There were no sudden jump scares, but in reality, it was scarier than any monster appearing.
Especially the layout of the game's scenes, which made Ben feel completely immersed.
Back in the day, Nebula Games, with its infinite corridor in a DEMO, had terrified countless players, and that was on a regular PC version.
This led to many horror games later incorporating such cramped space designs.
If you talk about horror, this kind of tactic has been used many times before.
But if you talk about not being scary, Ben right now feels like he wants to die.
It was like being trapped in a loop, walking down the empty alleys of the town, the lights in his vision slowly changing color, the footsteps echoing in his ears with every step, and the protagonist's breathing, it was really creepy.
Fortunately, it didn't make Ben uncomfortable for long, because he soon noticed that the wooden door of a room called "Colorful Lantern Pavilion" ahead was open.
Ben carefully walked in, and after entering, he silently swallowed.
Because the room called "Colorful Lantern Pavilion" was actually a memorial hall filled with funeral items.
Lifelike paper figures, gold ingots, and coffins made Ben's skin crawl.
He didn't know if it was his imagination, but the paper figures with their eyes wide open, Ben felt like they were staring at him.
"Don't panic... it's all fake. I've played so many horror games, how could I be scared of this little stuff," Ben comforted himself in his mind, but in the memorial hall, he quickly found a clue.
Most of the items in different scenes could be interacted with.
For example, the paper figures and coffins.
Some were there to create a terrifying atmosphere, and the rest were crucial props.
On the altar, Ben found a slip of paper.
However, looking at the words on it, Ben got a little flustered.
It said that the owner of the general store, Wang Jincai, had passed away due to illness.
So, the general store owner was actually dead.
Then who was the general store owner who gave Lin Lixun batteries earlier?
Could it be his son?
Ben felt a chill down his spine.
Continuing to investigate the scene, he found candles, and then used the candles to light the altar on the left. In the area filled with paper figures, Ben found another ledger.
The first two pages were fine, but the words on the third page made Ben freeze for a moment, even forgetting some of his fear.
Because it said, "Lin Lixun bought batteries on credit, owing Wang Jincai two yuan."
And the signature below was dated two days after Lin Lixun's acknowledgment.
So, did this loop in time bring him to the future?
Feeling a little shaky, Ben slowly explored.
After going around, Ben made sure there was nothing else and slowly crawled out of the Colorful Lantern Pavilion like a turtle.
But after coming out, he couldn't help but shudder.
"No! Where did that big door go!" Ben's voice was a little distorted, with a hint of crying in his panic.
Because he discovered a very crucial problem: as he walked out, the door he had entered the Colorful Lantern Pavilion through had turned into a brick wall.
At the same time, next to the brick wall was a stool, with a piece of paper on it, which read—
The Debt of the Dead: If you take something from the dead, you owe them a debt. If not repaid promptly, you will suffer from a severe illness, and in severe cases, your family will be destroyed. Return what you took as soon as possible to escape disaster.
The debt of the dead, Wang Jincai, two yuan for batteries?
At that moment, Ben thought of the two batteries Lin Lixun had bought earlier. Coupled with the fact that Wang Jincai was dead and he owed money, wasn't this talking about him?
"The one who bought the batteries was Zheng Ming, Brother Zheng who fixes cars! Don't come looking for me! Besides, it's only two yuan worth of stuff! It's really not worth it!" Combined with the eerily familiar environment in the game, Ben was completely immersed.
Especially when he put this in his pocket, he saw that on the originally empty red brick wall, a hole had appeared, and inside the hole were two copper coins stained with blood.
Wasn't this symbolizing his two yuan?
Playing up to this point, with no sudden jump scares, and not even a ghost appearing, Ben already felt like he needed to go to the bathroom.
Suppressing his fear, Ben still persisted in playing.
The reason he persisted wasn't because of his great expectations for the game.
After all, this was just the beginning, and he didn't know what would happen next. He just knew that what he was experiencing now, Zack would also experience later.
Exploring the streets, the notice board had a lot of random things written on it, like a volunteer teacher who died due to unforeseen circumstances, a family that was annihilated, and some other town and village affairs.
Not finding many key clues, Ben continued to walk forward. After turning a small alley, what he saw made him stop in his tracks.
A makeshift memorial hall, with many wreaths and white lanterns placed at the entrance.
But strangely, no family members of the deceased were to be seen.
"This is the guy who sold me batteries, isn't it!"
After hesitating for a long time, Ben wanted to quit immediately after walking in.
Because right in front of the memorial hall, he saw a black and white photo of the convenience store manager who had sold him batteries before.
However, Ben then noticed a key thing, which was that the game actually had invisible walls!
"Playing 'Resident Evil' with door traps, and now Boss Lucas, you're not even pretending to act anymore? Just using invisible walls!?" Ben was utterly shocked.
Although Ben wished he could punch Lucas in the face, he was still cautiously investigating the memorial hall with his heart in his throat.
But to his surprise, there were no high-energy scenes.
He just found a burnt telephone and clues of a fire. There was the smell of smoke, and according to the investigation, the fire started inside the coffin, suggesting that this fire had a hidden motive.
After circling around and making sure nothing was missed, Ben then found that the curtain at the entrance of the memorial hall had opened by itself, as if telling him he could leave now.
Peeking out cautiously, Ben observed and confirmed that there were no monsters around before slowly walking out.
Now, he should be going back to find that guy named Zheng Ming, right?
I wonder if that guy is dead?
Ben imagined various possibilities in his mind: returning to find him missing or dead, or even a tragic corpse.
After all, this was the standard fate of teammates in horror games.
But as he walked through the narrow path, Ben shivered. In front of the convenience store where he had bought batteries, a woman stood. In the darkness, he could only see her back, but before he could get a clear look, the figure disappeared, and in its place, countless white paper money rained down from the sky.
He cautiously approached, but no scary ghost appeared. However, something on the counter of the general store caught his eye.
A ledger, showing an interactive button, was glowing there.
Clearly, this was one of the key clues in the game.
Ben controlled Lin Lixun to reach out and pick it up, and the content above made him confused.
"No! Is it really necessary!"
"Two yuan! For two yuan, you want to kill me!"
A line of blood characters appeared on the ledger: You can't escape! You're next!
Debt! Debt! Debt! Debt! Debt! Debt! Debt!
The next moment, Ben's in-game perspective blurred, and the original convenience store turned into a red brick wall, with Wang Jincai's portrait from the memorial hall hanging on it, covered in blood-red debt characters.
(End of Chapter)
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