Horror Game Designer

The patient stopped making noises. He held his bloody fingers, and he walked with such softness. The fourth floor was very quiet. No one could be seen. Xuan Wen and Su Mo had no idea why the patient was so scared. They moved silently and paused beside the nurse station for the ICU. The patient with insomnia took out a large ring of keys. He tried a lot of them before he managed to open the door.

The inside of the hospital had a generally light colour scheme to give off a clean, bright feeling. However, this ward was very dark. The walls, floor and furniture were painted with irregular lines. The lines connected together to form swirls that would suck one in if one looked at them for too long.

“When I can’t sleep, I’ll use the pen to record down the voices in my brain.” The insomniac picked up the blanket. The blanket was originally white, but he drew on it so much that it was already black.

“Are you saying these lines are voices?” Xuan Wen was interested. Ignoring Su Mo’s protest, she entered the ward. Su Mo was anxious. He wanted to escape once the patient entered the ward, but Xuan Wen seemed genuine in wanting to help him.

“Listen.” The patient put his ear near the blanket. His eyes started to roll, and several voices entered his head like threads. Xuan Wen did the same. The threads started to fray. They were like ripples. They were the whispers of the dead. Some wanted to see their children, and others blamed their children for leaving them at the hospital. There were also cries of regret. The voice grew louder. The threads turned from fish hidden under the ripples to large snakes and patches of shadow.

“I don’t want to die!”

All the voices gathered to form a united thought. All the lines gathered in the same direction. The insomniac yelled in pain. He was like a puppet controlled by endless threads. Once he closed his eyes, his brain would be dominated by different voices.

“The end of the threads is the back of the man’s head, but where do they start…” The slender fingers caressed the threads like they were musical strings. Xuan Wen walked to the bed that was closest to the door. “This pillow that most patients have used before they died.” The pillowcase was often changed, but the inside of the pillow hid the patient’s last memory. Xuan Wen ignored the crazed patient. She seemed to dance as she approached the pillow. Su Mo didn’t dare to get closer. He thought Xuan Wen had lost her mind. He cried for help.

Xuan Wen calmly sat on the bed. The last light of the day shone on her. Her hands gently picked up the pillow. She removed the pillowcase. The inside of the pillow was painted with human faces. The faces overlapped. They came from different walks of life, but death was fair.

Like a princess, Xuan Wen climbed into bed. Xuan Wen put her head on the pillow with the human faces. She closed her eyes with a smile like she was welcoming a happy dream. After all, she was not a real doctor but a criminal!

Helping the patient was a bonus. She was more passionate about experiencing the patient’s last moments. Even the most mundane days carried warmth. One’s last moment had the coagulation of one’s whole life. It was like wine with an incredibly complex fragrance. The sounds in the room weakened. The insomniac gained more clarity. The smile on Xuan Wen’s face grew bigger. She heard everyone’s last words. Every soul was telling their story.

“Come back, just like me! Return to the real world and embrace everything here!” Eight ghastly wounds appeared on her body. These eight wounds seemed to represent fate. The strange lines crawled into Xuan Wen’s body through the wounds. With her control, she used the lines to slowly sew up the wounds.

“The wounds of soul require the treatment of soul…”

The voices in the pillow changed. When the faces realised there was something scarier outside the world, their voices became lighter.

Most of the souls in the pillow lingered because they missed the world and wanted to complete their incomplete wishes. They didn’t want to be exhausted by Xuan Wen.

Seeing the pillow slowly returning to normal, Xuan Wen opened her eyes. “You only know how to bully the weak. That’s why there isn’t a big ghost among you.”

Cursed objects were meant to be used. The pillow was shoved back into the black pillowcase. Xuan Wen picked it up with one hand, “Based on Gao Ming’s standard, this pillow is half of a big ghost. It has many souls. It’s a high-grade cursed object.”

After Xuan Wen claimed the pillow, the insomniac stopped hearing the voices.

The drowsiness swept over the patient. He wanted to fall asleep, but Xuan Wen stood before him, saying, “I’ve cured you. Now it’s time for you to pay. My payment is not cheap.”

“How much do you want?” The man spoke like a normal person. However, his mutated body couldn’t be reverted.

“First, you need to introduce me to another patient who has symptoms as serious as you did.” Xuan Wen extended one finger.

“What kind of strange request is that?” The patient scratched his ‘long’ head. “No problem. There are many patients here.”

“Second, your illness might relapse. Before you fully recover, you should stick with me. I’ll help you adjust back to life.” Xuan Wen was being kind, so the man nodded easily. To express his appreciation, he even took out two bottles of medicine from his nurse uniform and gave them to Xuan Wen, “I took these Soul Transfer Drugs from the doctor. They are the currency in this hospital. You can use them to trade for stuff.”

The man was being so nice that Su Mo was stunned. This was a completely different person from the monster who attacked them. Was Xuan Wen really a doctor? Su Mo sneaked a glance at Xuan Wen. He thought about letting her examine him.

…

Noticing Su Mo’s disappearance, Old Sao slapped himself, “I should have warned him! When my heart pounded, that thing was already coming!” It was too chaotic back then. Old Sao, Lee Ding and Brother Xiong ran with the throng of patients. It was only later that they realised Su Mo was not with them.

They returned to the psychiatry ward. There were only pools of blood left. Su Mo and Xuan Wen were gone.

“I can’t imagine the torture they are going through now.” Old Sao tightened his fists with guilt in his eyes.