now." After realizing Xuan Wen's true goal, Gao Ming was no longer afraid. He looked at her, standing so close that he could see every flawless detail of her face. "But I can help you. Tonight, we'll test your theory right here in Room 2507."

Gao Ming was a psychological counselor in a maximum-security prison—a doctor who danced with caged beasts. He knew exactly how to deal with dangerous people.

Just as he agreed, footsteps echoed in the hallway, followed by the ringing of the doorbell.

After Xuan Wen quickly covered the wedding portrait with a black cloth, Gao Ming opened the door. The disfigured investigator stood in the dimly lit corridor, gasping for breath.

"This place is dangerous. You need to leave immediately!"

(End of Chapter)

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