"Mr. Ma, I know you've never believed in this sort of thing, but some things really are hard to explain." Shangguan Qinghong kept a straight face — he genuinely couldn't manage a smile right now.
"Since we're here, we might as well stay calm. In times of crisis, one must maintain composure. Besides, don't call me Mr. Ma here — just call me Brother Ma." It was the man's first time entering such a sinister and eerie setting, yet he remained remarkably composed. He did have something going for him — in terms of psychological resilience alone, he already surpassed the vast majority of ordinary people.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this, Mr. Ma. How about we come back another day? We've clearly been set up by that Chen guy. This place is definitely riddled with traps. I wouldn't matter, but you can't afford to get hurt!" Shangguan Qinghong stared at the sinister building, his legs refusing to carry him forward no matter how hard he tried.
"I really don't believe a haunted house can get anyone hurt. And to look at it from another angle — if I do get hurt in his haunted house, that just gives me more ammunition to work with." The man raised his hand. "There are countless ways to take down a haunted house. Direct competition, in my opinion, is the stupidest method of all."
"You have other plans?"
"Don't worry about that. The reason I came personally today was mainly to see what kind of haunted house could actually make Jiang Jiu lose face. And to let certain people in the company know — the things Jiang Jiu can't do, I can. The things Jiang Jiu can do, I can do better." The man was highly capable, and everything about the way he spoke and carried himself radiated sharp, aggressive confidence.
Shangguan Qinghong realized he couldn't convince Mr. Ma no matter what he said, and he couldn't very well abandon the group at this point — so he gritted his teeth and walked along with everyone else.
"On a scale of ten, I'd give the atmosphere, set design, and the coordination of lighting and sound effects an eight point five." The fashionably dressed man ran his hand along the wall, feeling the texture beneath his fingertips. "Very realistic — it almost feels real. This haunted house didn't get big purely on luck. There's genuine skill here."
The fashionable man was cutting in personality, but when it came to his professional field, he knew his stuff.
"Other than the realism, I don't see any other merits." The man in sunglasses stood with his arms crossed, a hint of disdain in his voice. "The story background is vague, there's no defined role for the visitors — it's impossible to feel immersed at all. And yet this haunted house has so many people raving about it online? I refuse to believe he didn't hire fake reviewers."
"Believe what you want. You'll be crying soon enough." He Shan had taken an instant dislike to the man in sunglasses. He knew all too well how terrifying a four-star scenario could be, and after Teacher Wang had forcibly dragged him inside, he was already in a terrible mood.
"We're all industry professionals. His little tricks might fool you tourists, but fooling us is basically impossible." The man in sunglasses pulled out his phone and opened the haunted house's page on the review platform. "Ninety-seven percent of all ticket holders say they found it terrifying. Ninety-five percent gave it high ratings. Does that seem possible to you?"
"Impossible." He Shan shook his head. "I'd say it should be one hundred percent. That other three percent were probably fake reviewers hired by competitors."
"Heh." The man in sunglasses spoke with a sour tone. "Let me tell you some real industry data. Even the most top-tier haunted houses can't make everyone scared. Our standard figures sit at around seventy-five percent. This Chen guy's numbers are way inflated. Sometimes I find it laughable — a haunted house that blew up through hype and fake reviewers, and the ignorant masses call it the most terrifying haunted house in the country. It's absolutely hilarious."
"'Industry this, real data that' — I don't even know what gives you the right to talk about someone else's haunted house like that?" Another student from the Hanjiang Forensic Medical Academy spoke up. They were usually tormented enough by Chen Ge's haunted house on a regular basis, but if anyone dared badmouth it, they were always the first to jump to its defense.
"Because my name is Fu Bole." The man in sunglasses seemed to be especially well-known in the industry, though the forensic academy students had clearly never heard of him before.
"Who cares what your name is? Do I know you?"
"That's exactly my point — you tourists can be as innocent as blank paper. Have you heard of Ling Jia? The biggest haunted house chain in the country — thirty branches. I'm their chief designer." The man in sunglasses pointed at the people around him. "Everyone standing here is more accomplished than that Chen guy. How long has he even been in this business? We're all his seniors."
The man in sunglasses went around and introduced the others one by one. The fashionably dressed man was Wei Chaochao, the designer of the Japanese-style Qingzhong haunted house.
The woman with a skull tattoo on her arm went by Sister Snake. She had participated in designing several large-scale haunted houses abroad before opening China's highest-rated escape room scenario — Possessed — second in approval rating only to Chen Ge's haunted house.
The two large men were twin brothers — the elder was Liang Er, the younger Liang San. Rumor had it they'd had an older brother who'd died young, and a fortune teller had named them Liang Er and Liang San to prevent the deceased brother's spirit from claiming them as replacements.
Together, the brothers ran one of the top five haunted houses in the country — Dream Realm. Both of them were designers as well as skilled actors who knew every trick of the scare trade.
The quietest among them was a middle-aged woman who dressed casually. She seemed to fear the cold but not the heat — despite the high temperature outside, she still wore long sleeves, keeping herself thoroughly covered.
This middle-aged woman didn't like to talk, and Fu Bole didn't introduce her in much detail either, only briefly mentioning the haunted house she ran — City of Amnesia.
These six were essentially the most elite haunted house designers in the country. Many scenes that ordinary people found absolutely terrifying were, in their eyes, merely passable — they had simply seen far too much.
The economy had been sluggish this year, and the visitor numbers at each of their haunted houses had noticeably declined. Now, seeing Chen Ge's haunted house thriving like never before, it was only natural that some feelings of imbalance arose.
"A group of haunted house designers coming to challenge a haunted house? Now that's interesting. I can't believe I ran into something this entertaining." The male tourist from Xinhai let out a cold laugh. He looked at the others around him. "Why don't we all introduce ourselves? If we want to clear this scenario, we're going to need to work together."
After he spoke, not a single person responded. He didn't feel awkward about it, and continued on his own. "I'll start. My name is Gu Ren. This is my girlfriend, Fang Ying. We both love horror movies and are really into this kind of thing. We've been to quite a few haunted houses — you could call us veteran players."
"We're students from the Hanjiang Medical Academy. I'm He Shan. This is my senior, Zuo Han — he has the highest cumulative score at our school." He Shan gestured to another student beside him. The young man didn't talk much, but was quite handsome, and seemed completely disinterested in everything around him. "And this is our teacher. His surname is Wang."
"Cumulative score?"
"The haunted house has a leaderboard. Clearing high-difficulty scenarios earns you points. Senior Zuo Han's score ranks third on the entire board — he's one of the most experienced players out there." He Shan explained patiently. He had a good nature — fundamentally honest and kind-hearted. It was just a shame he'd learned far too early how ruthless the world could be inside Chen Ge's haunted house.