Horror Game Designer

Chapter 25: Are You Afraid of Little Red?

“Gao Ming? Director Chen said you wouldn’t come until three days later, why are you here now?” The only female investigator among the four shook hands with Gao Ming: “I am the deputy head of Investigation Team One—Bai Qiao. These three are newbies, they haven’t experienced any abnormal events yet.”

“You’re taking three newbies into an abnormal event?” Gao Ming recalled that the abnormal events he knew were extremely terrifying, with very low survival rates for ordinary people.

“According to the survivor’s account, no specific ghosts appeared in this abnormal event, only some eerie signs. It’s preliminarily classified as a Level 1 abnormal event, which is already quite friendly for the newbies,” Bai Qiao explained, playing a video: “Yesterday evening, someone called the police, saying that in Minlong Street, Number 4 Courtyard, 4th floor, a child has been crying continuously. The police searched the entire floor but found no child. An elderly resident said that a family of three used to live on the fourth floor. The man was very violent, and the woman was no better. About a few days ago, after an argument in the evening, the couple suddenly moved away overnight, but it seemed the child did not leave with them.”

“Was the child killed?” Gao Ming wondered, watching the video.

“We don’t know. We tried to find the couple, but they disappeared in the old city district,” Bai Qiao turned off the video: “Since the couple moved out, crying sounds have been heard from the fourth floor. Initially, the sound was weak and would stop after some time. But since last night, the crying hasn’t stopped. We suspect this abnormal event is worsening and must be investigated quickly.”

“Only crying sounds? No one injured?” Gao Ming, who had dealt with many games related to crying, couldn’t yet determine which game had become a reality based on the current information.

“No injuries so far,” Bai Qiao glanced at her watch: “Other investigators are on their way here. We’ll enter the building when it’s almost dawn.”

After several days of torrential rain, the downpour finally began to weaken, but the clouds over the city remained.

Forty minutes before dawn, a black truck stopped on Minlong Street. The driver, a muscular man wearing a cap, had a black ring tightly embedded in his wrist.

“Good morning, Sister Bai,” the burly driver said, patting the van. The rear door opened, and four investigators stepped out, carrying various equipment.

The youngest two didn’t even have black rings, apparently just selected for the Investigation Bureau.

“Pack the equipment into backpacks, tonight we need to test seven items in the abnormal event…” The driver was interrupted by the sight of Gao Ming: “This brother looks unfamiliar.”

“He’s a newbie recommended by Old Qin, experienced in Level 3 abnormal events,” Bai Qiao counted the team, raising her arm with the black ring: “I don’t need to elaborate on the dangers of abnormal events, you’ve all been comprehensively educated at the bureau. I expect everyone to be fully alert and strictly follow the rules during this operation.”

“Understood!” Bai Qiao’s three newbies and the four from the truck responded in unison, their eyes showing no fear, only tension and curiosity.

“Let’s move!”

Including Gao Ming, ten members of the Investigation Bureau entered Building No. 4, but only Gao Ming, Bai Qiao, and the burly driver had experienced abnormal events.

Due to a shortage of staff, the Bureau’s older members often took new members into less dangerous abnormal events for training. Tonight’s operation was precisely such a training session for the newbies.

The narrow corridor was littered with household trash, with footprints on the stairs, and the walls were covered in graffiti.

The investigators cautiously approached the fourth floor, while Gao Ming turned on his flashlight to examine the wall paintings.

The graffiti, seemingly randomly scribbled by a child, told a complete story. There were three figures drawn in black crayon.

The bulkiest, most violent one seemed to represent the father, the long-haired one, the mother, and the thinnest one, the child.

Upon closer inspection, the graffiti revealed more. The figures representing the parents were constantly fighting, and with each conflict, numerous red crayon figures would emerge behind them.

These red figures gathered around the child, slowly piling up and deforming.

As time passed, the red figures began to perform more terrifying acts, breaking off heads, dismembering arms. Though they emerged from the parents, they seemed indifferent to the child’s feelings, never accompanying the child.

The fights continued, and the red figures grew increasingly horrific, appearing suddenly while the child was focused on other things.

In a graffiti on the second floor, the child was doing homework when red figures suddenly crawled out from under the desk, pulling his hair, choking his neck, preventing him from studying.

Another on the third floor showed the child sleeping in bed, with red figures emerging from under the bed and the blanket, prying open the child’s eyes, preventing sleep.

The child was terrified, covering himself with a blanket even in the heat, and not daring to close his eyes even when shampoo entered them during a bath.

Seeing the child’s abnormal fear, his parents seemed angrier, and their fights often involved the child.

“The police didn’t find the child inside. Is the child trapped in that shadow world?”

Reaching the fourth floor, the investigators, led by Bai Qiao and the driver, expertly set up their equipment.

“There are six apartments on the fourth floor, but all the residents have moved out. You’ll explore in pairs, never losing sight of each other, no matter what happens.”

The investigators used keys provided by the police to open each door. As they touched the key to room 405, a red light on everyone’s wrist lit up, and communication was abruptly cut off.

In that instant, Gao Ming saw a vast shadow surge out from under the door of 405, engulfing Building No. 4.

A chill permeated his body. Gao Ming took a deep breath; the hidden game in Minlong Street, Number 4, was activated.

Looking downstairs, Gao Ming received worse news; the shadow-covered game field was as large as the one he experienced with Zhao Xi. Compared to that experience, this was not a Level 1 but a potentially cunning Level 3 abnormal event.

“Twenty minutes until dawn,” Bai Qiao raised her arm again: “We are now truly in the midst of an abnormal event. Any information you find here can greatly help those who come after us. Any rules you deduce will be recorded in the bureau’s archives. Of course, all this assumes that you can survive to bring the information out.”

The burly driver stood straight: “The black ring’s red signal means communication is completely cut off. Don’t trust the time you see inside the building. Only when the red light goes off and the yellow light comes on are we truly out.”

“Twenty minutes can be short, but also very long,” Bai Qiao said, her face stern, eyes scanning everyone: “The investigation of the abnormal event begins! I hope each of us can safely walk out of this dark night!”

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