Demo Trial Version

Zai Zong was a roast-style content creator on Danmu Network.

With over 900,000 followers, he had gradually made a name for himself by roasting terrible games.

His videos were full of wit and humor, and his way of speaking was hilarious, making him widely loved by viewers.

But he was troubled now, because he had gone nearly half a month without uploading a video.

His fans had all started flooding his private messages to urge him on.

But he was frustrated too.

There was no other reason: he had no material.

He had spent an entire afternoon searching gaming platforms without finding a suitable terrible game. Instead, he had exhausted himself and developed a slight headache.

He might as well give up and lie on the couch, scrolling through Danmu Network to relax.

With that, he picked up his phone, flopped onto his beanbag chair, and opened Danmu Network.

The homepage's smart recommendations immediately pushed a video in front of him, catching his attention.

Solo Development! Chinese Horror Game "Dark Forest" Gameplay Demo, Includes a Playable Demo

"A Chinese horror game? Heh, at its core, it's probably another boring jump-scare game. These days, anyone who dares make a horror game is destined to go bankrupt!"

Zai Zong passed judgment without hesitation. Before even watching the video, he had already decided that Dark Forest had no future.

With his experience, in the current gaming industry—

Solo development was a dead end.

Horror games were a dead end.

Put the two together, and there was no chance of survival.

Well damn, was this Chinese developer really that stubborn?

He vaguely remembered that the last small company to make an indie horror game had grass three feet high growing over its grave.

It had completely become a "legend" in the gaming industry.

And that horror game had become an "orphan" for the simple reason that it was unbelievably boring.

So, Zai Zong clicked into this supposedly solo-developed game video purely for the laughs.

"Hm? A top-down perspective?"

The video on the screen was playing. In it, the protagonist was running through the woods with a pitchfork in hand.

Because it used a top-down perspective, the entire map was visible with incredible clarity.

"Mm, for a solo project, this is pretty decent."

His first impression was fairly good, enough to make him want to keep watching.

Besides, he wanted to know exactly what was supposed to be scary about this so-called horror game.

Four minutes and twenty-two seconds later, the video ended.

Zai Zong solemnly climbed out of his beanbag chair, opened the PC version of Danmu Network, found the video in his viewing history, opened its description, and copied the cloud-drive link.

He started the download!

While waiting, Zai Zong watched the gameplay footage again. The more he watched, the more suspicious he became.

Was this really made by one person?

This was kind of badass.

Judging from the video, the quality actually seemed pretty good.

He just did not know how it would feel to experience it personally.

Don't let me down, bro!

The cloud drive gave a notification sound, indicating that the game had finished downloading.

Since it was only a playable Demo, it was not very large, and his internet was fast, so it had downloaded quickly.

He eagerly extracted the files and found the launcher.

Without another word, he double-clicked it.

The screen immediately went black.

Then, low music slowly began to play, and a crude game menu appeared before him.

It showed a gloomy forest, surrounded by decaying trees. The distance was hazy, carrying an air of mystery.

In the center stood a tree trunk, with only three simple options on it.

"Start," "Settings," and "Exit."

Honestly, seeing this interface left Zai Zong somewhat disappointed.

Having been bombarded by countless games from both China and abroad, he had seen all sorts of stunning game menus. Suddenly getting something this bare-bones made him shake his head.

"Forget it. It's only a solo-developed trial version. What am I expecting? I just hope what comes next is like the gameplay footage."

As he spoke, he opened the settings and turned every option to the highest level.

Only then did he click Start Game.

The interface gradually faded away, and a loading screen appeared.

There were warning messages at the top.

"This game is challenging and unforgiving."

"No one will offer you a helping hand."

"Respect the forest. Remain patient and focused."

Zai Zong scoffed at them.

"Tch, who are you trying to scare? Horror games are a joke these days. The gameplay footage looked good, but I'm afraid this is just false advertising."

It was no wonder he said that.

Having become famous through roasting bad games, he had naturally played some horror games over the course of his gaming life.

Those games all advertised themselves with slogans like, "Scare you to death, no refunds." But what happened?

They became one roast-worthy piece of material after another in his videos.

When Dark Forest finished loading, an opening cutscene began to play.

That surprised Zai Zong a little.

It even had an opening cutscene?

Big ambitions, brother!

But this opening cutscene was a little strange.

A massive pupil filled two-thirds of the screen. Accompanied by an eerie melody, it stared fixedly at him, making a chill run down his spine.

Then, a striking line of text appeared beneath it.

"I saw hatred and fear in their eyes."

The giant pupil in the game slowly transitioned, revealing many bizarre images.

Some showed an aged face, some an inexplicable symbol, and others naked human figures with long, slender limbs.

They seemed to hint at the obscure content that would appear later in the game.

Zai Zong watched with a deep frown.

"What the hell is all this? So pretentious."

As the images continued, the line beneath them slowly changed.

"As if I had caused this plague."

"As if I were the source spreading this plague of suffering."

The screen changed again. This time, disgusting writhing maggots appeared, crawling over the tops of a pair of feet.

"I have nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. The forest has cut us off from the outside world."

Another huge pupil stared directly at him from the screen. Within it, he could even see the reflections of two human figures.

Along with it came a new line of text below.

"We're all doomed."

The pupil suddenly expanded without limit, filling the screen. Then a flash of white light appeared.

Two simple words appeared before him.

Prologue!

The game officially began.

"What kind of cryptic nonsense was that?"

Zai Zong froze for a moment.

The opening cutscene had left him completely confused. He really had no idea what it was talking about.

But that did not stop him from continuing. If he could not understand it, then he would ignore it and play first!

"Alright then. Whether it's a mule or a horse, I'll find out by trying it myself."

The game's visuals were now laid out before him in their entirety.

A somewhat balding man woke up at a desk, as though he had been sleeping there earlier.

That lowered Zai Zong's impression score once again.

"It's 2022, and graphics can still be this bad? Whatever. It's solo-developed, so I shouldn't expect too much. Maybe it's intentionally made in this pseudo-pixel style. Anyway, let's first see whether it's fun."

This was a cramped room. Its furnishings were sparse, its layout was messy, and it looked filthy.

A wide carpet lay crookedly on the floor instead of neatly arranged. Several empty bottles and documents had been carelessly tossed onto the ground, ignored by everyone.

The desk he had been leaning over was covered in papers, while some industrial equipment and crops were piled in one corner.

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like—

"An office? Or maybe a laboratory?"

Zai Zong was not sure. He controlled the character and wandered around the room.

Then he discovered that controlling the character came with an inexplicable sense of weight, as though the in-game character truly had mass. He was nowhere near as nimble as in an FPS game.

"Not bad. I can accept it. At least he doesn't slide around."

That was how he evaluated it.

Next, he moved his mouse over the desk, and the word "Search" appeared, making Zai Zong's eyes light up.

That meant the desk could be looted.

He immediately clicked the left mouse button by reflex. A simple interface appeared, containing two items.

Medicine and an Old Notebook!

He did not pay attention to the medicine. Even an idiot knew what that was for.

So he immediately selected the notebook. The game interface instantly showed a close-up image of a blank notebook without a single word written inside.

Zai Zong could not help frowning.

"What's this? Does it have any use? Why even give it a close-up?"

Zai Zong clicked the notebook several times, but nothing happened. He guessed it was just an ordinary collectible item.

So he did not pay it any further attention. He clicked Close and continued examining the little room.

He moved his mouse over the scattered documents on the floor, and another prompt appeared.

This was a pile of medical notes.

Zai Zong clicked on it, and then—

A line of text appeared at the bottom of the screen.

"I have already committed these to memory. There is no need to read them now."

He understood. This game had a slight puzzle-solving element.

At least, that was how it seemed for now. But judging from the gameplay footage, there were combat elements as well.

He was looking forward to it now!

Zai Zong walked over to the window, moved his mouse, and another prompt appeared.

This was a Reinforced Window that could be dismantled, meaning that the window in front of him had been nailed shut with wooden boards.

In a horror game, reinforced doors and windows were naturally meant to keep monsters out.

But it could be dismantled?

As a player, curiosity always came first, so he clicked Dismantle without hesitation.

But the result was—another line of text appeared.

"Dismantling it now would be no different from suicide."

Alright, he could not dismantle it.

Still, he was rather curious about what kind of danger would arrive.

So, after checking every element in the room, he headed straight outside!

The map immediately expanded, revealing the floor plan of the entire house.

As Zai Zong entered the living room, another line of text appeared at the bottom.

"I need to add some fuel to the generator. There is a scrapped tractor in the Eastern Forest. There should still be some fuel inside."

OK!

This was the first mission objective, right?

Easy, easy!

Zai Zong was delighted. With an objective, he would not feel so aimless.

"Eastern Forest? So I need to head outside. As a player, before leaving, I should first see whether there are any supplies in the house."

Thus, Zai Zong began looting the house.

Gradually, he discovered that the person he was controlling was a doctor.

Connecting that with the opening cutscene, he could roughly conclude that the doctor was not welcome among the patients in the forest.

And the doctor also believed that the patients in the forest were beyond saving.

Because when he investigated one item, this line of text appeared.

"My medical tools have not been disinfected in years. Yet the patients here are already beyond saving."

Seeing that, Zai Zong understood.

"So I'm playing a doctor searching for a way out and preparing to cure the patients?"

"So the gameplay is to collect various herbs in the forest, make an antidote, and escape the forest while we're at it?"

Zai Zong pondered for a moment, shook his head, stopped overthinking it, and continued scavenging.

Then he discovered there actually wasn't much worth scavenging in this house.

However, one locked room caught his attention. When he approached it, a line of text appeared.

'You'd better not open the door. It took a lot of effort to lock him inside.'

That made Zai Zong very curious.

Who had the protagonist locked up in there? A monster?

But the current game mechanics wouldn't let him open the door, so he could only give up.

There was also a container that required a lockpick to open, and he didn't have one.

There was another iron door as well. When he tried to open it, it said, 'It's best not to go in right now.'

All these signs indicated that the protagonist he controlled was far from simple!

There was very likely something hidden inside!

One of the rooms was known to possibly contain a monster or a human, and whatever was inside was dangerous!

He understood that these doors and containers he couldn't open were obviously being set up for later.

So for now, his main objective was still to leave the house and find oil in that Eastern Forest.

Without hesitation, Zai Zong walked straight to the front door, pushed it open, and stepped into the forest!