Horror Game Designer

Chapter 415: Family and Home

Before the God of the Future arrived, the girl had a perfect and happy family. She was well-protected by her parents. She was kind and had hope in her heart. However, Prosperity Neighbourhood was twisted by the faith of the God of the Future. The citizens became its puppets. The girl’s parents were tortured by God, and she became God’s toy.

Due to the girl’s desire for a beautiful love, she was forced to play the roles of lovers in other victims’ futures. She had to suffer the fate of watching her most treasured thing being torn before her eyes again and again.

She was once kind and beautiful, but she was now an ugly and horrid ghost. She didn’t even dare to take a good look at herself. She only dared to hide in other people’s futures, wear other people’s skin and become a ghost who would never experience true love.

After Gao Ming brought her home, the pain in her heart was indescribable. The warmth of home lit up her memory. She yearned to become the person Gao Ming loved, but she knew that was impossible.

Xuan Wen’s skin had shattered. Exposed to her real self, she only dared to curl up in the corner. The former princess became an abandoned, ruined kitten.

When Gao Ming’s mother approached her, she was flustered. She was ready to be chased out and hated. She didn’t expect the woman to grab her hand gently. For a moment, she saw her own mother in the woman.

“Come and eat.” Gao Ming’s mother told the girl. When she saw the girl’s over three metres height, she glared at Gao Ming, “No matter what, since you have chosen her, you have to be responsible. Do not bully her.”

Hearing the lecture, Gao Ming tilted his head. He was reminded of the time he brought a stray cat home when he was in primary school. His family didn’t say anything. They used that incident as a lesson for him to learn to respect life.

Everything that happened after he entered the house was so familiar to Gao Ming. It didn’t feel like it was created by the God of the Future. It was like a bubble of normalcy in the sea of absurdity.

‘If this is really my son, bringing a ghost girlfriend home is not really something worth celebrating either.’ Gao Ming’s mother frowned. Soon, the middle-aged man walked out of the kitchen with the last dish. It was cauliflower, which Gao Ming hated. The man didn’t say anything as he placed the plate a bit far from Gao Ming. He shared a quiet look with his wife. Most of the dishes were safe. The cauliflower was the exception. If this Gao Ming were really their son, he wouldn’t purposely pick the one dish that he hated the most.

“My friend is rather unique but you are not surprised by her. It looks like you’ve been here for quite some time already.” Gao Ming looked at his parents. They were both probing for the other’s identity.

“The world has indeed changed.” The middle-aged man poured himself a glass of wine. After taking a sip, he shared the tale with his guests. They encountered the ghost taxi driver, became the taxi driver for a lot of hellish passengers and ended up at their son’s rental home. Gao Ming’s father told the story with levity, but Gao Ming could hear the danger in it. The couple almost died many times. If not for their good luck, they would be permanently lost outside. Gao Ming took a sip of the warm porridge. Gao Ming felt the warmth. He remembered that every time he left the tunnel, he would receive a call from his parents. However, the callers didn’t feel like they were his parents. He had a question in his heart. Were the parents who came to his home with the birthday cakes his real parents or the ones on the phone? When the tragedy occurred, where were his parents?

In this clock world, Gao Ming stumbled upon the answer.

When he encountered danger and was carried out by Xuan Wen, his parents came to Han Hai because they were worried about him. They were trapped in the shadow world on the night of the Hungry Ghost Festival. He died and was revived many times, and his parents travelled every time to find him. Both parties were trapped in an endless loop.

Gao Ming’s parents encountered special events in the shadow world. Most of them died from accidents, but some of them did find Gao Ming. However, they became like the version in the death portrait due to some unknown influences in the shadow world.

“If these people… are really my parents, did the God of the Future pull them out of my birthday picture? Does that mean there’s a part of my parents that is still trapped somewhere in the shadow world?”

Gao Ming’s hands moved involuntarily to his present. His birthday picture didn’t give him any special power. Compared to Xia Yang and Situ An’s death portraits, it was too normal. He only had endless cakes delivered by his parents.

“Is it because my portrait is not yet complete?”

When he had this thought in his mind, Gao Ming felt all his parents in the death portrait turn to look at him. The words behind the picture brought an idea to his mind.

“The God of the Future has helped me this time. Their strange power has brought me closer to the hidden truth.”

Gao Ming gained a lot in the Gods of the Future and the Past’s death realms. He reconciled with all of his past versions and achieved a superhuman constitution. If the God of Flesh and Blood could consume the vessels the two Gods had prepared for themselves, he would reach new heights.

“Focus when you eat. Don’t overthink.” The middle-aged man rambled. He didn’t mean any malice. He said it to hide his nervousness.

“Thank you for making so many delicious dishes for me. But…” Gao Ming reached for the food when a strange sound came from the bedroom. It sounded like a basket of fish falling to the ground. They flapped weakly against the floor.

“That doesn’t sound like a human.” Gao Ming remembered that bedroom. He had once stuffed his many parents in there before.