Perhaps because all ten visitors fainting at once had been too shocking, an entire morning passed and not a single tourist dared enter the three-and-a-half-star scenario. Everyone obediently stuck to the lower-rated scenes.
Outside the haunted house entrance, the tourists gradually calmed down.
A little past two in the afternoon, several people claiming to be employees from the Nightmare Academy showed up at the entrance of Chen Ge's haunted house. They loaded their unconscious colleagues into vehicles and carried them away.
Among them, a pair of twin brothers ran over to apologize to Chen Ge. Chen Ge politely accepted their apology and promised that, given the chance, he would personally pay them a visit in the future.
After the Nightmare Academy people left, the students from the Hanjiang Forensic Medical School showed up. Most of them were friends of Wang Yan. The moment they heard their classmate had fainted again, they rushed over as soon as class ended.
"He's fine. He'll wake up soon." After checking Wang Yan's vitals, Chen Ge reached this conclusion.
In truth, Wang Yan had already woken up. As a seasoned visitor, his mental fortitude and his body's tolerance for fainting far exceeded that of the average person.
Knowing that Chen Ge was deliberately not exposing him — giving him a way to save face — Wang Yan "woke up" not long after.
"Wang Yan! You're finally awake!"
"You actually dared to try the three-and-a-half-star scenario? Absolute legend!"
The Hanjiang Forensic Medical School students swarmed around Wang Yan. They didn't consider being scared to faint at Chen Ge's haunted house the least bit shameful. On the contrary, in their view, a life without ever being scared into unconsciousness was an incomplete life — like a crucial piece of the university experience was missing.
"It wasn't entirely without gain, though." Wang Yan forced a pale smile onto his face. Lying in the center of the crowd, his expression almost looked heroic: "I found the key to the three-and-a-half-star scenario!"
Wang Yan struggled to look toward Chen Ge and raised his hand: "Boss Chen, next time, I'll definitely clear it!"
"Scenarios are built for you to clear. You're welcome anytime." Chen Ge genuinely enjoyed spending time with the Hanjiang Forensic Medical School students — it made him feel younger.
Wang Yan and his girlfriend were led away by the forensic medicine students. Once they were out of Chen Ge's sight, they immediately surrounded him again.
"Wang Yan, what was the three-and-a-half-star scenario like inside? How terrifying was it?"
"All ten of the first batch fainted. Do I really need to tell you how terrifying it was?" Wang Yan still looked a bit weak — his legs barely held him. "The new scenario is a small town, massive in scale. I'd estimate it can hold twenty visitors at once. There are countless traps and mechanisms, and what's even more terrifying is that the town changes on its own over time."
"It changes on its own?" Yang Chen pulled out his notebook and started writing. "Does the difficulty keep increasing?"
"That's right! Fog rolls through the streets, phone signals get blocked, and more and more haunted house actors appear in every corner."
"So if we want to clear the new scenario, we need to be fast — squeeze in as much progress as possible before the difficulty ramps up." Yang Chen recorded every word Wang Yan said in his notebook. This was precious intel bought with Wang Yan's "life."
"Exactly. Also, during my visit I picked up several very important clues." Wang Yan thought for a moment, then spoke: "About the exits — I found three hints. They're the refrigerator in the corner of the kitchen, the morgue at the end of the hospital, and the wardrobe in the house. Next time we go in, we just need to specifically look for the refrigerator, wardrobe, and morgue."
"Got it. Anything else we should watch out for?"
"There's one more thing. I can't be completely certain, but it's probably real." Wang Yan hesitated. "Because the scenario is so large, visitors might run into emergencies. To account for that, Boss Chen set up a safe zone in the haunted house, right at the center of the scenario — it's a restaurant."
"A safe zone?"
"Right. The restaurant owner is a middle-aged man. Thinking back, he really was different from the other haunted house employees. He probably wasn't lying." Wang Yan revealed yet another important piece of information.