Black-and-White Videotape (Seeking Follow-up!)

Zai Zong swallowed hard, his expression growing tense.

He was now at the staircase on the second floor, the bathroom behind him, with corridors on both sides leading to different rooms.

There were paths he could take, but he didn't dare move!

Because he feared that one step would make that unclean thing below rush up and finish him off.

So he stood at the top of the stairs, unable to go down or stay put, the process stalled, and for a moment he had no idea what to do.

Below, the Ghost Shadow kept its head raised.

In the pitch black, a pair of sickeningly pale pupils stared upward like a predator locking onto prey, making Zai Zong even more terrified, to the point he didn't dare look down.

At that moment, the livestream was flooded with comments.

"Charge down there! Bro Zai, what are you scared of?!"

"Yeah, go die and let us have some fun."

"It's just a game, look at you shaking, pathetic!!"

"Bro Zai, you're not cutting it. We're here to see man vs ghost. The ghost is out now, so get on with it!"

"What is this, some cheesy romance staring contest?"

Seeing the comments, Zai Zong immediately cursed them out as beasts!

"Damn it, if this were a PC game, I'd lead the charge right now! Let you all see my bravery. But this is VR! I won't go into detail—go play it yourselves and find out. It'll scare the crap out of you bastards!"

The livestream instantly spammed "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Zai Zong took a deep breath. This couldn't go on. Maybe testing the waters would help?

He pulled out a white candle he'd collected earlier, weighed it in his hand.

Then he tossed it downward.

The candle passed straight through the figure, hit the floor, and rolled all the way to the front door before stopping.

"Huh? An illusion? Or does it have no physical form?"

Staring at the Ghost Shadow below, Zai Zong frowned.

Now, time was ticking by.

That filthy thing just stood there, staring up with those pale, lifeless eyes, making no move.

Plus, the candle passing through it earlier...

This.

Could it just be a regular jump scare point?

Zai Zong looked down, his face uncertain.

He glanced at the livestream to see what the audience thought and check his stats, only to be stunned.

His popularity had unknowingly skyrocketed to over 1.8 million!

The number of live viewers had also reached over 1.3 million, an all-time high for his streaming career!

He never expected so many people to be watching him play. How could he stand here hesitating?

He had to do something!

"Brothers! Let's fight it! Worst case, we reload the save! Who's afraid of who? Let's go!"

The livestream erupted in cheers, spamming support and sending gifts.

So, amid the roar of over 1.3 million viewers, Zai Zong stepped forward and descended the stairs.

The moment his foot touched the first step, chaos erupted!

As if triggering some mechanism, the once-quiet Mansion burst with activity.

The chandelier in the Entrance Hall, previously off, began to flicker on and off.

Doors upstairs and downstairs, all shut tight, swung open one by one, then slammed shut with violent force, the noise echoing relentlessly.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, the ancient Pendulum Clock began to chime—dong, dong—harmonizing with the eerie commotion.

The sudden upheaval left Zai Zong completely disoriented. The scene of what felt like a ghostly riot made him grab the railing, looking around in terror.

"What the hell! What's happening?! Is the ghost out?! No, the ghost is downstairs, so what the fuck is this!??"

Just as he was trembling and panicking, a sound from the bathroom behind him made his hair stand on end.

It was a gurgling, choking noise, like a throat strangled by a rope, trying to breathe but blocked by flesh.

At the same time, the bathroom light flickered wildly, as if some force was interfering.

Zai Zong turned his head shakily. Out of the corner of his eye, in the flickering darkness of the bathroom, he saw a black figure slowly rising.

This was clearly the true malevolent spirit of this chapter!

In that moment, Zai Zong felt a chill run down his spine. Even a seasoned gamer like him was overwhelmed by fear, consuming his reason.

His hands went numb, trembling slightly, unable to grip the controller firmly. The Right Controller, which could pause the game, slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor.

Startled, he hurriedly crouched down to pick it up, but in his panic, he accidentally kicked it.

The right controller.

It slid off somewhere unknown.

Meanwhile, the ghostly fiend in the bathroom, accompanied by the flickering lights, was trembling step by step as it drew closer.

The livestream room instantly flooded with comments.

"What are you standing there for!? Run!!"

"Zai Ge, pull yourself together! Run! Run now!!"

"Stop looking for the controller! You've got the left one, don't you!? Just run first!"

"Didn't this chapter say there was only one ghost, Dolores? Turns out there are two!"

"I can't watch this, I can't watch this. If Zai Da's like this, I'd probably drop dead on the spot!"

Zai Zong didn't notice the comments. By the time he realized the movement key was on the left controller, it was already too late.

The distance from the bathroom to the stairs was just two steps.

So when he looked up, in his wide-eyed, terrified gaze, a pair of long, bamboo-pole-like, horrifying claws shot out!

They lunged straight for his head!

Just like that, in front of over 1.3 million viewers in the livestream room, Zai Zong heard the crisp sound of his neck being twisted off, and it was Game over on the spot.

Though he didn't let out a scream, it wasn't much better.

And from start to finish, he never noticed the ghostly shadow below had stretched out its right hand, pointing lifelessly toward the right corridor.

As if.

It was showing him the way.

On the other side, the second-ranked livestream room had become Xin Xin's again.

Simply because she was streaming "Visage" and had some decent entertainment value, she'd climbed back to the top.

Earlier, under the assault of a few withered fingers, the wheelchair had crashed into her, scaring her into a scream that forced fans to turn their volume down by 50%.

Only then did she realize it was a false alarm.

She wasn't dead.

But before her, another scene had already appeared.

With a blinding flash of white light and the agonized howl of the game's protagonist, her perspective shifted to a black-and-white videotape style, dotted with a bit of static snow. The signal kept glitching, as if she'd stepped into a film world.

At the same time, the originally lavishly decorated living room had turned into an ordinary, empty little hall with just a few chairs.

Not only were the coffee table and luxury carpet gone, but even the decorative paintings on the walls had vanished, and the spot where the TV once stood was replaced by a floor lamp.

As if.

The same place, but a different point in time.

This shift in perspective and change in environment directly stunned Xin Xin.

Though she'd played many single-player games before, she'd never seen such a creative scene transition!

In all her gaming career, she'd never experienced a tape-style gameplay like this.

And now, in this ultra-high-freedom VR game, she was actually witnessing it!

How could that not leave her in awe!

At the same time, fans in the livestream room were expressing their own shock.

"Awesome! The realistic style just flipped into an old black-and-white videotape style!"

"Holy crap! I get it! This is time travel! Using the videotape perspective to show the protagonist going back to the past! And looking at the environment, it's probably the previous residents!"

"Incredible! This kind of creativity is unheard of! Those big studios really should take notes, instead of always churning out the same old shooters."

"You guys only see the change in the protagonist's perspective, but do you know what this means? One building, two sets of models—one modern luxury, one past minimalist. The cost is unimaginable!"

Xin Xin read the comments and agreed wholeheartedly, even feeling a deep respect.

It showed the game was truly made with care.

But still, this black-and-white videotape style was a bit hard to get used to at first.

Xin Xin glanced around the now-bare living room, pushed aside the wheelchair at her feet, and began to explore.

In this black-and-white world flickering with static snow, she first turned and tried to open the living room door. As she expected, it was locked.

Since she couldn't get out this way, there was only one option left.

Xin Xin tilted her head slightly, looking toward the glass partition door that connected to the dining room.

At that moment, under the occasionally glitching videotape style, beyond that door lay pitch black, eerie and terrifying.

To be honest, she really didn't want to go that way.

But the door in front of her was shut, and this glass partition door was the only path left.

Probably can walk.

Xin Xin took a deep breath, recovering from her earlier state of being startled.

Then she approached the glass partition door, grabbed the handle, steadied herself, and mustered her courage.

"Come on, don't be scared. Don't ever be scared again."

Then, she pushed it open in one go.

At that very moment, a crackling electric sound like an old TV turning on suddenly rang out.

The darkness behind the glass partition door vanished instantly, replaced, as if switching channels, by a dining room scene in the same black-and-white videotape style.

And there was a sturdy, crew-cut man sitting at the table, eyes closed in contemplation, silently drinking a glass of water.

Xin Xin's eyes went wide.

"Is this... a former resident? Could this man be Lacan?"

She muttered to herself, hesitating at the open glass door, debating whether to go in.

She worried that barging in recklessly might provoke an attack from the man before her.

After all, this chapter was Lacan's chapter.

And the trailer had clearly stated he was a malevolent spirit!

Just as she gritted her teeth, that old TV crackling sound rang out again.

The man drinking water at the table vanished abruptly.

Xin Xin's eyes went wide again!

"Well... the ghost's gone. So I should be able to go in now?"

Encouraged by her livestream fans, she steeled herself, carefully stepped over the partition door, and entered the dining room.

She had already prepared herself for danger.

So she adopted a mindset of facing death as if returning home.

But the result was... nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing.

Until—

Turning around, she heard the crackling sound again in front of the kitchen.

The previously vanished Lacan now appeared at a small table, eating dinner.

Xin Xin froze, then quickly retreated, hiding behind the dining room wall, peeking out with half her head, watching cautiously.

Inside the kitchen, Lacan seemed to be listening to a radio while stirring food in a bowl.

He looked quite bored.

But in Xin Xin's world, the black-and-white videotape had no sound at all.

If she had to say there was any, it was just that buzzing signal noise of an old TV.

However, in the next moment, that changed.

Lacan, while eating, seemed to notice something. He grabbed the radio in front of him and cursed.

And Xin Xin, who had heard nothing before, now heard him with perfect clarity.

[What the hell is wrong with this radio?]

He shook it a couple of times, then pried out a small part that Xin Xin couldn't see.

Then, Lacan's voice carried a hint of anger.

[What?]

[What the hell is this?]

He then hurled the part in his hand to the ground, looked up and scanned the ceiling, his expression turning grim.

[Bastard! This better not be what I think it is!]

Then, the crackling sound rang out again.

Lacan vanished like a signal.

The kitchen became empty.

Having gradually grown accustomed to the black-and-white videotape world, Xin Xin mustered her courage and emerged from behind the wall.

She walked into the kitchen, approached the table, and glanced at Lacan's utensils. What she saw made her stomach churn, a wave of nausea surging up, nearly making her vomit!

Because inside were eyeballs with nerves and bloody flesh!

Some had even burst!

Even in the snowy, black-and-white videotape world, it was still utterly disgusting!

Xin Xin had never seen such a scene in a game before, and immediately felt like throwing up!

But she was live streaming—she couldn't do something so unrefined. So she held it in with all her might, then moved away from the food, took deep breaths, and let her stomach settle a little.

"Everyone. I'm about to lose it."

Xin Xin gritted her teeth and said this. Once she'd gradually recovered, she wanted to look for the small parts Lacan had thrown on the floor.

But whether it was due to the game's mechanics or because they'd fallen into a gap in the appliances, she couldn't find them.

So, having gotten nowhere in the kitchen, she had no choice but to move on.

After passing through the laundry room, she opened the hallway door and arrived at the rest area that resembled a living room from the very start of the game—the same place where she'd received the neighbor's phone call.

Now, it was no longer luxurious or extravagant either.

Gone were the expensive sofas, the oversized carpet, the potted plants, and all kinds of decorations.

All that remained were ordinary chairs and storage cabinets taller than a person.

With another crackle of static electricity.

Lacan's figure appeared again.

This time, he seemed completely unhinged, frantically searching through the three storage cabinets like a madman.

Even the books placed inside were tossed out one by one.

As he searched, he muttered something unintelligibly.

Even when Xin Xin turned her Bluetooth earbuds' volume to max, she couldn't make it out.

Soon, he found the same small part in the third cabinet.

Then he pinched it in his hand, his expression twisted, muscles taut, as if he were furious.

[Found you, you piece of trash!]

He held the small part up high, examining it under the chandelier.

As if he knew exactly what it was and what it was used for.

[You think you can get the better of me that easily? Huh!?]

[Don't even think about it, you bitch!]

Then, he hurled the small part to the ground.

Thanks to the excellent physics effects, the small part slid right to Xin Xin's feet.

Curious, she picked it up and looked at it, completely baffled as to what it was.

But the fans in the livestream recognized it.

They immediately said it was a mini surveillance camera.

Seeing that, Xin Xin was stunned.

Surveillance?

No way.

Who would want to surveil a hot-tempered man who looked like trouble?

If it were a woman being watched, she could understand that.

But a man?

She couldn't wrap her head around it.

Right then, Lacan looked up at the ceiling and cursed.

[What the hell do you want!? What's the point of hiding!?]

[I'm right here! If you've got the guts, come out!]

[You damn bastard, you'd better pray I don't find you!]

With that, Lacan grumbled as he picked up the pistol from the floor and walked past Xin Xin with his head down.

The two almost brushed shoulders!

It made Xin Xin shiver involuntarily.

This man.

Was a ghost!

And she'd just brushed past him!

She stared blankly as Lacan stepped into the hallway and disappeared again.

After swallowing hard, she mustered her courage and followed into that hallway.

Now, this hallway was different from the realistic environment before. Under the Black-and-White Videotape style, it carried an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Xin Xin stepped into the hallway and walked in the direction Lacan had vanished.

Nothing happened along the way, but a sense of unease began to grow in her heart.

As if something was about to happen.

Just as she was about to step out of the corridor, suddenly! Lacan descended from the stairs at the corner.

At the same time, he raised a revolver, aiming it at Xin Xin.

Startled, she quickly raised her hands, only then realizing she couldn't move.

After a moment of realization, she understood this was a real-time rendered cutscene.

Lacan held the gun with both hands, aimed at her, and kept shouting warnings.

[Don't you fucking move!]

But she kept backing away, seemingly terrified by the gun before her.

So much so that Lacan roared again.

[Bastard! I'll say it one more time! Stand the fuck still!]

She still didn't listen, continuing to retreat.

"Stop! Stop! Don't back up!!"

Xin Xin, sharing the protagonist's perspective, immediately grew anxious. Staring at the gleaming black muzzle in Lacan's hand, she kept shouting for him to stop.

But how could Dwayne, the protagonist, hear her?

As he kept retreating, Lacan outside the corridor clicked off the safety and adjusted his stance.

In that instant, Xin Xin felt an unprecedented sense of mortal danger.

This feeling of being aimed at by a gun in VR was as real as it got, full of threat.

With a soft click, she knew—the gun was chambered.

[You asked for this, bastard!]

The next second.

Bang—

A heavy gunshot rang out, a blinding white flash bursting forth.

A tremendous impact slammed into her chest in an instant, tilting her view downward as she stumbled.

She.

Had been shot.

ps:

The company had a Dragon Boat Festival dinner today. I didn't want to go, but I was dragged along. At 9 PM they said we were going to karaoke. No way—I haven't updated today, and going home that late isn't safe. So even after finishing this 5000-word chapter, it's still posted late. Please forgive me!

To the readers who've made it this far, I want to thank you.

This book is getting an editor's recommendation and a six-channel recommendation next week. Six channels. Jumping out of the category to the front page. I never dared to dream of this when I started writing.

I'm truly grateful you're reading this book! Sincere thanks!

Thanks to 'Little Troll Fake' for the 5000 tip! Thank you for your support! Thank you! Thanks to 'Cheese Pork Chop Rice' for the 500 tip! Thanks for the support!

Thanks to 'Little Troll Fake', 'Cute Baby', 'Golden Dragon Soldier', 'Village Bridge Log', 'Can't Think of a Good Name', 'TTLmc', 'Meaning of Apology', 'Cherish Star Wine', 'Young Master Tang Shang' for the monthly ticket support! Thank you all, thank you thank you!