The Witch

After finishing the meal.

Lu Xiu told Shen Nian and Jian Li that they could take a shower and rest first, and then entered the Construction Space again.

Just landed.

Lu Xiu looked at the scene she had created not long ago and scratched her head.

During the daytime.

The reason Shen Nian noticed that she always looked unhappy when she came out of the Construction Space was because of this.

The main problem was that the experiment didn't go smoothly.

Looking at the scene before her, she once again instructed the system to seal the copy.

But the next second...

[Archiving failed.]

This was accompanied by a notification sound.

A new window popped up.

[The currently constructed instance has been detected to lack elements such as "effective sense of survival pressure" and "evolutionary drive".]

[Underlying logic analysis in progress----Analysis complete.]

[Current instance core mechanics: Pure text selection, no physical/mental damage thresholds, no death penalty, no adversarial gameplay.]

[System's final determination: Inefficient entertainment derivative (waste).]

[Estimated rating: Inferior.]

[The request to seal the item has been rejected.]

Lu Xiu wasn't surprised to see the prompt. She simply raised her hand and started adding choices and some simple gameplay elements.

For example, adding numerical limits similar to affection levels, as well as some light puzzle and mini-game mechanisms such as finding specific items within a time limit, solving puzzles to unlock dialogues, and dealing with crises in mini-games.

In order to slightly cater to the system's so-called sense of oppression.

She also added a countdown timer; if players don't meet certain requirements within the allotted time, the dungeon characters will take corresponding actions, and the players might get killed.

After completing all the repair work.

Lu Xiu sealed the system again.

But it still didn't work.

The system refused to archive her data and even prevented her from verifying her progress.

"It still doesn't work after all----"

Lu Xiu looked at the scene before her and sighed.

She was a little tipsy before eating.

She refused to believe it—if she couldn't handle this broken system, her own bishoujo game couldn't get around it!

But everything was disrupted by the sudden system announcement.

Time is tight and the task is heavy.

Players also need time to complete the game.

She had to temporarily suppress her idea of continuing the experiment.

Let's give up for now.

We can't keep struggling with the system.

After all, it would take quite a while to actually experiment with this.

But one day, she'll definitely get around it.

"But let's do the normal dungeons first."

The large-scale combat instance that was originally planned will definitely be put on the agenda.

But this doesn't mean that all the materials she painstakingly created for the bishoujo game will be wasted. And if she says she'll make an easy dungeon, she'll definitely make an easy dungeon.

This is also part of the experiment.

However, the ease of the new dungeon will be slightly different from that of a typical bishoujo game.

"We've already built this scene, and put a lot of effort into sculpting this Mansion; we can't just let it go to waste—"

Lu Xiu looked at the scene that had been set up for the experiment and fell into deep thought.

First and foremost, for the game to be easy, the combat system shouldn't overshadow the main gameplay; this is a task for later large-scale combat dungeons.

Furthermore, it must meet the system's requirements.

I don't have time to deal with it right now.

So what should we do?

Lu Xiu spun around in place, but couldn't come up with any good ideas, so she simply squatted down, hugged her thighs, and looked at the ground.

Then suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.

"----There's a game that seems really suitable."

Lu Xiu suddenly stood up, looking at the Western-style Mansion in front of her, a glimmer of light shining in her beautiful eyes.

She simply raised her fair arm.

With her movements.

Inside the unfinished instance, the sunny courtyard quickly darkened, the sky was completely obscured by Heavy Pressure, and gloomy clouds, and even the light exuded an impenetrable stillness.

Outside the Mansion, the garden shrubs that were originally trimmed very neatly began to grow wildly and unruly.

They intertwined and twisted, transforming in the blink of an eye into a dark, deep, dense Black Forest that seemed to devour all light.

At the same time.

The once pristine exterior of the Mansion was rapidly becoming mottled and old, with large patches of plaster peeling off. Dark green, sinister vines, like venomous snakes, climbed up the cracks in the walls, instantly giving the entire building a chilling sense of decay.

Immediately afterwards.

A strange path winds its way from the depths of the dark forest to the heavy, tightly closed wooden door of the Mansion.

And on the tree stump at the end of the path.

A completely black cat appeared silently on top, quietly gazing ahead.

That's it.

Lu Xiu lowered her hand and nodded in satisfaction.

Easy peasy.

The game that Lu Xiu had just come up with was indeed relatively easy. It didn't have a traditional combat system, but it wasn't as extreme as Outlast Room, where you could almost only run away. It had more gameplay options, such as avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and chasing scenes.

That's right.

The game that Lu Xiu thought of was "The Witch's House," one of the four masterpieces of Japanese horror puzzle RPGs.

This game is truly legendary.

Its terrifying atmosphere and chilling storyline have always been a topic of great interest among fans.

Even in Lu Xiu's previous life, in an era of information overload and a plethora of masterpieces, the Witch's House, with its mere tens of megabytes in size and extremely rudimentary pixel art style, managed to carve out a bloody path, leaving an indelible psychological scar on countless players.

It can be said to be a classic and evergreen masterpiece in the horror puzzle genre, and its popularity among its core audience has always been very high.

The game's most distinctive feature is its narrative traps combined with multiple death endings.

When Lu Xiu first played the game, she was shocked, always thinking that the character she was controlling was the victim. However, in her second playthrough, she discovered that she was actually the Demon.

Yes.

In this game, players control a villain in the traditional sense.

The story is roughly as follows.

The Witch Ellen suffered from an incurable disease since childhood, enduring unimaginable pain and festering skin. She was neglected by her father and, in order to get rid of this broken body, she tricked the innocent girl Viola, who felt pity for her, under the pretext of exchanging bodies for a day.

But the Witch never intended to switch back to her original body.

After switching bodies, she cruelly gouged out her own (now Viola's ) eyes, cut off her legs, and poured poison down her throat that burned her vocal cords.

From the very beginning of the game, the player controls Viola, a seemingly weak and helpless blonde girl dodging numerous traps in a terrifying Mansion. In reality, she is the Witch Ellen, who has already possessed the body of the monster.

Those deadly traps scattered throughout the Mansion —the suddenly closing walls, the giant teddy bears that kill, the corridors filled with flying knives—were all actually set up by the Witch Ellen herself; they were never intended to hinder the current players in the first place.

Instead, their purpose is to hunt down adventurers who venture here and turn them into soul sacrifices for Demon. Even the Black Cat that helps the player along the way is no good; it's Demon that has made a pact with Ellen.

It was a scam from beginning to end.

Moreover, the ending of this game is quite impactful.

A sense of despair washed over me.

Lu Xiu simply went through the plot in her mind again, and the shock she felt when she first saw the ending immediately made her mood worse.

However, making this game into a dungeon would certainly make it easy enough.

After all, the puzzles and Outlast theoretically so easy that even a child could handle them, making them much easier than the previous dungeons.

On the other hand, this game does indeed have a sufficient sense of oppression; the original game's atmosphere is exceptionally well-crafted.

It's slightly more exciting than a cute girl game.

certainly.

Constructed Instance exactly according to the original game.

If players were to actually take on the role of the protagonist, the impact would be much weaker.

Because the Witch will be the player themselves.

Lu Xiu is preparing to join the role of a protector.

Simply put, it's a game based on the original, with the addition of a young boy for players to role-play. Players will accompany Viola on her adventures and can choose to protect her.

On the other hand, expanding the content of the Mansion, since the original was just a pixel game, transforming it into a live-action version offers a lot of room for manipulation.

For example, the original monotonous corridor could be expanded into a complex, nested maze. This would better accommodate the player's role and also allow for a higher rating.

While playing the role, players can choose to help Viola move heavy furniture or hold her hand when Viola trembles.

This shared adventure can be meticulously broken down into a series of choices.

The subjective immersion brought about by the real-life role-playing makes players instinctively believe that Viola, whom they are protecting, is a life waiting to be redeemed.

And the purer the good intentions, the stronger the emotional impact when they are ultimately reversed.

When players fully believe they are playing a tough guy escorting a little girl, finally escaping with "Viola" and feeling a sense of accomplishment as they prepare for the ending...

But she discovered that the one she was protecting was the most heinous Demon, who had even personally orchestrated the tragedy of her father shooting his own daughter.

The impact will be enormous.

Based on the hidden reward rules of the dungeon, it should offer decent rewards.

certainly.

I can't let myself get carried away this time.

When constructing expansion dungeons, the difficulty cannot be increased further.

This copy is feasible!

Now there's only one problem left.

Should we add a completely reversed ending?

Lu Xiu fell into deep thought.

At the same time.

Just as Lu Xiu suddenly changed direction, the instance she wanted to construct jumped from a beautiful girl game in the human world to the Witch's House in the underworld.

The announcement was also being discussed on the forum.

Players aren't stupid.

This announcement came too suddenly.

Everyone found it strange.

Like Lu Xiu, many people had the same question.

After all, all players saw the ranking of the influence of Nine Provinces and Prison Rock Architect back then.

How can it be that the unofficial content creation ecosystem in both regions has suddenly experienced a qualitative leap?

Then I thought about it for a while.

The players quickly realized who the culprit was.

[----No way! This system is bugged! A lower-tier alternative dungeon can be considered proof of a qualitative leap in the community's dungeon ecosystem?]

[Unbelievable! The arena opens in thirty days! And it's even related to a fan-made dungeon?!]

[It's alright! I trust Lu Xiu's dungeon! In terms of sheer awe and horror, it's definitely on par with any Architect!]

[A large number of Survival Points are awarded, and you can also Plunder skills from enemy players, including Mythic Grade skills Root Skill!]

Wow----]

[Too fast! Although I was mentally prepared! Thirty days—I believe in Lu Xiu, but she only has five copies right now.]

[Yes—but the most important thing now is! All the system instances are closed! We're doomed!]

[Damn it, Construction Club is a jinx!]

[Yes! A trench Construction Club!]

[----]

Old Sea.

Jin Yi had just been praised and was ready to make a big splash when he saw that familiar sentence structure, and he froze on the spot.

Then, his face flushed red again.

I!!!

He's really going to have a brain hemorrhage.

But I don't know who to blame!

He took several deep breaths before he could barely catch his breath and then checked other posts.

Although some people are once again criticizing the Construction Club because of its previous bad reputation, it's clear that most players don't care about them at all.

[The system instance has closed, what should I do next? Lu Xiu's instance is too difficult----]

[I'm anxious too. The other Architect aren't doing a good job, and I don't even know which dungeon to enter next month.]

[Follow up with the Sifu and the next lower-level dungeon. If you haven't cleared Lu Xiu's other dungeons, continue clearing hers.]

[It seems like this is the only way----]

[But the Survival Points tickets are too expensive!]

[Top players must be anxious too. They've cleared all the other dungeons in Lu Xiu's world. Will their Sifu be able to meet their dungeon needs for the next month?]

[Don't worry about that, Lu Xiu will definitely release new content—the most troublesome ones are us ordinary people!]

[Wait a minute, didn't Lu Xiu join the Coordination Bureau? At least she has some connection with the Coordination Bureau —wouldn't the Coordination Bureau have her do some easier dungeons as a backup?]

[----That's quite possible! I'm really looking forward to it! Although her low-difficulty dungeons probably won't be easy! Even the lowest difficulty dungeon can't be that low, but the rewards will definitely be much higher than the system dungeons!]

I also feel the probability is very high!!!

[----]

After reading the players' discussion, Jin Yi lowered his head slightly and fell into deep thought.

He was quite certain that the Coordination Bureau would not make such a request to Lu Xiu —this competition was related to a civilian copy.

How could we possibly let the unparalleled Architect of Nine Provinces waste their time!

Lu Xiu probably won't be doing low-difficulty dungeons.

The system instance is closed, leaving a huge gap in the player base.

An opportunity!

Jin Yi looked up again at the window in front of him, his eyes flickering.

What he didn't know was...

The next instance of Lu Xiu's story isn't actually that difficult.

But whether it's easy or not is another matter.