Of course, not everyone is like Ash, who disappeared within minutes.
But the impact is still significant. Many people who were initially excited thought the top ten thousand spots wouldn't apply to them, but figured they could at least get some reward in the game.
However, once they entered the game, they realized they had been too optimistic. It was different from the Endless Corridor game.
The narrow corridor, combined with the slowly changing surroundings and dim lighting,
gave players a sense of endless suggestion and a feeling of being constantly persecuted.
But in Silent Hill, it was replaced by a dead, lonely silence.
Besides the protagonist's breathing and footsteps, you couldn't hear a single other sound.
With the fog reducing visibility, it made little difference whether it was day or night.
Because players' sense of security in the game comes from what they can see, but when their vision is filled with white fog, their sense of security is constantly compressed. In this situation, day and night are essentially the same for players.
Even more crucial was the psychological suggestion brought by the dead silence, making players feel like time was dragging on.
Especially as the game progressed, players' psychological defenses were gradually worn down and destroyed.
............
Zack cautiously walked on the fog-covered road. He considered himself brave, but in reality, he wasn't that bold, being an old gamer.
The belief that kept him playing this game wasn't about proving anything, but about giving his friend Ben a CD KEY he personally earned as a birthday gift in two days.
Even though he saw Ben was also playing in his friend list, he didn't care.
After all, a purchased game was a different concept from one he earned himself.
On his birthday, what better gift could a good brother give than a reward earned through his own efforts?
It wasn't about the value, but the meaning.
"What the heck, how has only a few minutes passed?" Zack glanced at the time and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
The journey he just described felt like he had walked for over ten minutes, stopping with every step.
But looking at the system time, he realized that even though he had been deliberately slow, the journey had actually taken less than four minutes.
After walking for a bit, Zack arrived at a place that looked like a graveyard.
Two rusted iron gates stood imposing. Zack controlled James in the game to push open the iron gates.
The wrought iron fence let out a grating, screeching sound. When it opened just wide enough for one person to pass, the gate got stuck and wouldn't move.
He entered through the gap. The white fog still permeated the air, and the graveyard was filled with many tombstones.
Dead yellow leaves covered the ground, and the sound of footsteps on them was completely different from before.
After walking forward a couple of sections, Zack suddenly felt the fog around him thinning, though he wasn't sure if it was his imagination.
And at the tombstones ahead, a woman seemed to be searching for something, moving from one tombstone to another.
Finally, she squatted down in front of a tombstone, her back to James, not moving.
"Is this it? Is something big about to happen?" Zack muttered softly, as if saying it would help dispel some of his fear.
The white fog, the dead silence, the surrounding tombstones, and the woman facing away from him.
It was as obvious as could be!
He imagined walking over to talk to her for directions, only for her to turn around with bleeding eyes or a monstrous face, a ghostly apparition.
He controlled James to slowly approach her and then speak.
But unexpectedly, the next moment, the woman squatting at the tombstone let out a scream.
The scream startled Zack too.
"Why are you yelling so loud? In a horror game, I'm supposed to be scared, and the protagonist, so why are you screaming!" Zack cursed, startled, yet a bit surprised.
Because the woman in front of him seemed very normal?
He comforted her and spoke with her. According to her, she was there to find her mother. In her memory, her brother and father should have been there too, but for some reason, they weren't.
At the same time, she warned James not to go to Silent Hill because the place was very strange and dangerous.
However, James said he didn't care about any of that because he had a reason he absolutely had to go: he was looking for someone very important to him.
His wife: Mary.
Following the direction pointed out by the dark-haired woman, he proceeded towards the graveyard's exit.
The next part was just traveling. The fog that had slightly dispersed in the graveyard once again gathered.
The surroundings were still the same as before, deathly silent.
Besides the character's footsteps and panting, and the rustling of leaves, there was absolutely no other sound to be heard.
In Outlast, Resident Evil, and other horror games, there would at least be some scary monsters and horrifying scenes.
But in Silent Hill so far, there hadn't been any.
Yet, this didn't put Zack at ease at all. Instead, it kept his nerves constantly on edge, fearing that something would jump out and scare him when he let his guard down.
He even found himself a little nostalgic for those cheap jump scares.
At least with those, you'd be startled for a moment, but it was better than this constant state of anxious dread.
He passed through an abandoned farm and followed the road, then went through a derelict building.
On the map, a small cursor indicated he had entered Silent Hill.
Upon entering the town, Zack saw a long-abandoned flower market in front of him.
The gate was locked, and the surrounding glass was smudged.
Strangely, the fog still persisted. The entire town was deserted, still incredibly silent.
Continuing forward, there was an abandoned workbench beside the road, covered in various clutter. Among a watering can and various small shovels, there was a small first-aid kit and a fragment.
But before Zack could examine what items were there,
Deep within the Silent Hill streets, Zack suddenly heard hurried footsteps and a low growl.
The sound erupting from the previously dead silent environment startled Zack.
Immediately, Zack reacted and thought.
"There's always supplies before a big fight, so we're probably going to encounter a monster next!"
"And this thing is part of Boss Lucas's scheme. Following the game's progress, I somehow got a fragment, making me think I had good luck and a chance to collect all the cards?"
As a loyal old player of Nebula Games, Zack, having been tricked countless times by Lucas's games over the years, let out a wry chuckle.
(End of Chapter)
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