Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 18
At the start of the video, a bridge shrouded in an eerie night mist appears—an aerial view of May Bridge.
The camera gradually zooms in, revealing a faint silhouette of a woman in white standing on the bridge.
“In ancient legends, those who die harboring intense negative emotions—such as resentment, fear, or sorrow—become restless spirits after death, lingering in the places they perished or were buried,” a somber voice narrates.
“The world of the dead and the world of the living don’t normally overlap, but under certain conditions, the dead can interfere with the living. These entities are what we call ‘ghosts.’”
As the camera snaps closer, the woman in white suddenly turns her head—
Her face is horrifyingly decayed, writhing with maggots! Her eye sockets are two pitch-black holes!
“Ha-ha…”
A guttural, eerie sound emerges from her rotting throat, sending chills down viewers’ spines. At this point, some viewers instinctively jump back, while others turn pale.
Liu Yuling, now a proud fan of her junior’s work, was among the first to watch the video. Even she felt her heart seize in fright.
Good grief—if the game didn’t scare her to death, this promo video nearly did!
After taking a moment to calm down, she resumed watching.
Following the ghost’s face reveal, the scene shifts abruptly to a first-person perspective.
The view shows someone—seemingly female, judging by her gasping voice—running frantically through a school campus, heading toward the archway leading to May Bridge.
After passing through the arch, the figure glances back briefly, catching a shadowy figure in the distance.
Quickly turning forward again, the girl continues to sprint toward the bridge, her heavy breathing audible.
The narrator’s voice returns, recognizable to those who had played the demo, though they couldn’t quite place where they’d heard it before.
“May University has stood for over a century. It is said that the school originally bore a different name. One fateful night, during the fifth day of the fifth month, a tragic incident occurred—”
Amid the drumbeat-like intensity of the background music, the shadow finally catches up to the fleeing girl.
With a bl00d-curdling scream and the screen drenched in a spreading crimson, the voiceover continues,
“A girl waiting alone for her boyfriend on campus late at night was unfortunate enough to encounter a murderer who had broken into the school. She fled to May Bridge, where she was caught and killed. Her body was thrown into the nearby ornamental lake.”
“Since that night, every May, at the stroke of midnight when the weather is extremely gloomy, anyone crossing May Bridge can hear the ghostly cries of the murdered senior.”
“Roar—”
A guttural, monstrous scream erupts from the ghost’s decayed mouth. The bloodstained ghost, draped in her white dress, drifts across the bridge like a predator waiting for her prey to stumble into her grasp.
“The rumors grew more and more exaggerated until the infamous ‘May Summoning Ritual’ incident occurred. The then-principal invited a spiritual expert to perform a cleansing ritual at the site and heeded the expert’s advice to rename the school to May University.”
“Since then, no more incidents have occurred at May Bridge. However, the school administration remains highly wary of the area, strictly prohibiting students from engaging in summoning games on the bridge at night. But—”
The screen abruptly transitions to a brightly lit office, in stark contrast to the previous sinister visuals.
The face of a cheerful woman fills the frame, instantly recognizable to players who’d explored May Bridge.
“Wait, isn’t this that NPC? What’s her name again? Oh, right—Qiu Zi!”
Qiu Zi beams at the camera, her energetic voice cutting through the previous eerie tone.
“After a joint petition from our Student Affairs Department, the school has finally approved our request to host a courage-testing event on May Bridge!”
“We’ve assembled the most professional team for this!”
The video briefly showcases four NPCs—two men and two women—with concise descriptions next to each one, concluding with a shadowy figure representing the player.
“We conducted thorough research to meticulously recreate the chilling May Summoning ritual played by students 20 years ago!”
The screen flashes through images of candles, bells, and red strings before revealing a fully set-up ritual scene.
Four NPCs stand in a rectangular formation around the candles, a clear in-game screenshot.
“What really happened during the summoning ritual two decades ago? This time, can we uncover the truth? Freshmen, what are you waiting for? Join us at the Courage Test Livestream on September 13th at midnight. Don’t miss it!”
As Qiu Zi’s final words fade, the video concludes.
A bl00d-red phrase slowly emerges from the black screen:
Midnight, Campus Nightmare : May Bridge officially launches. Don’t miss it!
Those who clicked the video first saw no comments or bullet chats—it was too new. But this didn’t stop them from rewatching, and eagerly leaving their thoughts in the comments and bullet chat sections.
[OMG, this is incredible! Is this really just a game promo?]
[So polished and detailed! And Qiu Zi’s voice—it’s from my favorite voice actor, Enci, right? Amazing choice by the designer!]
[This is so hyped! Wait, midnight launch? Does that mean it’s dropping tonight?!]
[Keep dreaming, buddy. A game with production quality like this? We’re probably looking at another month or two, minimum.]
[Uh… am I the only one who thinks this courage-test event looks super fun? If any university hosted this for freshmen, I’d risk my life to get admitted!]
Hmm? That’s an interesting take.
Ye Yuxi’s attention was immediately captured by the last comment.
As more people liked it, she couldn’t resist typing a reply herself:
[Seriously? This courage-test event looks terrifying, and it even lured real ghosts. Isn’t that way too scary?]
To her surprise, replies flooded in within seconds:
[If you’re such a scaredy-cat, why are you even playing horror games? The scarier, the better!]
[Exactly! Campus events are getting duller every year. Only combat tournaments get me hyped. If they hosted something like this, I’d lose my mind with excitement!]
[Combat tournaments? That’s definitely a military academy thing. At normal universities, the best you’ll get is an esports competition.]
Reading the enthusiastic comments, Ye Yuxi fell into deep thought.
Initially, after seeing how terrified her test player had been and reading numerous “too scary” comments, she had worried she might’ve overdone the horror.
But now, seeing the overwhelming excitement for more terrifying content, she felt reassured.
She had underestimated the thrill-seeking spirit of interstellar citizens! Horror games thrive on the paradoxical joy of fear—the more scared people are, the more they want to play.
No need to hold back in the full version. Time to go all out!
T/L notes: Hello readers! So, I originally planned to just do a pre-trial translation and wait for feedback before deciding whether to continue… but haha, I got hooked myself! 😅 Normally, I read ahead before translating, but for pre-trial novels, I translate and read at the same time. And the result? Well, I got totally hooked, so I just kept translating because I wanted to know what happens next! 😆 So yeah, to sum it up, I’m gonna keep translating it even without waiting for feedback—because I wanted to do it! But… I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 💖