Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 164: Killing Yourself With Your Own Hands

In an instant.

Pew's surroundings fell silent.

It was as if he had been completely isolated from the world.

The bustling exhibition hall from monts ago now seed like a dream.

A hollow, illusory low-frequency sound lingered faintly in his ears.

This empty noise was so soul-shaking, almost hallucinogenic, making it impossible to tell whether the lively exhibition was reality or if this desolate, silent place was the truth.

Like Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly, or the butterfly dreaming of being Zhuangzi.

After signing nurous disclair clauses, confirming content, and passing a health scan...

Relying on instinct, Pew moved his arm slightly.

His fingers touched the rough, icy concrete floor.

The cold seed to seep into his very bones.

Once before, when returning ho after being away for over a month for an event, Pew had touched the cold wall and felt this sa bone-chilling emptiness.

The entire house had felt dead, devoid of any vitality.

With a shudder!

Pew opened his eyes.

A dim fluorescent tube flickered above him, emitting a faint buzzing sound.

Sitting up, Pew found himself in a cramped storage room.

The space wasn't large, with low ceilings and dark corners that made him reluctant to look around.

Before him stood a slightly ajar wooden door.

An inexplicable sense of oppressive panic made Pew take a deep breath:

"Emmm—okay, we... should probably go through this door."

With that!

Pew stepped toward the sole wooden door.

After a brief pause: "Surprise!"

Based on his understanding of horror gas, this was the perfect spot for a jump scare.

After all, with only one door in the entire storage room, it would be a waste not to include one.

Having played countless horror gas, Pew knew the developers' tricks all too well.

And indeed, nearly all horror gas followed this pattern.

Creak—

But unexpectedly.

The old wooden door groaned as it opened, revealing a narrow hallway before Pew.

No anticipated jump scare, no other frightening elents.

Just a simple door opening to an ordinary corridor.

A wall lamp on the left provided dim lighting, barely enough to see the path ahead.

The hallway wasn't long, with a window visible at the end.

Outside, occasional lightning flashed as rain pattered against the glass, accompanied by that persistent hollow sound, making one wonder if they were the last human in this world.

"What?"

The unexpected calm actually made Pew uncomfortable:

"Nothing at all?"

As he spoke, Pew stepped into the hallway.

And at that mont.

Click.

"Wooo! Holy shit—!"

Pew jumped at the sound of the door automatically closing behind him.

Since Pew was attending this exhibition under UTube's commission, he was currently live-streaming.

Viewers' laughter floated through the chat—

'Hahahaha he actually got scared by a door closing'

'Unexpected small sounds creating jump scare effects'

'This ga's environnt is so oppressive'

'Narrow and cramped, really uncomfortable'

'Could people really live here long-term without developing depression?'

'Sothing feels off about this ga but I can't pinpoint what'

'Psychological horror—Sam's specialty'

'......'

As viewers comnted, Pew steadied himself.

He pressed his face close to the wall.

The pale paint was slightly rough, with visible texture and fine cracks from years of wear.

Kneeling down, he examined the floor.

A thin layer of dust covered the wooden boards, with wear patterns nearly indistinguishable from reality.

"My god..."

Pew couldn't help but murmur:

"This ga's graphics might be the most advanced I've ever seen,"

"I can't even call them 'ga graphics' because... it feels like another world entirely."

The oppressive atmosphere, cramped space, and hyper-realistic visuals.

Everything combined to raise Pew's blood pressure.

That vague sense of dread clung to him like a shadow.

It had to be admitted.

SamGu's mastery of atmosphere was among the best in the gaming world.

"Whew—"

Pew exhaled deeply:

"Alright alright, let's see what secrets this villa hides."

With that.

Pew began walking forward.

Thud, thud, thud...

His shoes made dull sounds against the wooden floor.

The hallway lighting remained dim. A wall niche on the right held a potted plant and digital clock displaying [23:59].

As Pew approached the hallway's end, faint radio static ca from around the corner—

[Static... On the day of the incident, the father retrieved a shotgun from his trunk... static...]

[After lunch... while his wife cleaned the kitchen... static... shot her in the head...]

"Oh—that sounds awful—"

Pew grimaced.

A shotgun to the head.

He could already imagine the bloody, brutal scene.

Reaching the corner, Pew saw cabinets to his left, cluttered with dications and three photo fras.

Examining the dicine bottles, Pew found they contained sedatives with tranquilizing components.

The three fras showed: the house's male owner, his pregnant wife, and a family photo with their young daughter.

The family of three was about to beco four, appearing quite happy.

Turning the photos over,

The rain outside seed to intensify.

Pew set the fra down and looked the other way.

Turning right at the corner revealed another narrow hallway.

However, this one connected to a foyer midway, appearing slightly more spacious.

Passing a temporarily locked door at the corner, Pew reached the foyer.

The radio broadcast he'd heard earlier ca from a device on the foyer cabinet.

It continued—

[Static... And last month... another family of three... was brutally murdered in the sa way...]

[The suspect used a rifle... and a cleaver... to kill his daughter... then tortured and killed his pregnant wife in the bathroom...]

[When police found the suspect... he sat in his car repeatedly calling his wife Lisa's na... insisting demons possessed him...]

[Confird ntally unstable... under further treatnt...]

After this broadcast, the radio lost signal, leaving only faint static.

Creak—

Creak—

A ceiling lamp swayed unnaturally without wind, its old hinges groaning.

Pew felt cold air rise from his feet to his scalp!

"NONONONO... please... no..."

Raising his hands, Pew stiffly turned to look at the hallway corner—

Where he'd just seen that family photo.

The husband, young daughter, and pregnant wife.

Instantly!

Goosebumps covered Pew's body.

The live chat similarly gasped—

'What the fuck! Who writes such twisted plots?'

'So this is the cri scene?'

'God this is hellish...'

'A child and pregnant wife... oh... dear God look what this designer created...'

'This is deeply unsettling'

'Hahaha Pew's heart rate just hit 120'

'......'

Indeed!

At this mont!

Pew felt his heart pounding!

Though he hadn't encountered a single jump scare yet in this villa!

Sam's environntal storytelling and eerie atmosphere had his heart rate and blood pressure skyrocketing!

Rainy night, murder house, narrow corridors, dim lighting, swaying lamps.

Whether hallucination or not,

After hearing the radio broadcast, Pew kept detecting a faint blood scent in the air.

Even worse!

In his blind spots, sothing seed to be watching him.

The sensation was like turning suddenly to find nothing, unaware that the ghost of the murdered pregnant woman had been clinging to his back all along.

As the saying goes, human imagination creates the greatest fear.

Sam understood that human imagination is the most terrifying.

Now, this house made Pew feel like a demon constantly whispering in his ear—there's a ghost here, there's a ghost here, there's a ghost here...

But!

When would the ghost appear? Unknown.

What form would it take? Unknown.

Where was it now? Unknown.

Perhaps at the next door opened, the next corner turned, the next glance back, or even in an accidental mirror reflection.

It would eventually appear in so unexpected way.

Maybe in ten minutes. Maybe the next second.

"Fvvvvvk!"

Pew's goosebumps hadn't subsided since they appeared!

This omnipresent pressure kept him in constant nervous tension.

Rubbing his chest, Pew muttered: "My ** has been tense, making uncomfortable. I need to leave now."

The front door wouldn't open—he'd already tried.

So Pew hurried through the foyer onward.

Opening the wooden door at this hallway's end revealed descending stairs.

Without hesitation, Pew quickly descended and pushed open the door at the bottom.

Looking up!

Before him stretched a hallway with dim wall lamps, lightning flashing outside the end window, and a wall niche on the right holding a potted plant beside a digital clock displaying—

[23:59]

Silence.

Dead silence!

Pew froze completely, unable to move or make a sound.

Viewers flooded the chat with confusion:

'Wait? Is the stream frozen?'

'Rewound? Why are we back at the beginning?'

'UTube engineers really need to fix their servers—lagging and rewinding? Is this prerecorded?'

'No... no no friends! This isn't lag! Nor a rewind!'

'Pew's heart rate! Holy shit! Pew's heart rate keeps rising!'

'So???'

'So this is...'

"I... went back?!"

At that mont!

After prolonged stiffness, Pew spoke again, proving this wasn't technical failure.

His voice brimd with disbelief and terror!

"What the hell...?"

Pew felt his breathing grow more strained.

I clearly circled this entire hallway already?

How did going downstairs bring back here?

"Wrong... this is wrong friends..."

Pew stepped forward, heart rate hitting 130, breathing uneven, voice clearly panicked:

"I'm back again, this place is really starting to unsettle ..."

Speaking rapidly!

Pew quickened his pace!

The familiar potted plant, familiar ti, familiar sedatives, familiar family photo.

The identical radio broadcast played again, the foyer lamp still swaying and creaking without wind!

Pew walked faster and faster, rushing downstairs to push open the door!

Click!

The sa long hallway.

Sa dim wall lamps.

Sa thunderstorm outside.

Sa eternal 23:59.

"Holy shit... holy shit! Shit! Fuck!!!"

"What the hell is happening?!"

"I've circled this place three fucking tis now!"

"How the fuck do I get out? Can soone tell how to leave this damn house?! Fuck!!!"

This ti

Pew couldn't take it anymore!

Each repeated loop watered the seeds of fear!

The sprouting vines of terror grew wildly, instantly constricting his heart!

Clearly!

This demo's setting was just this infinitely looping hallway!

But!

Though each loop appeared identical,

Players could distinctly sense the house changing with each cycle!

Whether the increasingly scratched digital clock display.

Or the more haphazardly placed dicine bottles and scattered pills.

The gradually appearing, multiplying disgusting cockroaches.

Or the family photo where the husband's eyes grew more murderous while his wife and daughter's mouths turned downward toward weeping!

Even!

"The blood scent... holy shit..."

Pew now felt tingling in his fingertips!

"At first it was so faint I thought I imagined it,"

"But now I clearly sll blood coming from around that corner!"

Pew's mind buzzed as he struggled to breathe deeply!

"I can feel this infinite hallway changing,"

"The initial peace and warmth were just facades,"

"As I progress through these loops, the truth hidden in this haunted house slowly reveals itself,"

"Fuck..."

Here, Pew cursed viciously!

"Sam is a complete psychopath,"

"He's using psychological layers to make everyone believe they're trapped in an inescapable murder house,"

"You can only move forward,"

"And what awaits you is unimaginable ultimate horror!"

"I'm like a driver on a collapsing mountain road—I know there's a cliff ahead, but the path behind keeps crumbling, forcing onward!"

This was psychological horror's brilliance!

It never relied on simple jump scares.

It constructed environnts and atmospheres that made your own imagination run wild, forcing you down fear's path at breakneck speed!

Then!

Making you kill yourself with your own hands!