My House of Horrors

The information left on the mobile phone matched a case that had happened in real life, and this made Fan Chong fearful. “I’ve investigated all the news. According to the article, the dead body was wrapped inside a black plastic bag, the time of death was 7th September, and the dumping site was close to Li Wan City.”

“You came to find me because of this?” Chen Ge also realized the gravity of the situation. “Why didn’t you go to the police directly?”

“I don’t dare. The cases that this game is involved in is more than one.” What Fan Chong said surprised Chen Ge.

“More than one case?” Chen Ge signaled for Fan Chong to continue.

“After I controlled Xiao Bu to grab the phone, there were no more pop ups. The bus soon arrived at Li Wan City. After she got off, the woman in the red raincoat chased after her, but this time, the situation changed.” Fan Chong frowned. “This might be a small bug. After Xiao Bu handed the student’s bag to the woman, the mad woman stopped chasing her, hugged the bag like it was her child, and left.”

What Fan Chong did not understand, Chen Ge did. The owner of the bag had probably once saved the woman’s child on the bus, so when she saved the bag, she chose to let Xiao Bu go. The previous night, the same thing had happened to Xiao Go. The woman in the red raincoat was probably a Red Specter, but she was different from other Red Specters. Underneath her cruel exterior hid a heart pining for her child, and that was a strong emotion that could not be replaced.

“After the woman left, I controlled Xiao Bu to head back into Li Wan City. Without someone chasing after me, I felt so relieved, but after entering the city, I realized how naïve I was. I underestimated the madness of the game creator and underestimated the evil in people’s hearts.” Fan Chong’s eyes reddened. What happened next made him very uncomfortable.

“After dropping Xiao Bu off, the bus continued to move forward. The bus was still echoing with the sound of children laughing and crying. I have no idea where the bus was heading. From Xiao Bu’s perspective, the bus was eventually swallowed by a ball of gray mist and disappeared. I believe the bus is like a hearse for lost souls, sending them to some place.”

Fan Chong kept his voice low. Even though it was noon, the time when the sun was the harshest, he looked so cold. When he spoke, his body shivered. “After the bus left, I controlled Xiao Bu to continue walking. The fog covered the gray streets, and the buildings on both sides were pale. Walking down the road, it felt like I was travelling in a different world.

“There was no one else on the road. All the shops were closed, and each house had some white paper pasted on the door. Some weird signs were painted on them. I felt like it was some kind of nightmare. I saw something symbolic on the buildings, and everywhere I turned, there were creepy pictures.” Fan Chong slowly slipped down into fear. Other people had a hard time sharing his fear.

“Don’t worry. Just tell me what you’ve seen.” Chen Ge tried to console him.

“I controlled Xiao Bu to walk to the center of the street. Then a question popped on screen. It asked me to choose: East Street or West Street?”

“What did you choose?” To resolve the phone spirit’s wish, Chen Ge had personally been to Li Wan City. He knew the difference between East Street and West Street.

“I chose the West Street, which looked livelier.” Fan Chong chuckled bitterly. This seemed to be the moment when the nightmare started. “After making the choice, I controlled Xiao Bu to head down West Street. All the shops were closed, and I wandered about until I reached a small area.

“The place looked old as the walls were peeling. The windows on the buildings were all closed, but one could see eyes peeking out from behind the windows. This seemed to be Xiao Bu’s imagination, or perhaps there was a special meaning to it. The eyes followed Xiao Bu as she walked through the neighborhood.

“When I was controlling Xiao Bu, suddenly a chat box appeared at the bottom of the screen. ‘Xiao Bu feels like someone is watching her. The eyes are like that of a beast, a hungry beast that wants to swallow her whole.’

“Clicking the window made the chat disappear. A middle-aged man wandered out from the neighborhood. He looked unkempt and rather drunk. After the man got close to Xiao Bu, the window appeared again. ‘The man is coming over. He is holding a beer bottle, and there is a blood stain on his pants.’

“I controlled Xiao Bu to avoid the drunk, but the drunk chased after her. With no other choice, I controlled Xiao Bu to run. Even after running around the neighborhood, the drunk was still following behind her. In the end, I remembered perhaps the most dangerous place is the safest place, so I made the decision to run into the neighborhood.

“The drunk wandered around the entrance. Suddenly, a different girl appeared from inside the building. She seemed to be very afraid of drunken man as well. She jogged past the man, but the man’s mind seemed to be consumed by alcohol, and he hounded the girl relentlessly.

“Several minutes later, the drunk dragged the girl back into the building and slithered down one of the corridors.

“Then, another option appeared on screen, whether or not to follow the drunken man into the corridor.

“I wanted to save the girl, so I chose to follow. However, what happened next was really hard to accept.” Fan Chong could barely continue. “I controlled Xiao Bu to follow the man into the corridor to Room 104, and another sentence showed up—’You saw with your own eyes that Xiao Bu was made into a clay sculpture. Your body is frozen in fear.’”

“Xiao Bu?”

“Yes, all the victims in the game seem to share the name, Xiao Bu.”

“Understood, then what happened next?”

“The damn game keeps trying to challenge the player’s humanity. I could only see as the drunken man closed in on Xiao Bu, and then the screen said—’Xiao Bu felt the cement solidify her body, and she was changed into the artist’s newest creation.’”

Fan Chong paused, and he raised his head. His eyes were red. “After the previous experience, after Xiao Bu’s death was announced, I went online to search the news. As I expected, on 11th October last year, in Room 104 of a certain building on Li Wan City’s West Street, a strange art piece was discovered! The killer was apprehended. However, the police did not catch the artist but the owner of Room 104, the landlord.”

“They got the wrong person?”

“At least that’s what the game said. I tried to go anonymous to reflect on this online, but there was no response.” Fan Chong had a sad face. He still had things that he had not gone through.

“Two murders already… too many things are involved in this.” The more he listened, the more Chen Ge felt this game was different.