Let's give space a touch of Chinese horror!

Chapter 18: Treat this trip as a vacation.

"!!!"

A cool breath brushed past her earlobe, and Tian Baiwei jumped up almost instantly.

She rushed forward several steps before realizing she seemed to be in a game, and then, still shaken, turned her head away.

An elderly figure appeared silently in the spot where she had just been standing.

He was an old man with gray hair.

His body was hunched over, wearing a faded, old-fashioned jacket, with some damp mud still clinging to the cuffs of his dark blue trousers. His skin was a lifeless, grayish-yellow, with deep furrows running from his brow bone to the corners of his mouth, carrying a weariness born of years of sorrow; two cloudy, grayish eyes were set in deep-set sockets, staring unblinkingly at Tian Baiwei.

"So you are..."

The old man spoke, his voice rough like rusty iron scraping against sandpaper: "The college students who said they were here to do social research?"

Ok?

Tian Baiwei paused for a second before realizing that this was the content she had seen before, written in the game's description.

So... is this an NPC in a game?

Once I figured that out, my wildly beating heart began to calm down.

She cautiously and tentatively moved back step by step, but still didn't dare to stand too close.

Because the old man's eyes followed her every move, never leaving Tian Baiwei, Tian Baiwei felt an indescribable discomfort.

"Um... yes, that's me."

"You...you are...?"

"I am the village chief," the village chief said slowly. "I've come to take you into the village."

Oh... so this isn't the main map of the game, we still need to go into the village...

Tian Baiwei suddenly realized.

It seems she misunderstood before—this game was so poorly made that it was released unfinished, and it's because an NPC is needed to guide you to the next map.

Even the annoying white fog that she had previously complained about has been turned into a clever little design to restrict players from wandering around before the NPCs appear.

As for why the village chief NPC didn't make a sound when he appeared, that's quite easy to explain—

The game developers probably didn't include physical sound effects like footsteps or breathing...

After all, this game doesn't even have the most basic background music that every game has.

Tian Baiwei successfully convinced herself and followed behind the village chief, who had already turned and walked ahead, preparing to go into the village to take a look.

Since the game still had content, she decided not to quit. She planned to go and check out the village the village chief had mentioned.

Since we're already here...

When they finally emerged from the thick fog and saw a cluster of low-lying houses looming in the mist, Tian Baiwei knew she had made the right decision.

She looked around excitedly.

Tian Baiwei even felt that even if the subsequent gameplay of this game was so bad that it was completely meaningless, her trip would not have been in vain.

—Just treat this as a vacation!

This was the first time she had ever seen such a low-lying house, and the first time she had ever seen such a simple house built with mud bricks!

Won't it collapse?

so amazing!

"You'll stay here this time."

The village chief stopped in front of one of the houses. "The house is rather simple. If you need anything, you can come and find me."

Tian Baiwei glanced at the house behind the village chief, nodded excitedly, and showed no sign of reluctance.

She couldn't wait to go inside and see what it was like!

But the village chief clearly had more to say: "However, there are some things in the village that need attention... I need to explain them to you in advance."

"You are not allowed to go to the back mountain of the village without permission..."

"...There are no streetlights in the village, so try not to go out at night."

"The villagers won't lie to you. You can ask them any questions you have..."

The village chief spoke very slowly. It was unclear whether it was because he was old and couldn't speak quickly, or if he was doing it on purpose so that Tian Baiwei could hear him clearly. At first, Tian Baiwei had some patience to listen to him, but after a few more sentences, when she realized that the village chief was still talking slowly and endlessly, her mind had already wandered to the house behind the village chief.

"...Okay, that's all I wanted to say."

"Did you remember that?"

Tian Baiwei, still lingering on the house, thought, "..."

She glanced guiltily at the village chief, "I...I remember..." she said, while secretly pulling up the game interface, trying to find the "Story Review" button to review the story.

It wasn't until she saw the still empty, ridiculously rudimentary game interface that Tian Baiwei slapped her forehead—

Oh no! She completely forgot that the game's UI only had one exit button from beginning to end, and there was no "story recap" function at all!

Tian Baiwei secretly closed the game interface again, feeling both unjustified and self-righteous: "If I can't watch it, I can't watch it... Anyway, the gameplay is pretty much the same. The NPCs that appear at the beginning are just there to guide you. The content they talk about is probably the same as other games, just some boring background story content. It doesn't matter whether you listen to it or not, it's not important."

Anyway, she's never been particularly interested in the background story of games.

After watching the village chief leave, Tian Baiwei excitedly rushed into the room he had assigned to her.

The interior of the house was as old as its exterior. When Tian Baiwei pushed the door open forcefully, the hinges made a harsh and unpleasant sound, and the door panel leaned crookedly against the door frame after it was opened.

The muddy floor inside the house wasn't as muddy as the road outside, and you could even see a few withered yellow weeds sprouting from the cracks.

Because the game's creator didn't include the five senses, although you can see the dust that Tian Baiwei stirred up in the room, you can't smell anything unpleasant.

This relieved Tian Baiwei.

She walked into the room with the curious expression of someone visiting a museum.

Opposite the door, against the wall, stood a square table. On the side of the table against the wall, a rather large wooden box sat neatly; the box was square, and the dark wood grain still bore traces of gold-painted patterns, the original designs now illegible.

There were two small doors on the wooden box, but unfortunately, they were locked with tiny locks, preventing Tian Baiwei from knowing what was inside.

Besides that, there was only an old-fashioned oil lamp on the table that had run out of oil.

Tian Baiwei examined and played with it for a while with great interest before determining that it was probably used for lighting.

She wandered around the house again, and after figuring out that the "platform" along the other side of the house, which only reached her waist, was probably where she slept, and that the "sticks" piled in the corner, covered with a thick layer of dust, were farm tools, she lost interest in the house.

Having completed her environmental exploration, she was now ready to begin completing the game's tasks.

Tian Baiwei subconsciously looked at the top left corner of the interface—where the game taskbar is usually located.

But now, it's completely empty.

Wait, what about the tasks we need to complete in the game?

Tian Baiwei found it hard to believe.

Does this game not even have a taskbar? Or does it only pop up after a task is triggered?

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

or……

Tian Baiwei's gaze drifted towards the window where the sky was gradually darkening.

...Shall we go out and look for it now?