Chapter 429: Psychological Barrier
TL: LifeisaJourney
"You can continue, I will leave to join the other group!" The scared player ran back toward the exit. It seemed that listening to the ghost story had exceeded his tolerance threshold.
This scared player's name was Sun Chao. He is 17 years old boy, not mature enough to be called a man yet. He had moments when he was courageous and others when he was a coward.
"What a disappointing person! You can continue now!" Ana rushed Star Yu.
"So I decided to head back the way I came. At least, I tried to. I walked and walked. Passing from one room to another. I recalled the room I was sleeping in, but after a dozen rooms I still couldn't find it. The more rooms I ran through, the more impatient I got. I had to stop to catch my breath. I leaned on what I thought was the wall. When I shone my light on it, I realized that it was the very same wardrobe I had been running away from! Then slight vibrations from a knocking sound were coming from within. At that point, I passed out..." Star Yu's pale face showed how frightened he was.
"What must have happened the next morning was that you discover it was just a dream when you woke up next to your friend! Am I right? What a boring farce of a story!" Ana Lucia interrupted Star Yu for the ending.
"Nope. The next morning, I woke up within that wardrobe. It was dark and I felt a presence. When I opened my eyes, I was staring into the bloody eyes of a ghost woman wearing white garments... I was caught off guard and peed in my pants," Star Yu shook his head in embarrassment.
"Hahahaha... you peed in your pants! That's so funny!" Ana Lucia continued to bully Star Yu.
"You guys won't understand how I felt. It was very terrifying! It felt so real! If you were me, you would pee too!" Star Yu shook his head in disagreement. He didn't feel that he was cowardly during that time. It was just that everything happened so suddenly.
"Bullshit! I won't pee myself! You must have been pranked by your friend. He shoved you in the wardrobe. He wanted to scare you! Only cowards like you would get scared by those tricks!" Ana Lucia conjured up an explanation.
"Definitely not. After that night, my friend went missing. In the police investigation, they doubted my statement. They suspected that I had murdered my friend and gotten rid of his body in the wilderness. After half a year of fruitless investigations, the police changed it from a murder case to a missing persons case. They still have no conclusive evidence about what happened," Star Yu frowned.
"They ended the case with just that? No way? That's such an inconclusive ending!" Ana Lucia shouted loudly to show that she refused to accept that ending.
"It isn't an inconclusive ending! Later in the year, I received a call from my missing friend..." Star Yu continued with his story.
"Oh? What did he say to you?" Ana Lucia suddenly got interested.
"He told me that he is playing a game - 'The Trembling World'. He says that it is very fun and I should join him..." Star Yu shook his head, with a saddened look.
"Oh? You answered him? Was that how you got transferred in here?" Ana took a guess.
"I didn't answer. After the gamer server was released, warnings were released all over the newspapers and internet. There were warnings telling us not to answer the call. I wasn't that dumb to answer him after he had said that. I had a feeling that it was a trap. So instead of answering, I shifted my hand over to the 'hangup' button on my phone. However, the moment I was about to press on that button, it changed from 'hangup' to 'enter the game'. It was too late..." Star Yu finished his life story.
"What a pitiful person. Just like that and he was tricked into the game?" Ana Lucia looked pitifully at Star Yu.
"Everything I experienced was so strange, right? Waking up to find myself alone in the haunted house and then the paranormal encounter! Receiving a call from my friend, only to be tricked into entering this unknown world. Then, you suggest that we sleep in this haunted place. Now that you know my history, do you think that I won't have any psychological problems?" Star Yu said everything at once.
"I still feel that you were dreaming that night. In reality, it isn't possible to have things happen as you have described," Ana Lucia concluded.
"By playing this game, it transferred us to this dimension. So tell me again, which is stranger? We have been living in this world for close to half a year. I feel that on the day the server released the game, it was around the same day when my friend disappeared from the haunted house," Star Yu disagreed with Ana Lucia's statement.
"You are right about one thing. The Trembling World isn't normal. In reality, nothing you have said would've happened at all. Even if there was something suspicious, everything problematic started when the server for the game released! I bet money that you were definitely dreaming; if not, I won't eat shit!" Ana Lucia stubbornly held onto her idea.
"Forget it, sister Ana. Is there really a need to be so serious?" another player walked over trying to mediate the situation.
"Ah... No need to be like that? I'm just telling my side of the story. As to what really happened, I don't even know myself," Star Yu continued to advise Ana Lucia.
"Are you guys dumb? She said 'she won't eat shit'. That means the person eating shit, isn't her. No matter if she wins or loses, she won't eat shit. Low IQ!" The last person who had not spoken up yet finally couldn't withhold the reveal from the group.
"Hey! You can't let big sister feign it? Do you think you are smarter than big sister?" Ana Lucia smacked that player blowing her cover.
Star Yu and the other player shook their heads. They were speechless. This so-called big sister definitely had sass and character.
"Okay, break is over! Now that story is finished and the haunted house had been searched through. Let's regroup with Little Cai and his group. Our next task will be to cook dinner together," Ana Lucia getting serious as she reminded them of her position as group leader. She led the group out of the ghost house.
"Sigh... This type of attraction in the theme park can become truly haunted. At witching hour, it will lure in wandering spirits. Even though this is just an instance, it has been through long periods of neglect. So I still don't support the idea that we should camp here overnight. Something bad will happen. Sister Ana, I think you should urge Lord Liu for him to find another place to set up camp," Star Yu trailed behind Ana.
"Do you think Lord Liu will be cowardly like you?" Ana replied.
"No, it's not about being cowardly or not. It is... It is..." Star Yu frowned as he tried to find the right words.