My House of Horrors

The dolls created using the Dollmaker’s Talent looked incredibly creepy. With twenty-four dolls inside the sealed classroom, either standing or sitting, even Chen Ge did not have the heart to stay for too long.

I must not release Mu Yang High School’s scenario to the public easily. If these twenty-four lingering spirits go mad, they will probably scare someone to death.Chen Ge had created all the mannequins himself, so he could acutely feel the change that happened to these mannequins after the school uniforms were put on them. It felt as if all the mannequins had acquired a soul, like the things that stood before him were not props but actual people.

Due to limitation in budget and workers, rarely would a Haunted House place more than ten actors in the same scenario. The lack of help was also something that Chen Ge had been worried about, but now this problem had been easily solved. A small scenario alone had twenty-four professional actors—now that was a high-end Haunted House!

Gosh, even I am getting excited about this. This two-star Mu Yang High School scenario might be able to help me make the Haunted House a household name!

After finishing the arrangement of the sealed classroom, Chen Ge placed the student nametags that littered the lectern inside the paper box.

There is no exit inside Mu Yang High School, and there is only one entrance. The original plan of finding the escape is no longer useable. I will need to come up with a new rule for the game. Chen Ge narrowed his eyes before coming up with the solution. He could go around Mu Yang High School scenario to hide the twenty-four nametags in various corners. To clear the game, the visitors will have to find all twenty-four nametags in under twenty minutes. The winners will get a full refund of their tickets on top of a cash price. This way it will provide incentive for visitors to enter the Haunted House and will also increase the fun factor and interactivity.

Chen Ge’s Haunted House was rapidly expanding. He had been trying to figure out ways to make his Haunted House more inviting and interesting. This treasure hunt for the nametags was, for Chen Ge, worthy of a trial run.

I will need to include more interesting elements in the future. The aim is not to create a scary Haunted House but a whole park themed around scares and horror.

When Chen Ge was hiding the nametags, he realized that Mu Yang High School’s scenario had grown bigger. There was a new junction at the end of the corridor. There were an additional three adjacent old-looking rooms. There were room numbers hanging on the doors—302, 303, 304.

The Room of Three One-Star Trial Mission had unlocked three new rooms beside Mu Yang High School. They merged perfectly together, but the corridors did appear to be much narrower.

All the scary scenarios will expand close to each other. Eventually, the whole underground parking lot will be filled with my scenarios. The routes will overlap with each other, thus making an actual Maze of Terror.

Chen Ge retraced his steps and returned to the Haunted House’s first floor. He fixed his dusty outfit, exited the Haunted House, and opened the gate. The sun shone warmly on his skin; it was a good day to go out to play and enjoy the weather.

Xu Wan arrived at the Haunted House at around 9 am. Chen Ge had her go and prepare her make-up before sending her into the Minghun scenario. As the number of visitors increased, Chen Ge’s Haunted House became the only attraction at New Century Park that required the visitors to line up. To smoothen the process, Chen Ge gave Uncle Xu a call, asking him to assign a free worker to come help him sell tickets. Who would have thought that, after a while, it was Uncle Xu himself who came?

“There are not many free workers to go around, and since I am free, I came to help. Do you need me to go inside this ticket counter to sell ticket?”

“No need, just do it whichever way is most comfortable to you.”

After leaving the ticket sales to Uncle Xu, Chen Ge returned to the staff breakroom. He pulled out a wooden broad and used fake blood to write down the introduction and game rules for Mu Yang High School on it. When he exited the Haunted House with the wooden board, there was a contained commotion among the crowd.

“A new scary scenario to experience!”

“This introduction sure is creepy.”

“A school horror story! This, I like!”

The crowd’s attention was attracted immediately. Since the ticket price was the same, the few who stood at the front of the line all requested to experience the new scenario.

“Everyone, please listen to me.” Chen Ge placed the wooden board upwards by the door. “This new scenario is very scary! Inside, we have professional actors and the nation’s top equipment as well as props. When I offered this scenario for a trial run, a set of workers from a horror studio accepted the challenge. They attempted to plagiarize my content by video-taping it, but they accidentally captured something incredibly scary! In fact, the two that went in to experience the scenario are still in hospital!”

Uncle Xu, who stood to the side, did not know what to say, seeing Chen Ge list this dark history so proudly. He could not understand what there was to be proud about scaring people to their death.

“Tell us, what they have captured on film‽”

“You think we are that gullible to believe people might get sent to the hospital from a visit to the Haunted House?”

“Boss, don’t waste your breath! We are playing this scenario!”

“If I do not enter this scenario today, I am not a man!”

After the visitors settled down, Chen Ge continued. “The reason I brought this up is because I wish to tell all of you that this scenario is not open to everyone. Only those who have completed the earlier scenarios can enter this one.”

Chen Ge’s meaning was clear. To enter Mu Yang High School, they either had to finish Minghun or Murder by Midnight scenario first. Delineating the scenarios according to their scream factors was something he had decided from the very beginning.

“This is daylight robbery!” The moment Chen Ge announced the new policy, there was instantly the sound of protest. “Entering every one of your scenarios requires us to purchase a new ticket. If this is not forced expenditure, I do not know what is!”

“Has the success gotten to your head‽”

“I came because of the good online review, but what you are doing is incredibly immoral!”

“So many rules to visit a Haunted House, I will just give up! Now, are you happy‽”

Chen Ge had expected this type of reaction from the crowd. When the visitors had their say, Chen Ge slapped the wooden board and said, “Trust me, I do not intend to cheat you out of your money. The ticket price of only 20 is the best proof. To prove my sincerity, how about we have a bet?”

He took out the reward money that he had not used yet and placed it beside the wooden board. “This here is 20,000 in cash! I have hidden twenty-four student nametags inside the Mu Yang High School scenario. If any of you can find all twenty-four nametags in under twenty minutes, this 20,000 is yours!”

“Ticket price is only 20, but reward is 20,000? That’s almost a 100,000% increase!”

“How do we know how many nametags you have actually hidden inside the scenario? What if you have only hidden twenty-three nametags? Doesn’t that mean no one will win the reward?”

A visitor pointed out this valid question. Chen Ge was too lazy to argue, so he merely said, “If any one of you can walk out of the scenario normally, I will answer your question.”

The twenty-four nametags were hidden in extremely secluded places, and a few were hidden in places that people would least expect.

“Such conceit!”

“Why is that even though I know this is a cheap trick, I still have the urge to give it a try?”

“Let me!”

The atmosphere was thus brought up to a boiling point. Chen Ge asked Uncle Xu to look after the money for him.

“Today marks the first day a new scenario and a new rule are officially put into use! Due to a lack of promotion, many people still do not know this yet, so just for today, the new scenario is open for all! There is no need for you to go through the previous scenarios first. I have already stated the reward that awaits the winner. Only one person can enter at a time, and everyone can only experience it once. The placement of the nametags will be changed each day. Alright, who wishes to come forward to take this 20,000?”

Earlier, everyone had been incredibly noisy, but when Chen Ge officially extended the invitation to the crowd, they looked at each other, but none dared step forward. Chen Ge scanned the crowd and realized that there was a group of six at the end of the line huddled together like they were discussing something. After a while, five of them came toward him.

“Boss, we do not want to challenge the game; we just want to visit the scenario. Can the five of us enter at the same time?” the leading young man asked Chen Ge. The six of them had obviously come together. Five of them were going to scout the new scenario, and after obtaining all the necessary information, the sixth would come forward to accept the challenge and find all the nametags with the information provided by the five.

Chen Ge knew what they were up to; the six of them were trying to cheat the system, but he did not seem to mind it. “Sure! All five of you can enter together, but I have to remind you—please do not use your phone to take pictures or videos inside the Haunted House because they might scare our friends from the other side.”

“Five of us, so here is 100,” the young man said with a smile. He did not pay Chen Ge’s advice any attention.

After accepting the money, Chen Ge flashed the five visitors a ‘professional’ smile before saying, “Thank you. Now, please come with me.”

Chen Ge’s smile was quite comforting; the five visitors did not think too much of it, but next to them, Uncle Xu shivered involuntarily and, after some contemplation, decided to walk over to stop Chen Ge.

He whispered into Chen Ge’s ear, “These are normal visitors. They have no history with us; you have to be careful. Please try to make sure everything is safe and sound!”

“Uncle Xu, do not worry. I know what I am doing.”

Chen Ge pushed Uncle Xu gently aside. However, the park manager was made anxious by this promise that he made. “Who are you trying to kid‽ That was what you said the last time, and those two poor children are still lying at the hospital! That one by the name of Fei Youliang can be heard screaming every midnight. He does not stop asking who his wife will be, and almost everyone at the hospital knows about him!”