"Talent Skill? The rewards for Nightmare difficulty missions are different from other missions. It seems like the rewards are applied directly to my body — they can modify me!"
After noting this down, Chen Ge felt a spark of anticipation kindle within him. He had already glimpsed the existence of another world — a world hidden in the shadows, dangerous, terrifying, and teeming with killing intent. With his current strength, forget about finding his parents; he could barely even protect himself.
But fortunately, he had the Black Phone. The future wasn't without its chances for a turnaround.
"Dwelling on this is still too far off. First, I need to figure out how to stabilize the Haunted House's business and solve the immediate problem." He pulled out his phone. "Tonight was a heart-stopping experience — I almost ran into a real accident. It's clear that Nightmare difficulty missions aren't easy to complete at all. My strength alone is ultimately limited. I might as well get more people involved to brainstorm with me."
He logged onto several well-known paranormal forums in the country and uploaded the original video.
A few minutes later, the video — which he had titled "Who Is in the Mirror" — began to be read and shared in large numbers. People had probably seen enough entertainment gossip and wanted a change of pace. The video's attention grew like a snowball, skyrocketing with each passing moment, and the comments section gained dozens of new entries with every refresh.
"Fair warning: high energy at 25 minutes 14 seconds!"
"The person who posted this video is either a lunatic or a madman! What normal person would go do something like this in the middle of the night?!"
"Why did the mirror crack on its own? And what was that thing trying to smash its way out from inside the mirror at the end?!"
"The mirror cracked because of thermal expansion and contraction, right? The temperature inside the room was uneven."
"You guys don't know jack. In geomancy, mirrors belong to the yin element and are extremely prone to attracting evil spirits. I don't think this video should be called 'Who Is in the Mirror' — it should be called 'There's a Ghost in the Mirror'!"
"Damn it, middle of the night, broke into a cold sweat. I really gotta hand it to the OP for having the guts."
"This video is definitely edited. If it's not, my name's Zhang Dazhu, and I'll do a 360-degree spiral headstand and eat sh*t!"
"Am I the only one who noticed? The uploader's profile picture is the storefront of a haunted house in the western suburbs. Don't get too excited yet — this is probably just their advertisement."
Chen Ge's forum account was also flooded with private messages — some from the curious, others skeptical. Chen Ge ignored them all.
His video was completely authentic. Those who understood would naturally understand and wouldn't go hurling insults. Those who didn't — why waste time explaining it to them?
Watching the attention climb ever higher, Chen Ge keenly realized this was an opportunity. He split the original video, extracting the final fourteen seconds, and posted it on the country's largest short-video app.
Among the flood of dancing, comedy skits, and food videos, his paranormal clip truly stood alone!
Within just over a dozen seconds, unsuspecting passersby had already been hit. Unlike the users on the paranormal forums and tieba who had relatively strong nerves, these innocent viewers, blasted by Chen Ge's potent dose of horror, began cursing furiously in the comments section.
There is no love without cause in this world, and certainly no hatred without cause. The inexplicable profanity attracted even more onlookers, and the result was that Chen Ge's comment section was completely overrun.
Looking at the comments, Chen Ge could practically feel the rage of the passersby through his phone screen. But his mental fortitude was far stronger than theirs, so he couldn't care less — in fact, he was so amused he almost laughed.