After failing three times in a row, Chen Ge gave up and decided to return to the haunted house before continuing his research.
What he hadn't expected was that after exiting Zhang Ya's dedicated page, another unread message appeared on the black phone.
"Isn't the favorability mission already completed?" Chen Ge didn't think too much and opened the second message.
"Lucky Ghost Favored One! Congratulations on completing the Rare-Grade Red-Coated Ghost Favorability Mission. This mission is one of the side quests for a Four-Star Horror Scenario — Psychic Ghost School!"
"Note: When the favorability mission completion reaches one hundred percent, it will trigger the Psychic Ghost School Trial Mission for the Four-Star Horror Scenario (valid for three months). Complete all trial missions to successfully unlock this scenario!"
"Psychic Ghost School — Scream Index: Four Stars!"
"Side Quest One: The Red Dancing Shoes (After midnight on campus, the Blood Swan spreads her wings. She is a vengeful spirit filled with hatred, and a dancer clad in red) Location: West City Private Academy."
"Side Quest Two: The Standing Hangman (I never joke with anyone — not when I was alive, and not after death) Location: West City Private Academy."
"Side Quest Three: The Stench (He collected every piece of garbage and brought it back to his dorm room, all to cover up a secret that could never be spoken) Location: West City Private Academy."
"Side Quest Four: The Pen Spirit That Won't Leave (Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, can you tell me who will die next?) Location: Muyang High School."
"Side Quest Five: The Fifth Stall in the Restroom (Every midnight, someone always catches a glimpse of a red figure appearing in the restroom. To catch her, I hid in the fifth stall) Location: Muyang High School."
"Side Quest Six: The Deep Well (My little sister and brother didn't come home after school. Where did they go?) Location: Muyang High School."
"Side Quest Seven: The Sealed Classroom (At the end of the hallway is a classroom sealed with tape. No one has ever entered, but once night falls, the room teems with people) Location: Muyang High School."
"Side Quest Eight: Immortality (In the sealed-off section of the underground morgue, there lives a group of immortal people) Location: Jiujiang Medical University, School of Forensic Medicine."
"Final Mission: Locked."
After reading the messages on the black phone, Chen Ge was stunned. "A Four-Star Horror Scenario?! A one-star horror scenario is enough to completely break a medical student. How terrifying would a four-star scream-index scenario be?"
Everyone had a threshold for how much horror they could tolerate. Exceed it by too much, and something bad could easily happen.
He read through the Psychic Ghost School's side quests again. Just reading these mission descriptions gave him goosebumps. What was more critical was that these were only the side missions — the grand finale mission was still locked. Presumably, he'd need to complete the first eight side quests before he could attempt the ninth.
"A four-star horror scenario is still a bit beyond my reach. Maybe I'll take it on someday." Chen Ge closed the message and checked the information panel on the black phone. Under the unlockable horror scenarios section, alongside the Death Bus and the Third Psychiatric Ward, a new entry had appeared: Psychic Ghost School. Unlike the previous two, this scenario's name was rendered in blood-red text.
"Putting all campus supernatural events into a single horror scenario — even after unlocking Psychic Ghost School, it probably won't be open to everyone." Chen Ge browsed the black phone's horror scenario ratings, and a thought gradually formed in his mind. A one-star scenario was accessible to anyone, but to enter a three-star or higher scenario, guests would need to have cleared the one-star and two-star ones first. In a way, this served as a form of protection for the visitors.
"This would greatly increase replayability. Even guests who've been through it once might keep coming back to take on higher-star scenarios until they achieve a perfect clear. Every visit would offer a different experience, and my haunted house would become known to even more people." At this thought, the figure of Heshan inexplicably popped into Chen Ge's mind — he was the only guest who had challenged two haunted house scenarios in succession. "That kid's basically my mascot. Should I trick him into coming to inaugurate the next new scenario when it unlocks?"
Plenty of ideas were taking shape in his head. After implementing tiered scenarios, he could issue special rewards and certifications to encourage guests to push past their limits and take on increasingly terrifying challenges.
"Almost feels like being the final boss."
Chen Ge couldn't help but laugh. Before long, professional teams would probably show up to his haunted house just to clear it, all in pursuit of the ultimate thrill.
"What are you grinning about? You look awfully smug." Captain Li walked out of the room, having finished the preliminary search. "Teams One and Two have reported back. No trace of Zhang Peng so far. The atmosphere in this school is off, and the layout is complicated. Let's pull out for now and wait for the criminal investigations unit before making any further plans."
"Sounds good." Chen Ge had been ready to leave for a while. He'd already accomplished everything he'd come here for.
Everyone withdrew from West City Private Academy, the perimeter was sealed off, and they waited for reinforcements.
By the time dawn was just breaking, the criminal investigations unit arrived. Everyone was worn out from the long night — it hadn't been easy for any of them.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Captain Li drove Chen Ge away in the police car.
"Another sleepless night." Sitting in the police car, Chen Ge finally relaxed completely. He stretched out and lay down across the back seat.
"You look like you've come home the moment you sit in a police car." Captain Li grumbled under his breath. "Oh right, I've been meaning to ask you a few things but haven't gotten around to it."
"Then don't ask." Chen Ge had already guessed what Captain Li wanted to know. He pulled his backpack over his head and started pretending to be asleep.
"Why were you at West City Private Academy in the middle of the night? And how did you know the exact time the girl jumped? This happened four years ago. Even the forensic examination had a margin of error, yet you were able to tell me the answer with such certainty. That's not normal at all." Captain Li sat in the driver's seat and started the engine.
"I guessed." Chen Ge rolled over. "Uncle Sanbao, could you turn on the air conditioning?"
"Oh, so now you're making yourself right at home?" Captain Li complained, but turned on the air conditioning anyway. Just then, his phone buzzed.
"Uncle, your phone's ringing."
"Keep talking and I'll throw you out of the car." Captain Li glanced at the caller ID, pressed the answer button, and said nothing. No one on the other end spoke either. After two or three seconds, the call disconnected.
"Who's got the nerve to prank-call a cop?" Chen Ge turned to look, only to notice that Captain Li's expression had softened considerably.
"That was my wife. Every time I go out on a mission, she calls me to make sure I'm safe. Since some operations are sensitive, we agreed long ago that there's no need to say a word. As long as the call connects, it means I'm okay."