Goodwill

Chen Ge sat alone in the pitch-black room, talking to himself in front of the four ragdolls. The scene was somewhat eerie, though fortunately, no outsiders were there to witness it.

"I don't know why you appeared in my House of Horrors, nor do I know what to call you, but I can promise you one thing: I mean you no harm."

Only Chen Ge's own voice echoed in the room. As he looked at the four ragdolls before him, he felt a deep sense of contradiction.

He both hoped they would react and agree with what he said, yet he was terrified that the dolls might suddenly move on their own and do something dangerous.

After a few seconds, Chen Ge decided he was overthinking it and opted for a different approach: "The Midnight Escape scenario is a simulation of the Ping An Apartment from five years ago. You four must be the victims of that mass murder case..."

Perhaps because he had touched a sore spot, Chen Ge clearly felt the temperature in the room drop. The lock on the door clicked shut on its own, and the surrounding furniture began to sway gently.

"That case has been solved! The madman who hurt you and destroyed your beautiful lives is currently facing severe punishment under the law!" Chen Ge felt a slight panic. He took out his phone and opened the news video from the internet: "Look, the culprit has been caught, and the person who caught him was me!"

Chen Ge knew the obsession of the four ragdolls was linked to Wang Qi, so he wanted to use the video to prove he was the one who captured the killer, but the effect was minimal.

The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense, the air heavy and stifling. Chen Ge was anxious but helpless; the inability to communicate was the biggest problem.

The situation was wrong, but Chen Ge had no intention of backing down. This House of Horrors was his everything. If he let the four ragdolls run amok, there were too many unknown factors, and it might lead to a serious accident one day.

"Calm down! I'm here to help you!" The ragdolls couldn't hear a word Chen Ge said; no matter how much he spoke, it was useless.

"It seems I have no choice but to try this." Chen Ge took out Wang Qi's Missing Person Notice from his pocket. The yellowed, thin paper was stained with a few blood spots, but otherwise, it had nothing special about it.

Strangely enough, once Chen Ge produced the notice, the movement in the room suddenly subsided, and the atmosphere was no longer as heavy, as if a hand that had been gripping his throat had slowly loosened.

"Is this what you wanted?" The notice proved more effective than Chen Ge had imagined. He placed the paper between the four ragdolls. As soon as the dolls touched the yellowed paper, it began to "struggle" as if caught in a violent gale.

The scene before him was bizarre: a single piece of paper surrounded by four ragdolls. There was clearly no wind in the room, yet they were all trembling.

Chen Ge watched closely. A few minutes later, the faint outline of a human face emerged on the notice, looking somewhat similar to Wang Qi.

Before Chen Ge could look closer, the face was torn apart and burrowed into the bodies of the four dolls, after which the room fell completely silent.

"That's it?"

The Black Phone in his pocket vibrated. Chen Ge took it out, and a brand-new message appeared on the screen.

Unique hidden mission for Midnight Escape scenario completed! Ghost favorability +1. Obtained the goodwill of the Ping An Apartment Victim Remnants; they will clean up all trash for you every day and maintain the original appearance of the Midnight Escape scenario.

Looking at the message on the screen, Chen Ge stood rooted to the spot for a long time: "That completed the unique hidden mission?"

His mind was a bit chaotic: "Only when the trial mission completion rate exceeds ninety percent are hidden items rewarded, and those hidden items are the key to completing the scenario's hidden missions! In other words, if I want to fully control the newly unlocked horror scenarios in the haunted house, I must complete the corresponding trial missions to over ninety percent."

Thinking back to his encounter at the Ping An Apartment, if he hadn't pursued the truth, he might have survived the night safely, but the mission completion rate would have been extremely low, making it impossible to obtain the hidden item.

"Insidious. This setup is clearly encouraging players to court death." Chen Ge scrolled through the Black Phone, wanting to see more information. He first clicked on the Ghost Team tab, but to his disappointment, the team members were still listed as zero.

"The mission prompt said I gained the goodwill of the Ping An Apartment Victim Remnants, but the Ghost Team tab shows nothing. Is it because they haven't fully submitted? Or is it that the Victim Remnants don't count as ghosts, so they aren't qualified to be listed on the Black Phone?"

Chen Ge couldn't figure it out. He clicked on the Item Vault and found that Wang Qi's Missing Person Notice was still there, though the resentment value on it had been cleared to zero.

"What exactly is resentment value? Why did the Victim Remnants tear it apart and consume it?"

The door to an unknown world was slowly opening. Chen Ge didn't care whether these things were useful or not; he firmly etched them into his mind.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up from the floor: "The Victim Remnants can't communicate, but they can help me maintain the scenario. All in all, the pros outweigh the cons."

Maintaining the props in the haunted house was a tedious task, and the appearance of the Victim Remnants saved Chen Ge a great deal of time.

Looking at the four ragdolls on the floor, the last shred of fear in Chen Ge's heart slowly dissipated: "Hiring ghosts to work in my House of Horrors—that might actually be achievable in the future."

He walked to the door, then turned back to look one last time. The dolls representing the parents and the older sister were lying where they were, but the smallest doll was lying alone to the side, acting sneaky, as if it were preparing to sneak out again.

Seeing this, Chen Ge smiled. Not all ghosts in the world were evil and cruel. Take this smallest doll, for example; it was like a cat curious about everything—naughty, yet timid.

"Little one, don't run around, or you'll get stepped on." Chen Ge walked out. After helping the Ping An Apartment victims fulfill their wishes, he had a deeper understanding of the Black Phone: "The locked horror scenarios in the phone shouldn't just be for scaring people. Every scenario has its own story behind it, involving causal entanglements, and in a way, it provides a home for those who have nowhere else to go."

Turning off his flashlight, Chen Ge walked through the dark corridor. After running a good distance away to ensure no one could hear him, the corners of his mouth curled up into a fox-like smile: "No need for wages or benefits, they don't complain of fatigue, they don't throw tantrums, and they are natural experts at scaring people. These guys are simply the perfect employees!"

Everything goes well when one is in high spirits; Chen Ge felt even more motivated to scare people.

"It's been dragging on for too long, it's time to end it. There are three people left in the haunted house. Let me think, who should I start with?"

Thanks to the alliance leader, Doubi Xiao Xiannv!