Creating a zombie in a mountain village terrifies players worldwide.

Chapter 49, horror plus romance—what kind of theme is that?!

One day passed quickly.

Today is Friday.

Once today is over, working people will have to say goodbye to their beloved jobs and wait for the day they can meet again next week. Students will also reluctantly part ways with their classrooms, looking forward to the moment they can see each other again next week.

However, amidst this atmosphere of deep affection, a major event was quietly taking place.

That's O5's voting rankings, which have undergone a huge change!
When the players woke up, they felt like the sky had fallen!

Nothing more than that the top ten voting options have all turned into... what the hell?!

[A male-oriented romance horror game.] 1547851 votes

[A horror game for girls.] 1530044 votes

[A beautiful girl romance horror game.] 1504874 votes

[18+ Pure and Terror Horror Game.] 1499987 votes

[A horror game where the female lead is a high school girl (JK) and has a passionate romance.] 1487742 votes

[The Terrifying High School Girl Horror Game.] 1480014 votes

【.】

[A hospital and school-themed adventure horror game.] 10024 votes

When the players saw these options, they were completely stunned.

Players who wanted to play serious horror games were stunned.

What the hell is all this?!
A terrifying romance?
These two words seem normal on their own, but when put together, what kind of inappropriate language is this? I just can't understand it!

A cute girl romance horror game? An 18+ pure yet slightly creepy horror game?
No, is this a newly coined word?

Could it be that female gamers suddenly launched an attack overnight?
Which group of 2000 girls posted this task? Wow!
Lao Tzu has such a big theme of a hospital and a school, what about it?

Where have you been for me?

Oh, they made it to 22nd place.
WTF! ?
22 people! ? ? ? ?
The players were plunged into darkness once again.

Damn, the first 21 are all about love.

What happened in just one night?!

This seemingly minor incident was quickly reposted by gaming media and editors.

The front pages of major gaming media outlets, urgent push notifications from self-media accounts, pinned hot posts in player communities, trending questions on Zhihu, and analysis and commentary on video websites...

Almost simultaneously, everyone was frantically spreading the news about this bizarre change in the rankings.

And the titles they chose were all eye-catching and provocative.

[Shocking! The voting results for the game in collaboration with Pixel Interactive Entertainment changed overnight! Players exclaimed: How did my horror game turn into a dating game?!]

[Was the O5 poll manipulated? The top 20 are all filled with "romance horror" themes!]

[Is the hardcore genre dead, and the cute genre rising? A senior editor analyzes the incompatibility between horror and romance.]

Is it a distortion of human nature or a decline in morality? A romance theme has been forcibly added to a horror game; how will renowned indie developer O5 respond?

[Players lament: We just want to play a proper horror game, why is it so hard?]

Soon, the incident of "O5 horror game being forced to have romance elements" became a trending topic on Weibo, and there were also quite a few discussions.

This left many netizens who were unaware of the facts somewhat confused.

What's going on? This is trending? They definitely bought their way onto the trending topics!
As a result, the players started discussing it.

"Isn't this definitely a marketing stunt by Pixel Interactive? They can't stand not causing some trouble when they're trying to collaborate with big companies."

"The person upstairs is oversimplifying things. Pixel Interactive Entertainment does marketing, but their methods aren't this crude. This is more like deliberately trying to disgust people."

"Agreed. Even I, a person who enjoys having fun, find it outrageous. Horror plus romance? I can't understand how those two things could be combined. Is this something a carbon-based life form could come up with? It's even more outrageous than 'authentic Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine'."

"Someone must have deliberately manipulated the numbers. The top 21 are all these ridiculous combinations, and their vote counts are ridiculously high. Do they think we're stupid?"

"This is so fake. More than 1.5 million votes? Where did so many people come from who are interested in the horror of love? It's probably some studio that bought these trolls."

"This vote was clearly rigged. I reckon O5 and the Paradox Group will definitely not accept it and will choose a new topic."

"Do you think it might be Rainbow Group's doing? Their last game was a male-oriented romance horror game, but it turned out to be a mess and was criticized by players all over the world."

"I think so too. Is this what they call internal competition? The Rainbow Team couldn't make a good game, so they're trying to force the Paradox Team to do it. Goodness, horror + romance, even O5 would be sweating bullets after seeing this, right?"

"Honestly, I'm a girl, and I'd really like to play this. I'm curious how O5 and the Paradox team will do it."

"Me too, I'm also quite curious about these abstract horror games and want to play them."

"Hey upstairs, me too. Is it possible to fall in love with a ghost? Otherwise, how can it be called a terrifying romance?"

While the Skynet players were having a heated discussion, in a small rented room...

Lin Shugang had just finished his breakfast at a leisurely pace, and there was still an empty milk glass on the table.

The phone rang at an inopportune moment, and the words "Director Yu" appeared on the screen.

He answered the phone, and his voice came through immediately.

[Good morning, Mr. Lin. There's something I need to tell you.]
[Our vote has been maliciously manipulated. The top 21 options have all been changed to a romance + horror theme, and they're now leading by a huge margin.]
This is clearly targeting our collaborative project. Don't worry, I'll handle it.
However, Lin Shu simply picked up the cup, took a sip of the remaining warm water, and then casually replied.

"Ok, I know."

[Okay, then you go ahead and get back to work. Oh? You know?]
Yu Feng on the other end of the phone paused for a few seconds. Lin Shu put down her water glass and continued speaking in a calm tone.

"When I got up at five o'clock this morning for my morning run, I glanced at my phone and that's what the leaderboard looked like."

"But I didn't pay attention. The air was nice at the time, so I just focused on my run."

“…” Yu Feng fell silent again.

No, you noticed it around 5 a.m.?
How can you remain so calm?
This situation clearly indicates that someone is targeting us!

If this were any other independent developer, they would have already called me in a panic for help. And you're actually going for a morning run?!
Yu Feng took a deep breath and continued.

“Mr. Lin, this is clearly a deliberate attempt to disgust us, and I already know who it is.”

Yu Feng knew who would do something so pointless.

Besides that petty Li Misi, who else could it be?
Last time, when Rainbow Crew made a so-called romance horror game called "They Are All Ghosts," they were bombarded with criticism from players all over the world.

Now they want to pass this controversial topic to the Paradox Group?
This tactic is truly speechless; it's ineffective and purely disgusting.

They even bought trending topics to make a big fuss and put me in the spotlight through public opinion? Are they trying to force us to do this dating horror movie?
Haha, this trick might be very effective abroad.

But in the country, sorry, I, Yu, have seen it all.

He paused, his tone calming slightly, and continued.

"Fortunately, Mr. Lin, as I emphasized in the comments section of yesterday's blog post, if any abstract or amusing options appear, we will only consider them as 'for reference'."

"This is nothing serious. I'm just calling to let you know what's going on. Don't worry about it. Leave it to me. I'll give you an answer. It won't affect you."

"Now, this poll is definitely not reliable. Should we reconsider the game theme, or start choosing from the 22 poll items?"

However, O5 suddenly spoke up on the other end of the phone.

There's no need to choose again.
Yu Feng stopped abruptly as soon as he finished speaking.

"…What?"

O5's voice remained calm, showing no emotional fluctuations.

[Let's go with this one, a horror romance.]
[I happened to be reading some reviews online before you called.]
[Although people say it's outrageous, most of them are still looking forward to us doing this kind of topic.]
[Many people are discussing it, wanting to see how we can turn this 'horror romance' into something.]
[Since games are made for players, and players have shown strong interest in this unprecedented combination, let's satisfy them and go straight for this horror romance theme.]
Yu Feng was stunned after hearing this.

No, Mr. Lin, are you serious?

Are you really going to make a horror romance game?

These two things are incompatible, like fire and water, like yin and yang. One is terrifying, and the other is sweet. Can they coexist peacefully in a game?
Horror seeks tension, fear, and unease.

Love seeks warmth, sweetness, and dependence.

These two core experiences are almost completely in conflict.

Combining these elements and getting players to buy into it... that's incredibly difficult!

Is the budget and manpower I have enough?

"Mr. Lin, please clarify first. I am not doubting your ability to develop games. I would like to ask, can horror combined with romance really work?"

On the other end of the phone, Lin Shu's voice remained calm, even carrying a faint hint of a smile.

Is it difficult?
[In my opinion, there's nothing I can't do.]
[Since someone has brought this topic to our table and asked us to do it, and the players seem so eager and want us to do it too, then for the sake of the players, let's go along with it and satisfy them.]
These words, though spoken lightly, conveyed an undeniable certainty.

Yu Feng opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't find a reason to refute it.

Perhaps in his eyes, there really is a path to achieving this seemingly impossible combination?

After a brief silence, Yu Feng seemed to have made up his mind.

“Well… alright, Mr. Lin.”

"I understand, I trust your judgment."

"If you need any resources—technology, art, sound effects, motion capture, or anything else—our Paradox team will be there immediately and fully support you!"

After hanging up the phone, Yu Feng leaned back in his chair, his brows furrowed in a frown.

He clicked on the voting page again, and looking at the comments from the players below—comments that were both expectant and absurd—he gradually became curious.

Horror plus romance...

What exactly do we need to do?
Must we really hold a rose in our left hand and a dagger in our right?

On one side, there's tender affection; on the other, screams of terror?

This scene…

Mr. Lin, you're so calm; you must be very confident...

And so, another day passed amidst the players' heated discussions and speculations.

Most players believe that this "horror romance" theme, which was maliciously uploaded, will definitely be rejected by O5 and Paradox Group.

After all, who would joke about their own reputation like that?

They are waiting for the official announcement or for the voting to be reopened.

Another day passed, and the voting ended.

The top-ranked game remains [a male-oriented romance horror game].

Just when everyone thought it was impossible to choose this topic, a notice shocked the entire internet!
(End of this chapter)