Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 103

“Calculating number of surviving players…”

The AI algorithm was terrifyingly precise, locking the match’s end time down to the exact second. Within moments, it had already produced the results.

Though the outcome had already been displayed in the holographic projections across all the livestream rooms, Liu Yuling, as the host, still dutifully announced the final result:

“According to statistics, between 21:00 and 22:00, a full hour of gameplay, only one team managed to hold out until the very end.”

“That’s right, it’s the team from Central Military Academy—An jie, Qingye, and Xiao Ji!”

“All other teams have been completely wiped out! So the champions of the first Military Academy Horror Game League are… Central Military Academy!”

“Wooohooo!!”

Across the galaxy, countless spectators tuning in to this unprecedented match couldn’t hold back their cheers. Some even completely forgot they were in public, bursting into spontaneous interpretive dance in celebration.

They couldn’t help it—the sense of immersion had been way too intense!
It was as if they themselves had won!

Especially toward the end, as fewer and fewer livestream feeds remained, most of the wandering viewers who’d been hopping around multiple streams for drama ended up settling on An Zhi’s team’s perspective. They had witnessed with their own eyes how cautious and precise the trio had been, how every step they took was without error. Now they all felt a deep, almost parental sense of pride, as if they’d nurtured the team’s victory with their own hands.

Not to mention the loyal viewers who had picked An Zhi’s team from the very beginning and stuck with them the whole way through. These folks practically wanted to shout across the universe:

“That team that just won? Yeah, we watched their whole journey from start to finish!”

However, the audience’s excitement had little to do with the exhausted players.

As always, the joys and sorrows of different people rarely align.

When An Zhi heard the results, she didn’t even have time to celebrate.

She felt her vision go black—

Her nerves had been stretched far beyond their limits. She had to log out.

When she returned to reality, the aftereffects of prolonged tension and relentless frights finally hit her. Her feet had barely touched the ground when her legs gave out beneath her, almost collapsing.

Even though it was just a horror game and not physically demanding, An Zhi felt like she had just run a marathon for three days and nights. She felt pure fatigue.

She casually leaned against the reclining chair-shaped game connector and closed her eyes slightly, pretending to be deep in thought. No way was she about to let anyone see her weakness.

She had barely bowed her head for a few seconds of “contemplation” when, upon opening her eyes again, she realized— She was surrounded by people.

“?”

The venue had already been reserved by the Central and First Military Academies, so under normal circumstances, at most only a few close teammates from her own school should’ve come to check in on her.

Yet now, the crowd around her clearly included people from both Central and First Military Academies, judging by their uniforms.

The unsettling part?

They were all staring at her with a kind of wide-eyed, intense gaze that made her skin crawl— As if she were some rare relic freshly unearthed.

What the heck? What did she do to get stared at like some kind of exotic creature?

Just as An Zhi sat there bewildered, her eyes suddenly lit up when she spotted her long-time teammate Sheng Qingye, approaching with a tired expression.

Sheng casually parted the crowd encircling An Zhi, though really, she didn’t need to. The moment people saw her, they cleared a path like fans parting for a celebrity.

Like An Zhi, Sheng Qingye leaned back lazily against a lounge chair, completely unfazed by the burning stares around them, looking like a salted fish preparing for eternal rest.

Seeing this, An Zhi didn’t bother getting up either. She had just finished a game and had entered full-on “sage mode.” So she lay back down without hesitation.

For a moment, the login hall became a bizarre scene:

Two girls lounging idly on recliners, while a thick crowd surrounded them, staring like they were watching idols walk the red carpet.

“So what the hell is going on?” An Zhi muttered. “Why are they all crowding around us?”

Her gut told her Sheng Qingye already knew what was up, so she didn’t stress, waiting for her to spill the answer.

Sheng didn’t respond right away. Instead, she said calmly:

“An Zhi, you better brace yourself.”

“When I logged out earlier, I found a ton of people watching our stream. That’s right, all those students who got eliminated couldn’t rejoin the game, so out of boredom… They all tuned in to our livestream.”

“Just before the livestream ended, in the very last second, I saw the viewer count—it looked like there were eleven million people watching… In other words… we might’ve actually… gone viral?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, it was like a switch had been flipped. Everyone around them could no longer hold back their excitement.

“An jie… Qingye-jie…!”

“You two were incredible! How did you manage to last the whole hour?!”

“Wuwuwuwu this stupid game is way too hard! I didn’t even survive ten minutes…”

“Now I see ghost shadows everywhere! I even got spooked by my own shadow earlier! An jie, what can I do to be as fearless as you? I don’t want to end up like Xiaofeng, scared half to death!”

Elsewhere in the crowd, Lu Xiaofeng: “…”

Are you guys serious right now?

But all jokes aside, everyone from the Central Military Academy was genuinely proud of An Zhi and Sheng Qingye. Thanks to their team’s miraculous performance, the school had regained its honor in this inter-academy horror game competition!

As for the third member of the trio… Well, everyone from their academy could probably guess who it was. Even without thinking too hard, they all figured he was just a deadweight lucky enough to get carried.

Surprisingly, however, several students from the First Military Academy were quite interested in the player with the username “Xiao Ji.”
Some even suspected that he might be a hidden master, cleverly disguising his true strength behind a nervous, frightened exterior.

After all… regardless of appearances, he did survive a full hour!

Unfortunately, the students from First Military Academy didn’t know who this “Xiao Ji” really was. They followed the crowd from Central trying to find the three MVPs but completely failed to recognize Ji Yu, who was lying exhausted in a connector pod as they passed right by.

When Ji Yu finally logged out of the virtual space, he opened his eyes to find the main hall completely empty.

“…”

He gave a hard shiver, the memory of certain very unpleasant gameplay experiences flooding back.

“N-No way… everyone’s gone? How could they leave so cleanly? This feels way too much like one of those ‘wake up to find everyone’s disappeared’ plot twists…
Don’t tell me I’m still in the game?”

“Help—!”

What kind of chaos would now unfold for these traumatized cadets who had barely escaped the clutches of the game… And how much of a headache was it going to be for An Zhi and Sheng Qingye, who had now become overnight celebrities, both inside and outside the school?

That’s for another time.

Because for now, the StarNet was in full meltdown.

Just a few minutes after the livestream ended, frustrated viewers flooded every major social media platform, launching hashtags like:

#FirstMilitaryHorrorGameLeague
#CampusTerrorNight2

【Did everyone watch it?! Quick, give the signal: “An jie is unstoppable!”】

【Qingye jie is a perfect combo of brains and bravery! Xiao Ji stood tall in the face of terror!】

【Wait wait wait—how did that last guy sneak in there?! If I’m not wrong, didn’t Xiao Ji spend the last 10 minutes screaming non-stop?】

【Yeah, he hit dolphin frequency at one point. Not gonna lie, I didn’t think much at first, but ever since he started screaming, I realized… his voice sounds really, REALLY familiar…】

【You’re not alone. Shall we confirm with a codeword? “Fish General”?】

【AAAAHHH I need more!! I need a sequel! If I don’t get closure for Room 414, I won’t be able to breathe!】

【Right?! Should we trust the guy in the baseball cap or the elusive Brother Feng who never even showed his face? And what about Ah Yuan’s group—what happens to them?! Even binge-watching TV dramas never gave me this kind of craving! I’m desperate!!】

【Petitioning with my bl00d: Miss Ye, PLEASE let An jie and her team keep playing! I swear I won’t sleep if I don’t get the rest of the story!】

And finally, Miss Ye (the game designer) posted:

“Sorry, everyone. The competition has officially ended. From here on out, whether Miss An and her team continue to play or stream is entirely up to them. I can’t interfere.

But… just a little over an hour from now, at midnight, Campus Nightmare 2 will officially launch!

Instead of watching others play, why not pick up the game yourself? We’d love to have you try the official version~”

【…】

【Damn it, she baited me! I’m setting an alarm! I’m gonna be first in line to play!】

【Wait wait WAIT! Has anyone considered that the whole reason I was watching in the first place is because I’m too scared to play it myself?!】