Dark Forest

"So, am I going to recreate this game now?"

Meng Shu blinked and looked at his hands, excitement gradually rising in his heart.

It seemed possible, didn't it?

He already had all the game's code structures in his head. Combined with his Programming stat of 60, he just had to type it out.

And all four of his major attributes had reached 60, so he could be considered a versatile talent.

Even the game's art assets were already there. At this point, it was like a pile of scattered parts waiting to be assembled.

Since that was the case, there was no time to lose. He would give it a try!

Meng Shu sat up straight and turned on his computer.

At that instant, the mechanical voice in his mind sounded again.

Ding. A commonly used computer has been detected. The game development engine has been copied to the desktop. Note: After leaving the computer for thirty minutes, this engine will uninstall itself. Unfinished project files will be saved in real time.

Meng Shu was stunned by the ding, then laughed.

"Nice, nice!"

"I just wonder what kind of game development engine even a monkey can use."

The moment he finished speaking, the system's mechanical voice sounded again.

This system specializes in game production. You will use an engine produced by the system to develop games. There is no need to worry about code or BUGs, greatly reducing production costs.

Function 1: Enter Chinese by voice or typing, and it will automatically convert into the corresponding code.

Function 2: Code runs automatically and completes subsequent behavioral logic.

Function 3: Reference ranges will be displayed for game values. They may be applied directly or entered freely.

Function 4: Adjust character movements and freely apply thousands of action assets.

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

Function 6: Freely use 4K high-definition materials.

"Is there more?"

After waiting quietly for a minute with no further mechanical voice, Meng Shu confirmed that the engine had six functions.

Chinese automatically converted into code?

That was amazing!

Although he had not been a programmer in his previous world, he still knew how grueling coding could be.

Even the tiniest mistake could take ages to track down.

Now, the system's development engine had directly simplified that difficult part, saving him a great deal of effort.

A garbled program with a default icon had appeared on the desktop. Barring any surprises, that should have been the development engine.

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

It was the engine's operating instructions.

In an instant, he knew how to use it!

"This sudden knowledge and proficiency are really incredible."

That was his assessment.

The development engine was extremely simple and plain, consisting of nothing but a blank interface with buttons for the six major functions.

Compared to the Unreal Engine from his original world, this system engine was rather "unpretentious."

Now that he had a step-by-step development guide for this game in his head, it was time to try making it.

Meng Shu placed both hands on the keyboard.

Although he could use voice input, he still wanted to type manually. It would be easier to correct typos, think things through slowly, and organize his wording better.

He already had the Demo, so now he would make the first chapter!

As a game, Dark Forest had nearly maxed-out impact and exploration appeal, not to mention that its horror atmosphere crushed some so-called "big-budget games."

It achieved outstanding quality through being small yet refined.

It was a top-down horror game set in a forest in some country in 1987. For unknown reasons, the forest had mutated and become corrupted, causing the trees to grow wildly, blocking the roads and obscuring the sunlight, leaving most places shrouded in darkness.

Some residents lived in the forest. Trapped there by the mutation, they had lost contact with the outside world and were barely surviving.

As time passed, they were gradually corrupted and infected by a type of mushroom from the forest, turning into mutated creatures such as irrational Wild Men, mushroom men, and centipede men.

And as this infectious disease spread, even more horrifying entities began to appear.

The player took on the role of an amnesiac researcher from the outside world who ventured deep into the forest to investigate.

Meng Shu remembered that when he had played this game back then, he had constantly been enveloped by a suffocating sense of tension.

It was a feeling that even supernatural horror games like "Haunted House" and Visage had failed to give him.

Only The Evil Within, Alien: Isolation, and Blair Witch had given him a similar feeling, which was enough to show how exceptional Dark Forest was at building atmosphere despite being a small production.

The gameplay was fairly ordinary. During the day, players had to search the dangerous forest for supplies, while at night, they had to return to the Safe House to spend the night.

But the game's real highlight was the strange events that occurred after dark.

Only nighttime was the most thrilling and terrifying part of the game.

A Safe House was supposed to give players a chance to catch their breath, relax, and take an intermission.

No matter how invincible or dangerous the monsters outside were, as long as players entered the Safe House, they could put their minds at ease and recover mentally.

But in Dark Forest, the Safe House was not safe, because it merely gave players a "chance" to survive.

After dusk, players had to return to the Safe House in time, use the resources gathered during the day to light the Gas Stove, start the generator, seal the doors and windows, and then—

Choose an easily defended room, hide in a corner, and wait for daylight to arrive—or for a miracle to happen.

Because at night, there were certain "things" in the forest that wanted to enter the Safe House.

They would unleash piercing, horrifying shrieks outside, affecting the player's Sanity Points.

They would Knock on the door, destroy the sealed doors and windows, force their way in, and hurt you.

They would burrow underground and enter the house to attack. Room doors would inexplicably open, hallucinations would occur, and ghosts might even turn off the lights, plunging you into darkness before passing through walls to attack you inside.

Compared to daytime, nighttime was the most enjoyable part of the game.

First-time players would curl up in the corner at night, trembling, too afraid to move, praying they could make it safely until dawn.

Exploring the forest during the day was already terrifying enough, yet at night they still had to stay highly alert in the Safe House to avoid danger.

That was the charm of Dark Forest.

And in this world, where horror games were so barren, it might not scare everyone, but it should frighten most players and earn him Fear Points.

So Meng Shu spent the entire day in front of his computer, recreating the game.

After seven that evening, he let out a breath and stretched.

Seeing that he had recreated roughly thirty percent of Chapter 1's game content, he smiled in satisfaction.

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

The Prologue only consisted of a small house and a linear road. It was an independent area, and players could even return there later in the game.

Chapter 1, on the other hand, had three entire regions.

Each region had a Safe House with a different interior layout, along with all kinds of ruined buildings, NPCs, and side quests.

The stories behind those side quests were also very obscure, with different ways to complete them, allowing players to judge and choose for themselves.

That was one of the gameplay elements Meng Shu liked.

Another thing he liked was that the map would generate randomly whenever the player revived.

For example, previous resource points could be randomly moved elsewhere, forcing players to search again instead of memorizing the map.

But Meng Shu could perfectly recreate all those mechanics and gameplay systems according to the tutorial in his mind, then present them to the players of this parallel world and make them scream nonstop.

After an entire day of development, he was certain he could complete this game independently. It would simply take some time.

So without hesitation, he posted a gameplay demonstration online on the country's largest Danmu Network.

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

Finally, he gave it the title—

Personal Development! Domestic Horror Game Dark Forest Gameplay Demo, Includes Trial Demo

Then he added the description:

'You are trapped in a sunless forest. By day, you must search for supplies. By night, you must evade attacks from terrifying creatures. How many days can you survive? Can you ultimately escape the forest?'

Then he chose to publish it.

Seeing the notice that it was under review, Meng Shu stood up and stretched.

The purpose of posting it on the Danmu Network was to attract attention and gain exposure.

At the same time, he would offer the Demo so netizens could download it freely and experience it for themselves.

As for whether this could attract investment, he did not dare hope for much. After all, this was not Black Myth, and he had neither a company nor a corporate bank account.

So posting it was merely a way to gain some initial attention and lay a foundation for the finished product.

After finishing all that, his phone suddenly chimed.

When he picked it up, he saw a WeChat message from his younger sister. There was only one sentence.

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

Meng Shu: ...

He frowned but said nothing. He left his room, walked to his sister's door, and knocked.

No response?

Meng Shu frowned again. He called out twice from the doorway, but there was still no answer.

Could something have happened?

She was recuperating at home with a broken leg. If she had called him over, there had to be something she needed, but why was she not responding now?

Meng Shu did not hesitate any longer and directly pushed open the old wooden door in front of him.

A faint fragrance immediately drifted into his nose.

The cramped room was unlit. Meng Xiaoran sat on the bed wearing a VR headset, foolishly smiling to herself as she watched something.

Her long hair reached her waist, and she wore light clothing that exposed a pair of fair thighs.

Her right foot was in a cast and could not move.

Yet that still did not stop her left calf from swinging back and forth.

Seeing this, Meng Shu shook his head.

Luckily, nothing had happened.

But what exactly was she watching?

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

Hearing the sound, Meng Xiaoran cried out and removed her Bluetooth earphones. Without even taking off the VR headset, she casually spoke up.

"Ah! Bro! Mom and Dad are working overtime tonight. What are we having for dinner?"

Before Meng Shu could respond, his sister spoke again, fast as ever.

"Fried rice? Then I want two drumsticks added."

Meng Shu: ...

She had called me to her room just for this?

Couldn't she have just said it over the phone?

Meng Shu shook his head and studied his sister.

This was the first time he had seen her since transmigrating here.

In his memories, his younger sister had been obedient, quiet, and gentle in middle school.

But after entering university, perhaps she had unleashed her wild side. She had become especially mischievous and unruly.

Even with an injured leg, she could not stay still.

Still, she knew the family was not doing well and that money was tight, so when ordering delivery, she only ate relatively cheap food like fried rice or fried rice noodles.

She had asked for two drumsticks, but in truth, one was for each sibling. And for someone recovering from an injury, meat was necessary.

The family was not poor enough to be unable to afford food.

But—

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

"I'll cook tonight."

Meng Xiaoran froze, hurriedly removed her VR headset, and stared at her brother in shock.

"Bro, since when could you cook?"

Meng Shu smiled at the surprised expression on her face.

"I've always known how. We're not having takeout today. We'll eat at home. It's clean and healthy."

Meng Xiaoran watched her brother turn and leave with a stunned look. Disbelief appeared on her face, but there was even more worry and fear.

Because—

Could it even be edible?