Let's give space a touch of Chinese horror!

Chapter 57 New Game Preview

Rational Discussion: Do you think the woman in red will continue making games in the future?

1st floor: After all, he's now the head of the Jiang family, so he's not short of money, right...?

2nd Floor: ...The woman in red just hadn't inherited the Jiang family fortune before, she wasn't a homeless person. Why do you make it sound like she was so poor before...?

4th Floor: Wait, didn't someone reveal that Hongyi was kicked out of the Jiang family by her second uncle? I always thought Hongyi was living in a story like "After her parents died, she was kicked out of a wealthy family, but she turned the tables through games and finally got back everything that was rightfully hers"...

7th Floor: I believe the woman in red was wealthy before; she was a rich heiress before her parents' accident. But wasn't it said that Jiang Lifeng hired space pirates to kidnap her? Even if she was rich before, she probably lost everything after being robbed by the space pirates. This game competition might actually be her way of turning her life around...

10th Floor: So making the game was just a means for Red-Clothed Girl to take back the Jiang family's assets? That makes sense. No wonder she withdrew from the competition so decisively, not caring whether the game could still be launched after offending the platform, and completely disregarding the feelings of us players...

16th Floor: Hahaha, I remember so many people in the forum and her comment section were genuinely worried about Hongyi. Turns out, she never intended to continue making games! She's going back to being a beautiful heiress!

18th Floor: No, you guys are oversimplifying things. It's not a matter of whether Red Dress wants to do it or not; it's that even if Red Dress wanted to, she couldn't do it anymore...

The Jiang family doesn't have any game-related businesses. Otherwise, what do you think Jiang Lifeng was trying to achieve by doing that with Lost Whale? Wasn't it just to ride the wave of popularity and grab a share of the market?

It was just a side benefit, a way to sacrifice his disliked niece... The woman in red was really just an afterthought in this whole affair. It's just that Jiang Lifeng was unlucky and ran into a brick wall.

23rd floor: Isn't the Jiang family very rich? Why doesn't the woman in red just set one up herself...?

25th Floor: Surely no one really thinks you can run a gaming platform like this just because you have money? Other platforms aren't philanthropists. You're trying to steal their market share and money; do you think they'll just stand by and watch? Without connections, you're just waiting to be surrounded and killed by other platforms…

29th Floor: Go look at those existing gaming platforms, see who's backing them... The Jiang family is nothing compared to them...

34th floor: ? ? ? Does this mean I won't be able to play "囍" anymore?! No way!

The post was filled with wails of despair, until—

Floor 47: Great news!!! Everyone, go check out the First Legion's official account!

Floor 48: Did you come to the wrong place? This is the gaming area; the military area is next door...

Floor 51: No, no, no! Floor 47 isn't in the wrong place! The First Legion has officially announced that they've purchased the game rights to "囍"!

56th floor: emmm... I understand the logic, but what does it have to do with us that the First Legion bought the game copyright for "囍"?

57th floor: Did you not finish reading the content? First Legion also officially announced that they have signed Red Robe as a co-producer! Red Robe will soon release a new game on their newly launched gaming platform!

Floor 60: Huh? The First Legion... is playing games?

People on the forum flocked to the First Legion's official account.

The comment section of the First Legion was already quite lively, with all sorts of comments:

"Okay, okay! As long as the woman in red continues making games..."

"Haha, I really want to tag all those people who said Red Clothes was irrational and offended the platform, and that Red Clothes ruined '囍'... I didn't expect Red Clothes to just sell '囍' to the First Legion!"

"Someone said the Red-Clad Ones didn't have a strong enough background, but the First Legion immediately created a platform for them to release their new game. Tell me, isn't that a strong enough background?"

"Rumor has it that the First Legion offered Redcoat a very attractive price. I can't say the exact amount, but just know that it's much more than the prize money for first place in the holographic horror game competition~"

"Am I the only one concerned that the girl in red has already finished a new game? Wow, that's fast!"

"At this speed... it's hard not to speculate that the Red-Clad Ones had already prepared the game and were colluding with the First Legion to promote themselves by using the tournament..."

"That's obvious... Normal game developers don't make games this fast! It must have been planned in advance. Maybe the previous plagiarism incident was all part of her scheme, a stepping stone to her debut!"

"Emmm, even with advance preparation, the time was still very tight, right? A game made in such a rush... can it really be fun?"

As if they knew what netizens were thinking, the First Legion quickly released a video on the official account of their newly established gaming platform, "New World".

A video trailer for a game.

Whether they were just there for the spectacle or were players who came specifically for the new game featuring the red-clad woman, everyone clicked on that video.

The video begins with a... somewhat strange-looking building—

The building is cylindrical and not very tall. In this era where buildings are often dozens or even hundreds of stories high, this seven- or eight-story building would look more like a toy in reality. However, perhaps due to the low camera angle, the building appears exceptionally tall in the video.

In addition, the building is very old: the gray-white cement walls are covered with mottled water stains left by rain, and the entire wall surface is bluish-black; the outer walls are densely packed with windows sealed by iron bars, so dense that there are no gaps between the windows, which is unsettling.

A few power lines slanted across the screen, and a few sparrows flew over and landed, then fluttered away again a moment later, barely adding a touch of life to the scene.

Then the camera started moving.

Players watching the video then noticed that the main perspective of the video was actually that of a child.

Because in the footage, they could see the child struggling to hold a dirty ball under his short arms, while in his other hand he tightly clutched a few wildflowers that he must have picked from the roadside.

At this moment, he was walking towards the tall, bare building that stood alone in the setting sun not far away.

The main entrance to the building is a crooked tin door, half-open and half-closed, covered with red rust; in front of the tin door is a light bulb, but the lampshade is half broken, and it is unknown whether it can light up.

The camera pans through the iron gate, and the light suddenly dims.

A long, narrow corridor appears in front of the camera.

The ceiling inside the building is very low, and even from a child's perspective, it still feels a bit suffocating. In particular, the already low ceiling is covered with a mess of wires of various colors, with some hanging down, making the ceiling look even lower.

On the walls on both sides, there are many little GGs printed in red and black ink, such as unlocking, painting, etc. Unfortunately, the interior walls are too old, and many places are bulging and peeling. Even the wainscoting painted with green paint is not spared, so the little GGs are not complete.

The corridor was lined with doors. The paint on the doors was peeling, and the door numbers were blurred by black stains.

Next to each door were piles of clutter: stacks of empty plastic bottles, wooden crates for coal covered with cloth, black plastic bags full of garbage, and even clothes hanging to dry in the corridor... making the already cramped corridor even more crowded.

The players watching the video on their screens all simultaneously gave a slightly disgusted look: Ugh, what an old and run-down environment...

The camera begins to pan forward, heading deeper into the corridor. It's at this moment that the players begin to hear various sounds—

The sounds of chopping vegetables, stir-frying, television programs, and children crying... all mixed together, creating a noisy cacophony... it was as if I had suddenly entered another world.

"Hey, Xiao Qi."

The camera followed the sound and showed a middle-aged woman, probably in her forties.

She looked at the camera with a kind, smiling face: "You're back from playing outside?"

She seemed to have just returned from the communal kitchen at the end of the corridor, carrying an old-fashioned enamel plate with a tender, bright red meat patty on it, topped with ginger and scallion shreds to remove any fishy smell. The rising steam blurred her face.

"Gulp..."

Players watching the video all swallowed hard.

This meat patty...it looks and smells so good...

But for some reason, the child named "Xiao Qi" took a step back, and the camera moved away from the middle-aged woman a little. His somewhat hesitant voice came through the video: "Um, Aunt Wang, I, I'm back from playing..."

The woman called Aunt Wang's eyes fell on his hands, and she exclaimed, "Oh, you even picked flowers today..."

"Hmm." Xiao Qi stammered, "Today...today is Xiao Yi's...birthday."

"Oh dear, our little Qi is such a good boy..." Aunt Wang praised him with a smile, "Then hurry back home..."

"Dinner should be ready at your house by now..."

The little boy in the video responded and ran past Aunt Wang.

On his way home, he encountered many neighbors. No matter which floor he was on, the neighbors would greet him with smiles and urge him to hurry home.

Xiao Qi's walking speed increased, and finally, he even started running.

Finally, Xiaoqi stopped in front of room 604.

He was panting heavily, looking at the door that seemed incredibly tall to him, as if he were mentally preparing himself, or as if he was waiting to catch his breath.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally raised the hand that was holding the wildflower.

But before he could raise his hand to knock, the door opened by itself.

A portly middle-aged man stood in the doorway, his shadow looming over the camera like a mountain pressing down.

"Why are you so late?" The man glanced at the camera with some displeasure, then stepped aside. "Come in quickly, your mother has already prepared dinner..."

Behind the man, a woman with her back to the door was setting out dishes on a square table in the center of the room.

The house was filled with the warmth and comfort of home.

Xiao Qi obediently responded.

The camera slowly zooms out, and the players see a little boy wearing a drab gray short-sleeved T-shirt and obviously ill-fitting brown overalls, obediently walking into the room while holding his small ball in one hand and a small wildflower in the other.

The door slowly closed, and the camera finally focused on the room number "604".

And, appearing in the center of the image... two large, bright red characters—

""reunion"".

The screen gradually dimmed, and the video ended.

Netizens stared blankly at their own reflections in the blacked-out video for a while before reacting and commenting.

"Wow, Red Dress's products are truly top-notch! It's a completely new game background, unlike anything I've seen before!"

"Is this building real? My God, I almost thought I'd stumbled into a Zerg nest! The rooms inside are so densely packed! And it doesn't look very big from the inside. Can so many people really live here?!"

"Uh, can I say this...? This game environment is just too unfriendly to people with OCD! It feels like the whole game is dirty and messy, it's making me want to quit..."

"The promotional video is really well done, but... it doesn't seem that scary?"

"Indeed, but neither the First Legion nor the Red Robes seem to have explicitly stated that this is a horror game... Perhaps the Red Robes are planning to make a different genre this time?"

"Huh? You guys don't find it scary?! After watching it, I felt like I couldn't breathe, and my chest felt tight for some reason..."

"The promotional video keeps showing food, and the NPCs keep talking about 'cooking' and 'eating,' so it might be a food-themed game!"

"Slurp... Food games are great! If other foods were this good, I'd definitely play!"

"Indeed, I've never seen any of the food dishes shown in the promotional video before. But judging from the colors and presentation, they shouldn't taste bad!"

"Not a horror game? Disappointing. I came here specifically for horror games because I thought they could lower my mental strength... What's the point of a food game?!"

"Exactly. There are plenty of food-themed games on the market. The food in them is only good for satisfying your cravings for natural foods that you wouldn't normally spend money on... If this 'Reunion' game is just a food-themed game, I won't buy it."

"I knew it! What good game could they make in such a short time... I guess the guy in red couldn't bear to lose this massive amount of traffic, so he just threw together a random game to cash in on the profits... Look at all those people blindly supporting it, aren't they?"

"Is the guy in red out of ideas...? He tasted the sweet success of innovative backgrounds with 'Double Happiness,' but can't make new games, so he's resorting to gimmicks with background environments again, making a reskinned food game. I bet it'll be another one of those old-fashioned, clichéd plots about finding hidden shops in remote mountains, old streets, or residential areas."

"I'm outta here, playing a game that isn't scary is a waste of time..."

……

"Boss..."

Li Jianglan glanced at the comments under the promotional video, then turned to Li Xingzhuo, who was engrossed in browsing the comments section, and asked, "The sentiment in the comments section seems a bit off. Should we intervene and guide it?"

"Hmm?" Li Xingzhuo lazily raised his eyes: "What 'wind direction'?"

"The comments section mistakenly thought it was a 'food game'..."

"Ah, that..."

Li Xingzhuo glanced at Luo Feng, who was wearing a gaming helmet and insisting on trying out a new game, and was screaming loudly in pain not far away, and said with a wicked grin, "Let them think that way for now..."

That's what makes it fun!

He's really looking forward to seeing how people react after the game's official release!