Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 1

Buzz, buzz, buzz…

Ye Yuxi had just opened her eyes, and before she could take in her surroundings, her keen senses caught the sound of mechanical vibrations.

Relying on an instinctual hunch, Ye Yuxi immediately dodged to one side, but she was still a step too late—

Rip!

The sleeve on her left side tore apart with a sharp swishing sound. Half a strip of shredded fabric fluttered through the air twice before landing on the ground.

Only then did Ye Yuxi clearly see her surroundings.

She appeared to be in a hotel corridor, with tightly shut doors on either side.

Standing in front of her was a tall, imposing man. His face was obscured by a skull mask that cast an ominous shadow.

But what truly sent shivers down her spine was the powered chainsaw he held high in his right hand.

The masked man tilted his head slightly, seemingly puzzled as to why his first attack had failed to claim his prey.

Then, with the high-speed whirring of the chainsaw, he swung it down toward her again!

Ye Yuxi’s pupils shrank. She scrambled up from the ground without hesitation, wasting not even a second, and bolted toward the end of the corridor.

She could feel the hunter behind her also picking up his pace, haunting her like a ghost. Several times, she felt the gust of wind from the chainsaw blade brushing perilously close to the back of her head.

Caught in this frantic flight, Ye Yuxi didn’t even have time to think, let alone figure out how she had ended up in this situation.

At that moment, a faint green emergency exit sign came into view. Seeing a glimmer of hope for survival, Ye Yuxi pushed herself to run even faster.

But in the very next second, her foot slipped, and she fell face-first onto the ground right in front of the exit like a clumsy dog.

A stabbing pain shot up from her twisted ankle. Struggling desperately to get up, Ye Yuxi found herself utterly helpless as she listened to the heavy footsteps halt right behind her.

In that moment, the only sounds were the chainsaw’s roar and her own labored breathing. The masked man, like a ghost, made no other noise.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, a shadow loomed over her!

“Ah!”

Ye Yuxi let out a short scream and suddenly opened her eyes wide. In one swift motion, she rolled over—only to fall off a recliner with a loud thud.

Grimacing from the fall, she managed to clamber to her feet, only to realize, to her surprise, that the sharp pain in her twisted ankle had completely disappeared.

Dazed, she heard faint snickering from nearby.

Looking up, Ye Yuxi belatedly noticed that she was in a large room filled with rows upon rows of recliners.

Many of the recliners were occupied by young people who looked to be around twenty years old. She herself had just fallen off one of those chairs.

The laughter was coming from two young men standing near her chair. A few other young men and women stood nearby, their expressions varied.

What was going on? Where was the masked man who had been chasing her just now?

Ye Yuxi felt as though her brain had short-circuited, unable to process what was happening.

Seeing Ye Yuxi’s bewildered expression, as if she hadn’t yet recovered from the chase, the two young men laughed even harder. What had started as restrained chuckles turned into hearty guffaws.

“Ye Yuxi, don’t kill us with laughter! You’re supposed to be a designer, but you got scared stiff by such a simple and low-level scenario? If you’re scared of something you designed yourself, how can you even call yourself a designer? Just drop out already!”

Another young man, with a center-parted hairstyle, slung his arm over the first speaker’s shoulder, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.

“With the way you are, you still dare to brag about building some kind of advanced horror scenario? You’re biting off way more than you can chew!”

Whispers spread among the small crowd.

“Isn’t Ye Yuxi supposed to be that design prodigy the professors keep praising? Didn’t she already create a bunch of independent scenarios?”

“Yeah, I heard she’s been boasting a lot lately. How could she get scared by something like this…?”

“Oh, and wasn’t she saying she’d specialize in horror games? I heard she even declared in front of the professors that all current horror games are garbage and that she’s going to design one that surpasses them all… Looks like she really overestimated herself!”

Design department… horror games…

Catching these keywords, Ye Yuxi felt a twitch at her temple. Accompanied by a sharp headache, countless fragments of memory flooded her mind.

She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, everything became clear.

In her previous life—or so it seemed—she was an ordinary office worker on Earth. Her one passion in life was gaming, especially horror games. She’d worked herself to death pulling all-nighters to complete achievements.

As if she’d reincarnated like in those legends, she had lost all memory of her past life after death and had been reborn into this futuristic, interstellar world that seemed straight out of a sci-fi fantasy.

This interstellar era, composed of eight major galaxies, had seen humanity evolve to awaken mental powers, which aided them in numerous tasks.

However, these mental powers were prone to violent outbursts and needed an outlet. Since this was a time of peace, war was no longer an option. As a result, the entertainment industry in this world had reached unprecedented heights.

Thanks to the breakthrough in holographic technology, holographic games that provide players with a highly realistic experience have become immensely popular. This popularity has elevated the status of game designers, making it one of the most sought-after professions of the era.

After losing her memories, Ye Yuxi grew up in this world. It was as if she was called by fate to enroll in the galaxy’s top game design program. She specialized in the niche of horror game design and, at just 20 years old, was now a proud third-year student.

However, based on her memories, this world’s understanding of horror games seemed to have some… issues.

Horror games here mostly referred to combat or survival games incorporating elements like zombies and slashers. The most distinctive subgenre, supernatural horror, didn’t exist at all.

In fact, people in the interstellar age didn’t seem to have the concept of ghosts. Their approach to the dead extended only to the mutation of corpses.

Even without her Earth memories, Ye Yuxi had found this odd. In discussions with her professors, she had raised concerns about the narrow definition of horror elements and mentioned that her research over the next year would focus on broadening these concepts.

She had been modest in her critique. Yet, malicious classmates twisted her words into claims that “Ye Yuxi arrogantly declared she would overthrow the existing framework and create horror games superior to all others.” This rumor spread like wildfire on campus—naturally, in a negative light.

Ye Yuxi knew exactly what was going on. The classmates spreading the rumors were from her own class, jealous of her stellar academic performance. Their spite had driven them to such petty acts.

Normally, she wouldn’t have cared. She would have simply continued doing her work. But when these classmates directly provoked her by claiming to have designed a horror scenario and inviting her to “offer guidance,” she had underestimated their malice.

Thinking it was just a routine evaluation exercise, Ye Yuxi put on the equipment without hesitation and entered the virtual space.

To her surprise, after loading the map using school equipment, her classmates locked her into the scenario as the sole designated player, logged out, and stood outside watching her like spectators at a monkey show.

For a horror game designer to be rumored as being terrified of an incomplete scenario designed by others would be a humiliation of the highest order.

After all, game scenarios were created through the manifestation of a designer’s mental strength. If a designer was afraid of their own work, their mental strength would distort the scenario, making it impossible to realize.

Ye Yuxi wasn’t actually afraid of such a simple trick. The real problem was that something had triggered her memories of Earth, suddenly flooding her mind with over 20 years of recollections.

The clash between two lifetimes of memories had thrown her into confusion. She had momentarily forgotten she was inside a virtual game space, genuinely believing she was being chased by a slasher.

And then…

Here she was now.

Having pieced together the situation, Ye Yuxi felt a headache brewing.

There was no way she could explain her behavior to others—what was she supposed to say? That she’d just regained memories of a past life?

People in the interstellar age didn’t believe in past lives. She’d only make herself an even bigger joke.

Since that wasn’t an option, she’d have to let her skills do the talking.

Ye Yuxi scanned the mocking gazes of those around her and formulated a plan.

In their line of work, actions spoke louder than words. It just so happened that their professor had assigned them to independently create a continuous scenario—essentially a prototype game.

Outstanding projects would be publicly showcased by the professor.

If her submission was good enough, the rumors and doubts would naturally collapse on their own.

Just as she began to strategize, a mocking voice interrupted her thoughts:

“Hey, big-shot genius, how about we make a bet?”