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The air before the grand game was so tense it felt like the whole world was holding its breath. Contestants who had once dominated social feeds vanished overnight, hiding away to focus, train, or simply survive the mental storm before the next round began. The quiet before the broadcast was never calm—it was the kind of silence that comes before lightning splits the sky.
On the Thriller Game Forum, the most popular virtual hangout for spectators and analysts alike, the tension was electric. Threads refreshed by the second. Fans argued, debated, and theorized about who would rise and who would fall. Every few minutes, a new post popped up—group charts, elimination predictions, and heated comment wars filled every inch of the homepage.
"According to the annual tradition," one top-voted comment read, "the promotional video for Group Five should drop right about now!"
Another user replied, "Yeah, but they're usually boring—just fancy edits of the players' best moments, and then a few seconds of them saying something arrogant at the end. It's all the same every year."
"Forget the others," someone else chimed in. "I'm waiting for the newcomer — Lucas. I binge-watched his old matches last night, and honestly, I can't even imagine what he'll be like giving one of those cheesy tough-guy speeches."
"I agree! And apart from the game itself, I've never seen him appear anywhere else—not even a proper photo! He's like a ghost."
"You know what, now that you've said that… I'm actually excited!"
The thread exploded with replies and reposts.
Expectation was a dangerous thing — and tonight, it was reaching its peak.
---
When the system finally rebooted to roll out official pre-match materials, the promotional videos for Group Five dropped all at once.
Predictably, most of them followed the same tired formula — quick montages, highlight kills, player bravado, rinse and repeat. But one in particular caught everyone's attention almost immediately: Blue Kill's.
During Blue Kill's interview, there was an unexpected exchange that quickly became the most replayed clip on the forum.
> System: Which player in your group are you most looking forward to facing?
Blue Kill: Comet. Last year's runner-up.
System: There's a lot of hype about a rematch between you and player Lucas. Surprising that you didn't mention him — do you think he's unworthy of being your opponent?
Blue Kill: I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask such an irresponsible question.
System: Could you give a direct answer?
Blue Kill: …I don't want to fight him again.
System: Can you tell us why?
Blue Kill: Next question.
That single moment — the pause, the tone, the deliberate refusal — was enough to light the fandom on fire.
"Wait, what? Is Blue Kill … afraid?"
"Maybe they're friends now?"
"Friends? With Lucas? Do you really think a guy like him even knows what friendship means?"
"Hold up, the system just uploaded — Lucas's promo is out too!"
In seconds, the forum crashed under the flood of clicks. Viewers across the world, from hardcore fans to casual watchers, tuned in to see what this dark-horse newcomer would do next.
---
The video began in familiar style — highlights flashing across the screen, a haunting soundtrack swelling behind each perfectly timed strike and narrow escape. Then the footage abruptly cut to black.
A few seconds later, white text appeared on the dark background.
> [Because player Lucas refused to cooperate with the interview, the production team, respecting the player's wishes, has chosen to replace the interviewee — with Lucas's adoptive parents.]
The audience went wild.
"What the hell? That's allowed?!"
"I … I don't even know if I should be impressed or terrified."
"Only Lucas would turn a promo video into an interrogation tape."
The screen flickered back to life.
A dim, old-fashioned living room appeared — a sagging couch, faded wallpaper, and sunlight filtering weakly through dusty curtains. Anyone who had read the earlier forum interview recognized it instantly: this was the same home where Lucas had grown up.
His adoptive parents, an elderly couple, sat stiffly side by side on the couch. They were smiling — but the smiles didn't reach their eyes. They looked like people forced to pose in front of a loaded gun.
Then came the voice.
A shrill, cheerful, almost manic tone — the voice of the Clown Host.
"Ah-la-la-la!" he sang, dragging the syllables with a laughter that didn't sound human. "It's an honor to conduct this interview! Let's welcome Lucas's dear parents—please wave to everyone!"
The couple exchanged a nervous glance, then waved hesitantly toward the camera. Their hands trembled.
A faint rustle of paper echoed.
"First question—" The clown's voice turned sharp. "Everyone's very curious about the past of player Lucas. In a viral video, your attitudes seemed … rather interesting. Could you explain why you appeared so frightened of him as a child?"
The wife wrung her hands, forcing a dry laugh. "That's … a misunderstanding. Lucas was such a good boy. How could anyone be afraid of him—"
"Wow, la-la-la!" the clown cut her off, his tone sugary and mocking. "Maybe we should hear from the husband instead. Sir, what's your take?"
The husband's smile froze. He glanced toward the unseen clown behind the camera. For a second, his eyes darted like a trapped animal's. Then he swallowed hard and spoke, voice trembling.
"Sleepwalking," he said at last. "Yes … it all started with his sleepwalking."
The clown chuckled softly. "Please, go on."
The husband's fingers twisted together. "One night, he … he hid a kitchen knife under his pillow. We didn't know until he started banging on the door — chopping at it — while asleep. He tore the whole thing apart! I … I replaced it the next day with an iron door. Added locks. Several."
As he spoke, his wife's eyes filled with tears. "That's abuse!" she whispered hoarsely.
"It's survival!" the husband snapped, the veins on his forehead standing out.
The room froze. Even the clown didn't interrupt.
After a long pause, the husband continued, his voice growing quieter — and colder. "It was peaceful for a while … until one night I had a nightmare. In the dream, Lucas smashed through the iron door, came into our bedroom, and — and killed us both with that same knife."
The clown giggled faintly. "A dream? My, that doesn't sound like Lucas's fault — does it?"
The man didn't seem to hear. He was sweating heavily now, his eyes glassy, voice cracking. "But when I woke up … he was there."
The wife flinched. "Stop — "
"He was sitting right beside my pillow," the husband whispered, "holding the knife. His pupils were … black. Completely black. And he just … stared at me. I don't know how long he'd been there. Maybe minutes. Maybe hours."
A hush fell over the studio.
Even through the screen, viewers could feel it — the slow, suffocating dread of that memory.
The clown gave a long, drawn-out, "Ooooh … interesting …"
Finally, the wife snapped. She slammed her hands against her knees. "Lucas didn't do anything! You just dreamed it! Stop twisting things!"
But the clown, ever the showman, waved playfully. "Now, now — let's all calm down. Let the man finish, shall we?"
The wife turned toward the unseen camera, her face pale and trembling. She didn't dare speak again.
The husband's body shook as he went on. "He … he chopped through that iron door, piece by piece. Do you understand? Iron! How can a child do that? Even an adult couldn't. And when he looked at me … he said — "
The man's voice changed, unconsciously mimicking a child's low whisper.
> "Dad, I want to protect you."
Then he seemed to realize what he'd just said. His breathing grew ragged. Sweat poured down his temples. "Protect me? From what? He was the danger!"
The screen lingered on the couple's faces — the terrified husband, the trembling wife — then faded to static.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then a new line of text appeared.
> [Click here to view the promotional video of the young author.]
And the video ended.
---
Silence gripped the internet. Millions of watchers stared blankly at their screens, trying to process what they'd just seen.
Then, chaos.
"What the HELL did I just watch?!"
"That wasn't a promo — that was a psychological horror movie!"
"Did anyone else feel like something … was off? Like that clown wasn't just an interviewer?"
"I'm never sleeping again."
Forums, group chats, and livestreams exploded simultaneously. Reactions poured in faster than moderators could keep up. Analysts tried to pick apart every frame, theorizing whether the footage had been staged, or whether it was the system's own commentary on Lucas's psyche.
Some insisted the parents were acting. Others swore the fear in their eyes was real.
But everyone agreed on one thing — Lucas had just rewritten what a 'promotional video' could mean.
---
Meanwhile, the official broadcast platform was flooded with unprecedented numbers. The view count for Lucas's video surpassed the total of every other contestant combined within ten minutes. Even veteran players — some of the most jaded people alive — felt a chill creep up their spines as they watched.
One anonymous player posted later:
> "I've fought monsters, ghosts, and killers in the Thriller Game. But nothing has ever made me as uncomfortable as that interview."
Another wrote:
> "If Blue Kill said she didn't want to fight him again … now I understand."
Even the system itself seemed to react. Within hours, algorithms stopped automatically recommending Lucas's clip to younger viewers. A warning label was added:
> [Contains disturbing imagery. Viewer discretion advised.]
But that only made people watch it more.
The legend of Lucas grew that night.
He had refused the interview, refused to speak, and still managed to dominate every conversation.
No one knew whether to call him brave, broken, or monstrous — but everyone agreed he was unforgettable.
As one commentator finally put it in a pinned forum post:
> "While others sell their pride to entertain, Lucas sells his silence — and somehow, it's the loudest sound of all."