"That's it?" Han Qiuming and the other staff members from Tanaka Hospital all found it hard to believe. The recorder was so large — in their eyes, it should be easy to find.
"Boss Chen, you're not joking, are you?" Ye Xiaoxin pulled out her notebook. She had reviewed a great many haunted houses, but this was the first time she'd encountered one where finding a recorder was an actual activity.
"That recorder originally came from Tanaka Hospital, so this is a good opportunity to return it to them."
"Have you already given up?" Han Qiuming seemed rather disappointed.
"This way, please." Chen Ge ignored him and led the way. The group passed through the corridor and arrived at the entrance to the Zombie Revival Night set.
"Props from the early 2000s — they look like they haven't been maintained in at least half a month. The mannequins look like something a child squeezed together, all the props are piled up randomly, there's no story, no plot. Are you trying to insult us with a set like this?" Han Qiuming had a sharp eye and immediately identified all the problems with Zombie Revival Night.
Never mind the Tanaka Hospital staff — even Ye Xiaoxin and Su Luoluo felt the set had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Han Qiuming critiqued the various shortcomings of Zombie Revival Night as he stepped forward to enter, but the person in charge, Guo Miao, stopped him.
"Old Guo, why are you stopping me?"
The head of Tanaka Hospital shook his head. His heart was beating fast, and something felt off. "There's something strange about the atmosphere here."
"What's strange about it?"
"I can't put my finger on it — it's just different from an ordinary room. There's a particular feeling." The person in charge drew in a sharp breath. "I had a similar sensation when I went to do an on-site survey at the hospital where Xu Zhenzhen's incident happened. Even in broad daylight, my heart was racing, and in the end I'd only seen a fifth of the place before I ran out."
"Stop scaring yourself." Han Qiuming shook off the person in charge's hand and stepped into Zombie Revival Night.
"I stopped using this set a long time ago. For certain reasons, I've kept it around and never replaced it." Chen Ge looked at Han Qiuming, and for some reason thought of Fei Youliang. Perhaps after Teacher Han finished his tour, Fei Youliang wouldn't feel so lonely in the hospital anymore.
Chen Ge lifted the wooden board, and a blast of cold air surged up from below. His gaze swept across the visitors, and he pointed toward the pitch-black staircase. "The Third Ward you're here to see is underground."
"Underground?"
The visitors all gathered around, staring at the staircase leading who-knows-where, and an inexplicable feeling began to brew in their hearts.
Unfinished exam papers littered the cracked steps, and a faint, peculiar smell drifted through the air — not acrid, but easy to conjure unpleasant associations.
"Muyang High School is to the left, and the Third Ward is to the right. The two sets are connected, so don't go the wrong way." Chen Ge gave a few final instructions. "Both of these sets cover a very large area. You'd best not split up."
After finishing his briefing, Chen Ge pulled out his phone. "Find the recorder within twenty minutes, take it out, and the game is over."
None of the visitors moved. Finally, someone shoved Han Qiuming from behind, and the haunted house designer — wearing thick, high-prescription glasses — stepped forward.
"Let's not waste time."
At Chen Ge's urging, the visitors stepped onto the staircase and descended into the underground set.
Once the last person had gone down, Chen Ge picked up the wooden board beside him and waved at them. "Have fun."
The board closed shut. Chen Ge returned to the main control room, where he found himself at a loss choosing the background music.
On ordinary days, when welcoming regular visitors, he rarely used "Gloomy Sunday" or "The Wedding Dress" anymore — only occasionally tucking them into a playlist as an Easter egg.
"Han Qiuming is a haunted house designer. He could spot every flaw in Zombie Revival Night at a glance — the man genuinely knows his craft. The other Tanaka Hospital staff have long since grown accustomed to haunted house atmospheres; ordinary scare points won't faze them. Ye Xiaoxin is a professional haunted house reviewer, so her nerve is naturally considerable. Only Su Luoluo is an innocent bystander who got dragged in by the person in charge."
Chen Ge thought it over carefully. The visitors were all professionals — going easy on them at this point would be disrespectful.
He hovered the mouse between two background tracks. "Which one should I use? Forget it — only children make choices. We're all adults here; no need to fuss over it."