"Trapped inside a movie? That's got to qualify as a creepy tale, right?"
Chen Ge felt this fell squarely within his wheelhouse — he couldn't just sit by and do nothing.
He glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was already two thirty in the morning. "It'd take half an hour to hail a cab to Yongling Mountain from here. Too late — I'll head over there tomorrow."
"There's never enough time. The deadline for the Spirit Channeling Ghost School mission is coming up fast, and I still don't have a single usable Red-Robe at my side. That won't do. I'll visit that film crew first. Ideally I can help the writer resolve his lingering obsession and get that suicidal dispatcher into the haunted house as soon as possible."
After making his preparations, Chen Ge put his phone away and turned in early for once.
The next morning around eight, Chen Ge was woken by the sound of someone tapping on his window. He groggily opened his eyes and heard Little Gu's voice from outside.
"The boss probably snuck out again in the middle of the night. Let's just wait out here by the door."
"Does the boss leave at night a lot?" The speaker was Zhang Jingjiu, who was rather curious about Chen Ge as a person.
"Let me put it this way — that social media app we all use has a real-time step counter. Every morning when I wake up, the boss has already racked up ten thousand steps, sometimes even tens of thousands." Little Gu's tone was perfectly calm. "But today's a bit odd. From last night until now, he's only walked a little over three thousand steps. Could something have happened to him?"
"Let the boss hear you say that and he'll definitely smack you." Xu Wan's voice also drifted in. It sounded like all the employees had gathered.
"Hit my employees? As if I'd ever do something like that." Chen Ge dragged himself out of bed, pulled back the heavy curtains, and pushed open the rest-bay window. "At most I'd just dock your pay."
"Boss!"
All four employees were standing by the window. They looked like they'd been there for quite a while.
"Give me a sec, I'll come unlock the door." Chen Ge checked his phone — it was already eight forty. He'd been so tired last night that he'd fallen straight asleep without setting an alarm.
He undid the haunted house's security lock and ushered the four employees into the makeup room, putting on each of their faces one by one.
"As long as we're all here, we might as well have a quick morning briefing while I do your makeup." Chen Ge worked with practiced ease, his hands moving like flowing water — not a hint of the clueless straight-guy about him. "Xu Wan and Little Gu, you two are the veterans. You're in charge of the two ground-level scenes. Our haunted house uses a tiered horror rating system, and a lot of visitors can't handle the high-star scenes, so your jobs are the heaviest. You represent the face of our haunted house and shape every visitor's first impression of us."
"Leave it to me and Sister Xu Wan — everything'll be smooth sailing." Little Gu thumped his chest in assurance. His enthusiastic, easygoing personality made it simple for him to gel with newcomers.
"Scissors and Zhang Jingjiu, you two are in charge of the underground scenes. Just focus on doing your jobs well. If a visitor gets into trouble, call me right away." Chen Ge exchanged a look with Zhang Jingjiu and Scissors. "The underground scenes are tough. You'll both need to keep sharpening your acting."
"Understood." Scissors and Zhang Jingjiu had followed Chen Ge into Liwan Town — they understood exactly what his words meant.
"One last thing. I'm officially handing the haunted house's spare key over to Xu Wan. If you run into a situation where I'm not around in the future, keep things running according to the assignments I've laid out." Chen Ge placed the spare key into Xu Wan's hand and looked at the girl in the mirror. "If anything comes up with the ground-level scenes, go to Xu Wan. If even she can't handle it, contact Director Luo over at New Century Paradise. Don't go to anyone else, and don't trust just anyone blindly."
Before Xu Wan could respond, Chen Ge stood up. "I'm personally responsible for the underground scenes. Scissors and Zhang Jingjiu, come with me now — I still have plenty to teach you."