The sound of the door closing startled every visitor. They all turned to look at
"I just don't feel right leaving it open — something might come through. Better safe than sorry when it comes to getting attacked from both sides."
Chen Ge brushed it off with a casual excuse, then looked at the policeman. "Have you been to this scenario before?"
"Yes. The hotel scenario is a buffer zone — it's meant for visitors to relax. Once you finish this one, you only need to get through one more scenario to clear the whole thing."
Hearing this, everyone perked up. This nightmare of a haunted house tour was finally almost over.
"A buffer zone? So this scenario isn't scary?" Chen Ge had rarely seen a haunted house with a buffer zone built into it.
"There are no ghosts in this scenario. There are twelve rooms in total, and one of them hides a killer. All we have to do is dodge the killer, find the hidden passage in the hotel, and escape." The policeman dropped all pretense of secrecy — he wanted to leave this haunted house just as badly as anyone else.
"Where was the hidden passage when you visited last time?"
"The passage isn't fixed. Every one of the twelve rooms has a passage, but only one room's passage is unlocked. This scenario is pure luck — the very first door we push open might lead to an unlocked passage, or it might hide the killer." The policeman spread his hands. "I've told you everything I know. If something goes wrong this time, it's really not on me."
"Medium difficulty means one killer and one unlocked passage hidden across twelve rooms. On hell difficulty, all the passages are probably locked, and every room likely hides a killer." Chen Ge was standing near the bar counter. He looked at the man with glasses again. "Detective, did you pick up any clues?"
"Yes, I received a message the moment we entered this scenario." The man with glasses held up the display on his wrist for everyone to see — Do not open doors at random.
"So Chen Ge was right. There might be a killer in every single room, which is why they're telling us not to open doors carelessly." The policeman let out a dry laugh. If that was really the case, then the information he'd provided was completely useless.
"Shh, quiet." Chen Ge suddenly raised a hand. He activated his ghost ear and picked up the sound of pacing footsteps and a woman's unhinged, manic laughter.
The sounds were faint, and they seemed to come from underground.
"This hotel isn't as simple as it looks. There could be several levels. The upper floor, no matter how terrifying, is just the surface — the real danger is on the levels below." Chen Ge's voice was low, sending a chill down everyone's spines.
"How do you know all this?" The woman with long black hair asked quietly. Her opinion of Chen Ge had shifted dramatically by now.
"A haunted house truly committed to the ultimate thrill doesn't build buffer zones into its scenarios. Wave after wave of terror, relentless as ocean waves — that's what a haunted house designer strives for." Chen Ge wasn't about to tell the other visitors that in a haunted house harboring Red-clothed ghosts, a buffer zone served no buffering purpose whatsoever. You had to stay on guard every single second.
"The policeman says opening a door might reveal the passage, but the detective's clue says not to open doors at random. Those two pieces of information directly contradict each other — so who do we listen to?" After speaking, Chen Ge turned to the youngest man. "Everyone here has told us their occupation — except you. We've all made it this far together. Don't you trust us yet?"
The young man shook his head. "It's not that I don't trust everyone. My ability is extremely important, and it can only be used once."
Chen Ge didn't press the issue. With time running short, all the visitors spread out to search the hotel. It wasn't long before they discovered all manner of unsettling things.
The hotel was the largest scenario they had entered so far. It was divided into three levels — two above ground, each containing six rooms, and one below ground. The passage leading to the lower level, however, was sealed behind an iron door.