Giving Interstellar Players a Horror Ghost Game Shock - Chapter 74
“Actually, when we first submitted this show, it was supposed to be called Into the Forbidden. But our club advisor said the higher-ups have been strict lately, so we had to change it to Into the Legends instead…”
The one chatting with the audience right now was another girl named Zhang Wen. Meanwhile, Ah Yuan had her backpack on and was walking beside the two players, while the two male NPCs were also carrying some gear.
The players, however, didn’t have to carry anything—one held the camera, the other a phone, checking the livestream from time to time.
It was only now that An Zhi suddenly realized: this slim brick-shaped phone must be what ancient people used as their version of a lightbrain.
She kept fiddling with the thing along the way, completely fascinated by the new gadget, and didn’t feel bored at all.
Of course, she also knew the game probably had scary monsters, so she kept part of her attention on alert. But overall, she wasn’t nervous. After all, it was just a game—no reason to stress herself out.
Lu Xiaofeng, on the other hand, was visibly tense, constantly scanning the surroundings like he expected a ghost to leap out and do a jumpscare kill at any moment.
Wenhe University was built against a mountain, and the Yin-Yang Road was a winding trail halfway up. To reach it, they had to pass the school gate, seven teaching buildings, and the library.
Right now, the group of six had only just reached the side of the seventh building.
It was just past 8 PM, and the teaching building was brightly lit. They could even faintly hear the sound of students reading aloud from inside—it sounded like a self-study session.
That lively atmosphere, the warm lights—it all made Lu Xiaofeng feel a lot safer. His fear instantly eased up by more than half.
He had to remind himself again: he wasn’t actually a coward, okay? He just had a bit of paranormal PTSD!
But just as the mood was starting to feel more “normal,” just as they walked past the seventh building—
all the lights suddenly shut off with a loud snap.
Lu Xiaofeng: ?
He gulped, instinctively froze, and looked down. After a small tremble, he forced himself to lift his head and look toward the building.
The place that had been lit up moments ago was now completely dark. Not a single window had any light left.
He listened carefully—and realized something else. The background murmur of students reading, which had been unclear but definitely there… was suddenly gone.
It was as if… all the students who’d been studying just a second ago had vanished into thin air, and someone had thoughtfully turned off the lights for them.
He imagined the whole scene in his head—one moment the rooms were full of students studying, the next, everyone was gone without a trace. That mental image alone nearly scared him to death.
And just then, the sanity points meter in the top-right corner of his vision turned from green to yellow.
He hadn’t even reached the Yin-Yang Road yet, and he’d already lost 5 points.
Lu Xiaofeng felt like his neck had gone stiff. He was on the verge of a breakdown.
Ye the troll… no, Miss Ye!
What are you pulling this time?!
The game hasn’t even officially started yet! They hadn’t even made it to the main location—Yin-Yang Road—and you’re already throwing creepy stuff at us?!
This totally breaks the rules of game design!
“…Xiaofeng? Xiaofeng?”
A familiar voice rang in his ears—it was the Big Sis of the group, and she was clearly running out of patience. Her tone had that same pressure she used right before dragging someone into the ring.
Lu Xiaofeng shivered. He suddenly remembered how that senior ended up in the campus clinic after sparring with An Zhi yesterday. The thought instantly snapped him out of his daze.
Only then did he realize that everyone else had already walked ahead. They were now stopped and looking back at him.
An Zhi had walked right up to him and gave him a solid slap on the back.
“What are you doing? Just froze up all of a sudden.”
Was he so scared that he was stalling on purpose? No way he was that bad… right?
Lu Xiaofeng finally came back to his senses and, hand trembling, pointed toward the nearby classroom building.
“Senior An Zhi, there’s a ghost! That building—just now it was all lit up, and then everything went dark! Even the students’ voices—gone!”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something? The lights weren’t even on to begin with! It was already dark when we walked past!”
“Uh…” Lu Xiaofeng opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but suddenly it was like something got stuck in his throat—he couldn’t get another word out.
No lights? That couldn’t be… he clearly saw—
Just then, Ah Yuan walked over and caught the tail end of their conversation. She jumped in, sounding completely casual.
“The school’s on break right now. Who would still be here? We’re the only ones still around because we’re too dedicated. The advisor said to wait until break so we wouldn’t disturb others, so here we are. Xiaofeng, maybe you’re just tired? Hallucinating a bit?”
An Zhi instantly got it. She’d already noticed he’d been on edge ever since they entered the game. Now it looked like he was even seeing things.
As expected, cowards usually scare themselves to death.
But… what could she do? He was still her teammate. An Zhi forced down her growing impatience. They were going to split up soon, and she needed him to help keep an eye on the other group. So, she tried to comfort him a bit—smacking his back again, almost hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
“Alright, drop it. We’re almost at Yin-Yang Road. Once we get there, we’ll be splitting into two teams, and you’ll have to go with the NPCs alone. If this tiny thing already freaks you out, aren’t you gonna drop dead later?”
Big Sis, is this your idea of comforting someone?! You’re just making it worse!
Sure enough, her “encouragement” only made Lu Xiaofeng even more panicked.
His brain spun fast, and he quickly figured it out—he must’ve been targeted just now. If that was already happening when there were six of them, what about later when they’d split into groups of three? Wouldn’t he be easy pickings?
No. No way. He couldn’t let that happen!
So when the rest started to move again, Lu Xiaofeng stayed right where he was and, looking genuinely apologetic, said:
“Sorry, Senior An Zhi, I really can’t do this. I… I’m logging out first!”
And just like that, he vanished on the spot—disconnected from the game.
An Zhi: ?
It’s just a game, and you had one hallucination, and you quit like that? Seriously?!