Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 2

Seeing their so-called department genius terrified by their creation, Liu Haitao, sporting his signature middle part hairstyle, and his buddy Li He were utterly elated.

The two had grown up together and shared a fondness for scaring others with pranks. Choosing this major was a natural progression of their interest. Initially, they believed their rich practical experience would make them top-tier game designers in their class. To their dismay, however, Ye Yuxi consistently outperformed them since their freshman year, leaving them perpetually stuck in second place.

Classmates admired Ye Yuxi, often asking her to review their assignments. Even the professor openly favored her, praising her creativity while dismissing their work as formulaic and lacking innovation.

Frustrated by repeated defeats, they grew resentful of Ye Yuxi, their malice festering over time.

Wasn’t Ye Yuxi the genius everyone worshiped? They decided to “help” publicize her reputation.

Deliberately twisting facts, they spread rumors on the campus forum, branding her as arrogant and full of herself. Then, under the guise of letting her review their work, they lured her into a horror scenario and trapped her there.

At first, their intent was simply to scare her. They hadn’t expected the bonus of watching her embarrass herself, frantically scrambling away from a virtual killer.

Liu Haitao reveled in the sight of Ye Yuxi falling to the ground in terror, his heart brimming with twisted satisfaction.

In this interstellar era, gender-based physical differences had largely been offset by the equalizing power of mental strength. Yet, stereotypes persisted, with some, like Liu Haitao and Li He, clinging to the belief that women were naturally timid, particularly disadvantaged in action and horror games.

To them, a woman who couldn’t even handle horror games had no business being hailed as a genius designer. If she couldn’t face the virtual corpses, how could she design credible horror scenarios? The fear would distort her mental energy, ruining the scene’s construction. Such a timid person had no right to dominate the prime resources of Nanhai University’s horror game design program. In their minds, they were merely “correcting” a mistake.

Smirking disdainfully, Liu Haitao’s gaze toward Ye Yuxi was dripping with contempt.

“We’re not making things hard for you. Next Saturday is the deadline for midterm projects, right? I’m sure your project is nearly complete. Let’s test it out here in this lab and see what you’ve got.”

Ye Yuxi, still eager to return to her dorm and sort through her chaotic memories while researching game design, initially intended to ignore him. But at the mention of a bet, she paused.

“What are the specific stakes?”

Liu Haitao hadn’t expected her to take the bait so easily, his spirits lifting instantly.

“Simple. I won’t demand that your trash game scares me and Li He into the mess you made of yourself…” Chuckles rippled through the onlooking crowd.

“As long as your game manages to scare either of us even once—just once—you win. Everyone here can be witnesses. If you win, we’ll stop bothering you.”

“But,” he sneered, drawing out his words, “if your game is so bad that it doesn’t scare us at all… you’ll admit you’re unfit for this major and drop out immediately!”

A collective gasp echoed among the crowd. The stakes were undeniably harsh.

Some classmates frowned, feeling such a gamble was reckless. Others egged her on, while Ye Yuxi remained unfazed. She didn’t even blink.

“What’s the point of a bet like that?”

Liu Haitao’s heart skipped a beat. As expected, the coward wouldn’t dare gamble her academic future.

But her next words nearly made his jaw drop.

“Who are you insulting with such lame stakes? If we’re going to bet, let’s raise the bar—you two will be screaming like dolphins, crying and wailing!”

Liu Haitao was overjoyed at her willingness to up the ante but feigned hesitation. “That… wouldn’t that be too difficult for you?”

“I’m not done,” Ye Yuxi said, tilting her head slightly, her bangs casting a shadow over one eye, lending her an eerie air.

“If I manage to do that… you’ll publicly apologize to me and my game. Then, pin an apology post on the campus forum, admitting that all your previous slander was just the barking of dogs!”

“But I won’t insist that you drop out. After all, people like you, who only excel at running your mouths, would just leech off your families if you quit school. That’s not much of a punishment, is it?”

Arms crossed, Ye Yuxi delivered her mocking retort with full force.

She didn’t demand that they drop out, not out of kindness, but because she knew their shamelessness. They likely wouldn’t even fulfill an apology, let alone leave school.

That said, she’d already recorded the wager. While designing her game, she’d also collect evidence of their defamation. Once it was over, she planned to expose the entire ordeal on the campus forum, ensuring they’d be outcasts at Nanhai University.

Liu Haitao and Li He weren’t thinking that far ahead, however. They were too infuriated to notice the trap being set.

“Big talk,” Liu Haitao sneered. “Fine, it’s a deal. Let’s see what kind of garbage game you’ll churn out!”