Horror Game Designer

Gao Yun stated everything clearly. He didn’t hide his intentions. The people present had no better choice. Gao Yun’s real body was not at Everlasting Life Apartments. Even if everyone there died, it wouldn’t affect him.

“Can we trust him?” The normal Gao Ming nudged the kind Gao Ming. “He seemed to know the complete version of ourselves.”

“We can’t trust him fully, but we can’t deny the truth of his words fully either.” The kind Gao Ming’s eyes lingered on the corpse. “The person we can rely on is ourselves.”

The kind Gao Ming whispered into the normal Gao Ming’s ear. “Look at the corpse beside Zuo Jun. Its pupils moved earlier. I have no idea what Zuo Jun’s people sent into the dead body, but that thing should be very important to us. When the situation becomes chaotic, we’ll snatch the corpse.”

The normal Gao Ming pouted. He just wanted to have a normal life. If he could survive, he’d try. If that were impossible, he’d rather die earlier to prevent an extended torture.

At the lobby, Zuo Jun chose to back off. He didn’t have a direct conflict with Gao Yun. Instead, he pulled the embarrassing Yuan Hui to the side so they could have a private discussion.

“Since no one has any other opinion, we need to prepare. With so many humans gathered in one place, Past will soon arrive.” Gao Yun put down the lamp. “You have to make it eat me, or else it will eventually consume all of you.”

As he finished, the lamp went out. The lobby sank into darkness. Someone stomped their feet, but the voice-sensitive lights didn’t respond.

“This is bad… That guy definitely has something that he’s hiding from us. He must have a reason to gather us together!” The kind Gao Ming was anxious. He was worried that they would become the sacrifice to Gao Yun’s plan. However, it was too late to issue warnings.

The light disappeared too suddenly. Anxiety spread. After losing their sight, friends stuck to one another. The cleverer people said nothing and retreated silently. The lobby was swallowed by the sea of darkness. Everyone was soaked in it. The indescribable fear crawled over everyone, suffocating them.

“Gao Yun wouldn’t lie to us, right?”

“Who is so selfless to sacrifice himself to save others in the anomaly?”

“Shush! There’s something over there!”

The stench in the air thickened. A strange sound came from the corridor Yuan Hui had taken earlier.

It sounded like centipedes crawling on the ceiling or children scratching their nails against the wall.

The breathing became difficult. People looked over there. In the silence, the strange sound grew louder. The thing was rapidly approaching!

“Something is coming over! Its target is us!” A horror game player closest to the corridor screamed. “My hand! My hand! Don’t eat me! Help!”

The scream suddenly stopped. In just a few seconds, a human disappeared into the dark. The scariest thing was that the creepy sound had entered the lobby.

The leader of Team One retreated to move closer to the two Gao Mings. “Put your hands on my shoulders, and don’t move about randomly. The Past is here. It feels larger than before.” The leader of Team One could see the thing in the dark using his watch. He was a good person. He didn’t choose to run but stood before the two Gao Mings.

More screams echoed. The leader of Team One’s forehead was covered in a cold sweat. “Gao Yun didn’t tell the truth! The Past is lingering around the sides of the lobby and only goes after the humans at the edges. It is not even going after Gao Yun, who is in the middle of the lobby!”

“Maybe the monster can sense danger.” The kind Gao Ming understood it instantly. “Gao Yun is not the bait. We are the bait! Gao Yun gathered us here to lure the monster over!”

“The lights are not coming back on. Should we retreat for now?” The normal Gao Ming tightened his grip on his school bag. He had not experienced something this scary before. In his memory, the scariest thing he had encountered was being caught by his teacher for napping in class.

“No! This is the only chance to kill the Past. If we fail to do that, more people will die!” The massacre turned the kind Gao Ming’s eyes red. He gritted his teeth. “We’ll move forward! We’re going to the centre of the lobby and stand beside Gao Yun!”

“What?”

“This is exactly what Gao Yun wants to see. The people on the outer perimeter will be attacked by the monster. If we stand near Gao Yun, the monster will have to get close to Gao Yun to eat us.” The leader of Team One understood the kind Gao Ming’s thoughts. He grabbed the two Gao Mings and led the way. Many people figured out they had been tricked by Gao Yun. The monster guarded the exits. To survive, they had to move closer to the centre of the lobby. More and more people moved to the spot where Gao Yun’s lamp was last seen. There were more wails.

“The monster is purposely avoiding Gao Yun! If we want to kill the monster, we need to force it to eat Gao Yun!” Liu Yi’s voice echoed in the dark. “If you don’t want to die, head to the centre of the lobby!”

With the clear instructions, the frequency of the screams lowered. People moved. Slowly, other than the few who managed to escape earlier, the others were eaten by the Past or had moved to the centre of the lobby. Facing the same threat, they gave up on infighting.

The collection of so many humans was a giant bait for Past. It fed on memory and soul. The warm pasts and colourful moments of a person’s life tickled its taste buds.

The arms crawled on the wall. Past became agitated. It could sense the danger, but it was unwilling to give up on the ready feast. The tapping sound sent chills down people’s spines. The monster crawled rapidly around the lobby. Nowhere was safe. People squeezed further towards the centre.

Fear triggered the fragrance of humanity. The trembling hearts had a fatal attraction towards the monster. The head hidden among its limbs reached out to screech. The limbs adjusted the body to find the perfect angle. Then, the monster catapulted into the crowd!

Hearing the soaring sound, Zuo Jun grabbed a random player beside him and tossed him out as a shield!

The monster caught the offering easily. The player was instantly eaten. His face was coloured with pain and despair as the monster feasted on him. The echoing howls entered everyone’s ears. Fear gripped everyone’s hearts.