Chen Ge took off his shirt. Two nurses attached the pickup microphone and the probes of the portable dynamic ECG monitor. After a brief calibration, several fluctuating lines appeared on the projection screen in the center of the main hall.
The person in charge stood to one side of the raised platform, pointing at the lines. "HR and PR represent heart rate and pulse rate. SpO2 is blood oxygen saturation. Resp is respiratory rate, and temp is body temperature. Through these lines, we can observe your psychological and emotional changes clearly and intuitively."
Chen Ge put his shirt back on, feeling nonchalant about the whole setup. "Can we get started?"
"The entrance is on the left side of the hall, and the exit is on the right. We'll be waiting for you at the exit." The person in charge gave Chen Ge a brief rundown. "There's a guide inside the haunted house. He'll walk you through the process."
"Got it." Chen Ge lowered his head and stepped into Tianteng Hospital.
Watching Chen Ge's retreating figure, the person in charge couldn't help but crack a smile. They had held similar events in Xinhai before. The lines on the screen would surge up and down like a roller coaster, paired with blood-curdling screams blaring through the speakers, creating an incredibly realistic effect. Even visitors standing outside could vividly feel the terror of whoever was experiencing it.
"What an interesting guy." The person in charge locked the entrance door without so much as a change in expression, then pulled out his phone and sent a message to the actors inside the haunted house, telling them to hold nothing back and give it everything they had.
……
The main door slammed shut, and the light instantly dimmed. Chen Ge waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before walking forward.
The first scene inside the door was a security booth. A person dressed in a security guard uniform sat with his back to Chen Ge, a bloodstained television set in front of him. The screen flickered, apparently playing a news broadcast related to the hospital.
This was the briefing room, designed to inform visitors about the haunted house's backstory and deepen their sense of immersion.
"The key to reaching the next scene is probably with the security guard. This puzzle setup is actually pretty clever." Chen Ge walked up to the booth door, leaned against the only window, and called inside. "Hey, bro, what are you watching?"
Hearing Chen Ge's shout, the security guard slowly turned around. His face was drenched in cold sweat. He pointed a trembling finger at the television, his lips quivering as he stammered, "Th-there's..."
"A stuttering character? Very professional." Chen Ge stepped inside and looked at the television. The screen was cycling through several fake news stories: a patient jumping from a building for no apparent reason, a corrupt doctor involved in organ trafficking, and a patient who had been confirmed dead returning to the hospital the following night.
These fabricated news segments were clearly well-produced, complete with surveillance footage appended at the end.
In the pitch-black hospital corridor, a woman in white drifted forward with her head hung low, her black hair concealing her face.
The footage appeared to have been edited — one moment the woman was still far away, the next she was right up close, and by the third second, she had materialized directly in front of the surveillance camera. A hideous ghostly face filled the entire television screen.
"There's a ghost!" The security guard standing behind Chen Ge screamed at the exact same moment. He must have rehearsed it countless times — his timing was absolutely perfect.
Chen Ge took a quiet breath and shook his head. "Very clever arrangement. If you'd dressed her in red, you might have actually startled me."
The red-robed female ghost held a particular significance for Chen Ge.
At the end of the video was a map of the haunted house's interior. It was essentially a single-path tour — just follow the storyline and move on.
This was the most efficient kind of haunted house, though in terms of entertainment value, it was far inferior to Chen Ge's open-style haunted house.