The entire lobby was packed with people. Tourists from downstairs hadn't made it up yet, and new visitors kept streaming in through the building's entrance.
Just before ten o'clock, the person in charge of the Tendo Psychiatric Hospital finally emerged — a man of modest height with a crew cut, who looked to be in his early thirties.
Trailing behind him were two models dressed in nurse uniforms with dangerously high slits up the sides. They had deliberately painted their faces deathly pale, sending alluring glances in every direction.
The manager tested the megaphone, then stepped onto the platform in front of the haunted house entrance: "Thanks to everyone's support, the Tendo Psychiatric Hospital has always maintained…"
Chen Ge's gaze swept past the two models. He couldn't be bothered to listen to the manager's canned opening remarks. Instead, he was mentally planning that the next time his own haunted house ran an event, he would have Xu Wan design a similarly eye-catching and alluring uniform.
The manager rambled on for two or three minutes before getting to the point: "Every six months, we carry out a full scene optimization of our haunted house. We hire professional overseas design teams to upgrade every single scare point. I can tell you with full confidence that the Tendo Psychiatric Hospital is scarier than any haunted house on the market! We are committed to pursuing the ultimate in horror — unlike some haunted houses that put on a show for attention, relying on marketing shills and paid reviewers online to promote themselves. They think they're clever, but they've got it completely backwards. And yet there's still a whole crowd riding their coattails. Honestly, I find the whole thing laughable!"
Chen Ge was already growing impatient. He shuffled forward a few more steps — there were so many people it took him a while just to find the ticket booth. "One ticket, please."
"Do you have an online reservation?"
"No."
"Sorry, all our tickets for today are sold out. Would you like to wait for the afternoon session?"
"Sold out?"
Up on the platform, the manager was still going: "If the haunted houses currently on the market are first-generation, then the Tendo Psychiatric Hospital is a fourth-generation haunted house integrating cutting-edge technology — with fear levels multiplied beyond limits! Today is our grand opening in Jiujiang. To give everyone a clear sense of what we're about, we will randomly select four visitors to enter wearing audio pickups and portable dynamic cardiac monitors! Everyone will be able to judge just how terrifying our haunted house really is through the loudspeakers and the ECG readings projected on screen!"
Before the manager even finished, the crowd below had already erupted in excitement — though Chen Ge couldn't tell if the hype had been pre-arranged with plants.
"Each ticket has a number, and we'll select based on that." The manager gestured toward the ticket booth. The staff member inside caught on immediately and began the drawing.
Chen Ge watched all of this unfold. The other party was trashing his haunted house to elevate their own — that was something he simply could not let slide.
"Wait!" Chen Ge raised his hand and strode directly toward the platform. "You just said your haunted house is terrifying and that other haunted houses are just putting on a show for attention through marketing shills. I disagree with that."
The manager frowned. If there hadn't been so many people around, he probably would have just called security.
"I'm the owner of the Jiujiang West Suburb Horror House — the very haunted house your website maliciously slandered. Two days ago, I hosted a livestream with six hundred thousand viewers."
Chen Ge walked onto the platform as though he owned the place. When the crowd caught a look at his face, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from somewhere in the audience.
"Boss?!"
Chen Ge followed the voice and spotted He Shan standing not far away, along with Gao Ruxue in her all-white outfit.
"What are you guys doing here?" Chen Ge froze for a moment. He Shan's behavior was practically "supplying the enemy." "If you wanted to visit a haunted house, why didn't you come to the West Suburb to find me?"
He Shan was in an awkward spot, struggling to figure out how to respond. He certainly couldn't say it to Chen Ge's face right in front of the Tendo staff — your haunted house is so terrifying we have nightmares every night, so we came to a different one to decompress.
This scene was not lost on the Tendo manager, who had already recognized Chen Ge: "It seems your West Suburb haunted house isn't very popular — even your own friends won't visit. Since you want to come and learn from us, consider yourself one of the four. We'll randomly select three more."
The manager was shrewd enough. They had publicly slandered Chen Ge's haunted house on their website, which meant they were well aware of his existence. Now, voluntarily letting Chen Ge into their haunted house — his intentions were obvious. As long as Chen Ge made a fool of himself inside, they could use it as promotional material to forcibly siphon customers from the West Suburb Horror House.
In truth, he and Chen Ge were playing the same game — both trying to steal the other's customers.
Chen Ge's haunted house had shot to trending after his recent livestream, but the buzz wouldn't last — probably less than a week. The Tendo Psychiatric Hospital, while not as famous as Chen Ge's in Jiujiang, had a huge reputation in the national community of paranormal haunted house enthusiasts and boasted a large loyal fanbase — the kind of die-hard followers like Su Su.
"Come on, let's get the audio pickups and cardiac monitors on him." The two models in their high-slit nurse uniforms walked up to Chen Ge. "Now we'll start drawing the remaining three participants."
"I don't think that's necessary," Chen Ge waved them off. "Taking on a haunted house alone is the real challenge. If you can actually scare me, I'll post on my haunted house's official homepage that I'm not as good as yours — pinned at the top for one full month."
The Tendo manager was tempted by Chen Ge's offer, but something felt slightly off. He was cautious: "What counts as being scared?"
"Weren't you planning to use portable cardiac monitors? A normal resting heart rate is sixty to one hundred beats per minute. When someone is frightened, the oxygen level in the blood drops rapidly, and the heart rate can double." Chen Ge looked calmly at the manager. "If my heart rate exceeds one hundred, I lose."
"Deal." The manager jumped on it before Chen Ge could change his mind. Forget fear and intense physical exertion — even a light jog could push the heart rate above a hundred. In his view, Chen Ge had guaranteed his own defeat.
"Don't be so eager to agree. If I lose, I'll admit on my homepage that I'm not as good as you. But what if you lose?"
"Rest assured, if we lose, we'll also admit on our website that we're not as good as your haunted house." The manager pointed at the gathered tourists. "Everyone here can bear witness."
"Actually, I have one small additional request." A humble, earnest smile spread across Chen Ge's face. "I think there's been a slight misunderstanding about my haunted house. I'd like your team to come visit mine as well. I've recently added a new attraction that no visitor has tried yet."
"Sure, no problem." The manager agreed immediately, winning plenty of goodwill in front of the assembled crowd.
Of everyone present, only He Shan and Gao Ruxue wore expressions worth studying. There was a hint of sympathy in their eyes, as though they could see their own past selves reflected in the Tendo manager.