Horror Game Designer

“She should be someone very important to me. Why can’t I remember her?” The emotional Gao Ming gripped his hands. Compared to death, memory loss was more despairing. The red umbrella fell to the ground. Scars appeared on the surface of the beautiful woman’s skin. She suffered them when she saved Gao Ming. Her disappointment was so deep that her eyes were grey. She took out a knife from her bag.

“I’ll get off.” The emotional Gao Ming looked at the others. “You have to reach the end! Don’t ever forget her!”

When the woman reached the station, Gao Ming stopped hesitating and got off the bus. The bus door closed. The bus continued to move forward. The other Gao Mings looked out the window. They saw the emotional Gao Ming collapse on the floor. Perhaps for him, the only way to not hurt the two women was to hurt himself.

“The cowardly Gao Ming has been assimilated by the family. The emotional Gao Ming killed himself for love. It looks like the real Gao Ming has sacrificed a lot to come into his own…”

The kind Gao Ming didn’t have the heart. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. Those who got off didn’t feel much pain. The greatest pain would be on the person who stayed until the end.

“To reach the end, we have to abandon certain things. We’re racing against fate. Any burden can make us lose everything.” The painter Gao Ming commented casually, “Viewed from that perspective, I’m the most suitable one to stay until the end.”

The kind Gao Ming glanced at the painter Gao Ming. It was the painter Gao Ming who used words to compel the emotional Gao Ming to get off the bus earlier.

“All of us are Gao Mings, but you’re different.” The kind Gao Ming studied the strange drawings on the painter Gao Ming’s body. “Who… really are you?”

“Me? I’m Gao Ming!” The painter Gao Ming smiled. “Even my soul is the same as yours!”

“Can you tell me what is written in your diary?”

The rain whipped against the bus. The kind Gao Ming confronted the painter Gao Ming.

“Every one of my diary entries is a painting. I drew them out.” The painter Gao Ming had a warm smile. No one could guess what he was thinking.

“All paintings? Even the last entry?” The kind Gao Ming grasped a detail.

“That’s right.”

“What was the last painting?”

Facing the question, the painter Gao Ming didn’t answer directly. He narrowed his eyes and answered after a while, “It was a self-portrait.”

The painter Gao Ming’s answer caused a few others’ expressions to shift. Some of the Gao Mings had interacted privately already. Their diaries might have different entries, but the last entry was always about taking the bus to participate in an event outside of school. The last entry was the intersection of all the Gao Mings’ fates. The atmosphere changed. No one commented on it. Everyone sat quietly until the bus paused again.

The rain slammed against the station sign. This station was called I was once passionate and innocent.

The wind caressed every passenger’s heart. No one knew how many stations there were left.

“I’m sorry!” Du Bai’s voice came from outside the window. His family was poor. He was tall and thin. Other than the school uniform, he didn’t have any good clothes.

The schoolbag was dumped into the mud. Du Bai’s school uniform was torn apart. He knelt in the alley behind the station. He was backed into a trashcan. His originally-white uniform was now stained with mud. A few older high-school bullies blocked his path.

“Are you that desperate? We only borrowed some money from you last time. Do you need to get your grandmother to make a complaint with the school?” The leading bully had a bandage around his eye. “You caused all of us to be scolded. My family beat me when I got home. How do you plan to compensate me?”

“I, I didn’t ask my grandma to come to school.”

“She’s already so old. Aren’t you afraid that she might die from anger?” The bullies didn’t care. They started laughing. “Even if you’re not ashamed, we’re ashamed for you. We heard that your grandmother cried in the office and even rolled on the ground!”

Du Bai grew up with his grandmother. She was old and uncultured. When a weak person wanted to protect another weak person, they had to do everything in their power.

“Why did you stop talking?” The bully huffed out the smoke and kicked Du Bai on his chest. “Don’t think about going home today. Stay and play with us.”

Bullying occurred in the alley. The bullies obtained joy from dominating the weak. Even if Du Bai weren’t there, they would find another target.

When the passengers on the bus saw this, some were uninterested, and others were unwilling to stay idle. Seeing no one had stood up, the kind Gao Ming hesitated and walked towards the door.

“Let me.” The rebellious Gao Ming removed his jacket and placed his hand on the kind Gao Ming’s shoulder. “I believe you’re cleverer than me and have a better grasp of the situation. You should stay and guide the rest of us.”

“You…” This was the kind Gao Ming’s first time encountering the rebellious Gao Ming. The latter’s body was covered in wounds.

“I am a violent person, but I don’t bully the weak. If anything, I always target bullies. I use their own method to deal with them. I don’t have any mortality or fear of the law. I’ll take down anyone who bullies those weaker than them. At most, I’ll die!” The rebellious Gao Ming jumped off the bus and took a deep breath. The rain drenched his body. He didn’t care. He waved goodbye at the bus, picked up the piece of stone and charged into the back alley.

The rebellious Gao Ming charged into the fight. They were eventually swallowed by the darkness.

The bus didn’t stop due to someone’s departure. There were fewer and fewer passengers. One Gao Ming had to get off the bus at each station. The kind Gao Ming became more silent. The world behind the door was more dangerous than he thought. Normally, a single person couldn’t collect all of the despairing past.

Time in the bus ticked by. After a few stations, the bus stopped beside a hospital. The hospital looked like Li San Private Hospital. The bus station was called I Once Owned Kindness.

The kind Gao Ming seemed to understand something. He looked at the station with sad eyes. ‘Gao Ming, what had you experienced that you had to abandon the kindness in your heart?’

The door moved. Before the kind Gao Ming got off, he turned to the painter Gao Ming, “Everyone, I’ll get off at this station but I need a favour before I go.”

The painter Gao Ming had a bad feeling.

“I hope you can convince this Gao Ming who likes to paint to leave with me!”

Instead of doing him a favour, the kind Gao Ming wanted to help the rest one last time. The painter Gao Ming was a hidden threat. He wanted to use his life to nullify this threat.