"Classic horror game tactics. Dark environments to scare you, and you explore using a camera? What kind of outdated camera system is this?"
Silver Wolf didn't start moving immediately. Instead, she explored her surroundings.
The room wasn't very complicated. There was a game manual and a camera.
Swallowing nervously, Silver Wolf muttered, "That's it? I've already figured out how to play this. Just a simple horror game where you hide from scary enemies. You've underestimated me."
As Silver Wolf continued moving, her gameplay footage was broadcasted across the galaxy, live-streamed by Herta.
The moment Silver Wolf appeared on the screen, viewers swarmed the livestream. The entire galaxy tuned in to watch. However, many noticed something odd—Silver Wolf, the legendary hacker, looked tense. Was this really Silver Wolf? If it weren't for Herta's official broadcast, people might have mistaken her for a newbie playing her first horror game.
Silver Wolf had finally grasped the game's mechanics: avoid the terrifying enemies, collect evidence, and escape. There was a saying: old tricks may be predictable, but they still work. Despite her confident talk, the pitch-black, eerie environment made her heart race. Still, she couldn't back down now.
"An old-school game. I'll speedrun this no problem!"
Silver Wolf's words were bold, but her movements were cautious. She tiptoed out of the room. The starting area was a safe zone, but once she left, the safety would be gone, and the real game would begin.
The dark hallways and distant screams created an unnervingly realistic atmosphere. Despite her bravado, Silver Wolf hesitated. She wanted to quit but couldn't bring herself to press the logout button.
"Will someone come after me now?"
"These kinds of games definitely have a mechanic where you can hide in a box and not get caught... just stay calm."
Silver Wolf knew Herta was broadcasting her gameplay, which gave her some sense of security. As a seasoned gamer, she knew she had to maintain her composure, narrate the gameplay, and show her viewers she wasn't scared.
Why was she feeling this way? Normally, in games she couldn't handle, she would rely on her hacker skills to cheat and breeze through levels. But in this game Pei Guang created, there were no backdoors, and even her hacker abilities were blocked. The level of immersion made her feel like it wasn't just a game anymore!
What unnerved her the most was how weak her in-game character felt. The overly realistic system and the looming exit button gave her a strange sense of security, but without the ability to fight back, it still made her uneasy.
She had always fantasized about being transported into a game, but not a horror game where her powers were useless!
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the dark hallway. Silver Wolf instinctively raised her camera. Through the viewfinder, she saw a blood-covered figure with a grotesque face and a surgical saw approaching her. Her voice wavered.
"This is... a game?"
Her voice trembled. She had played many horror games, but never one that felt this real. If it weren't for the visible exit button, she would've thought she was truly inside this asylum.
If she were playing an RPG, she wouldn't be so scared, but this... this was a horror game, and she was defenseless.
Just as the footsteps and sinister laughter grew louder, Silver Wolf's hands shook. She lifted the camera to catch a glimpse of the terrifying creature, and with a scream, she bolted.
Her reactions in the game mirrored her actions in the real world. In reality, Silver Wolf let out a frightened yell, her body covered in cold sweat as she tried to escape the fear-inducing scenario.
The fear coursing through her veins was palpable, her consciousness fully connected to the game. Her physical responses revealed just how terrifying this game was.
Both her in-game footage and real-life reactions were being broadcast across Herta's livestream.
In the game, Silver Wolf's breathing became ragged as she found herself hiding in a room. Even though there was no pain in the game, her character's hand was cut off by the deranged patient. Silver Wolf screamed, following the scene in sync.
"Stop! My hand! It's gone! It's gone! Please, help me…"
"Someone help me…"
"Don't find me, don't find me!!!"
Silver Wolf started muttering incoherently. Being a gamer who easily immersed herself in the experience, coupled with Pei Guang's hyper-realistic game design, she had now become completely absorbed in the horror. Unable to bear the idea of quitting, she continued playing, pushing through the fear.
The longer she played, the deeper she immersed herself. Without any of her abilities and with only the option to run, the terror she felt was overpowering, to the point where she forgot it was just a game and believed it was a real, life-threatening scenario. Her fear reached its peak.
Despite the fact that there was no pain, and no bleeding, Silver Wolf instinctively called for help. She gasped for breath, hiding in terror, peeking through a crack to see the bloodshot eyes of the figure hunting her. The already rusty surgical saw in the monster's hand was now drenched in blood, growing more horrifying as the game progressed.
Silver Wolf's experience in the game was full of fear and despair. She couldn't help but get swept up in the atmosphere, her fear growing stronger with each passing moment.
In contrast, Stelle was much more relaxed. After entering the game, she simply laid down in the safe room. What game? Who cares? Pei Guang had told her that if she got scared, she didn't have to play.
What? Holding back? Not at all. Stelle was playing the exact same game as Silver Wolf—if she actually played, she'd be just as terrified. But Stelle was smart. She knew the real point of this challenge wasn't to win, but simply to watch Silver Wolf struggle.
As a result, Stelle just found a comfy spot in the game's safe zone and went to sleep. Meanwhile, in the real world, she had a calm smile on her face, which contrasted sharply with Silver Wolf's occasional gasps, shivers, and soft cries.
Outside the game, March 7th leaned over and whispered to Pei Guang, "Looks like she's getting scared. Seems your game managed to really spook her."
Pei Guang grinned. "Of course! Even Dan Heng got scared playing it. I enhanced the realism, blocked out external sounds, and designed it to make her subconscious feel like she's in a real environment. Plus, the game's enemy is based on each player's personal fears. If she's not afraid, then I must've wasted all my experience designing it. But you know something? For a player, the most exciting thing is being transported into a realistic game world. And the most terrifying thing? Exactly the same. The more real it feels, the stronger the fear. Now, if she were sent to a normal game world, that would be paradise—no player could resist a truly real world!"