Dark Forest

"So I'm supposed to remake this game now?"

Meng Shu blinked, staring at his own hands, a spark of passion kindling in his heart.

It didn't seem impossible, did it?

The entire structural code for this game was already in his head, and with his programming stat at 60, he just needed to type it out.

Plus, all four attributes were at 60, making him something of a versatile talent.

Even the art assets for the game were ready—it was like a pile of scattered parts just waiting to be assembled.

Since that was the case, no time to waste—let's give it a shot!

Meng Shu sat up straight and turned on the computer.

In that instant, the mechanical voice in his mind rang out again.

[Ding. Common-use computer detected. Game development engine copied to desktop. Note: After 30 minutes away from the computer, this engine will self-uninstall. Unfinished project files will be saved in real time.]

Meng Shu was caught off guard by the ding, then broke into a grin.

"Not bad, not bad!"

"I just wonder what this 'game development engine even a monkey can use' is like."

But the moment he finished speaking, the system's mechanical voice chimed in again.

[This system is dedicated to game creation. You will use the system's proprietary engine to develop games. No need to worry about code, and no bug issues—fully reducing production costs.]

[Function 1: Voice or manual Chinese input, automatically converted to corresponding code.]

[Function 2: Code auto-executes, perfecting subsequent behavioral logic.]

[Function 3: Game values display reference ranges—can be applied directly or input arbitrarily.]

[Function 4: Adjust character actions—ten thousand action assets available for free use.]

[Function 5: One-click conversion between multiple art styles.]

[Function 6: 4K high-definition textures available for unrestricted use.]

"Anything else?"

After waiting a full minute with no further mechanical voice, Meng Shu confirmed the engine's six functions.

Chinese auto-converted to code?

That's insane!

Even though he wasn't a programmer before, he knew how grueling writing code could be.

One tiny mistake, and debugging alone could eat up tons of time.

Now, the system's development engine had streamlined that whole headache, saving him a mountain of effort.

On the desktop, a garbled-named program with a default icon appeared—no doubt the development engine.

Meng Shu double-clicked to open it, and a stream of information flooded into his mind.

It was the engine's user manual.

In an instant, he knew how to use it!

"This sudden influx of knowledge and skill is really something else," he remarked.

The development engine was simple and bare-bones—just a blank interface with six function buttons.

Compared to the Unreal Engine from his old world, this system engine was downright "rustic."

With a step-by-step tutorial for this game already in his head, it was time to start building.

Meng Shu placed his hands on the keyboard.

Even though voice input was an option, he preferred typing manually—it made correcting typos easier, gave him time to think, and helped him organize his words better.

He had the Demo, so now he'd make the first level!

As for the game Dark Forest, in terms of gameplay experience, its impact and sense of exploration were almost maxed out, and its horror atmosphere crushed so-called "big-budget productions."

It achieved a rare quality of being small yet refined.

It was a top-down horror game set in a forest in some country in 1987. Due to unknown reasons, the forest mutated and decayed, causing trees to grow wildly, blocking roads and sunlight, leaving most areas shrouded in darkness.

Some residents lived in the forest, trapped there by the mutation, cut off from the outside world, barely surviving.

Over time, they gradually became infected by a kind of mushroom rot, turning into mindless savages, mushroom-men, centipede-men, and other mutated creatures.

And as this infectious disease spread, even more terrifying entities emerged.

The player took on the role of an amnesiac outside researcher, delving deep into the forest to investigate.

Meng Shu remembered that when he played this game back in the day, he was constantly gripped by a tense, suffocating pressure.

It was a feeling that even paranormal horror games like Haunted House and Face couldn't give him.

Only The Evil Within, Alien: Isolation, and Blair Witch had managed to evoke the same sensation—which said a lot about how Dark Forest, a small-budget title, excelled in atmosphere.

The gameplay of this game is fairly standard—players need to search for supplies in the dangerous forest during the day and return to the safe house to spend the night.

But the game's highlight lies in the eerie events at night.

Only when night falls does the game become its most thrilling and terrifying.

The safe house is meant to give players a breather, a chance to relax, a mid-game rest.

No matter how invincible the monsters outside are, as long as players enter the safe house, they can let their guard down and adjust their mental state.

But in "Dark Forest," the safe house isn't truly safe—it only gives you a 'chance' to survive.

After dusk, players need to rush back to the safe house in time, using the resources gathered during the day to turn on the gas stove, start the generator, seal the doors and windows, and then

pick a room that's easy to defend, huddle in a corner, and wait for daylight to come, or for a miracle to happen.

Because at night, the forest has some 'things' that want to get into the safe house.

They'll let out piercing, terrifying screams outside, affecting the player's Sanity Points.

They'll knock on the door, destroy the sealed windows and doors, and force their way in to hurt you.

They'll dig through the ground, break into the house to attack, room doors will inexplicably open, hallucinations will occur, and even ghosts will turn off your lights, plunging you into darkness, passing through walls to attack you.

Compared to daytime, night is the best part of the game.

Players experiencing this game for the first time will curl up in a corner at night, trembling, not daring to move, praying to survive until dawn.

Exploring the forest during the day is already terrifying enough, and at night you have to stay hyper-focused in the safe house to avoid danger.

That's the charm of "Dark Forest."

And a game like this, placed in this horror-starved world, might not scare everyone, but it should frighten most players and rack up some Fear Points for him.

So Meng Shu spent the entire day at his computer recreating this game.

When 7 PM rolled around, he let out a breath and stretched his back.

Looking at the roughly 30% recreated content of Chapter 1 on his screen, he showed a satisfied smile.

The map size of Chapter 1 is on a completely different scale from the Prologue.

The Prologue is just a small cabin and a linear path, an isolated area overall, and players can even return to it later in the game.

Chapter 1, on the other hand, has three whole regions in terms of size.

Each region has a safe house with a different internal structure, along with various ruined buildings, NPCs, and some side quests.

The side quests' storylines are also very subtle, with different ways to complete them, letting players judge and choose for themselves.

That's one of the gameplay styles Meng Shu likes.

Another thing he likes is that the map randomly generates with each player respawn.

For example, a previous resource point might be randomly relocated elsewhere, forcing you to search again and making it hard to memorize the layout.

But these game mechanics and playstyles, Meng Shu can perfectly recreate following the tutorial in his mind, then present them to players in this parallel world, making them scream in terror.

After a whole day of development, he's sure he can complete this game on his own—it'll just take some time.

So without hesitation, he posted a live gameplay demo on the country's largest video danmu network.

Then he uploaded the locally translated trial Demo to a cloud drive and pasted the link in the description.

Finally, he added a title—

[Indie Dev! Domestic Horror Game "Dark Forest" Live Demo, with Trial Demo Attached]

And wrote a description:

'You're trapped in a sunless forest. By day, you search for supplies; by night, you dodge attacks from terrifying creatures. How many days can you survive? Can you ever leave the forest?'

Then, he hit publish.

Watching the "under review" prompt, Meng Shu stood up and stretched.

His goal in posting to the danmu network was to grab attention and gain followers.

At the same time, he offered the Demo so netizens could freely download and try it themselves.

As for whether this could attract investment, he didn't dare to hope—after all, this wasn't Black Myth, and he had no company or corporate account.

So posting it was just to get a certain amount of attention and build a foundation for the final product.

After doing all this, his phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and saw it was a WeChat message from his younger sister, just a simple sentence.

[Brother, come to my room for a bit.]

Meng Shu: ...

He frowned, said nothing, left his room, and arrived at his sister's door, knocking.

No response?

Meng Shu frowned again, called out twice at the door, but still got no answer.

Could something have happened to her?

She was currently at home recovering from a broken leg, so calling him over must mean something was up—but now there was no response?

Meng Shu hesitated no longer and pushed open the old wooden door in front of him.

Instantly, a faint, refreshing fragrance wafted into his nose.

In the cramped room, with no lights on, Meng Xiaoran sat on the bed wearing a VR headset, a silly grin on her face as she watched something.

Her long hair reached her waist, her clothes were light and cool, revealing a pair of fair thighs.

Her right lower leg was encased in a cast, unable to move.

But that still couldn't stop her left leg from swinging back and forth.

Seeing this, Meng Shu shook his head.

At least nothing was wrong.

But what was she watching, anyway?

He knocked on the door, this time louder than when he had closed it.

Hearing the noise, Meng Xiaoran let out an "Ah!" and pulled off her Bluetooth earbuds, not even taking off the VR headset as she spoke bluntly.

"Ah! Bro! Mom and Dad are working late tonight—what are we eating for dinner?"

Before Meng Shu could respond, his sister kept talking, her words coming fast.

"Fried rice? Then I want two chicken legs added."

Meng Shu: ...

She called him to her room just for this?

Couldn't she have just texted him?

Meng Shu shook his head, sizing up his sister.

This was the first time he had seen her since crossing over.

In his memory, during middle school, she had been well-behaved, quiet, and demure—a proper little lady.

But by college, it was as if she had unleashed her wild side, becoming especially mischievous and unruly.

Even with an injured leg, she couldn't stay still.

Still, she knew the family's financial situation was tight, so when ordering takeout, she only went for cheap options like fried rice or fried noodles.

Sure, she said "two chicken legs," but in reality, it was one for each sibling. And meat was necessary for her recovery from injury.

This family wasn't so poor that the pot couldn't boil.

But still...

Takeout couldn't be eaten too often, so Meng Shu decided to show off his skills and whet her appetite.

"I'll cook tonight."

Meng Xiaoran froze for a moment, quickly pulled off her VR headset, and stared at her brother in surprise.

"Bro, since when do you know how to cook?"

Looking at the shocked expression on the girl's face, Meng Shu smiled.

"I've always known. No takeout today—we'll eat at home. Clean and hygienic."

Meng Xiaoran stared blankly as her brother turned and walked away, disbelief written all over her face, but more than that, worry and fear.

Because...

Would it even be edible?