“No worries, no worries, keep calm and steady hands, we follow our instincts, with the camera in hand, the world is ours~”

At this very moment!

Douyin live stream, Yun Zai’s streaming room.

As a female streamer who usually plays LOL, Yun Zai was once a player who mained Angel.

But after Angel got nerfed repeatedly, Yun Zai started playing Joker and never looked back on her path to becoming a female maniac.

Her most frequent catchphrase was, “Goumi nase, I’m the maniac.”

However, today!

It seemed like this maniac was about to be sanctioned by an even more exaggerated maniac.

But!

After panting in the ventilation duct for quite a while, Yun Zai regained her composure, muttering to calm her heartbeat as she crawled toward the exit:

“All right, so I see some bros in the chat asking, ‘Yun Zai, Yun Zai, how come you’re so bold playing this game?’”

“That’s because I silently recite the Three Character Classic,”

“At the beginning of man, nature is good, not doing homework is heroic, when the teacher comes, go downstairs to find Ultraman, Ultraman, Ultraman, beat the teacher to a pulp…”

Watching Yun Zai trembling as she cautiously moved forward in the ventilation duct, the chat room was filled with laughter—

“Making up the chat barrage again, huh?”

“Hahahahaha Yun Zai has gone crazy”

“Not scared (heart rate 140)”

“Is that a proper Three Character Classic?”

“Feels like the streamer is gentle, quiet, introverted, and not talkative”

“?”

“If you’re not scared, don’t shout, that scream just lit up the motion-sensor lights in my hallway!”

“Here comes the beloved segment where the maniac gets sanctioned by another maniac again”

“Old thief: Goumi nase, I’m the real maniac”

“…”

Muttering and grumbling, Yun Zai crawled out of the ventilation duct and lightly landed on the ground, arriving at a courtyard shaped like a square ring.

The courtyard was silent.

On the inner side of the corridor was a circle of frosted glass, blurry but vaguely revealing the hospital lobby below.

On the outer side were a row of doors.

“OK bros, new scene,”

She walked a few steps forward along the quiet corridor but was blocked by a collapsed filing cabinet. Yun Zai shifted her gaze to a slightly ajar door on the right:

“Library, we should go through here to bypass the obstacle.”

While saying this, Yun Zai raised her DV camera, turned on night vision, and peered through the pitch-black door crack.

Inside the library was even more chaotic; books were scattered everywhere, and a bloody stench hit her face.

“Eh, a bit bloody, but luckily I’m streaming an 18+ channel—”

Yun Zai made a disgusted face; the blood smell in the air made her feel a bit nauseous:

“But it’s fine, I can still handle this kind of bloody horror shock,”

“At worst, it’s just a sea of blood and piles of corpses, much better than the psychological horror in PT,”

“Not scared at all, because—”

“I’m the maniac~”

Saying that!

Yun Zai pushed open the library door without hesitation!

But the next second!

Bang!!!

A piercing soundtrack suddenly blasted; a corpse hanging upside down suddenly dropped down, a gruesome dead face swung right in front of Yun Zai!

A classic door scare! Face to face!

You must know!

Before this, the horror games handled by the old thief never used the ‘door scare’ mechanic!

So almost every player had a stereotype in their minds: “Golden Wind’s horror games don’t have door scares!”

It was precisely with this mentality that pew, Pure Black, and now Yun Zai recklessly pushed open the door!

Because they thought they had figured out the old thief’s pattern!

But obviously, they were wrong!

At this moment!

Yun Zai felt like she saw heaven; her once sweet voice now sounded hoarse:

“Ahhh door scare I’m screwed—! I’m screwed ahhhhhhh!!!”

Bam!

Heart rate maxed out!

Yun Zai was kicked out of the neural link instantly!

Other players who had reached this point weren’t spared either!

No one expected!

That a horror game directed by Gu Sheng would have such a door scare!

This shocked everyone!

Screams echoed worldwide!

Players’ panic reactions were varied!

Some black guy kicked open his motion-sensing pod cover, holding his head and howling: “Fuck—fuck sour radish don’t eat! Fuck!!!”

A Korean female streamer scrambled out of her pod, collapsed on the ground crying scared: “Ah shi—ah shi ba @#￥@%@ wuwuwu!!!”

Another streamer opened her pod terrified and ‘scared streamed’ at light speed: “WDNMD I’m done, I’m done, my pod moved by itself…”

……

“Obviously, Director Gu has evolved.”

At the same time!

Inside the Daily Gaming News online conference room!

Editor-in-chief Xu Xiaolin was leisurely sipping tea, coaching his trainees one by one.

Indeed!

After years of meticulous operation and recently steering toward the rapidly growing motion-sensing pod game market,

Daily Gaming News had firmly taken the top spot in China’s comprehensive gaming media.

Its influence even extended beyond borders, ranking first in Asia.

Under such circumstances, the pressure on Editor-in-chief Xu Xiaolin naturally increased day by day.

The global gaming market was huge, with new games releasing almost daily.

During major events like the four major game expos, Asian Games, Global Developers Conference, TGA, and other international exhibitions and conferences,

many blockbuster titles were launched in bursts.

Xu Xiaolin couldn’t clone himself; it was impossible for him alone to write so many reviews and analyses.

Not to mention writing, he might not even have time to play all those games.

So, to ease this situation,

Daily Gaming News recently held an internal selection, choosing five promising and capable rookie editors for focused training.

Under the direct mentorship of Editor-in-chief Xu Xiaolin.

From five to one, those shortlisted would be promoted to assistant editor-in-chief with vice editor-in-chief benefits.

As for how Xu Xiaolin trained the rookies,

It was simple—

Play games.

Play a lot, play massively, play in huge quantities!

Because only by playing many games and gaining experience can one analyze a game’s strengths, innovations, and advantages!

Of course!

It wasn’t just pure play.

During gameplay, the rookies had to analyze the games themselves, then Xu Xiaolin would offer guidance.

And today!

With Escape and Silent Hill releasing simultaneously,

Xu Xiaolin arranged a practical lesson.

The rookie editors played, Xu Xiaolin supervised.

It was somewhat like a high school night self-study, with the homeroom teacher sitting at the podium while students came up with questions.

Now, speaking in the online conference room was Lin Xiaomeng, a rookie editor who just got confirmed earlier this year.

“Gu Sheng has evolved?”

Hearing Lin Xiaomeng’s comment, Xu Xiaolin was intrigued, thinking that this was a novel perspective.

As an experienced editor-in-chief, Xu Xiaolin knew that a game review’s popularity depended not only on professionalism but also on how fresh the perspective was.

And Lin Xiaomeng’s comment was definitely fresh.

Though he hadn’t yet heard her full evaluation, at least her angle was very eye-catching.

Xu Xiaolin nodded approvingly and gestured: “Go ahead.”

“All right, Editor-in-chief,”

Lin Xiaomeng nodded, calming herself before speaking:

“From my current experience, Escape can be considered a culmination of horror game genres,”

“It contains Gu Sheng’s signature psychological horror atmosphere,”

“Like the shadow standing by the window when first entering the giant mountain, the chaotic corridor scenes, the ubiquitous dragged bloodstains, and so on,”

“It also adds classic horror game jumpscares, such as face kills and door scares,”

“And this combination undoubtedly further enhances the game’s horror,”

“Because for players, playing a horror game is essentially a process of overcoming fear,”

“And fear comes from the unknown, so players naturally try to find the game’s horror patterns to turn the unknown into the known for self-protection,”

“In fact, this is the fundamental reason why previous horror games were gradually eliminated from the market—”

“Because players found the pattern of jumpscare-style horror, when scares became repetitive, everyone naturally grew tired of it,”

“Gu-style psychological horror broke this pattern, leaving players clueless, which is why PT was so successful,”

“However, although Gu-style psychological horror was exquisite, over time, many hardcore players also found the pattern,”

“For example—psychological horror has no jumpscares,”

“Players thought they had cracked the King of Horror’s formula again,”

“But they didn’t expect, the King of Horror’s formula had evolved,”

“This kid… the designer anticipated the players’ anticipation and fused psychological horror with jumpscares,”

“And so—”

At this point, though Lin Xiaomeng grimaced inwardly, she couldn’t help but admire Gu Sheng’s ingenious design:

“This way, players have no patterns to find,”

“All doors in the game become Schrödinger’s doors, all lights become Schrödinger’s lights, even the wandering patients in the hospital become Schrödinger’s psychiatric patients,”

“Before you open each door, find each light, or approach each patient,”

“You never know what awaits you,”

“When there’s no jumpscare, they are part of the psychological horror,”

“When not part of the psychological horror background, they become the sharp edge of jumpscares.”

Finally!

Lin Xiaomeng gave her current playing evaluation:

“Unquestionably, this is the pinnacle of horror games in nearly two decades.”

Good!

Good! Good! Good!

Lin Xiaomeng’s analysis greatly pleased Xu Xiaolin!

Seeing through the surface to the essence!

A rookie editor capable of such profound game insight truly impressed him!

Don’t be fooled by Lin Xiaomeng’s usually quiet demeanor; when it came to serious matters, she was thorough!

However!

Just as Xu Xiaolin was about to praise Lin Xiaomeng, another voice rose in the online conference room, tinged with doubt:

“Xiao Lin, your evaluation is a bit biased, right? You haven’t even played its competing game but already call it a masterpiece?”

The male speaker was Hao Xianming, about the same age as Lin, also one of the five rookie editors, who had just played Silent Hill.

Clearly, he did not agree with Lin Xiaomeng’s high praise and was somewhat dissatisfied.

“I think as reviewers, we shouldn’t be so arbitrary,”

Hao Xianming said seriously:

“Admittedly, the Silent Hill PT directed by Gu Sheng caused much discussion and was very scary,”

“But that was just a demo version, taking only about half an hour to complete,”

“Now, we’re reviewing two full games,”

“Players’ natural affection for PT leads them to cheer for Escape, which is understandable,”

“But as professionals, we shouldn’t be swayed by public opinion,”

“We should truly focus on the game itself and judge solely by game quality.”

Yes.

Hao Xianming believed Lin Xiaomeng’s high rating of Escape was due to a fan bias shared by many cheerleading players!

Previously, Hao Xianming never accepted Gu Sheng’s title of ‘King of Horror.’

If you say you’re the ‘Second Generation Father of FPS,’ I accept that.

From Left 4 Dead to PUBG, then Titanfall and APEX,

So many excellent works are there, and I, Hao Xianming, am fully convinced, even willing to respectfully call you the ‘Godfather of Shooting Games’!

That game was indeed awesome, no doubt!

But!

Calling yourself the ‘King of Horror’ is biased, isn’t it?

One multiplayer game, Phasmophobia, and one thirty-minute demo, PT.

With just one and a half games, you’re crowned ‘King of Horror’?

Hao Xianming was young and passionate but fair-minded.

He rejected this uncrowned king, believing it was purely Gu Sheng’s personal fan effect and media hype.

Now, Escape competes with Silent Hill; Golden Wind faces Komera.

From data comparisons, no matter how you look at it, Silent Hill surpasses Escape.

In experience, Komera has produced five horror games, Golden Wind only one and a half.

In investment, Silent Hill’s total budget exceeded $67 million, while Escape had only $18 million.

In market share, KMN’s motion-sensing pod dominates globally, crushing Yiyou X2 and Polar Bear 3’s combined share.

“Also, from my recent experience,”

Hao Xianming said,

“Silent Hill’s industrial quality, level design, game smoothness, and scare setups are all excellent,”

“I think as professional reviewers, we shouldn’t be influenced by external opinions,”

“Instead, we should truly focus on the game itself and use game quality as the sole evaluation criterion.”

Tsk!

Not bad!

Really not bad!

Hearing Hao Xianming, Xu Xiaolin silently praised the kid!

One was Lin Xiaomeng, with unique insight and analysis.

The other, Hao Xianming, was fair and impartial.

These were precious qualities for becoming top reviewers.

Thinking this,

Xu Xiaolin’s love for talent surged, waving his hand:

“Xiao Lin’s analysis is spot on, Xianming’s views are fair and just,”

“Since that’s the case, you two swap games,”

“Xiao Lin, try Silent Hill; Xianming, try Escape!”

“I’m waiting for your evaluations!”

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com