Having Wang Hailong and the other four as living proof made Chen Ge's words extremely persuasive.
"First time I've heard of a haunted house ranking its horror scenarios by difficulty level, but the owner's analysis is actually pretty professional."
"Sure, it's for the visitors' sake, but I still want to try the most extreme scenario."
The visitors chattered among themselves before finally accepting the haunted house's new system.
Chen Ge let out a sigh of relief and helped Wang Hailong and his group over to the spot where the former medical students had collapsed. "How are you feeling? Any better? If not, I'll call a doctor."
"No need, I'm much better." It was Wang Hailong who spoke. His lips had turned a purplish hue, his face was pale, and his gaze was unfocused, as if a layer of mist had settled over his eyes.
"Conscious and able to speak—you really do seem fine." Chen Ge crouched beside Wang Hailong. "Actually, you're pretty lucky. Last time, another guy played that same scenario, and as far as I know, he's still in the hospital."
After hearing Chen Ge's words, Brother Long forced a bitter smile. "Are you trying to comfort me?"
"Just stating the facts." Chen Ge collected all the school badges from their bodies, stood up, and said to Uncle Xu, "Let's head back."
Looking at the familiar scene before him, Uncle Xu was seriously considering whether to build a dedicated rest station next to the haunted house—having people collapse all over the floor like this wasn't exactly ideal.
He had been pretty angry at first, but after hearing what Chen Ge had said, he had to admit it made sense. With the horror scenarios now ranked by difficulty, incidents like people fainting from fear should decrease significantly.
Uncle Xu consoled himself in his own mind, then personally went over to check on Wang Hailong and the others. Only after receiving confirmation that they were physically fine did he follow Chen Ge back.
"Xiao Chen, was all of this planned out in advance this morning? Are you really sure about ranking the horror scenarios by difficulty? Sure, it might bring in more revenue per scenario, but couldn't you lose some potential visitors that way?"
"Ranking the horror scenarios by difficulty is absolutely necessary." Chen Ge's tone was firm. "I've already explained why I'm doing this—purely to protect the majority. In the future, my haunted house will have even more new scenarios, and some of those are a bit too intense for regular visitors."
"If you know they're too intense, why not modify them? We should be catering to the majority, after all." Uncle Xu's view wasn't unreasonable, just a bit conservative.
"A lot of things can't be modified. You'll understand in the future." Chen Ge hadn't gone far before something else occurred to him. "Uncle, does the amusement park's storage room have any spare security cameras?"
"There are a few backups—not many. What do you need them for?"
"I want to borrow a few to install in the underground parking garage. The new scenario doesn't have any surveillance, and it makes me a little uneasy." Chen Ge flashed a simple, honest smile, like He Shan's.
"Borrow surveillance cameras? You really have some imagination." Uncle Xu waved his hand dismissively. "Lending them out isn't possible, but I could sell them to you at secondhand prices. That said, I can't just take things from the warehouse on my own. I'll ask Director Luo this afternoon. Your haunted house seems to be on its way to becoming the park's flagship attraction—I'm pretty sure he'll agree."
The two of them returned to the haunted house entrance. Uncle Xu went back to selling tickets while Chen Ge put all the school badges back in their places and then entered the Midnight Slaughter scenario to play the killer.
Quite a few people attempted the Muyang High School scenario in the meantime, though most didn't even dare enter the last classroom. They turned back after getting only halfway through, so no further incidents occurred. The entrance to Muyang High School had no iron gate—just a wooden door panel. If visitors felt scared, they could leave at any time. A group as stubborn as Wang Hailong's five was pretty rare, so things stayed relatively calm.
During the lunch break, Chen Ge had just taken off the Skull-Crusher Doctor coat and stepped out of the haunted house when the two Wang brothers came over.
"You two are still here? Planning to go for round two?"
He said it casually, but the brothers reacted strongly, shaking their heads rapidly. "Don't get the wrong idea. This morning was our fault for being reckless—we hope you won't hold it against us."
"Your tone is completely different from this morning. Stop beating around the bush—just say what you came to say." Chen Ge had been running a haunted house for a long time and had seen all kinds of people. The moment they opened their mouths, he knew they had something on their minds.
The usually tough-as-nails Wang Hailong actually seemed a little awkward now. "Actually, Wenlong and I have a younger brother named Wang Shenglong. Before the age of five, he was just like any other kid—very lively, great personality. But for some reason, after he turned five, he suddenly went mute. He couldn't put together a single complete sentence. Our father tried everything—doctors, folk healers, even listened to some fortune teller and had the kid's name changed. Nothing worked."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Chen Ge was getting confused. How could a five-year-old just suddenly go mute?
"Let me make a long story short." Wang Hailong checked both sides to make sure no one was around, then stepped closer to Chen Ge. "Boss, I saw a terrifying girl in your haunted house. She was hanging behind me, standing on my shoulders. That scenario is exactly the same as what our little brother described the night before it happened!"
Wang Wenlong chimed in as well. "It's the truth. The three of us used to sleep in the same room. Just past midnight, little brother suddenly sat up in bed and said someone was standing on his shoulders and asked us to help get them off. My brother and I were half-asleep and didn't take it seriously—we figured he was having a nightmare. But the next morning, little brother couldn't speak anymore. He could still make sounds, he just couldn't form complete sentences."
Wang Hailong touched his own shoulder, his voice trembling slightly. "Since little brother couldn't talk, we had him write down what he wanted to say. And what he wrote was really disturbing. He said he had seen someone outside the courtyard wall the night before, and that person was staring at him. Then somehow, that person ended up inside the house."
"That's disturbing?" Chen Ge had personally experienced scenarios far scarier than that.
"We grew up in the countryside. To keep out thieves, our courtyard walls were two and a half meters high. Little brother said he saw someone standing outside the wall—and if he wasn't mistaken, that person was at least two meters six tall!"
"Two meters six—was that even human?"
"That's exactly the point!" Wang Hailong struggled to make himself clear. "What's even more terrifying is that person climbed over the wall with no effort at all. He told little brother to play a game with him, and if little brother refused, he'd take something from him."
"Your brother refused, and the thing it took was his voice?" Chen Ge guessed.
"Not exactly." Wang Hailong patted his own shoulder. "My brother agreed to play the game with that monster. The game they played was called—'Let's See Who Speaks First.' After little brother nodded and agreed to play, that monster climbed onto his shoulders, and then it grew even taller."