Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 48
The wooden stairs creaked loudly with every step. Ji Yu was on edge, terrified that the fragile boards might suddenly give way under the weight of the group, sending them plummeting to injury—or worse.
Even in a game, falling was not on his list of acceptable experiences!
But what scared him even more was the eerie sight at the top of the stairs. The light illuminated only the very last step. As if it hit some kind of barrier, failing to penetrate the oppressive darkness beyond.
The entire second floor was pitch-black, utterly impenetrable by the faint glow below.
Ji Yu swallowed hard, hesitating for a moment before tentatively reaching out to feel for a light switch along the wall.
That was when disaster struck.
Since the narrow staircase was no wider than a doorway, the four players had to climb single file, like elementary school kids lining up.
Ji Yu could feel Liu Yuling’s warm breath on his back, which gave him a slight sense of security as they ascended.
But when the person at the front of the line suddenly stopped, nothing good was bound to happen.
Caught off guard, Liu Yuling crashed straight into Ji Yu!
At that exact moment, Ji Yu had been fumbling for the switch on the wall, completely unprepared for impact. The sudden shove sent him stumbling forward, helplessly plunging into the inky darkness ahead.
The next second..
“AAHHH! It’s so dark! Help! I can’t see anything! Who just bumped into me? Was it a ghost?!”
Liu Yuling only caught the second half of his panicked exclamation, her face turning pale.
“What? A ghost?! But I didn’t feel any temperature drop!”
At the back of the group, still standing on the stairs, Wang Yuze quickly rushed up. Just as he was about to pull out a talisman to check for ghosts, he felt someone step heavily on his feet—several times.
Instinctively, he lashed out with his foot and quickly grabbed the “attacker’s” hands in a firm grip… only to be met with Ji Yu’s anguished scream.
“HELP! Someone turn on the lights already!”
The livestream screen was completely dark, but from the chaotic shouting, viewers could easily tell that the four players were in total disarray. Naturally, this triggered a flood of hilarious comments.
[Are they really playing a horror escape game? Because it looks more like a ‘Turn on the Lights Simulator.’]
[This is killing me. So far, there’s nothing remotely related to the ‘escape’ part in the game’s name. Can we sue Ye Gou for fraud?]
[Hey, admin, can you brighten up the screen? If it stays this dark, I’m out of here.]
“Click.”
Ye Yuxi calmly found the light switch and flipped it on.
As the room lit up, the first thing visible was a broken wall lamp lying shattered on the floor—clearly the casualty of their earlier chaos.
And then, the grand finale: the sight of Wang Yuze pinning Ji Yu to the ground, with Ji Yu’s hands twisted awkwardly behind his back.
Liu Yuling, clutching a thermometer and camera, stared dumbfounded at the scene, her mouth slightly agape.
“…Huh?”
[Gotta love modern internet wisdom.]
[I’m dying of laughter. The ghost hasn’t even shown up yet, and these guys are already a mess. Are these really the mercenaries we’re supposed to rely on?]
[They’re expecting payment after the mission? If it were me, I’d make them pay for the damages they caused to my house!]
[Uh, isn’t the real issue here the… um, slightly compromising position between this guy and Fish General? Ahem, not exactly… dignified.]
Ji Yu, of course, saw the barrage of comments on the screen and almost wanted to dig a hole and bury himself on the spot.
He desperately wished he had one of those memory-erasing devices banned by the authorities—just one hit, and he’d wipe everyone’s memories clean, including those watching through the internet!
Seeing his friend on the verge of a breakdown, Wang Yuze quickly got up. He pulled him back to his feet, and offered a rare, genuine apology.
However, Ji Yu still looked utterly defeated, like his soul had left his body. He seemingly ready to give up entirely.
For the sake of moving the game forward, Ye Yuxi had no choice but to remind him of his professional responsibilities.
“We’re still live on DouDou Platform.”
This single sentence jolted Ji Yu back to reality. The thought of the massive paycheck—and the equally massive penalty fees—brought life back to his frozen limbs.
Sure, his family wasn’t short on money, but! He’d fallen out with them just to become a streamer!
If he messed up this debut stream on DouDou Platform and had to pay that monstrous penalty, he’d have no choice but to crawl back to his family in disgrace!
Forget it. Public embarrassment was a small price to pay… wait. Now that he thought about it, he was streaming using a virtual avatar. It wasn’t true public humiliation, right?
After working that out, Ji Yu perked up again.
He had to nail this stream!
Ji Yu, now brimming with newfound determination, was just about to rally his teammates to move forward when he suddenly shivered.
Weird. Wasn’t the temperature here supposed to be mild? Why did it suddenly feel so cold?
Liu Yuling felt it too; goosebumps prickled her exposed skin.
She immediately pulled out her thermometer, and to her shock, the red line plunged straight down, nearing subzero temperatures!
“The ghost is coming! So it turns out, if we don’t go looking for it, it’ll come looking for us!”
Liu Yuling pondered for a moment before raising her camera and starting the recording mode.
“?!” Ji Yu, who was already on the verge of a meltdown, was completely baffled.
“Sis, what are you doing?! The ghost—THE GHOST is coming, and you’re taking pictures?!”
Ye Yuxi’s lips twitched. Was the platform’s goal in inviting such a scaredy-cat streamer to create comedic relief?
“Aren’t we supposed to confirm the ghost’s existence? Submitting evidence like a photo should be strong proof for the mission, right?”
Ji Yu’s panic-induced brain finally began to function, recalling their objective.
Right. This was a game. What was there to be afraid of?
With that realization, he forced his shaky legs to calm down and cautiously tiptoed to Liu Yuling’s side, staring at the camera screen with her.
Meanwhile, Wang Yuze took out a talisman meant to detect ghosts and joined them, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
“The talisman’s getting hotter. I wonder when the ghost will appear—”
Suddenly, Liu Yuling and Ji Yu froze in place.
For a split second, a swollen, deathly pale ghostly face appeared right against the screen before vanishing just as quickly!
“AHHH!” Ji Yu screamed, living up to everyone’s expectations. Without a second thought, he abandoned his three companions and bolted.
This time, he didn’t care if the stairs might collapse. He pounded down the creaky wooden boards, making a racket as he took the steps two or three at a time. He headed straight for the front door.
Seeing freedom within reach, Ji Yu gathered all his courage to make a final dash out of the terrifying house. But just as he flung the door open, he suddenly found himself unable to move.
Click—