There Is No Paradise Where You Flee

(A GIF of Camilla moving strangely.)

Why is she moving like that? Everyone else bolts when they get hit with fear, but this one alone is having some kind of seizure.

Is it a motion error or what?

When the horror game won the auction and became today's game, I hesitated, if only a little.

I was a streamer, after all. Shouldn't I make the broadcast a bit more entertaining so the viewers would actually want to watch? That was the small worry.

Horror games had always been in demand in the streaming world. So what made a horror game so appealing on stream?

Streams that pulled big numbers usually had a reason. Viewers watching a high-level player of a game they already played, simply liking the streamer, or the stream being something no one else was doing.

What did viewers want from streamers when it came to horror games? Why recommend them to streamers instead of just playing themselves?

The selling point of a horror game was simple.

The look of someone startled and terrified by the game's hidden scares.

Trembling, yet never letting go of the keyboard and mouse. Pressing forward bravely while the quaver in their voice gave them away.

If they even burst into tears once, that wasn't a bad bonus either. Though quitting mid-game because they were crying was off the table.

So as I installed the horror game recommended by someone who had paid a suspiciously large sum, I fretted for a moment.

Do I have to pretend to be scared on purpose?

For me it was an entirely reasonable, even rather serious dilemma.

Put yourself in their shoes and it was simple.

You drop serious money on a streamer you like to make them play a horror game, and the reaction you wanted never comes.

Would you donate to that person again? Would you even keep watching after that?

Maybe you would. You might find the complete lack of fear refreshing, or be impressed by unexpected mechanical skill as they speedrun the horror title.

Or you might simply be satisfied that your favorite streamer played the game you recommended and leave it at that.

This person doesn't seem like that type, though.

The problem was that the mysterious donor who had shoved a horror game at me didn't look like that type at all.

They had only followed the stream yesterday, and today was their first donation, so they clearly weren't a regular.

Maybe all this fretting was meaningless in the end.

I mean, once I actually played, I might end up bawling without meaning to, making all this worry look ridiculous.

But I figured the odds of that were low.

I had never played a horror game myself, but I had watched other people play a few times.

Every single time the same thought had crossed my mind: Why are they so scared? It doesn't even look that scary.

Logic backed me up too.

I was a real man of Korea who believed ghosts and the like didn't exist. There was no way I would be scared of a mere horror game.

It wasn't even a horror movie — it was a game. Trembling over a game simply wasn't possible.

Which brought me right back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to square one.

Should I deliberately act scared for the viewers, mixing in a little performance, or just play naturally?

While I was turning that over, the install finished.

Whatever. I'll just wing it as I go.

That was the conclusion I reached, but I still laid a little groundwork so I could drop the act the second it started feeling awkward.

"Hmm, but even if you make me play a horror game, it's probably not going to be fun. I'll do it, though. I'm just not the scared type…."

"Heh. You'll see."

I answered the doubters with pure confidence.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

I screamed until my throat tore and ran for my life.

I had no idea what that thing was, but every instinct screamed that getting caught meant death.

I had never played a horror game before and this one was brand new to me, yet the ominous BGM alone was screaming danger at anyone with ears.

So I fled in a panic from the ghost-shaped something.

Of course, separate from clearing the game, I was also running because I was scared.

What the hell was with that face? Maybe it was the music, but my heart felt ready to leap clean out of my chest.

"Ugh… how far are you coming, stop chasing me!"

Whether the character's move speed was just set low or not, it was razor-close. One tiny misstep and the ghost would definitely catch me.

I looped a specific area to shake it, then slipped into a closet and waited for it to leave.

"H-hiding here means it can't find me, right? This is my first horror game but I've watched a lot of other people. They usually leave if you hide in places like this."

Just as I expected, the ghost didn't have the ability to find someone hidden inside a closet. The ominous BGM and its footsteps gradually faded.

Wait, why does a ghost even have footsteps? That's not very lore-accurate, is it?

Anyway, that wasn't important right now.

"H-hey chat. Um… could I maybe turn the BGM down a little while I play?"

"I was just saying. I'm actually not that scared. I've been faking the whole time so you guys wouldn't get bored. So should I play for real from now on?"

I only wanted to turn the sound down a little. So cheap.

Faced with fierce pushback, I grumbled inwardly and grabbed the mouse again.

Then I opened the closet door I had been hiding behind and stepped back out.

—Thud!

"Aaaaaaah! Ah! What the—! Ah, seriously! Aughhhhh!"

A grand BGM swelled as I came face-to-face with the ghost standing right outside the closet, and it was an instant game over.

That signature eerie laugh as it shoved its face right into mine made my heart feel like it dropped out of my chest.

And back to square one. The game returned me to the starting point.

"Th-this…."

I wanted to quit this damn game right that second, but after taking hundreds of thousands of won I couldn't.

I wiped away the tears that had leaked out — ones the viewers couldn't see — and stepped once more into the dark.