You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

That voice was so gentle.

She was as gentle as when her mother was alive, on a winter afternoon, carrying a bowl of hot soup, gently pushing open his bedroom door, and playfully asking him why he was secretly playing games again.

Lin Xiaoshuai's mind went blank for three seconds at that moment.

Reason told him that this was a game, it was fake.

It was that dog called "Good Guy" who planned and meticulously designed this trap.

But the torrent of emotions breached the dam of reason.

He hadn't heard that voice for ten years.

Since his mother passed away from illness, this voice only exists in the folds of his cerebral cortex, occasionally ringing in his dreams, leaving only an empty sense of loss upon waking.

"mom……"

He almost instinctively uttered the word from his throat.

Lin Xiaoshuai managed to remain silent, thus avoiding violating the first half of rule four: conversation is prohibited in the carriage.

"Oh, silly child." The female voice behind him pretended to have heard him, with a hint of indulgent laughter.

"You're still running around outside so late, aren't you tired? Did you take the wrong route? Why aren't you home yet?"

"Home……"

Lin Xiaoshuai's eyes reddened as he stared intently at the road ahead, blurred by the rain, gripping the steering wheel even tighter.

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to turn back.

Even though he knew it was just a game, he still wanted to look back.

Even just a glance, that figure that only exists in memory.

Or rather, it was precisely because it was a game that he couldn't help but want to look back.

"I'll just take one look, just one look..."

Lin Xiaoshuai said to himself.

This idea grew wildly like weeds, instantly taking over all his thoughts.

He even forgot the second half of rule four: if you hear someone calling your name from behind, don't turn around.

Although the voice didn't call his name, the nature of the voice was the same.

His neck, like a rusted gear, began to turn extremely slowly to the left and back.

He's made up his mind.

He wanted to look through the driver's side window at the reflection inside the car.

In that case, it wouldn't count as turning back, right?

Lin Xiaoshuai comforted himself in this way.

His neck turned thirty degrees, then forty-five degrees.

Out of the corner of his eye, he finally caught sight of the rearview mirror that reflected the interior of the carriage.

It's empty.

There was nothing in the rearview mirror.

There was no gentle woman, no old man in a straw raincoat, and not even himself.

In the mirror, there were only rows of cold, damp, empty seats, their pale light reflected by the occasional flashes of lightning outside the window.

Lin Xiaoshuai's heart sank.

Something is wrong!

Something is extremely wrong!

He instantly snapped back to reality and realized he had made a fatal mistake.

Lin Xiaoshuai suddenly turned around and looked straight ahead again.

But it was too late.

Just as he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of the very edge of the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye.

It's not empty there.

In the rearview mirror, the carriage that should have been empty was now full of people.

One by one, the "passengers," pale-faced and soaking wet, sat stiffly in their seats.

Their eyes were empty and black.

Their heads were all turned in unison towards the driver's seat, staring intently at the back of Lin Xiaoshuai's head.

Lin Xiaoshuai's blood seemed to freeze at that moment.

He tried to loosen his grip on the steering wheel and escape from the driver's seat, but found that his hands and feet were completely out of his control.

Just then, he heard that gentle female voice again.

This time, the voice didn't come from behind him, but right next to his right ear.

"Kid, you need to watch your road carefully while driving."

"How can you... look around like that?"

A cold, damp breath, carrying a strong, fishy smell, brushed against his neck.

Lin Xiaoshuai's pupils shrank to the size of dangerous pinpoints.

A pale, swollen hand, with black grime stuck under its fingernails, slowly emerged from the gap in the back of the driver's seat.

That hand gently covered his eyes.

It's getting dark.

"It's time to sleep."

Before my eyes, I was plunged into complete darkness.

At the same moment, the screen in Lin Xiaoshuai's live stream also turned completely black.

Immediately afterwards, a huge and twisted character for "death" written in blood filled the entire screen.

[Connection interrupted]

Player "Lin Xiaoshuai" is dead.

The viewers in the live stream were momentarily stunned, and several people flooded the chat with comments.

[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! I was so scared I threw the headband away!]

What was that just now? What was that in the rearview mirror?!

[That hand! I saw it! It came out from behind the seat!]

This game is unplayable! Absolutely unplayable! It's a game that manipulates people's minds!

[Waaaaah, it's scary, but Xiao Shuai must have been terrified when he heard that mother's voice...]

……

Hao Ren smiled as he reaped another wave of shock points.

Can you pass the level simply by following the surface-level rules?

That's incredibly naive!

Are you brave?

Do you have strong mental fortitude?

But you always have a weakness.

There's always that one voice that can make you instantly let down your guard.

"This generation of players is still too young."

Hao Ren shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of elegant regret.

After all, he's such a good person!

……

Lin Xiaoshuai's "instant death" video then spread, with each headline more horrifying than the last.

Shocking! The Federation's Number One Filial Son Was Instantly Killed by His Own Mother!

The fastest death legend on the "Midnight Bus"! Three minutes to make a man turn around for her!

In-depth analysis: The psychological manipulation tactics employed by "good people"—do you dare to watch and listen?

For a time, the popularity of "Midnight Bus" even seemed to be surpassing that of "Reincarnation".

Countless players who considered themselves brave, with the mentality of "I don't believe in this evil," boarded this death bus one after another.

Then, cries of despair filled the land.

"Brothers, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I just got on the bus, and at the very first stop, a legless guy got on, crawling on the ground, and he put an eyeball in my coin! I immediately backed out, and my heart is still pounding!"

"Who the hell was that upstairs? I was driving to the third stop when a guy got on, clutching his head! And he was even smiling at me! I fucking threw up my dinner right there and then!"

"Rules-based kills! This game is all about rules-based kills! I just glanced in the rearview mirror and some long-haired thing dragged me out of the mirror! I died a horrible death!"

"I followed the rules! I kept my eyes straight ahead the whole time, but the sixth platform was empty, so I drove straight through it. Then the 'passengers' in the car rioted and tore me apart! Later I found out that an empty platform meant 'stop here forever'!"

The official forum of the Nebula platform is almost entirely filled with players' tearful stories about "Midnight Bus".

This "short thriller" game, which lasts only 15 minutes per round, created a higher player mortality rate than Reincarnation in less than an hour after its release.

But while most players were being tormented by various fancy rules and tricks, a streamer with the ID "Old Driver Take Me With You" managed to withstand the pressure.

The veteran driver is a hardcore horror game enthusiast, known for his AI-like composure and absolute adherence to the rules.

The atmosphere in his live stream was extremely tense.

When faced with an old man in a straw raincoat tossing in ghost money, he remained unfazed and even nodded politely.

He ignored the heads rolling around in the carriage, as if they were just a ball.

Despite hearing the voice that sounded exactly like his first love calling out to him, his heart rate didn't even falter, and he remained firmly on the steering wheel.

"Passengers, please sit tight and hold on, and do not disturb the driver."

He even spoke calmly to the empty carriage.

This move left the viewers in the live stream in awe.

[Holy crap! Is this a human or a ghost? That guy's mental fortitude is incredible!]

[That driver was awesome! He remained calm even when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him!]

He genuinely seems to treat those ghosts like ordinary passengers; that mindset is unbeatable!

Time passed by, second by second.

Yi Kunzhong.

Two Kunzhong bells.

Five Kunzhong.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on the experienced driver's forehead, but he remained absolutely focused.

The "passengers" in the carriage also seemed to become irritable because of his "unyielding attitude".

The eerie sounds grew louder and louder, and even cold fingers began to touch the back of his neck.

But he always kept in mind rule number eight: no matter what happens, your hands must never leave the steering wheel.

at last.

【00:15:00】

The countdown of the Six Heavenly Bells ended, and all the eerie sounds in the carriage vanished instantly.

The experienced driver let out a long sigh of relief, almost collapsing into the driver's seat.

"I...I cleared the game?" the veteran driver asked uncertainly.