At lunchtime, Director Luo personally came by the haunted house to take a look around. Seeing the rest area packed with tourists, he was quite pleased.
"Even during your break, you've got this many tourists waiting in line. Truly impressive."
Director Luo was genuinely emotional. Just a few weeks ago, the haunted house had been the most desolate spot in the entire amusement park. He never would have imagined it would become the park's biggest draw — its lifeline.
"Director Luo? What brings you here?" Chen Ge had one hand holding a container of food Xu Wan had packed for him, and the other holding a pen as he worked on his accounts.
"Two pieces of good news for you." Director Luo glanced at the makeshift rest area assembled from tarps and handed Chen Ge a folder.
"It's been a while since I've heard any good news." Chen Ge smiled and opened the folder. Inside was the rest area layout he'd sketched out, but beneath his rough draft, someone had attached a professional and detailed design plan, densely covered with annotations.
"What's this?"
"The park may not be what it once was, but we can still manage this much funding." Director Luo was in noticeably good spirits. "Take a look at the revised plan. Let me know if there's anything you'd like adjusted."
Chen Ge set his work aside and went through it carefully. He was very satisfied with Director Luo's revised plan — far superior to anything a layman like himself could have come up with, and much more thorough in its considerations.
"Director Luo, what's the other good news?" Chen Ge looked up, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Starting tomorrow, online ticket prices for the park will be reduced by sixty yuan. At the same time, we'll be launching group tour discounts and referral bonuses." Director Luo had finally made his decision. The Virtual Future Amusement Park had been putting him under far too much pressure, and cutting ticket prices now was both a market strategy and a form of indirect concession.
"That big of a drop?" In the early years since New Century Amusement Park opened, ticket prices had only ever gone up. This was the first time they'd been lowered.
"It's better to cut prices proactively now than to be forced into it later." Director Luo had a very clear-eyed view of the situation. "With the park's ticket prices going down, it's only right that your haunted house goes up. I discussed it with the other park management, and we agreed that fifty yuan per visit is a reasonable price point."
"Fifty? Isn't that a bit steep?" Chen Ge had inherited the haunted house from his parents, and the ticket price hadn't changed in years — a testament to how generous it had been.
"As long as your service quality keeps pace, fifty is the most reasonable price. Now that the park's tickets are dropping, a lot of tourists who didn't want to waste money will be tempted to visit. You're going to be busy these next few days." Director Luo was brimming with confidence.
"The price has more than doubled. I'm worried it'll backfire and put tourists off. There's no end to money — I'd rather keep it steady and sustainable." Chen Ge ran the haunted house like his own home. It had finally started to pick up momentum, and if the tourist numbers dropped, the ghosts inside would be unhappy too.
"I've already thought it all through." Director Luo took the folder back from Chen Ge's hands, flipped to the last few pages. The architectural plans were gone, replaced by a comprehensive park promotion strategy. "The new Virtual Amusement Park is about to launch a massive advertising and marketing blitz. We need to get ahead of them and pour everything we have into one big push during this window! The main selling points will be the low ticket prices and your haunted house!"
"The park and my haunted house, promoted together?"
"Right now, your haunted house is the only thing New Century Amusement Park has left to offer as a draw." Director Luo delivered this rather stinging admission with a straight face. "If the results aren't good, this might very well be our last promotion."
Chen Ge instantly felt the weight of responsibility settle on his shoulders — the fate of an entire amusement park riding on him.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. To boost the haunted house's appeal and give more tourists the courage to take that first step, I'm going to lend you a hand." Director Luo was burning his bridges this time, sweeping aside his demoralized mood, determined to make a change.
"I'm the one who should be designing the scenes inside the haunted house. None of you understand the ins and outs." The haunted house was Chen Ge's domain, concealing far too many secrets. He absolutely would not allow anyone else to interfere.
"I don't know how to design haunted houses, but I do know how to get tourists excited." Director Luo seemed to have had everything planned out. "I remember Old Xu mentioning that when you proposed your fear-tier system, you put up twenty thousand yuan as a bounty?"
"That's right." At the time, Chen Ge had had no other choice. His original intention in proposing the horror scene classification system had been for the tourists' own good — an unprepared newcomer thrown straight into a three-star horror scene could easily get frightened half to death.
"You did well, but twenty thousand is a bit cheap." Director Luo pointed at the empty ground in front of the haunted house. "Tomorrow, I'll put up a big, eye-catching banner right here. The first tourist to clear every scene in your haunted house will win a cash prize of two hundred thousand yuan!"
"Two hundred thousand?!" It was embarrassing to admit, but Boss Chen's own bank account had never held more than fifty thousand yuan at any given time. "Isn't that too much? What if someone actually manages to clear it?"
Director Luo took a step forward and lowered his voice — a stark contrast to his commanding demeanor moments ago. "That's exactly why I need you to design an unbeatable game. I'll be straight with you: if someone clears all the scenes and claims that two hundred thousand within a week, I'll only cover half the money. The rest is on you."
"Aren't you asking me to cheat?" Chen Ge hesitated slightly.
"How can you think of it that way? We're an amusement park — the whole point is to make tourists happy. When they hear that the first person to clear the haunted house will win two hundred thousand in cash, won't they be thrilled?" Director Luo patiently tried to convince him.
"Of course they'd be thrilled. Visit a haunted house and get a cash prize on top of it."
"But when they find out that someone else already took the two hundred thousand, will they still be happy?"
"If it's not them winning the money, they might be a little disappointed."
"So, in order for every tourist to have a great time, you absolutely must design me an unbeatable game." Director Luo was very pleased with Chen Ge's attitude. "Xiao Chen, I know you're sharp. Don't let me down!"
In the past, two hundred thousand wouldn't have meant much to Director Luo, but things were different now. Chen Ge had heard from Uncle Xu that Director Luo had even mortgaged his own house to the bank to keep the amusement park running.
"Rest assured, Director Luo. No one but me has ever made it through the entire haunted house. It's already an unbeatable game by nature."
"I'll leave it to you, then. The official promotion starts tomorrow." Director Luo watched the tourists streaming back and forth in front of the haunted house entrance and strode away, looking as if he'd aged backward by several years.
"It really is one piece of good news after another. It seems like every time I help a vengeful ghost let go of its obsession, or kill a monster behind a door, my luck suddenly takes a turn for the better."
Standing on the haunted house steps, Chen Ge recalled having felt a similar sensation after he'd killed the Mirror Ghost.