Cooper had spent many years caring for his father, who suffered from dementia. Since childhood, Cooper had shared a close bond with his father but was more distant from his mother. After his father passed away, he was emotionally and physically exhausted, and he found himself at a loss for words when facing his mother. In this awkward atmosphere, Cooper decided to travel the world.
The journey started smoothly, with Cooper visiting famous landmarks across the globe. He had an adventurous nature, loved trying new things, and remained unfazed by potential risks. After more than half a year, while briefly staying in London, he met a local woman named Sonia through a dating app. Sonia was a tech journalist who enjoyed casual relationships to unwind. After a night of passion, neither intended to meet again. However, Cooper soon discovered that his bank card had been stolen, leaving him with insufficient funds. Since the bank needed several weeks to investigate, Cooper had no choice but to temporarily stay at Sonia's apartment.
Unwilling to wait idly for the bank's resolution, Cooper decided to find a side job through a gig app to earn money for a return ticket. He had used the app a few times before, and this time, a major opportunity appeared—Saito Games was recruiting thrill-seeking game testers. Cooper was familiar with the company, having played their horror games as a child. The job suited him perfectly. Sonia also encouraged him to participate, hoping he could send her some images during the test so she could secure an exclusive story.
Saito Games was located in an ancient castle on the outskirts of London. The company was renowned in the industry for developing horror games. Cooper's application was quickly approved, and a supervisor named Katie led him through a group of staff into a small, isolated room. Before entering, Katie specifically instructed Cooper to turn off his phone, adding to the mystery. The room contained only a table and two chairs, with a small box placed on the table. Before the test began, Cooper had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Due to a staff oversight, the agreement was missing the signature page. While Katie was out of the room, Cooper grabbed the phone on the table, turned it on, and took pictures of the strange objects inside the box, sending them to Sonia. When Katie returned, Cooper had no time to turn off the phone and could only switch off the screen and place it back on the table.
Fortunately, Katie didn’t notice anything unusual. After signing the agreement, Katie took out the objects from the box and began the game test. It was a game that influenced brain consciousness through imaging. A small mushroom-like receiver was attached to the back of Cooper’s neck. Once the program started, Cooper saw several small holes appear on the table in front of him, and a cartoon mole vividly emerged. The realistic whack-a-mole game already amazed Cooper, but a bigger test was yet to come.
The company’s founder, Mr. Saito, received the adventurous game tester in his office. With Cooper’s consent, the game in the mushroom receiver was upgraded. Cooper was transported to an old house, which he recognized from a horror game he played as a child. His task was to stay alone in the eerie house for one night, after which the test would end.
Despite considering himself brave, Cooper didn’t expect the game program to automatically seek out his weaknesses from his memories. First, it was spiders, then Peters, who bullied him in high school, and finally a giant spider with Peters’ face. Had Katie not assured him that nothing in the game could physically harm him, Cooper would have likely screamed to stop. But it grew increasingly terrifying—Sonia suddenly appeared, charging at him with a knife. Cooper felt a sharp pain in his stabbed shoulder. During the struggle, Sonia’s scalp was torn off, revealing a skull-headed figure still trying to kill him. The horror felt too real, and Cooper couldn’t take it anymore.
Hearing Cooper’s plea to end the test from the monitoring room, Katie guided him to an access point within the house. Cooper mustered his courage and made his way through dark staircases and corridors into a room at the end, nearly breaking down. The program had excessively interfered with his memories—he could no longer remember what he was doing or why he was there, only desperately wanting to go home. Amid agonizing screams, the test ended. After removing the mushroom device, Cooper found himself still in Mr. Saito’s office—everything that had happened was just a virtual scenario created by the game.
With a handsome payment for the test, Cooper returned home. His greatest fear was ending up like his father, gradually forgetting the people around him. But when he walked up the stairs and entered his mother’s bedroom at the end of the hallway, he found that his elderly mother also had dementia and no longer recognized her son. Yet, she kept calling Cooper’s phone.
The phone on the table rang, displaying an incoming call from his mother. But Cooper, sitting beside the table, showed no signs of life. Cooper had never left that small, isolated room—the hours of terrifying experiences he underwent had lasted only milliseconds in reality. The signal interference from the phone had overexcited his brain, ultimately causing him to lose all consciousness.