Disappointing horror novel from author of "My House of Horrors" MHoH.
This is what happens when China's censorship on supernatural stories goes out of whack.
3/5 stars... really tried to bump it up to at least 4, but I felt that doing so would instead be a disservice to MHoH which I rated 5/5.
SUMMARY
A seemingly normal, socially-withdrawn aspiring actor Han Fei, is given a headset for a new VR game by a mysterious old shopkeeper. As Han Fei discovers a hidden "supernatural" world within the game, he has to overcome horror challenges to survive, while gaining powers and uncovering the game's mysteries.
COMMENTS
(1) Flawed world building China's censorship law prohibits supernatural themes in media, requiring that there be some kind of scientific explanation. That's why there are little to no horror titles, and most are lamely explained away as psychosis or aliens.
This restriction really shows up in this novel as it forces the author to create a fictitious VR world. There are two layers -- a normal surface one, and a ghostly cryptic one. MC just happens to be sent to the cryptic layer.
Spoiler
Around C73-75, the VR world is loosely explained by one of the developers as next-gen photon computers that collate and process so much real-life human data, that it seems to go beyond normal simulation. It's unclear if the "ghosts" are just AI constructs, or something that transcends it (i.e. that the gaming devices are actually an accidental method of isekai/parallel world theory).
But that's way too much of a stretch in tech plausibility, so the more reasonable explanation for now would be AI constructs, which if true would completely destroy the horror theme. Esp since MC constantly treats them as actual former living beings which is just weird. How does he know if it's actually the same person that died? There's never actually any link mentioned anywhere.
You could almost think of it as the "My House of Horror" virtual themepark competitor, where MC Chen Ge himself scoffed at such "fake" constructs.
PM me if if I'm mistaken on this and if there's any evidence before c145 that proves the ghosts are "real". I scoured the novel but couldn't find it.
Horror is horror, because of the unknown.
A great quote from an article in Medium summarized horror as "a controlled fall into the unknown... a very human way to project our worst fears, unspoken questions and worries, and express them in a way everyone can connect to. It takes one of the most primal human emotions -- fear -- and turns it into an avenue for catharsis and release, often with a new kind of understanding."
Creating a "game" element for catharsis is still fine, hence the iyashikei concept. But when EVERYTHING is squarely explained away and gamified, there's no suspense anymore.
-- Pointless stats that are hardly used (Int/Sta/Cha/Lck/Malice/Sanity/Personality) and appear to easily quantify the unknown ghosts
-- Pointless min/maxing (my random stat is now stronger than Ghost Type A, so I can overpower them physically)
-- Pointless 24 hr login requirement, with 3 hr min playtime, 1 mission min completion requirement, blah blah blah blah blah (you're no longer afforded any real build-up and detail on missions, unlike MHoH. You're so focused on clearing missions everyday there's no attachment to any one of them.)
-- Pointless levels with random Exp (no explanation how much Exp per level, MC just randomly levels up)
-- Pointlessly numerous grades (MC starts with Grade G missions... so we're automatically expecting at least 7 levels, Grade A-G). We have little understanding of the differences in grades, because MC completes so many damn missions that are all Grade G and F in the first 100 chapters, with no discernable change in difficulty level other than being told he's "more likely to die". How??
Let's use actual horror video games as a reference, and you can see how that juxtaposes with a reading medium like a webnovel.
There is usually some RPG element with min-maxing functions where players can equip/upgrade themselves. But there are at least two very different routes.
-- Games like "Fatal Frame" and "Phasmophobia" are more laid-back, discovery type genres with limited inventory. This is the route MHoH went through, and fits very well into passive, spectator type perspective like reading a novel.
-- Games like "Dead Space" and "Resident Evil" relies on actively engaging and fighting monsters, basically an adventure-type genre. But it requires an active player taking full control to deliver a strong sense of player agency. This is the route that My Iyashikei Game is trying to follow, and DOES NOT translate well in a medium like a novel.
Also, perhaps due to poor writing for the first 75 chapters, there's a lack of any perceived risk and palpable fear because MC was under the impression that if he died in the game, he WOULD NOT die for real (only his character would be reset).
Later it's revealed that at least in the cryptic world, in-game death for the MC would result in coma.
You should just assume MC knew that from the beginning, else it makes the first 100 chapters really boring.
The ultimate failure of all this is that you end up way more interested in MC's real life as a famous actor than his escapades in the VR ghost world. Especially since MC can use his newfound powers.
(2) Weak, incongruent MC This was the biggest problem for me. You have a socially withdrawn/anxious MC Han Fei that doesn't do well when around other people. But he's also an actor, which necessitates he's around other people. Huh??
Han Fei is supposed to be a lifelong passive, kind-hearted do-gooder. But somehow within a short few days in VR, he turns into a highly calculative, manipulative person. He learns to lie and think quickly on his feet (despite no change to his Int stat). Huh??
As per @DarkD, Han Fei's relationship with the police is completely implausible.
Han Fei doesn't do any crime-busting besides soliciting info from VR cryptic/ghost world (i.e. he's just a tipster). He conjures info for the police out of nowhere, and nobody questions him. Literally, he responds with "I used logical deduction." End of story. Seriously??
Chen Ge from MHoH was an active vigilante/Good Samaritan so he could plausible solve crimes since he's always at crime scenes.
Han Fei doesn't go anywhere and he's just supposed to magically produce evidence. Huh?? If his power is to experience what the victim went through, take a cue from "Movies Are Real". At least that development was better.
(3) Unrelatable cast of characters Unlike MHoH where MC Chen Ge slowly interacts with psychotic criminals before actively confronting with powerful specters, our MC Han Fei goes straight into the deep end starting from a haunted apartment complex.
He immediately confronts various horror scenes where people/ghosts inexplicable want to kill him on sight for no apparent reason. We're given ZERO backstory before all this happens, which is confusing.
When Han Fei does meet up with friendly ghosts, they are totally unrelatable and episodic.
Spoiler
- A random amalgamation of 7-8 specters in his apartment, we don't know why they are there except being mu*dered by 1 guy). We don't find out much till dozens and dozens of chapters later.
So, am I supposed to relate to being randomly mu*dered?
- A granny who adopted 3 kids, some of which backstabbed her. We don't find out why until dozens and dozens of chapters later. Even when we do, they are totally unrelatable since granny was just unlucky enough that 2 of the kids are naturally psychotic. Huh?
So, am I supposed to relate to unfortunately adopting psychotic kids?
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A shadow child who lures other children into his apartment. We don't find out why...
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A beautiful mu*deress with a penchant for flesh. We still don't know why she's there even after MC is friendly with her....
Contrast this with MHoH, where the circumstances that led to the ghosts' death are often known ahead of time or quickly discovered (there's actual build-up to understanding the ghosts). We can often empathize with the ghosts' situations. And the focus of MC Chen Ge is how to use the info to counter them.
(4) Similar webtoon So this novel was supposedly published on Qidian 1/25/2021, and I'm inclined to trust the author's authenticity. That said, there's a webtoon with REALLY similar beginnings called "Movies Are Real", first published on Kakao around 2/28/2021. At least for the 1st horror case of playing the victim, "Movies Are Real" wrote it way better, maybe in hindsight.
(5) True purpose of My Iyashikei Game MIG?? Totally speculating here, but I almost have a sneaky suspicion that this was a throw-away novel written by author, with loose-references to MHoH.
Spoiler
-- Red specters are occasionally mentioned
-- You have "Building Managers" in MIG, alluding to the "Door Pushers" in MHoH which control entire buildings/infrastructure
Maybe by creating a sci-fi element in MIG, the author is sneakily allowing himself a path to continue publishing the supernatural elements in his REAL novel MHoH, without being forced by Chinese censorship to make edits??