Chen Ge familiarized himself with the new scene. The internal structure was similar to Peace Apartments—permeated with unease and pain, with dozens of traps installed, many interconnected rooms, hidden doors, and several Easter eggs filled with twisted humor concealed throughout.
"Very realistic. This place is perfect for escape games. I could test it out on some visitors later."
Last night's experience still made his heart race whenever he recalled it. He had the most authentic experience imaginable.
Time was limited, so Chen Ge only did a quick walkthrough before heading downstairs. After all, there were still plenty of visitors waiting outside the haunted house.
"Everyone, please wait just a moment. The boss will be here right away. You can go check out the other attractions in the park first." Even from far away, Chen Ge could hear Xu Wan's voice.
"Miss, is your boss really inside the haunted house? We watched his livestream last night—more than a dozen people chasing him through the woods! How could he possibly survive that?"
"Nonsense! I watched the stream too. The streamer got trapped in an apartment building by a bunch of psychos—cat and mouse, you know? I don't even want to think about how that ended."
"Are you sure we watched the same livestream? Last night, aside from the audio, it was just a black screen the whole time. How did you guys figure out so much from that?"
"Cut the crap. If he's alive, show us the body. If he's dead, show us the corpse!"
The讨论 grew louder, and Uncle Xu was drawn over as well. He looked at the gathering crowd with a mix of happiness and worry. Starting from some point, this nearly-bankrupt haunted house had suddenly become the focal point of New World Amusement Park, with many people showing up early in the morning specifically for it. Normally, that would be a good thing, but every time he heard what these visitors were saying, his heart would skip a beat. "No, next time I see young Chen, I need to have a serious talk with him. Young people chasing quick success—can't let him go down the wrong path!"
Whoosh!
The barrier was pulled aside, and a freshly washed Chen Ge stepped out of the haunted house. "Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Admission to the haunted house is twenty yuan—same price for everyone."
The chatter fell silent instantly. A few of the viewers who had come specifically because of his livestream rushed over, surrounding him and firing questions about last night's events, giving Chen Ge a taste of what it felt like to be an internet celebrity.
A few minutes later, the crowd calmed down and began entering the haunted house in orderly succession.
Having learned the lesson from last time's overly terrifying experience, Chen Ge didn't loop Black Friday on repeat this time. Instead, he mixed it into a playlist for random playback.
Chen Ge did Xu Wan's makeup and sent her into the ghost marriage scene to play the ghost, while he stayed at the haunted house entrance to collect tickets.
"The visitor count is steadily climbing, and the positive review rate has increased quite a bit. At this rate, it won't be long before I meet the requirements for haunted house expansion." Chen Ge pulled out his black phone—partly to check how many more visitors he needed before the first expansion, and partly to see what daily quests had refreshed today.
"Easy Difficulty: If you want to give visitors a truly terrifying experience, you first need to pay attention to the pacing of the tour. Actors and traps appearing too early or too late will cause visitors to lose interest, so I recommend installing sound detectors and cameras throughout the haunted house to monitor visitor progress in real time."
"Normal Difficulty: The secret to real fear is making visitors unaware of when the scare is coming. For example, place scare points in the opposite direction from eye-catching objects. Check that all props in the haunted house meet standard."
"Nightmare Difficulty: Strange sounds always come from the bathroom late at night. If you want to know why, do as I say."
"Daily quests refresh at midnight each day. You may only accept one quest per day. Different difficulties yield different rewards (Warning! Certain quests are extremely dangerous. Choose wisely!)"
After glancing at the three daily quests, Chen Ge immediately ruled out the Nightmare difficulty one. After two consecutive grueling nights, he desperately needed some rest. Besides, he still hadn't figured out the monster in the mirror—if he attracted something else as well, he'd have a hard time handling it alone.
"The Nightmare quest rewards can directly affect my body, granting me certain memories and abilities, but the rewards are proportional to the danger. I'll put that aside for now. The Easy difficulty quest requires capital, and the bounty for catching the fugitive still hasn't been paid out—completing it would be very difficult." Chen Ge thought it over and concluded that the Normal difficulty quest was the best fit. "Placing scare points in the opposite direction from eye-catching objects—that's actually a solid idea. Applied to my haunted house, it should give visitors a lot more 'surprises.'"
After accepting the Normal difficulty quest, Chen Ge leaned against the haunted house entrance collecting money, occasionally exchanging a few words with Xu Wan inside.
Soon it was noon, and the visitors gradually thinned out. Chen Ge called Xu Wan out to go eat and went into the ghost marriage scene alone.
He had designed this horror scene from start to finish himself, carefully considering every scare point. After accepting the Normal difficulty daily quest, he used the lunch break to begin making improvements.
Usually, visitors mentally braced themselves before entering a haunted house. In a state of heightened psychological alertness, it was hard to frighten them—so you needed something irrelevant to draw their attention, making them think danger might lurk there. Then, when they were focused entirely on that spot, you launched an attack from a completely unexpected direction.
This Normal difficulty quest was far simpler than Chen Ge had imagined. In just one lunch break, he received the notification on his black phone that the quest was complete.
"You have completed the Normal difficulty daily quest. There are many ways to frighten people—the key is understanding human psychology and adapting accordingly. Congratulations on your quest reward—the Skull Crusher Doctor's Uniform!"
"Skull Crusher Doctor's Uniform (Costume Prop): Crowley worked in a mental hospital for twenty years. Prolonged exposure to patients shattered his sanity. One day, he decided to put an end to it all. His sickness and madness soaked into his very bones. Wielding an iron hammer, he set out to 'cure' his patients once and for all!"
After Black Friday, Chen Ge had obtained another prop. He tapped the icon, and the black phone informed him the item had been placed in the prop room.
"This costume prop arrived at just the right time. Combined with the Midnight Pursuit scene, it should produce some truly spectacular chemistry." Several ideas flashed through Chen Ge's mind. He found paper and pen and was about to start designing when his phone suddenly buzzed.
"He Shan?"
Chen Ge answered the call. "What's up?"
"Boss, do you remember what I told you last time?" He Shan deliberately lowered his voice, as though afraid of being overheard. "After Senior Gao Ruxue was scared to tears by you, some upperclassmen in our department decided to band together and get revenge for her. They've already set out! You'd better be prepared!"