Boss, You're on TV

"There's an extra reward for a mission completion rate over ninety percent?"

Chen Ge felt a surge of excitement upon discovering he had obtained a hidden item, but as he clicked on the item description, all his anticipation vanished into thin air: "Wang Qi's Missing Person Notice counts as a reward? The Black Phone hasn't glitched, has it? This looks like a curse no matter how you slice it!"

Biting the bullet and finishing the hair-raising item description, a new question surfaced in Chen Ge's mind.

"What on earth is Grudge Value?" Interpreting it literally, the flyer rewarded by the Black Phone must contain the lingering resentment from Wang Qi's heart.

"No normal person would ever need this thing. Could it be that it wasn't meant for the living?" Chen Ge glanced back at his own shadow, shaking his head to dispel the thought.

Past seven o'clock, the police car returned to New Century Park. Chen Ge retrieved the spare key for the Haunted House from the guard post and returned to his own attraction.

Having rushed about all night, he was exhausted. Lying in the staff lounge, he felt as if his entire skeleton was about to fall apart.

He pulled out his phone and found the battery completely drained; he had no idea when the livestream had stopped.

He plugged in the charger and turned it back on.

The phone's built-in pedometer showed he had walked over forty thousand steps the previous night, placing him first among his friends, with a like from Xiao Wan below it.

"It seems I really need to exercise. I don't need to be able to beat others up, I just need to be faster than them." Chen Ge scrolled through his phone screen and found He Shan's number. Fearing he might wake him, he sent a tentative text, but He Shan called back within two or three seconds.

"Holy crap! Boss, you're still alive!" He Shan's voice was so loud it gave Chen Ge a headache.

"Are you that eager for me to kick the bucket? Keep it down, don't disturb your roommates."

"Sleep, my foot! They were all watching your livestream yesterday, we stayed up until now!"

Chen Ge was actually quite touched by He Shan's words. Just as he was about to say, "Thank the guys for me," He Shan's second sentence blurted out.

"After the stream cut out, they all said you'd been murdered and insisted on betting me a meal. Now it's all good, I don't have to worry about my food budget for the next week."

"Is my life only worth one meal? You really didn't have to share your joy with me, honestly..." Chen Ge was speechless at this blunt boy.

"Anyway, as long as you're alive, Boss. I was really afraid I'd see you in our lab one day. You know, when we have forensic internship classes, the teacher shows photos of victims for us to analyze..."

"Alright, alright." Chen Ge rubbed his temples, his head throbbing: "I'm fine. Thanks for everything this time, I'll treat you to a meal when I have the chance."

Hanging up in a hurry, Chen Ge opened his short-video profile and was surprised to find his follower count had surged by over three thousand.

"Seriously? You can gain followers even with a black screen?" He checked his inbox, which was already overflowing. The most common message was: "Streamer, are you still alive?"

"This bunch, not a single one knows how to say something auspicious!"

Seeing that his Haunted House ad was still on his homepage and that neither his livestream room nor his profile had been banned, Chen Ge breathed a sigh of relief. He tossed his phone aside, buried his head in the pillow, and stretched comfortably.

"Forget everything. I'm going to be lazy today; I need a good sleep."

He took off his clothes, closed his eyes, and Chen Ge was soon fast asleep.

The sun rose, a new day arrived, and sunlight spilled into the room, gilding the edges of the bedsheets.

"Bang!"

The protective railing outside the Haunted House was pulled aside, light and hurried footsteps echoed on the stairs, a key slid into the lock, the latch turned, and the door to the staff lounge was pushed open with force.

The bed frame jolted violently!

Startled, Chen Ge sat up in a flash. Before he could speak, he saw something graceful swaying before his eyes, followed by a crisp, excited voice.

"Boss! You're on TV!"

It took Chen Ge two or three seconds to react. He looked at Xiao Wan, who was sitting beside his pillow dressed in light clothing, smelling the faint fragrance of shampoo from her, and silently picked up the sheet to cover his upper body: "Slow down, what happened to me?"

"It's the first time I've seen a real person in a video. Even though your face was pixelated, I recognized you right away!"

"Pixelated?" Chen Ge felt there was something very subtle about what Xu Wan said.

"Look." Xu Wan took out her phone and handed it to Chen Ge: "This is a clip I grabbed from the internet. At the twenty-third minute of the Jiujiang Morning News, they broadcast an emergency news flash."

Chen Ge clicked on the video; the footage showed Ping An Apartment.

"Justice prevails! There has been a major breakthrough in the five-year-old Fu'an Apartment mass murder case. With the help of a public-spirited citizen, the police have now brought the true culprit to justice!"

There was a brief interview afterward, accompanied by a photo of Chen Ge leaving with officers from the West City Police Station, though Chen Ge's face was heavily pixelated. The caption below stated that because one suspect was still at large, his identity was being withheld to protect the witness.

"Boss, this is you, right? Your height, build, and even your clothes are exactly the same!"

"Let me put on some clothes first." Chen Ge shook his head, got dressed, and gave Xu Wan a rough account of last night's events. However, he didn't tell her the real reason he went to Ping An Apartment, saying only that he went to find inspiration for renovating the Haunted House.

After listening, Xu Wan's expression changed significantly: "You've worked hard, Boss. Get some more sleep, I'll handle the tourists outside."

She meant well, but the moment Chen Ge heard there were tourists, he instantly perked up: "Are there many?"

"More than yesterday, at least."

"Then what are we waiting for? Help me up!"

Chen Ge let Xu Wan go ahead to host, ran to the bathroom to splash his face, then took out the Black Phone and clicked on the Midnight Escape horror scenario.

"Midnight Escape (Scream Index: One Star): This horror scenario has been set up and is ready for visitors on the third floor."

"Note: The interior space of the Haunted House is insufficient. You must expand before you can unlock new horror scenarios!"

"When was this set up?" Chen Ge had thought he would need to prepare a lot of things, but he realized he had severely underestimated this Black Phone.

Putting on his shoes, he ran to the third floor. Chen Ge pushed open the attic door, and the world behind it had completely changed.

All the discarded and damaged props were gone, leaving only eerie, chilling corridors before him.

The newly unlocked Midnight Escape scenario occupied a large area, encompassing the entire third floor and encroaching upon parts of the Ghost Marriage scenario on the second floor and the Zombie Resurrection Night scenario on the third.

"Three floors in total. The first and second floors are transitions, and the most terrifying part is on the third. How is this somewhat similar to Ping An Apartment?"