As if repeating the previous action, I moved forward little by little.
But something felt different.
I couldn't tell if it was just an illusion, but the lights ahead seemed to be growing dimmer.
There was also a hollow rustling sound from nowhere, and a crunch that sounded unsettling.
Walking down the corridor, I started to feel like someone was quietly following me, whispering into my ear.
'There are ghosts in the front, ghosts in the back, ghosts on the head—ghosts everywhere in this house!'
'I just don't know when or where they'll show up.'
The first half of the corridor seemed unchanged, but when I reached the radio, two cockroaches suddenly dropped from above, causing my steps to falter.
The chandelier above creaked, though there was no wind.
Looking toward the second floor, I could see the fence. Could it be that…
Goosebumps rose all over my body. I took a deep breath and glanced up toward the second floor.
However, it was completely pitch black, with nothing but the fence visible.
Seeing this, I sighed in relief, but the tension in my heart remained. For a brief moment, I wished for a monster to appear, just so there would be something concrete for me to hold onto.
I continued forward. When I reached the door at the end, I reached out to open it.
But the door seemed locked. I twisted the handle twice, hearing only the click, but it wouldn't open.
"Is it telling me to turn back again?"
'Boom boom boom!'
Just as I was still pondering, a sudden knock came from the door at the corner.
The violent knocking shattered the silence, startling me. But it was a normal reaction—anyone would be startled in such a situation.
I walked to the door, and it seemed the creature inside had realized someone was at the door, as the knocking ceased.
Everything returned to silence once again.
"You have the ability to knock on the door, but you don't have the ability to open it!"
I twisted the door handle once again, but as expected, it didn't budge.
Clearly, this wasn't the right approach. By this point, my nerves were starting to fray. Facing these unsettling moments, I muttered words under my breath, a subconscious reaction to cope with the tension.
As I continued walking in the loop, I noticed a photo that had fallen to the ground in front of the electronic watch. It was too blurry to make out what was written on it.
Subconsciously, Li Yue crouched down to see clearly. At that moment, three lines of words appeared on the originally blurred photo:
[Can you hear my voice?]
[Can you interpret this information?]
[If you come to me, I will always wait for you.]
Crunch...
After reading these three lines, Li Yue stood up from the ground when he heard the sound of a door opening. His heart began to race.
The door is open!
Could it be the door someone had knocked on earlier?
Did the monster inside escape?
With these thoughts in mind, Li Yue gathered his courage and headed back toward the corridor.
However, everything seemed calm, and there were no alarming events along the way. But oddly enough, the more normal things seemed, the more nervous Li Yue became.
The door around the corner remained closed, but the door leading to the underground steps had opened again.
Li Yue continued walking forward and opened the door to the basement. To his surprise, beyond the door was the same long corridor he had seen before.
But this time, something was different. The front seemed similar, but when he reached the corner, there was a quick knock on the door, followed by a baby crying from the room beyond.
"You... don't tell me this door can be opened now!" Li Yue's scalp went numb.
However, when he tried again, it was still locked.
Continuing forward, the cycle repeated.
"Please, I'm begging you—come out quickly if there's something! It's okay to scare me!"
Li Yue's heart was racing, and he couldn't shake off the feeling of dread. No game had ever made him feel so depressed.
Strangely, not a single scene had appeared that made him physically uncomfortable.
But the terror clung to him, lingering in his mind.
Strictly speaking, since entering the game, Li Yue had done nothing but walk through this corridor—moving from one end to the other and then repeating the process.
At most, there had been some different sound effects along the way. But it was this monotonous cycle that weighed heavily on him, applying constant psychological pressure.
This is a brilliant psychological tactic to keep you in a state of fear.
Imagine walking through a strange corridor, alone, repeatedly experiencing the same thing, like a ghost hitting a wall.
But slowly, strange occurrences begin to happen, making you realize you're not alone in this space—or are you?
The worst part is that you don't even know who the others in the room with you are.
The human brain's ability to supplement is endless, and it is precisely because of this that the unknown is the most terrifying.
In general horror games, the horror point is like a bullet that has been fired. When the bullet hits, it causes you to scream in pain.
But for the Silent Hill series, horror is like a cloth-covered time bomb.
You can hear the beep, but you never know when the bomb will explode, challenging your endurance step by step, making your blood pressure gradually rise, and making your heart beat faster.
Outside the research institute, relevant technicians are monitoring the data related to Li Yue in real-time.
"Heart rate and blood pressure have gone up again!"
"It's still some distance from the safety threshold."
The technicians, along with the medical staff, continue to observe the physical data feedback from Li Yue.
Ye Xun and Tao Fa, standing next to each other, exchanged a look and silently swallowed.
As testers, they knew exactly what the data meant.
How could this happen in only a few minutes?
Ten minutes? How could it be so terrifying?
What exactly is in this game?
Since the testers need to maintain the unfamiliarity of the test content, they can only view the data related to Li Yue. They have no visibility of the test DEMO itself.
At the same time, in another room, a group of designers sat together, some of whom, less timid than others, unknowingly edged closer to one another.
Chen Xu glanced at Meng Zuo, who was sitting next to him, and subtly moved to the right.
Then, one of the designers sitting in the crowd couldn't help but say, "Can someone turn on the lights for us? It's too dark to see."
Once someone started the request, others quickly joined in.
"Yeah! Turn on the light, the room's too dim; it's not good for our eyes."
"Yes, yes, that's right."
"Also, can you turn off the air conditioning? It's getting cold."
"Yeah, yeah, it's only May! You don't need the air conditioner on at all."
Looking at the Silent Hill PT screen that the testers were experiencing, synchronized on the big screen in front of them, the designers began to chat to pass the time.
Meng Zuo, in particular, felt incredibly fortunate at that moment.
It was a good thing that this VR device was only for the testers, otherwise, he suspected he'd be scared out of his mind.
The same was true for the other game designers. One thing they had to admit was that the Silent Hill PT in front of them was nothing short of stunning.
So far, no direct fear point had appeared, but the atmosphere created by the game's graphics, lighting, and sound effects had already left them deeply unsettled.
What would happen when the actual fear point appeared?
If they were just watching it and not experiencing the VR version, or if they were watching in a group, they could already feel the overwhelming sense of fear.
What kind of feeling was the tester, who was directly immersed in it, going through?