No

Laughter echoed in the car.

Jin Yi, the leader of the Spirit Pivot Construction Group, gripped the steering wheel. The pent-up anger in his chest finally found an outlet. He almost impatiently parked the car in front of the mental hospital, opened the door, and got out.

On the horizon, a dark red sunset, like remnants of blood, faintly appeared. A large, dilapidated mental hospital complex stood not far away, while deep in the clouds overhead, muffled thunder rumbled.

The environment was dim, with faint rumbles of thunder, and a vast, dilapidated complex of buildings stood in the night.

The atmosphere created was top-notch.

Jin Yi didn't care at all; he continued to laugh, and when the tutorial appeared and the protagonist's true identity was revealed, he laughed even louder.

"A reporter, having received information from an insider, goes to the mental hospital to investigate the truth behind the incident—this time, instead of saving his wife, he's become a reporter, right?"

"Damn it! Look at this! Even Lu Xiu is the same! Just a different skin!"

"It's not just about exploring an unfamiliar building anymore! It's just that rescuing my wife has turned into investigating the truth!"

"It's not that framework yet!!"

Jin Yi, as if venting his frustration, left the security booth while laughing and cursing. He then walked into the courtyard outside the main building of the mental hospital. A few streetlights were on in the courtyard, casting a pale and cold white light. Instead of dispelling the twilight, they made the mental hospital appear even more dilapidated and desolate.

The wind howled, and withered yellow leaves swirled and danced in the breeze.

Jin Yi strode to the castle-like gates of the mental hospital, intending to go inside and find more evidence to prove that Lu Xiu was nothing special.

But as expected.

The gate is locked.

"Hahaha----Just as I expected! Exactly the same!"

Jin Yi looked at the seemingly very similar process, laughed again, and then began to wander around the deserted courtyard.

Soon, he found a gap in the rusty fence that had been violently damaged.

Without hesitation, he immediately crawled inside.

Just like Resident Evil.

The process was unusually quiet, with only the sound of his footsteps and the ceaseless howling of the wind in the wilderness.

Occasionally, however, from the depths of the massive mental hospital complex, a few muffled, unintelligible thuds could be faintly heard, like heavy objects falling to the ground or heavy footsteps, standing out starkly in the deathly silence.

However—although most of the main building of the mental hospital was hidden in darkness, some windows were letting out a dim but steady light.

Moreover, the lights in the outer courtyard were on.

Not scary at all!

Anyway, Jin Yi felt that this wasn't as scary as Resident Evil.

At that moment, he even felt like a max-level player returning to the starting village.

"Haha, it's the same old trick again! They've even regressed!"

Jin Yi's smile never faded. He quickly found a piece of metal scaffolding attached to the exterior of a low auxiliary building, and slowly climbed up the rusty stairs. His view opened up, and he could see more windows with lights on.

Although the building was dilapidated, the stable light sources did significantly reduce the sense of horror.

Under the bright light, it's really hard to feel any tension.

Suddenly, a monotonous and somber background music began to play faintly, carrying a hint of unease.

Jin Yi remained unconcerned, continuing along the narrow scaffolding platform until he finally climbed through a broken window into the interior of the annex building.

As soon as he jumped in, he noticed what appeared to be large, dark stains on the floor, like spilled paint, or perhaps—

Sizzle!

Snap!

Jin Yi didn't even have time to see clearly what was obviously wrong, something resembling bloodstains.

The moment he jumped in, the lights in the room flickered violently, and in the blinding alternation of light and shadow, the stains distorted and deformed in the field of vision—followed by a piercing crack of electricity!

The entire room was suddenly plunged into complete darkness, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

At the same time, the monotonous background music that had just started seemed to be injected with energy, and the volume suddenly increased, becoming deep, rapid, and full of pressure.

Jin Yi's smile froze instantly.

In an instant.

He got goosebumps all over his body.

Just moments ago, I could still see light outside—I felt safe—but as soon as I climbed out the window, I was suddenly plunged into absolute darkness.

The stark contrast sent a dangerous signal straight to the bone.

The sudden switch was so fast that he didn't even have time to react.

but.

He quickly remembered Resident Evil; the beginning of that game seemed to have a similar element—a flashlight, yes, a flashlight.

He suddenly remembered something, immediately opened his backpack, and took out his DV camera.

But the DV itself couldn't emit light. He frantically recalled the tutorial, and finally remembered something, turning on night vision mode.

Zzzzz-

A slight electrical hum was heard.

Then, the DV screen lit up.

He was finally able to see his surroundings clearly through the DV screen—but the image on the screen was eerily green, distorted, and filled with dense, flickering noise.

He could only hold the machine tightly, relying on moving the lens to peer into that extremely limited area in front of him.

The field of vision was Heavy Pressure.

All around was endless, thick darkness.

The outlines of all the furniture became distorted and eerie under the green light and noise, and the dark stains on the floor also presented an extremely unsettling texture under night vision.

The atmosphere suddenly changed.

Jin Yi was once again jolted awake by this sudden sensory shock.

This is fucking bizarre!

Suddenly, the light and dark switched, and suddenly we were in complete darkness. The only way to break out of this predicament was to hold a broken DV camera and observe through a small screen!

They're using night vision lenses!

This is absolutely outrageous!

This is worse than a flashlight!

The oppressive feeling of his senses being utterly restricted overwhelmed him instantly, like a tidal wave.

He couldn't help but curse inwardly.

However, Jin Yi quickly recovered.

He held the DV camera high, almost touching his face, and then, steeling himself, groped his way forward in the darkness, leaning against the extremely unsettling, eerie green screen—the bizarre camera work, the overturned furniture, the bloodstains on the floor, the faint smell of decay—all of these silently intensified his unease.

I just climbed through a window.

He stopped striding forward and instead took each step cautiously, turning the camera extremely slowly with each movement. The shaky, eerie green screen and the swirling darkness at the edges of his vision were truly unsettling.

He stumbled and groped his way to the other end of the room and found a door.

Push it away.

Outside the door is a relatively wide corridor, with connecting rooms.

The dim lights flickered overhead, barely illuminating the surroundings.

Compared to the all-consuming darkness just now, the environment where one could only see clearly with the unsettling green light of night vision.

This place can only be described as bright.

Jin Yi immediately walked out of the room and stood under the dim, flickering lights of the corridor, subconsciously letting out a sigh of relief.

Although the lighting here is still dim and the atmosphere is oppressive, the fact that you can see your surroundings creates a false sense of security.

Compared to the outside, the inside was indeed darker and more oppressive.

This is somewhat like the Resident Evil where you enter a house and the door is suddenly locked from the inside.

This time it was just more direct and more abrupt.

"----It's all the same old formula! Are we going to have another disgusting scene next?! Another NPC going crazy?!"

Jin Yi stood at the door. After the false sense of security faded, he suddenly remembered his behavior just now and couldn't help but start cursing again.

It was as if he wasn't the one who had just gotten goosebumps.

However, that part really did resemble Resident Evil.

Standing in the light, Jin Yi's fear gradually subsided, and he felt he was in control again.

He looked toward the room that connected to the corridor, and began to walk forward, entering that relatively larger room, which was faintly illuminated by an unknown light source, perhaps the pale moonlight filtering through the broken window.

The room's furnishings were much more normal than the previous one; the furniture was mostly intact, with no obvious signs of fighting or damage. However, this apparent normalcy belied a deeper sense of eeriness.

A portrait of Father in his robes hangs on the wall near the entrance.

It was just a normal portrait, but in the dim light it appeared particularly eerie. Above the fireplace in the room, an old television screen flickered with glaring static, emitting a continuous, irritating hissing noise, the only background sound in this deathly silent space, which only added to the oppressive atmosphere.

"Isn't this the recording room from Resident Evil?!"

Jin Yi walked to the center of the room, observing his surroundings, searching for possible clues or an exit, while saying, "It's just a change of intention! Are they going to use cockroaches to disgust people next? I told you she could only do that within a framework—"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Just then, oh my god!!!

A bizarre, inhuman scream suddenly erupted in the room without warning. The sound was like the dying howl of a wild beast, highly directional, as if it had suddenly burst out right next to Jin Yi's ear! The volume and the eeriness of the tone far exceeded any previous environmental sound effects!

If the video camera room in Resident Evil was meant to scare people with video recordings...

So at this moment.

Outlast means scaring people in the most direct way.

And the results are outstanding!

Jin Yi was so frightened by the sudden, terrifying sound effect that his whole body trembled violently, and a chill instantly shot from his tailbone to the top of his head.

His scalp instantly felt numb and itchy.

Jin Yi took several steps back, his heart pounding wildly.

But soon, the screaming stopped.

It was as if what I had just experienced was merely an illusion.

The room remained unchanged; the furnishings were the same, and the screen above the fireplace was still flashing static.

"----Gulp."

Jin Yi remained motionless for a long time before finally swallowing hard.

The unease in my heart began to be amplified.

It was very quick.

As the shock of the sudden scream slowly dissipated, he suddenly realized. "This means I'm doomed!"

That was terrifying at first! Bullshit! Nothing's going to happen next!

He finished talking to himself.

He wandered around the room for a long time, as if trying to prove something.

As expected, nothing happened.

He immediately smiled, but this time the smile looked a little forced.

Then, he looked at the half-open door not far away.

Warm light was streaming in through the crack in the door.

so.

What awaits me next?

have no idea.

Will things really start the way they expected?

have no idea.

Will the same pattern really play out from here on out?

have no idea.

I know nothing.

It's like a cycle—when he first completed Resident Evil, he didn't know what would happen next.

Now, as for Outlast, although I initially thought Lu Xiu would use the same trick, once I actually entered, I found that even if the trick was the same, the pressure it brought was enormous.

He still didn't know what would happen next.

Moreover, the objective of this instance is even more ambiguous than that of Resident Evil.

The former at least knew he had to save his wife.

What about this copy? Investigate—specifically, investigate what?

"No."

Thinking of this, Jin Yi quickly banished the thoughts from his mind. "It will definitely be scary in the early stages, that's for sure, even if it's the same old routine! But as long as monsters appear later, the fear will definitely be reduced, since having a physical entity to deal with means you can survive."

Yes, everything will be alright once we get the weapons!

He silently chanted to himself as he walked towards the half-open door. When he opened it, he saw a corridor outside, piled with clutter, with bloodstains in the distance, and the overhead lights flickering as if they were malfunctioning.

I recalled what happened when I climbed in through the window.

For a moment, Jin Yi was genuinely afraid that the light would snap out again.

Thankfully, no.

He took a deep breath, squeezed through the clutter, reached the other end of the corridor, and turned left into the room.

This appears to be a small office.

The filing cabinet, desk, chair, and computer screen were lit up, and the drawer next to the desk was pulled open.

There is a battery inside.

According to the prop description.

This is for DV (Digital Video) use.

Upon seeing this instruction, Jin Yi glanced down at the DV camera in his hand, and his expression instantly turned ugly.

How could it run out of power?

Do we still need to collect batteries?

Most importantly, how many more times will we have to go through that experience of holding a DV camera and fumbling around with a small screen?!

He stood there, suddenly feeling a resistance to moving forward.

However, this resistance did not last long. In the end, he restrained himself, walked out of the office, and continued walking down the corridor.

Bloodstains were splattered in the corridor.

I have no idea whose it is.

The overhead lights continued to flicker, as if they were about to go out at any moment.

I pushed open another door.

Still in the office.

This time, however, there was no battery inside, only a document and the dial tone of a disconnected phone call.

Jin Yi explored the area for a while, then left the office and continued forward. There were two more rooms at the end, but just as he was about to check them out, the room on the left suddenly closed automatically.

Jin Yi stared at the door that closed automatically.

I waited for about ten seconds.

There was no sound at all.

He then took a deep breath and reached out to push the door open.

It remained completely still.

"Is this another Resident Evil key-finding trope?"

Jin Yi chuckled, but his smile was even more forced than before.

intention.

hint.

Anxiety gradually builds up.

Like a frog being slowly boiled in water.

Much later.

He continued exploring, but there was no road ahead, only a room on his right.

It appeared to be a lounge area, with vending machines, a microwave, a sink, and a refrigerator; it looked very clean.

After entering this room.

The noise kept coming from who-knows-where.

Moreover, there was no path in this room. The only place that could be considered a path was the ventilation duct. Above his head, a metal louver-style ventilation duct opening had been roughly pried open by something, with a metal mesh cover hanging down and the inside of the duct being dark.

Jin Yi looked up and saw this scene, his expression immediately turning grim.

A cramped space.

A dark view.

Unable to turn around, unable to stand.

A long, narrow iron coffin.

See that ventilation duct opening?

These words began to pop into Jin Yi's mind.

A strong, unbearable sense of resistance washed over me again.

"----It's just a sudden scare! Do you really think players have no resistance? Do you really think it will work every time?"

Jin Yi gritted his teeth, forced another laugh, then stepped on the collapsed iron cabinet next to him, struggled to his feet, first stuffed the DV camera into the pipe, and then painstakingly crawled in himself.

Suppressed.

This was Jin Yi's first sensation after entering the pipe.

The pipe was too small and extremely cramped. Your shoulders were almost pressed against the cold metal walls on both sides. If you looked up even slightly, the back of your head would hit the metal sheet above with a dull thud. Once you were inside, there was no turning back; you could only move forward.

Most importantly, there wasn't a single ray of light inside the pipes.

It was pitch black.

I had absolutely no idea what lay ahead.

He wanted to jump as soon as he came in.

Jin Yi took a few deep breaths before laboriously lifting the old DV camera and turning on night vision mode.

Sizzle----

A ghastly green image appeared on the DV screen, with noise flying around the edges of the screen like a dense swarm of insects.

This looks even more fucking terrifying!

Jin Yi's breathing suddenly became rapid, his unease amplified infinitely in the narrow tube.

He slowly crawled forward in the pipe, his nerves taut, his eyes fixed on the green light on the DV screen.

Be alert to the possibility of a sudden fright.

He hadn't climbed out far when, through the other side of the pipe, he saw someone acting erratically, carrying a weapon, entering a room.

Is that a patient?

Jin Yi was unaware of this, and simply increased his crawling speed.

Unexpected.

Nothing happened in the cramped metal box until he reached the end of the pipe, and no monster suddenly pounced out.

Jin Yi looked down from the ventilation shaft at the end of the shaft. There were no enemies below. He took a deep breath and jumped down from the shaft.

It landed with a dull thud.

My feet were firmly planted on solid ground.

Jin Yi felt a little relieved.

It was still a corridor, but through the semi-transparent glass on the front, you could see that it was one side of a U-shaped building. There seemed to be people running in the opposite corridor, and you could faintly hear heavy footsteps and indistinct roars.

The door to the corridor where he was standing was locked. Through a small glass window in the door, he could see several huge iron cages inside, stained with dark red dirt. He didn't know what they were used to hold people.

The other side was piled with discarded debris, making it impossible to pass.

The only place he could go was a room with its door slightly ajar.

"Phew—it seems it was just a gimmick to create claustrophobia and shift the scene."

Jin Yi took a deep breath, probably because his inability to get through meant that others couldn't get through either, which brought him a sense of security.

He felt he was capable again.

Meanwhile, having explored many rooms without encountering any issues, he arrived at the room with the door slightly ajar and, without a second thought, casually pushed it open.

As soon as he pushed the door open, amidst the blinding flashes of light, Jin Yi hadn't even gotten a clear look at the entire room—

Accompanied by a piercing scream that seemed to shatter eardrums, a mutilated corpse hanging upside down appeared before him without warning, accompanied by flashing lights.

T

This sudden shock.

It came so abruptly.

Just as he was at his most relaxed moment, thinking that crawling through the ventilation duct would be the end of it, this scene suddenly appeared.

Jin Yi's eyes widened instantly, and he was so frightened that he stumbled back several steps, his back slamming against the corridor wall with a thud. His heart pounded wildly in his chest like a drum.

He leaned against the wall, panting heavily, clutching his chest, his eyes fixed on the corpse lying on the ground.

It took him more than ten seconds to recover from the lingering feeling of unease.

"Holy crap!!! There was absolutely nothing in the room just now----"

Enraged, he began to curse loudly, the veins bulging on the back of his hand gripping the DV camera, but he couldn't finish his sentence.

As Architect, he immediately understood that the rooms in the corridor at the beginning, including the ventilation ducts, were all meant to lull him into a false sense of security.

It was so that I could Open Gate without any warning at this moment.

Then, the environment, lighting, and sound effects are used to create the most direct sensory violence.

----It truly can be described as a meticulously planned strategy, with an unparalleled grasp of the players' psychology.

This is something they couldn't achieve by Construction Club.

Even though this instance felt so familiar at first glance, and even though he had played Resident Evil, many parts of it felt like Resident Evil.

But he was still afraid, still feeling afraid in the early stages of this dungeon.

Could it be that Lu Xiu ----

No.

Jin Yi shook his head vigorously, unwilling to admit the truth.