Chapter 53: My Heart Is About to Fail
Closing the wooden door, Tom, with his camera in night vision mode, pulled the trigger. A sound like an engine revving was heard. Tom cautiously hid in a corner. He waited about six or seven seconds, but nothing seemed to happen.
"Tom, why are you still crouching here? Hey, you're right to listen to me. We should leave now before the psychopath arrives, or we'll have to wait for him," David interjected.
"Wait a moment, I'm a little panicked. Give me time to recover." Tom gasped, but he also started to move. After checking the room and finding nothing to pick up, he prepared to open the door.
David, who was standing beside him, interjected: "Oh, there's no need to panic. That monster won't appear at the door."
As David spoke, the doorknob slowly turned and the wooden door opened. As the door opened, a pale face appeared.
"Ahhh!" Tom screamed, his tenor voice almost surpassing Pavarotti's. He slumped back in his chair.
The psychopath from before was now face-to-face with him. It was a truly unexpected move, which scared him so much that he even twisted the nearby camera. In the game, the psychopath brandished a spiked wooden board and hit him.
"I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet!"
Although completely scared, Tom, realizing he was still alive in the game, quickly pulled his chair forward and began to flee. The background music in his headphones changed to a strident orchestral soundtrack, with an eerie melody. Combined with the chase and night vision mode, Tom's heart pounded and he began to sweat coldly.
"Shit! Shit! Where can I run?"
"Come on! Shit! I'll kill you if I have a weapon!"
Controlling his character, Tom ran through the dark basement like a headless fly, squeezing into any passageway and jumping over any box. Tom was sitting in front of the computer, his forehead soaked with sweat. His previously small eyes had become round. Even the hand gripping the mouse trembled.
This game was truly terrifying. The setting, the background, the pacing... how on earth could such a horror game exist? Listening to the muffled footsteps of the psychopath behind him, Tom didn't dare to look back. His only thought was to run. And everything else? He didn't care.
In the game, Tom followed his instincts to the letter, not even realizing where he was. And just then, after turning a corner and overcoming a ladder-like obstacle, a creak was heard. The red battery bar in the upper right corner of the camera flickered twice, and then the night vision screen flickered, plunging into darkness.
He had been using night vision mode and hadn't realized that the camera battery had just run out.
"Shit! Shit! Why is it dead?"
"What is the battery button?"... Tom asked, panicking, forgetting how to change the batteries. The hallway was completely dark and Tom was completely disoriented. Worse yet, he could hear the psychopath's screams and footsteps through his headphones, seemingly approaching.
Finally, with a click, Tom reloaded the batteries. But the next instant, after activating night vision, Tom let out another first-class high-pitched scream, comparable to Pavarotti's. In front of him, the psychopath had already rushed forward. In night vision, his face looked like a ghost, almost terrifying him.
"Get out of here! Get out of here!"
Tom didn't know what to say. He simply ran in the opposite direction. Turning the corner, he saw a wooden door and ran into it without thinking twice. Inside the door was the last switch, but Tom didn't pay attention to it at that moment. Besides the switch, he discovered two more lockers in the room.
Like a traveler in the desert finding an oasis, or a hungry jackal spotting its prey, Tom was filled with joy at the sight of the locker before him. He ran forward, activated the locker's interaction, and crouched inside. Then, a series of thuds and bangs resonated. The wooden door burst open and the madman entered. He wandered around the room, opening the locker next to Tom before muttering and leaving.
Tom let out a long sigh, leaned back in his chair, and put his hands to his heart. He saved the game in silence and exited.
"Alright, alright, that's it for today, that's it for today."
Sitting up again, Tom put his hands to his face.
"My heart hurts... Sorry for the embarrassment, sorry for the embarrassment."
These words were not excuses; he felt that he could no longer bear it. After all, he wasn't a very brave person to begin with. Honestly, if you think about it, the concept of this terrifying game boils down to opening doors and chasing monsters. These elements are common in other games, but most are scary enough to fade away.
But in Outlast, it's completely different. The sound effects and atmosphere are truly captivating. The camera's night vision function, in particular, makes the game truly exciting. The combination of uncomfortable darkness with night vision creates a constant sense of unease in the player, while the search for batteries inevitably forces him to explore unknown areas.
Furthermore, the game is not completely dark; in fact, many areas are quite bright. This dynamic change of scenery constantly creates a sense of oppression and doubt in the player.
These elements, combined with the terrifying atmosphere created by the game's terrifying scenes, are the most terrifying aspects of Outlast. Now, Tom, thinking about the possibility of completing the game, has only one thought: despair!
But he's not the only one feeling this despair.
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