Chapter 347: The Horror Game Strikes

Chapter 347: Chapter 347: The Horror Game Strikes

William Cole was a junior at the University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in digital media. His life revolved around three main pillars: attending classes, researching the history of horror films, and hanging out in various horror communities on Facebook.

As a heavy Facebook user, his account followed twenty-three horror-themed groups, ranging from "Classic Horror Film Analysis" to "Urban Legend Verification." He spent at least six hours a day scrolling through feeds and participating in discussions. His phone’s photo album was packed with screenshots of old horror movies and guides for indie horror games.

His obsession with the horror genre bordered on paranoia. He had even collected DVDs of every classic horror film, from the 1920 movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to the 2002 American remake of The Ring. He could precisely analyze the camera language and sound design of each work, and could even predict the direction of scary moments from the rhythm of a trailer’s background music.

His friends called him the "Living Dictionary of Horror." Whenever thriller elements were brought up, he could talk endlessly, from the psychological creation of dread to market scarcity, his eyes full of fanatical enthusiasm.

Recently, he had been closely following a brand-new horror movie officially announced by Future World Pictures called Saw. The only information released so far consisted of keywords like "escape room trials," "choices of human nature," and "suspense thriller," which made him incredibly curious.

After all, most horror movies on the market relied on gore and violence, with highly cliché plots. Very few were linked to suspense, so he was quite curious to see what direction this movie would take.

One afternoon in September 2003, William was lurking in the Facebook group "Horror Game Lovers Alliance" as usual when he suddenly saw a mysterious link shared by a group member named "Ghost Messenger." There was no title, only a line of small black text: "Do you dare to challenge Jigsaw’s trial?"

The cover of the link was pitch black, with only a flashing red gear icon in the center, which highly overlapped with the elements of the concept poster for Saw previously released by Future World Pictures.

As a fan who was extremely sensitive to new horror films, William’s curiosity was instantly ignited.

He clicked the link, and the redirected page was still eerily simple: on a dark gray background, the words "Welcome to the Trial Grounds" slowly emerged. The font mimicked a blood-dripping effect, and accompanied by a faint sound of mechanical grinding, it instantly gave him goosebumps.

At the bottom of the page, there was only a "Start Trial" button, without any game introduction or production team info. This deliberately created sense of mystery was exactly to his liking.

"This is definitely related to the movie Saw!" William muttered to himself.

He remembered seeing an announcement from Future World Pictures on Facebook a week ago, saying they would create a "subversive warm-up campaign" for Saw. At the time, he and his group mates had guessed whether it would be an offline escape room, but he hadn’t expected it to be an online game.

As one of the first core audience members to follow this movie, he was eager to dig up more clues about the film from the game.

He clicked "Start Trial" without hesitation, and the page immediately redirected to the game interface: in the corridor of an abandoned hospital, emergency lights flickered, broken medical equipment was scattered on the floor, and faint footsteps came from the distance.

The game used a first-person perspective. The controls were simple, but the immersion was incredibly strong. Wearing his headphones, William could clearly hear his own breathing intermingling with the environmental sounds of the game, as if he were truly inside that terrifying space.

"This is amazing! This sound design and scene layout are definitely tailored for the movie by a professional team!" William couldn’t help but exclaim as he controlled his character to move forward.

He quickly became immersed in the game, losing track of time until his roommate reminded him that it was time for class. Only then did he reluctantly exit the game. He immediately rushed into the "Urban Legend Detective Agency" group and posted about it, wanting to find fellow enthusiasts to share this amazing discovery.

During class, he remained absent-minded, wondering if anyone else had discovered this "treasure."

When class was finally over, he rejected his classmates’ invitations without hesitation, grabbed a quick lunch, and returned to his dorm.

Opening his computer, the screen still displayed the post he had made before leaving: "Has anyone played the mysterious game shared by ’Ghost Messenger’? The footsteps in the opening corridor are so realistic! Playing with headphones feels like someone is breathing right next to your ear!" He had also attached a screenshot of the game, where the red gear pattern stood out prominently in the dark gray hospital corridor.

Less than two minutes after his post went live, fellow enthusiasts began replying one after another.

A user named "Midnight Wandering Soul" replied: "I just beat Chapter One! That jump scare when the ward door suddenly swung open almost made me drop my tablet! Did you notice the bloody writing on the wall? If you zoom in, it’s a passcode. I bet it’s a clue for the subsequent levels. Also, the game’s style looks exactly like the concept poster for Saw!"

William quickly pulled up his game screenshots and indeed found a blurry red mark behind the hospital bed. He muttered to himself, "No wonder I got stuck at the second-floor stairwell. So I had to crack a code! A lot of indie horror games love using this kind of puzzle-solving trope."

He continued scrolling down. More replies from netizens kept popping up, either seeking help with the puzzles or sharing their thoughts. The number of replies had quickly surpassed a thousand during the time he was in class.

Scrolling to the bottom, the latest reply from "Ghost Messenger" suddenly dropped a bombshell: "The official account just DM’ed me! They said that by beating the game, there’s a chance to win free tickets to the global premiere of Saw! This is definitely the movie’s exclusive promotional game!" This sentence instantly set the group’s passion ablaze.

"Scream Queen" posted three terrified emojis in a row: "For real? I played through Chapter One three times and couldn’t find the code. Any experts want to team up to solve it? I really want to see this movie. Just the concept poster alone terrified me!"

William immediately responded: "Count me in! I’ve compiled the common puzzle logic used in horror games. Let’s set up a temporary group chat and divide the work. We should focus on medical-related number combinations—after all, the game is set in an abandoned hospital, so it’s very likely related to the movie’s plot!"

The discussion grew more and more heated, with someone sharing a detail they encountered: "When triggering the plot in the basement, the game’s audio suddenly cut out, and I could only hear my own heartbeat. That sense of oppression was incredible. I wonder if the movie will have a similar scene."

Others analyzed the horror elements: "The shadows in the elevator shaft and the sound of mechanical grinding perfectly match the ’Jigsaw’ setting in the Saw concept poster. Also, if you use audio software to amplify the whispers in the ventilation shaft, you can hear words like ’choice’ and ’redemption.’ That is highly likely the core theme of the movie!"

William compiled everyone’s findings into a document, marking suspicious clues and unsolved puzzles. Looking at the new members constantly pouring into the group—some of whom were horror fans like him who followed the movie, while others were ordinary users attracted by the puzzle rewards—he thought to himself that this horror game carnival related to Saw was probably going to last all night.