My House of Horrors

The noisy commotion flooded into his ears, and his skin felt the warmth of the sun, which he seemed to have not experienced for a long time. Someone held his hand tightly, and that feeling was constantly falling until it finally disappeared. The overly heavy eyelids slowly fluttered to reveal a gap.

“Doc! Is he still okay? It’s normal for us to faint when we visit the Haunted House, but none of us have been unconscious for so long before! Is it possible that he will never wake up again‽” The familiar voice entered his brain; it sounded like someone calling him at the edge of heaven. His consciousness slowly settled back in, and his memory reached back from the fringe of his mind.

I’m on a Haunted House visit. Yes, I can remember it now.

Wang Dan tried to open both of his eyes. Even though he tried his best, the only thing that he could do was pull his eyes open slightly.

Yang Chen? The student council president? The seniors from the fourth year? Why are there so many people… Wang Dan wanted to speak, but his pale lips were unable to move.

“Erm… There shouldn’t be any trouble. Don’t worry, based on our experience, he should wake up soon.” The doctor coughed drily. “Don’t crowd around him, step back! Make sure there is a constant air flow.”

The doctors and theme park workers politely asked the people to stand back. Wang Dan looked in the direction of their voices. He was currently lying on the steps of the Haunted House, and around him were the visitors who had gathered there for a show. They were talking among themselves; some took pictures on their phones, some were recording, and there were a selected few that went online to share this via live feed.

I think it’s better for me to stay unconscious. Wang Dan tried his best to turn his head to the side; he did not want to gain online fame from fainting at a Haunted House. His eyes moved slightly, and out the corner of his eyes, Wang Dan realized that he was actually not alone.

The ten visitors were arranged neatly on the Haunted House’s steps, and their faces looked so familiar. They had entered the place together, and now, they were laid down side by side. Perhaps that was the gathering power of a group. Seeing his teammates, Wang Dan did not feel that bad for himself anymore, and he slowly closed his eyes. At least, I was a hero for a few minutes…

The heat wave was strong, but the sun was not enough to block the visitors’ passion. The 3.5-star scenario had opened to the public for the first time, and all ten visitors had fainted; this could only be described as magnificent.

“The f*ck! Thankfully, I did not act on my urge and rush into it. That has to be the most correct decision in my life!”

“This new scenario is too scary! I heard Boss Chen say this is only the preliminary stage for the four-star scenario, and its difficulty is only between three-star and four-star scenarios!”

“If the devil has a name, its surname must be Chen!”

“Boss Chen, hello there! With you at the helm, New Century Park can be said to enjoy a second renaissance. Do you mind sharing how you managed to do that?”

Pushing the trolleys, Chen Ge was surrounded by a group of visitors. He did not expect taking down all ten visitors to cause a scene as big as this.

“First of all, I am glad that the Haunted House has been able to gain everyone’s approval. This Haunted House is everything my parents have left me, and it is the project of my life. That is all I can say.”

Chen Ge searched for Uncle Xu among the crowd. He had decided to use this chance to spread the name of the 3.5-star scenario and, at the same time, help promote the incoming four-star scenario. However, to his surprise, the effect was far better than he anticipated. The visitors were so excited that he was trapped by them.

“Boss Chen! We know that building a Haunted House is not easy. Finding the inspiration, writing the story, designing the props… you must have faced plenty of trouble, right? What kind of belief enables you to carry on through all of that?”

Seeing the glow in the visitors’ eyes, Chen Ge found it too hard to brush them off. “I’ve poured too much effort into this Haunted House, from building the scenarios to welcoming the visitors. That kind of anticipation and joy is not something that other people can appreciate. Therefore, the difficulties that you’ve mentioned do not really amount to anything. There is a sense of responsibility bestowed upon me, and I tell myself, I need to make the best Haunted House I can, so no matter where I go, I keep it in my heart. Because of that, it has become a natural part of my life.”

Hearing Chen Ge’s answer, some of the visitors could not help nodding. Only someone who poured his everything into this project could have come up with so many wonderful scenarios.

“Here please! Boss Chen! I’m a visitor from Xin Hai! Just half an hour ago, Xin Hai’s most famous Nightmare Academy said that they came here to conduct a learning and communication visit with you. What is your opinion about that?”

“Nightmare Academy?” Boss Chen signaled for the people to part, and he pointed at the few people lying on the steps. “They did come, but they were definitely not here for friendly communication. With regards to that, I feel it’s a great pity as well. In the future, I will make sure to personally visit Nightmare Academy to hash this out with them.”

“Boss Chen! I saw from a certain platform that Yellow Wolf was livestreaming inside the Haunted House, and I saw you in his stream! Can you tell us in detail what really happened? Our whole family of nine and our cat is deathly curious about that!”

“You can follow my streaming account for the details. I will talk about it in the future.”

“Boss Chen, there is an online rumor that your Haunted House is really haunted. Is that real or not?”

“Of course, that’s false. There are no ghosts in the world. Everything is just a rumor. If you don’t believe me, you can point the person who told you the rumor to me, and I will face them in person.” Chen Ge’s smile was always so warm; he treated everyone with the same kindness. “Alright then, I need to go back to work. Even though I own this Haunted House, I am one of its workers, and it is still working hours.”

With that excuse, Chen Ge finally slipped away from the visitors. He sighed in relief after he entered the Haunted House. “Scaring ten visitors until they faint, that should be enough to grab people’s attention and gain some popularity. Hopefully, Director Luo will be able to suppress the negative influence from this event so that it won’t be misused by others.”

Chen Ge provided a very sharp blade to promote the Haunted House and theme park. If used well, it could greatly cut down the futuristic theme park’s opening hype. However, if it was not used correctly, one might cut oneself.

Whenever a new scenario opened, there would be a commotion, and that was the effect that Chen Ge was looking for. Because of that, he had brought two Red Specters back from Li Wan City. Jogging back to the scenario, Chen Ge first found the headless woman to console her before going to Li Wan Private Hospital to find the red high heels.

Actually, the red high heels’ luck was not so good. First, she lost all of her power during the fight with the gluttonous woman, then she was injured during the shadow, Zhang Ya, and Doctor Gao’s battle. Adding injury on top of injury, now she only had a shell left.

“Looks like you’re in a good mood.” Chen Ge sat at the door to the morgue and studied the red high heels in his palm. “You did wonderfully this time. If you wish to, you can come back anytime you like in the future. My Haunted House is always open to you.”

The red high heels’ special power was curse, and that was similar to the shadow. After bringing her back to the Haunted House, he, alongside the accompaniment of all his other employees, formed a contract with her. After she helped all the workers cleanse their curses, Chen Ge would allow her to leave.

The red high heels did not really have a choice but to trust Chen Ge. And every day, she had been trying out ways to convert the shadow’s curse. Most of the curses inside Zhang Jingjiu and Scissors had been cleansed already, but the true difficulty lay with the curse in Xu Yin’s body. He was suffering terribly. If not for his opportune evolution into a Red Specter, he would have disappeared already, tortured by the curse.

Pushing open the morgue’s door, Chen Ge walked to the sickbed that was at the deepest part of the room. On top of the bed lay a cassette tape that was covered in dark gray spots that looked like bruises.

“Rest well, everything will be fine. I am here.” Chen Ge placed the high heels next to the tape and sat down on the bed for ten minutes before leaving.