The painting inside the room changed back to a portrait of that man, his eyes looking out with a hint of mockery.
"I'm so scared," Yu Nan murmured, feeling wronged. "I was so scared when Lang Xi was here. I didn't dare to look, but I also wanted to know what happened in the game."
Yu Nan rested her forehead on Zhu Yao's shoulder and grabbed her clothes at the shoulders with both hands. "It's the game I bought. I'm afraid to play it, fine, but why am I even afraid to look at it?"
Zhu Yao sighed softly, her steady tone tinged with helplessness, yet it reassured Yu Nan: "Now it's just the two of us, let me read the game to you."
Just like... the poem I recited to lull Yu Nan to sleep.
"Um."
Let her rely on Zhu Yao a little longer, let her be willful a little longer. Yu Nan slowly slid down and half-lay on Zhu Yao's lap, looking up at Zhu Yao.
Zhu Yao's face was bathed in a warm yellow light from the screen. She was looking down at the screen with her head slightly lowered, her eyes calm and undisturbed.
"I opened the door next to the deer head, and there was a long corridor with different oil paintings hanging on both sides, including portraits and landscapes..."
With a loud bang, the painting on the right side of the corridor flew straight up and slammed against the left wall. It was as if the painter would have been hit by the force if he had taken a step too fast. Yu Nan heard the loud noise even though she didn't see the painting, and her body trembled slightly.
Zhu Yao remained calm and recounted the scene she had witnessed in a flat tone: "A painting hanging on the right side of the corridor seemed to have become withdrawn. It rushed to the left, revealing only its back, and there was a line of text on it—'The painting is lying.'"
After Zhu Yao's explanation... the horror game doesn't seem so scary anymore.
Chapter 36 The Student Surpasses the Master
"The painting I was drawing fell to the ground. I turned it over and found a note tucked inside..." Zhu Yao paused, "No wonder this painting is hidden from view. Do you want to take a look and see what's inside?"
Is it scary?
"It's not scary, it's quite beautiful."
Yu Nan turned her head and saw a note displayed on the screen—a sketch of a very beautiful woman.
The woman in the painting strikes a seductive pose, her alluring figure vividly outlined by clean, simple lines, with a blanket draped over her private parts. She seems somewhat shy, turning her head to look behind her, revealing only half of her face, her feet slightly together, toes pointing back and seemingly digging into the ground.
'Now tilt it slightly to the left, yes! That's perfect. Now hold this position and don't move; I want to draw all these perfect curves.'
The painter's deep voice rang out, echoing in the dimly lit, long corridor like the whisper of a demon.
After saying this, he chuckled softly, which sounded somewhat eerie.
“The painter painted his wife’s naked body covered with a cloth,” Zhu Yao described. “There was also a note behind the sketch that read, ‘I’m not that fat!’ It must have been written by the painter’s wife.”
Yu Nan could vividly imagine the scene that had just occurred and could feel the terrifying atmosphere created by the game.
However... after Zhu Yao's explanation, the scary atmosphere disappeared completely, and it was even a little funny?
Zhu Yao flipped the sketch back to the front, admired the painter's wife's stunning figure one last time, and then reluctantly closed the note.
The painting depicting a reclusive man was a portrait of a man in black. Zhu Yao glanced at it briefly before leaving the corridor and entering the next room.
"I entered the room and as soon as I pushed open the door, I saw that withdrawn painting. Now that it's no longer covered by the sketch, it's no longer withdrawn. It hangs high on the wall facing the door. There are many pieces of furniture and cabinets in the room, and a fireplace is burning, crackling loudly."
As Zhu Yao recounted the game, she rummaged through a drawer and found a note with a drawing of a mouse. The artist's handwriting on it was sharp and clear: 'Screaming, unruly arsonist, I will not be easily defeated!'
"This fire is probably related to rats."
Yu Nan heard the squeaking of mice and the rustling sound of them crawling on the floor.
"A mouse crawled over and jumped straight into the burning fireplace. I guess there's some high-energy stuff coming from the fireplace up ahead."
"Can high-energy events still be predicted?"
"Yes, the mouse just now was drawing my attention to the fireplace, probably trying to scare me by making me go over there."
Horror games are scary because they use the same old tricks: turning around to kill, killing in the corridor, screen distortion, things that suddenly appear, etc.
"Be careful, I'm about to cross!" Zhu Yao reminded Yu Nan.
Yu Nan closed her eyes, gripping Zhu Yao's skirt tightly, silently telling herself that something intense was about to happen. She heard several terrifying sound effects, very rapid and sharp.
Even with Zhu Yao's high-energy warning, and even without looking at the screen but only hearing a few sound effects, Yu Nan couldn't help but curl up, feeling uneasy.
“I walked toward the fireplace, and the painting of the recluse suddenly darkened. The screen turned around, and a pile of books pieced together to form the shape of a person, as if following behind me and about to pounce on me. When I turned around, they all scattered on the ground.”
Finally, Zhu Yao added, "The books are all identical, there are nearly thirty of them. I don't know what the person who bought them was thinking. No wonder they have bookshelves everywhere in their house."
Yu Nan: Thank you, it's not scary anymore now.
Footsteps sounded slowly, and a whistling sound could be faintly heard beside them, mixed with sobs. Zhu Yao held the controller in one hand and placed the other hand on Yu Nan's back to comfort her.
"I opened a cabinet and found a letter from a painter friend who mentioned that his wife was suffering from postpartum depression..."
Yu Nan heard the sound of the door opening, and the woman's echoing cries seemed to ring in her ears, even drowning out the sound of rain and wind outside the window.
"Luckily you didn't see this. The lights were flickering, the doors were all locked, and there was only an empty corridor left."
Zhu Yao tugged at the door again. "It must be the painter's wife crying. She won't let me leave and wants me to listen to her cry. The clues indicate that the painter was at the height of his fame when his wife was suffering from postpartum depression. He was so busy that he neglected his wife's feelings, and their relationship was in crisis."
Yu Nan felt the woman's sobs grow louder, and she could faintly hear the painter's wife saying, "Let's have a proper talk. Even if we meet at home, I don't dare face you..."
"The doors to the other houses were all locked. I found one door, which led to bookshelves full of books and metal cabinets for storing miscellaneous items. I walked around in an S-shape to reach the exit, where there were many empty wine bottles on the ground."
“His house is so big, if it were designed as a horror story, it would be bigger than your house…” Zhu Yao suddenly realized she had misspoke and quickly shut up.
What script?
"nothing…"
The corridor began to darken, and the floor was littered with broken bottles. Zhu Yao pushed open the door in front of her and found herself in a long corridor illuminated by candlelight. On the side of the wall was written a line of words: "The first step is often the hardest."
The kitchen was in front of us; I vaguely remembered that the kitchen, which was connected to the living room on the first floor of the villa, appeared at the end of the dimly lit corridor.
The bright and warm place seemed so out of place in this eerie setting, and everything seemed to indicate that something unusual was about to happen.
"I opened the cabinet and found a note tucked inside. It had a drawing of a mouse crawling into the kitchen utensils, and next to it were written words like diced mouse meat, plump, crunchy bones, I'm hungry, disgusting..."
Yu Nan heard the sound of something falling, the creaking of a cabinet opening, all mixed together with the shrill background music.
Zhu Yao paused, "There was an oil painting of fruit hanging on the side of the kitchen, and fruit was falling down. The fruit that fell to the ground started to rot, and the outside door started to shake, as if something wanted to get in. As I walked over, a knife was thrust straight into the door from behind..."
"The room darkened, the space began to distort, only the painting was lit, and countless rotten fruits fell down, the fruit basket in the painting was empty."
Yu Nan turned her head from Zhu Yao's lap and saw this scene. "After you described it to me, I feel less scared."
A piece of rotting human skin fell off, and the painter's voice rang out—"First, I need a canvas that is different from others."
Yu Nan almost jumped off Zhu Yao's lap.
Zhu Yao covered Yu Nan's eyes with her hand, "Be good, turn away if you're scared."
The painter began to describe the process of peeling the skin. To keep the skin intact, he used a razor and carefully peeled off the skin. His alcoholism made his hand more steady as he peeled.
Yu Nan felt a sharp pain in her skin, as if a small knife was slowly slicing her apart, cutting her blood vessels and exposing her red muscle to the air…
"I opened the door that led me into the kitchen, but ended up directly in the art studio. I guess this game requires me to use people as my subject matter, maybe... to create a painting in remembrance of my wife using her body?"
"I wiped the canvas, and red ink appeared on the paper. A line of words appeared on the wall: 'Invisible Dream.' An elevator appeared outside the door. I entered the elevator, and it locked me inside like a cage. As it went up, I saw a figure in the corridor."
Zhu Yao's voice was very calm, as if the suddenly appearing ghostly figures and the occasional falling debris were commonplace to her, and nothing could frighten her.
Zhu Yao's embrace was like a golden barrier, keeping the demons and monsters in the darkness at bay, making Yu Nan feel incredibly at ease.
The elevator emitted a sharp sound, and a ferocious face attacked Zhu Yao. Zhu Yao remained calm and waited for the elevator to rise naturally. Then, she described everything to Yu Nan in a casual yet detailed manner.
"...Hmm...There's a note saying that the painter's wife's skin graft surgery was unsuccessful, and the painter wrote a letter insulting the medical staff...Looks like the painter has some 'Zuan' (a derogatory term for someone who hates others) tendencies; the doctor even wants to recommend a psychologist for her..."
Yu Nan looked up slightly and saw a small house on the screen. On the wall hung a photo of the painter's wife playing the piano, and in the middle was a small table with two burnt piano scores.
The painter began to murmur, "My dear, please hang in there, at least let me finish this part... Don't make me beg you..."
The photos on the wall were covered by a thick, black fog that resembled writhing moss, making the people in them blurry and indistinct, as if they had been burned. The squeaking of rats could be heard again.
Zhu Yao passed through a half-open door, through which she could see a red light and a window with iron bars. Instead of going in, she went straight through another door.
It was an extremely steep staircase leading to the rooftop attic. The ceiling was sloping, forming an equilateral triangle with the floor. The wooden floor had many cracks, and you could see the roaring fire crackling below.
Through the floor, you can see a portrait of his wife hanging on the wall downstairs. She is a very gentle and beautiful woman, who is raising her hand to gather her hair behind her head and smiling as she looks ahead.
"Leaving the rooftop attic, we walked through the corridor and saw a box..." Zhu Yao seemed unaware that Yu Nan was looking at the screen.
The box was opened, and a trembling baby appeared inside, crying and shaking violently before disappearing into the darkness.
Yu Nan suddenly jumped up and squatted on Zhu Yao like a sloth, hugging her tightly.
Whether she held back or lost her voice, Yu Nan did not scream.
Zhu Yao: ...cough
Rats scurried across the floor, white paint was splattered on the table and walls, the lights flickered, the baby was long gone, and a line of words appeared on the wall: "Cheer up!"
"His child...is he dead?" Yu Nan asked with difficulty after recovering.
"I guess not. The child's bedroom is a children's bed, not a crib, and the report card should belong to the painter's child. The pink bedroom suggests it's a daughter."
Yu Nan slowly sat up, resting her head on Zhu Yao's shoulder and glancing at the screen out of the corner of her eye. Since Lang Xi wasn't there, she simply leaned against Zhu Yao openly.
It seems that the limit of fear can be increased with stimulation. When Zhu Yao was rummaging through drawers, there were many more minor high-energy moments, but Yu Nan endured them all, at most subconsciously leaning back to avoid looking at the screen.
Whenever they arrive at a place that might have a high-energy moment, Zhu Yao will give a heads-up in advance. She has a very accurate track record; minor high-energy moments are harmless, but she can predict major ones.
Yu Nan remained silent, seemingly indicating that Zhu Yao was already more skilled than her, the game planner, in designing levels for horror games.
Chapter 37 Past
Beyond the fear associated with games, Layers of Fear is a visual feast, featuring Western-style villas, artistic paintings, and slightly cluttered yet well-arranged furniture... even the unusual movements are aesthetically pleasing.
"Damn it, this guy is absolutely ***!" Yu Nan couldn't help but curse as she watched Zhu Yao search for clues.
The painter's wife, who was burned, could no longer play the piano. The painter still wanted his wife to play beautiful melodies, but when she tried to rehabilitate, he scolded her and prevented her from practicing.
'Under any circumstances, if I practice the piano, I'm immediately berated by my beloved husband. He forces me to rest... But how can I improve if he won't even let me practice? Worse, I swear I can smell the alcohol in his voice...'
"Oh God, please, please stop."
You can sense from between the lines that the wife loves painters very much.
Yu Nan sneered, "Next, even if his wife's ghost comes out and dismembers this bastard, I won't be afraid."
Zhu Yao glanced at Yu Nan strangely. Why did she seem angry?