"Did I start the game the wrong way?"
Ben, re-entering the game, was silent, looking at the scene before him.
Since it was the weekend and he didn't have to go to work, he got up early, simply cooked two eggs, ate them, and immediately entered the game to continue his exciting journey from yesterday.
To prevent any potential spoilers, he hadn't even opened any chat groups, official Weibo, or forums.
But the scene before him left him in silence.
After overcoming many difficulties, Ethan came out of the castle and returned to the village.
Just as the theme song sang, the werewolves in the village enthusiastically invited Ethan to be their guest.
And Ethan did not refuse their kind invitation. He shot them with his shotgun and took everything he could from their homes.
During this time, Ethan also met the mysterious merchant, Duke, again and confirmed a piece of news: his daughter, Rose, had indeed been cut into four pieces.
The other three parts were held by three other nobles: Donna the doll maker in the valley, Moreau by the reservoir behind the windmill, and Heisenberg in the factory on the outskirts.
Ben didn't care about this at first. It was only when he headed towards his next target, Donna the doll maker, that he realized something was wrong.
A narrow mountain path, a thick white mist, a silent atmosphere.
Especially after crossing a narrow wooden bridge, the iron gate that was previously closed opened automatically, and there was a familiar person behind him.
It was the dead: Mia.
"Is this an illusion? Is Ethan mentally hallucinating?" Ben shivered involuntarily as he looked at Mia in front of him.
He had a bad feeling.
"It's okay, it's okay, don't scare yourself, with a gun in hand, what's there to fear?" Ben looked at the gun in his hand, silently switched to the shotgun, which gave him more courage.
'Ethan! Come with me, I have something to tell you.' Mia, holding Rose, turned and walked into the valley, but halfway through, she suddenly disappeared.
'Rose is a little strange, Ethan, you have to cure her…'
'Everyone has left me… even Rose… I don't want to be alone.'
Mia, appearing and disappearing, spoke nonsensical words. Ethan followed this Mia all the way to a very eerie graveyard.
"No, why did the atmosphere suddenly turn so gloomy? Wouldn't it be better to have more werewolves to fight me?" Ben was really getting scared now.
He hadn't encountered a single monster since entering the valley, but it gave him the same feeling as when he experienced the demo of "Silent Hill PT."
Even though he experienced it through videos and with countless comments, it still gave him that same vibe.
Moreover, the mechanisms here were very spooky. For example, in front of a large gate in the cemetery, the so-called key was not a real key, but a sticky note with the words: Offer your fond memories.
Ben didn't understand at first until he saw a photo of Zack, Mia, and Rose and realized what it meant.
After placing it inside, they took an elevator to the large mansion by the great waterfall.
"Don't panic, don't be afraid! I'm a walking arsenal by myself, why should I be afraid!" Ben reopened the equipment interface and looked at the hand sanitizer and ammunition again. The previously rising fear was instantly crushed, and his courage inexplicably returned.
With a burst of energy, Ben pushed open the door of the house.
The wooden floor creaked with a teeth-grinding sound under his feet.
The mottled walls, filled with an old smell, combined with the dim lighting, made people uncomfortable.
The narrow corridor flickered on and off, and the many corners made him worried that a monster might jump out at the next turn.
"Damn it, I suddenly don't want to play this game anymore. Wasn't it good before? Why did the atmosphere suddenly become so gloomy?"
Even with a shotgun in hand, Ben still felt a pang of frustration.
While fear comes from insufficient firepower, there is also the saying that fear comes from the unknown.
If something terrifying were placed in front of him, Ben felt he might not be afraid.
But in this situation where he didn't know anything, he felt that something intense would happen the next second, which made him even more scared.
Following the corridor, Ben's expected intense scenes did not appear anywhere on his head, feet, behind, or sides.
Except for the lights flickering mischievously on and off twice when passing a corner, there were no other intense scenes.
In this way, Ben safely arrived at a small room underground. Pushing open the wooden door with a creak, something surprising happened.
In the small room before him, many uncolored wooden puppet body parts were hanging from the ceiling. On the table in the middle was a white cloth, presumably covering something.
But what mattered most to Ben was the chair directly facing him.
There was a cloth doll wearing a wedding dress, and in its arms was the small yellow bottle containing Rose's body parts.
And this cloth doll was Donna, one of the four Heavenly Kings who appeared when Ethan was captured by Heisenberg.
"This is definitely a trap, it's too obvious. Is this Boss Lucas's mercy?" Ben looked at the doll and the small yellow bottle, and did not step forward immediately.
Putting the target so easily in front of Ethan, combined with this slightly gloomy scene, it was almost as if it was telling the player: this bottle is a trap.
However, this dispelled Ben's fear.
Before, he was naturally afraid because he didn't know what was happening.
But now? He felt that as soon as he picked up the bottle, a trap and a cutscene would be triggered.
Donna the doll maker would use her dolls to attack Ethan.
And now it was a narrow room, possibly a place to fight their way out, or like in Call of Duty, where Roach and Ghost defended the safe house, holding out for a period of time.
Thinking of this, Ben happily searched the room.
After confirming that there was nothing to explore or collect, Ben walked up to the doll and reached out to take the glass bottle.
But at this moment, the lights on the ceiling flickered twice.
*Clap!*
The lights went out, plunging the room into darkness.
Eerie sounds came from all directions.
'I've been waiting for you for a long time…'
'I'd be an even better child than Rose, be with me forever…'
'Heh… hehehe, rofl…'
The eerie laughter gradually faded, and the next second the lights came back on, but they were darker than before.
The doll and the bottle on the chair were gone. The white cloth on the table had been removed, and inside was a puppet doll modeled after Mia.
But this was not the most frightening thing for Ben. The most frightening thing was a confession from Ethan.
'Damn it… where's my gun!'
His trembling hands opened his inventory and looking at the empty slots, Ben let out a wail.
"Boss Lucas, I thank you so much!"
(End of chapter)