Horror Game Designer

Human head! There was a human head inside the wine cupboard!

When all animals saw their dead kin, they would feel fear. That was written in our genes. Xiao Wu had never seen a corpse before. He had no idea a human head could be so frightening when detached from the body. His hair stood on end. His face was purple, like a piece of bone was stuck in his throat. He was so scared that he forgot to run.

At that moment, a knocking came. There was someone outside the door! With that in his mind, Xiao Wu shouted at the top of his lungs, “Help! Someone has been killed!”

Carrying the last bit of hope, Xiao Wu found strength in his legs again. He ran towards the door. The knocking became more frequent. Xiao Wu was nervous. The door was locked from the inside.

“Quick! I need to leave!” When Xiao Wu came to this company for his interview, he helped a cleaning lady by carrying a bucket of water. At that moment, the auntie whispered to him, “Leave. There are things that eat people here.” Xiao Wu ignored her, thinking there was something wrong with her brain. Thinking back, he realised the auntie was risking her life by warning him.

The lock clicked. Xiao Wu opened the office door with great excitement.

“Save me…” He imagined other interviewees outside the door. He placed his hope on this moment.

The door slammed into the wall. Xiao Wu looked up in anticipation. He didn’t see any kin. The fear in his eyes couldn’t be hidden. Xiao Wu saw a pair of swaying deer antlers. An arm covered in animal fur grabbed his neck. Heavy iron cage dragged on the ground. A giant nail pierced through the monster’s arm, but it didn’t seem to feel pain. His hope was extinguished easily. The giant monster raised its axe and aimed it at Xiao Wu’s shoulder.

“Is this where you should be?”

There was a sharp whistle. Manager Nian toyed with a metallic toy whistle. She slowly put on her heels and walked towards the door. Ignoring the monster, Manager Nian grabbed Xiao Wu by his hair. “Do you know how sad I was when my dog died…”

“Woof! Woof!” Before Manager Nian finished, Xiao Wu started to bark. With a shivering body, he curled up in the corner. His clothes were wet with sweat.

Manager Nian smiled. Her smile was beautiful.

“A dog needs to do many things for its owner. I look forward to your performance.”

Xiao Wu knelt on the ground, hugging Manager Nian’s shoes. He didn’t dare to hug too tightly or too lightly.

…

After Luo Dong’s son made another confirmation, he knocked harder.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Is it possible that he’s luring more ghosts over?” Yu Ruohu was worried. He looked brave, but he was actually a coward.

“My son can still tell the difference between the living and the dead.” Luo Dong trusted his family unconditionally. When he moved to knock on the door, the doorknob turned, and the office door swung open. A polite young man stood behind the door. He was shocked to see them, “Are you here for the interview even though it’s already so late?”

“Interview?” Luo Dong looked at the man with confusion, “Aren’t you a horror game player?”

“I’m an employee at Xin Xin Nian Nian Company. You can call me Xiao Wu.” The young man was sunny and optimistic. He didn’t seem to realise horrible things were happening around him. “You can hand me your resume. I’ll pass them over to CEO Nian.” Xiao Wu was confused when the group just stood there. “Are you kidding? You didn’t even prepare your resume for your interview?!”

A low growl echoed in the corridor. Xiao Wu quickly waved at them. “Just come in first!” Xiao Wu’s expression became serious after he closed the door behind them. He ran to the printer and printed a few resume templates for the group. “Some strange events began to occur here a few days ago. You can ignore them by becoming an employee here.” He shared the printed template with everyone. Xiao Wu stood to the side with a few empty internship tags. “Fill in the form honestly, and I’ll lead you to the interview.” Xiao Wu was very helpful and kind. He was sincere in helping them.

Gao Ming was the first to finish his resume. He wrote that he was a chef for years. Xiao Wu looked through his resume and said nothing. However, he did start calling Gao Ming Chef Gao.

He wrote down Gao Ming’s information on the plastic tag with a red frame. He then handed it to Gao Ming. The tag looked strange. It looked less like a work id but a pet tag.

“Our company can be split into four zones. The food lab area that is used to create new pet food is on the fourth floor. The everyday pet items research centre is on the fifth floor. The pet spa and the special pet training and caring centre are on the sixth floor.

“Different tags correspond to different zones. You can only move within the zones that correspond to your tags.

“There are not many rules for interns, but you need to remember three.

“One, if you hear a dog’s bark, you have to run.

“Two, do not eat anything at the company.

“Three, some pets can mimic human speech. Do not trust them.” Xiao Wu glanced at the clock. “Manager Nian should be working overtime on the fourth floor’s pet food lab. Put on your tags and report to her there.”

Then, Xiao Wu went down on his knees and started to clean every tile in the office.

“This man feels so strange.” Even Yu Ruohu knew something was wrong, much less the rest. No one left but searched the office for clues.

“Haven’t I told you what to do? Why are you still here?” There was anxiety in Xiao Wu’s voice.

“We’re just looking.” Yu Ruolong pulled over the table drawer. It was data from all the labs.

Yu Ruohu sat on the couch and opened the wine cupboard beside it. He felt like something was looking at him from inside. He reached towards a wine bottle when there was a crash coming from the toilet attached to the office.

All of them turned to the toilet. The air seemed to freeze. The next moment, there was a bark.

Xiao Wu dropped the washcloth and immediately flew out of the office.