The Haunted Game Designer

A normal person would definitely feel fear and panic after encountering a supernatural event. A momentary lapse in judgment could lead to death. However, Gao Ming belonged to a different category of people—he would directly anticipate the worst-case scenario, lower his expectations to the lowest possible point, and then take action.

2409 Fang Shuchi: "Brother Wang and Xiao Qiu are likely already in trouble. The only chance for survival is if the remaining residents unite. I hope Zhao Xi's family can step forward and explain the truth because Zhao Xi's return to this building is definitely related to you!"

2304 Li Li: "Although Zhao Xi was adopted, we've always treated him like family. But you neighbors—on the surface, you call him Brother Zhao, yet deep down, you look down on him! You spread rumors behind his back and even fabricated stories about me and him. You think I don't know? It was you who drove Zhao Xi to his death!"

The video of Li Li was shaking. Living on the third floor, she was terrified, clutching her child tightly and opening the living room door.

The corpse was on the second floor—she didn't dare go down, so she tried to run upstairs, seeking refuge in someone else's home.

Zhao Xi's adoptive mother followed behind Li Li, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. Her basket, hooked onto her arm, was still filled with paper money.

"At a time like this, you're still carrying that stuff? You're the one who brought him back!" Li Li scolded Zhao Xi's adoptive mother. The pitch-black hallway echoed with the sound of flesh crawling—like several hands gripping the steps, jumping upwards.

Li Li screamed in fear. She abandoned the old woman, disregarding the video, and ran away.

The camera shook violently, making everything unclear.

2409 Fang Shuchi: "Li Li, you're leaving your own mother-in-law behind?"

2501 Huang Mingming: "Why don't we all hide on the top floor and come up with a plan together? It's not safe to stay alone in our rooms anyway."

2607 Jiaqi: "No! Hiding upstairs isn't a solution. The corpse will find us sooner or later!"

2707 Yao Yuan: "My apartment is the farthest from the hallway. Everyone can come to my place first."

2409 Fang Shuchi: "Mr. Yao? Y-Your illness is cured?"

Seeing Yao Yuan speaking in the video, Fang Shuchi and several other neighbors were shocked. Yao Yuan was in his seventies, a retired police academy instructor, a model in anti-theft operations—skilled in lock-picking, combat, and familiar with various scams. His physical fitness was excellent. However, two years ago, he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Many residents of Lijing Apartment knew about it. Once tall and burly, Mr. Yao had wasted away within two years, reduced to skin and bones, confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak, and barely able to eat.

"I..." The old man pursed his lips, smiling bitterly. "I don't know why this is happening. Three months ago, I gave up treatment and stayed home waiting to die, barely able to get out of bed. But tonight, I feel completely cured—not only free from pain but my body has returned to its prime."

Seeing their disbelief, the old man silently removed his shirt on camera. His skin was deathly pale, devoid of any color, resembling a corpse. Black veins bulged across his chest and abdomen, as if ready to burst and merge with the world around him.

"I truly don't know why I've become like this... but I'm fully conscious. I'm still me."

No one spoke in the group video. The neighbors, after seeing Yao Yuan's body, couldn't hide their fear and disgust. Their gazes made Yao Yuan visibly uncomfortable.

He put his shirt back on. Having experienced so much in life, he knew there was no point in explaining. He no longer suggested that everyone take refuge in his home.

The neighbors didn't trust Yao Yuan—but Gao Ming was an exception. He had seen his replaced parents. Those "unknown" entities could transform into perfect human replicas without leaving any visible flaws.

"According to the information revealed on the back of the memorial portrait, people on the verge of death could also enter the game. Could Mr. Yao belong to that category?"

Every seemingly normal neighbor made Gao Ming feel something was off. It was the one with the most obvious abnormalities—Yao Yuan—that felt familiar to him.

"If any of the seemingly normal neighbors are actually ghosts, they would likely direct their malice toward the living, manipulating the living to kill each other."

Gripping the doorknob, Gao Ming prepared to leave Zhao Xi's former apartment to visit Yao Yuan personally.

His plan was sound, but just as he cracked the door open, he heard hurried footsteps—Li Li, clutching her son, happened to be passing by from the fifth floor.

"Should we tie up the mother and son?" Gao Ming leaned against the door. "This is the simplest way to confirm the neighbor's identity."

After hesitating for just half a second, Gao Ming prepared to put his plan into action. Li Li and her son were "isolated," making this a rare opportunity.

"The group video call helps me understand the situation with the other neighbors, but it also puts me under their watchful eyes. What I'm about to do isn't something I want them to see."

Covering the camera, Gao Ming pushed open the living room door and stepped into the hallway.

He sprinted as fast as he could, but even after reaching the seventh floor, there was no sign of Li Li.

"Something's wrong! Li Li is carrying a child. Even if she left a few seconds before me, there's no way she could have reached the seventh floor faster than I did!"

A faint stench of decay filled the air. Gao Ming leaned over the railing and looked down. The lower floors were pitch-black, eerily silent, as lifeless as Zhao Xi's murdered existence.

"Could they all really be ghosts?"

The sound of an argument came from his phone, prompting Gao Ming to lower the volume. He hid in the corner and checked the screen.

2409 Fang Shuqi: "I can't get out! Zhao Xi is right outside my door—he's really back!"

A resident from the fourth floor sent a video to the group chat. The footage was from his home security camera.

In the black-and-white video, Zhao Xi's twisted limbs writhed on the steps. His face scraped against the floor, and his broken neck drooped unnaturally over his shoulder.

As if sensing something, Zhao Xi's head slowly lifted. He turned toward the camera and flashed a grotesque smile before repeatedly ramming his head against the door of apartment 2409.

Just watching the footage made the neighbors' hands and feet go numb with fear, let alone Fang Shuqi, who was trapped inside.

His arm, still holding the phone, trembled violently. As the ninth knock echoed, he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Then, the sound of shattering glass filled the air, reaching every resident's ears. The video spun wildly until a heavy thud reverberated through the neighborhood.

"Thud!"

The phone, still gripped tightly in his lifeless hand, slipped downward, its camera capturing Fang Shuqi's mangled face. It appeared as if someone had pushed him from the fourth floor—his death identical to Zhao Xi's.

The screen turned crimson with blood. Even Gao Ming was momentarily startled. Pushing aside his discomfort, he ran to the end of the seventh-floor corridor, smashed the sealed window, and looked outside.

"Just as I thought!"

The video showed Fang Shuqi's corpse lying downstairs, but when Gao Ming looked down, there was nothing except a pool of blood at the entrance—no body in sight!

It was as if those neighbors only existed within the video, deliberately creating a terrifying illusion.

"There's something wrong with the video! And with the neighbors making these calls! The phone left in Zhao Xi's room might have been intentionally planted by a 'ghost'!"

A vein bulged on his forehead. If Gao Ming couldn't clear this game soon, his fate would be ten times more gruesome than Fang Shuqi's.

"In reality, there's no way Zhao Xi's phone would just be left behind in that room. After his suicide, his vampire foster mother and sister-in-law would have definitely found a way to take all of his money. After all, in the apartment Wen Xuan rented, only the most basic furniture remained—it had clearly been looted."

Covering the camera, Gao Ming examined the phone in his palm, which had belonged to the deceased. He recalled a game he had helped Wei Dayou develop for a competition years ago—"The Only Family."

The game's protagonist was a middle-aged, washed-up man. Despite his failures, he had a beautiful and gentle wife, a smart and obedient daughter, and loving parents. He frequently video-called them, and all of his connections with them existed through his phone—until one day, he saw a woman on the street who looked exactly like his wife.

He rushed over to embrace her, but she recoiled into another man's arms. From the protagonist's perspective, players began uncovering the truth, only to find that everything he had was a fabrication created by his phone. His real life was filled with despair and darkness—he had been fantasizing about another man's wife and child. In reality, his own parents had severed ties with him. His only true family was that old, broken phone.

In the end, he was the ultimate villain. He had torn away his own layers of delusion, exposing his filthy heart for all to see.

The game had three possible endings:

The man found his lost diary and medication, realizing it was his fifth time waking up. But instead of facing reality, he took the pills again, choosing to live in his fantasy for a sixth time.

In the good ending, he destroyed his phone, breaking free from his illusions. He resolved to change, reconciled with his parents, and worked hard to improve himself.

The final ending was terrifying—the man went completely insane, treating his phone as his only true family and dying with it. Later, the phone was picked up by a child who had been bullied, continuing the cycle.

(End of Chapter)

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