Horror Game Designer

“Quiet. The activity room is just above Granny Lee’s home.” Fan Li didn’t hide anything. He shared the known information with everyone. “Our goal, the mud figurine, should be inside Granny Lee’s home. After we destroy it, we’ll leave.” Fan Li scanned everyone before pointing at Bai Shu and Brother Lee. “I’ll guard the staircase while the two of you enter Granny Lee’s home.”

“Is that a good idea?” Youyou grabbed her boyfriend’s arm. “No one knows what’s inside Granny Lee’s home. What if there’s danger?”

“The mud figurine is the source of all the anomalies. If we do anything to the mud figurine, it’ll attract the people in the activity room. I’ll stop them in the staircase to buy time for you.” People often followed Fan Li’s assignments because he’d always give himself the most dangerous task.

“However, defending the rear is important too. Gao Ming is a newbie. Can he do this?” Youyou glanced at Gao Ming, who was at the back. The man was too passive and never volunteered for anything.

“It’s alright. Leave it to me.” Bai Shu tapped Youyou’s hand. He and Brother Lee walked to the front.

The rusted corridor door creaked open. The temperature inside the corridor was lower than normal. Walking down it, one could hear the sound of singing opera. The neighbourhood committee’s activity appeared to have started. Black lichen grew on the steps. The creepy sound blew into everyone’s sleeves like a chilly breeze. The more they went up, the more harrowing the voices were. The haunting melody was dipped in pain.

“Ghost music?” Sister Zhang paused to listen. She halted like she had been possessed.

“Do you know this?” Fan Li stopped moving.

“When I first entered the anomaly, my employer was familiar with ghost music. It is a kind of music that mimics the wailing of souls. It has no accompaniment. It is ethereal, absurd and nonsensical…” Sister Zhang looked fearful. “My employer was a bigshot’s kept mistress. Her hope was to replace the main wife. When the anomaly happened, the little ghosts she had been keeping underground came alive. That night, she went into the basement and never came out.”

“Humans are complicated. Her morality aside, she let me go after she became a ghost. That’s why I’ll never say anything bad about her.” Sister Zhang whispered to Fan Li. “Normally, songs with ghost music are used to summon and send away the souls. I have no idea why people are singing ghost music here. But, the singer is even more proficient than my former employer.”

“Perhaps the singer is not human but the mud figurine.” Fan Li told them to cover their ears.

The sundry shops on the first floor were locked. The only light came from an old computer. The black-and-white video showed the movement of Fan Li’s group.

They snuck to the second floor. After confirming the location of Granny Lee’s home, Fan Li took out lock-picking tools from his bag. He knew how to break mechanical and electronic locks. “Don’t misunderstand. To capture the criminals, you have to be familiar with their methods.” Fan Li quietly opened the front door. He held the door and gestured with his hands.

Brother Lee and Bai Shu entered the home. Ou Yang Susu stood outside the door for support. The thick smell of medicine and rot drifted out of the house. Bai Shu switched on the flashlight on his phone. As the light came on, Brother Lee and Bai Shu froze. The living room, kitchen and bedrooms were covered in paper dolls. The paper dolls had the faces of the residents in the neighbourhood. The dolls’ bodies were written with their names. Granny Lee’s plan was to turn them all into sacrifices.

“It’s all fake. Focus on finding the mud figurine.” Fan Li was very nervous, too. He stood near the stairs that led to the third floor. He was under a lot of pressure.

“I can’t find it.” Avoiding the paper dolls, Bai Shu entered the bedroom. Granny Lee’s home was filled with children's clothes. She appeared to have collected them from the kindergarten on the third floor. Some of them had names on them. “She seems to be worshipping something.” All the clothes had traces of cuts and sewing. They felt like curses. Bai Shu found an ugly doll deep inside an old dresser. The doll was made from pieces of other children’s clothes. The stomach of the doll contained a death portrait of Granny Lee.

“Is she dead? Has she been using this method to extend her life?!”

Bai Shu walked out with the doll. Brother Lee opened another bedroom. This appeared to be Granny Lee’s grandchild’s bedroom. There were many children’s books and toys. However, in the middle of the scattered toys was an empty stone pedestal.

“Was the mud figurine placed here before?” Brother Lee thought it was very possible. He found traces of burnt ashes and rice near the pedestal. This appeared to be where Granny Lee worshipped the figurine.

The two backed away from the room when they realised the locations of the paper dolls had shifted.

“There are more of them than before!”

Taking a deep breath, they ran out.

Sister Zhang suddenly started to hum along to the ghost music. Her eyes were dull as small handprints surfaced on her body.

“Sister Zhang?”

Sister Zhang started to walk upstairs on her own. Ou Yang Susu and Youyou couldn’t hold her back. Sister Zhang suddenly became so powerful that she felt like she was possessed.

“The mud figurine is not at Granny Lee’s home. It probably has been sent upstairs already.” After leaving the home safely, Brother Lee and Bai Shu realised their backs were wet.

“We have to destroy the mud figurine to escape. I think we need to go upstairs to look.” Ou Yang Susu hugged Sister Zhang with all her might. “Sister Zhang is not acting straight. You have to come to a decision!”

“We’ll head up.” Fan Li sighed helplessly. “I’ll walk ahead. Watch over Sister Zhang.”

They headed up the stairs. The third-floor corridor became narrow. The walls had been knocked down, turning the third floor into a kindergarten. There were a lot of tables and chairs but no children.

“The music is coming from here…”

Fan Li walked past a window in the corridor. He bravely pushed his head through. On a simple stage built for children to showcase their talents, there was a woman.

The woman wore an operatic costume and had on a painted face. The song she sang detailed the life of a Good Samaritan who lost everything and was buried inside a mud figurine by criminals. The criminals were afraid that their sins would be discovered, so they ruined the kind man’s face and destroyed his facial features.