Weird, my gaming life

Dead silence.

A deathly silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.

The once bustling and noisy streets are now so quiet that only the sound of the wind can be heard.

And the player whose teeth were chattering.

The shattered, desiccated corpse lay quietly on the ground, like a pile of carelessly discarded junk.

Beside the corpse, the black shadow belonging to the player slowly, in a manner that defies the laws of physics, "stood up" on its own.

It is no longer a two-dimensional plane, but a humanoid figure made of pure darkness.

"Giggle giggle..."

The man in the suit was still smiling, his smile widening to the point where his lips seemed to be completely torn apart.

He watched the dark figure stand up with great interest, then extended a finger and gently beckoned it.

The shadowy figure took a step, like a puppet, stiffly walking towards the man in the suit, then obediently blending into the shadows at his feet and disappearing.

"Run!"

From within the crowd, someone let out a heart-wrenching scream.

That sound was like lighting the fuse of a dynamite barrel.

"Log out! Log out now!"

"Holy crap! Why is the logout screen not responding?!"

"This is not a game! Run!!"

Panic, like a plague, instantly engulfed the entire crowd.

The excitement and curiosity on the players' faces were completely shattered, leaving only the most primal fear.

They scattered like sheep being chased by wolves, pushing and trampling each other.

The leader of the players also wanted to run away.

But as soon as he turned around, his ankle suddenly tightened.

He looked down, his pupils contracting rapidly.

His own shadow had somehow transformed into a pitch-black rope, binding him tightly.

"No...no!"

Wei Qing was terrified.

He was closest to the sudden change, so he saw his underling's expression clearly.

That kind of pain is absolutely inhuman; this game can't be real, can it?

Just thinking about the miserable state of his underling made Wei Qing tremble all over.

He kicked it frantically, but the shadow seemed to be permanently attached to him, remaining completely still.

His henchmen behind him also screamed in terror, and their shadows came to life as well.

"Help! Boss, save me!"

The man in the suit slowly turned his head, and for the first time, his unfocused eyes "looked" at Wei Qing.

At that moment, the smile on his face became incredibly radiant.

"Welcome to the bizarre world."

He opened his mouth, his voice as soft as a lover's murmur, yet it froze Wei Qing's blood.

The next second, the shadow that was wrapped around Wei Qing suddenly exerted its strength, pulling him to the ground.

He was like a fish out of water, struggling in vain on the ground, only to be dragged along by his own shadow, inch by inch, towards that smiling devil.

"No!!"

His desperate scream was tightly muffled by another black hand reaching out from his own shadow.

Wang Hao's mind went blank.

He grabbed the terrified green-haired guy beside him and roared, "Run!"

The two of them didn't care about anything else and turned around to rush into a secluded alley.

Behind them, there were the screams of Wei Qing and the other players, and the sickening sounds of flesh being sucked away.

The sounds quickly faded and eventually disappeared completely, leaving only a deathly silence.

Wang Hao dared not turn around.

He dragged Green Hair along, frantically navigating the maze-like alleyways, his lungs burning with pain.

The surrounding buildings receded rapidly, each door and window like a peering eye, radiating cold malice.

They ran past that "martial arts school".

"Squeak—"

The once tightly closed vermilion gate had somehow opened a crack.

A warm, orange light shone through the crack in the door, dispelling a small patch of gloom in the alley.

Wang Hao paused for a moment.

Should we go in, or not?

Reason told him that this might be the only way out.

But his terrifying experience had made him wary of everything in the world.

"Walk!"

He gritted his teeth and didn't choose that door. Who knew if there was another, even more terrifying trap behind it?

He dragged Green Hair along and continued running forward, eventually plunging headfirst into a dead-end alley between two tall buildings. He pressed himself against the cold wall, panting heavily.

Green Hair was paralyzed. He slid down to the ground against the wall, holding his head, his body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind.

"Are we...are we going to die here...?" he cried, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "I don't want to die...I haven't..."

Wang Hao covered his mouth.

"Don't make a sound."

He lowered his voice, his heart pounding, and listened intently to the sounds outside.

Outside the alley, on the main street, there was no sound at all.

There were no screams, no running, and even the sound of the wind disappeared.

This extreme silence is more chilling than any scream.

Wang Hao cautiously peeked out halfway and looked towards the alley entrance.

The streets were deserted.

Apart from the dozen or so mummified corpses of various shapes on the ground and some scattered clothing, it was as if nothing had happened.

The man in the suit has disappeared.

None of the surviving players can be seen.

Wang Hao's heart had just sank when his pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw that in the distance, through the crack in the door of that "martial arts school," the orange light was still shining.

Just then.

"despair."

A soft sound.

It came from the other end of the alley.

"Tap...tap...tap..."

The sound was neither hurried nor slow, but very rhythmic, like a cane striking the black stone ground, each strike precisely hitting Wang Hao's heartbeat.

Someone is coming.

Wang Hao immediately pulled his head back, his back drenched in cold sweat.

He covered Green Hair's mouth tightly, even stopping his breathing.

The footsteps grew closer.

Finally, they stopped at the entrance of their alley.

Wang Hao saw a pair of shoes through a crack in the wall.

A pair of very ordinary black cloth shoes, slightly dusty.

The owner of the cloth shoes stood motionless at the alley entrance, seemingly sizing up the dark, dead-end alley.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at this moment.

Every second felt like torture.

Finally, the figure moved.

Instead of entering the alley, he turned around and walked in another direction.

"Tap...tap...tap..."

The footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Wang Hao's tense nerves finally relaxed. He leaned against the wall, panting heavily as if he had collapsed.

"They're gone...gone..." Green Hair's voice trembled with relief, as if he had survived a catastrophe.

Wang Hao remained silent.

He kept staring at the alley entrance until the footsteps completely disappeared into the distance.

But the unease in his heart only intensified.

Just now, in the instant that figure turned around, he saw the other person's profile.

He was a young man in a black uniform, with a cold face and an indifference in his eyes that these players couldn't understand.

Wang Hao couldn't help but shiver after just one glance.

What is going on in this world?

Why can't I force quit...?

"What...what do we do now?" Green Hair looked at him blankly.

Wang Hao took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He glanced at the depths of the alley, then at the cold moonlight at the alley entrance.

"We can't stay here."

He lowered his voice, "This place is too conspicuous; we need to find somewhere to hide."

The two supported each other and carefully walked out of the dead end.

The streets remained deserted.

But those shriveled corpses looked even more eerie under the silvery-gray moonlight.

Wang Hao kept reminding himself that this was just a game, and that it was only a game.

But the eerie atmosphere was so intense that no matter how he tried to convince himself, his heart still raced unconsciously.

After a while, Wang Hao finally arrived at the "martial arts school" with its lights on again.

This time, he did not hesitate.

Compared to the unknown darkness, that ray of light at least represents a possibility.

The two of them, one in front of the other, tiptoed across the street like thieves and arrived at the entrance of the martial arts school.

Wang Hao pressed himself against the door, held his breath, and peered through the crack in the door.

Inside the martial arts school is a spacious courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard, there were more than a dozen wooden dummy dummies. A young man dressed in black training clothes was shirtless, practicing punches and kicks on the wooden dummy dummies.

His movements were slow, yet brimming with explosive power. Each punch he threw produced a muffled boom in the air.

This scene doesn't look like something out of a "horror game" at all.

If he hadn't experienced that terrifying scene just now, he would have doubted whether this was some kind of fantasy-themed leveling game.

"Hey, is anyone inside?" Green Hair mustered his courage and called out softly.

The young man practicing his martial arts suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned around.

Wang Hao's heart was in his throat.

He was terrified that when the young man turned around, his face would be a bloody mess.