Horror Game Designer

Chapter 52: The Meat Begins to Eat Ghosts

In this meeting of paranormal investigators, the name Situ An resonated with a few, evoking whispers and knowing glances. Amidst the palpable tension and uncertainty, a novice investigator, barely old enough to be considered an adult, stepped forward with a mix of courage and naivety. He reached down and picked up a chunk of meat lying on the ground, its surface marred by blood stains.

The scent of the meat, intermingling with the pungent odor of blood, filled the air. The young investigator examined the bite marks on it, his decision wavering. It was common knowledge among the group that the investigator who had been killed earlier had consumed this very piece of meat. Tragically, instead of granting him the supernatural strength needed to fight ghosts, it had been his undoing.

Swallowing hard, his Adam’s apple moving visibly, the young man was acutely aware of the many eyes fixed upon him. His own eyes began to turn a deep shade of red, a physical reaction to his growing inner turmoil. Then, with a sudden, almost animalistic impulse, he bent down and bit fiercely into the bloodied meat.

A wild hunger overtook his eyes as he devoured the meat while the juices splattered. It’s as if he was experiencing a flavor beyond any he had tasted before. In mere seconds, he consumed the entire piece, seemingly oblivious to the gravity of his actions.

His eyes’ veins thickened alarmingly, and his heartbeat accelerated. Haunted by indiscernible voices, he covered his ears and crouched on the ground, overwhelmed by the cacophony in his mind.

“Kill them! Kill them all!” he screamed, his voice unrecognizable, taken over by some otherworldly force. Dark, sinister characters seemed to emerge from his chest as if bursting forth from his very heart.

In agony, he writhed on the ground. When the other investigators tried to intervene, he lashed out violently, his intentions murderous.

Three excruciating minutes later, he collapsed, motionless except for the strange black characters that remained on his chest, eerily unchanged.

Gradually, he stood up, wiping sweat from his brow, his expression one of confusion. “Did I succeed?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“You did,” Qing Ge assured him, gently pulling him back from the brink of madness. “Ghosts consume humans, humans consume meat, and meat devours ghosts. You have not turned into a ghost, but you can no longer be considered fully human either.”

“But I don’t feel any different, just pain,” the young man confessed, bewildered by his own physical sensations.

“Pain is power,” Qing Ge declared enigmatically. In a startling move, he suddenly stabbed the young man’s palm with a sharp knife, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

The young investigator screamed in agony, clutching his bleeding hand. Qing Ge, unflinching, dropped the knife before him. “Go through the corridor to Building B’s fifth-floor entrance. There’s a mutated female ghost there. Use this knife to kill it.”

The group of investigators, each having survived extraordinary circumstances, were no ordinary individuals. At the very least, their resilience and fortitude far surpassed that of average people.

Gripping the knife in his unscathed hand, the young man, driven by a mix of pain and determination, stumbled through the corridor. The other investigators followed swiftly as well, prepared for what lay ahead.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” resounded through the building.

The intense pain in his palm fueled his movements, rough and unrefined. His eyes, bloodshot and wild, betrayed his increasingly erratic and disturbed state.

Sister Fei’s voice reverberated through the dimly lit interior of the house, tinged with a mix of skepticism and annoyance. “I told you I wouldn’t go, it can’t be a rat disguised as the building manager,” she declared, her words echoing off the walls. Confusing the young man for someone else, she carelessly opened the door, lowering her defenses in a moment of misjudgment.

The young man, his face etched with tension and grim determination, seized the moment. His features lifted ever so slightly as he made a decisive move, swinging the knife swiftly and deliberately.

The blade sliced through Sister Fei’s skin, releasing an odious, pungent fluid that filled the air with its foul stench. Surprisingly, she showed no sign of pain. Instead, with a look of confusion and horror, she touched the gash on her belly. Her pale face contorted into a grimace of shock and disbelief. In a desperate attempt, she reached out to grab the young man, trying to pull him into the house.

“Use the injured hand to hold the knife!” Qing Ge’s voice cut through the tension, a reminder that spurred the young man into action. He switched the knife to his injured hand, the movement causing his wound to tear open further. Blood dripped down the blade, mixing with the dark, sinister characters emerging in his palm.

With this change, his next strike was different. The wound he inflicted on Sister Fei didn’t heal as before; instead, the skin around it started to decay rapidly, a sign of effective harm.

“He’s really hurting the ghost!” The realization sparked a surge of hope among the investigators. Even a minor wound was a significant victory, a chance to fight back against their supernatural adversary. It was a means of releasing all the suffering and frustration they had endured.

The young man, now embodying a ferocity more terrifying than any ghost, launched into a frenzied assault on Sister Fei. His eyes were bloodshot, his actions driven by a mix of desperation and newfound power.

“Who’s willing to help him?” Situ An, watching with a smirk, pulled out another piece of the mysterious meat. He tossed it towards the other investigators, who, upon witnessing its effectiveness, scrambled for it like hounds vying for food.

Remarkably, no one who consumed the meat transformed into a ghost. Instead, they felt their heartbeats alter. Adapting to the pain, they were galvanized into action, rushing towards Building B with renewed vigor.

“You evil ghosts!” Sister Fei’s cry echoed through the building, her pleas for help ignored and diminishing until she finally collapsed into a puddle of black water, dissolving into a heap of viscous sludge.

The investigators, empowered by the meat, were exhilarated by their victory, while Gao Ming gasped at the sight. A realization had dawned on him. Within Sishui Apartment, the dynamics between humans and ghosts could be upended by this “meat.” The definition of who was the evil spirit hinged solely on who wielded control over this strange substance.

Moreover, no investigator had turned into a ghost after eating the meat, which means Situ An had lied from the start. So, the reason why he killed the investigator earlier must be because of some ulterior motive, not because he turned into a ghost.

As for those casual remarks about the meat and ghost, it’s a deliberate move to shift the group’s focus and a psychological influence on the other investigators.

If it were to be known that consuming the meat could potentially lead to a fate more harrowing than death itself, hesitation might have crept into their actions. However, with the odds seemingly split down the middle, there were those among them willing to take the gamble, driven by desperation and the slim hope of gaining an edge in their supernatural struggle.

Deep in contemplation, Gao Ming’s sharp instincts suddenly kicked in. He lifted his head, his gaze inadvertently locking with that of Situ An. There was a palpable tension in the air, an unspoken understanding that something significant was unfolding.

“Your expression is different from the other investigators,” Situ An remarked, his voice tinged with a curious interest. “I remember the faces of all the investigators from Hanghai’s Investigation Bureau who have experienced level-three anomalies, but I don’t recall seeing you.”

“I’m Gao Ming, the acting head of the first investigation team from Lishan Investigation Bureau,” Gao Ming responded, his tone steady yet revealing an underlying intensity.

“Situ An’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of recognition mixed with an unsettling sense of dread crossing his features. “Wasn’t Bai Xiao the head of the first team from Lishan Investigation Bureau? I’ve met Bai Xiao; he’s an excellent investigator. I even considered recruiting him to our side.”

“Bai Xiao has gone missing so I’m acting in his place for now,” Gao Ming explained, his voice betraying a hint of the burden he carried in his new role.

“Once we leave Sishui Apartment alive, you can drop the ‘acting’ from your title,” Situ An said, his gaze drifting away. His words seemed to hold a double meaning, perhaps referring to himself or to Gao Ming in a twisted sense of foreboding.

Situ An then proceeded towards the corridor, his presence commanding and charismatic. He had a natural ability to rally the investigators around him, all except for Gao Ming. As the acting director of the Eastern District Investigation Bureau, Situ An’s personal involvement in this abnormal event, coupled with his discovery of the transformative meat, had earned him a significant degree of admiration and trust among the investigators. Who wouldn’t be drawn to a leader perceived as benevolent towards his fellow humans and ruthless towards malevolent spirits?

The morale of the investigators surged as they advanced towards Building B, their humanity gradually diminishing. It seemed that “humans” would soon become the predatory “meat” in their ongoing war against the ghosts.

“Team leader, won’t the old lady on the first floor be in danger?” Zhu Miao Miao asked, her voice laced with concern.

“Situ An will surely not spare that old woman because she knows his true face,” Gao Ming noted, his gaze following the crowd as they heedlessly trampled over the remnants of Sister Fei, smashing doors in their frenzied mission. “Situ An’s goal might be to cleanse Sishui Apartment, where both humans and ghosts are mere pawns in his grand scheme.”

It dawned on Gao Ming that many of the investigators had already succumbed to becoming “meat”. This realization shed light on the mysterious disappearances within the Eastern District Investigation Bureau.

Screams, not of people but of the ghostly residents, filled Sishui Apartment, a chilling soundtrack to the unfolding chaos. In this topsy-turvy world where the roles of humans and ghosts were inverted, the already surreal reality took on an even more twisted and bizarre dimension.

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