Introduction
Luo Bei hated this monotonous life. The same 8am to 5pm, the same office computer, the same canteen meals… He was a website editor for an Internet company, and his daily tasks were Ctrl+V and Ctrl+C. The office was broken into pieces by partitions, and everyone was confined to their own little piece of land, with only the old and dirty computer in front of them.
Luo Bei felt like a prisoner, a prisoner in a modern city. In order to survive and make a living, she had to sell her freedom and even her soul.
On his way home from work this Saturday, Luo Bei accidentally saw a huge slogan on the road – "Horror system, giving you a different feeling." Below was a tastefully decorated store. Through the doors and windows, one could see that it was very deserted inside.
He was quite curious, and after a moment's hesitation, he walked in. The clerk was a young man in his twenties, and he was very enthusiastic: "Sir, is this your first time in our store? Would you like to try out the horror system?"
Luo Bei asked cautiously: "What is this… terror system?"
The clerk said, "The horror system is a new machine from the Japanese SF game company. It can be considered a game console." As he spoke, he took out a beautifully packaged box from under the counter. After opening it, a delicate machine was revealed: "It is a simulation game console. Insert the disc and put on the hood, and you can see other people's real experiences. This hood is very advanced. Not only can you see the simulation effect as if you were in a real environment, but the electric current will stimulate your taste and smell, making you feel like you are there in person. Experience adventures that others will never experience in their lifetime."
Luo Bei was very interested, so he asked how much it cost. The machine was not expensive, but the CDs were surprisingly expensive. The clerk blinked and said, "These CDs are the memories of real experiences provided by others who risked their lives and survived a near-death experience. For this alone, it's worth it!"
Luo Bei gritted his teeth, took out his bank card, and went to the nearest place to withdraw money to buy one. When choosing the discs, he picked two, one of which was about motorcycle racing, and the other was called "Resident Evil".
resident Evil
When he got home, he could not wait to plug in the power, start the machine, and put in the CD. Luo Bei took a deep breath and slowly put on his helmet. A snowflake appeared in front of him, and then a straight road appeared. The wind blew in his ears, scratching his face. He could see clearly that he was sitting on a paintless motorcycle, wearing worn gloves, and speeding up. The surrounding scenery was retreating as fast as lightning, and the feeling of speeding was like flying.
Luo Bei shouted excitedly. There was a curve ahead. He turned the wheel skillfully. He saw sparks flying from the rapid friction between metal and the ground. The cars beside him had to back up quickly one after another…
Half an hour later, Luo Bei took off his hood, his face flushed with excitement. It was so great, he really felt like he was driving a motorcycle, the experience was like a dream. He hesitated when he looked at the second disc of "Resident Evil". He had seen this movie before, it was extremely scary. He looked at the watch, it was quite late, let's talk about it tomorrow.
The next day, Sunday, Luo Bei got up early and had breakfast. Looking out the window at the bright day, he seemed to get rid of the fear in his heart. He plugged in the power, inserted the CD, and slowly put on the helmet.
I found myself in an empty street. The sky was dark, street lights were flickering, a whirlwind blew, and newspapers flew all over the floor. Store doors were open, and cars were parked in all directions, as if this place had suffered a catastrophe and all the people had mysteriously disappeared.
Luo Bei saw himself walking along the street, and could feel an inexplicable sense of fear, like water in a swamp, slowly surging over him. He couldn't help but feel his heart beating wildly and gasping for breath. At the end of the street was a large square, with a large screen playing a program, but no one was watching. The air was filled with a nauseating bloody smell. Everything around made people feel the chilling breath of death. Suddenly, many zombies crawled out from every corner of the street. These zombies had distorted faces, sunken eyes, exposed teeth, and their facial features were almost out of shape. They staggered towards Luo Bei.
This "horror system" cannot control the characters in it, Luo Bei can only follow the protagonist on his adventure. As a player, he does not need to consider whether there are real zombies or how the memory of this person is extracted, as long as he feels good.
Luo Bei began his thrilling escape. He knew that if he was bitten by this zombie, he would become a monster like them. Looking around, the streets were full of zombies, more and more, making terrifying "uh uh" sounds and slowly approaching. In a hurry, he saw a truck not far away, he quickly ran to it, smashed the window with a punch, opened the door, and quickly got in. At this time, a rotten hand had already grabbed the handlebars. Luo Bei kicked the zombie in the chest with a flying leg, and the zombie rolled over. In just a moment, he closed the door.
More and more zombies gathered and gradually surrounded the car. The smell of decay and blood filled the air. Luo Bei was about to start the car when he suddenly realized that he didn't have the car keys. He said "Damn it", lowered his head and pulled out the wire, preparing to start the ignition manually. At this time, the zombies had already climbed onto the car, and the entire truck was like an isolated island in the sea. A zombie had already stuck its head in, and its rotten mouth was about to bite Luo Bei's neck.
Luo Bei picked up an iron plate on the control panel and hit the zombie's head hard. The zombie screamed and was knocked out. His Adam's apple moved up and down nervously. He really admired the owner who provided this set of memories. If he faced this situation, he would have fainted and let others abuse him.
Luo Bei quickly started the engine and started the truck. With a roar, a strong light shone from the front of the truck, and all he could see were horrible zombies. The truck was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, and blood splattered everywhere it went. There was a "crunching" sound under the wheels, and a "thumping" sound from the front of the truck hitting the body.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and a light drizzle began to fall. The atmosphere around was even more eerie. The truck shook violently, crushing everything, zombies, cars, and blood everywhere it went. At this time, a strange "crunch" sound came from the carport. Luo Bei braked suddenly and threw out three zombies. Luo Bei's heart almost jumped out, and he shouted hysterically: "Crush you to death." At this moment, a very violent and bloody feeling of pleasure quickly expanded from his subconscious. The character in the game thought the same as Luo Bei, and drove over without hesitation. With a bump, Luo Bei's face flushed with excitement.
The car suddenly stopped and wouldn't start. Luo Bei kicked open the door and jumped out with a wrench. The streets looked like they had been through a catastrophe, with corpses everywhere. Some zombies that were still able to move were struggling on the ground, crawling forward. Blood flowed like a stream.
The protagonist didn't even take a second look and turned to run towards the intersection. As soon as he reached the intersection, he heard a strange roar. The sound was so terrifying that it shook all the buildings. Luo Bei was extremely nervous. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a huge monster running from a distance, like a wall. The whole body was covered with disgusting and rotten skin. It was waving its four or five meter long black tentacles in front of it to sweep a zombie. The blood-red fangs flashed and the zombie fell into the monster's mouth.
Luo Bei's pupils suddenly contracted. He had recognized what it was – it was an elephant infected by the virus. Due to the virus infection, its entire size had mutated and twisted to twice its size, and a pair of blood-red eyes were looking at him.
The protagonist turned and ran, the mutant elephant roared to the sky, a terrifying breath rolled in, and with the tremor of "dong dong", the elephant chased after him. Luo Bei's heart almost jumped out of his chest. He ran forward desperately with the protagonist and could hear his own constant panting. A deep black alley appeared in front of him. There was no other way to go. The elephant behind him was already close at hand, and the strong smell of blood made his blood boil.
He could only run into the dark alley. A bloody hand suddenly stretched out from the darkness and grabbed his hair. Luo Bei screamed and waved his iron hand. With the moonlight, he saw that the alley was full of zombies, some squatting and some standing, all looking at him fiercely. The nearest zombie had already pounced on him, opened its big mouth, it had no chin, and blood dripped into a line. Luo Bei burst out with the power of survival and the call of blood instinct like the protagonist. He hit the zombie's head with his iron hand again and again.
At this time, with a rumble like an earthquake, the mutant elephant had arrived. Its huge body suddenly hit the houses on both sides of the alley, and it was about to collapse. It rushed and hit again, and with a loud "crash", the house collapsed. The elephant squeezed in, trampling countless zombies while running, and it came to Luo Bei in an instant like a heavy truck. Luo Bei shouted, "I don't want to play anymore!" and quickly took off his helmet.
In front of me was my shabby, narrow room, with a messy bed and a messy desk. The sun was shining brightly outside. I looked at the clock and it was already twelve o'clock. I had wasted the whole morning without realizing it. Thinking back to the scenes just now, I was still scared and my whole body was covered with hair. My back was covered with sweat and my clothes were soaked.
But it was indeed exciting. Luo Bei was very conflicted now. He longed for the pleasure of trampling corpses and watching blood flow, but he also had an instinctive resistance to the extremely dangerous environment. This strong and contradictory feeling was tormenting him, and it seemed to awaken a desire buried deep in his heart. As for what it was, he couldn't explain it clearly.
He drew aside the curtains, opened the window, and saw the hustle and bustle of traffic outside. It was as if he had just had a nightmare.
The Grudge
A month later, Luo Bei had finished playing Resident Evil several times. After experiencing zombies crossing the street thousands of times, he no longer felt fear and even felt numb.
He should buy a new disc and have a new experience. That night, he came to the game store. As soon as the young clerk saw him, he smiled and said, "Friend, long time no see. Are you having fun?"
Luo Bei nodded indifferently and coughed: "Do you… have any new discs? They have to be really scary, the kind that can scare people to death."
The clerk pointed at him with a finger, smiled strangely, and took out a disc from under the counter. On it was written "The Grudge", and whispered: "This disc is very scary. It is said that it scared people to death when it was released in Japan. It is absolutely restricted, so you have to be careful."
Luo Bei waved his hand: "How much?"
The clerk held up four fingers and whispered a number.
Luo Bei was shocked. This was his annual salary. "Why is it so expensive?"
The clerk shrugged and said, "My friend, there's nothing I can do. The purchase price is high. To tell you the truth, this disc is out of print. There is only this one in mainland China."
Luo Bei hesitated for a moment, unable to make up his mind whether to buy it or not. At this moment, someone patted his shoulder, and an extremely wretched man stood behind him. He was wearing a thick windbreaker, a cap, and a face full of pockmarks, which was very scary. The man smiled mysteriously, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth : "Are you short of money? Do you want to buy this disc?"
Luo Bei looked at him warily: "What do you mean?"
The man tapped his head with his fingers. “I can give you money.”
Luo Bei waited for his next words.
The man smiled and said, "But you're going to sell your memory!"
memory!
The man took him through many twists and turns and came to a dark alley. At the end of the alley was a secret hut. After unlocking the door, the mysterious man led him into the house. As soon as he walked in, Luo Bei was shocked. It turned out that there was something hidden in this house. The area was very large and very messy. There were many computers scattered around, and the screens were turned on and flashing. In the middle of the room was a strange-looking helmet with electrodes and wires inserted on it. The man smiled and said, "If you sell your memory, I will give you money."
Luo Bei swallowed his saliva: "I don't have so many exciting experiences."
The man said, "You may not know that there are many clients who need other people's memories. They crave all kinds of memories, and some clients prefer a plain life. Of course, the more memories you sell, the longer the time, and the more exciting the content, the more money I will pay you."
Luo Bei's eyes widened: "Are there any sequelae?"
The man spoke each word with emphasis: "The memory of betrayal will be deleted from your mind."
…
Half an hour later, Luo Bei stumbled into the game store. "Boss, give me The Grudge."
…
midnight.
Luo Bei was not sleepy at all. He plugged in the power, turned on the machine, inserted the CD, took a deep breath and put on the helmet.
First there were snowflakes in front of my eyes, then they gradually became clearer. I was standing in front of a Japanese-style villa, the entrance door was open, and in the not-so-wide courtyard, there were daily necessities scattered all over the ground. There were table lamps with lampshades, chairs and tables, broken vases and dishes, smashed sinks, refrigerator boxes with broken lids, broken potted plants and cultivation boxes. Luo Bei walked into the courtyard and felt an inexplicable depression. Suddenly he saw a strange thing swinging up and down in front of a window not far away. When he got closer, he could see clearly that it was a pair of pale hands. A little boy's pale face appeared behind the window bars. He had a Fuku haircut and a blank look in his eyes. He stared blankly past Luo Bei into the distance. The room behind the child was very dim. Even though it was daytime, it was difficult for the sun to shine in. It was vaguely visible that the room was in a mess.
Luo Bei followed the protagonist into the room, and was hit by an uninhabited stench that was unbearable. He pushed open the door and saw a mess in front of him. The floor was full of broken garbage, torn paper, discarded cups… Sitting on the sofa was the boy.
What happened here? A strong sense of fear spread throughout Luo Bei's body, making his scalp tingle. Leave here… There is something ominous here…
The protagonist did not choose to leave, but walked around the house twice. Suddenly, he heard a cat's cry: "Meow——". The boy opened his mouth wide, and a miserable cat's cry came from his throat. The cry was endless and seemed to echo in the house, which made people get goose bumps.
Luo Bei walked out of the house and checked each room. It was in a mess, as if a robbery had taken place here. The stench became stronger and stronger, making it unbearable. He opened the door of the room at the end of the corridor. This was the bathroom, which was very small. The space of less than five square meters made it difficult to breathe. The windows here were tightly closed, and the fur-colored glass was like a thick wall separating the world. He saw a broken photo in the sink and picked it up. There was only a bust of a woman in a white suit on it. There was a hole in her head burned by a cigarette, and the edges were charred. It was very strange and mysterious.
There was no thrill and excitement of the biochemical crisis here, but the indescribable sense of oppression and fear almost tortured Luo Bei to death. He really wanted to take off his helmet, but his strong curiosity drove him to see what was going on here.
At this time, there was a burst of rapid footsteps outside the house, "dong dong…" from near to far, stepping on the stairs and disappearing on the second floor. Then there was another heavy "bang" sound, which happened right above Luo Bei's head. He looked at the ceiling above his head in horror, as if something heavy had fallen on it. After a long time, a strange "hissing" sound suddenly sounded, which strongly tortured his nerves.
Luo Bei hesitated for a moment, but still opened the door and walked to the corridor. He held his breath and climbed up to the second floor on tiptoe. The sound came from the other side of the door next to the stairs. A ray of light leaked out from the room, and before his hand touched the handle, the door opened automatically. There was only a desk lamp on in the room. Under the dim light, you can see the walls around covered with crayon drawings of black cats. These cats are in various forms, running, jumping, and screaming, but all the cats' eyes are shining. The brushwork is vigorous and powerful, and the force penetrates the back of the paper, presenting a non-realistic magical color and an indescribable horror atmosphere.
A diary was spread out on the table, with Japanese characters and some childish illustrations written all over it. Luo Bei was wondering, when he heard someone burping: "Uh… Uh…" The sound was strange and inexplicable, coming from the cabinet next to him. The protagonist took Luo Bei to the cabinet, slowly reached out his hand, and pulled the cabinet door.
Suddenly, a pale hand appeared in his vision, and Luo Bei saw the little boy standing beside him. He was naked, and his whole body was pale, as if he had leukemia. The light became dimmer, and the shadows of the two people were stretched extremely long, distorted and twisted on the wall. Luo Bei's body was shaking all the time, and the strong sense of fear almost made him collapse, but at the same time he felt a kind of pleasure of being abused. His mind was twisted under this strong double stimulation, and the hidden personality that had been suppressed for a long time was extremely expanded at this moment.
Luo Bei opened the cabinet door, and it was pitch black and empty inside. The sound came from the ceiling above his head, and he leaned in, and darkness instantly enveloped him, like a thick layer of grease.
Finally unable to hold on any longer, Luo Bei took off his helmet. The real world in front of him was still dark, and he suddenly had a terrifying thought, was he still in that horrible environment? The door between the real world and the virtual world collapsed, and the two were mixed together.
After calming down, he stood up shakily and turned on the light. It was already two o'clock in the middle of the night. In front of him was still his dilapidated little house. He took a long breath and turned around. Suddenly, he saw a boy standing in a corner not far away. His face was pale, and he was opening his mouth and making miserable cat calls: "Meow——"
"Ah!" Luo Bei sat on the ground unsteadily. He rubbed his eyes and saw clearly that there was no one there. It turned out to be an illusion. He was just being too nervous.
He felt a splitting headache and fell into a deep sleep on the bed. In the morning, the alarm rang, waking him up from his deep sleep. He looked at the clock and saw that it was already seven o'clock, and it was time to go to work.
But he was still very sleepy and couldn't open his eyes. He struggled to take out his phone and found the number of Yu Dahai, the person in charge of the company. He wrote a text message and sent it to him: Mr. Yu, I have something to do today, so I need to take a day off. After that, he threw the phone aside and fell asleep.
reality show
The next morning, he rubbed his panda eyes and went to work. He was still groggy and couldn't tell north from south. After arriving at the company, he walked quickly to the office. Suddenly, he found something strange and indescribably wrong. Everyone was looking at him in amazement, as if they were looking at a monster from outer space.
Yu Dahai was explaining work to a girl when he heard some small talk and then noticed Luo Bei standing at the door. He frowned and walked closer to Luo Bei: "What are you doing here?"
Luo Bei was puzzled: "I… I'm here to work."
Yu Dahai narrowed his eyes and said, "Luo Bei, are you pretending to be nice to me? I've already given you your salary and severance pay for the month, so why are you still making trouble? I didn't expect you to be such a person."
Luo Bei was confused: "Director Yu, what… severance pay?"
Yu Dahai looked at him as if he had suddenly realized something, and sneered, "So you came here to make trouble today because of money."
At this time, the lady at the front desk said, "Director Yu, do you want to call the security department?"
Yu Dahai pushed his shoulder with his hand and said, "Hurry up and leave, do you hear me? I'll say it again, you've been fired and are no longer an employee of our company. If you make trouble again, I'll call the security."
The other employees in the office were talking in low voices, and the trivial voices were like a dark net covering Luo Bei. He felt dizzy and held on to the wall tightly: "I… I was fired?"
At this time, two security guards had already rushed over, ready to force him to leave. Yu Dahai waved his hand, took out a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to him: "Luo Bei, this is your signed resignation letter, read it carefully."
Luo Bei stared at it with wide eyes. It said: I am unable to complete the work due to my own ability, so I voluntarily resign and hereby apply for it. The signature below is: Luo Bei. The handwriting is sloppy, crooked and ugly. It is really his own unique font. Luo Bei walked out of the company in a daze. The sun was shining outside, but in his eyes, it was still as dark as hell.
I was fired, how come I didn't remember it at all? There are only two possibilities now. One is that there is another "me" in this world who took over my identity and did what I should have done when I was away; the other possibility is that I did it, but I forgot it.
How could I forget? Luo Bei walked in the street in a daze, and suddenly he thought of the mysterious man in the windbreaker, the mysterious hut, and the mysterious helmet that could take away people's memories. Did I betray the memory of being fired?
When he returned to his room, he saw the "Horror System" game console on the table. It was black and smooth, lurking like a ghost. He took a few steps forward, raised it high, and aimed at the wall to smash it down: "It's all your fault. You caused this." But after gesturing twice, he put it down.
With a long sigh, Luo Bei slumped down on the sofa, his eyes falling on the disc of "The Grudge" again. I'd better continue my horror journey.
The real world has completely disgusted and frightened Luo Bei. No matter how terrifying the virtual world is, it can bring peace and comfort to the soul. He moved slowly and the girl pretended to be a ghost to scare people , just like a zombie resurrected by a wizard using resurrection magic.
Plug in, turn on the machine, insert the disc, put on the helmet…
…
Luo Bei has been completely trapped in this system and cannot extricate himself. The more horrible the experience, the more it can push him to the peak of his mind and bring him a feeling of intoxication and godliness.
What to do if you have no money? Sell your memory! Luo Bei visited the mysterious hut of the mysterious man many times and kept selling his memory. The past was painful for him, and it was worth it to exchange the pain with virtual happiness.
That day, he came to the store to buy a new disc. The clerk blinked mysteriously: "Mr. Luo, there is an excellent horror experience in the store recently. Do you want to try it?"
Luo Bei cracked his dry lips and smiled faintly: "Of course."
The clerk went to the warehouse at the back and soon took out a disc with a black cover and smiled strangely: "Enjoy it."
Luo Bei took the disc home and inserted it into the machine. First, there was a snowflake in front of him, and then a long corridor appeared. With the help of the light, he could see that this corridor belonged to an underground parking lot. The protagonist walked with Luo Bei in the corridor, and he heard heavy breathing. It can be inferred that the protagonist had just experienced intense exercise or was extremely nervous.
Luo Bei saw that he was wearing an unusual black coat and white gloves. Looking down, he saw a pair of big leather shoes with fur on the toes. What did this man want to do? What kind of adventure was this?
At this time, a figure swayed in the distance of the corridor and staggered forward. The protagonist quickened his pace and walked carefully and silently behind the figure. As he got closer, the scene in front of him made Luo Bei so surprised that he almost forgot to breathe. This figure was his former boss – Yu Dahai.
Why is he here?
The protagonist slowly took out a dragon-shaped knife from his bosom, pointed it at Yu Dahai in front of him, and raised it high. Yu Dahai was unaware and kept moving forward. Luo Bei's heart was about to jump out of his chest. He wanted to remind Yu Dahai, but he couldn't open his mouth. The knife fell from the air with a "swish" sound and pierced straight into Yu Dahai's cervical vertebrae. Yu Dahai screamed, turned his head to look, his eyes were full of horror, pointed at the protagonist in front of him with his hand, and was hoarse and speechless.
Although he had killed so many people in the system before, Luo Bei always thought it was a virtual world and subconsciously regarded it as a game. But today, a real person died in front of him. This scene stimulated his nerves extremely. He took off his helmet and felt his stomach churning and vomiting. He ran to the bathroom, held the edge of the toilet, and just as he was about to vomit, he suddenly saw a knife in the corner. The blade was covered in blood and the handle of the knife was a winding dragon.
He was shocked!
He immediately ran back to the bedroom and put on his helmet again. The scene inside continued. Yu Dahai was kicking his limbs and dying. The blood under his neck gathered into a small river. There was a huge rearview mirror in front of the corridor. The protagonist slowly raised his head. In the mirror, Luo Bei finally saw the murderer's appearance clearly.
It was Luo Bei himself.
I sold the memory of murder and then bought it back.
ending
Which one is the real terror system?
The real world? Or the virtual world?