Looking at the bright hallway, Sean let out a long breath.
Surely, there wouldn't be any danger in a well-lit place like this, right?
Compared to the dark scenes, bright areas like this were way more comforting.
With that thought in mind, Sean guided the main character forward. Just as the character was about to squeeze through a narrow gap, a deep voice suddenly came through his headphones: "Little pig!"
The game camera shook violently, and just like before, Sean and the character on-screen both screamed in panic at the same time.
He even did his usual move of covering his face.
Peeking through his fingers, Sean saw a huge, blood-covered man with a terrifying face appear behind the character on-screen.
Then the man grabbed the character and threw him down from the second floor.
The character crashed to the first floor, and the game screen responded with a matching effect—slowly shifting from darkness to clarity.
Right then, a priest-like NPC walked up to him.
He started saying things that didn't make much sense.
"Who are you?"
"I see now. Merciful God, you've sent an angel to find me and protect your gift of life… Child, you've been chosen."
Sean had no clue what that conversation meant. A moment later, the main character struggled to his feet, and a new mission prompt popped up: Escape the asylum and get to the security room to open the gate.
"Damn it, jump scare out of nowhere!"
Looking at the mission prompt, then checking his camera with just one battery left, Sean started to feel uneasy.
There was absolutely no sense of safety.
What if he ran into that fat monster again? What would he do then?
But at least now he was only a little shaken, and honestly, he felt like that chunky monster wasn't so bad.
Compared to those creepy ghost-faced women from traditional horror games, this fat monster still looked kind of human—just a bit more brutal and scary.
"What are these people doing?"
"They're not all going to turn into monsters later, are they?"
In the lobby, he finally saw some other people. But they all just sat there with blank expressions.
Sean carefully moved the character closer, but none of them—not even the patients in wheelchairs—reacted at all.
It was like they couldn't even see him.
He searched every corner and managed to find some batteries.
"These kinds of horror games... they just focus on making things feel creepy, but there's actually nothing there!"
Sean tried to talk himself down to ease the pressure.
But just as he passed by the patient in the wheelchair from earlier, the background music suddenly turned intense and creepy, and the character in-game let out a loud scream.
The patient in the wheelchair lunged at him, and his terrifying face filled the screen.
In real life, Sean was so scared he flung his mouse across the room.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Slumped in his chair, he covered his face with both hands and started repeating his usual phrase under his breath.
Just then, a creaking sound echoed through the room, and the door slowly opened.
"Damn it! Who is it?! Who?!" Like a startled bird, Sean flinched and looked toward the door.
"Who else would it be? It's me!"
The voice came from a chubby middle-aged man with a round face, a short neck, and black-rimmed glasses. He looked puzzled when he saw Sean—who was pale and wrapped in a down jacket.
"Mike, you're finally back!" Sean let out a long sigh of relief at the sight of a familiar face.
After glancing at the live stream screen and then the game screen, Mike immediately understood what was going on.
"You playing a horror game, Sean? Looks like you got wrecked by it," Mike clicked his tongue.
"Say no more, Mike. I'm just glad you're back."
Sean looked like he had found his savior. He finally relaxed, picked up the mouse he had thrown, and adjusted the camera: "Guys, we had a little surprise just now, but we're back."
He put his headphones back on.
Seeing his buddy sitting nearby, Sean suddenly felt a bit of confidence growing inside him.
The screen returned to the game.
At the moment, he had nothing in his hands—just a busted-up camera.
Right now, Sean was seriously missing those old horror games where you got to shoot zombies with guns.
At least give him something to hold. If he had something in his hands, he wouldn't be this panicked.
"Finally found it."
Now that he wasn't alone in the real world, Sean felt that thing called courage come back.
Dodging the lunatics on the road with some stumbles, he made it safely to the security room.
Once inside, a cutscene triggered. Sean glanced at the nearby monitor, then put his hat back on.
"Why are you wearing a hat, Sean?" Mike asked curiously.
"The chat says something crazy is about to happen," Sean replied after glancing at the comments.
"Oh come on, horror games aren't that intense. And with how bright it is now, what's there to be scared of?" Mike said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the priest from earlier suddenly showed up in the bottom right corner of the surveillance feed. After looking at the camera, he pulled the switch, and the whole screen instantly went pitch black—power outage!
"Mother—!" The sudden blackout gave Sean a scare.
"Relax, Sean. The monster hasn't even shown up yet. What are you afraid of?" Mike continued.
At the same time, loud banging started coming from the security room door!
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Each slam on the door felt like it was hitting Sean's chest.
"Mother—! Shut up, Mike!" Sean shouted with a shaky voice. Then he noticed the comments from the livestream chat and saw an in-game prompt.
"The cabinet, yes! Right, I can hide in the cabinet!"
As he spoke, he scrambled toward the cabinet and pressed the interaction key.
*Bang!*
Just as he got inside the cabinet, a loud crash rang out—the scary fat guy from before burst through the door.
He looked around the room.
The character in the game hid inside the cabinet, and all he could hear was the sound of his own rapid heartbeat.
Through the gaps in the cabinet and with a little bit of faint light, Sean could see the fat man's terrifying face. He instinctively pulled his body back and closed his eyes.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
"Sean? Hey, you still hiding in the cabinet? The monster's gone, it's not coming back," Mike said, looking at the chat and then at Sean who was still hiding in the cabinet like a turtle, not moving at all.
"Mother—! Shut up! I have my own plan!"
Sean spoke as he took a deep breath and stepped out of the cabinet.
"Come on, Sean, calm down. I'm telling you, horror games go in cycles. If this part is scary, the next part should be easier," said Mike.
"Don't lie to me, Mike," Sean said, half believing it.
"Why would I lie to you? Just trust me! The next part definitely won't be that scary!" Mike said with a convincing look.
(End of The Chapter)
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