The three nightmare missions from the black phone were like a game's tutorial quests — they carried a certain amount of danger, but they guided the player toward gradually getting familiar with the game.
"So I guess I've only truly become a player now that I've completed these three missions."
He folded the note with the hints on it and tucked it away, slowly letting himself come to terms with it. Of the two hardest trial missions, the most dangerous thing in the Peace Apartment had been its people. Muyang Middle School, while eerie and terrifying, contained lingering spirits that had no intention of hurting anyone. Strictly speaking, neither scenario had been all that dangerous.
"Starting from the three-star trial missions, things will probably be completely different. I might run into malevolent spirits filled with pure hostility."
If fortune was coming, he'd take it; if misfortune was coming, he couldn't dodge it. This note had very likely been left by his parents, so no matter what it said, Chen Ge had to go check out the location written on it.
He sat at the desk in a daze for a while, then pulled out the black phone. The moment he had seen the girl's face, the nightmare mission had already been completed.
"Blessed One Favored by Vicious Spirits, congratulations on completing the Nightmare-tier daily mission. Mission reward — Beginner Talent Skill: Living Puppet."
"Use a living person as a mold. Carve, disassemble, reassemble. Sand down every bone, coat the skin in fresh paint, stitch up every wound, then give it a flawless, exquisite makeup look and a soul with nowhere to rest — and you will have crafted your first Living Puppet."
"Consecutive completion of three Nightmare-tier daily missions will grant a random Horror Scenario Trial Mission. Would you like to begin the draw now?"
"Note: With three Nightmare missions completed, the Nightmare-tier missions within the daily mission pool have been changed to refresh at random. Treat every Nightmare mission with caution!"
Just as when he had received his beginner talent skill in Coffin Makeup, Chen Ge simply felt as though some new memories had surfaced in his mind, and his hands had become a bit more dexterous. Beyond that, there were no other changes.
"Puppets and ghost models are an incredibly important part of any haunted house. This talent skill will be a huge help in running my haunted house. As it happens, the Muyang Middle School scenario still has over twenty homeless lingering spirits I can use for practice." Chen Ge had obviously given no thought to the lingering spirits' feelings on the matter. "Once I've made the puppets and stuffed them inside, that'll count as completing the hidden quest for the Muyang Middle School scenario."
The zombie resurrection night had called for more puppets than he'd had, and crafting large-scale puppets was simply impossible in his current haunted house — he needed proper workshops and all sorts of props.
"Tomorrow during the day, I can swing by a studio that custom-makes puppets. Hopefully the prices won't be outrageous." Chen Ge continued scrolling through the black phone. When he reached the option asking whether to draw a trial mission now, he tapped No. He was not yet ready to take on a three-star trial mission.
After dealing with all of this, Chen Ge picked up his own phone, stopped the recording, and clipped out the eleven-second segment where the slippers had walked into the room on their own and stopped by the bed.
"Every time I fall asleep, the slippers walk to the bedside by themselves."
He gave it a casual title and posted the eleven-second video to a short-video platform.
The video was brief, but its effect was far better than the previous bathtub video.
Within just a few minutes, it had racked up over a hundred views and a dozen or so shares. The comment section, which had been quiet for ages, came alive.
"Too short, no substance! Your videos are just like your… wait, can someone explain why the slippers are moving on their own?"
"Streamer, did you just edit yourself out of the footage?"