How About We All Hide in the Closet?

Clearing this game could be difficult, but it could also be simple.

As long as no fear arose in your heart, you would not contract "Phobia." But for the vast majority of ordinary people, overcoming fear was extremely difficult.

The game's ending was deeply ironic, too. To prevent "Phobia" from spreading further, the city's administrators ordered everyone in the affected areas killed.

The survivors who had not contracted Phobia were forced to fight the city's administrators.

"If this really is that game brought to life, we're in serious trouble."

If Phobia spread at the speed established in the game, it would spread much faster than Strange Tale. No matter what, they had to "lock down" this game at its source.

"We have to find that missing child." Gao Ming was growing anxious, but the moment that anxiety surfaced, his body began showing other reactions.

Sweat beaded on his forehead. His chest tightened, leaving him short of breath. His heart raced, and he felt an urge to urinate. As a doctor specializing in psychology, Gao Ming knew perfectly well that these were typical symptoms of Phobia.

He rose without hesitation and shouted toward the room outside, "Everyone, listen! Don't trust anything you see, hear, or touch! Whatever you do, don't let yourselves feel afraid!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one answered.

Getting off the bed, Gao Ming looked toward the living room. At some point, he had become the only person left in Room 405.

"This isn't good. Looks like it got me without my even noticing."

Gao Ming was worried. Since this Anomaly Event contained no Ghosts or monsters and had a relatively low danger rating, Bai Qiao and the burly driver had wanted to use it to train the newcomers. It seemed they had brought every Reserve Newcomer from Investigation Team One.

A full ten investigators had entered the anomaly event, but numbers meant nothing here. Anyone who felt fear would become a target.

Isolation, terror, collapse—although the game "Phobia" had no Ghosts, many people chose suicide to escape their fear.

"I can't let myself sink into fear. I have to break free before I can help the others."

Gao Ming stopped wasting his energy on pointless inner turmoil and kept himself focused, refusing to let his thoughts wander.

Fear was a perfectly normal emotion, rooted deep in the mind. It could help people avoid danger in advance, but excessive fear could turn into a toxic emotion.

Unless they quickly found the source of their fear and interrupted its negative effects, that emotion would keep growing, dragging them into a cycle of fear.

Gao Ming cleared his mind. He would rather think of nothing at all than imagine the worst-case scenario.

"Ah! Help! Help!"

A rookie investigator suddenly cried for help in the corridor. Something seemed to be chasing him, and he fell to the floor in his panic.

"Let go of me! Let go!"

Something seemed to have seized his body. His cries for help grew distant, as though he were being dragged to another floor.

Grabbing the door, Gao Ming rattled the handle desperately. When it refused to open, he kicked hard at the lock.

Bang!

The old apartment's wooden door flew open under his kick. Gao Ming looked outside. Shadows shrouded the Building Corridor, and there was no one in sight.

Screams and sobs rose one after another from the other rooms on the fourth floor. Gao Ming's response was direct: he kicked their doors open, one by one.

Throughout the entire process, Gao Ming felt no fear. He knew the best way to deal with fear was to face it.

Misgivings, agitation—he cast aside every negative emotion. Only by pressing forward and chasing fear down could he keep it from daring to approach!

Gao Ming stopped holding himself back. He charged around like a thug, utterly fearless.

"I made this game. I know their every move. I'm the all-knowing, all-powerful designer. Why should I be afraid?"

The screams and pleas for help did not shake Gao Ming in the slightest. He kept reinforcing himself with positive psychological suggestions, even using hypnosis techniques. At this point, even if a real Ghost appeared, he would have dared to grab it and slam it to the ground.

Sobbing, shrieking, bloodstains, eerie shadows—Gao Ming endured more than ten minutes of this "torment" before the shadows in his field of vision began to fade.

This Omen-level game could have devastating effects on crowds and cause widespread harm, but for an unusual individual like Gao Ming, it was not particularly difficult.

"Looks like I'm about to be sent out of the game."

"Phobia" was a group game. It seemed that overcoming fear allowed you to leave.

Glancing at the ugly rag doll in his hand, Gao Ming stood in the corridor covered in horrifying graffiti. If he left now, the Investigation Bureau's newcomers would probably be in danger.

Fear not only grew on its own, but could also spread from person to person. If a group of people on the verge of collapse gathered together, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"If I leave them here, the game 'Phobia' might spiral out of control and let fear spread."

After a moment's hesitation, Gao Ming made his choice.

The development of fear could be divided into four stages. The first stage was positive, reminding a person that danger might arise.

The second stage was the reinforcement of fear. Past experiences in the brain fueled the imagination, prompting a person to take measures in response.

If they could not escape their predicament or find a way to solve the problem, fear would enter its third stage—a negative cycle. Anxiety, pain, and despair would make that fear grow further.

Finally came the fourth stage of fear, when the player was completely devoured and buried by it.

"I must have stayed in the first stage the whole time. Whatever's behind this, controlling the fear, wanted to drag me into deeper shadows. Unfortunately for it, it failed." Gao Ming did not leave. Instead, he turned and returned to Room 405. "The others from the Investigation Bureau may have fallen into deeper levels of fear. If I want to save them, I'll have to embrace fear myself."

Holding the backpack filled with Posthumous Photographs, Gao Ming lay down in the middle of the "quilt ramparts." He began putting himself in the child's place, lowering all his psychological defenses and allowing fear to spread through his heart.

Zhu Miaomiao was one of the very few female firefighters in the Old City District. She was fitter than the vast majority of men and immensely strong.

She had once had a very happy family, but three days ago, her husband and child had disappeared in an Anomaly Event.

After learning that the Investigation Bureau existed, Zhu Miaomiao had immediately joined, becoming a rookie Investigator who had yet to be issued a Black Ring.

She wanted to find her child and husband in the Anomaly Events and had prepared herself thoroughly for that task. But when fear truly arrived, she discovered she was not nearly as strong as she had imagined.

Her hands and feet were cold and numb. She hid in the bedroom of Room 406, both hands clenched around a bloodstained Fire Axe.

Her colleagues in the corridor were dragged away one after another. Their screams and wails tortured every nerve in her body.

She had thought about fighting back, too. But when she hysterically raised the Fire Axe and swung at the monster, she heard a colleague's startled cry.

Warm blood splashed onto her. Zhu Miaomiao thought she saw her colleague collapse in a pool of blood, and at that moment, she was terrified.

She had indeed failed to follow the Investigation Rules. By now, she had forgotten them entirely, and her mind was blank.

"You can't leave this place anymore." A child's voice sounded inside the room. Zhu Miaomiao stood with her back against the door, holding the axe in both hands.

"You killed your colleague. You're a murderer. Even if you go back, they'll put you in prison. You'll never see your child or husband again."

"Who's talking?" Zhu Miaomiao swung the Fire Axe at empty air. A moment later, the bedroom closet door was pushed open, revealing a child with deathly pale skin crouched inside.

He pulled his slightly misshapen arm out from the depths of the closet and beckoned to Zhu Miaomiao. "I know you're scared. How about we all hide in here?"

(End of chapter)