"The Reincarnation themed area is at the very back. Our people have already set things up."
Three staff members led
When Chen Ge arrived, the area outside the venue was packed with people, though most of them were staff. Every single one of them looked like they were facing a formidable enemy, but perhaps because they hadn't expected Chen Ge to come alone, they all felt like they'd thrown a punch into a cushion.
"Hello, I'm one of the designers of the Reincarnation themed area. You can call me Qingming." A man in his thirties walked up proactively at the entrance.
"How many designers does this place have exactly? The guy lying in the hospital back there seems to be one of yours too." Chen Ge's first words left the Virtual Future staff feeling deeply awkward.
"Bai Buhui is one of the designers as well. Our scenario is themed around reincarnation, fusing countless folk urban legends and horror films to create individual worlds — all cleverly connected through the cycle of reincarnation." Qingming spoke with undisguised pride.
"I haven't even started the livestream yet — no need to sell it so hard." Chen Ge patted Qingming on the shoulder. "Bro, I'll just get in line here. Go ahead and do whatever you need to do, don't worry about me."
"I was specifically assigned to accompany you on this tour today. Oh, by the way, do you have friends who haven't arrived yet?" Qingming asked with some hesitation. Deep down, he didn't believe Chen Ge would actually dare come alone to take on the challenge.
"Don't worry, it's just me." Chen Ge took out his phone and opened the livestream. Ever since his channel had been banned, it had been ages since he'd last streamed.
The moment he went live, before Chen Ge had even said a word, the barrage of comments started flooding the screen. The best part was a crowd of viewers frantically spamming "Brother Kang is a real man."
Within just a few minutes, the number of live viewers had already broken fifty thousand, and the count was still climbing rapidly.
"Hey, everyone! Yesterday I promised I'd go alone to challenge Virtual Future Park's haunted house, and right now I'm standing inside Virtual Future Park." Chen Ge pointed the camera at the Reincarnation themed area. "Honestly, coming here alone to take on this haunted house, I'm pretty nervous. Liu Kang and eleven others came to try it, and all of them ended up in the hospital. I'm alone — I'll be facing this entire scenario by myself."
Hearing Chen Ge's words, Qingming standing nearby felt something was off.
Liu Kang's group of eleven had all been scared into unconsciousness. If Chen Ge came alone and even he was scared into unconsciousness, in the end it would still look like Chen Ge was the more impressive one.
"So sneaky!" Qingming gritted his teeth in frustration, but there was nothing he could do about Chen Ge. He could only smile alongside him, trying to make the park look gracious.
"The person next to me is a staff member of Virtual Future Park, and also one of the designers of their haunted house. By the way, I'm actually quite concerned about his colleague — I wonder if he's woken up in the hospital yet. After all, it happened at our
"Mr. Chen, everything is ready. You may begin your tour." Qingming was genuinely terrified of Chen Ge's mouth — absolutely ruthless, never letting go once he had the upper hand. If he kept talking, Virtual Future Park would become a laughingstock.
"That fast?" Chen Ge followed Qingming through the crowd to the entrance of the venue.
On the outer wall of the Reincarnation themed area hung an enormous screen, with slightly different footage playing on the left and right sides.
While Chen Ge was watching, a commotion suddenly erupted from among the tourists nearby. A few young men were shouting loudly: "Why does he get to skip the line?! We paid extra for all-access passes! This is outrageous!"
"Excuse me, let me go handle this." Qingming rushed over, conferred with the young men for a while, and came back. "Mr. Chen, I'm terribly sorry. We originally intended for you to go in alone for the challenge, but those tourists really aren't willing to accept that. Would you mind letting them go in together with you? More people should help lower the fear factor a bit."
"Lower the fear factor?" Chen Ge studied the faces of those young men, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Their timing was impeccable — almost as if it had been prearranged. This had to be a staged act by Virtual Future Park, and those tourists were almost certainly park employees in disguise.
"Your acting really is terrible. But it's fine — the more people, the more fun." The fact that Chen Ge could say this so plainly meant he'd seen through the whole thing.
Qingming's expression stiffened, and he could only pretend to be oblivious. "In that case, I'll go let them get ready."
Chen Ge paid no further attention to Qingming and turned to the livestream. Online viewers had already figured it out too, and they were all warning him.
"It's fine. This actually gives us something to compare against."
A dozen seconds later, three men and three women emerged from the crowd.
"Alright, everyone's here. Let me briefly explain the rules." Qingming gestured toward the massive screen outside the venue. "Our Reincarnation haunted house uses a combination of virtual and augmented reality technology, faithfully recreating a wide range of urban legends and horror films. This is a world of ghosts — a man-made nightmare of reincarnation."
"You'll encounter classic scenes from all sorts of horror movies inside, and experience the most realistic thrills and scares."
"Some of the ghosts inside are played by employees, some are projections, but there are still others you'll want to be careful around."
"In order to maximize the horror, we've placed certain old objects that carry real urban legends into the environment. If you feel anything abnormal, shout for help immediately. I'm not joking with you."