As Ben was filled with confusion and bewilderment, the game screen had turned black.
It was like a thunderclap at the start!
Ethan was definitely going to face some things, and he was mentally prepared for that.
He had already made many guesses beforehand, such as the organization called the "Well-Fed" causing another big event.
Evelyn might not be dead and would make a comeback in this game.
But what he completely didn't expect was Chris suddenly bursting into Ethan's home with his team and killing Mia.
What is this all about?!
Could Chris be the real mastermind?
But that made no sense at all!
Although Chris only appeared once at the end of the previous game, there was DLC content that allowed players to control Chris.
Based on the story description of Chris in that content, he was clearly a good guy.
He had saved the world many times and eliminated evil bio-pharmaceutical companies.
But what is the situation now?
'Go! Go quickly!'
The escort team members wearing gas masks behind him pushed Ethan, urging him to move faster.
Outside the door, Chris stood with his back to Ethan.
Just then, a baby's cry was heard. A team member came down from the second floor, holding the infant Rose, and handed her to Chris: 'No threat, target secured, sir.'
Looking at his own daughter before him, Ethan became furious.
'Rose? What are you going to do with my child?'
Behind Chris, Ethan gave orders to the team members.
'Take him away.'
As Rose cried, Ethan, worried about his daughter, unleashed unimaginable strength, struggled free from the team members escorting him, and charged towards Chris, wanting to get his daughter Rose back.
'I said! Don't touch her!'
However, before Ethan could reach Chris, a team member next to him knocked him out with the butt of his rifle.
The world spun around him, only Rose's cries in his ears, and his vision gradually blurred.
Ethan struggled to get up but was dragged outside by the escort team members. He desperately raised his hand, as if to grab Chris and keep his daughter: 'Rose... Rose...'
In Ethan's cries, the scene turned black.
About two or three seconds later, in a daze, a phone rang. Ethan seemed to return to the past.
However, the slightly hazy scene told the player that this was a flashback.
The world spun, only the sound of Rose's crying could be heard, and his vision blurred.
Ethan struggled to get up but was dragged outside by the escort team. Despairingly, he raised his hand as if to reach for Chris and keep his daughter: 'Rose... Rose...'
As Ethan called out, his vision went black.
After about two or three seconds, in a hazy daze, a phone ring was heard, and Ethan seemed to have returned to the past.
However, the slightly blurry scene told players that this was a flashback.
'Hello, Doctor.' Ethan answered the ringing phone.
'Mr. Winters, your child's results are out. If it's convenient, would you and your wife be able to come to the hospital next Thursday at 4 PM for a consultation?'
'No problem, see you then.'
After hanging up, Ethan looked at Mia, who was slowly walking towards him, and explained: 'It's the doctor's call, we have an appointment next Thursday.'
But Mia looked worried.
Ethan looked at Mia and comforted her: 'Mia, be optimistic, we've talked about this.'
'Yes, we've hardly talked about anything else.'
Mia sat on the armrest of the sofa, shaking her head: 'I've been wanting to tell you, it's not Rose I'm worried about.'
'Then what are you worried about?' Ethan didn't understand Mia's meaning at all.
'She's perfectly fine, I know.' Mia stood up and looked at Ethan.
'Then what are you concerned about?'
'I'm concerned about us! Ethan!' Mia walked towards the door, shouting angrily.
'I care about you! But you just...'
'Mia, what are you talking about?' Ethan walked towards Mia: 'Are you hiding something from me? Please talk to me, okay?'
As soon as he finished speaking, Mia's expression became even uglier. She looked at Ethan with a complicated expression, wanting to speak but hesitating. At this moment, Ethan's phone rang again.
'Damn it... I... I'll take this call first.' Ethan waved his phone.
Mia, standing by the door, gave Ethan a deep look, angrily punched the doorframe, and then left the room.
Ethan's phone continued to ring in the room, but at this moment, Ben was completely confused.
What on earth is going on?
A string of questions swirled in Ben's mind.
Why did Chris kill Mia?
What was Mia hiding from Ethan?
Why did they snatch Rose?
Couldn't they just say everything at once?!
Why be so hesitant and cryptic!
What kind of things would happen next? Ben's mind was full of questions.
At this moment, the game screen slowly appeared.
Amidst a ringing sound, Ethan slowly opened his eyes, and the surroundings were a mess.
Around him were bodies of escort team members and damaged vehicles. Apart from Chris, all other team members seemed to have met their end.
Just like those unlucky souls in the DLC of the previous game, Resident Evil.
'So the story will revolve around discovering the truth of why Chris snatched his daughter?'
'Good heavens, looking for his wife in the last game, and now looking for his daughter in this game, like The Witcher 3!'
Ben couldn't help but sigh.
As for this kind of cryptic setup, though it's an old trope, it's always effective.
And it always sparks players' curiosity. You might be stomping your feet in frustration, but you still want to know what the armadillo said!
At the same time, several more mysteries arose. How did the car flip over? What kind of entity attacked them? Where did Chris and Ethan's daughter Rose go?
Everything clearly relied on Ethan to discover.
Controlling Ethan as he staggered up from the ground, a man's voice came from the phone.
After only two sentences, the other party realized Ethan wasn't the owner of the phone and immediately hung up.
'So... it's starting now, asking me to explore!? What the hell! In the last game, it was sunny before entering the house, but now it's dark at night?!'
Picking up the flashlight from the ground, Ben swallowed.
At this moment in the game, heavy snow was falling, and it was pitch black. In front of him was a dark path that seemed to have no end. The flashlight beam was not very bright, and the snowy weather made his vision very limited.
The only good news was that the game still followed the tradition of the previous game; this flashlight was nuclear-powered.
'This feels so familiar...' Ben moved forward cautiously, muttering to himself.
The narrow field of vision, the cramped path, the eerie and terrifying atmosphere, and the not-so-bright flashlight.
Bad memories from the past repeatedly surfaced in his mind, and combined with the current scene, he felt a little numb, his heart beating faster.
However, fortunately, the journey was uneventful. Apart from being startled by a crow that wasn't quite dead and a dark shadow he couldn't make out, there wasn't much high tension, just a slightly unsettling atmosphere.
Of course, what Ben complained about even more was Ethan's left hand, which had been through a lot.
In the previous game, his wife Mia had sawed it off with a chainsaw. Now, just as the game began, it was bloody from a barbed wire fence. Who knows how much more suffering it would endure later.
Following the path in the snow, Ben soon controlled Ethan to a dilapidated small house. However, he didn't find anything useful. But as he entered the basement attic and turned around, a rumbling sound startled him greatly.
But what worried him more was that it sounded like there had been a fight upstairs.
And would he encounter monsters soon?
He was unarmed now!
Cautiously, Ben controlled Ethan to slowly go upstairs. But what he found, unexpectedly, was nothing unusual, except for some blood that seemed to have just flowed out and had not yet dried.
Through the gaps in the door and windows, he could see that the sky outside was already dawning.
Howling wind and snow blew in through the gaps.
Ethan crawled out through the gaps in the wooden walls of the attic and the clutter, and came outside the house, proceeding along the cramped path.
Soon, the field of vision suddenly widened.
'Where... where am I?' Ethan looked at everything in front of him and murmured.
(End of chapter)