121. Internet Addiction Should Be Cultivated from a Young Age

What are the elements of horror?

If you were to ask a layman, they might think of "tentacles," "grotesque monsters," "man-eating demons and ghosts," "ketchup-like blood splattered everywhere," "hallucinations and madness," or "thrilling cults."

For a game designer, that level of understanding is arguably sufficient. After all, perfectly integrating these elements into a horror game is enough to make it famous.

However, true "horror elements" are not such rigid, fixed things. On the contrary, their core is quite pure:

It is to stir up the deep-seated fear of the unknown within people's hearts.

Just like Chen Shang is experiencing right now.

"This is the place where I lived as a child? Impossible. Why would something like this be in my game?!"

For the first time in a long while, Chen Shang’s expression was rattled, and his composure wavered. He certainly remembered this town; even if it had turned to ruins, he would recognize it. This was his hometown from the real world, where he had spent his childhood.

Chen Shang did indeed occasionally insert "private goods" into his games, but these were usually limited to popular memes or tributes to classic works. He would never have dreamed of mapping his old hometown 1:1 into a game.

Yet, the town of his childhood had appeared before him, here, in this game world he had transmigrated into.

It felt as though you were playing a game, and as you played, you suddenly discovered that parts of your personal information had appeared in the game, set as a fundamental part of its background.

However, the developer had never asked for your authorization or even made contact with you. You couldn't help but start to wonder how the developer could possibly know your private information, and whether they might do something that would threaten you in the future.

Even after closing the game, you would feel as though countless invisible eyes were watching you from the darkness. They seemed to be prying into everything about you, nearly ready to swallow you whole.

New text appeared in Chen Shang's mind:

"Because you have witnessed a scene that is extremely familiar yet shocking to you, a Sanity check is required. 1d6 = ???, directly deduct this amount from your Sanity."

Time in the surroundings froze, and a six-sided die appeared in Chen Shang's hand.

Presumably, unlike before, this die did not offer a mental check but forced a direct deduction of his Sanity.

Chen Shang, flustered, rolled a 1, and immediately felt as if someone had squeezed his heart with great force.

His Sanity dropped by one point, falling to 44. This was not good news for him.

Chen Shang rummaged through the Abyss Shop within his Corruption Core and decisively purchased the most expensive "Clarity Cocktail." Consuming 150 points would restore 5 Sanity points, and it would gradually restore another 5 over the next ten minutes.

A feeling of refreshing coolness, like a clear spring, spread from his heart, and he felt his tightly wound nerves relax slightly.

Just as Chen Shang was about to purchase other items to restore his Sanity, a notification suddenly popped up in the Abyss Shop:

[Consumable medicine-type items in the Abyss Shop can only be purchased and used once every 12 hours.]

"Are you kidding me? Not letting me spam meds, are you?" Chen Shang muttered, annoyed.

It seemed that with his Sanity dropping so drastically, he wouldn't be able to rely on mindless pill-popping to survive.

After raising his Sanity slightly, Chen Shang hefted his light crossbow and slowly stepped into the town.

The landmark sign at the town entrance had rusted over, and shrouded in the pale red mist, Chen Shang could not clearly make out the text on it. But the layout of the town was something he could never mistake.

"The grocery store at the entrance, the fresh market a hundred meters away... and that mahjong parlor..."

Chen Shang moved cautiously, everything before his eyes appearing like a replay of past memories. He was absolutely certain that this place was indeed where he had lived as a child.

But the question remained: why would his hometown appear in this game world? Who put it there?

The surrounding houses were covered in rust, appearing to have been abandoned for years. The streets, veiled in pale red mist, were empty; the grocery store and the fresh market had long been hollowed out, with rotting substances that looked nothing like merchandise resting on the counters.

Chen Shang continued forward, his footsteps eventually stopping in front of a dilapidated internet cafe.

This was his favorite place to visit as a child, and it was also the catalyst for his eventual career in the gaming industry.

During his era, the "Minor Game Protection Act" had already been enacted. A minor’s gaming time was strictly limited, and guardians could monitor their children's game screens in real-time.

It was precisely because of this that Chen Shang often snuck into this internet cafe to play games when he was young.

The owner of the internet cafe looked like a man in his early forties, but he played games every day like a mischievous child and scoffed at such boring gaming laws.

His favorite saying was: "When I was in middle school, I couldn't do anything well except play games, but didn't I still graduate from college and marry a beautiful, sweet wife?"

With his tacit approval, Chen Shang and his friends would come to play games every few days. And whenever parents wanted to report the internet cafe, the town mayor would show up to mediate, claiming he had decades of friendship with the owner and urging everyone to let the matter drop.

As memories flooded his mind, Chen Shang patted his head, trying hard to calm his emotions.

Whether he felt there might be clues inside the internet cafe or was simply lost in the nostalgia, Chen Shang carefully pushed open the glass door, intending to go inside and investigate.

Over a dozen computers, which looked like relics from a previous age, were arranged neatly in the room, along with a few gaming pods, yet the interior of the cafe was equally empty.

The moment Chen Shang stepped into the internet cafe, one of the computers suddenly lit up, and slightly monotonous electronic music began to drift from the speakers.

Accompanied by a pixelated opening animation, a spherical pattern appeared on the screen. The top half of the sphere was red, the bottom half was white, separated by a black line and a small black circle in the center.

"This is..." Chen Shang frowned, finding the pattern on the screen somewhat familiar.

If he remembered correctly, this was the first single-player game he had ever played as a child.

It was a creature-raising and battling game that had been extremely popular a century ago. Players controlled a trainer who would capture and raise bizarre creatures in various locations, battling against others until they became the champion of the continent.

"Why is this game here..." Chen Shang scanned his surroundings for a moment, and after confirming there were no hidden enemies, he cautiously approached the computer.

A "Start" button flickered on the screen, as if suggesting he click it.

"Click!"

A crisp sound of a keyboard strike rang out as Chen Shang pressed the Enter key.