Thick fog filled the air as dust fell from the sky.

Lin Xiaomeng walked through the deserted streets of Silent Hill town, following the clues from her wife Mary's letter to find the sanatorium hotel they once stayed in together.

It had to be said, as a global gaming giant, Komera's technical prowess was truly top-notch.

Whether it was the intricate details of the dense fog or the realistic texture of the falling dust, everything was masterfully crafted to immerse players completely.

Moreover.

As Lin Xiaomeng advanced toward her destination, faint whispering voices occasionally reached her ears.

The eerie, unsettling atmosphere from PT seemed to have returned.

And as she continued forward, the whispering voices in her ears grew increasingly frequent.

Until...

Woo——!

Suddenly, air raid sirens blared through the thick fog.

As the alarm grew more piercingly loud!

Several humanoid figures gradually emerged from the increasingly dense mist, quickly closing in on Lin Xiaomeng and forcing her into a small villa behind her!

Truth be told, at this point!

Lin Xiaomeng was still quite pleasantly surprised.

She silently admitted that perhaps Hao Xianming had a point in disagreeing with her earlier harsh assessment.

The quality of Silent Hill wasn't actually that bad.

Especially when those shadowy figures approached - the sense of dread was no less intense than in Escape!

However!

Just when Lin Xiaomeng thought Komera would surely provide some brilliant way to escape this situation!

A disappointing development occurred—

She actually found a gun in the nightstand of the master bedroom on the second floor.

And just as she loaded the bullets with a crisp "click" and chambered a round, the humanoid monsters 'coincidentally' opened the master bedroom door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out violently.

Lin Xiaomeng looked at the fallen 'living dead' monsters - some with neck wounds, others missing eyes or half their heads - and sighed softly.

The atmosphere had been so good earlier.

Whether it was her own defenseless, weaponless state,

Or the terrifying figures lurking in the fog with obscured faces,

Or the maddeningly loud, piercing alarm siren,

Komera seemed to have recaptured PT's essence in environmental storytelling.

But this outcome!

Was utterly disappointing.

The defenseless protagonist suddenly mastering American quick-draw techniques.

The mysterious shadowy figures revealing their true forms.

This frustrating feeling seemed all too familiar to Lin Xiaomeng.

Where had she seen this before?

Oh.

Lin Xiaomeng remembered.

"Approaching Science."

The show would start with wild supernatural theories and countless suspicious clues, making it seem like something paranormal was definitely happening.

But in reality: the electricity-resistant old man just had thick calluses, the ghostly wails at night were just neighbors snoring, the man vomiting blood had gum disease, and the "three years without water" miracle man was actually drinking congee every day...

Gun in hand, Lin Xiaomeng scavenged bullets from the monsters' bodies and continued deeper into town.

The subsequent gameplay could be summarized in one repetitive cycle:

Alarm sounds → monsters appear → American quick-draw → scavenge supplies → obtain clues → continue forward → alarm sounds.

There were still plenty of jump scares along the way - monsters suddenly appearing when opening doors, strange birds swooping down from the sky, etc.

But they were either too obviously staged or lacked real tension. Plus with a gun in hand, Lin Xiaomeng wasn't exactly terrified - more like calmly progressing through.

To say she wasn't disappointed would be a lie.

After all, Lin Xiaomeng had been "chased" from Mountain Mental Hospital to Silent Hill.

This contrast was truly disheartening.

It was clear Komera's team had tried hard to emulate PT's style in Silent Hill's overall atmosphere.

And they'd succeeded quite well in the opening segments.

Unfortunately, they'd only copied Gu Sheng's form without capturing the King of Horror's essence.

They knew how to use eerie tones to create a mysterious, spine-chilling opening.

But had no idea how to sustain it.

Thus, the carefully built horror atmosphere instantly collapsed.

The entire work regressed into a simple monster-shooting game filled with jump scares.

Shaking her head, Lin Xiaomeng felt she'd played enough.

"What a waste of a good start,"

Lin Xiaomeng gave her fair assessment, then clicked her tongue:

"I wonder if Hao Xianming is having fun at Mountain Mental Hospital."

...

Happy?

I'm fucking dying!

Hiding in a metal locker, Hao Xianming could hear his own heartbeat as he held his breath, not daring to make a sound!

Outside his locker stood a psychopath wielding a spiked club, twitching occasionally and muttering insane nonsense!

What the hell kind of game is this?

What mental state was Gu Sheng in when he created this?

Hao Xianming had no idea!

He only knew!

This mental hospital was wrong - seriously wrong—

Miles realized it immediately upon entering the library.

Because the place was a bloody mess, with human heads replacing books on the shelves!

From a dying soldier, Miles learned they'd come to suppress "mutants" in the asylum.

Clearly, they'd failed.

And this situation was far beyond what a mere reporter like Miles could handle.

So investigation turned to escape.

However.

Mountain Mental wasn't somewhere you could just walk in and out of freely.

As Miles quickly left the library trying to escape and call for help,

A terrifying blood-covered giant over two meters tall grabbed him and threw him from the second floor.

As he was about to lose consciousness, some crazy priest told him things like "you're sent by God" and "our savior."

Miles didn't understand, nor did he want to.

After briefly blacking out, he woke to find a keycard for the main gate, planning to swipe it at the control room and escape.

Unexpectedly.

In the basement surveillance footage, he saw that crazy priest again.

With a click!

To stop him leaving, the priest cut power to the entire asylum!

Forced into it!

Miles went to the basement, needing to find two air pumps and a main control lever in complete darkness to restore power.

Now!

Playing as Miles, Hao Xianming had just restored one air pump.

But upon exiting, he immediately encountered this spiked-club-wielding maniac!

Thankfully he reacted quickly!

Dashing back to the pump room and hiding in a locker before the psycho could reach him.

Now!

The pursuing maniac was searching the small pump room for him, his erratic, delirious mutterings occasionally audible:

"Eegh... no... sa... hmm! Hmm!"

Scrape—

Footsteps drew nearer.

Peering through the locker's vents, Hao Xianming saw by the pump indicator's faint glow that the psycho was slowly approaching his direction.

Hiss.

Overwhelming pressure made Hao Xianming tense up completely, even holding his breath!

Then suddenly—

BANG!

A tremendous metallic clang made Hao Xianming's hair stand on end!

Fuck!!!

I'm done for!!!

The psycho was checking the locker beside his!!!

For a moment, Hao Xianming felt like he might start trembling uncontrollably!

Soon, the psycho's face appeared outside the vent, peering toward Hao Xomeng's hiding place.

They were practically face-to-face, separated only by thin metal.

Scratching sounds came from outside as the psycho grabbed the locker handle.

No no no no—!!!

Don't open don't open you motherfucker—!!!

The psychological pressure nearly made Hao Xianming scream out loud!

Buzz buzz!

At this critical moment!

Some sound seemed to come from outside the door.

Hearing it, the psycho turned away, abandoning the locker to investigate.

"Holy fuck—"

"Huff— huff— huff—"

Hao Xianming practically oozed out of the locker, collapsing to the floor gasping for air.

Felt like I lived two lifetimes there!

This game is fucking terrifying!

Especially that face-to-face moment through the metal vent!

Hao Xianming felt he might go insane himself!

Nearly rushed out screaming "just fucking kill me already!"

Absolute torture!

The tension rivaled PT's infamous light-switch scare!

"Not playing anymore, once I get that other pump running I'm done, fuck this,"

After catching his breath, Hao Xianming shakily, cursingly got up from the cold floor:

"I'm going back to Silent Hill, that game might suck but at least there's guns, whoever wants this suffering can have it, I'm fucking done..."

As he spoke!

Hao Xianming opened the pump room's wooden door.

Inserting the last battery, he activated night vision and cautiously peeked outside.

The basement was dead silent.

No sign of the psycho in the pitch darkness.

Creak—

Slowly opening the door, Hao Xianming slithered out like an eel.

Crouching low, moving stealthily.

Down the corridor past one, two, three rooms.

None were pump rooms, but most contained notes and files.

This design delighted Hao Xianming.

Brilliant!

Unlike Silent Hill's straightforward mission-like information collection,

In Escape, Gu Sheng fragmented the story, scattering it as notes and files everywhere.

Collecting these fragments gradually revealed Mountain Mental's dark secrets.

From what he'd gathered so far:

The Murkoff Corporation's horrific human experiments under asylum cover were undeniable.

Their goal seemed to be developing invincible human weapons.

Purpose unclear.

But their main project was something called "Walrider."

Tucking away the files, Hao Xianming steadied himself.

No wonder Golden Wind didn't position themselves as villains this time.

The actual antagonists here were too inhuman.

Hao Xianming also sensed even more depraved secrets behind these insane experiments.

But!

Now wasn't the time for speculation.

As the corridor's last door opened.

Faint red indicator lights appeared before Hao Xianming.

"Yes!"

He quietly cheered with a fist pump.

Found the second air pump.

Restart this, then head to the main console to pull the lever, and power would be restored.

Thinking this.

Hao Xianming didn't hesitate, stepping forward to hit the pump button.

Thump!

Buzz—!!!

The pump reactivated as Hao Xianming quickly opened the door to check if the noise attracted the psycho.

But!

As the door opened—

[GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING AHEAD!!!]

"AAAAAH FUCK YOUR ANCESTORS—!!!"

Jackpot!

The psycho was right in his fucking face!!!

Hao Xianming had never screamed so horrifically in his life!

A primal shriek!

Before it even finished—

Whoosh—!!!

The spiked club swung violently!

Nail-studded metal smashed into his head!

Hao Xianming's vision instantly turned red!

Staggering back, he collapsed to the floor.

The psycho charged in!

Seeing the screaming maniac raising his club again, Hao Xianming scrambled up like mad!

Playing ring-around-the-rosy with the pump before bolting for the door!

Run!

Now!

Run for your life!!!

A desperate chase erupted through the basement!

Whoosh! Thud! Roooar—!!!

The psycho's howls and missed swings echoed behind!

"Fuck you! Fuck you motherfucker!!!"

Hao Xianming's curses filled the dark corridor!

Crash! Thump! Bang!

Vaulting low walls, dodging pipes, squeezing through gaps!

Hao Xianming didn't care how many times he fell or got up, just desperately fleeing!

He didn't dare look back - didn't need to!

The psycho's roars pursued him relentlessly!

Screech—!!!

Crash!

With his DV camera dead, Hao Xianming tripped over an unseen low wall and went flying!

Ignoring the pain, he immediately rolled up and dashed toward the main console.

Now!

The psycho had reached the low wall, clambering over while swinging his club!

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck—"

Frantic, Hao Xianming grabbed the main lever, straining with all his might to pull it up!

As the psycho cleared the wall charging toward him!

"Get the fuck— UP!!!"

Clang!

Whooo—buzz—!!!

Power restored!

Yellow basement lights flickered on!

Seeing the psycho almost upon him, Hao Xianming didn't wait, releasing the lever to sprint for the exit!

Through the door, up to the first floor, until the psycho's roars faded behind!

Thud!

Exhausted, Hao Xianming collapsed!

[Beep! Detected abnormal heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and mental stability. For your health, automatic disconnection initiated...]

After a silent moment, Hao Xianming's near-death voice emerged from the motion pod—

"King of Horror... King of Horror..."

"Don't even need to be King of Horror..."

"You can be my fucking dad..."

"Christ..."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com