“This is ridiculously eerie…”

Shark Live platform, Ayin’s live stream room.

After briefly testing the DV camera’s night vision, Ayin immediately shut off this creepy feature.

“I hope it at least gives me some light once I’m inside,”

Ayin looked visibly nervous to the naked eye:

“I really don’t want to use this feature. I’ve got psychological trauma from it.”

It turned out,

When Ayin was a child, his family once bought a DV camera.

“That thing was quite expensive back then. I was little, and my parents wouldn’t let me play with it because they were afraid I’d break it,”

“But you know how kids are—the more you forbid them from something, the more they want to try it,”

“So one night, when the adults were asleep, I sneaked out of bed and secretly grabbed the DV,”

“I didn’t know how to operate it at all, just fiddled around and turned on the night vision, exactly like what we just saw,”

“I played around with the DV inside the house,”

“Wandering around, I ended up outside my parents’ bedroom door,”

“The lights were off,”

“I lifted the DV up and saw my dad standing at the bedroom door,”

“You know, the night vision on those DV cameras makes a person’s eyeballs glow super bright,”

“I saw my dad’s whole face glowing this sickly green, his eyeballs shining like two light bulbs, just standing there staring at me,”

“I nearly lost my mind from fear, had nightmares for a whole week, ran a fever up to 39 degrees Celsius,”

“Seriously, don’t laugh, it’s a true story. No kidding.”

Even now!

Ayin shuddered recalling that dark episode.

To put it bluntly,

The night vision of those older DV cameras would make people look like reanimated corpses.

The viewers burst out laughing—

‘Looking forward to the reenactment!’

‘Perfect replication is impossible though, because Dong An’s parents? No way I’m meeting them!’

‘Hahahahaha, too hilarious!’

‘Filial piety shines through!’

‘Looks like the Boss is trapped today; the old devil must have designed this thing for a reason.’

‘The old devil definitely knew this thing makes people look super eerie, designed it on purpose.’

‘This person is seriously spooky, he totally gets what scares people.’

‘Indeed, using night vision DV on a mental hospital—I’m curious where the old devil got his inspiration.’

‘You never know what weird stuff designers watch every day.’

‘Hahahahaha…’

‘…’

Amidst the viewers’ excited chatter,

The car door creaked open.

Ahead was the pitch-black, chilling Mountain Mental Hospital.

Next to the security barrier was a guardhouse.

At this moment,

The mental hospital was deathly silent.

The night wind rustled the bushes, making soft shushing sounds.

As far as the eye could see, not a single living thing stirred.

No people.

Not even a ghostly shadow.

Yet!

Ayin felt like someone was watching him.

Pocketing a battery scavenged from the guardhouse, the Boss stepped toward the tightly closed main gate.

The gate was shut tight, without a single gap.

Fortunately, the small door beside it wasn’t locked.

Creak—

A grating metal sound rang out. The game’s detail was so meticulous that Ayin could even feel the rust flakes on the gate.

“Holy crap… is anyone even here?”

Ayin looked up.

Before him stood a massive Gothic building, towering in the darkness.

Like an indescribable entity sitting silently in the pitch-black night.

The black windows were its eyes.

And at this moment, it silently loomed in the wilderness, scrutinizing the visitor.

Ayin raised his camera, planning to capture this bizarre, sinister structure.

But inadvertently, he noticed a light.

It was a window on the third floor, left side of the hospital.

Out of the entire dead, lifeless hospital, only that one window was lit.

Curious, Ayin aimed the DV camera lens at the window.

The next second,

Ayin felt his heart skip a beat.

Because inside that window was a human silhouette.

And that silhouette was staring right back at him.

“Ah crap, no way!”

Ayin was jolted with terror!

Hair-raising!

…

Not just him!

Even Shen Miaomiao, watching outside the screen, felt a chill crawl down her spine!

She instinctively leaned closer to the ‘source of fear’, Gu Sheng.

The atmosphere was bone-chilling!

Originally, being caught while secretly observing would be alarming.

What’s stranger is, you think you are the observer, but in fact, you are the one being watched.

As Nietzsche said: When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

The next second!

The dark silhouette turned away from the window.

The last faint glow vanished.

‘Nooooo!!!’

The viewers all got goosebumps!

‘Don’t make games like this!’

‘Who the hell dares go in?’

‘I’m out, guys! First thing I did was buy it, stayed ten minutes in the guardhouse, then chose to watch the livestream instead!’

‘Hahaha, smart choice.’

‘Outlast(×) Guard Simulator (√)’

‘This is brutal, the old devil is clearly telling you there’s someone in the asylum, dare you enter?’

‘The old devil loves teasing us with danger beforehand, so you’re always on edge!’

‘The Boss is silent now.’

‘Sweating yet, brother?’

‘Are you sweating or not? Just admit it!’

‘Hahaha’

…

“Whew—yeah, a bit sweaty, but it’s actually okay…”

Meanwhile!

On Pure Black’s little Bilibili live stream.

The Young Master took a deep breath, calming his nerves.

The previous peek had sent a chill through him.

But!

Having been baptized by PT before,

Pure Black was mentally prepared for the horror level in a game made by the old devil.

“This is way friendlier than Lisa’s lights-out kill.”

“Xiao Huang probably dialed things down a bit this time.”

“The PT horror level was too high before, so the first-day clear rate was super low.”

“But this time, it’s a full game. Too much horror not only hurts completion rate but sales too…”

As he spoke,

After confirming the locked main door, Pure Black turned left.

He slipped through a hole in the fence and entered the hospital’s backyard, then parkoured up scaffolding to a wide-open window.

“Phew—alright.”

Standing beneath the window, Pure Black took a deep breath:

“Let’s start the investigation.”

Saying that,

Pure Black grabbed the windowsill with both hands, stepping on the building’s decorative ledge, and climbed inside Mountain Mental Hospital.

Pitch dark.

Beep beep—

He turned on the DV. The sickly green image in the viewfinder made Pure Black mutter “creepy.”

This room was pitch black!

Even with DV night vision on, visibility was very limited!

Plus, the dense noise dots and eerie green tint shrank Pure Black’s visual range drastically!

Carefully panning the camera, Pure Black noticed the room looked trashed, as if ransacked.

A file cabinet lay toppled on the left, scattering papers everywhere.

The desk on the right was flipped, the desk lamp shattered on the floor.

Ahead was a blurry sofa.

Beyond the sofa, a door gap.

Yes, although his view was short, the night vision made any light source extremely noticeable.

“There’s light. That’s good…”

Light always brings a sense of safety.

Thinking that, Pure Black groped his way toward the door.

Creak—

The floorboards were old, creaking softly underfoot.

Moving slowly through the noisy narrow night vision, Pure Black reached the sofa.

However!

Just as he tried to go around it,

With the DV’s view angle shifting—

A deeply lined, corpse-like face appeared right in the center of his screen.

In an instant!

Fear gripped him like invisible hands squeezing his throat!

Pure Black opened his mouth in the motion-sensing pod but couldn’t utter a sound!

Yes!!!

Restricted by the DV’s narrow field of view in night vision mode!

He had thought the room was empty and dark!

But actually, a mental patient had been sharing the room with him!

Sitting right at the edge of the sofa!

Now!

Their eyes met!

Just like Ayin said earlier!

Under night vision, a person’s eyes shine like light bulbs!

Pure Black felt his hair stand on end!

It was like when you finish washing your hair, looking up in the mirror, only to find someone behind you you didn’t know was there.

The next second!

Snap—!!!

Suddenly!

The TV on the wall turned on by itself!

Static covered the screen, screeching loudly in the pitch-black room!

The patient seemed instantly enraged!

He raised his fist and punched Pure Black’s face!

“Ah wah ula #￥…@#￥!!!”

Pure Black’s head rang!

The screen instantly turned blood red!

A scream pierced the livestream:

“Holy crap—!!!”

“No no no no no—holy crap holy crap holy crap!!!”

The eerie silence shattered instantly!

Pure Black panicked and bolted!

He dodged past the lunatic, flung open a slightly lit door, and slammed it shut behind him, locking the patient inside!

Outside the door was a hallway!

Empty, under dim yellow lights, the walls were stained with shocking bloodstains!

The hallway was chaotic, with metal cabinets and bookshelves toppled, files scattered everywhere!

Clearly!

A bloody riot had just occurred here!

Why was it so blood-soaked?

What had happened before?

What secrets lay hidden in this eerie mental hospital?

Pure Black had no answers!

Because now!

He had no time to think!

Click!

He heard the door behind him open!

The patient had twisted the handle and came after him again, fists swinging!

Mumbling and shouting crazily!

“Wuwuwu eh ah—! Li—sa!!!!”

“Sorry—”

“I’ll kill you! Kill you! Kill you!!!”

Pure Black exploded!

He seemed to know who this lunatic was!

Damn it!

There could be no coincidence like this!

The madman behind him was the same man who killed Lisa in Silent Hill!

He had been arrested by the police and declared mentally ill!

So!

He was sent here, Mountain Mental Hospital, for treatment.

This dark twist of fate both terrified and amused Pure Black!

In a panic, Pure Black sprinted to the end of the hallway!

Here, another door was ajar!

Bang!

He slammed it open, shut it behind him, and looked up!

It was a bathroom!

Blood splattered all over the mosaic tiles, dyeing the entire restroom a bloody red!

Near the ceiling, the ventilation grate had been pried open; the cover lay on the floor, and debris was piled up, as if someone had desperately tried to escape through there.

No time to hesitate!

Footsteps and furious shouts grew louder behind him!

Pure Black took a running start and leapt, stepping on a fallen wooden plank, grabbing the vent’s edge.

“Hey!”

With effort, he climbed into the ventilation duct.

The next second!

Bang!

The bathroom door was violently kicked open!

The lunatic stormed in, cursing, pacing around.

Not spotting Pure Black, he gave up and left.

“Holy crap!!!”

Seeing the lunatic leave,

Pure Black finally exhaled!

He collapsed inside the vent like a rag doll!

At the same time, the chat barrage exploded!

‘Thanks for the great show!!!’

‘Now I see why it’s called Outlast! Real outlast indeed!’

‘Old devil: I put the gameplay right in the title, isn’t it obvious?’

‘Holy crap!!! This game is so intense!!!’

‘Low blood pressure patients are blessed now!’

‘Yeah, they’ll go straight to high blood pressure, right?’

‘Got it. The core concept of this game is: don’t let me catch you, or you’re screwed!’

‘This is way scarier than Silent Hill! That lunatic’s face right in the viewfinder almost sent me off!’

‘It’s 8:15 PM Zhongjing time. I turned all the lights on at home early for New Year.’

‘I’m not scared at all. I just cover myself with a blanket—fear resistance +99.’

‘Then I roll over and find someone under the blanket (dog head emoji).’

‘Look closely—oh, it’s Lisa (dog head emoji).’

‘What a coincidence! Lisa’s husband in Mountain, Lisa in your blanket. That’s life’s strange encounters!’

‘Are you guys human? I live alone!!!’

‘Ahhhh, I’m seeing this in my head! You guys must be dogs! The old devil’s psychosis is contagious, even the players’ minds are unstable!!!’

‘…’

With a thunderclap at the start!

Global Outlast—

Starts Immediately!!!

-----------------

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com