Horror Game Designer

Chapter 41: A Different World of Ghost Stories

In the bustling yet now eerily quiet Hanhai Sishui Street, precisely at 10 PM, a team of investigators cloaked in black assembled with precision around the perimeter of the Sishui Apartment complex. Their presence and the barriers they set up enveloped the street in a tense and almost suffocating atmosphere.

There was no rallying cry or motivational speech as the chosen investigators stepped forward. They moved in silence, their determination palpable, as if each step carried the weight of their solemn mission.

These investigators were well aware that dealing with paranormal phenomena wasn’t a task for large, unwieldy teams. Ghostly entities from the shadow world had the unnerving ability to mimic team members, turning numbers into a liability rather than an advantage. Novice investigators often became more of a hindrance than help in these supernatural situations. Thus, the bureau had sent their best and most experienced agents for this operation.

Each team was anchored by investigators who had faced and survived Level Four paranormal events. They were the seasoned veterans, the backbone of the operation. Every aspect of the mission was meticulously planned, and each investigator was mentally prepared for the ultimate sacrifice. They were ready to be consumed in the line of duty, seeing themselves as mere instruments in the larger fight to protect humanity’s dignity.

Despite their varied pasts, in that moment, these investigators stood as a testament to human bravery and resilience.

Within the shadow-shrouded apartment building, fleeting shadows danced and vanished. Suddenly, a chilling scream shattered the silence, followed by an ominous shadow that started to engulf the building from within.

The paranormal event had been activated.

This event was far more extensive than anything they had encountered the previous night. Its reach had tripled, and even the investigators blockading the street were pulled into its malevolent grasp.

Hidden in Building C of the Sishui Apartments, Gao Ming felt an uncontrollable twitch in his right eye as he watched the shadows encroach upon him. The magnitude of this ghostly phenomenon was overwhelming.

They were trapped in Building C, swallowed whole by the event with no apparent route of escape.

The black ring on his finger blinked a red light, signaling the loss of all communication. The hallway lights warped unnaturally, and an eerie effect seemed to spread to every apartment. Gazing at the bright red couplets and doors, Gao Ming felt as if he was staring into gaping maws.

“We’re in trouble,” Xuan Wen stated, her breath visible in the cold air. She ran her hand along the corridor wall, her expression serious. “I thought the shadow world would reject me, prevent me from joining you like last time. But now, I’m also caught in this ghost story game. The moment the shadow engulfed us, I was pulled in too!”

Xuan Wen, who had initially planned to be a hunter in this ghostly realm, now found herself among the hunted.

By removing his coat and stretching his muscular arms, Yan Hua seemed to embrace the shadows enveloping him. “This is a strange sensation. It’s like something is calling out to me,” he mused, his muscles tensing as if ready for action. “I feel incredibly liberated as if this is where I truly belong.”

In stark contrast to the more outwardly expressive Xuan Wen and Yan Hua, Wan Qiu was notably more reserved. He stood close to Gao Ming, gripping an amulet given to him by Wu Bo, his neck visibly damp with nervous sweat.

“Keep quiet for now,” Gao Ming whispered, signaling for everyone to lower their voices as he focused on an unsettling sound: “Why can we hear a heartbeat coming from inside the walls?”

Curious, he attempted to open a door to one of the nearby apartments. The interior appeared ordinary at first glance, but an inexplicable, rhythmic heartbeat filled the air.

This mysterious heartbeat seemed to influence Gao Ming, his heart rate involuntarily picking up speed as though it was being drawn into sync with the eerie pulse.

“We should head to Building B first,” Xuan Wen suggested, leading the group. Despite her gentle and seemingly fragile appearance, there was an intense, bloodshot look in her eyes. Her back was poised and elegant, yet her face conveyed a chilling, almost terrifying determination.

Upon reaching the fifth-floor corridor of Building B, Yan Hua pushed aside a railing, and he and Xuan Wen took the lead.

The narrow passageway between the apartment buildings, separated by mere meters, felt like a dark, shadow-filled river. They seemed to be small vessels navigating this ghostly stream.

Xuan Wen and Yan Hua were the first to traverse the corridor and enter Building B. However, Gao Ming grew increasingly uneasy as they continued without stopping, the distance between them and himself steadily growing.

The pair seemed oblivious to Gao Ming and Zhu Miao Miao trailing behind them. They didn’t glance back, instead speaking to the empty air next to them before quickening their pace.

“Xuan Wen!” Gao Ming called out. Xuan Wen paused and turned around, looking confused. Her eyes, red and strained, scanned the area behind her, but she appeared unable to see Gao Ming.

Soon, both she and Yan Hua were engulfed by the encroaching shadows. Gao Ming, feeling a sense of urgency, grabbed Zhu Miao Miao’s arm. They stood frozen in the middle of the corridor, and when they looked back, they realized Wan Qiu had also mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a tattered amulet on the ground.

Wu Bo had originally given Gao Ming three amulets for protection: one for himself, one for Zhu Miao Miao, and one for Wan Qiu.

Now, it seemed as though the team members who had entered the shadow world had been scattered to different locations, separated from Gao Ming.

“Is this a ghost hitting the wall phenomenon?” Zhu Miao Miao murmured, gripping her firefighter’s axe tightly. She had never witnessed such a bizarre and unsettling scene. Within less than three minutes of the paranormal event starting, most of their team had already vanished.

“There’s no way back now,” Gao Ming said softly, trying to offer some reassurance: “We need to keep moving forward. Don’t be afraid.”

As they made their way across the corridor, Gao Ming and Zhu Miao Miao found themselves in the fifth-floor hallway of Building B, a space strangely illuminated by two large red lanterns, each adorned with the Chinese character for “happiness”. The dim red glow cast by the lanterns managed to push back the darkness, yet this only seemed to amplify the already eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

“This looks like a version of Building B from years ago,” Gao Ming observed, contrasting it with his daytime visit to the apartment complex. During that visit, the corridors had been cluttered with various items, and the walls were stained yellow with age and marred with cracks. However, now, the corridor walls appeared unnervingly pristine and white.

“The building is still equipped with those voice-activated lights that were popular over two decades ago, and these apartment doors… they’re free of the usual rust and wear.”

In the middle of the corridor stood the old-fashioned elevator, which in reality had been long decommissioned. Yet here, it was eerily operational, its iron gate creaking open to reveal a plump woman with a significantly enlarged belly.

She was clumsily carrying a bag of severely decomposed vegetables in her left hand and a bundle of tattered rags in her right.

“Pang Sao?” Gao Ming instantly recognized the woman. He had encountered her earlier that day at the noodle shop and had even visited her home with the kids.

But the Pang Sao in this paranormal scenario differed drastically from the woman he had met during the day. Her belly was unnaturally large, lending her a disturbing, almost monstrous appearance.

Pang Sao, struggling under the weight of her burdens, noticed Gao Ming and Zhu Miao Miao and greeted them with a cheerful smile. “Are you two also thinking about moving into Sishui Apartments?” she asked.

As she shifted her weight, a repulsive, black liquid began oozing from her swollen belly.

“Be careful,” Zhu Miao Miao warned in a hushed tone, her grip tightening around her axe.

“Act normal, treat her like any other person,” Gao Ming whispered back, then approached Pang Sao with a feigned smile.

Holding the amulet discreetly in his hand, Gao Ming walked up to her, noticing that the amulet remained inert. “Let me help you with those. Are the kids still at home?”

“If I had known how hard it would be to raise children, I would never have had them,” Pang Sao lamented, her neck folds quivering as she moved. A foul liquid continued to seep from her belly with each step. “Would you like to come and sit at my place?”

“Sure, we were actually thinking of checking out the apartment,” Gao Ming replied, playing along.

“You’re making a smart decision. Buying a haunted apartment unit can be quite a bargain,” Pang Sao remarked, handing the bag of rotten vegetables to Gao Ming. Together, they moved toward the corridor entrance leading from Building B to Building A, where Pang Sao’s apartment was supposedly located.

As they reached the blood-red security door of her apartment, the door of the neighboring unit abruptly swung open.

As Zhu Miao Miao instinctively glanced toward the newly opened door, she barely stifled a scream.

Peering out from the neighboring apartment was a middle-aged woman, probably in her forties, dressed in a floral-patterned dress that accentuated her well-maintained figure. However, her face was a horrifying anomaly – it lacked eyes and a nose, instead possessing four mouths.

The woman spoke, her four mouths moving in unison, seemingly oblivious to her own nightmarish visage. She leaned casually against the doorframe, her voice tinged with a gossiping tone: “Always convincing people to buy these haunted units, aren’t you scared of divine retribution, like being struck by lightning?”

She continued talking, her words flowing uninterrupted: “Go ahead, step inside her apartment. Once you do, you might find it impossible to leave. This old woman is full of deceitful tricks; you should watch out!”

Pang Sao’s demeanor suddenly shifted to anger. “You nosy woman! If you don’t stop your gossiping, I’ll rip your mouth off!”

The woman with four mouths, however, maintained an air of innocence: “I’m not spreading rumors,” she claimed. “But you, always sneaking about, collecting other people’s old clothes. Is it for your eldest son’s skin-changing ritual again?”

Her accusation pointed to Pang Sao, who was indeed clutching a pile of old clothing, suggesting some sinister purpose linked to her eldest son. As if on cue, a withered, yellowish arm reached out from inside Pang Sao’s house.

“Seems like your eldest son is getting impatient,” the woman mocked, all four of her mouths breaking into a simultaneous, eerie laugh. Without further retort, Pang Sao quickly entered her home with the pile of clothes and slammed the security door shut.

From inside the apartment, disturbing sounds soon emerged – a child’s cry and the unnerving noise of fabric being ripped apart.

“You two are lucky you ran into me,” the woman said, arms folded across her chest, her tone implying a sense of self-satisfaction. “If you want to stay in this place forever, just choose an apartment and move in. But if you want to leave and not stay, avoid entering any of the rooms.”

“Can’t we enter any rooms at all?” Zhu Miao Miao asked, her voice laced with uncertainty.

“There’s an old lady living on the first floor who might help you, but beware of the building manager,” the woman advised, the corners of her multiple mouths curling up in a knowing smile. “And one more thing, don’t let on that I’ve told you all this. I’m known for being discreet.”

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