Horror Game Designer

“Grab the chains!” The right hand slammed into the ground, and blood flew everywhere. The God of Flesh and Blood had never been so excited. Each beat of Gao Ming’s heart was like a drum beat. Gao Ming, from the present and the past, took the same action. The flesh connection joined the past and present.

Eight arms extended out of Gao Ming’s back. His reflection in the tiles also had his back torn apart. Under the scrutiny of the black-and-white death portraits, the God of Flesh and Blood crawled out of the past Gao Ming’s back.

Situ An’s worship of the God of Flesh and Blood was destined to fail because, from the start, or even before that, God had already chosen Gao Ming. No one saved him, and he kept dying, so he had to save himself every time.

He grabbed the chains, and the last link to the missing fate was connected. The bright tiles were like a mirror. The floor was like the sky. Two Gao Mings knelt on their single knees. They looked at each other. They grabbed the chains and slowly stood up. The chip in his left eye slowly melted away. Gao Ming stood among the maddening patients. The dead Gods stared at him, and the mutated monsters surrounded him.

They couldn’t hear each other. The God of Flesh and Blood was the only link between them. Be it in the past or the future, the God of Flesh and Blood always existed. It escaped fate’s control. Once one was chosen, the God of Flesh and Blood would always live in one’s heart. This was probably why Gao Ming could escape the cycle ten years later. Perhaps the creator saw this and had him on the bus ten years ago.

The broadcast stopped. It became the ticking of the clock. The eight arms tore apart the nearby patients. Fresh blood splattered on the death portraits. The patients in the portraits shut their mouths and silently observed the massacre. Broken limbs fell to the ground, and blood dyed both worlds red.

In the past, the God of Flesh and Blood killed until everything was red.

The present Gao Ming stood before the altar. He did nothing, but his clothes were drenched in blood. The deaths accumulated in the past exploded at that moment. The ticking sound moved faster. The God of Flesh and Blood became more unhinged. It seemed to have abandoned all restraints to expose its true self. In this deepest room, each second was filled with death. When the last patient collapsed, the time ticking paused.

Blood was everywhere. The mud figurines turned their eyes away. The monster that came out of the ward also receded with the shadows. The past Gao Ming survived despite the impossibilities. Gao Ming rubbed his left eye. His mask fell, and his clothes were wet. He couldn’t tell the difference between reality and dream. He couldn’t even tell the difference between the past and present anymore. Gao Ming’s reflection on the ground became blurrier. This seemed to represent that the present and the past were slowly uniting. Gao Ming grabbed the death portrait in his pocket and prepared for the worst.

Knocking came from his back. The broadcast changed into light and happy music. Gao Ming turned around in the blood-stained room. He saw a middle-aged man in a doctor’s coat standing at the door.

“Hello. I am Lu Zang. I was your psychiatrist half a year ago. I’m the reason you are the way you are now.” With a smile, half of the doctor’s face was hidden in the shadow. Even his smallest expression could discomfit someone.

“Lu Zang?” Gao Ming had no impression of this name.

“You look more rational and calmer than half a year ago. This means that the treatment is very successful.” Lu Zang didn’t enter the room. The light shone in from behind his shoulders.

“Have I been to this place half a year ago? Is this illusion what I experienced back then?” Gao Ming mentioned a possibility.

“This is not an illusion. It is your dream from half a year ago. You dreamed the start half a year ago, and now, you will dream the ending.” Lu Zang was happy to see Gao Ming, “From the moment the God of Flesh and Blood chose you, everything had been put into motion. Situ An is responsible for helping the shadow world infiltrate Han Hai while you help to expand fate’s loophole. There are other parents, of course. Everyone has their role.”

“Who are you?”

“I am like you, a loophole of fate. We will soon be wiped away by fate. Therefore, we are bound to kill fate.” Lu Zang seemed to have taken Gao Ming as his kin. “I’ve seen many undesigned futures in the dream. Most of them involve you.”

“Based on what you said, was it your contribution that I was on the bus on the night of the Hungry Ghost Festival?” Gao Ming’s death memories collided. His heart sank in despair.

“Do you know why that bus can never leave the tunnel?” Lu Zang suddenly asked Gao Ming.

“Why?”

“The reason you became fate’s loophole is that Class 13’s bus encountered an accident ten years ago. In fate’s arrangement, all of you should have died, but all of you survived.” Lu Zang knew about everything that happened in Han Hai. He was the one who researched everything for Situ An. “As long as any of you is still alive, that bus will keep on being trapped in that tunnel.

“The most amazing thing is you’ve gained the God of Flesh and Blood’s approval. You’ve become a man that can’t die and appear in a nightmare that will only end after everyone in it is dead.” Lu Zang’s eyes shone like he saw hope on Gao Ming.

“What are you talking about?” Gao Ming couldn’t understand Lu Zang anymore.

“We all live in a false dream. The real world you see is a dream. What you have just experienced is a dream. The bus is trapped in a dream. I am merely trying to circle one dream around another dream to see if I can wake more people up.” Lu Zang was very at ease. “Anomalies appear at Han Hai because the giant dream can’t sustain it anymore. More and more people want to wake up. Therefore, they can see the anomalies.”

“I still don’t quite understand what you’re saying, but…” Gao Ming’s eyes turned dangerous, “Since you’ve designed everything, are you the one who has been killing me every time in the tunnel?”

“Were you killed in the tunnel?” Lu Zang was shocked. “Shouldn’t you die and wake up normally on the bus? Why would someone go after you in the tunnel?”