Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 47
For her “lucky” teammates to select a traditional Earth-style Japanese house from such a massive pool of tasks at first glance, Ye Yuxi couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.
How could she put it? This team probably got struck by some sort of karmic luck backlash the moment they decided on their name.
It was important to note that, out of respect for the Japanese horror films she grew up watching, she had intentionally made Japanese-style buildings more challenging than others of the same difficulty level…
After the mission location was selected, the vehicle plotted a route and started driving autonomously.
No one found it strange. After all, in the interstellar era, autonomous vehicles and drones were already incredibly advanced.
Ji Yu seized the downtime to interact with his fans, doing his best to keep the viewer count stable during this brief lull.
Meanwhile, the other three began reviewing the mission and sorting through their equipment.
[One-Star Mission: Murano House, Sakura District, Block C.]
Mission Description: Ms. Murano hears strange noises from the kitchen cabinets every day while cooking. A day ago, her daughter was injured in the kitchen by an unknown entity…
Mission Objective: Collect as much evidence as possible of the presence of ghosts.
“Best of luck to you all.”
On the way to their destination, they started packing their bags.
Since one-star teams could only bring four items, they needed to choose the most suitable ones for the mission.
“The manual says the temperature drops in areas haunted by malevolent spirits, so we should definitely bring a thermometer,” Wang Yuze suggested, vividly recalling the bone-chilling cold he felt when a ghostly figure had touched his back. He wholeheartedly approved of the idea.
“A camera can capture ghostly traces,” Liu Yuling added. Having tested this herself in a previous game, she nodded in agreement.
“These yellow talismans won’t exorcise ghosts but will heat up to warn us when a ghost gets close,” someone pointed out.
Exorcism talismans required bounty points to purchase, and since their bounty pool was currently empty, these warning talismans were the best they could manage.
Ji Yu nodded fervently, as if afraid they’d forget to bring them.
Ye Yuxi sighed helplessly.
How had things come to this?
Wasn’t she just here to coast along? How had the critical task of packing their supplies ended up on her plate?!
She silently swore to be a ruthless slacker in the rounds ahead, yet her hands seemed to have a will of their own as they efficiently packed the team’s storage bag.
“Our bag is limited to four items, so the flashlight is a must. We’ll take the thermometer, camera, and talismans as the remaining three. Forget the rest,” she declared.
After a moment of consideration, Liu Yuling nodded.
“That’ll do for now. Let’s treat this first round as a trial run. We can evaluate and adjust our strategy later.”
Given the game’s nature, unlike Campus Nightmare, each round was relatively short. They expected to play more than one.
No one had any objections.
By this time, the vehicle had arrived at their haunted house destination.
Wang Yuze jumped out first, and the others quickly followed.
The Murano residence stood silently in the dark, with no lights on inside. The occupants had long since evacuated.
“My goodness, is this house entirely made of wood? That’s incredible!” Ji Yu exclaimed, poking the doorframe to feel its texture, his face full of amazement.
Zooming in with his stream camera to give viewers a closer look at the wooden structure, Ji Yu inadvertently stirred up one particular viewer—Huang Heng.
[A house made entirely of wood? Surely it’s not some modern imitation material? According to ancient texts, even in the late antiquity period, such homes were rare.]
[Wood as the main building material is so fragile and prone to moisture damage… I can’t even imagine how people lived in houses like this in ancient times.]
Huang Heng typed excitedly in the chat, only to feel disappointed when no one else showed interest in discussing these academic questions.
She pondered briefly and suddenly had an epiphany.
What was she still doing in this stream? She should call her research group classmates and play the game together! This exploration game would surely give her plenty of time to study the building materials, right?
“Ahhh! I really want to have a proper academic discussion with Miss Ye! To be able to recreate ancient human architecture so realistically, she must have deep knowledge in this area!”
Ye Yuxi: “The knowledge is indeed quite extensive. After all, I used to live in one.”
Of course, Ye Yuxi had no idea that she had just gained a new fan eager to discuss academic topics with her.
At the moment, she was helplessly watching the three people in front of her argue over who would go in first.
“Liver Bro, you’re my senior in the streaming world; you should take the lead,” Liu Yuling said politely, her tone seemingly respectful, but her words carried a dagger.
However, how could Ji Yu willingly be the sacrificial lamb?
“Sister Yu, you’re the true expert when it comes to horror games. How could I possibly go ahead of you? Don’t be modest—ladies first. As your junior, I’ll bring up the rear to protect you.”
Wang Yuze, fed up with their back-and-forth, simply shoved the two of them toward the door.
“Alright, enough with the politeness. You two can play rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first. Let this Miss Y stand in the middle, and I’ll take the rear. Deal?”
What? Why didn’t he go first?
He wasn’t stupid. Why should he be the vanguard and face all the risks first?
And so, Ji Yu, who lost the rock-paper-scissors match, put on a sour face and cautiously pushed open the door, stepping into the wooden house.
Despite its small and delicate exterior, the interior of the wooden house was surprisingly spacious. But the layout was odd. Instead of an entryway or living room, the first thing they saw upon entering was… the kitchen?
“It’s so dark,” Ji Yu muttered under his breath. His voice, however, echoed eerily in the silent house. Startled, he immediately shut his mouth, not daring to speak further.
With no one breaking the tension, the atmosphere in the livestream was stiflingly oppressive.
That was, until Liu Yuling fumbled for a switch on the wall and pressed it. Warm light flooded the room, finally dispelling the creepy vibes.
[Oh my gosh, I wasn’t even breathing just now.]
[This is so scary! Ever since I played Campus Nightmare, I’ve been terrified of dark environments…]
The team meticulously searched the kitchen. Liu Yuling dutifully measured every corner with a thermometer but found, to her disappointment, that the entire kitchen’s temperature was relatively consistent.
“This seems like a normal temperature, not the kind of freezing cold you’d expect in the presence of a ghost, right?” Liu Yuling shook the thermometer.
Ji Yu, while fully aware that their mission was to find ghosts, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at the news.
“Does that mean we can…?” He trailed off, hoping to conclude that there was no ghost here and they could leave.
Suddenly, Wang Yuze interrupted with a shout.
“Look! There are stairs going up and down, meaning we can explore either the second floor or the basement!”
“Basement?” Ji Yu’s mind was instantly flooded with eerie and gruesome images—basement murders, and other horror clichés. In his mind, basements were never good news.
“Let’s check upstairs first!”
No one objected.
Ji Yu was the first to step onto the stairs and, with lightning speed, switched on the staircase light.
Only when the warm yellow light illuminated the steps did he breathe a little easier.
“Guys, I’ve figured it out: most of a player’s fear comes from darkness. Ha! Using cheap scares like this, Ye Gou’s tactics are so low-level.”
The words had barely left his mouth when Ji Yu shivered involuntarily. He suddenly felt as though someone was glaring daggers at him. He quickly turned to look but saw only Miss Y’s indifferent profile.
A hallucination?
Ignoring his unease, Ji Yu continued chatting with his viewers.
“From now on, wherever we go, we’ll immediately turn on the lights. That way, I won’t be scared at all!”
Ye Yuxi shot him a murderous glare.
Low-level scare tactics?
Heh.
She had been about to warn him that randomly turning on lights might not be the best idea, but now she quickly reconsidered.
I’m just a bystander coasting along. Spoiling things would only ruin the surprises, wouldn’t it?